MICHIGAN issues an open invitation!

(Cross posted from GD)

If I may be so bold, and in the name of my state, COME TO MICHIGAN!! We need DEMOCRATIC SUPPORTERS.

You may think of Michigan as one of the Bluest of the Blue. Not so.

Until Jenifer Granholm replaced that pig ENGLER, I can't even REMEMBER the last Democratic Governor. The House AND Senate had both been Republican dominated since I can't remember when, and we just recently took back the House. Our gerrymandered Congressional districts make Texas look rational.

Our cities get a bad rap. You losing your $200,000 house in Tempe? You could buy FOUR in Flint, ALL in pretty good shape, and maybe a couple of them eligible four "Historic Home Restoration Grants." Same with Detroit. In Owosso where I live, they are GIVING AWAY 6 bedroom/2 full bath houses with PROPERTY for less than $90,000 not 10 minutes outside of Lansing.

You want WATER? SKIING? FORESTS? HUNTING? Come on up. We got 'em ALL, usually less than an HOUR from where you live. Canada is right next door, and they LIKE us.

Come to Michigan, let's vote the assholes OUT, Re-district, and set WASHINGTON on its EAR.

Especially the UP.

But my work is here in CA.

The white supremacists and militia will just have to do it in the dark.

Not so.

The Minnesota Militia is much larger, and since Oklahoma City the Michigan Militia can't even sponsor a mile of freeway cleanup.

IDAHO is for Aryans. Detroit is 75% other than White.

You have us confused with someone else. We do have our idiots. Bet you do too.

I have the right to criticize Michigan through and throughout. No offense intended, but Detroit needs to grow up and integrate. Los Angeles may be just a different sort of shithole, but at least it's a melting pot where many ethnicities can do more than endure each others' presence or live in continued tension; they can enjoy the strength that comes with variety, to greater and lesser extents. I'd heard Ann Arbor became yuppified; I hope that it has passed and retuned to being a great city. And yes, the UP is beautiful (at least on my visit to Marquette).

But what a ways to go. All of America has a ways to go.

Yeah, I know, people working together, overcoming differences and seeing strengths. Crazy talk.

Sorry for the rant, but I get so sick of humans under the influence of the poisons (ignorance, anger, fear, desire) that I just want to tell them what they are. But then they kill you. Shrug.

Detroit would integrate if places like Grosse Point would LET them.

No. Ann Arbor is still yuppified. I lived there back in the early 70's. The house I lived was in the "Student Ghetto" and now goes for $400,000.

Wish you could see Owosso. Pretty place. LOTS of nice places going to pot because they're being abandoned. We need to turn places like this around, not split.

DOZENS of small towns/villages nearby.

kthxbai

Edit: Keep watching the economy.

Redlining is still the national pass time down there. If I were Detroit, I'd cut off Grosse Point's cut-rate water and charge them out the ass.

They have old apartment buildings that if they were renovated, yuppies would be killing each other to buy in.

Detroit has more POTENTIAL than any city I've seen in years, with the possible exception of Flint.

Parts may be 'yuppified' but it's a vibrant, culturally active city; the arts generated $165 million for the county last year. I think that's pretty good.

I just can't afford to live there, and my job doesn't exist near there.

The job thing would be a problem but Ann Arbor is far more affordable than people think it is. I work for a non-profit and I live pretty comfortably.

There is a restaurant near Owosso that my parents love -- Gallaghers? Gilligans? Something like that. I ate there with them once and it was pretty good. And isn't Owosso where the castle is?

The Castle




The Shiawassee River




Historic homes people actually LIVE IN


Pere Marquette 1225, largest operating steam locomotive in Michigan


Stuff all over the county.

We LIKE it here. Not too fond of the Corporations that contribute to our financial decline...

I am thinking of returning one day.

mikey_the_rat

There's a 125 year old historic house with two fireplaces, three floors and a huge veranda on Water Street in Owosso; almost 3000 square feet.

Last I checked, $129,000 and negotiable

I divide my time between Lincoln Park and Westbranch.

Love both cities. Michigan is a beautiful state.

I went to school at the U of Michigan in Ann Arbor and I had enough of Michigan. I came back to Minnesota.

I love the UP, Traverse City, and the friends I made there, but I HATE the detroit area, militias, and white supremacists, racists in Benton Harbor, etc...

edit: dont let me forget the serious funding shortfalls that prohibit some public schools from even finishing a full academic year, or having any extra-curricular activities or bussing.

http://www.constitution.org/mil/mn/mil_usmn.htm
http://www.minnesotamilitia.8k.com/

The Michigan Militia losers now have a "Camp" where they "Train" (if anyone shows up) on some guy's failed farm. Less than 9000 web hits in 4 years? OOOOOOO. Scary.

And Traverse City can suck my dick. They just voted down a Wind Farm project because the thought it might lower their inflated property values. THEY are the rePuke DRAG on my district that keeps getting Dave Camp re-elected. And you want to talk about RACISTS, talk to the maybe 5 blacks that live there. Traverse City is a rePUKE pimple on an otherwise nice state.

Any State that elected NORM COLEMAN to PAUL WELSTONE's seat has nothing to brag about.

This is a booster thread. Kindly keep your slurs to yourself, and I won't piss on Minnesota any more either.

then why have I never heard of them haivng lived here all of my life except for the years in school in Michigan?

Do you even know what is going on in Benton Harbor?

Get angry much?

geez...

Come in and PISS on my state. Michigan has always carried its weight and a lot more, and now that the worst of times are here, we need SUPPORT. You made us all sound like racist weirdos.


Actually, although one may not respect their PREMISE, the Minnesota Militia instituted "Small Cell Tactics" straight out of Mao's "Little Red Book" about 199something. NOBODY knows how big they are now. Smart, if misguided.

what is going on in Benton Harbor do you?

Michigan has HUGE problems, BIG problems. I do not want to be there for them.

Detroit is a shithole. I will take Minneapolis anyday over that place.

Also, where do you plan on finding jobs for all these people you want to move to your state?

Granholm is trying to keep educated people in Michigan, college grads among them, but she seems to have forgotten that those people want JOBS, so they go where the jobs are.

Also, they also need to stop giving tax breaks to companies, paying them millions of dollars, building their execs homes and golf courses, and brutalizing minorities to do it all in an attempt to bring in jobs, only to see the company take the money, homes, and golf courses, and decide to outsource the jobs to somewhere else sticking Michigan with the bill.

This is all happening on Granholms watch by the way.

You know, this isn't a contest. You like Minnesota? FINE. But boost it on another thread.

And if you want JOBS, they can be got. I can get jobs for at least 10 CNC machinists where I work. I won't start a "JOBS LIST" here.

And lay off Detroit. We have one of the top 5 Urban Medical Centers, Art Museum, Symphony Orchestra, Opera, Sports, Etcetera in the NATION. And our crime rate is down.

AND THIS:

"Also, they also need to stop giving tax breaks to companies, paying them millions of dollars, building their execs homes and golf courses, and brutalizing minorities to do it all in an attempt to bring in jobs, only to see the company take the money, homes, and golf courses, and decide to outsource the jobs to somewhere else sticking Michigan with the bill."

is the work of John Engler and his Republican House and Senate. TRY and get a tax cut off the books around here. Ain't happening, because the still rePuke Senate will KILL it.

MORE DEMOCRATS will help.

So if you want to boost Minnesota start your own thread for crying out loud. We have enough detractors in our own rePuke community. Unless of course you're looking to join THEM.

"is the work of John Engler and his Republican House and Senate. "

It is happening right now. Granholm does nothing to stop it, and infact is out there "selling" Michigan to more companies that stiff michigan for millions of dolalrs and dont hold up their end of the bargain.

Just one aspect of the horror that is Benton Harbobr.

http://bhbanco.blogspot.com/

Every state has a sore spot.

Granholm CANNOT rescind tax cuts passed by the Legislature. She practically had to shut down the state to get them to balance the fucking budget, and now the rePukes are trying to recall legislators that voted for the revenue increase.

Granholm is doing just fine for being STUCK in a mess she can't just fix with a magic wand.

Again, you are being tiresome. Go kick ANOTHER state when it's down. Why don't you go complain about the soaring crime rates in Atlanta, or New Orleans?

and are denying the racism going on there?

I dont think you know anything.

So Minnesota has no "GARDEN SPOTS??"

JESUS, let it go. Are you THAT HOT to pick fights today, or is it just with ME for some reason???

Lower Middle Class now working poor (if working at all).

Not the "Poster Child" for tolerance and community.

you'd know that the rural area outside Traverse is pockmarked with skinheads, KKK and militia. Just as other rural areas in other states.

And as long as we're all about history, you might check out the fact that Granholm has been in office a mere blink of the eye compared to republican governors and a republican led legislature that GAVE all the tax breaks you are suggesting.

I've lived in Mi. all my life. So can the lectures about Benton Harbor. Benton is Benton but the state is as worthy of investment and citizens as any other.

he's a typical snotty U of M student ... as a townie for most of my life, i think i've seen enough of them to recognize it.

he came to Michigan just for the U, then leaves the state again and pisses on it from afar. but probably brags at home that he's a grad of the "harvard of the midwest."

michigan sucks so bad, he had to leave minnesota to go to college here! :rofl:

good riddance i say, he can stay the hell out of michigan.

http://www.minneapoliscrime.com/

"Across every measured statistic, Minneapolis crime is higher than the national average. Overall violent crime is double the national average. Property crimes are over the national average also. Arson is more than double the national average, and car theft is one and a half times the average."

Detroit has its problems like every other US manufacturing-based city that's had their legs cut out from under them by outsourcing and unfair trade practices. There are also some lovely areas. But nobody takes the time to look for them.

By the way, I seem to be attracting fights today: what is it? My Breath? B.O.?

Not far from you at all.

:hi:

aA

First time I've been able to live in a historic house. Ours was built in 1905, still has a coal bunker, a well and a cistern in the basement!

:loveya: Delaware

Been there. Pretty. I like Biden.

:D

I just can't understand why Michigan is so dissed in the rest of the country. Football/sports loyalties aside -- WHY? It's a beautiful state with so much to offer; abundant natural resources and recreaction opportunities, arts and culture abound, four seasons....I don't get it. It's as though everyone bases their opinions on Michigan's crumbling manufacturing base (and buying Asian auto imports despite the massive trade imbalance) only.

I have met more than one person whose knowledge of Michigan is so limited that they didn't even know that you can't see across the Great Lakes. Then of course there are the dry Southwest states that think they have a right to our fresh water.

John Engler sold this state down the river and deserves to burn in Hell because of it. When his term ran out so did he -- to a cushy lobbying job at which he can still dismantle our precious state.

I agree with TD; come give us a look. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Edited for typo.

Nasty PIG of a man.

I have a friend from Detroit who got himself into trouble, and is doing a couple of years in Hiawatha. I don't judge, ya know? He grew up hard. Maybe this time-out will make a difference for him. I'm looking forward to getting to see Michigan, though, as I've never been further West than Cleveland, OH.

I can't move there, though. I loves my West Virginia. It's cheap as hell to live here, too, and we get less snow. ;)

I took a short cut through west VA one time; spent 8 hours on back roads, and don't regret a minute. There's an outlook over a deep gorge and river; don't even remember where it is. Beautiful.

Haven't been in MI for a while, but if you can find me a tenure-track job in a few years, I'll even move to the Soo... ;-)

Shoot, those are all over the place. Call the Union. They can help.

Well, not yet; I'm working on my doctorate. If the right people die by the time I defend I might be able to get a job at MSU. I'm in a land-grant oriented field, and competition's pretty stiff at the research universities.

You make it, come to Owosso and Deb and I will stand you drinks and barbeque.

that would be awful. They need a real football coach.

And DAMN him for drowning Puppies.

He slaps Michigan around like a overused punching bag.

Oldster doncha know. I was so HIGH during those games, half of the time I didn't even know when the game was over.

Football on acid is REALLY WEIRD.

Lloyd Carr though tortures them as he sodomizes them.

:spank:
Take that!
:grr:

I've never been, though my family is from there (points to the spot where the fleshy base of the thumb meets the palm, to indicate Birmingham). I may yet get a chance to check it out.

Speaking of that "Motor City" thing, you'll have to do something about the near-total car dependence in MI, or it's No Deal. Better yet, use "the crumbling industrial infrastructure" to build the buses...

They ran on overhead wires. I remember them from when I was a kid. Silent, clean. The oil companies talked GM into stopping.

Thanks guys.

Now in use in Ann Arbor.

Ran on the wires with a pantograph. LOVED them .

And y'all ain't got no ocean out there--and no, the frigging lake does not count as an ocean, no matter how big it might be.

Get an ocean and I might consider.

:P :P

:hi:

I mean live, in person. You might be surprised.

Been to Chi-town and the surrounding area several times. It blew my mind that fresh water could take up so much space, but I couldn't help but lament the lack of salt air, fish smells, and monstrous tides. :D

Obviously you haven't been at the big lake (pick one) when the alewives have a die-off. You can follow your nose to the lake, baby!

Salt air? Fresh air!!

Tides? How about lake turnover!

You should see Lake Superior shoreline on a fall day. my, my!

I LOVE MICHIGAN!

And visit the Lake St. Clair area someday when the fishflies hatch.....:-)

PLEASE believe every negative stereotype and stay away (except to drop your tourist dollars).

Haven't been in years. I'm going to try to get up there and to Mackinaw (where I also haven't been in years) next summer.

I knew him, he was very good friends with my step-father and we were very involved in his campaigns.

I lived in GR for 5 years and I wish I could get those years back.

Horrible city. Horrible GOP values. Horrible crime rates. Horrible schools.

Sorry to be so negative. But Grand Rapids Michigan is a terrible place to live.

The river is pretty, and there's some good food and music, but it's hard to go 30 seconds without seeing something that is smeared with the feces of the DeVos name.

You gotta be pretty insecure to do that much self-aggrandizement.

Lived in Davison for 3 years too.

I miss it.

But the weather. I've been away from Michigan winters for the last 20+ years, and quite frankly, I'm spoiled.

Should I come back?

I don't know

I am now in the Fall of my life, and I feel in tune with the earth in the Fall.