Detroit

Well, now they're a complete set 😢 . RIP Machine Gun.

The News: Dennis Thompson, last remaining member of MC5, dies at age 75 via archive.is

• Induction into the RRHoF, my ass

The Freep: Dennis Thompson, MC5 drummer and ‘last man standing,’ dies at 75 via archive.is

Paying my respects: howzabout a little music for the sad occasion?…

• The New Order - 1975

• New Race - Looking At You

• Rave-Up of The Dead! 🧟‍♂️: DTK/MC5 + Lemmy - Back In The U.S.A.

  • Wishing studio-musician-in-denial and eternal "best New Rock Guitarist" Gilby Clarke a long life and not to join fellow bandmates on a different stage for a loooong time.

• Drummers…ya just gotta hate 'em! 🤣 Old Man Thompson boring the bejeezus out of some Michigan kids with his "war stories". I was just…like…that… and I'm sure most of you were too.

Stay sick, scratch glass, turn blue, climb walls…but don't get caught!
[email protected] ☆ [email protected] ☆ [email protected]

…or is that Honor Among Thieves in Saginaw…? Quid Pro Quo in Action? Birds of a Feather Flock to Mid-State Michigan? l could go on and on, you know I could…

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, whose prison sentence was shortened by then-President Donald Trump in January 2021, attended a campaign rally for the Republican candidate on Wednesday in Saginaw County.

Kilpatrick was once a prominent Democratic politician in Michigan before he was sentenced in 2013 on two dozen counts of using his positions as mayor and state representative to carry out a decade-long criminal racket involving extortion, bribery, conspiracy and fraud.

Trump commuted Kilpatrick's sentence[…]16 years before Kilpatrick was initially set to be released from federal prison.

"This commutation is strongly supported by prominent members of the Detroit community," the Trump White House said in a statement in January 2021.

By who exactly?

From the Freep's article…

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra − who knew Kilpatrick from his time as mayor and as a state legislator and Hoekstra's time as a congressman from west Michigan − told the Free Press he saw Kilpatrick, his wife and his children come into the hangar at MBS Airport in Freeland ahead of the event.

"He said, 'Hey, congressman, good to see you.' I didn't recognize him at first − my bad − and he said, 'Kwame Kilpatrick,'" Hoekstra said, adding that the two spoke briefly. Hoekstra also served in Congress with Kilpatrick's mother, former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit.

Alternate links for your convenience:

• Detroit News, Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick attends Donald Trump's rally in Michigan via archive.is
• Detroit Free Press, Kwame Kilpatrick among those who attended Donald Trump rally in Saginaw County via archive.is

Further reading:

• The Metro Times: Kwame Kilpatrick’s wife buys enormous house in Novi despite former mayor’s unpaid restitution
• The Freep: Kwame Kilpatrick has a new job, but he has shown he prefers thrills to paying his bills

Stay sick, scratch glass, turn blue, climb walls…but don't get caught!
[email protected] ☆ [email protected] ☆ [email protected]

Walter Reuther was an American visionary so far ahead of his times that although he died a quarter of a century ago, our Nation has yet to catch up to his dreams.

-- President Bill Clinton, in 1995

Walter Reuther is the only man I have ever met who could reminisce about the future.

-- Murray Kempton, journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient

Walter Reuther is the most dangerous man in Detroit because no one is more skillful in bringing about the revolution without seeming to disrupt the existing forms of society.

-- Governor George Romney

Over at the News, they've posted a selection of their archive photos of activist and former UAW president Walter P. Reuther. Yeah, that's the guy whose name is on the 696. For those who don't know who Reuther was, I highly suggest you read the linked Wikipedia article for starts.

The following legendary exchange is attributed to Reuther and a member of the Ford Motor Company management during a factory tour exalting the new (at the time) technologies and robotics on the assembly line…

Ford Manager: How are you going to collect union dues from these guys [the robots]?

WPR: How are you going to get them to buy Fords?

I can't help drawing parallels between Reuther's assessment and the present—and fast-approaching future—state of AI. Happy Sunday, everybody!

Alt link via archive.is

…Herds of Nerds Swarm In Warren

The Great Lakes Comic Convention Friday, February 23 – Saturday, February 24 The Macomb Community College Expo Center 14500 E 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Neverending Story!
with actor Noah Hathaway (Atreyu)

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Mirage Studios Reunion!
Steve Lavigne - Jim Lawson - Dan Berger

Celebrate The 40th Anniversary of Transformers!
with Bob Budiansky, editor, Marvel Comics

Who knew, this synchronized quadrāgintennial tsunami of pop culture?

50 year Anniversary of Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost!
Meet Wesley Eure (Will Marshall)
Kathy Coleman (Holly Marshall)
Phillip Paley (~~Fuzzyboy~~ Cha-Ka the Pakuni)

Okay, I’m out. Vendors, special guests by the Sandcrawler-load, events, tickets, everything you need to grok is at the website.

…or Make-believe Barbarians at The Gates of, uh, where the hell are we?

Michigan Nordic Fire Festival
Friday, February 23 -- Sunday, February 25
Eaton County Fairgrounds
1025 Cochran Ave, Charlotte, MI

Hands-on activities (Free except when noted):

• Spear Throwing
• Archery
• Axe Throwing (additional fee)
• Kids' Quest
• Kid's Axe Throwing

All this and other, erm, Vikingy events and activities, merchants, food and entertainment plus where to point your Viking ship all at the website. Please, no raping, looting or pillaging allowed but otherwise, y'know, have at it.

I'll just leave this here. I KID! I KID!

Apologies about the late posting especially for missing these two important events…

• (non-Detroit-Michigan-related) Nina Simone (RIP) was born on February 21, 1933
• (Detroit-born) Malcolm X (RIP) was designated persona non grata by The Nation of Islam and then later assassinated February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in NYC

February 23, 1868—Dr. W.E.B. DuBois is born William Edward Burghardt DuBois in Great Barrington, Mass. DuBois can easily qualify as Black America’s lead­ing scholar and intellectual of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was also an educator and social activist fight­ing tirelessly against racial injustice and U.S. imperialism.

February 24, 1868—The U.S. House of Represen­tatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson.

Thanks to Johnson, who was acquitted by one vote in the Senate, the promise of Forty Acres and A Mule was never kept. If he had been expelled, who knows in what kind of America we would all be living in today? I'm sure that Rosa Parks would have sat on the bus wherever she damn pleased her entire life, Rev King would mostly likely have been "just another" Baptist minister, we wouldn't have had to wait until 2009 for our country's first Black president and our next quoted item would have never been realized…

February 26, 1920—Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) founds the first nation­ally organized celebration of Black American history (then called Negro History Week), which was first cele­brated on this day in 1926. Woodson scheduled the week to coincide with the birthdays of Civil War President Abraham Lincoln and Black aboli­tionist Frederick Douglass. However, in 1976, Negro History Week was expanded into the current day Black History Month.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. Honest I do. Enough's enough. An unnecessarily exaggerated response. An incredibly complicated situation that just keeps getting knottier. But just like in comedy, timing is everything.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib's call for people to vote against President Joe Biden in Michigan's Feb. 27 Democratic primary reverberated across political circles and social media over the weekend, with nervous supporters of the president's saying she was helping former President Donald Trump's reelection efforts.

On Saturday, even as Trump was making his way to Michigan for a raucous rally in Waterford Township, Tlaib, D-Detroit, who represents southeast Michigan's large Arab-American and Muslim community in Dearborn, released a video of her telling people to vote uncommitted as a signal to Biden of their continued demand that he call for Israel to stop a bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Several Democrats and others denounced Tlaib's stance almost immediately. Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, proclaimed it "shameful" on X on Sunday.

And after a group, Republicans Against Trump, posted the remarks, asking, "Who's going to primary her?" the civil rights lawyer Andrew Laufer said of her comments on X: "That’s an amazing stance @RashidaTlaib. Have your supporters not vote or vote for the guy who will deport them. Just an amazing position."

And as for the Listen to Michigan campaign, Tlaib has literally close relations with its membership: Her sister, Layla Elabed, is its campaign manager. Several other local leaders with whom she is close, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, also have signed onto the uncommitted campaign.

…also "signed on", that bastion of hard-hitting journalism, The Metro Times.

Even a dog knows not to defecate where he sleeps.

Alt. link: https://archive.is/apavN

Further reading:

• Michigan Advance: Biden campaign focusing on Trump, despite ‘uncommitted’ campaign in Michigan Dem primary
• The Freep via archive.is: Trump rails against EVs, China, job security in Michigan visit: Here's a fact check

"Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital." -- Steven Stalinsky, WSJ

"Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town," Biden posted on X. "We must continue to condemn hate in all forms."

"This is a direct result of the inflammatory @WSJ opinion piece that has led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn," Hammoud posted on X.

"Dearborn is a vibrant community full of Michiganders who contribute day in and day out to our state.," said Whitmer [on X, of course -- rr]. "Islamophobia and all forms of hate have no place in Michigan, or anywhere. Period."

Other news sources:

• The News: Biden condemns 'anti-Arab hate' after WSJ piece calls Dearborn 'America's Jihad Capital'

• Reuters: WSJ opinion piece calls Dearborn 'jihad capital,' Biden condemns anti-Arab hate

• Washington Post: Michigan city ramps up security after op-ed calls it 'America's jihad capital'

Okay, okay, so that title's not an exact quote from Donald J Trump, millionaire ("I own a mansion and a yacht"), but how else can you describe his intelligent and measured retort regarding Shawn Fain's explanation on why the UAW endorses President Biden for the upcoming presidential election? "I've seen Shawn eat his boogers!…and he'll eat yours, too!" I've heard more reasoned debate on my elementary school playground.

And to think, there are people reading this that voted for this crybaby, others who will vote for this clown in November, and even those that voted for this clown AND will still vote for this dangerous little man in November. It boggles the mind.

Alternate links for your convenience…

• "To The Wayback Machine, Sherman."
• 1ft.io
• archive.is

During a hearing on antisemitism, in front of Congress and TV cameras, the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania were asked by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik on Tuesday whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their schools’ rules on bullying and harassment.

This should not be a hard question. Calling for the murder of any race or religious group should be a non-starter at a college. Would screaming for the genocide of Blacks, Latinos, gay or transgender people be tolerated for a second in the Ivy League? Never. Nor should it be. To deny that would get you fired before you could finish your sentence.

But faced with that same simple question regarding the genocide of Jews, the presidents struggled with their answers.

(In)sincere apologies for posting this opinion piece here in c/[email protected]; normally I can take them or leave them, giornalist Mitch Albom's articles—usually leaning towards the latter—but the piece is a good wrap-up of the recent hemming and hawing and general cowardice of some of our top university presidents. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt that neither Dr Magill (Penn) nor Dr Gay (Harvard) are actually antisemites or Nazis (who knows?), but there are certain questions in life that have hopefully obvious, one-word answers that you just can't skirt around.

Alternate links:

• archive.md
• 1ft.io

Jack's muse. A Mo Tucker for the end of the century. NPR dubbed her the "21st Century's Loudest Introvert". The most reluctant rock star...ever.

Happy Birthday, Ms White! 🍬🍬🍬

Jurors deliberated for approximately 6 1/2 hours following a six-week trial in front of Chief U.S. District Judge Sean Cox in Detroit before returning guilty verdicts on 22 charges that included two murder counts that carry mandatory terms of life in federal prison.

Arnold, 37, was accused of killing two men and trying to kill eight others while helping lead a violent street gang that from 2008-15 fueled the nation's opioid crisis by distributing OxyContin pain pills and other drugs.

The convictions mark the culmination of a prolonged federal attack on the Seven Mile Bloods and a high-profile attempt to stem violent crime in Detroit. The government's case was highlighted in "Death by Instagram," a serial narrative in The News in 2018 that described how federal prosecutors locally had used racketeering laws to secure almost 100 convictions of violent gangsters, bikers, methamphetamine dealers and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

That determination was seen Thursday night as Jews and others gathered at Campus Martius for the 13th annual lighting of a giant menorah standing 26-feet tall that organizers say is the biggest public Hanukkah display in Michigan. Now more than ever, it's important for Jewish people to be able to be open about their identity even though some may feel more anxious about it, said Jewish leaders. Tensions could be heard at the menorah lighting ceremony, where some protesters chanted "cease-fire now" as a rabbi and a daughter of an Israeli hostage held by Hamas spoke. Other speakers included Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who noted she was the highest-ranking statewide Jewish official in state history; and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, who shouted her support for Israel and Jewish people.

Last year, [Oak Park resident Eliza] Klein helped light the first candle of the big menorah in a program called Menorah in the D and this year, two family members of two hostages still held by Hamas helped light the candle. Yair Moses and Ella Ben-Ami, two Israelis who are visiting metro Detroit this week to tell their stories, spoke Wednesday at a news conference at Honigman law firm organized by Chabad and others the day before the menorah lighting. They said that Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7 both of their parents, later releasing their mothers, but their fathers remain hostages. They plan to speak Friday at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the largest Jewish house of worship in Michigan.

At the Chabad event at Campus Martius, Jewish Voices for Peace - Detroit, a leftwing group that often criticizes Israel, held a separate Hanukkah event, with a different message, calling for a cease-fire. Chants of "cease-fire now" could be heard during the Chabad event, which Jewish Voices for Peace alleged has "militaristic messaging."

Alternate links:

• archive.md
• 1ft.io

Huntington Place? Oh, you mean ~~Cobo Hall~~ ~~Cobo Center~~ uhm, ~~TCM~~ TCF Center? Oh, it's not called that anymore? Why don't they just call it Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac Center (or Cadillac Center for short) and be done with it? Geez!

The texts from the Trump campaign employee "encouraged rioting and other methods of obstruction when (the Trump campaign employee) learned that the vote count was trending in favor of" President Joe Biden, the court filing said.

A record 167,000 absentee ballots were counted at Huntington Place by the evening of Nov. 4 as crowds shouted, "Stop the Count!" The scene included yelling, taunting, cheering, fists pounding on glass and unruly challengers being arrested by police.

Alternate links:

• 1ft.io
• archive.md

One of my personal favorite actors, award-winning Ellen Burstyn is probably best known for her role as the possessed Regan's mother, Chris MacNeil, in The Exorcist and again in the recent (but less charming) The Exorcist: Believer. But this fabuous lady has a equally fabulous career 50 years strong!

She is one of only 24 people to have achieved The Triple Crown of Acting; her inclusion in this elite set are her Oscar® for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore in 1974, a Tony for the stage version of Same Time, Next Year in 1975, and an Emmy for her appearance on Law and Order: SVU in 2009.

Among her more acclaimed films are The Last Picture Show, the aforementioned Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the film version of Same Time, Next Year, How To Make An American Quilt, Requim For A Dream, and *The Fountain*.

And this magnificent lady was born here in Detroit 91 years ago today! I'd like to wish Ms Burstyn a most wonderful day! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🎂🍾

"Murder City" no more…well, almost…

In 2018, Detroit had 261 homicides, the fewest number since 1966. Through Nov. 30, 2023, Detroit has experienced only 228 homicides, putting the city on track to finish the year well below the 2018 record low.

That's still around four murders a week by my public-school-education calculations. Still, better than the 714 murders logged for 1974, n'est-ce pas?

Did You Know?: According to World Atlas 2023, Detroit is the 29^th^ most dangerous city in the world, and the 5^th^ most dangerous in the United States?

Chag Hanukkah sameach, mishpochas! At sunset this Thursday is the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. "Darkness doesn't stand a chance."

The doors of Menorah in the D open at 5 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2023, at Campus Martius in Downtown Detroit. The event officially starts at 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to all, regardless of their religious beliefs.

RSVP required, bubbeleh!

Editorial: The People Mover. The QLine. Two proof-of-concept tram systems that cover about as much ground as the kiddie-car train at The Detroit Zoo. How is it that Detroit—city that used to be mentioned in the same breath as New York, London or Paris—just can't get an effective mass transit system. One bus per hour per line.

I distinctly remember a bus ride from MCC South Campus to the Cass Tech area that took, beside the Gen. Patton-like coordination between various bus schedules, three hours including the transfer at the Royal Oak Transit Center. A trip that would have generously taken 45 minutes by car.

It's not for lack of trying, as the linked article elaborates. Even Cleveland has a functional public transit, for the love of Colman! Chicago can connect the surrounding cities, why can't Detroit? Yes, I'm familiar with the plethora of ~~excuses~~ reasons of varying veracity. Only recently Detroit's [saviour|plunderer] and QLine namer Dan Gilbert has seen the light but I'm compelled to question his motives after his near-total silence on the matter until now.

Sorry for the rant but this is a subject that has stuck in my throat like a small fish bone for longer than I care to remember. And now back to our regularly scheduled program…

The museum is hosting a job fair to fill open positions from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at Hitsville NEXT, the educational center of Motown Museum’s newly expanded campus.

Open positions listed online include archive intern, information services manager, events manager, and assistant retail manager. More may be posted soon, according to a press release, as available roles, some seasonal and some permanent, include jobs in administration, retail, guest services, programming and education, and archive and collection management.

BRRRRRR!!! Feel like struttin' yer stuff down Woodward Ave.—at a brisk pace AND temperature—in only a Speedo? I don't know if you'll actually beautify the streets but you'll be doing it to raise funds to benefit The Greening of Detroit and the Ruth Ellis Center. Halo Detroit proudly presents the 8th Annual Detroit Santa Speedo Run.

More information at the Halo Detroit website or on their Facebook page.

Noel Night is an open house of the Midtown Detroit and Cultural Center districts that celebrates diverse holiday traditions amid the state’s premier arts and cultural institutions, historic churches, galleries, and a growing circle of small businesses. Noel Night provides the perfect backdrop for an evening packed with performances and other holiday experiences with family and friends—all free of charge

From the local press…

• The Detroit Free Press: Noel Night lights up Detroit's cultural district this Saturday
• The Metro Times: Noel Night returns to Midtown Detroit for a magical evening of food, music, and holiday shopping

Tomorrow evening in Midtown. Check the official site for exact times and other details.

And if you go, how about some reaction here afterwards, eh?

Police surveillance tools have multiplied in the two years since the council adopted a Community Input Over Government Surveillance ordinance. The 2021 law, created in partnership with civil rights groups, requires public disclosures before the council can approve technology contracts. Advocates say loopholes in the law and a lack of data reporting have undermined efforts to inform residents about how their information is being collected.

Tawana Petty is a fellow with the Social Science Research Council and Detroit activist who was working with the council and ACLU to draft an oversight ordinance. Petty pulled her support for what ultimately passed in 2021, saying input from the Detroit Police Department resulted in “too many carve outs” for police to avoid disclosures.

“Even a cost analysis would be helpful,” [said Council Member Gabriela] Santiago-Romero [Public Health and Safety committee chair]. “If you tell me something is going to lower crime, I need a benchmark. It’s the same with our garbage, we have expectations of when it gets picked up and if it’s not you’re not doing your job and we’ll find another company. What I’m seeing with DPD is we’re not as stringent, and we should be.”

“The problems with internal combustion engines are mostly sorted,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports senior director of testing, told me. “The new problems are mostly associated with electronics: Electric vehicles that use brand new platforms and power trains.”

EVs in model years 2021-24 suffered about twice as many reliability problems as internal combustion engines, or ICE, according to CR’s survey of about 70,000 vehicles.

Hybrids were the big winners, with an average 26% fewer problems. Faring worst were plug-in hybrid vehicles, an extremely promising technology that features a bigger battery than a regular hybrid, so the vehicle can go farther on electricity in daily driving, but also has a gasoline engine for long trips. PHEVs had 146% as many issues as ICE vehicles.

The Michigan Transportation Department and city of Detroit on Wednesday opened the segment on 14th Street between Marantette and Dalzelle streets near Michigan Central Station, where Ford Motor Co. is building an electric- and autonomous-vehicle campus. The road is equipped with inductive-charging coils from Israel-based Electreon Wireless Ltd. to test the technology's efficiency and potential for public transportation opportunities. Only EVs equipped with a special receiver can be charged from it.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in September 2021 announced a pilot initiative to develop the nation's first wireless charging infrastructure on a public road in Michigan. MDOT and Electreon have a five-year agreement to develop an electric-road system to test the technology in the state, including 1 mile in Corktown.

The electric road is safe for drivers, pedestrians and wildlife, according to the project leaders. There are two Electreon static inductive charging stations in front of the Michigan Central Building, which is different from the former train station. The stations can charge parked EVs equipped with receivers.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8865681

94 years old today! Record executive, producer, songwriter, film and television producer, the founder of an enormous and integral part of not only Detroit history but of modern pop music.

I personally can't imagine a world without Tamla/Motown Records, without The Miracles, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha and The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5…oh, the list goes on and on, all that wonderful music originating from that little house at 2648 W. Grand Blvd.

A most warm and Happy Birthday to veteran, ex-auto worker, ex-boxer and King of Hitsville, USA, Mr Berry Gordy Jr.!

Bonus Music Geek link: Can We Recreate The Motown Sound? -- reverb.com's Will Kurk and Joe Shadid present a short super-technical history and analysis of the Motown Sound plus their recreation challenge. It's absolutely amazing that huge sound came out of that tiny room!