science teachers’ organization refuses to accept copies of “inconvenient truth”

This comes via Think Progress:

In tomorrow’s Washington Post, global warming activist Laurie David writes about her effort to donate 50,000 free DVD copies of “An Inconvenient Truth” (which she co-produced) to the National Science Teachers Association. The Association refused to accept the DVDs:

In their e-mail rejection, they expressed concern that other “special interests” might ask to distribute materials, too; they said they didn’t want to offer “political” endorsement of the film; and they saw “little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members” in accepting the free DVDs…

[T]here was one more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place “unnecessary risk upon the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters.”

As it turns out, those supporters already include “special interests,” including Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil, and the American Petroleum Institute, which have given millions in funding to the NSTA. And while the NSTA showed no interest in helping educators get copies of Al Gore’s movie (which scientists gave “five stars for accuracy“), it has distributed oil industry-funded “educational” content, like this video produced by the American Petroleum Institute…

The first line of (the “educational” video) “Fuel-less”: “You’re absolutely not going to believe this, but almost everything I have that’s really cool comes from oil!” (Watch a video clip.) As Laurie David notes, an API memo leaked to the media in 1998 explains the motivation behind such videos: “Informing teachers/students about uncertainties in climate science will begin to erect barriers against further efforts to impose Kyoto-like measures in the future.”

[You can contact the National Science Teachers Association here… I plan to write to them, contact my local paper, and my local school board… and then I’m going to take Clementine to see the “insidious far left political propaganda” film “Happy Feet.”]

Posted in Alternative Energy | 5 Comments

the ypsi chamber and how to fix it

We just received the following post at the YpsiVotes site and I thought that I’d copy it here, so that more people had an opportunity to see it and comment. It comes from Mark Swanson of the Terry Bakery:

I along with my wife, brother-in-law, and (his) wife are the owners of Terry Bakery. We bought the business and property about 7plus years ago. About 6 months after we bought the A2News wrote an article about the resurgence of investment in Downtown Ypsilanti. I vaguely remember the article saying something like in the last 6 mos. -18 properties had changed hands, there was a listing of the new businesses that had gone in (Wicked Micky’s, Country on the Avenue, DaLats, BW3’s, Us, etc…). The article was positive and full of enthusiasm for Downtown Ypsilanti. Since that time we have seen businesses come and go -and God Bless them -Stay! In that time – I’ve seen and thought a lot about what has gone on, what mistakes were made, how to correct mistakes and find solutions, how organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the CBC (Central Business Community), the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) could and should be improved. My purpose here is not to blame anyone (although I may have a critical opinion) but to rehash my subjective outlook on the past and the way these organizations have operated and suggest how they are improving and might continue to change and improve. Enough Preamble! Onward!

First Subject:

The Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce: You will never find a more continually positive person about the future of the Greater Ypsilanti Area than Keith Peters. He speaks positively about the future of Ypsilanti and defends us to the hilt (i.e., the USA Today article). He and his wife shop locally, and both have lived and worked in the town forever. That said, I feel there is a disconnect between the small independent businesses downtown and throughout the city of Ypsilanti for the following reasons:

1) Few people that I can relate to on the board. What do I mean? The board members year after year consist of every bank in town, representatives of government (city and township), 2-3 people representing EMU, Utilities (YCUA), big business (Briarwood, Waste Treatment Companies, etc…), with the occasional local lawyer thrown in. Many of these people do not live in Ypsilanti. I do not say that they should not be on the board-but I dare say that very few of them over the years have popped their heads into many of the shops downtown or interact with the independent merchants or businesses downtown other than the occasional chamber member seeking a loan at a bank or at the Chamber Gala.

2) This leads to the fact that there is a Disconnect between Chamber and Downtown Businesses other than when you are solicited for a Chamber Membership. We belonged to the Chamber the first two years we were in business. Than we started to ask: what are we getting for our membership? The answer was that we were listed in the directory, listed on the website, a suggestion that Chamber members are more likely to buy from Chamber Members, Invitations to the Golf Outing Fundraiser and the Gala for a price, an Insurance Program, and a few savings with some other businesses. The bottom line for us was that 250-300 dollars was a lot of money to be one of several hundred businesses listed on a website/directory, didn’t have time or money for the Golf or Gala, had an Insurance Program, other businesses were more interested in the value of our services and products than if we were Chamber Members.

Thoughts and Solutions

I feel that the Chamber should be a Vanguard in helping Businesses in Ypsilanti (and not just Downtown). The Chamber is and should be trying to bring Big Business to the Area-but they should also promote small independent businesses that exist now.

I suggest the Chamber do the following:

1) Expand the Board: this suggestion was given to me by Ed Clemente (now State Rep. Clemente) who was the in Charge of the DownRiver Chamber of Commerce. Keep your Executive Board full of your lawyers, Bankers, University Administrators, and Politicians- but put some merchants and small independent business people who pay their own way more directly out of their own pocket. Give us a voice with representation. I have been told that if I am a Chamber Member that I cannot go to a board meeting and speak or comment. I hope this is not true.

2) Develop a business plan and a budget that helps Ypsilanti Small Businesses. Take part of our dues and use that for advertising the diversity, the variety and vibrancy of business in Ypsilanti. I want a bang for my buck. This last year we gave the money we would use for a Chamber Membership to the CBC for the Concerts Downtown.

Enough on the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce-On to other thoughts and institutions later.

Mark Swanson

[The image of the Terry Bakery’s very cool sign comes from this site.]

Posted in Ypsilanti | 1 Comment

prostitution in ypsilanti

I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but I’m curious to know how much a blowjob goes for inside the city limits of Ypsilanti. Someone mentioned a few weeks ago here on the site that one could be had for $7.50 in the parking lot of Arthur’s, just off of Michigan Avenue. One of our newly elected City Council members, however, tells me that they’re ten bucks a pop. Who should I believe?

All joking aside, assuming these guys are in the ballpark, I had no idea that sex of any sort could be gotten that inexpensively. I don’t think we need to have a really long, drawn out discussion on the market dynamics, etc, that make this the case, but it strikes me as horribly sad that something so distasteful and potentially harmful doesn’t warrant more in the way of compensation.

On a related note, I thought that I should mention, for the sake of those new to our community here, that real prostitutes, or at least the prostitutes in Ypsi, don’t look like they do in movies. They don’t wear high heels, fishnet stockings and black mini skirts. More often than not, they wear sweatshirts and acid-wash jeans. And, not that I want to help the johns that frequent our neighborhoods, but you can tell the ones who are really cops pretty easily. They look well-fed. The real prostitutes look sick and fragile in comparison, like feral cats a few months into winter.

Whatever we’re doing now, it isn’t working. We need to do a better job of cracking down on pimps, and getting help for the women working the streets here. I know that programs must exist, through SOS and others, but I have no idea what they are. If you know of any work being done either through local not-for-profits or churches, please leave a comment. (And if local churches aren’t involved, shouldn’t they be?) I’d like to know what services are available to women who want to leave this line of work, and how those services are being marketed to the women working our streets. Relying on law enforcement alone clearly isn’t working. (For what it’s worth, I’m going to suggest that prostitution be added to the list topics being considered for our next YpsiVotes forum. I think it’s a problem that could really benefit from more community involvement.)

Posted in Ypsilanti | 23 Comments

but i thought that our leader saw into his soul and determined that he was on the side of good

Wait. This just doesn’t make any sense. I thought that Bush gazed deeply into Pootie’s heart and soul, and determined him to be a decent man, on our side in the war against “evil”… Surely, he can’t be killing and poisoning his opponents.

[I love the idea of basing our foreign policy on the gut instincts of a man that’s failed in every adult undertaking he’s ever pursued, but maybe it’s time to change course.]

Posted in Observations | 3 Comments

how well do you know your local hate groups?

The Southern Poverty Law Center just issued some great, little maps illustrating hate group activity in the U.S. in 2005. I’m reprinting the close-up of Michigan here. It has 25 active hate groups, which puts it pretty much in the middle of the pack. Vermont and Maine, you might be interessted to know, have none, and California is the winner with 52. (Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia are close behind.)

Posted in Other | 18 Comments

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