Tag: Grand Rapids (page 2)

One question immediately pops to the minds of observers whose eyes are fixed on Washington, DC where President Obama's first nominee to the United States Supreme Court prepares for nomination hearings.  As much as many would like to pretend the issue doesn't exist or is no longer important, the battle over abortion rages across the country this week in ways it hasn't for years.

Me?  I think babies are cute and killing them is mean.  42 percent of the nation disagrees to one degree or another, but even most of them would admit, when pushed, that it's best to avoid killing kids whenever possible.

One of the organizations making it possible, saving kids' lives and caring for their mothers is Grand Rapids based Alpha Women's Center.  Their website states:

"As a community center Alpha exists to be a vehicle for bringing the spiritual and material resources of the local church and our community to bear on the needs of men, women and their babies, born and unborn, and by extension, their families."

Their website is too humble.  

Alpha provides free pregnancy testing and counseling, abortion alternative counseling, post abortion counseling, referrals for adoption and medical services, they help women secure housing, provide prenatal and post-natal parenting classes and make sexual integrity presentations for schools and youth groups.  And that's the short list.

They're a non-profit on the ground meeting women where they live and helping them when they need it.  But they can't do it without our help.  Unlike taxpayer funded state services Alpha is an organization run entirely on donations.  Enter: Us.

The women's center raises 20% of their annual donations during one early summer event each year... the Life Walk.  It's a great event and a ton of fun.  They put on a big breakfast, offer a walk, run and a bike ride option and make a day out of it.  

Guess who's participating again this year!  

On Saturday June 20, about three weeks from now, I'll grease up the chain, make sure the tires are inflated and embark on the bike portion of the fundraiser.  And because I'm crazy enough to have a ton of faith in my pro-life friends across the State I'm setting a relatively big goal.  

Last year the Right Roots raised over $1,500 through this event!  Unfortunately, Michigan's economy remains trapped in a death spiral and belts continue to be tightened.  With that in mind, I'm going to set a high but hopefully reachable goal, based on our track record.  Will you sponsor my ride to help me raise $1,000?

Leave a comment after this post or if you'd prefer a little anonymity shoot me an email at RightMichigan@gmail.com.  Let me know if you can sponsor me for $10, $20, $50 or even $100.

And if you'd like to participate yourself, check out Alpha's website HERE!

(Note: Sponsoring the Life Walk won't get you extra credit in the Bloggers Challenge, but it miiiiight get you extra credit in eternity...)

 About 45 -50 patriots heeded the Grassroots in Michigan call for a counter protest of the leftist rally in support of the "cradle to grave" socialized medicine bill HR 676. We came from from Lansing, Kalamazoo, Greenville, Holt and Grand Rapids.

As planned we all met up at Calder Plaza by the big red statue between noon and 12:45 and headed out the the protest location, the Federal Building at 1:00. The leftist had only between 12-20 at any given time and were taken completely by surprise by our number. Side by side with the oppostion we got up close and personal engaging in discussion with the leftist/Socialist/Marxist.

However as usual when dealing with the leftist/socialist/Marxist its not long before the vitriol comes spewing out. It's seems to be their natural reaction when confronted with facts and common sense.

One woman repeatedly called me "bitter, stingy, mean spirited" This same woman proudly proclaimed herself a socialist and said that's what America needed and told me and I quote, "You are not bright enough to decide what to do with you money so we will decide for you" One man suggested I should step a little farther out into the road as to get hit by a passing car and of course no protest is complete without at least one leftist giving you the bird! And its in the leftist/socialists/Marxist handbook to always, always have at least one sign about war, even if it has nothing to do with the reason of your rally/protest.

At about 2:45pm one of the Grand Rapids Press showed up and I gave an interview.

After my interview the opposition organizer, while shaking his head begrudging told me "You did a great job organizing" Well thanks guy!

With the job done we headed back to our homes. Big thank you to all the patriots who participated! God Bless America! More pictures of the counter-protest can be found here:

Indicatations are that the liberals are ramming this through committee and this bill could be up for vote as soon as August. We need to act NOW What can you do?

• Email, call, fax, or write your representatives
  
• Write a Letter to the Editor
  
• Post to opinion sections of newspaper websites
  
• Call talk radio
  
• Send information to your entire email address book
  
• Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about the facts

House of Represenatives

White House

As with many issues, Reagan was able to articulate basic principles in a way that is timeless
Click here to listen to the audio
(Audio link couresty of Grassroots in Nebraska)

To get additional information on the bill, click on one of the links below:

THOMAS

Govtrack.us

And since you are curious (or I like to imagine a few of you are) and I'm not shy I'll tell you a secret, too.

Grand Rapids voters today are being asked to approve another giant tax hike (it's a $110 million project) to expand bus service down South Division, the street that cuts the River City in half, running north to south.  The project is being touted as a way to create 189 jobs at the bargain basement cost of $582,000 each.

There's already bus service that runs down South Division but apparently we need MORE bus service running down South Division.  Technically the "new" service is probably a little bit flashier than that but when you boil it down, it's just another bus line.  They're calling this one the "Silver Line."  (The old busses are the "Bronze Line" I presume.)

If (or when) this new tax increase passes... see, here in Grand Rapids we fashion ourselves very progressive, metropolitan, green-friendly... hippie-light... the local mass transit boosters will invariably get started on next year's campaign for the "Gold Line."

2011 will bring Platinum.  2012 we'll have Diamond.  By 2025 they'll be making up precious metals and gems.  The Adamantium Line in 2030 will offer doorstep-to-doorstep service anywhere in the Lower Peninsula via a new three billion dollar annual tax levy exclusively on residents of Ada.

For whatever it was worth, I voted NO and would have done so twice, had I been blessed with as few scruples as your average ACORN community organizer.  

Better yet, I rode my green Schwinn mountain bike down Eastern, a street that runs parallel to the Silver Line's proposed route, to get myself over to my voting booth.  Never let it be said that Nick De Leeuw isn't willing to do his part for Mother Nature.  

Now if only every Silver Line booster would make the same commitment I made, we could save the city from smog, the planet from humans, South Division from traffic congestion, homeowners from foreclosure and the singles in my wallet from abject loneliness.

Yesterday stood poised to offer observers one heck of a big, black thunder cloud but one city's effort (and, largely, one families) wrapped it in a pretty substantial silver lining.

When folks turned on the nightly news yesterday they were treated to the regular chorus of rotten news about Michigan.  On steroids.

The Obama administration is preparing to watch local manufacturing giant Chrysler, LLC go bankrupt next week.  Meanwhile, General Motors announced thirteen summer plant closings including four in the Great Lakes State that are expected to shake the foundation of handfuls of suppliers and other businesses, too.  Oh, and did you hear the news anchor mention that regional unemployment rates were up, again, in March?

On a normal day that'd be enough to make a guy change the channel, even if the only other option was a re-run of  Brett Michaels' Rock of Love Bus.  Except that yesterday it wasn't.  Yesterday the rest of the world was buzzing about Michigan and it had nothing to do with unemployment, job losses or shuttered manufacturing plants.

Rick DeVos's big reveal yesterday, that Grand Rapids would host the world's largest and most unique art competition this September has folks buzzing from Detroit to Charleston to Boston and San Francisco and everywhere in between (Albemarle, North Carolina, anyone?).

Even saw buzz on Twitter yesterday from Scotland.

This is the kind of news Michigan needs hitting the wires.  Our second largest and most vibrant big city is hosting a world class arts competition that invites the public from around the world to stop by, visit and participate.

Already making plans with some friends to spend a day or two this September backpacking and biking around the downtown canvas and daydreaming about the potential energy is exciting.  

Big ups and a big THANKS to Rick and the entire DeVos family for making this happen.  We've had a six-plus year string of rotten news in this state.  Nice to have something so wildly different to hang our hats on for a summer.

Exhibit A (literally): Grand Rapids

Rick DeVos this morning unveiled ArtPrize at a giant press conference on Lyon Square in front of the old Civic Theatre downtown.

ArtPrize is a two-and-a-half week annual festival, kicking off this fall that will effectively turn the entire downtown area into an art gallery as artists from around the world create and showcase new works of art while competing for a $250,000 grand prize, the largest art prize in the world.

Better yet, the winner will be selected by the public.  You, me, anyone.  

This sort of event does not exist anywhere else in the world.  This is a first-of-its-kind event and it is happening right here in GR.  And I don't mind telling you, I'm geeked!

Artists of all kinds from around the world converge on Grand Rapids.  Think paintings, sculptures, performance art, abstract, pop, photography... you name it.

Artists team with business owners and developers downtown through ArtPrize.org to host and showcase their work.  Whether it is in the lobby of an office complex, on the top of a hotel, the patio of a restaurant, a bridge, projecting something onto the side of a building... the possibilities seem pretty much endless.

Then regular folks see the work and vote for their favorites via text message or on the internet.  And not just Grand Rapidians.  Anyone and everyone... provided they've actually made the trip to Grand Rapids and registered to participate at one of the exhibits.  This has all the makings of a mammoth tourism draw.

The competition will be whittled down to the Top 10 after the first week.  Each of the finalists will be guaranteed thousands of dollars in cash but the big prizes are for first, second and third place.  $250,000, $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.

Former gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and his wife Betsy (Rick's parents) were on hand for the announcement and have made a multi-year pledge to cover the prize money through the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation.  

No Grand Rapids tax dollars will be used to fund this program.  No state tax dollars or "Pure Michigan" spending will be needed to prop it up artificially.  

"The call is going to go out to thousands and thousands of artists (today) to kick this off," Rick DeVos told the Grand Rapids Press.

The event will help harness and show off the creative energy and "cultural capital" Grand Rapids has developed over the years, said Joseph Becherer, director of exhibitions and curator of sculpture at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

"This kind of gift tied to this kind of ingenuity can only mean something positive for Grand Rapids as it is now, but also helping to imagine Grand Rapids as it will be tomorrow," Becherer said.

The competition begins September 23rd and the winner will be announced on October 8.