Among the 14 sometimes-contentious congressional district elections, Paul supporters picked up at least eight delegate slots to the Tampa convention in August out of 42 at stake, according to one Republican Party source counting the delegates, with sweeps in the Northern Michigan’s 1st District and West Michigan’s 2nd District.

“We came down with a plan and we got it done,” said Joseph Jurecki, a Paul backer who won an election in the 2nd Congressional District at the Michigan Republican Party State Convention.

No official count came yet from the Paul organizers who planned and trained the delegate pick-up strategy in each of the 14 congressional district elections meetings throughout Cobo Center with three delegate slots apiece and three alternates up for grabs.

When the convention was over, Romney walked away with a majority of Michigan’s delegates to the Republican National Convention.

In between votes, Adam de Angeli, Paul’s Michigan coordinator, received word from other meeting room successes, including Paul backers winning in the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 10th and 12th districts, he said. In the 6th District, which includes Southwest Michigan: “They didn’t realize the slate they elected had a Ron Paul supporter,” de Angeli said. “Oops.”

State party rules kept some Paul supporters out of this weekend’s state convention because of preference shown to precinct delegates elected in 2010, de Angeli said late Friday.

“Overall, I think we did really good,” he said. “If we can win delegates out of Michigan, we can win delegates anywhere,” he said.

Saul Anuzis, Michigan’s Republican National Committeeman who is running for re-election, disputes Paul picked up a delegate in the 6th District believing the total Paul count is six delegates.

“They had an impressive showing, they had a big turnout,” Anuzis said. “They are clearly committed. They are very open about their intention of taking over the party. I suspect they will be very active in the next convention.”

“I think they are probably disappointed,” Anuzis said of the Paul supporters. “They expected bigger numbers and bigger success this weekend. Romney had a very big victory.”

Primary shutout

Paul was shut out of picking up delegates in the Michigan primary because he didn’t meet the 15 percent threshold. Michigan’s delegates were divided 16-14 for Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum.

In the districts where Santorum won, those delegates head to the convention “uncommitted” since Santorum dropped out. In districts where Romney won, Friday’s winners must sign a pledge they’ll vote for Romney on the first round to honor the Feb. 28 results. However, some Paul supporters, who have found success in other states by wining delegate elections, still hold out hope they can build a big enough delegate count to sway the outcome of the nominating convention in Tampa — or at least influence the party platform to incorporate Paul’s ideas.

“It’s not over,” Jurecki said, noting Romney is not yet the nominee and Paul hasn’t dropped out of the race.

The selection of delegates Friday revealed the tension between different factions of the Republican Party: longtime activists and newcomers, Paul backers versus Romney supporters, tea partiers and the establishment guard. The result was a mixture of delegates, but with Romney heading to the convention with the majority of delegates from his native state. Party leaders quietly expressed satisfaction that Paul backers, who have had a run on other state party conventions, weren’t able to execute the same strategy here despite much organizing.

Controversy in 12th District

Before any votes were cast in the 12th District election, controversy broke out.

Dave Franklin, 23, from Ypsilanti campaigned to win a delegate slot to the national convention on the grounds he’s a strong and active conservative who backs Romney. However, another member of the 12th District circulated an email to convention voters called, “Beware of Dave Franklin,” saying he’s a Paul activist who wants to promote his platform at the convention.

Franklin responded with a robocall to the convention delegates reiterating he’s a principled conservative who wants to work to ensure Romney has a conservative platform to beat President Barack Obama.

Friday night, Franklin ended up winning a slot as an alternate when his competition was disqualified by not filling out the necessary convention paperwork by the deadline.

After his victory, Franklin shot down the email as slander and misrepresentation. Yes, he was a Ron Paul volunteer coordinator, “but the fact of the matter, unlike many Paul supporters, I’ve come to the realization that Mitt Romney is going to have the votes on the first ballot.”

Obama needs to be removed from office, he says. “Since Mitt Romney is going to be the nominee I will fully get behind Mitt Romney, we just need to ensure that he has conservative platform.”

The election of the several Paul backers didn’t sit well with some longtime Republican activists.

Ronald Vaughan, 74, from Taylor said he doesn’t agree with Paul’s stances, especially on foreign policy. He noted they didn’t have the votes early on in voting process to amend the rules in the 12th District elections.

“Them trying to do something, it didn’t necessarily work,” Vaughan said, who caucused in the 12th. “They may eventually get the numbers to work, but so far they haven’t.”

He didn’t prefer Franklin as a delegate because of liberation stances, he said.

“In the beginning he said some pretty hard things against Romney, but he’s come around, but I think our heart speaks the first time around and just because we capitulate later, doesn’t mean our heart’s changed,” Vaughan said.

“I anticipate some problems at the national convention,” he said.

mschultz@detnews.com

(313) 222-2310

The Associated Press contributed.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120519/POLITICS01/205190368#ixzz1vLsjvvJX

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Sheboygan Wisconsin.. I took a few days off of my online work, and enjoyed myself for a change..  I was extremely lifted in high hopes..very optimistic of the new relationship that is being built.

My hotel room was like a mansion.. to me anyway.  Below are some great pictures.

I simply cannot wait to do this again.

Some music expressions are below.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

We have more to come soon…

Both Congress and the Internet have been abuzz lately with the Stop Only Piracy Act, or SOPA, a bill which will allow the US government to erect a firewall across the Web and largely limit what websites are accessible to American people. While the debates on Capitol Hill might be bit boring and are largely sponsored by the millions of lobbying dollars sent in by SOPA supporters, the Internet is offering a no-holds-barred battleground to make sure that the bill doesn’t make it to legislation.

Advocates against SOPA are tackling the act but taking it where they know best: the World Wide Web.

Lists are circulating around the Internet advertising the list of organizations supporting the SOPA legislation, allowing advocates for an open Internet to know who the bad guy is in this battle for free speech and online access. With the recent approval of the National Defense Authorization Act, hackers quickly dived deep into the Internet to begin prying out personal details from supporters of the law that allows the US government to indefinitely detain and torture Americans without charge. But while a blow to constitutional rights is one thing, taking away the Internet is a whole new can of worms.

As threats of SOPA being passed increasing day by day, activists against the act have unleashed largely on its supporters already.

The website Reddit.com is helping organize a campaign to crush the code by encouraging online entrepreneurs to move their personal websites off of GoDaddy.com, the largest domain registrar on the Web who also happens to be a supporter of SOPA. On Thursday this week, one user asked the Reddit audience, “I’m suggesting Dec 29th as move your domain away from GoDaddy day because of their support of SOPA. Who’s with me?” In less than a day, the post received early 3,000 comments and the support from other activists across the Web.

One person who has signed on for the the down-with-GoDaddy campaign is Ben Huh, the Internet guru that helped bring the “I Can Has Cheezburger” meme to the mainstream. He tweeted on Thursday that he will move all 1,000 domains owned by his company, Cheezburger, off of GoDaddy lest the registrar revokes their support.

“SOPA is cancer to the Free Web,” Huh writes on Twitter.

Go Daddy seemed to think otherwise, however, and originally said that SOPA will only help the Web. “We are grateful that this Committee agrees that it’s time for increased enforcement action because U.S. businesses are hurting, and those of us in the Internet ecosystem are in a unique position to help,” the company told Congress in an official statement last month.

Other domain name registrars don’t agree though and are offering discounted rates for people that switch providers, encouraging them to make the move by using coupon codes such as “NODADDY,” “BYEBYEGD” and “NOSOPA.”

As the heat was added to the fire, GoDaddy cracked on Friday, finally revoking support for SOPA.“In changing its position, Go Daddy remains steadfast in its promise to support security and stability of the Internet,” the registrar writes on Friday.The company’s general counsel, Christine Jones, writes that “Go Daddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of third parties, and will continue to do so in the future,” and the company has removed blog postings on their site of SOPA legislation that it had originally been in favor of.

As RT reported earlier this week, others have identified ways to bypass some of the Internet filtering that could be created if SOPA is passed. Others have simply offered up messages online that they hope to go viral. Singer Leah Kauffman’s “Firewall (Don’t Let Our Government Ruin The Internets)” video has exploded online and a campaign on Twitter to crush SOPA has caused a tremendous buzz as well. But if you don’t think the legislation will matter all that much to you, look no further than the online porno industry.

YouPorn, one of the top-100 most visited websites in the world, has published a post to their site called “Stop US Gov’t From Censoring Your Internet; Stop S.O.P.A!” In it, the administrators of the popular porn site warn their immense audience, “If passed, SOPA will destroy the Internet as we know it.”

“Not only will the bill hamper if not utterly destroy countless technological innovations, it could spell the end of online competition, and mean the beginning of massive online monopolies run by the biggest corporations in the entertainment industry,” adds a post on the YouPorn blog. “Not to mention the fact that any pre-existing site (like YouPorn) could be blocked from all of North America by said Government or Corporations at the drop of a hat, with or without merit.”

“What it really comes down to is: Are you willing to put absolute control of the Internet into the hands of the US Government and a select few entertainment industry corporations? I know I’m not, YouPorn sure as hell isn’t, the entire PornHub Network isn’t, and the hundreds of thousands of companies and people that have joined the cause? You can bet your ass they don’t.”

Source http://rt.com/usa/news/sopa-internet-online-web-547/

Please read, and feel free to like&share if this editorial  is informational and very informing!

July 22, 2011

ARE WE BEING DUPED? FOOD FOR THOUGHT

To the Editor:

Much coverage has been given lately to the proposed relocation of the Baraga County Courthouse/Annex facilities to the old hospital building. Most in town, myself included, would agree that the courthouse is inadequate for several reasons, however, the Special Election to be held August 2^nd, is not a guarantee that the courthouse will actually be moved to the old hospital. The taxpayers of Baraga County need to be aware of exactly what they are voting on when they step into the booth on August 2^nd.

The wording of the county proposal that will be voted on in the Special Election states part “….for the purpose of funding the operation and relocation of the Baraga County Courthouse and Annex offices to the new facility, or to a renovated facility at the former Baraga County Memorial Hospital….”

The powers-that-be that created this “proposal” left a very large loophole.  If it was a certainty that the Courthouse would be moving to the old hospital building, as we are being led to believe, there would have been no need to include the language …”to a new facility,…” in the proposal.

On the front page of the L’Anse Sentinel dated May 18^th, in an article addressing the special election for courthouse/hospital millage, the Baraga County Board of Commissioners approved the special election at its regular monthly meeting Monday, May 9^th.  County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph O’Leary was asked by the board to formulate the proposal.  The board was to hold a special meeting Tuesday, May 24^th to vote on the ballot wording.  Mr. O’Leary’s Letter to the Editor on July 20^th, makes no mention of a “new” facility as a possible option, but yet the wording of the proposal is very clear, and apparently “cut in stone” prior to any “survey” that might have occurred.

Can the CountyCommissionchoose not to relocate to the old hospital, and instead build a new facility?  The answer is YES they can, if the proposal is approved on August 2^nd.

If you have any doubt, please take the time to visit www.baragacounty.org and view the video presentation by Mr. O’Leary.  Approximately 24 minutes into the 40 minute video, Mr. O’Leary explains the results of the Feasibility Study previously conducted, spending a great part of the presentation exploring Option 1 (use the entire hospital facility) and Option 2, (demolishing SNU and using the rest of the facility) Option 3, which was not even listed as an option was to build a new facility at a cost of almost 6 million dollars.  This option was greatly underplayed during the presentation. He also states that a survey would be conducted on the various options presented, and that those surveys would basically determine which options would be on the proposal.  I don’t know you, but I never received a survey, nor have I seen any results of the survey published anywhere.  In the video, he specifically mentions the “new” facility could be located behind the Baraga County Jail and states that theCountyBoard of Commissioners can “bank” the 1.5 mills while exploring other revenue sources for building a new facility.  I don’t think that we as taxpayers were under the impression that a “new” facility was even an option?

I could go on in much greater detail, but I think it’s time to look past the “blue smoke & mirrors” and find out more about the true nature of this proposal prior to voting YES.

Linda Borgen

L’Anse

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

As they [ "legally"] harass dead U.S. Soldiers and their family’s right before their burial.  They further note “Military funerals have become pagan orgies of idolatrous blasphemy, where they pray to the dunghill gods of Sodom & play taps to a fallen fool.” Essentially hacking a long drawn out spit, and spitting directly in the dead soldiers face.

Pfc. Voakes gave his life for the Constitutional right  of WBC to warn America. To deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the world that Pfc. Voakes died in  vain, and that America is  a nation of sodomite hypocrites”

“The Lord no longer builds the American house; nor does the Lord watch over and protect America. These soldiers are dying for the homosexual and other sins of America.  God is now America’s enemy, and God Himself is fighting against America.”"THANK GOD FOR IEDs.”

———–

All I can really say to this is thank god, these people died to allow these scumbags to speak such rubbish on the ones who died to protect our certain freedoms.

It has been concluded by the US Supreme court “Earlier this spring, the US Supreme court ruled to uphold Westboro Baptist’s right to free speech, despite their bearing signs like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “God Hates Fags.” http://wpln.org/?p=27968

However this just might be over turned “http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-02-military-funerals-freedom-of-speech-protests_n.htm”

Spc. Robert L. Voakes Jr

Spc. Robert L. Voakes Jr., 21, of L’Anse, Mich, died of wounds suffered June 4, in Laghman province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device (IED) . He was assigned to the 793rd Military Police Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

[When I did a bit of research it shows that there were multiple people who were killed in this same battalion / same incident which killed Robert.]

Spc. Robert L Voakes Jr., Was brought back home via air plane about a week after he gave up his life for his country in Afghanistan. The plane carrying the body of Spc. Robert L. Voakes Jr,. Landed at the Houghton County Memorial Airport in Hancock shortly after 9:00 A.M.

A very large group of supporters and various agencies around the copper country were on hand to remember Spc. Robert L Voakes, JR. and to escort him back to his hometown.

6/7/2011 - A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains
of Army Pfc. Robert L. Voakes Jr., of L’Anse, Mich., at
Dover Air Force Base, Del., June 6, 2011. Voakes wasassigned to the 164th Military Police Company Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
(U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

——–

When I first got the news of the loss of our local soldier.. I was quite shocked. I spent the day searching for information to put the puzzle together. Of course it didn’t end up like most rumors… I did my usual job and quickly got the media on board to get as much attention on the subject as we could.  When I had contacted WLUCTV6 they took down the information and they did nothing for about a few days… (this is nothing unusual) I then contacted WBUP TV (ABC 5&10) and had Mike Hoey check into it quickly. As usual… it was quickly checked into and the next day we had coverage. 

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Daniel Benishek was in the area for a dinner with the local GOP, when he spoke his condolences to the family of Robert Voakes.