Granholm puts state budget crisis on backs of taxpayers

While Gov. Granholm basically calls state legislators cowards if they don't vote in favor of a tax hike because of the fear of being recalled.

I hope every legislator has the backbone to do what's right for their districts and what's right for Michigan, and not just what's right for their political futures," Granholm said.

State legislators in some districts are being targeted by the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance with the threat of recall if they vote in favor of raising taxes to solve (temporarily at best) the state's budget deficit of $1.75 billion.

The real issue here (to me anyway) is the fact that Gov. Granholm and our state legislators have not seen the light and figured out that it would be better to cut back and have a smaller government that is efficient and can run at a lower cost. I can't believe that they still haven't figured out that people don't want higher taxes.

I grow weary of Granholm banging on the fact that the only way to fix our state's fiscal issues is to squeeze more money out of Michigan residents. Quit panhandling and start coming up with practical solutions please.

We are closed for an extended Labor Day Weekend

We will be closed for an extended Labor Day Weekend beginning Thursday, August 30 until Tuesday, September 4. Any gift baskets ordered after 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 29th will be shipped on Wednesday, September 5th. Have a Great Day!

The Top 10 Michigan Wonders

I put together a list of the Top 10 Michigan Wonders. The criteria were simply that they needed to be places and/or thing in Michigan that are unique and interesting. I figure the list will expand beyond 10 because I feel that there are way more than just 10 things about Michigan that deserve distinction. You can view the list at the Top 10 Michigan Wonders page I created. The list includes pictures and descriptions of the individual items plus some videos that complement the wonders.

Some of the things that made the list -

• Sleeping Bear Dunes
• The salt city beneath Detroit
• Soo Locks

Visit the Top 10 Michigan Wonders

New page about Anatomy of a Murder

I created a new page at Squidoo that gives some background on the actual murder that the book and movie were based on. You will also find information on the area that the movie was filmed (in Michigan's U.P. at Big Bay, Ishpeming, and Marquette) back in 1959. I tossed in videos of the movie trailer and links to learn more about the cast as well as some photos from the movie and area in which it was filmed. Here it is the link - www.squidoo.com/anatomy-of-a-murder

Crews continue to make progress in U.P. forest fire

The Sleeper Lake Forest Fire is estimated to be 67% contained and the chance of some more rain showers on Thursday would definitely be a help. Firefighters continue to battle the blaze with the help of marshmasters (they look like mini-tanks), three Blackhawk helicopters, and two CL-215 water bombing aircraft. Read today's Marquette Mining Journal article about the fire.

Update on the Edmund Fitzgerald life preserver

I recently mentioned a story about a family that discovered a battered orange life preserver with Edmund Fitzgerald stenciled on it. Many wondered if this was a hoax of some kind or if it could possibly be the real deal. Cynthia Edwards has apparently put to rest any ideas of the ring's authenticity or chance that it was a hoax. She is quoted in the Marquette Mining Journal as saying -

. . . her father acquired the orange preserver more than 20 years ago and stenciled ‘‘Edmund Fitzgerald’’ on it.

The ring was kept at the family’s cabin along Lake Superior and the Eagle River — not far from where it ultimately was found in the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Peninsula — until it was lost about two years ago.

Her father painted the ship’s name on the ring as kind of a remembrance of the ship.

She also stated that, "It was never to trick anybody or make anybody think it was real."