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    Tag: Chetly Zarko

    Blogroll Updates


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Tue Dec 20, 2011 at 09:18:36 AM EST
    Tags: Michigan, RightMichigan.com, Blogroll, Akindele, Americans For Common Sense, Blog Prof, Carrying On, Chetly Zarko (all tags)

    From time to time maintenance on any site must be done.  One of the unfortunate tasks is the removal of links in our blogroll.  Over time people stop blogging, get caught in real life to the exclusion of their writing and sometimes even meet their maker.

    This morning, I started a process which will add to the ongoing relevance of the remaining links to (primarily Michigan based) conservative blogs in the lower right section of the front page.  By removing links that are either outdated or simply bad, it will help diehard RightMichigan.com reader see the freshest content and stay up to date without wasting time on links to nowhere.  If there are links we should have that arenot included already PLEASE let me know!

    Below is a list of the links that were removed today.  So far the editing has only gone through the "Cs".

    The following blogs were removed.

    Akindele Unleashed
    Well over a year no post

    An American for Common Sense
     Well over a year no post

    The Blog Prof
    Sadly Mr Kobus has retired the pen this year.  Perhaps again in the future?

    Carrying On
    Apparently now a 'private' blog?

    Chetly Zarko
    A site loss that now has followed to his last writings.  Hopefully Archive.org was able to get a snapshot at some point.

    I will be performing more as the week progresses.

    (6 comments) Comments >>

    FOIA issue needs to be resolved.


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Wed Jun 29, 2011 at 11:02:27 PM EST
    Tags: FOIA, Chetly Zarko, Freedom Of Information Act, Michigan, Supreme court, Howell Schools, MEA, Mackinac Center (all tags)

    The Mackinac Center as usual is correct.  

    The inability for the Michigan Supreme court to hold government agencies to the freedom of information standards we THOUGHT we had in place as an oversight tool is a bit of a tragedy.  we should have the expectation that ALL correspondence done by our public officials on company time on government owned equipment is not private use. From a release:

    State Supreme Court Failure to Rectify Disastrous FOIA Ruling `Must Be Fixed,' Says Center Attorney

    Legislature should act swiftly to restore the intent behind Michigan's public disclosure law  


    MIDLAND -- In a setback for government transparency, the Michigan Supreme Court yesterday refused again to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that misinterpreted the Freedom of Information Act and now thwarts disclosure of improper activity by public employees. The Mackinac Center and the Michigan Press Association had filed a joint amicus brief seeking to have the state Supreme Court overturn the ruling and uphold the true meaning of the statute.

    "In one sense, the Court's decision is unsurprising, since the court rarely grants reconsideration motions," said Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. "On the other hand, the Court of Appeals completely misread the law in a way that will help government officials hide criminal activity -- the exact opposite of FOIA's intent. This ruling must be fixed either by the Legislature or by the Michigan Supreme Court in a future case."

    The case was originally filed by citizen-journalist Chetly Zarko in 2007. Zarko, who passed away in 2010, was seeking public-employee emails related to a labor conflict and potential illegal politicking in the Howell School District. The Michigan Education Association subsequently filed a suit to prevent the disclosure. A trial court ruled in Zarko's favor, but the Court of Appeals overturned that decision in a manner that significantly undermined the effectiveness of FOIA, which was enacted post-Watergate to enable the public to ferret out illegal governmental conduct.

    In December 2010, the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal the decision in a 4-3 ruling. A reconsideration motion was filed by Zarko's attorneys in January and heard by a court that included two new justices.

    "If allowed to stand, this ruling decimates FOIA and cries out for a quick fix," said Wright. "We should not permit state and local governments to hide their criminal activity from those they serve."


    Understood that the court rarely reconsiders, but given the manner in which public integrity has been bolstered by FOIA activity, it is a shame indeed.  Zarko BTW, was someone who pummeled public officials (good and bad) with FOIA requests.  His best friend mentioned the room full with cases of FOIA requests that didn't even cover all of his activity.

    The spirit of that type of determination in revealing truth in government shall be missed. It was good for us and truly good for the elected officials in keeping them straight up.

    It is my hope the legislature takes the Mackinac Center's suggestion seriously, and strengthens the FOIA abilities that ultimately provide us with honest government.

    (2 comments) Comments >>

    A Message To Our Legislators - Beware False Choices

    Sammie Speech


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 04:36:43 PM EST
    Tags: Sherry Loar, Rob Port, Sammies, Sam Adams Alliance, Chicago, Chetly Zarko, Watchdog, 2011 (all tags)

    This will likely be the last self promotion I will have on this, but there will be additional Sammie videos posted in the multimedia section as time allows.

    I was a finalist, then won, and split the prize with Chetly Zarko for the watchdog award at the Sam Adams Alliance event as mentioned previously.

    The other two finalists Rob Port of Minot ND, and Sherry Loar of Petoskey were both worthy of this award, so its with a greater sense of humility that I accepted it.  Its really a big deal. Rob runs a watchdog type blog which is like a combination of the Blog Prof's site, and RightMichigan.com.  Sherry took the lead as the plaintiff fighting the forced unionization scam, who sacrificed both monetarily and psychologically in dealing with the collusive measure brought about by the last administration and their union cronies.

    I was in very respect worthy company.

    I should note that I am not the greatest speaker, and I do not travel with dueling teleprompters. So this award might well be seen as the greatest speaking fee I should ever expect to see.  I guess that is OK, as long as I can keep the pen to the page (so to speak) to entertain and inform.

    The video with Eric Rothoff and myself during the acceptance is below the line.

    (1 comment, 293 words in story) Full Story

    Motivation


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 10:14:30 AM EST
    Tags: Michigan, Bragging Rights, Chetly Zarko, Sammies, 2011 Watchdog, Fake Tea (all tags)

    For this writer, it doesn't take much to elicit an opinion or engage in an argument of policy. Part of the overall process of the argument is the knowing of whether one has the tools of proof, or something to back up the opinion held.

    I hold a lot of opinion.

    The validation of what we had considered early in the new political 'tea party' was indeed a motivating factor in finding the truth.  It was a nearly unanimous thought among political watchers that the effort MUST be the efforts by Democrats who knew they were about to have their clocks cleaned politically.  The signature campaign identified early by Chetly Zarko as being run by Progressive Campaigns Inc gave even more weight to the theory, and the ultimate release of the candidate slate provided my own investigation with the necessary smoking gun.

    There were likely 100 people working on this as it developed.  Our consideration of what was really the truth, motivated, and guided investigators and tea party types across the state. The stealth efforts of the Michigan Democrat party needed to be exposed by making the connections to the candidates. The race to discovery was on when the slate emerged, and I was lucky enough to cross the finish line first with the connection to THOSE GUYS who had such disregard for integrity, that they would have to defraud Michigan for political advantage.

    Our effort, paid off, and my own resulted last night in an honor I had only dreamed of.

    The 2011 Sammie Watchdog Award.

    Now I am really motivated.

    (6 comments) Comments >>

    Today's Memorial


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:43:29 PM EST
    Tags: Chetly Zarko, Memorial (all tags)

    I expected to see a great number of folks showing up for Chetly's memorial service.

    It was no disappointment.

    A standing room only crowd collected and shared their stories with Sharon (Chetly's Mom)and the rest of us.  There was family on hand,  former associates, politicos, conservatives, and even liberals as well.  All had nothing but a sincere respect for Chetly, his endeavors, and his character.  Many were quite able to express it quite well.

    If you could not make it to the service, you still may well have had your words seen by those there.  A friend of the family asked if it would be possible to collect articles, and comments from the internet, from those who had expressed their sorrow.  What I was able to come up with is in THE PDF FILE HERE as a compilation.  Though it is not complete, it is most of what has been written and commented on up until midnight last night. The printed version was passed around, and went home with the family.

    Comments >>

    Visitation for Chetly Zarko


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Thu Jul 22, 2010 at 04:25:38 PM EST
    Tags: Chetly Zarko (all tags)

    Team-- A lot of folks have been asking about when and where they can say goodbye to Chetly.

    Visitation services have been announced and will be held this Sunday, July 25, from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at Palmer, Bush and Jensen Family Funeral Homes in Lansing.

    You can reach the funeral home at (517) 484-5349.

    (1 comment) Comments >>

    Keeping On..


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Thu Jul 22, 2010 at 09:08:59 AM EST
    Tags: Heaven, Chetly Zarko (all tags)

    A couple of days ago, the man upstairs was approached by Saint Peter, who had a slightly confused look upon his face.  He said:

    "Lord, we have some unusual requests from a new arrival at the gate.."

    To which The Lord replied:

    "The look on your face tells me it is not normal requests of which you speak.  What is it Peter? "

    Peter, rubbing his hands together began to list what the newcomer had asked for, which was indeed a quite extensive list, but with a similar theme throughout.  The requests took many hours to recite, and eventually concluded:

    "...and THEN he said he wants to know how the Angels wound up with free wing repair insurance and where the money is supposed to come from..  citing some transparency promise, and.."

    The Lord cut him off..
    "AND.."

    "He has earned it, and..
    You shall give to him what he asks."

    (1 comment) Comments >>

    Coming Exclusive: Tune in at 8 am Wednesday for Live Audio of Candidate Declaration


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Tue Apr 14, 2009 at 09:09:42 AM EST
    Tags: 2010, Exclusive, OaklandPolitics, Chetly Zarko, Sphere, candidate announcement (all tags)

    OaklandPolitics.com and RightMichigan.com will be breaking exclusive news on Wednesday morning, with an original audio interview by political publishers Chetly Zarko and Nick De Leeuw. A candidate declaring for a major office will give the candidate's first public interview by streaming audio feed. The audio and news story will be available here at RightMichigan.com at roughly 8am Wednesday morning.

    Mark your browsers or prepare your RSS feeds.

    (8 comments) Comments >>

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