Thursday, August 28, 2024 Column
The Mott Community College Board of Trustees is treading carefully on the powder keg issue of a possible advanced manufacturing plant on the Mega Site in Mundy Township.
The Flint & Genesee Group is still stinting from a July mob that went to a Mott board meeting to voice concerns. Mott's trustees subsequent
Thursday, August 28, 2024 Column
The Mott Community College Board of Trustees is treading carefully on the powder keg issue of a possible advanced manufacturing plant on the Mega Site in Mundy Township.
The Flint & Genesee Group is still stinting from a July mob that went to a Mott board meeting to voice concerns. Mott's trustees subsequently (that very night!) rescinded their former President's letter of support for the project and told CEO Tim Herman not to associate Mott's name with the project.
Another attempt to win back Mott's support failed today when trustees agreed to supply training for potential employees but stopped short at giving support for the Flint & Genesee Group's project.
I'd consider it a massive understatement to say residents oppose the idea among those who live in Mundy Township and in the bordering areas of Swartz Creek, Grand Blanc Township and Flint Township.
Four of the seven on Mott's board are currently fighting a recall over another issue, and the last thing they need is to have dozens of Mega Site opponents angry at them, too.
They're heroes to them right now after rescinding their letter of support to the Flint & Genesee Group. To borrow a line from Mundy Township Trustee Kyle Ward at a June meeting when he became the first public official to come out against the proposed project, I've seen lots of "No Mega Site" signs but not a single sign promoting it.
A massive PR campaign has been deployed by the Flint & Genesee Group to change opinions. CEO TIm Herman's non-profit group received more than $260 million from our state tax dollars to build something at the 1,000-acre site that measures 1,200 acres on an overlay displayed in numerous media reports.
The site borders Linden Road, Maple Road, Elms Road and Jennings Road.
The Flint & Genesee Group's Tyler Rossmaessler is Executive Director of its Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, and he has been the face of the proposed project. He gathered a few dozen community supporters for the project to get his bag of money from the state despite supplying no specific plans, admitting they didn't yet have a company willing to build anything there yet and there was no clue yet what kind of specific items may be built.
So how does he spout off guarantees about bringing thousands of jobs?
Well, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a big supporter of President Joe Biden's push to eventually get rid of gas-powered engines and replacing them with electric vehicles. She wants Michigan to lead the way in supplying the budding EV industry with battery plants and chip-making plants to support Biden's push.
Thousands were spent early on to kick off the massive campaign in a commercial paid for by a California climate change PAC that featured Big Gretch. She said her state was already supplying the batteries to lead the way while bringing thousands of good-paying jobs to Michigan.
What she meant to say was that she's hoping jobs will come and she hopes they pay better than what battery plants and chip-making plants across America are now paying their employees.
What she meant to say was more than $680 million of your tax dollars had been given away in Big Rapids to build a plant for a company from Communist China to build a battery plant there. All the township board members were thrown out in a recall and residents there vow not to let a company from Communist China build anything there.
The same kind of opposition has surfaced in Delta Township, near Lansing, that got millions in funding from Gretchen's piggy bank to support supplying parts to power the EV movement. So what's going on in Mundy Township isn't a surprise.
The surprise maybe is the lengths they're going in order to try to convince us it's good for us.
You know, all the climate change fear talk and all.
But let's consider real facts. The pollution from burning gas is a fraction of the damage to the environment when matched against the toxins resulting from battery plants and chip-making factories to support the EV push. It takes 22,000 gallons of ultra-pure water to cool down and rinse toxins off a single chip. That's a lot of water with toxins in it that needs to go somewhere? It's the same problem with battery plants that also produce toxins associated with all the massive amounts of water needed in that manufacturing process. Where does the water with toxins in it go?
How about into the ground water supply in a few miles around the plant? That's the reality.
Do you remember GM's Berlin & Farrow disaster of the 1970's? I'd say we can likely consider that a minor disaster compared to what will happen if a battery plant or chip-making plant is located in Mundy Township when you add in how it will also drain Lake Huron within a few years because of the massive amount of water necessary to operate these plants.
Look at Atlanta as an example. They've warned plants there that they need to find a new home in a few years because they've tapped out how much water can be used without damaging the city's drinking water supply. They've been told to find a new home because there's no more water for them.
No wonder our area is a target of Biden's EV push. Hey, government poisoned an entire city more than 10 years ago and Flint still isn't fixed with more than 1,900 still waiting to get new pipes to their homes. They had 100,000 people impacted there. The Mega Site is in the middle of farm land where fewer people are around to make noise.
Sure, there's a Facebook group with more than 2,100 members.
Two candidates for the Mundy Township board have made the Mega Site the focal point of their campaigns for office in November. Jennifer Arrand Stainton wants to be Supervisor and Leah Davis wants to be a Trustee. Ward would be a third against the Mega Site if he can get re-elected to his Trustee position but his June declaration against the proposed project may be the kiss of death for his campaign.
Let's face it. Stainton, Davis and Ward have no big financial backing against the PR machine trying to convince everyone how great it would be to build an advanced manufacturing plant with thousands of good-paying new jobs to support the EV push.
Thousands went into TV commercials by Gretchen and the campaign has added mailers, polls and expensive social media buys with well-done videos. And we're not even within the final 45-day window when local campaigns usually heat up.
The basic message of their campaign is simple: An advanced manufacturing plant promising thousands of jobs to support the EV push is good. Anybody who tells you otherwise is bad.
They like the board they have except for Ward. Getting rid of him while keeping Stainton and Davis away would be good for their cause.
The Daily Gazette and The Morning Gazette Radio Show went on record early in July as endorsing Stainton after Mundy Township Supervisor Tonya Ketzler made it clear she would not appear on my radio show to answer questions about the Mega Site or debate Stainton. I guess we can call it a mere "disqualification" because she chooses to be a "no show" in the campaign with us.
Ketzler insists she's only met Tim Herman a few times and says she's not his puppet.
She says he did not even come to a political fundraiser that was the target of a picket in late June organized by Stainton.
The picket demonstration against the Mega Site drew plenty media attention when the Metro Flint Police Authority met picketers with a massive police presence at Gateway Center off Hill Road where Ketzler's political fundraiser was being staged. The Daily Gazette later pointed out that police patrols are illegal under state law on private roads, yet Chief Matt Batt had his cops cruising all over the roads in the complex, saying it was private property and protesters could not be curbside outside Redwood Steakhouse or park at any of the nearby businesses.
Stainton said social media posts by certain individuals warning to meet Flint protesters with a strong police presence scared away many who were planning to come to show support for their cause, and she demanded an internal investigation be conducted to determine exactly how tax dollars were used to "hassle" protesters against their boss — Supervisor Ketzler.
Here we are more than two months later, and nothing. Stainton's call for an investigation was ignored.
If she can get her investigation, I'm sure it will impact the election. Maybe she can overcome the lack of money by continuing to get media attention to show voters what's really going on here. A July 21 campaign finance report shows Ketzler has raised more than $13,000 which will fund a solid campaign during the final 45 days and she is obviously helped by the massive PR campaign being undertaken by the Flint & Genesee Group although the non-profit organization isn't classifying any of that as "political" to influence the Mundy Township election.
Stainton initially filed for a waiver, saying she was not going to spend more than $1,000. She later amended that but did not file a July 21 campaign finance report which is illegal under state law.
Ketzler may likely try to use that as an example of how her opponent does not belong in office, trying to comply with hundreds of laws more complicated than that one.
I'm ready for someone who isn't a politician but is ready to listen to the constituents. Mundy Township residents clearly do not want this project and they need board members to listen to their concerns and get busy to do something about them.
Give Mott's board credit. They heard them.
So did the MTA when Director Ed Benning bowed to pressure and rescinded his support in the face of mounting opposition to a millage on the ballot for the MTA in the August primary. A few other businesses have rescinded their letters of support after Stainton and other opponents of the Mega Site have threatened boycotts against their businesses.
Hopefully voters are paying attention.
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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Moning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.
Tuesday Sept. 3, 2024 Column
Former President Donald Trump boasts that he rebuilt the nation’s military, but doesn’t say what he rebuilt the nation’s military ro do.
His critics are squawking over his comment that the U.S. military would not be used to defend NATO nations if they had not paid up, but is that what this nation has become
Tuesday Sept. 3, 2024 Column
Former President Donald Trump boasts that he rebuilt the nation’s military, but doesn’t say what he rebuilt the nation’s military ro do.
His critics are squawking over his comment that the U.S. military would not be used to defend NATO nations if they had not paid up, but is that what this nation has become, a nation of mercenaries that has guns that will travel?
This country is lamenting over the loss of $85 billion of military hardware that was lost on a battlefield. Where was this military hardware lost, on what battlefield?
Not on the battlefield in the United States, but on the battlefield in Afghanistan, a country that no more than two (2) people in this country can locate on a map.
This country’s military was run out of Afghanistan after fighting there for 20 years. At the end of this war, this country’s arms were used to arm the military that this country had been fighting.
What was even more disgusting is that this military defeat was passed over with barely a whimper from the American people who have been busying themselves fighting their own war — with each other.
Take your pick, the war between Red States and Blue States, Democrats vs. Republicans, DEI vs. Merit-based decisions, Gay vs. Straight, Pro-Lifers vs. Abortionists, Blacks vs. Whites, Liberals vs. Conservatives,. Name the issue, name the area, and this country will go to war with itself over it.
This country is focused on wars being fought elsewhere as well as here, but the war it absolutely has to win is this war with itself.
Let’s get one thing straight, nobody in the world is scared of the United States. Nobody in the world should be scared of the United States. It is not even a matter of fear.
You invade somebody’s country and that country is going to fight you, until you leave.
What part of that does this country understand?
The honest answer is “no part.” This country doesn't even try to understand, does not, for example, understand other countries' national security interests and concerns, and it has learned nothing from its wars in Korea and Vietnam.
It is fair to say this country doesn’t have a learning curve, and doesn’t think it needs one.
The thought of its political leaders can be summarized as the view that all this country needs to do to be a world leader is continue the build-up of its military.
Well, I have some news.
Goat herders in Afghanistan fought the United States military for 20 years, and would have fought for another 20 years, and another 20 years after that if they had to. There were never any talks of their surrender.
What ended the war in Afghanistan was the United States ending its occupation of Afghanistan.
There was no other ending point.
If you think people will stop fighting while their country is militarily occupied, it means you are nuts, crazy, and insane, multiplied by all three. It also means you don’t know this country’s own history.
The great George Washington, this country’s one and only great President, lost battle after battle to the British army. He triumphed in the end over the forces of King George III for one reason, General George Washington would not stop fighting.
When the British left the battlefield and went back to England, George Washington went home!
All this talk about staying the course in Ukraine is further mockery — of the intelligence of the American people by these elected officials, most of whom are imbeciles.
Former military General Mark Milley, who should have faced court-martial for his dereliction of duty, promoting DEI nonsense in the military, the nation's fighting force, has gone on to enjoy his comfortable retirement. Taxpayers are footing the bill for service this man rendered to the Taliban.
Milley's missteps were not intentional. It was a case of Mark Milley being an idiot, which is a constant theme in this country’s government.
This country is run by idiots.
Maybe you think bar tending is a step ladder to Congress, which is the job Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had before being elected a member of Congress, but bar tending, actually tending the bar, is what you do after being elected.
It was well known, for example that if you wanted to talk to former republican party House Speaker John Boehner, you had to do so before 8 because after that time the man was drunk.
Nancy Pelosi, another drunk, appears to be doing her drinking while on the job.
What is truly amazing is that people listen to these politicians like Nancy Pelosi as if they have something of importance to say.
Give me just one example.
My view of politicians is that it is really unfortunate that when these politicians run for office, these candidates in both political parties don’t lose. Neither of these parties is worth a dime.
Instead of these parties' candidates losing, the American people end up losing, every time, regardless of their party affiliations.
I can say with 100 percent certainty that I have never learned anything in my life from a politician, and neither has anyone else in their lifetime.
Learned what from these fools?!
Yes, I'll wait.
We are a nation constantly at war because of these politicians, the biggest war being the war with ourselves.
It is a war we cannot win.
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George Moss often appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's a retired administrator from the Beecher school district who also worked for many years at the University of Michigan-Flint. He hosts a weekly TV show via All Points TV.
George on Rumble via All Points TV: Chevron Doctrine Overturned: George Moss Weighs In
The stresses on America both internationally and domestically are immense. We face the brute reality of war in Ukraine, which could easily spill into a NATO country. The Middle East is more volatile than at any time since the founding of Israel 76 years ago. There are grim warnings from some people of civil war here at home as the cancel
The stresses on America both internationally and domestically are immense. We face the brute reality of war in Ukraine, which could easily spill into a NATO country. The Middle East is more volatile than at any time since the founding of Israel 76 years ago. There are grim warnings from some people of civil war here at home as the cancel culture seeks to silence and even eradicate voices with which they disagree. Political invective has become personal and ugly — even among friends.
These challenges we face have been entrusted to us, this generation, by God. We have no reason to fear the difficulties we face because as 2 Timothy 1:7 says “… God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
While there are many things that deserve Americans’ attention, there is one topic that many political leaders are doing verbal gymnastics to avoid talking about. It’s a debate that has been, is, and will be a defining issue for our nation.
Two years ago next month, the Supreme Court reversed the calamitous 1973 abortion rulings that led to the taking of nearly 64 million lives. But what should have been the fulfillment of decades of effort to heal a blot on the Constitution and our national conscience has become a flashpoint of conflict. In the past 23 months, tens of thousands of infants have been saved in pro-life states — but perhaps two million more have been lost as the Biden administration and the abortion industry have combined to end all pretense that abortion is about health care and begun promoting do-it-yourself abortions by mail.
The Dobbs decision has given America a second chance. An opportunity to repent. The times call for a new campaign for life, but instead, we see sign after sign of a retreat among our fellow Republicans on this defining issue. And now, there are rumors and reports of an organized campaign to weaken or remove altogether from the GOP Platform language that insists every boy or girl in the womb has a right to life. Having written a large portion of the last two Republican Platforms and elected to the upcoming platform committee, I am involved in those conversations, and I am hopeful we will end in the right place.
But I want to be clear: The right to life transcends other political debates and the interests of any and all political parties and candidates. It is truly the right without which no other right has any meaning.
In his last speech before his death on April 11, 1865, Abraham Lincoln said, “Important principles may and must be inflexible.”
Please don’t mistake my words as partisan. Advocates for the sanctity of human life want all political parties to embrace what our Founders declared as the first among the rights with which we are endowed by our Creator. On this, we are and must be inflexible.
It’s time for us to reflect on what one political party did right — and now risks getting completely wrong. And it is fitting to go back to the very beginning of the Grand Old Party nearly 170 years ago to understand the stakes that loom today.
All of us are familiar with the high drama of the mid-19th century, the turmoil that would divide a nation. The focus of the debate was not at first slavery itself but the extension of slavery into the territories of a rapidly expanding nation. The times compelled America’s representatives to take a stand. Many did so at odds with the political parties that brought them to office.
One of them, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot, was first elected as a Democrat in 1844. Two years later, he stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and offered what became known as the Wilmot Proviso. The Proviso set the condition that no addition to U.S. territory resulting from the Mexican War would permit either “slavery or involuntary servitude.”
Democrat Lewis Cass replied with the idea that became known as popular sovereignty. He wrote of this idea to a colleague, “Leave it to the people, who will be affected by this question to adjust it upon their own responsibility, and in their own manner[.]” This manner of dealing with a matter of profound and universal significance, leaving it to one segment of the public or state to determine whether other men could be owned as property, should sound familiar to our ears right now.
Thus was laid out the core debate between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, between the Democratic Party and the newly forming GOP.
Wilmot re-emerged in time as a Republican. In 1856, the newly formed party met in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence.
The Convention adopted a platform that tracked the text of the Declaration, then proceeded to make its applications clear. It said: “[I]t is both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism — Polygamy, and Slavery.” Those twin relics of barbarism. From the very beginning, the Republican Party concerned itself with moral questions — and rejected the idea that these were merely matters for local debate and resolution.
Four years later in Chicago, in May 1860, Wilmot was among the first to take the floor of the Republican Convention. Speaking of the reigning Democrats, he said, “A great sectional and aristocratic party, or interest, has for years dominated with a high hand over the political affairs of this country. That interest has wrested, and is now wresting, all the great powers of this government to the one object of the extension and nationalization of slavery. It is our purpose, gentlemen, it is the mission of the Republican party and the basis of its organization, to resist this policy of a sectional interest.”
Wilmot went on to cite the Constitution and hail the Revolutionary era, saying of the Founders: had they thought that “they were called upon to endure the hazards, trials and sacrifices of that long and perilous contest for the purpose of establishing on this continent a great slave empire, not one of them would have drawn his sword in such a cause.”
To the delegates gathered in the Windy City, these were not mere catchphrases, tossed among the “real issues” of commerce and taxation. They were the embodiment of the ideals of Washington and Jefferson. They were the very reason the party existed. And the reason was no mere, to use Wilmot’s expression, “sectional interest” — it was the principle that all men are created equal and that governments exist to protect their unalienable rights.
Now, we could spend hours discussing the history that followed these events in the 19th century.
For my purposes, I will only note that our Republic developed rapidly in that era, and the direction was almost uniformly toward protecting fundamental, natural rights. The century saw the abolition of slavery and the adoption of three constitutional amendments to ensure its demise.
The century saw the rise of the women’s suffrage movement, events an ever-growing body of scholarship shows were led by women who decried abortion as the ultimate exploitation of women.
The 19th century brought another band of progress: the great wave of states acting to protect the unborn child. These policies were advanced and adopted not by extremists, or Christian nationalists or whatever the slurs of our day might furnish, but by the newly formed American Medical Association. These forces converged in proposing and ratifying the 14th Amendment in 1868.
I urge us all to take a fresh look at the scholarship of people like Professor Robert George at Princeton and John Finnis at Oxford. They persuasively argue that “[T]he 14th Amendment’s guarantees of due process and equal protection apply to human beings, as persons, at all developmental stages — pre-natal as well as post-natal — and in all conditions.”
Some might say, “This is well and good, Tony, but what has this got to do with the 21st century and the role of the parties and legislatures of our day?” My answer is straightforward. It has everything to do with it.
Let’s begin with the stark reality of the world as it revealed itself in the 20th century. For all the progress in science and technology — we can debate whether that includes the invention of the cell phone, the internet, and the “Barbie” movie — the 20th century was unparalleled in the development and use of mass violence.
There were two world wars, dozens of smaller conflicts, the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the development and dropping of two atomic bombs, the H-bomb and long-range nuclear missiles, the millions of victims of Stalin and Mao.
There was also something new to humanity — the top-down imposition of coercive population control, beginning in China but spreading worldwide. If the Republicans were right about slavery, how should we respond to this latest manifestation of a dismissive view of human life?
The start of the 21st century has seen the emergence of a related issue. Is it surprising that once man is free to end the life of a helpless child in the womb, then he will next turn to the weak, elderly, or vulnerable who are outside the womb?
To find our way forward in the 21st century, we only need to look back to America’s debates on slavery. The Democratic Party once embraced “popular sovereignty,” which held that issues of profound significance, such as slavery, were private decisions for the plantation owner and his state. The Republicans of those days passed the 13th Amendment, ending slavery; the 14th Amendment, providing that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” or “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”; and the 15th Amendment, providing that the rights of citizens to vote shall not be “denied or abridged … on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
That Democratic Party was wrong then. And its ideology of “privacy” has been wrong for the past 50 years. To see abortion and assisted suicide as merely matters of private conscience is a cynical misreading of American history and a threat to the foundations of our American Republic.
I said at the outset that the life issue is not a partisan one. We would, of course, like to see the party of Lincoln stand firm on what it has held as a matter of principle since 1856. We’d like to see it do so because it’s the right thing to do, and the party’s pro-life position has brought it more and more support from young people, African-Americans, and Latinos.
In the first GOP Platform to be written after Roe v. Wade in 1976, the Republicans took a stand that has remained to this day. Let me quote that platform verbatim:
“We protest the Supreme Court’s intrusion into the family structure through its denial of the parents’ obligation and right to guide their minor children. The Republican Party favors a continuance of the public dialogue on abortion and supports the efforts of those who seek enactment of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.”
In 1980, the GOP took another and even bolder step. Ronald Reagan was engaged in a nip-and-tuck primary contest with George H.W. Bush. To salvage his campaign, Reagan sought to resolve a controversy over his signing of a liberal California abortion law in 1967 by sending a strong letter of commitment to pro-life leaders. They responded with endorsements and Reagan marched to victory. Once again, Michigan was at the center of the drama. The action moved to Detroit, where a triumphant Reagan selected Bush as his running mate and crafted a platform built on the 1976 language, unifying the party.
You know the rest of the story. Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter handily. Carter, for his part, was deeply uncomfortable with abortion and supported the Hyde Amendment. In 1984 the GOP Platform took another massive step forward, going beyond endorsing a constitutional amendment and actively asserting that the Constitution, properly understood, already protects unborn human life. It said:
“The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
From that point forward, the Republican Platform has not only consistently affirmed the unborn child’s “fundamental individual right to life,” it has expanded its language to include issues from adoption and defunding of abortion providers to opposing cloning and supporting federal protections for infants born alive after induced abortion. Likewise, abortion has not stood alone in these platforms, because the issue is transcendent in other ways too. Attacks on human life have led to some of the most egregious assaults on the family and on religious freedom and conscience. To these the GOP has consistently said a vigorous “no.”
As the last four decades have now shown, when these principles are celebrated, the Grand Old Party prevails at the ballot box. When the messaging or the candidate deviates from these principles, failure is assured — look at the results in 1996, 2008, and 2012.
What are we to think when Republican leaders suggest reconsidering the party’s stance on the sanctity of human life, on constitutional protection for the unborn, and on a commitment that has lasted over half a century? That the Republican Platform, for the first time in half a century, may sound a retreat on this core principle?
In such a situation, the alarm cannot be sounded too soon or too loud.
We, champions of the God-given right to life, are under no illusions. The ravages of the Sexual Revolution are all around us. Today, we even debate whether mutilating the bodies of children in vain attempts to change their sex is a good thing. Shame on us. Under these circumstances, standing for the sanctity of each and every human life is hard.
But, “Important principles may and must be inflexible.”
I don’t dismiss this challenge, as ballot initiatives in various states have shown. All I can say is, we are not doing this for ourselves. We are seeking the protection of law and public policy for the most vulnerable among us, the unborn, and for their mothers, who either did not expect to be pregnant or did not expect the man in their lives to reject them when they got the news.
Praying, standing, and voting for justice is always the hard road, the way of the cross.
Justice is never won easily. The fight for justice is never time-limited. A single presidential election settles a country’s policy for four years. But our nation’s policy on the right to life is timeless. Like millions of conservative voters and activists, the issue of life is the issue above all others that drew me into the world of politics and policy three decades ago. To abandon it now, to adopt a platform that declares this issue of no national significance, that leaves the unborn completely exposed to dismemberment, cardiac injections, and poisoning in the womb, that sets the stage for a national policy of abortion on demand by a Democratic majority, would be a tragedy of historic proportions.
After all is said and done, what is being asked of us? For me, it is no more than that we be faithful. To not fear, but to respond in the spirit of power, and of love and of the sound mind we’ve been given.
Being faithful is all that is being asked of us. Luke, the Great Physician, records Jesus’s words, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Let’s rededicate ourselves to this battle for true freedom — the freedom that celebrates life and refuses to destroy it. Over the next two months, this battle will play out over a single document, the national Republican Platform, but its object and prize are the soul of a nation. Let’s stir the spirit of the American people, of every party and persuasion, to rediscover the gift of life and our duty to uphold it in every sphere.
My friends, we must be inflexible on this important principle of the sanctity of human life — the future depends upon it.
Today's column by Tony Perkins was adapted from his speech given at the 2024 Lincoln Day Dinner in Muskegon County, Michigan on May 21.
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Washington Watch is a nationally syndicated show hosted by Tony Perkins that airs on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio daily at 6 am. He's the fourth (and longest serving) President of the Family Research Council. He's been President since 2003 and is one of the nation's leading conservative voices.
Received via e-mail on June 26, 2024
Dear Editor,
One year ago, I introduced the Equality Act to protect all Americans, including LGBTQ+ Americans, from employment, housing, and other forms of discrimination.
In many states, it's still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans. No one should worry about losing their job or housing simp
Received via e-mail on June 26, 2024
Dear Editor,
One year ago, I introduced the Equality Act to protect all Americans, including LGBTQ+ Americans, from employment, housing, and other forms of discrimination.
In many states, it's still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans. No one should worry about losing their job or housing simply because of who they are or who they love.
We’ve made great progress, including the U.S. Supreme Court recognizing marriage equality in 2015. But Congress must act to protect all Americans, including LGBTQ+ Americans, from discrimination.
Sincerely,
Dan Kildee
United States Congressman
Flint Twp. Resident
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LETTER TOTHE EDITOR:
I just finished watching the Mott College board of trustees' meeting of last night. The first word that popped into my head was "megalomania." I finally have a descriptive for Andy Everman.
He is determined to create the "college of the future" at Mott College, without any reference to input from other strategic planners, or community input. When he spoke against the strategic planning process that was going forward at the college, he said he wanted to allow the new college president to lead the process.
Alas! That was not his plan. It was to intrude his own megalomania and sense of power into planning for the future of Mott College. No one else has a role in the plan, unless they are nodding heads and applauding his posturing.
Some of the things he proposes may be good, or they may be unworkable. They may not fit into what the college is able to do, given available resources. Most importantly, they do not include input from others outside his board cohort.
The public has no role. The faculty has no role.
The administration is expected to do the research and bring the vision back to him. It is the Andy Everman exploration of ways to force his vision on the rest of us. Sort of a dictatorship kind of thing.
Remember to vote all the way down the ballot. BABs for Democracy will be endorsing three candidates next week. One of them will not be Andy Everman. We need to save Mott Community College.
— Bobbie Clayton Walton
Davison Township Resident
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LETTER TOTHE EDITOR:
On Thursday, June 20 and Friday, June 21, 2024 communications from multiple sources were received by the Metro Police Authority regarding a planned protest at the Redwood Steakhouse which was to take place at 5 pm on June 21st. The sources indicated that there may be various reasons for the protest and the numbers were unknown.
The Metro Police Authority takes an operational approach of proactive policing whenever possible. This is equally important for planned or special events since our resources are limited. By planning for such events pubic safety can be maintained more effectively and efficiently.
In order to effectively maintain the safety for those participating in the protest as well as vehicular traffic and surrounding businesses it is vital that we are able to clearly define where a protest can lawfully occur. This information was relayed to the protest organizer on Friday, June 21st prior to the start of the protest. The protest occurred without incident and public safety for all was maintained.
Matt Bade, Police Chief
Metro Police Authority
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LETTER TOTHE EDITOR:
Dear Genesee Township Residents:
After 12 years of serving at the township first as your Chief of Police, and the past eight years as your elected treasurer, I’ve decided to retire and will not be seeking re-election. As police chief I worked to protect your families safety and as treasurer I have worked to protect and grow the township’s financial resources.
My son Andrew Sorensen is now seeking the office of treasurer to replace me. Andrew shares my philosophy of finances and public service and will maintain the high level of service we provide at the township treasury office.
Andrew has an advanced college degree, has served several years on the planning commission for the City of Mt. Morris, has worked at the Flint Public Library for several years, and he is currently serving as Deputy Treasurer for Genesee Township.
Andrew’s experience in all these areas of public service will give him the advantage of being able to perform his duties at the highest level on day one of his term in office, and he will bring fresh new ideas as the next generation as an elected official
.
Please vote for Andrew Sorensen on August 6th for Genesee Township Treasurer.
Tod Sorensen
Former Genesee Township Police Chief
Outgoing Genesee Township Treasurer
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FACEBOOK COMMENTS
Reactions to George Moss Columns:
Mr. Moss, my last go-round teaching, I had a kid in my class wearing "Sons of Anarchy", clothing, and crying openly the entire period. 14 years old. I asked him what was wrong; no reply. Being as I have degrees in both Social Work AND Child Psychology, on top of 51 YEARS of experience, I reported him to the Administrator (who happened to be a Black female). She did me the courtesy of actually listening to me, but then, just "blew me off". Two weeks later, they took a gun off the kid. My considered opinion is that the trend toward, "tolerance", in addition to the fear of being sued, has created a climate in our schools where no one wants to "accuse", anyone's child of anything. I actually saw this coming way back in 1978, when I was still in college, working as a Substitute teacher to make money. "Laquanisha-with-the-Fingernails", has the entire public education system in America, everywhere, in total retreat.
Reactions to Pastor Jim Reid's Daily Encouragement Column:
Letting far to many criminals come across our borders! And we definitely need to be in prayer for those missing
We Need to Be aware and Look Out For Our Neighbors, or anything out of the ordinary we might see, Speak up if your wrong so what.
Reactions to Executive Editor Miek Killbreath's post about job openings at CCN:
Glad to see hiring instead of firing! Good luck
I'm in Mike .when do I start?
Art Neil, you can make more as a Walmart greeter, Art, and meet much more interesting people, too.
Art Neil, let’s do a 3-person show
Jim Kiertzner, split the $20 three ways?
This is great news
What a rare ground floor opportunity.
Mike Killbreath, if you want me to record some station, IDs or breaks , just let me know.
Congratulations. Welcome back
Reactions to Executive Editor Miek Killbreath's post about Willie Mays passing away
· One of my all-time favorite players is gone at age 93. Willie Mays is in Heaven patrolling center field tonight in his return to baseball.
Saw him play at the old Crosley field in cincy in 1961
Omg ... I honestly thought he was dead in the '80s. He lived a long life
Willie Mays cartoon from 1972 Willie Mays cartoon from 1972:
I remember watching that cartoon. Age 7.
Reactions to Executive Editor Miek Killbreath's post about campaign signs going up illegally all over Genesee County
·50 days until Election Day … 5 more days until campaign signs can go up yet there are literally dozens all over the county. Are laws just not enforced any more?
I’ll take this one. Nope.
Not for Demonrats
You can call our Hot Line number anytime 24/7 at (810) 771-8421 and leave your comment about any subject. There is no need to leave your name but please be aware that slanderous comments will not be published. Selected comments will be published here every day and some comments will be retained to be published in our special section: Most
You can call our Hot Line number anytime 24/7 at (810) 771-8421 and leave your comment about any subject. There is no need to leave your name but please be aware that slanderous comments will not be published. Selected comments will be published here every day and some comments will be retained to be published in our special section: Most Read Recent Hot Lines.
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WOW. I was shocked by your front page story today (Tuesday, June 25, 2026) about the proposed Mega Site in Mundy Township. It was a lengthy and in-depth report into the controversy out there. I live nearby in Swartz Creek and now intend to get involved to stop the Flint Genesee Group from getting $250 million of our tax dollars without telling anyone what they will be doing with all that cash. How can that happen? Let them use the $10 million they've already received but don't be bringing factories that will pollute our area!
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TONYA KETZLER thinks she will get sued for opposing the Mega Site. Are you kidding me. You must have misquoted her. Otherwise, she needs to be thrown out of office. I hope someone is running against her for Mundy Township Supervisor.
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THANKS FOR MAKING PUBLIC what's going on with the Mega Site in Mundy Township. Your story about Monday night's (June 24, 2024) meeting is the first media report that's in-depth with facts and information on how they are trying to use our tax dollars to do all this in secret. They will tell us what they're going to build after they get $250 million more of our tax dollars? Are you serious.
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We produce 4-7 page web sites for a basic fee if you provide the words, graphics and the photos or videos. We also offer creative services to assist with the project. We have a quarter century of experience helping customers present the best possible advertising messages! We know how to help you sell your products and services after decades of experience in newspaper advertising, broadcast advertising, etc. Call (810) 347-9803.
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