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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    It's Just One Business


    By Rougman, Section News
    Posted on Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 12:06:35 PM EST
    Tags: Regulation (all tags)

    It is good to know that the our ever-watchful benevolent overlords are letting no stone go unturned in their never ending quest to hunt down and punish hardened criminals.

    In a state where true unemployment hovers near twenty percent, where incomes are plummeting, and from where residents are fleeing in search of more friendly environs in which to make a living, Oakland Township authorities are working overtime to stamp out the criminal activity of providing jobs in a manner clearly inconsistent with local ordinances!

    From the Freep:  
    Both sides have been battling since Barkham, 59, of Dryden, a veterinarian who also owns Paint Creek Animal Clinic in Oakland Township, bought the cider mill property in 1981. A cider mill since 1947, it was closed for a number of years during the ownership transition. The township sued in 1983, saying the closure affected the cider mill's right to operate in the residential area.

    A subsequent court order allowed the cider mill to reopen between Labor Day and Jan. 1. But strict guidelines limited operations, restricting sales to cider, popcorn and other mill-oriented goodies, and allowed a small petting farm.

    The township went back to court in November, saying Barkham illegally added the sale of Christmas trees, firewood and tickets for a corn maze. On Jan. 20, Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren found Barkham in criminal contempt. Warren could fine the mill up to $7,500 at a sentencing hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

    Oh, this makes a lot of sense.

    The business operated for many years in the exact same location, using the exact same processes, and selling the exact same products. It was not the business that changed, but rather the attitudes of bureaucrats and the authority they assumed by fiat over those that pay they salaries. In 1947 it was just fine to squeeze apples into cider at that location. By the early 80s? Not so much.

    The area that contained the cider mill was zoned residential and new requirements were placed upon the lands. The authorities waited like ravenous wolves until such time when they could snuff out the business altogether or make it operate in a way that they thought was appropriate.

    That time came when the original owner sold the property. As the property changed hands the authorities stepped in to announce that the business could no longer operate in a residential area.

    The business owner balked, continued to operate, and the two sides have been fighting ever since--after all, nothing announces a donnybrook more loudly than a man seriously trying to make a living versus those in authority that make a living trying to be taken seriously.

    The last straw might have been the introduction of firewood and Christmas trees to the products sold at the cider mill--authorities apparently fearing that a once dignified neighborhood would descend into a land of discarded couches and blighted graffiti once gnarled oak becomes sold by the half cord next to hands-holding old folks traipsing through a cornfield.

    This small chapter is but symptomatic of a hugely serious problem that affects the state of Michigan. Entire industries are being driven out of business by overlord puppeteers who believe they know better than those whose strings they pull. These same bureaucrats are championing new and non-viable industries that stand no chance of existing without a forever commitment of huge subsidy by future generations.

    As a state and as a people we stand near the point of no return. To be an American used to mean something. It used to mean that we could struggle or succeed on the basis of our own merits. Now it means we are more likely to struggle or succeed based on the merits appointed to our efforts by government.

    A small cider mill is not going to make or break the Michigan economy. The few jobs that might stand in the balance aren't going to impact the state's unemployment rate by anything other than the smallest of percentage points. Consumers can even go farther out of town and get an equally beautiful seasonal secular holiday tree or a taste of tart cider.

    The point is that when this business is added to the tens of thousands of others that have been negatively affected by lame brained regulation for the sake of regulation, we do end up with a situation that can be measured in intrinsic terms.

    One can only hope that those living in squeaky clean residential neighborhoods today, absent the nitty gritty businesses of generations past, don't mind looking at the for sale signs picketing unmowed lawns up and down the street.

    You know, good with the bad and all that.

    < Dead Ponies | Don't you dare video a cop in Dearborn, MI... >


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    Display: Sort:
    They are doing it up here all the time. (none / 0) (#1)
    by JGillman on Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 12:36:11 PM EST
    Nothing says I got your back (end) like a zoning vote.

    Fresh ordinance last night from the Peninsula mandatory participation in the single trash hauler arrangement that was passed.  Like Traverse City, they ALSO went to American Waste, and forbid the services of other haulers in the area except for commercial and agriculture exemptions.

    The Traverse City Decision is already being questioned.  What is NOT told in the online story, is there is a question of ethics involved (OH MY!) because the American waste bid was [apparently] allowed to be modified AFTER the bid was reviewed.

    I know the folks at the city, and they are pretty straight up, but this is the kind of crap that is opened when issuing monopolies and mandates by government.  I hope the city is prepared for the upcoming lawsuit.

    Same old story (none / 0) (#2)
    by LookingforReagan on Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 02:02:46 PM EST
    The stupidity of the elected class never ceases to amaze. You can bet if a little grease passed some palms things might have been different. Remember what prompted the lawsuit against Microsoft. Gates wasn't giving enough to Commie Lib Progressive candidates and causes. Now of course he has his mind right and everything is wonderful in Loony Land.
    You can bet one of the reasons that the elected class wants to shut down this operation is pretty basic when it comes to the mentally disturbed leftists. It is obvious that this is a traditional thing enjoyed by residents of the township as it is all over the US during the fall months. Therefore it gives people pleasure and enjoyment. That is contradictory to the Liberal goal. They demand that everyone be as miserable as they are. They demand that we not enjoy life but dwell on how bad we have it in America because of (fill in the blank using any Conservative that happens to be the target of Lapdog Commie Lib media types.)
    Tradition is something else they hate and do their best to disparage at every opportunity. These people are parasites nothing more. And it proves that more must be done to eliminate the elected elite's in order for the PEOPLE to take back control of the Nation.

    Interesting (none / 0) (#7)
    by Corinthian Scales on Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 08:27:53 PM EST
    I remember stopping into that mill when I lived in Royal Joke in the late 80's and 90's.  They were nice folks.  It's hard to comprehend a place that sits on a busy Rochester Rd would face such frivolous aggravation especially since reading this where the owners ancestors even built the mill that's now Oakland Twp. Hall.  Talk about a community having no sense of history or pride.  Geeesch.

    But, as the article also states and the way things go today, I can also easily envision the neighboring subdivision assclowns that move in and then bitching about the mill being there before there was a subdivision.  It seems to be all that folks these days know.  It'd kinda be likened to buying a house by an airport then bitching about the noise from the planes.

    Either way, it's a shame to see a piece of good clean Americana getting dumped on the way that family is.  When it's all gone those folks writing rules and the busybody bitchers will regret what they've ignorantly squandered.

    Let's Be Cautious (none / 0) (#8)
    by The Wizard of Laws on Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 05:27:16 PM EST
    The judge referenced in the article, Michael Warren, is as conservative as any judge you'd ever want to meet.  He is a freedom-loving, rule-of-law, constitutionalist.  There is something more here than meets the eye.

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