B A N C O

Updating Information Bar To Have Occupy The PGA

2012-01-30T00:45:00.000-05:00

Removing:

* Full story by Rev. Pinkney's attorney, Buck Davis.
* More information in speech excerpts by Atty. Davis.
* Article by Pastor who testified at trial
* Sign the petition

Adding:

Occupy The PGA
May 23-27 (big day: Sat. May 26)
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Demonstrate in protest of
land stolen by Whirlpool Corp.

http://OccupyThePGA.wordpress.com

Twitter hashtag: #OccupyThePGA

Dr. Julia Hare Addresses African Americans

2012-01-26T17:16:00.001-05:00

2012-01-20T19:49:00.004-05:00

Stephen W. Thomas, the highest profile suspect in a child sex networking sting, to be hosted by Harbor Shores, PGA tournament, May 23-27

The PGA is coming to Benton Harbor, Michigan in May - hosted by Whirlpool, largest appliance corporation in the world. PGA golfer Stephen Thomas is among 40 arrested in a Florida sex sting and is the highest profile suspect in the case. Thomas told authorities he thought he was corresponding with a woman about arranging sex with a 13 year old girl. He planned to have sex with her.

Charges include travel to seduce and commit sex acts, transmitting harmful images of a minor, and use of a computer to solicit a child sex.

Whirlpool's Harbor Shores golf course was chosen to host the Senior PGA because it can finance it. Easily. Without even noticing a blip in the balance sheets. WP is even going to host the 2014 Senior Championship. We must be ready to deal with one of the greediest corporations in existence. We must be ready to Occupy the PGA. May 23-27, 2012. Pick a day or days to come to BH and occupy the PGA.

Contact Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001

From the Huffington Post:

A pro golfer, a swim coach, and an eighth grade teacher are among 40 suspects arrested by Florida officials conducting an undercover child sex networking sting.
Officials with the Osceola County Sheriff took down the Internet-based string of sex crimes during a Jan. 8-16 investigation dubbed "Operation Red Cheeks," a press release from the Osceola County Sheriff states.
Stephen Wesley Thomas, a professional golfer with 44 appearances on the PGA tour, is the highest profile suspect in the case. Thomas told authorities that he thought he was corresponding with a woman about arranging sex with her 13-year-old daughter, the Orlando Sentinel reports...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/florida-sex-sting_n_1213265.html

OCCUPY THE PGA May 23-27, 2012

2012-01-12T13:39:00.009-05:00

[An extremely well researched article on Whirlpool - are more people finally beginning to catch on?]

Whirlpool Corp—A Michigan Job Creation “Success Story”: Dodging Taxes & Profiting from Poverty

by Chris Savage

I have been following and writing about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, since it was passed in March of 2011. The first impacts of the changes made by this law hit in Benton Harbor, Michigan. A tiny town on the shores of Lake Michigan, it has only 10,000 residents according to the 2010 census with over half of the people living below the poverty line.

Yet in the middle of this desperate town sits the world headquarters of Whirlpool Corporation. Even through the recent recession, the company consistently posted profits north of $200 million per quarter. Though they once employed a significant number of Benton Harborites, this is no longer true — manufacturing there ended in early 2011. The headquarters, however, is growing and construction is in progress.

How is it that a successful company like Whirlpool remains in a place like Benton Harbor, with all of its poverty and despair? The answer is that it has been and continues to be highly profitable for the company to do so. Though the company employs few locals, Whirlpool has much to gain from exploiting the poverty of Benton Harbor as the gentrification of the city rushes forward.

Jonathan Mahler of the New York Times Magazine recently wrote a comprehensive piece about the plight of Benton Harbor. I gave his piece a good review, and was able to guest-post a piece on the Times Magazine’s The 6th Floor Blog, where I talked more broadly about the impact of P.A. 4 on Benton Harbor and our state. Mahler concludes that although Whirlpool isn’t necessarily the “good guy,” it would like everyone to believe it is; the company may, in fact, be the only answer for Benton Harbor.

In an essay for In These Times, Roger Bybee takes strong exception to this conclusion:

"Despite Mahler’s moving and insightful description of a de-industrialized city being re-shaped by those who destroyed the economic base, with the victims being deprived of any voice, he fails to point out several fundamental features:

* Those harmed most by past corporate decisions are treated as disposable people standing in the way of corporate-defined reconstruction.
* Democracy and public participation are early victims to this process.
* With corporate elites having shrunken government’s public-interest role in planning and economic development, major “job-creation projects” must be shaped around generating profit with the needs of the majority a negligible concern.

But despite all the rhetoric about corporations rushing to the rescue of troubled cities–whether New Orleans, Benton Harbor, or Racine—massive public subsidies to CEOs advocating “free enterprise” are an essential element.

It’s a formula for private benefit with public funding, for a distorted form of “development” devoid of democracy or public benefit."

Bybee’s piece is compelling and suggests a closer look at the role that Whirlpool has played (and is playing) is warranted.

Whirlpool’s exploitation of the situation in Benton Harbor likely goes back more than a decade, but we can start with the turn of the millenium. A former official with the Southwest Michigan (SWM) Airport board recently told me that Whirlpool benefited significantly from a connection with U.S. Congressman Fred Upton:

"I am a former elected and appointed official from Stevensville who was on the SWM airport board. While I appreciate that you expanded the facts for Rachel Maddow’s show, there is much more. During the time I was serving, I had a considerable number of flights in and out of that airport. It is not well known that Northwest airlines received a ticket subsidy for every seat in and out of the airport. That lasted for two years, which is just the time the airport serviced the public commercially. It was required to service commercially in order to receive federal funding for the airport’s runway extensions and electronic navigation aid updates. Of course, this coincided with Whirlpool’s purchase of a new jet which required a longer runway and new navigation electronics. The person who supported the bill to subsidize the tickets? Fred Upton.

You mention the upgrade of local property values, and do not mention the Upton’s property in close proximity (2 blocks).

While nothing is illegal about these things, I just felt that the focus has been on benefiting Whirlpool and Whirlpool’s heirs, and not the general population. I [have connections] with the Uptons in northern Virginia, so this is not a personal attack, just an observation. For so long in Congress, I am really surprised at the fiscal conservatism applied to the constituents and not the person or the corporate beneficiary."

[A2P Notes: According to campaign finance information, Whirlpool's PAC has donated $84,170 to Upton's campaigns, putting Whirlpool's PAC at number four on the list of the Congressman's top donors, behind AT&T ($99,600) and the Ford Motor Company ($86,900).]

Indeed, in addition to the ticket subsidies, the SWM Airport received an earmark for fiscal year 2011 as part of a nearly $1 billion allocation in discretionary grants, which coincides with the expansion of the runway.

Whirlpool is also an integral part of a development group in Benton Harbor known as the Cornerstone Alliance. In fact, many would argue that Cornerstone Alliance is Whirlpool. Non-profit, investigative reporting site TruthOut.org reported in May 2011: “To keep a clean public image, Whirlpool funds and largely controls a nonprofit in Benton Harbor called the Cornerstone Alliance, which has a revolving door with Whirlpool and the Whirlpool Foundation for its staff members and employees. Cornerstone has long served the interests of Whirlpool in Benton Harbor, creating a façade through which the company can pass off its actions as being in the interests of ‘the community.’”

Cornerstone Alliance has been aggressively developing whatever property it can procure in Benton Harbor. The company is the developer of the Harbor Shores luxury golf community that has received a great deal of attention, in part because developers convinced city officials to lease part of Jean Klock Park to them.

Jean Klock Park was deeded to the city in perpetuity but with the help of a city attorney who later went to work for Cornerstone, they secured a decades-long lease for three holes of their Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. In the process, acres of shoreline dunes were deforested for a golf course where the annual fee exceeds the average annual income of Benton Harbor residents. An interactive panoramic of the area affected can be seen HERE. Before and after pictures can be seen HERE (courtesy of Protect Jean Klock Park.)

In exchange for this precious piece of public land (which is the primary reason Harbor Shores can be called “Shores”) the city exchanged land later found to be highly contaminated with industrial waste:

To compensate for the project’s reduction of public parkland, developers have promised to create a new bike path and trail system on a string of parcels along the Paw Paw River and around Benton Harbor. A good bargain if you can get it.

But these properties contain unsafe levels of industrial waste, according to documents recently released by the state in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by project opponents. Critics of the Harbor Shores project say that details of the contamination raise new questions about the propriety of the deal — the land was represented by developers as of equal value to the lakefront park, they say, and creating a construction zone on contaminated land could spread pollution and endanger wetlands.

An April 2, 2007, letter from a hydrologist with the company Earth Tech — stamped “received” by the Department of Environmental Quality on April 5 — states that pollution on the parcels exceeds levels considered safe by the state. The pollutants identified include lead and arsenic, volatile organic compounds and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.

In other words, Whirlpool’s development arm exchanged contaminated land for pristine duneland on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Whirlpool-backed Cornerstone was also able to procure brownfield redevelopment grants from the State of Michigan to redevelop other contaminated areas, shifting the cost of the clean-up to Michigan taxpayers.

Whirlpool-backed Cornerstone is involved in many other development projects in the city, as well. They have benefited tremendously from the fact that Benton Harbor was a Renaissance Zone. This makes development activities virtually tax-free. However, the developments being pursued do not benefit the poor people of Benton Harbor, they benefit the wealthy developers hoping to make a killing from the Harbor Shores development and the boon they count on it creating. Cornerstone’s “non-profit” status is crucial to this.

The siphoning of public monies through the Cornerstone Alliance continues today. In November of 2011, they received stimulus funds to build 17 homes in a downtown area of Benton Harbor—a development they are calling “Harbor Town.” Unlike the luxury vacation homes being built in Harbor Shores, these more modest homes, less than two dozen of them, will be worth in the area of $125,000 — still far too pricey, however, for most of Benton Harbor’s residents.

Taxes, by the way, are something that Whirlpool doesn’t have to contend with much. Through countless efforts to keep them in Michigan, the company has received a multitude of tax breaks. They received a huge tax break under the Granholm administration when they agreed to build a new headquarters. The city itself has given them significant tax breaks. In fact, Whirlpool not only hasn’t paid a dime in taxes in over three years: In May 2011 Think Progress reported that Whirlpool is one of the country’s many corporate tax dodgers paying no federal taxes for the previous three years, and in 2010 receiving a $64 million dollar tax refund.

Even now, with Benton Harbor under the control of an Emergency Manager, Whirlpool and Cornerstone continue to harvest development funds from the destitution of the city. City Commissioner Marcus Muhammad and others are questioning how such a profitable “non-profit” can be using HUD funds for their own benefit while just blocks away are neighborhoods full of poor families, abandoned homes and desolation. From a November Herald-Palladium article (no longer online but excerpted HERE):

The Benton Harbor City Commission wants an investigation into agreements over city property between Cornerstone Alliance and Emergency Manager Joseph Harris.

The commission unanimously passed two resolutions Monday night – one that asked for an investigation of Cornerstone Alliance by the U.S. Attorney General, Michigan Attorney General and the FBI, and a second that asked for an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney General and the IRS into the city’s water rates. [...]

Harris has said the city’s water rates will increase by 50 percent, and could increase by up to 100 percent.

The commissioners questioned the legality of raising rates by that much.

[Commissioner Marcus] Muhammad read from a list of 87 Cornerstone Alliance-owned properties that he said the organization is not paying taxes on. About 70 of the properties are in Benton Harbor, while the remaining on the list are in Benton Township and St. Joseph. [...]

Muhammad said Cornerstone Alliance has gotten millions of dollars in developer fees for its role in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 while paying $1 for property.

“What kind of corruption and organized crime is that?” Muhammad asked.

Whirlpool/Cornerstone clearly would like to reshape Benton Harbor in the image of its sister city across the river, St. Joseph. The contrast between the cities is stark, with Benton Harbor’s population 89+ percent African American and poor and St. Joseph’s population 88+ percent white and wealthy. Cornerstone had the audacity to make a game out of getting community members to highlight the worst places in Benton Harbor. In the May issue of their newsletter Cornerstone Chamber Insider (pdf) they introduced a project called “75 Viewpoints.”

Click for larger image

The Good, Bad, & Ugly . . .
If you have a camera, an opinion, and a little free time, you can play a critical role as a catalyst for change right here in Michigan’s Great Southwest. Cornerstone Alliance has launched “75 Viewpoints,” a dynamic project designed to point up the good, bad and ugly of our area as we work to maximize the first impressions of golf fans from around the world who will be visiting the 2012 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid at the Golf Club at Harbor Shores. Volunteers are being asked to take 10 to 25 photos of things in the area that drive you crazy and need to be fixed…and another 10 to 25 photos of things around town that they love and would like to see more of. It’s actually a project that your entire family can take part in. So, what are the amenities that we love, and the eyesores that need to be remedied or eliminated? If you would like to be one of the 75 people offering their viewpoints, please fill out the form that accompanied this newsletter, or contact Jamie at 269-757-0207.

Whether or not Jonathan Mahler is right about Whirlpool being the salvation of Benton Harbor remains to be seen. What is clear is that, if they are, it will be because they have very deliberately used the city’s desperate situation, in part caused by Whirlpool’s outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to other countries, to direct taxpayer monies into their own bank accounts. If Whirlpool saves Benton Harbor, it will likely because they were able to steal Benton Harbor from the largely black, poor residents who live there—a scam underwritten, in part, by taxpayers.

Maybe they’ll rename the town Upton Harbor.

http://www.a2politico.com/?p=11970

(Don't miss the comments on the website.)

2012-01-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

Benton Harbor Emergency Manager ends year with sizable deficit

Joseph Harris, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager, has been saying the city budget is now balanced. However, according to an article in the January 7 Herald Palladium, this is not true. The headline is: Auditors: BH still seeing red - Contrary to Harris' prediction, city ends fiscal year with sizable deficit; audit shows accounting mistakes, pension fund. City commissioner Muhammad is quoted in the article: "To spend over a half million dollars that does not exist is bad accounting practices by any standard," Muhammad said in an email to The Herald-Palladium. "The intoxication of Public Act 4 has caused the Emergency Manager to tailspin on the interstate of politics and government."

2012-01-07T09:16:00.003-05:00

BH Emergency Manager Joe Harris has refused
to issue vending licenses to city residents for the PGA

The 2012 Senior PGA Championship in Benton Harbor will be a 6 day event. BH Emergency Manager Joe Harris has refused to issue vending licenses to city residents for the PGA. Now it appears that the Levy Restaurants Golf Division will be the sole vendors using unpaid volunteers as Levy's workers for the event. The will have to (no joke) PAY in order to volunteer. No one will profit from this event. (Except Levy, big time.)

2012-01-06T11:08:00.001-05:00

Whirlpool Latest Target In Navy Encryption Patent Blitz
By Django Gold
Law360, New York (January 05, 2012) -- Whirlpool Corp. on Wednesday was hit with the latest patent infringement suit launched by Network Signatures Inc., which accused the home appliance manufacturer of flouting the company's patent for U.S. Navy-developed computer encryption technology.

Whirlpool was sued in California federal court by the Navy's security technology licensee, which claims Whirlpool is infringing Network Signatures' patented encryption methods in its network communications with employees and customers.

The patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent Number 5,511,122, outlines the methodology for a network encryption system that allows secure communications between computers through...
http://www.law360.com/technology/articles/297672/whirlpool-latest-target-in-navy-encryption-patent-blitz

2012-01-03T11:00:00.002-05:00

How Berrien County is kept in the dark

After a Benton Harbor man was found in St. Joseph floating dead in the river last week, a far from trivial event, it was reported this way to Berrien County, Michigan by WNDU-TV and WSTB-TV:

(close paraphrase) "Timothy Allen was found dead in the St. Joe river; foul play is not suspected. Now the weather..."

It's called propaganda, and Berrien County media are leaders in the field. Truthful, thorough reporting results in citizen action - just what officials and the Whirlpool Corporation don't want.

An immense travesty has just occurred in Berrien. Many in Benton Harbor believe Mr. Allen was murdered, possibly by St. Joe Twnshp. cops, the last to see him alive. Berrien County has a sordid history of African-American "disappearances."

A man turning up dead in the river has a chilling effect on a community. 25 women, at least, have disappeared from Benton Harbor in the last couple decades. Imagine how this impacts the heart and soul of a community. But that's the point. Destroy Benton Harbor by any means necessary for the redevelopment of the land. Physical and mental Hell.

Think of the possibilities of action and community outreach if media, on a daily basis gave us full reporting. You know, Journalism.

*********

Whirlpool's disdain of American workers

The Whirlpool Corporation is proving itself to be hostile toward American workers as they continue to eliminate factories and thousands of jobs from places like Newton, Iowa; Evansville, Ill.; and Ft. Smith, Ark.

Radio & TV personality Ed Schultz has been naming the corporation and it's crimes against American workers recently on his shows.

Geographically isolated Benton Harbor has had it's livelihood withdrawn by the Whirlpool Corporation. In place of jobs, residents are now concerned with survival and avoiding police profiling in their once thriving city. It's a desperate existence of which most in Michigan are unaware.

RIP - Timothy Bulldog Allen

2011-12-30T01:43:00.006-05:00

Timothy Bulldog Allen, a Benton Harbor resident, has been found dead in the river inside St. Joseph, Michigan

The body was moved immediately to Grand Rapids coroner's office -
the family was NOT permitted viewing

Bulldog was walking from the hospital in St. Joseph and we have received information that his body was found. We believe Bulldog was murdered by the St. Joseph Township Police.

The very last report and the very last person to see Mr. Allen alive were the St. Joseph Township police. It has been over 7 weeks since Timothy was last seen alive by the St. Joseph police.

Chief Ross Bates stated that an officer saw Timothy walking on the road and requested he get on the sidewalk. Timothy was found dead less fifty feet away floating in the river.

I can not understand why no law enforcement lifted up a finger to help this family or the community. They actually did not allow the family to view his body, they wisked the body away to the coroner's office in Grand Rapids.

In case anybody still needs proof that Berrien County, Michigan is right up there with the most racist place in the world. Crosses are still being burned and nooses are still being hung.

-- Rev. Pinkney

2011-12-29T19:07:00.002-05:00

More trouble for retired Berrien County judge
Lynda Tolen facing domestic violence charge.

LOU MUMFORD South Bend Tribune, December 29, 2011

A retired Berrien County judge with a history of substance abuse issues is in trouble once again.

Chief Assistant Berrien County Prosecutor Mike Sepic confirmed Thursday that Lynda Tolen was arraigned this week in Berrien County Trial Court in St. Joseph on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence. She was arrested Dec. 22, following a complaint by a woman Sepic identified as Lisa Brasseur, and she spent the night in jail before posting 10 percent of a $1,500 bond, Sepic said.

A case conference has been set for Tuesday, he said, but that’s in jeopardy because he has asked the state Attorney General’s office to move the case to another county. Tolen’s connection to Berrien Trial Court makes it all but certain Sepic’s petition will be granted.

The former wife of former Berrien County Prosecutor Jim Cherry, who died of cancer in 2007, Tolen, 60, served 20 days in jail last year following a pair of drunken-driving offenses. The first occurred in March 2010 in St. Joseph, resulting in bond restrictions which she violated four months later when she was arrested in Benzie County in northern Michigan on yet another drunken-driving charge. The case was handled by the St. Joseph County (Mich.) prosecutor’s office and a district judge from that county.

The charges weren’t the first time she’d been accused of drunken driving.

In February 1995, while she was serving as a county Trial Court judge in Niles, she was driving home from work and crashed her car on the St. Joseph Valley Parkway (U. S. 31 bypass). A blood-alcohol test at the scene registered a reading of 0.109, a little above the then minimum standard of 0.10.

The next month, it was announced she’d receive only a traffic ticket for careless driving, based on the lack of a subsequent blood-alcohol test. Handling of the situation and the case’s outcome quickly became points of contention for many in the county.

She resigned her judgeship in 2008 after 21 years. From 1996 until her retirement, she presided over the Trial Court’s Civil Division.

Staff writer Lou Mumford: lmumford@sbtinfo.com, 269-687-3551

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-lynda-tolen-facing-domestic-violence-charge-20111229,0,1526563.story

2011-12-28T09:47:00.002-05:00

State-appointed emergency managers make six figures at local community's expense
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 by Kristin Longley

FLINT, Michigan — Cash-strapped communities and school districts in Michigan are paying six-figure salaries to the governor-appointed emergency managers who are supposed to rescue them from financial ruin.

By law, the pay of Michigan’s five emergency managers — ranging from $132,000 to $250,000 — is set by the state, but the money actually is paid by the local communities they’re in charge of.

That rankles those who disagree with the law in the first place, saying the expanded powers of emergency managers go too far.

“What is the proper salary of a dictator?” asked Flint resident Paul Jordan, one of many Michigan residents who has sued the state, saying the emergency manager law overreaches. “Certainly it’s a very big job. But on the other hand, here the people who are paying his salary had no opportunity to hire him.”

Flint’s emergency manager, Michael Brown, is paid $170,000 a year, according to his contract. Managers in Ecorse and Benton Harbor each make $132,000, while the manager in Pontiac receives $150,000.

The chief of Detroit School District, Roy Roberts, was given a $250,000 salary, but took the 10 percent pay cut he ordered for all school employees.

Brown was appointed Dec. 1 to take over Flint’s finances. A state review panel recommended a takeover after finding a structural deficit, recurring cash flow shortages and other financial deficiencies.

The city ended the 2010 budget year with an estimated $15 million deficit. A $7 million deficit is projected for budget year 2011.
Michigan's emergency managers

* Michael Brown, Flint
Appointed: Dec. 1, 2011
Salary: $170,000

* Roy Roberts, Detroit School District
Appointed: May 2011
Salary: $250,000

* Joseph Harris, Benton Harbor
Appointed: April 2010
Salary: $132,000

* Joyce A. Parker, Ecorse
Appointed: October 2009
Salary: $132,000

* Louis Schimmel, Pontiac
Appointed: October
Salary: $150,000

Source: Michigan Treasury

Mayor Dayne Walling’s was Flint’s highest-paid elected official, receiving $91,800 before Brown eliminated his pay and benefits and those of city council members.

Brown on Tuesday partially restored Walling’s pay to $55,000 and council members each will receive $7,000 a year.

“We can’t afford to get the things done we need to do, how can we pay (an emergency manager)?,” said Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, pastor of Faith Deliverance Center in Flint. “The state brought him in but we got to pay for it? The state should pay some.”

Emergency managers got more power in March when the state law was amended, but the part that dictates local communities pay their salaries dates back to the original 1990 statute.

It has been tweaked to have the state treasurer set the emergency manager pay, rather than a board of state officials.

The compensation takes into account the community’s population, geographic size and the complexity of the financial problems, said treasury spokesman Terry Stanton.

Any expenses the emergency manager incurs are also overseen by the state treasury and are required by law to be publicly posted online, he said.

Brown’s salary in Flint is the highest of any of the managers appointed to run cities. Flint, with more than 100,000 people, is also the largest city under a state takeover.

Brown’s pay is comparable to that of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. The mayor of Michigan’s largest city reduced his pay to $158,558 from $176,000 after ordering furlough days for other city employees, according to The Detroit News.

State Rep. Woodrow Stanley, D-Flint, said emergency manager pay should be commensurate with the mayor’s pay. Stanley, a former Flint mayor, said he’s opposed to the emergency manager law in general because it interferes with voters’ rights to choose their leaders.

“I’ve never been a proponent of what appears to be exorbitant pay,” he said. “I’m sure if the state was required to pick up the tab for some of these expenses, the state would less prone to intervene.”

But a government finance expert and Michigan State University professor who has helped train emergency managers in Michigan said the managers are paid more because they often fulfill the duties of several people or departments.

“People need to think of it as a city-manager-plus,” said Eric Scorsone. “It’s what a city administrator would do, but with the responsibilities of a mayor and the responsibilities of a city council.

“It’s a pretty big job, really unusual in the scope.”

Emergency managers make decisions regarding most city operations, including finances, infrastructure and public safety, Scorsone said.

“And let’s be honest, it’s a temporary job,” Scorsone said. “An emergency manager may be in office a year or two and then that’s it. It’s a high-profile job with responsibility.”

Flint’s former emergency manager Ed Kurtz, who served during the previous 2002-04 state takeover, originally turned down the state-recommended $114,000-a-year salary in favor of $1,000 a month, according to Flint Journal files. He started taking $3,000-a-month salary in 2003, files show.

Brown said he took a pay cut to become Flint’s emergency manager. He was paid $160,000 as president of the Prima Civitas Foundation, an East Lansing-based nonprofit that focuses on economic development, but also received a retirement package he doesn’t get as emergency manager.

Brown said he expects to put in long hours and be on call 24 hours a day in the Flint job.

“I’m going in to this to do a public service,” he said. “I’m going to earn my salary. I know how challenging and tough it’s going to be."

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/12/state-appointed_emergency_mana.html

2011-12-26T16:15:00.005-05:00

Kudos to Roger Bybee for his masterpiece rebuttal
to the recent NYT Benton Harbor cover story

...But at the opposite end of the globalization process from Juarez, there's another laboratory conducting a related experiment: Benton Harbor, Mich., which once hosted jobs that have moved to places like Juarez...

...In Benton Harbor, a unionized manufacturing workforce has been cast aside and the presence of nearly 10,000 overwhelmingly poor and black people are a potential obstacle to corporations like Whirlpool implementing a plan for redeveloping the area. Benton Harborites, too, have been rendered utterly powerless...

...[Mich.]Gov. Snyder seems to believe that a state takeover of cities is more essential to their health than providing actual financial aid, which has been reserved for Michigan corporations in the form of $1.7 billion in tax cuts...

Full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12456/democracy_becomes_disposable_to_fit_era_of_disposable_people/

2011-12-17T11:35:00.001-05:00

8 Cheap High Dividend Yielding Stocks

...Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) suffered the biggest loss this year. The home appliances company lost 43.38% so far since the beginning of this year. Its P/B ratio is also pretty low: only 0.88. It has a dividend yield of 4.10% and a P/E ratio of 10.76...

http://seekingalpha.com/article/313104-8-cheap-high-dividend-yielding-stocks

2011-12-16T09:38:00.002-05:00

Yvonne Hickman

Yvonne Hickman uploaded a series of five (5) videos (links below) to describe why she is suing Glynn County, Georgia and individuals who are party to her victimization. She was arrested and banned from Glynn County, Georgia because her husband, a mentally dysfunctional Vietnam veteran with severe PTSD, says Ms. Hickman repeatedly runs over him in her car. Could this happen to you, if you take care of a mentally challenged loved one?

Description: Yvonne Hickman was arrested and banished from her home in Glynn County, Georgia by Judge Barton, Judge Morgan, and Judge DeVooght. Hickman was forced to leave the county with only the clothes on her back, leaving her home, husband, and business. Yvonne's husband is a disabled Vietnam vet who is declared 100% mentally incompetent and unemployable due to PTSD. Mr. Hickman falsely claimed Yvonne ran him over in her car on December 3, 2009, and again on July 20, 2010. Without any injuries or other evidence, and without trial, Yvonne was arrested on December 3, 2009, and ordered to leave her home and never return. This is reminiscent of events in Forsyth County, GA in 1912 when thousands of blacks were forced to flee for their lives, leaving their homes and personal property behind http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/forsyth.html - Legal inquiries invited (912)577-4373 - email YvonneHickman56@gmail.com - Ms. Hickman says, "My home is in foreclosure, my business was closed, and my husband is sick and needs me. Additionally, I am under supervision by Sentinel Offender Services, LLC and extorted of $35 monthly although I have done no crime and am denied a trial to prove my innocence."

Video 1 - http://youtu.be/xjp_jY7so8A - short url http://goo.gl/tLh6c

Video 2 - http://youtu.be/9tWPhk7A_yc - short url http://goo.gl/iD7EA

Video 3 - http://youtu.be/hTchRFjdLnw - short url http://goo.gl/3F0QG

Video 4 - http://youtu.be/QD1kaf4vkeI - short url http://goo.gl/XCJkt

Video 5 - http://youtu.be/WsnEQaqtEyg - short url http://goo.gl/U6e7Z
--
Mary Neal's Google Profile - http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice - Follow me at Twitter @koffietime - http://twitter.com/koffietime - Current, urgent justice issues from a laywoman's viewpoint at my primary blog http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com (the name is a joke, believe me). See also http://MaryLovesJustice.blogspot.com and Mary Neal at HubPages. Recommended articles - http://topsy.com/site/freespeakblog.blogspot.com - Address: MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com (I am censored, but some emails reach my box)

2011-12-14T09:31:00.003-05:00

Bill Wolf, Berrien county administrator

Bill Wolf is the current county administrator for Berrien County, Michigan. He attends all weekly county commissioner meetings.

Years ago, Wolf was mayor of Benton Harbor. In The Other Side of the River, a book about Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, by Kotlowitz, Wolf is quoted, beginning with a joke and ending up infuriated:

"Blacks can publicly accuse whites of being racist, but whites can never do that to blacks. One thing we joke about is that there is a Black Congressional Caucus and a Black conference of Mayors. What if we created a White Congressional Caucus and a White Conference of Mayors? The People wouldn't tolerate it... There is a clear double standard and it's infuriating."

Rev. Edward Pinkney has commented on this quotation by stating, "All that's missing is for Wolf to talk about the need for a Klan rally in Berrien County."

OCCUPY the county commissioner meetings. Every Thursday, 10:30am, 701 Main St., St. Joe.

2011-12-12T17:19:00.014-05:00

Whirlpool Steals $14 M with Berrien County Commissioner assistance

When is EM Joseph Harris leaving Benton Harbor?

In September Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris found evidence that $168 K was missing in BH so he contacted the FBI. Big mistake. Shortly after that, Whirlpool told him he would be leaving his job. Whirlpool and it's real estate corporation Cornerstone Alliance continue to threaten him about losing his job. This is Berrien County, Michigan, after all, where corruption defines the way of life.

************************

Berrien County Commissioners refuse to help African-American Benton Harbor residents

Regarding the $14 million HUD grant for Benton Harbor, and Benton Harbor only, let's just say it's become another grand-sized theft by Whirlpool and Rep. Fred Upton of money desperately needed in BH. HUD rules require that 25% of the 68 homes in a strategic area be "low-income" -- this is the first priority to meet the grant requirement. If the HUD NSP2* grant was being used in accordance with HUD rules, BH residents would receive housing counseling and home buying and down payment assistance. We can't think of a population more in need of this grant.

Where is the money going this time? Whirlpool and Upton agents, the Berrien County Commissioners, have divided up the grant so that roughly $7 million will go to Cornerstone Alliance for their personal use, and to build houses for upper middle class whites in Harbor Town, the resort "town" which is replacing lakefront BH.

The other $7 million goes to the Berrien County Land Bank Authority ** for acquisition "land-banking" and demolition. As 125 demolitions occur, EM Joe Harris will sell the properties to Cornerstone Alliance for $1.00 each. Yes, that's one dollar each.

For details about this gargantuan misuse of funds and phenomenal civil rights injustice, please call Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001.

Commissioners who are still silent about the monumental miscarriage of justice:
Dave Pagel
Mac Elliott
John LaMore
Debra Panozzo
Jon Hinkelman
Zach Perkins
Bob Wooley
Mamie L. Yarbrough
Bryan Bixby
Jeanette Leahey
Cathy Thieneman
Andy Vavra

*Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2

************************

**What is a Land Bank?

The short county website page - link below - states outrightly that:

--Benton Harbor neighborhoods are being "targeted"

--that really it's all about BH, and we know that does not mean lifting residents out of poverty and improving living situations as Neighborhood Stability Programs mandate

--that they are using federal money (NSP2 - HUD)

It's not stated, but if you follow Whirlpool's activities, you know this page is dedicated to eliminating BH residents by any means necessary to create a resort for the 1%. Long ago human suffering became a meaningless term to those in St. Joe and Berrien County who are motivated by greed. Someone, probably at WPool, came up with the Land Bank idea 2009 as another helpful eradication (genocide) tool.

http://berriencounty.org/CommunityDevelopment/LandBankAuthority

A fraction of the "Land Banking" information available on wikipedia:

Land banking is the practice of purchasing raw land with the intent to hold on to it until such a time as it is profitable to sell it on to others for more than was initially paid. Land is popular as an investment as it is a tangible asset as opposed to shares or bonds.
The intended increase in value may come from inflation, conversion for use as housing, or potential for extraction of raw materials.
Typically parcels...desirable for land banking are those that lie...in the growth path of rapidly developing cities...The...objective is to identify these parcels well in advance of the developers and wait for the value to be realized.
A...documentary, first aired on BBC...criticized the services offered by many land banking companies...suggesting that they were scamming their customers.

The UK Land Registry issued a press release...advising consumers that the Land Registry has published a guide warning against land banking investment schemes. ...Rudd said that the public were being "misled about the prospects of obtaining planning permission," with well-known banks and developers being falsely cited as partners in the project, and that in some cases forged Land Registry paperwork was being presented to suggest that planning approval existed where it did not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_banking

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001, banco9342@sbcglobal.net
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Pinkney to Pinkney, blogtalkradio.com, every Sunday, 5-6pm

2011-12-04T16:43:00.002-05:00

Another federal grant FOR Benton Harbor which will be withheld FROM Benton Harbor

Benton Harbor continues it's decades-long decay as grant money is continually directed to St. Joseph and elsewhere by one of America's most corrupt corporations, Whirlpool.

Whirlpool calls all the shots in Berrien County, Michigan. It's real estate arm is Cornerstone Alliance. The Berrien county commissioners, and all government officials in the county, are it's puppets.

Benton Harbor mayor Wilce Cook applied to HUD for a Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 grant of $14 million. As usual, HUD diverted the funds, in this case, to county treasurer Bret Witkowski. It's likely that we have Whirlpool heir Rep. Fred Upton to thank for this. Many times over the years BH officials have contacted HUD to right the wrongs, but to no avail. Whirlpool and Berrien county commissioners are again directing the misuse of funds.

We know that at least part of the $14 million is being redirected to demolish buildings. BH Emergency Manager Joe Harris has sold part of the land to Whirlpool's Cornerstone Alliance for $1.00, and will continue to sell more. This is what good old boys (and girls) do. The county commissioners' hatred of Benton Harbor residents allows them to engineer the city's legendary suffering.

A first-time home buyer, through NSP 2, may qualify for a second silence mortgage loan. If not that loan, the buyer should qualify for up to $30,000.00 for code-related repairs and energy-efficiency home enhancements, or $10,000.00 in rehabilitation closing cost assistance. Whirlpool and Fred Upton make certain BH residents receive none of this.

Rev. Edward Pinkney recently asked the county commissioners to use some NSP 2 money to help a large family who experienced a serious house fire. The commissioners refused to help.

And, Benton Harbor man Timothy Allen is still missing.

Commissioners who remain silent:
Dave Pagel
Mac Elliott
John LaMore
Debra Panozzo
Jon Hinkelman
Zach Perkins
Bob Wooley
Mamie L. Yarbrough
Bryan Bixby
Jeanette Leahey
Cathy Thieneman
Andy Vavra

As we struggle to build a virtuous, moral, and truthful society, it is obvious that a group of commissioners without conscience have chosen to deny the needs of BH by defending and protecting the racist greed of Whirlpool, Cornerstone Alliance, and Fred Upton.

OCCUPY the county commissioner meetings. Every Thursday, 10:30am, 701 Main St., St. Joe.

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Senior PGA Championship, May 2012, Benton Harbor:
Get ready to demonstrate. ~Occupy the PGA~
Every Sunday, 5pm, Pinkney to Pinkney show
Blogtalkradio.com, or listen on your phone: 347-994-3644

2011-12-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

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Verizon (800) 511-8086
STAPLES (800) 378-2753

2011-12-01T21:37:00.004-05:00

"...we see an obvious pattern [by Whirlpool] to squeeze us out of business. If we don’t take a stand now, there will be no manufacturing left in Benton Harbor."

Benton Harbor Manufacturer’s Web Site Complains Of Land Encroachment, Bullying
December 1, 2011 by Matt Roush

BENTON HARBOR — A property dispute between Benton Harbor’s longest-surviving manufacturer and a golf course development backed by Benton Harbor’s largest company, appliance giant Whirlpool Corp., has spilled over into the Internet.

New Products Corp. has launched a Web site, WhatIsTheBigSqueeze.com. The company said the site “is seeking to raise public awareness and support about ongoing property encroachment and other issues impacting the company” and will “reveal how its operations are being squeezed by other interests in the community.”

“We’ve worked hard to be good neighbors since my grandfather Walter Miller founded the company 90 years ago,” said Cheryl Miller, NPC’s president and CEO. “However, we can no longer be silent about ongoing attempts to squeeze our operations and threaten our future. New Products is being bullied, and it needs to stop.”

In September, NPC filed a lawsuit against Harbor Shores, the city of Benton Harbor and others after numerous attempts to notify Harbor Shores through correspondence and “no trespassing” signs that a portion of its golf course was constructed on NPC’s property.

The lawsuit was filed in Berrien County Circuit Court. Defendants in the complaint are Harbor Shores BHBT Land Development LLC, Harbor Shores Golf Course LLC, the City of Benton Harbor, Benton Township; Whirlpool Corp., PNC Bank and Michigan Magnet Fund E LLC.

A copy of NPC’s legal complaint is available on the new Web site. The complaint seeks damages for trespass and permanent injunctive relief from the defendants’ encroachment of property belonging to New Products Corp.

www.WhatIsTheBigSqueeze.com also includes descriptions with photos and maps of other issues impacting public safety and the company’s operations, along with recommendations for how the public can help raise awareness and advocate for NPC.

“Visitors to the Web site are welcome to draw their own conclusions,” Miller said. “However, we see an obvious pattern to squeeze us out of business. If we don’t take a stand now, there will be no manufacturing left in Benton Harbor. Is that what Michigan wants?”

Founded in Benton Harbor in 1922, NPC is a global supplier of custom, precision die-cast aluminum and zinc parts for thousands of applications in a variety of industries, including automotive, military, industrial machinery, medical instruments, household appliances, transportation equipment, furniture and fixtures, and more. Today, NPC is a TS 16949 certified, woman-owned small business, recognized for its world-class quality. The company currently employs 100 people, a third of which are Benton Harbor residents.

More about the company at www.newproductscorp.com.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/12/01/benton-harbor-manufacturers-web-site-complains-of-land-encroachment-bullying/?mid=5422

2011-11-28T08:24:00.004-05:00

People in Berrien County who could facilitate the search for Timothy Allen but refuse

Chief county prosecutor Art Cotter
Sheriff Paul Bailey
St. Joseph Township Police Chief Ross Bates
County Commissioners:
Dave Pagel
Mac Elliott
John LaMore
Debra Panozzo
Marletta Seats
Jon Hinkelman
Zach Perkins
Bob Wooley
Mamie L. Yarbrough
Bryan Bixby
Jeanette Leahey
Cathy Thieneman
Andy Vavra
Rep. Fred Upton
Benton Harbor Police Chief Roger Lange
State Rep. Al Pscholka
State Sen. John Proos

Rev. Pinkney has received new information indicating that St. Joe Twnshp. police spoke to Mr. Allen in a rude manner. The video is in the possession of BH police who refuse to allow citizens to view it, except for Allen's family.

2011-11-27T11:48:00.006-05:00

In Case Anybody Still Needs Proof that Berrien County, Michigan is Right Up There With THE MOST RACIST Places in the US, Here It Is

A Benton Harbor man has been missing for almost three weeks, and NO ONE IN AN OFFICIAL POSITION has lifted a finger. No one in law enforcement, no one in a county position, no one in St. Joe where he was last seen, no one at the state or federal level, NO ONE.

We know what actions would be taken if a white St. Joe resident disappeared. The list is below. We can add canine searches to the list.

--It has been over 3 weeks since Timothy Allen's visit to Lakeland Hospital in St. Joe. On the evening of Nov. 9 Allen left St. Joe, a 99% white community, and walked over the Napier Ave. bridge toward his Benton Harbor home.

Police were the last to see him according to his family at this Blogtalkradio interview http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney/2011/11/20/pinkney-to-pinkney.

St. Joe township police officer chief Ross Bates stated that an officer saw him walking on the road and ask him to walk on the sidewalk. Another officer said he was given a ride by the St. Joe police. Police were the last to see Timothy Allen.

Allen was in contact with family members everyday. He is 5'7", weighs 155lbs., and was wearing dark pants and a jacket (either brown, red, or orange.) Tip line: 269-849-0438, 804-363-9984; or call Rev. Pinkney.

Allen's family lacks the resources to drag the lake near the bridge where police claim they saw him last. They have no money for a reward at this time. Please help them.

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Senior PGA Championship, May 2012, Benton Harbor:
Get ready to demonstrate. ~Occupy the PGA~
Every Sunday, 5pm, Pinkney to Pinkney show
Blogtalkradio.com, or listen on your phone: 347-994-3644

2011-11-25T21:42:00.002-05:00

Timothy Allen, African-American, Benton Harbor resident, Missing for Three Weeks

Here's what would have happened if this was a white St. Joseph resident (or most likely any white person in Berrien County, Michigan) --

News media would have been on top of the story on a daily basis

All law enforcement in the county would be involved, including the FBI

There would be door-to-door questioning

Rewards would be offered

Dragging of the river would take place

The county commissioners would be involved

Elected officials would make statements

And more..

What happens when a black human being is missing --

Nothing

If you need proof that racism exists in Berrien County, here it is. Think what this says to a community that the proper actions are not taken by the county they live in to make them safe.

Blacks Go Missing in Police Custody: Timothy "Bulldog" Allen

2011-11-23T02:27:00.001-05:00

PLEASE HELP find Timothy "Bulldog" Allen. His family called an ambulance for him in Benton Harbor, Michigan almost two weeks ago and have not seen him since. There are seven(7) paragraphs, one(1) photo with description, and three(3) links and twenty-eight (28) recent @koffietime tweets in this article (not counting links in tweets). Police were the last to see him, according to his family at this linkfor the Rev. Pinkney Blogtalk radio show on November 20, 2011. His family asks for his return, even if he is dead. They need closure.

MORE INFO AT MaryLovesJustice

2011-11-16T19:09:00.001-05:00

Whirlpool Shares Sinking Lower, Down 2.2%
11/16/2011
By Robert Cotter

One of today's stocks on the move is Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR), down 2.2% to $52.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now trading 0.6% lower to 12,019 and the S&P is trading 0.6% lower to 1,251.

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets major home appliances. The Company's principal products include laundry appliances, refrigeration and room air conditioning equipment, cooking appliances, dishwashers, and mixers and other small household appliances. Whirlpool's products are sold worldwide

Whirlpool share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $92.28 and a 52-week low of $47.35 and are now trading 10% above that low price at $52.26 per share. The 200-day and 50-day moving averages have moved 0.69% lower and 0.48% lower over the past week, respectively.

Whirlpool has overhead space with shares priced $52.26, or 24.6% below the average consensus analyst price target of $69.33. The stock should find initial resistance at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $53.65 and further resistance at its 200-day MA of $71.67.

http://www.fnno.com/story/market-movers/331-whirlpool-shares-sinking-lower-down-22-market-movers

2011-11-15T09:58:00.004-05:00

Fourteen Million Dollars funnelled away from Benton Harbor

---Several Berrien county commissioners recently stated they really like the way things are going in BH. This is because they don't live there. And, because they approve of the illegal Whirlpool/Harbor Shores land theft and takeover. For 15 or more years federal money targeted for Benton Harbor has been funnelled away from the city. It's happening again, and with money that could really alleviate suffering of residents. FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS. It comes from HUD's Neighborhood Stability Program 2. Ask Joseph Harris, BH Emergency Manager, and Bret Witkowski, Berrien County Treasurer how this money will be used. It's not hard to imagine... Harbor Shores homes and golf course, or Whirlpool's new "campus..."

Constitutionally guaranteed freedom does not exist in Berrien county, Michigan. Yet, those who are stealing it, the county commissioners and Whirlpool Corporation, are permitted to do so by all local, state, and national officials who could end it. Those of us in Benton Harbor, especially, suffer the lack of justice.

The commissioners consist of 12 whites and 1 African-American and they refuse to lift a finger to help residents of Benton Harbor -- taxes paid by residents are NOT put back into their OWN community.

---Commissioners voted for the Berrien County Emergency Management Office of Homeland Security to be able to apply for federal funds for the development and maintenance of the program "capable of protecting life, property, and vital infrastructure in time of disaster - everywhere in Berrien county except Benton Harbor. They only take from residents who are living a disaster every single day. It's a mystery how human beings (like in St. Joe) can live so close to this and not care. They carry out target practice to ensure that not a single resident of Benton Harbor is left alive.

Benton Harbor continues to be a city under seige. When will it end and residents can breathe freely, live happy lives?

---The NAACP-BH has an important goal: to spread our fight locally, in the state, nationally, and internationally. We feel that BH will continue to live in the most dire straights imaginable until people from the outside step in. The mishandling of public trust by Berrien county couldn't be more massive, unjust, inhumane, and unconstitutional. Representative to congress Fred Upton, along with Whirlpool, spearhead the oppression.

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net

2011-11-15T09:06:00.004-05:00

[Voting in the town which Whirlpool controls]

Benton Harbor absentee ballot fury forces recount (article summarized)

The Michigan Citizen, by Bankole Thompson

BENTON HARBOR – As in Detroit, an absentee ballot controversy engulfs the city of Benton Harbor.

At the center of the matter is the allegation of possible ballot tampering.
A 30-year-veteran politician, City Commissioner Ralph Crenshaw, running for re-election, was seen carrying a box of AV ballots to the Donald C. Mitchell Federal Building where the ballots were being counted on election night.
“He should not have touched those ballots because he was a candidate in the election,” said Etta Harper who ran for commissioner-at-large seat in a tightly contested race. Harper came in third. She received 261 votes, Crenshaw, 270; and former commissioner Rickie Hill had the highest number with 281.
Harper is demanding answers as to why a candidate in a race would be carrying ballots with him.
...“What I was told by a couple of different people who were there was that one of the election workers was on her way to the election hall and needed help. She is a senior citizen,” Stein [clerk] said. “She called for help and nobody showed up. So finally commissioner Crenshaw asked if he could do it. That’s what two different people told me.”
However election law prohibits candidates from handling ballots. Requests for a recount can be made six calendar days after the election.
Stein advised Harper to take her case to the County prosecutor’s office. Harper said she did just that. “We asked the prosecutor to allow the state police to investigate it. The prosecutor has turned it over to the Sheriff’s Department,” Harper said.
Harper said she does not feel the Sheriff’s deputies could handle the case thoroughly and independently given numerous cases with the city in the past. She wants the state police to come in.
The Rev. Edward Pinkney, an activist minister, said the Benton Harbor election was fraught with problems.
“The election assistants were turning registered voters away,” Pinkney said. “ If you moved from your address from the last 60 days you were not eligible to vote at the precinct. But they turned away people who moved three weeks.”
In some cases the names of precinct listed on voters’ registration certificates were not the ones they were to cast their vote at.
“Most young people who came to the polls did not bother to challenge it. They just returned home,” Pinkney said. “Most young people said they were voting for Harper.”
A poll watcher at Calvin Briton elementary school said a young female voter was turned away because she walked into the precinct 15 minutes before the polls closed at 8:pm.
“The girl was there before eight and they said she can’t vote,” Kinnard said.
Crenshaw could not be reached and Benton Harbor City Clerk Joyce Taylor did not return calls.

http://michigancitizen.com/benton-harbor-absentee-ballot-fury-forces-recount-p2383-1.htm

2011-11-06T20:58:00.001-05:00

Berrien County Commission meeting Nov. 3, 2011

For many years I have been attending Berrien County Commissioner meetings. I always leave the meeting with the feeling I've been in a room with racists.

People who come to speak to the commissioners are given just 2 minutes to say whatever they want. On Nov. 3 I decided to get their attention.

First I gave some information on the Perkins family from Benton Harbor. Their house burned down and they have nine children. It was obvious that this group of officials could care less about the family because they are Black. Not once in the many meetings I've attended has this board done anything for the people of Benton Harbor. Not once. For them, BH doesn't exist.
Throughout history this has been the case. The oppressors can't think about the suffering they cause - it would force them to develop consciences.

I was able to capture their attention when I told them about the country of Libya. This information is what got the nation's most racist county visibly upset:

At least until very recently, all of the following facts have been the way of life in Libya.
1. Electricity is free for all citizens.
2. Banks are state owned. Loans are given with zero % interest.
3. Having a home is considered a human right in Libya.
4. Newlyweds receive $60,000.00 dinar to buy their first apt. and help start a family.
5. Education and medical treatment are free. Before Gaddafi the literacy rate was 25%; today it's 83%.
6. Should a citizen want to farm, they receive land, house, equipment, seeds, and livestock.
7. Should a citizen need education or medical treatment not available in the country, the gov. funds them to go abroad. They would also receive $2300.00 a month for accommodation and car allowance.
8. When citizens buy cars, they are subsidized for half the price.
9. The price of gas is 14 cents per liter.
10. Libya has no external debt and its reserves amounting to $150 billion are now frozen globally.
11. If a citizen is unable to get employment after graduation, the state pays the average salary.
12. A portion of every oil sale is credited directly to the bank accounts of citizens.
13. When a mother gives birth, she receives $5000.00. [Child care is viewed as an extremely important job.]
14. 40 loaves of bread costs 15 cents.
15. Gaddfi carried out the world's largest irrigation project known as the great manmade river project - to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
16. The US called Gaddafi a dictator.

Rev. Pinkney

The Occupy Movement

2011-11-04T18:11:00.001-04:00

2011-10-31T11:16:00.001-04:00

Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs [report on TV said jobs were being sent to Mexico]
By MAE ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Whirlpool plans to cut 5,000 jobs, about 10% of its workforce in North America and Europe, as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.

The world’s biggest appliance maker also on Friday cut its 2011 earnings outlook drastically and reported third-quarter results that missed expectations, hurt by higher costs and a slowdown in emerging markets.

The company, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, has, like other appliance makers, been squeezed by soft U.S. demand since the recession and rising costs for materials such as steel and copper. Because of its size, Whirlpool’s performance provides a window on the economy because it indicates whether consumers are comfortable spending on big-ticket items.

Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool has raised prices to combat higher costs, but demand for items like refrigerators and washing machines remains tight.

To offset slowing North American sales, Whirlpool has turned to emerging markets. But the company said Friday that sales have slowed there, too. The company revised its demand forecast globally. It now expects demand to decline 3% to 5% in North America, in 2011.

Steep costs and the dour global economy are affecting the entire appliance industry. Swedish appliance maker Electrolux said Friday that its third-quarter net income fell 39% and also cut its forecast for demand in North America and Europe for the year.

Whirlpool jobs to be cut are mostly in North America and Europe. They include 1,200 salaried positions and the closing of the company’s Ft. Smith, Ark., plant.

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DFREEP/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=REZQLzIwMTEvMTAvMjk.&pageno=MjA.&entity=QXIwMjAwMQ..&view=ZW50aXR5

2011-10-27T18:01:00.003-04:00

Berrien County Court Report

People from all over the world engage in court watching with Rev. Edward Pinkney to see the extreme corruption and racism for themselves. The reputation is spreading.

And, it says a lot about the government of the state of Michigan that it allows this unspeakably inhumane court to operate unfettered and uncontrolled.

On Tuesday October 25 Chae Hwa Roo from South Korea and J. Gilberto from Mexico joined Rev. Pinkney and were shocked at what they saw. Judge Dennis Wiley belittled a parade of black people who went before him. His treatment was extremely harsh.

On Wednesday October 26 attorney Tat Parish, one of the greatest defense attorneys in the country, was attacked by judge Dennis Wiley. He held his own again the madman.

Attorney Parish's client had taken a drug test which came back positive for marijuana. Parish told Wiley his client had not smoked any drugs in the last ten days. Judge Wiley called Parish a liar and stated marijuana only stays in the system
for seven days. He had his facts wrong again.

Marijuana is stored in the fat cells of the body, in the brain, liver and kidney. THC can stay in a person's body for 90 days and in the hair for between 3 months to 3 years.

The reality is that America, which proclaims itself the land of the free, has the most dishonest and dangerous legal system of any developed nation.

Legal corruption is covering America like a blanket. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. We must Occupy courtooms in every county in the US.

2011-10-22T13:45:00.003-04:00

Is extortion too strong a word?

MSU law professor Jeanice Dagher represented a young man from Benton Harbor in Berrien County's notorious courthouse Friday.

Judge Wiley, more madman than usual, denied her request to reduce court costs and fines. Atty. Dagher explained that a defendant pleading guilty is normally not charged nearly what Wiley was charging: over $1,200.00. Wiley is used to the Berrien way (the court functioning partly as a cash cow) and told her with crazy sounding strong language that he could and would charge whatever he wanted.

2011-10-19T16:49:00.005-04:00

"Election" in Benton Harbor

Rev. Pinkney believes that Benton Harbor's Emergency Manager, Joseph Harris, will be gone soon. The main reason for this is that Whirlpool will fix the upcoming November election so that James Hightower becomes the new mayor. Hightower is a "Whirlpool man." With him at the helm, Whirlpool will actually be at the helm. Harris will have served his function and will no longer be needed. He has been paid very well, $132K per year, to carry out the corporate agenda of removal of a population through illegal imprisonments and other horrors for the purpose of redevelopment of the land.

You may be wondering why an election is being held in a city with an Emergency Manager; once an EM is appointed, democracy is eradicated, right? Well, there are certain things pertaining to a city charter that cannot be altered. Therefore, Harris (Whirlpool) has seven items on the ballot besides the mayoral decision. Two of them are - the effort to eliminate the wards in Benton Harbor (easier to control elections), and changing the city commission term from 4 years to 2 years.

Wiley, the Whirlpool drunk on the bench

On Tuesday, Judge Wiley denied a young Mexican man the right to have his criminal record expunged. The reason? He was a minority.

Judge Dennis Wiley is openly violating the constitutional rights of minorities. The majority of Berrien County court employees know about this drunk, racist judge. He and his blatant corruption make Berrien County a third world nation.

Wiley has to be the most crooked judge in the whole judiciary. He has shown wanton negligence in at least over 75% of his cases. His conduct, among other judges, is the subject of a criminal investigation by a law center.

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

2011-10-18T12:40:00.002-04:00

Goldman Sachs Downgrades Whirlpool (WHR) to Sell, Sees 24% Downside
October 18, 2011

Goldman Sachs downgraded Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) to Sell with a price target of $42, suggesting 24% downside.
The firm said the upcoming supply increases in Brazil from LG and Samsung will pressure the company's highest margin business. Goldman notes that Brazil/Latin America accounts for 25% of Whirlpool sales, but 50% of its operating profit given the high margins.
Goldman sees the company's 2014 EPS goal of $15 as "unrealistic". They expect 2013 EPS of $4.67, well below consensus of $8.37, and 2014 EPS of $5.52.
For more ratings news on Whirlpool Corporation click here and for the rating history of Whirlpool Corporation click here.
Shares of Whirlpool Corporation closed at $54.98 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $47.35-$92.28.

via StreetInsider.com

2011-10-15T12:10:00.007-04:00

Whirlpool "Streamlines"

Here are two articles on WP firings - don't miss the comments, although the first article's quotes from Whirlpool do enough damage to the corporation's credibility.

Whirlpool: Jobs Cuts "Difficult but Necessary"
Oct 11, 2011 By Tom Powell

Whirlpool announced Tuesday it is making "organizational changes." The changes include layoffs, but the company is not specifying how many people will lose their jobs.
A Whirlpool Spokesperson released the following statement to FOX 28 News:
"We communicated yesterday to employees regarding organizational changes in our North American Region. The changes are designed to create a more streamlined organization, allowing the company to operate more effectively, and to adapt more quickly, in current and forecasted market conditions. Most of Whirlpool Corporation's U.S. and Canadian locations were included; however we will not be providing additional details by location. Employees whose jobs were affected were notified yesterday.
Employee meetings were held this morning at various Whirlpool locations to discuss the changes and allow employees an open venue to ask questions of Whirlpool leaders.
This is a difficult, but necessary adjustment as we address a volatile marketplace in which demand for major appliances is currently at recessionary levels. Out of respect for the privacy of our employees we are not sharing specific numbers, however the job adjustments are spread across locations in the U.S. and Canada."
Whirlpool employs about 4,000 people in Benton Harbor, according to Cornerstone Alliance, an economic development group in the area.
"We are aware of the organizational effectiveness moves being made by Whirlpool Corporation and are concerned with some of the numbers being speculated within the community as to individuals impacted. We have heard rumors of job cuts in the realm of several hundred, which we know to be exaggerated," said Cornerstone Alliance President Wendy Dant Chesser in a statement to FOX 28 News. "However, we also realize that the loss of even just one job greatly affects not only that employee and their family, but also the broader community. This is why Cornerstone Alliance is working aggressively to court new businesses to our region and support many of the existing companies in our area that continue to thrive, despite the downturn in the economy."

Denise
Shame on Whirlpool. Are they getting rid of foreign employees as well? They should be taxed at about 90% to bring their products back into our country. How shortsighted-if I were the CEO the person who came up with this "organizational effectiveness" is fired. Let's use some imagination. Pretty soon the only employee left is the CEO-who will do the work then?

Nifty
PS.. I like the use of the term "organizational effectiveness moves". Nice....sorry, you are not effective in our organization anymore. Also, sweet touch on the "It gets better" release timing... reflective of the CYA / 'no responsibility" mentality ...

Nifty
All the best for those out of work now...and those left behind to do more work. It is a real pity that the incompetent WHR leaders aren't walked out the door.... where is the Board looking out for the shareholders' interests ? Nowhere. Millions of dollars to keep 4 jets, a new $40m building that isn't needed (particularly now), and time and again, failed strategies to increase profits (is it brand or product or channel strategy this year ?). So, what does one do when you can't improve profits when you have the market share leadership ? Fire employees.... it is a complete admission of failure in leadership and talent recruitment (I wonder if any HR leaders were let go this time...the ones charged with talent recruitment should obviously be the first to go, right ?). Maybe when they fire the next several hundred employees, the Board might start to wake up ...don't hold your breath.

http://www.fox28.com/story/15670025/whirlpool-says-jobs-cuts-are-difficult-but-necessary

Whirlpool cuts local jobs
Company won't say how many
“The changes are designed to create a more streamlined organization..."
by Mark Peterson
mpeterson@wndu.com

Whirlpool has eliminated jobs in the greater Benton Harbor / St. Joseph area, although it won’t say how many jobs.
Company Spokesperson Kristine Vernier said that Whirlpool isn’t sharing specific numbers out of respect for the privacy of the affected workers.
Whirlpool employs some 4,000 workers locally, but Vernier says that job cuts also took place beyond Berrien County--at Whirlpool facilities all across the United States and Canada.
“The changes are designed to create a more streamlined organization, allowing the company to operate more effectively, and to adapt more quickly, in current and forecasted market conditions,” Vernier said in a written statement.
The statement goes on to say that the marketplace is volatile and that “demand for major appliances is currently at recessionary levels.”
The employees whose jobs were affected were notified yesterday, according to the statement.
Under certain conditions an employer would be required to notify state and local government of a ‘large layoff,’ for instance, if plans called for 500 or more people to be let go in a 30-day period.
When asked if Whirlpool filed such notification, Vernier said that the layoff did not meet those criteria.
Late today, The Cornerstone Alliance issued a news release in which President Wendy Dant Chesser states, "We are aware of the organizational effectiveness moves being made by Whirlpool Corporation and are concerned with some of the numbers being speculated within the community as to individuals impacted. We have heard rumors of job cuts in the realm of several hundred, which we know to be exaggerated."

by wickileaks on Oct 14, 2011
this is only the first wave coming there will be more, possibly in about 2 weeks the next wave will happen, then possibly january more. All this while Jeff Fettig and his friends have a new corporate jet to fly around in, oh thats right they didnt mention that did they? where is the investigative reporting? next thing to go wil be the 401k match to the leftover employees while fettigs stock options increase, he'll still get his bonus, doubt average joe will get a bonus, or a raise next year.... mark my words

by Les on Oct 12, 2011 at 06:04 AM
I wonder how much just a 10-15% executive pay and bonus reduction would save the company? I doubt that was discussed as an option. Do you really need millions in your bonus on top of a million dollar salary Jeff Fettig? How much do your many executives deserve to stare out at the lake all day? Oh, we can't do that. We will lose our "top talent." Does it really take top talent to come up with a 'let's fire some people that make $35K/yr' plan. Brilliant. Show some real leadership and cost cut where the fat actually exists.

by Dianne on Oct 12, 2011
Hmmmmm. Wonder if the case reported below has something to do with the lay offs?? They were caught price gouging.... Mighty convenient lay offs would happen right now since they lost 140 Million. Embraco, a division of Michigan-based Whirlpool, and Panasonic Corp. pleaded guilty last year and together agreed to pay $140 million.

by Whoa There Pards... on Oct 11, 2011
2 months ago they were predicting the best year ever: "The company is reaffirming its annual operating EPS guidance(5) of $12.00 to $13.00 and free cash flow guidance in the range of $400 million to $500 million. Given the current operating environment, Whirlpool is guiding EPS to the low end of the range."

by Nifty Location: BH on Oct 11, 2011
All the best for those out of work now...and those left behind to do more work. It is a real pity that the incompetent WHR leaders aren't walked out the door.... where is the Board looking out for the shareholders' interests? Nowhere. Millions of dollars to keep 4 jets, a new $40m building that isn't needed (particularly now), and time and again, failed strategies to increase profits (is it brand or product or channel strategy this year ?). So, what does one do when you can't improve profits when you have the market share leadership ? Fire employees.... it is a complete admission of failure in leadership and talent recruitment (I wonder if any HR leaders were let go this time...the ones charged with talent recruitment should obviously be the first to go, right ?). Maybe when they fire the next several hundred employees, the Board might start to wake up ...don't hold your breath. PS.. I like the use of the term "organizational effectiveness moves". Nice....sorry, you are not effective in our organization anymore. Also, sweet touch on the "It gets better" release timing... reflective of the CYA / 'no responsibility" mentality ...

by Anonymous on Oct 11, 2011 at 08:07 PM
You can pretty much tell a layoff is coming when St.Joe puts up the We Love Whirlpool Sign on Broad street.

http://www.wndu.com/hometop/headlines/Whirlpool_cuts_local_jobs__131550748.html

2011-10-12T12:20:00.002-04:00

Benton Harbor in the New York Times

The New York Times has been working on an article about Benton Harbor. Keep an eye out, as it should appear any day now. Rev. Pinkney was interviewed for several hours by a reporter who traveled to BH, and yesterday the newspaper sent a photograher to town.

Judge Dennis Wiley receives award

A progressive national organization, Foxfire, has been keeping an eye on the Berrien County courthouse among other courts, and has given Judge Dennis Wiley the Jackass of the Year award for the second time in three years. He is notorious throughout Berrien County and elsewhere for corruption, innocent convictions, and blatant inebriation on the bench.

The judicial system which employs Wiley is itself blatantly corrupt, denies procedural rights guaranteed by the constitution, and violates the basic right to equality before the law.

Berrien County is known for rigged courts, fake and phony trials, and extortion by judges and lawyers. In this courthouse, the focus is on jailing young black BH males - approximately 1 out of 25 are imprisoned.

Rev. Edward Pinkney watches Judge Wiley on a daily basis, recording his words and actions. This week Pinkney was joined by two new court-watchers, a Brazilian and a Columbian. An architect of the court's racism and corruption, now on the west Michigan federal bench, is Judge Paul Maloney. He illegally set aside the '05 BH recall election of Glen Yarbrough. Maloney was in court this week - Rev. Pinkney made sure their eyes met.

Listen to Rev. Pinkney's radio show
every Sunday, 5-6pm.
BlogTalkRadio.com/rev-pinkney

Occupy Wall Street Activist Slams Fox News Producer In Un-Aired Interview

2011-10-05T22:53:00.005-04:00

Well, here is an interview that Fox News filmed, but doesn’t want you to see.

read the full article at Observer.com

2011-10-05T19:52:00.001-04:00

Whirlpool lays off 25 at Arkansas plant
By AP | October 04, 2011

FORT SMITH, Ark. — Whirlpool Corp. officials say nearly two dozen people have been laid off at its plant in Fort Smith.

In a statement released Tuesday, the company announced that 22 employees had been let go at the facility.

Officials announced in July that about 25 salaried employees would separate from the company or take retirement.

The company cites reduced demand for major appliances and what it called "unfair trade practices by foreign competitors selling refrigerators in the United States."

Whirlpool laid off 850 employees at the Fort Smith plant in late 2010, leaving an estimated 1,020 hourly and 110 salaried workers.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/48738--whirlpool-lays-off-25-at-arkansas-plant

2011-10-01T10:38:00.002-04:00

...Whirlpool Execs Charged In Price-Fixing Sting

by Mark Brush, 9/28/11

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted three former executives from a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary, a Panasonic Corporation, and a Tecumseh Products Company subsidiary for conspiring to fix prices on refrigerant compressors.

The compressors are used in refrigerators and freezers...

...Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General from the DOJ's Antitrust Division said:

“Cracking down on international price fixing cartels has been and will continue to be among the most significant priorities for the Antitrust Division. Our investigation into the refrigerant compressors industry has already resulted in two companies – Panasonic and Embraco North America – pleading guilty and paying a total of $140.9 million in criminal fines. Our investigation is continuing.”

The three are being charged for price fixing under the Sherman Act. The maximum penalty they each face is 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/three-corporate-executives-indicted-compressor-price-fixing-case

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-pricefixing-compr,0,3467906.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110927-714992.html#articleTabs_comments

2011-09-25T11:24:00.001-04:00

Joseph Harris is Whirlpool Corporation's Perfect Stooge:
No Constitution Week allowed, and no complaints
allowed by well-established businesses

Harris, recipient of a taxpayer funded $131,000.00 yearly salary, has been more than willing to wield his EM power with the greatest of ease. Since the expansion of PA4, he can do absolutely anything he wants to do in Benton Harbor, and has been doing just that with an extreme show of arrogant authority. As if to say, I'm king of the playground and residents better look out.

Recently he cancelled Constitution Week with one brash statement in the city commission meeting minutes (caps are his):

"THE FOLLOWING ACTION TAKEN OR DECISION MADE BY THE CITY COMMISSION WAS NOT AUTHORIZED BY THE EMERGENCY MANAGER AND IS NULL AND VOID, AND OF NO FORCE OR EFFECT."

City officials can't hold a celebration of the constitution? We know all the other decisions they can no longer make, according to PA4, but no Constitution Week?

We suppose Harris doesn't want a celebration of something that no longer applies to the people living in this city. He's the man, after all. He's not only taken the Emergency Manager ball and run with it, he won't even stop to throw a pass now and then. Harris is the evil step-father in Benton Harbor.

Here's another action he took which will only attract negative attention his way:

Harris, also known as The Dictator, has been sparring with Benton Harbor's New Product's Corporation, one of the city's oldest businesses. CEO Cheryl Miller asserts that a Harbor Shores bike path under construction encroaches on New Product's property by about five feet for a length of 100 feet. Harris said Miller has no grounds to be complaining, that her complaining is the wrong thing to do, and that she will get an answer from him that she will not like.

Harris is not known for his diplomacy. And that's the way Whirlpool likes it.

Thanks to MSNBC for continuing to report on Benton Harbor, the bellwether for the rest of the country. Hopefully someday soon MSNBC will gather the courage to report on the elephant in this story's livingroom: Whirlpool Corporation, the true boss (in the worst sense of the word) of BH and Berrien County.

Recent MSNBC story:

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/19/7839166-benton-harbor-emergency-manager-cancels-constitution-week

Dictatorship by the Corporations

2011-09-23T02:53:00.006-04:00

"We are still fighting for justice against Whirlpool and the Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) in Benton Harbor. We might be driving the EFM out of town. We’ll know soon. We need to keep up the fight." - Rev Edward Pinkney Photo/Brett Jelinek, OlafImages.com

By Salvador Sandoval

Unable to take the lakefront property by its accustomed means, Whirlpool took the land it wanted anyway. This travesty was accomplished through actions of the Michigan State appointed Emergency Financial Manager Joseph Harris.

I had the privilege of interviewing the Rev. Edward Pinkney. Rev. Pinkney gained national recognition for leading the impoverished, overwhelmingly Black community of Benton Harbor, Michigan in its fight against the corporate takeover by Whirlpool Corporation. The struggle highlights the growing fascist danger in this country that arises when government and corporations work together in the corporate interest, trampling democratic rights, and overturning democratically held elections.

Once a thriving part of the Midwest, Benton Harbor sits on prime lake-front property near Lake Michigan. Whirlpool is the largest employer in the area. It has long held plans to take over this valuable land.

In the early 1990’s jobs began to disappear. Production was shifted to lower wage areas in Mexico, or taken away by labor replacing technology, which caused massive unemployment in Benton Harbor.

In 2003-2004 the former CEO of Whirlpool advocated for a $500 million marina/golf course complex that would take 530 acres of Benton Harbor, thus privatizing the city’s only beach.

Rev. Pinkney and the community mounted a campaign to oppose the take-over, despite the stranglehold control Whirlpool had with six city commissioners favoring its plan. The campaign led to the successful recall of a key commissioner in Whirlpool’s pocket.

Thereafter, in a staggering series of events, the recall was over-turned, Rev. Pinkney was charged with voter fraud, and he was acquitted. Then he was placed on parole after a second court of all white jurors found him guilty of hand carrying an absentee ballot.

He was subsequently charged and convicted of parole violation. He was given 3 to 10 years for quoting the Bible in criticizing the judge and penal system for mistreatment of prisoners! This sentence was overturned by the Michigan Appellate Court.

Since that fateful day in 2005 when the control of Benton harbor was challenged, the political landscape of Benton Harbor had changed. In 2008 four commissioners favorable to the Benton Harbor Community have been elected, effectively breaking Whirlpool’s stranglehold control.

Unable to take the lakefront property by its accustomed means, Whirlpool took the land it wanted anyway. This travesty was accomplished through actions of the Michigan State appointed Emergency Financial Manager Joseph Harris. By the authority of the new state law an EFM can be a person, corporation, or person beholden to a corporation.

Thus Benton Harbor, Michigan became the first victim of Michigan’s new Emergency Financial Manager law (EFM), but it likely won’t be the last. Already 5000 teachers in Detroit have been laid off, in violation of their union contracts.

The case of Rev. Pinkney and his continuing battle with the corporate control of Benton Harbor has tremendous implications for the rest of the country, given the state budget shortfalls. At issue too is the fact that many corporations do not pay taxes.

It is important that all of us heed this warning. As Reverend Pinkney stated, “this could be coming to your town next.”

This article is excerpted from a longer version published in the Sept-Oct. edition of the Tribuno del Pueblo.

We are still fighting for justice against Whirlpool and the Emergency Financial Manager in Benton Harbor. We might be driving the EFM out of town. We need to keep up the fight.

— Rev. Edward Pinkney

from People's Tribune

2011-09-21T19:30:00.002-04:00

Whirlpool Stock Hits New 52-Week Low
By TheStreet Wire 9/21/11

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) hit a new 52-week low Wednesday as it is currently trading at $50.71, below its previous 52-week low of $50.92 with 1.4 million shares traded as of 3:36 p.m. ET. Average volume has been two million shares over the past 30 days.

Whirlpool has a market cap of $4 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are down 40.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

Whirlpool Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of home appliances worldwide. Its principal products include laundry appliances, refrigerators, cooking appliances, dishwashers, mixers, and other small household appliances. The company has a P/E ratio of 16.1, equal to the average retail industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

* Practice your WHR trading strategies and win cash in our stock game.

TheStreet Ratings rates Whirlpool as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth and reasonable valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and weak operating cash flow.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11255720/1/whirlpool-stock-hits-new-52-week-low-whr.html

2011-09-21T13:33:00.003-04:00

Fake Crimes by Paul Craig Roberts

Studies show Americans close to being the worst educated and least aware population among first-world countries. Americans easily stumble into war and give up their rights because of exaggerated fears of terrorists and criminals. Americans have been losing accountable government, liberty and justice for a long time. At some point these values become irretrievable.

Consider justice. The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and imprisons 6 to 10 times as many people as any other industrialized country. Between 1990 and 2000 the US population increased 13%. The US prison population more than tripled.

There are hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans in prison. They are there because the criminal justice system no longer works to discover the truth of a crime, but to convict at all cost whoever happens to be charged with a crime. And they are there because the US criminalizes more acts than any other country in the world, including tyrannical police states.

In the US there are three categories of prisoners: the guilty, the innocent, and those convicted as a result of prosecutors' interpretations of vague and broad statutes that deem conduct to be criminal that reasonable people — and every other country — do not recognize to be criminal.

For example, in the Martha Stewart case, the prosecutor criminalized her exercise of her constitutional right to declare her innocence. He said it constituted fraud for her to declare her innocence and tacked on the charge. Remember that if you ever stand before a judge.

Almost everyone in prison is wrongfully convicted, even the guilty. According to the US Dept. of Justice (sic), 95% of criminal convictions result from plea-bargains. What is a plea bargain but self-incrimination, conviction without a trial by jury and without a test of the evidence against the defendant?

An uninformed public believes plea bargains to be sweet deals for criminals. Sometimes they are, but more often pleas result from prosecutors piling on charges until the defendant, innocent or guilty, cries "uncle" and gives up.

Prosecutors not only coerce defendants, they coerce witnesses to give false testimony. Sometimes coercion takes place behind closed doors. Other times it takes place in full public view.

Consider husband and wife defendants Andrew and Lea Fastow in the Enron case. The Fastows have two young children. In order to coerce "cooperation" and testimony against Enron executives, the federal prosecutors threatened to put both father and mother in prison, effectively rendering the two young children orphans.

In Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's immortal words, Andrew Fastow is being taught not only to sing but also to compose. To keep his wife out of prison, he will give the prosecutors whatever testimony they want against his bosses.

The American public watches all this in plain view and then believes the testimony!

You may think that Enron officials deserve what they get. But do you approve of the illegal and unethical methods used to produce the convictions? In effect are the prosecutors as guilty of criminal behavior as those they pursue?

"Junk bond king" Michael Milken was put into a similar situation. Unless he agreed to a plea, the prosecutors threatened to indict his younger brother.

If prosecutors can so easily frame the wealthy and politically connected, what do you think happens daily to the inner city poor?

Prosecutor Rudy Giuliani was a master at using the media to destroy the reputations of his victims, thus pre-empting a trial where evidence of a crime could be tested. Giuliani climbed over the bodies of his high-profile victims to become mayor of New York and a 911 hero.

Now it is Martha Stewart and mutual funds who have been targeted as a prosecutor's path to a political career.

Martha Stewart is falsely charged with "insider trading," an offense of which she cannot be guilty as she is not an insider and had no information from an insider.

Legal scholar and law school dean Henry Manne has shown (Wall St. Journal, 1-8-04) that prosecutor Eliot Spitzer's charges against mutual funds are largely trumped-up. The offenses are partly the unintended result of a Security and Exchange Commission "reform," which capped redemption fees that mutual funds used to discourage market timers.

Prosecutor Spitzer's claims about mutual funds are based, not on law, but on an academic paper written at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. In other words, the prosecutor has a "theory." Professor Manne has shown the academic paper to be incorrect. What we are witnessing is a mutual fund witch-hunt based on an incorrect academic theory.

And Americans think they live under a rule of law!

No doubt some mutual fund managers exercised bad judgment and some may have broken some rules. But Spitzer's ambition has blown the cases out of proportion. We certainly do not want to criminalize bad judgment. It is hard to find a worse case of bad judgment than the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.

February 4, 2004

Dr. Roberts [send him mail] is John M. Olin Fellow at the Institute for Political Economy, Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and Research Fellow at the Independent Institute. He is a former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He is the co-author of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.

Copyright © 2004 Creators Syndicate
LewRockwell.com

Reverend Pinkney Speaks of Negative Impact of Governmental Emergency Financial Managers (EFM)

2011-09-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

and Rachel Maddow blasts the EMF for repealing "Constitution Week" (Michael Moore)

2011-09-15T09:24:00.006-04:00

Press Release

[Across the street from New Products Corporation is Modern Plastics. Whirlpool Corp. cut off some suppliers of Modern Plastics and forced it to go out of business. It seems New Products Corp. is determined that Whirlpool will not bully them.]

Sept. 14, 2011
New Products Corporation Files Lawsuit to Stop Encroachment of Company Property

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Sep 14, 2011 (The Wall Street Journal-BUSINESS WIRE-Marketwatch) -- One of Benton Harbor's oldest and longest surviving manufacturing companies, New Products Corporation, today filed a lawsuit against Harbor Shores, the city of Benton Harbor and others after numerous attempts to notify Harbor Shores through correspondence and "no trespassing" signs that a portion of its golf course was constructed on the company's property.

The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court for the County of Berrien. Defendants named in the complaint are Harbor Shores BHBT Land Development, LLC, Harbor Shores Golf Course, LLC, City of Benton Harbor, Benton Township; Whirlpool Corporation, PNC Bank and Michigan Magnet Fund E, LLC.

New Products Corporation is a custom precision, high pressure die caster and supplier of aluminum and zinc parts that are shipped to dozens of customer plants throughout the United States and worldwide. Established in 1922 by Walter Miller, New Products Corporation is now led by the founder's granddaughter, CEO and President Cheryl Miller. The company currently employs 100 people, a third of which are Benton Harbor residents.

According to attorney Mark S. Demorest of Demorest Law Firm, PLLC, who is representing New Products Corporation, the lawsuit was filed because the company's prior communications with Harbor Shores did not resolve the problem.

The complaint seeks damages for trespass and permanent injunctive relief from the defendants' encroachment of property belonging to New Products Corporation.

"We have a long history of being good neighbors and contributors to the local community, and we are committed to continuing that tradition," said Miller. "While New Products is not a big company, we are a world class, viable Michigan and U.S. manufacturer and one of the few remaining in this area. We feel it is vitally important for us to take a stand and protect what's ours. It's not right for someone, no matter who they are or what they do, to take property that doesn't belong to them."

For more information about New Products Corporation, visit www.newproductscorp.com

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-products-corporation-files-lawsuit-to-stop-encroachment-of-company-property-2011-09-14

2011-09-14T09:53:00.004-04:00

Berrien County Court Report from Rev. Pinkney

Pinkney, a daily court observer, was joined by two people this week, one from S. Korea and one from Mexico. Both are working with the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD) Michigan located in Dowagiac, Mich. The Mexican man had a strong reaction to the proceedings, remarking that:

"In this court, all they do is extract money and imprison people. In Mexico, the defense attorneys fight for the defendant. In this court they give up on them. And, in Mexico, many judges are corrupt because they are terrified of the drug criminals. What they do is assist them, out of fear." (In Berrien County, the criminals come in the form of a land-hungry corporation...)

The South Korean woman said she couldn't have imagined that a court could be so corrupt in the United States.

The two visitors witnessed many miscarriages of justice including Judge Wiley giving Antonio Smith 90 days in jail for contempt of court (scroll down to Sept. 9 for info), and sentencing a man about to die to jail. He was on a breathing tank and using a walker.

2011-09-13T10:34:00.000-04:00

Next Support Level for Whirlpool (WHR) is $50.71
Mon. 09/12/2011
By Peter Chu

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) has opened bearishly below the pivot of $52.82 today and has reached the first level of support at $51.63. Should the shares continue to fall, the support pivots of $50.71 and $48.60 will be of interest.

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets major home appliances. The Company's principal products include laundry appliances, refrigeration and room air conditioning equipment, cooking appliances, dishwashers, and mixers and other small household appliances. Whirlpool's products are sold worldwide

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Whirlpool have traded between a low of $51.91 and a high of $92.28 and are now at $51.45, which is -1% above that low price. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 2.7% while the 200-day MA has slid 0.5%.

Whirlpool has overhead space with shares priced $51.45, or 53.5% below the average consensus analyst price target of $79.00. The stock should find initial resistance at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $66.91 and further resistance at its 200-day MA of $79.34.

http://www.fnno.com/story/pivot-alerts/331-next-support-level-whirlpool-whr-5071-pivot-alerts

You must see this video!

2011-09-13T01:38:00.005-04:00

(Do not forget about Cynthia McKinney

in Benton Harbor, Michigan On Oct 8)

A few facts from the video:

Whirlpool has been meddling in [Benton Harbor] city politics for 30 years. For every tax break and advantage it can get. As the neighborhoods crumble...

With global sales of $18 Billion Whirpool paid 0% in 2010 federal taxes.

It received a refund of $64 Million.

Whirlpool has received 500 Million in tax breaks just since 2005.

Millions more in the past 3 decades.

Whirlpool took 19 Billion in federal stimulus funds. Then closed plants in the US. Including the plant in BH.

Rep. Fred Upton receives substantial campaign contributions from Whirlpool. And the Koch brothers.

Gov. Rick Snyder signed the Emergency Manager Law. And a budget that taxes pensions and cuts education funding in Michigan.

Then gave corporations (like Whirlpool) a $1.8 Billion tax break.

2011-09-09T10:29:00.000-04:00

Report from the Berrien County courthouse
by Rev. Edward Pinkney

I have seen collusion between prosecutors, defense attys., and judges hundreds and hundreds of times in this courthouse.

Early this week I was eye-witness to a crime against humanity. Court-appointed atty. Scott Sanford told his client, Antonio Smith, to plead guilty "or else." Smith refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit. So, Sanford told Judge Dennis Wiley that Smith was late for court (he definitely was not late).

Wiley charged Smith with contempt of court; Smith had to put up $7500.00. He was taken to jail.

How long will this go on in Berrien? When will the people demand JUSTICE in their COURT?

2011-09-07T15:43:00.002-04:00

Reverend Pinkney Speaks!
Emergency Financial Manager in Benton Harbor and the Austerity Age in Michigan
Saturday September 17, 2pm,
Northstar Center
106 Lathrop St. Lansing, MI 48912

Reverend Pinkney has long been on the front lines of the struggles for justice. In Benton Harbor he is part of confronting the politicians, corporations and court systems that deny Benton Harbor residents their rights and any sense of justice on a daily basis. Benton Harbor is the first place the controversial emergency financial manager (EFM)legislation has been put in place, removing even the illusion of democracy from local government by stripping elected officials of any decision making power and handing it to the EFM, who among other things, has the authority to void union contracts. Reverend Pinkney will speak about the latest attack on Benton Harbor and what it means for the rest of the state.

For more info: northstarcenter@gmail.com

Cynthia McKinney in Benton Harbor October 2011

2011-09-05T20:45:00.004-04:00

The NAACP Benton Harbor 2nd Annual Freedom Fund Dinner invites you to meet with featured speaker Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and 2008 Presidential Candidate.

October 8, 2011 at 7pm
-- doors open 6pm

Lake Michigan College
2755 E. Napier Ave.
Benton Harbor, MI

$50 dollars donation (includes dinner)
200 tickets total - reply soon!

Contact Rev. Edward Pinkney 269-925-0001, banco9342@sbcglobal.net

Support MWRO's friends at BANCO.

Make checks to:
NAACP-BH
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Image from AllThingsCynthiaMcKinney

h/t MWRO weblog

2011-09-04T20:04:00.004-04:00

STOP THE TAKE OVER

In Benton Harbor we saw first hand how a giant corporation (Whirlpool) takes over a whole town. Boasts that labor costs are 32% below the state average and buys up the judicial and political structure to guarantee profits.

Once economic stagnation and globalization set in, Whirlpool developed Benton Harbor as profitable vacation land for the rich. We then saw their opposition to community leaders who stand with the poor. They are discredited, fired, or run from office. We saw democratic elections overturned, and Rev. Pinkney threatened with 20 yrs. in prison for encouraging others to exercise their democratic rights.

This is a part of a whole process in which the people are stripped of their right to freedom of expression. It is part of the movement toward corporate fascism in this country. We must stand up and fight for what is right.

The corporate take over of education and other public services began decades ago. We the people must take a stand.

Oct. 8, 2011 Cynthia McKinney - keynote speaker in Benton Harbor--for information contact Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001

Rev. Pinkney on blogtalkradio.com every Sunday, 5pm - eastern standard time or call in to listen, 347-994-3644 - Sept. 18 Cynthia McKinney will be the guest

2011-09-02T13:50:00.001-04:00

Whirlpool spent $200,000 lobbying in 2Q

The Associated Press August 31, 2011

Whirlpool Corp. spent $200,000 in the second quarter to lobby federal officials on various issues, the same amount it spent a year earlier but more than the $180,000 it spent in the first quarter.

The company, which makes washing machines, refrigerators and other large appliances, lobbied on tax credits for energy-efficient appliances, proposed regulations intended to improve the energy efficiency of appliances, and free-trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea.

The company has previously said it supports free-trade agreements with South Korea and other countries, and it has praised the Department of Energy for efforts to ensure products advertised as energy-efficient actually are.

Whirlpool said it lobbied on an "anti-dumping" petition it filed against Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Whirlpool accuses the companies of selling refrigerators in the U.S. at prices below fair value. And it lobbied the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce about a Mexican regulation about labeling products with information on energy consumption. It also lobbied on market access to Saudi Arabia.

In addition to Congress, other agencies the company lobbied include the State Department, according to a disclosure report Whirlpool filed with the House clerk's office July 20.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PF8M6O2.htm

2011-08-14T19:17:00.002-04:00

"Tax Free Parasite Whirlpool"

Received on this blog:

Do you want Whirlpool-Harbor Shores entities sucking up all of the Brownfield funding instead of addressing the contaminated sites near city public parks and in neighborhoods? Are these Brownfield elligible requests to further finance the tax free parasite Whirlpool? Please voice the communities need of what little funding remains. I have not looked up the property numbers but believe you already know who, what, where and why.

From the Legal Section, Herald Palladium, St. Joseph, Michigan

BENTON HARBOR

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ADOPTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE CITY OF BENTON HARBOR PURSUANT TO AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF ACT 381 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN OF 1996, AS AMENDED

PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT a public hearing shall be held before the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of the City of Benton Harbor on the 25th day of August 2011 at 4:00 pm in the Benton Harbor City Hall, 200 Wall Street. The purpose of the hearing is to consider whether to add Section XXXV to the City’s Downtown Area Brownfield Redevelopment Plan, which shall provide for the addition of eligible properties generally bordered by Main Street, 12th Street, Market Street and 10th Street having the following identification numbers:

11-51-0805-0048-02-0
11-51-0805-0048-01-1
11-51-0805-0047-00-7
11-51-0805-0046-00-1
11-51-0805-0045-01-2
11-51-0805-0044-01-6
11-51-0805-0045-02-1
11-51-0805-0042-00-5
11-51-0805-0052-00-1
11-51-0805-0058-01-7
11-51-0805-0063-00-2
11-51-0805-0051-00-4
11-51-0805-0050-00-8
11-51-0805-0049-00-0

All information related to the Plan and the proposed amendment is available for public inspection at the office of the City’s brownfield redevelopment advisor, Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc., 115-A West Main Street, Benton Harbor, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Any aspect of the proposed amendment may be discussed at the public hearing and all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard.

Kimberly Thompson, Acting City Clerk
August 10, 2011
HP/adv. August 10 & 11, 2011

2011-08-12T09:55:00.003-04:00

Whirlpool Corporation:

--posted $18.4 BILLION in revenue during 2010

--employs 67,000 around the world (how many in the US and how many in countries where environmental and labor laws are weak to non-existent?)

--just one example of WP's loyalty to American people and their economic survival: caused Fort Smith, Arkansas employment to drop from 4,600 (2006) to 1,000 (today)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Whirlpool employee: More job cuts coming
The City Wire staff, 08/11/2011

Whirlpool employee Fred Denny and an unnamed source say the company will lay off about 300 people by January at its Fort Smith refrigeration plant with plans to close the large plant by July.

Officials with Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool Corp. confirmed in late July the loss of 65 jobs at the plant. The City Wire estimates that employment at the plant is about 950 hourly workers and about 85 salaried workers.

Fred Denny, an employee at Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant for 34 years, told The City Wire that employees in the quality control section and tube shop were told Thursday (Aug. 11) that about 40 salaried workers would be cut by January — 25 in October and 15 in January — and 200-250 hourly jobs would be cut in January.

More alarming is that Denny said the employees were told the plant would likely shut down by July.

“No, not after this. Not after today,” Denny, 62, said when asked if he would be surprised if the plant closed. “I’ve been expecting this. We’ve been hearing rumors about this for months.”

A second source independently confirmed the numbers Denny provided, to include information that the plant will cut production to just 550 refrigerators a day by January.

“They are getting ready with that (job cuts) in January because they have to give employees six months notice that they are going to close the plant. This way, they can run it and make a few products for a few months and then they don’t have to give severance pay when they close,” Denny explained.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders, a former Whirlpool employee, said based on what he has been told about production changes the company is not planning to close by July.

“I don’t think that’s true. You might want to talk to them (Whirlpool officials) before you go with your story,” Sanders said late Thursday.

Whirlpool spokeswoman Kristine Vernier did not comment on speculation about a plant closure, but did provide this statement late Thursday: “As part of our annual planning process, Whirlpool Corporation communicated internally today at Fort Smith that projected demand for side-by-side refrigerators continues to decline. It was further communicated that this reduced volume, along with recent softening of the economy, could possibly result in layoffs of up to 250 hourly and 20 salaried employees at this location in the coming year. While no decisions have been finalized we understand how difficult this information is during these uncertain times and strive to share information with our employees as we continue the planning process.”

Whirlpool noted in its second quarter earnings report that the company’s U.S. appliance shipments would decline by 1%-2% in 2011. The previous guidance was that U.S. shipments in 2011 would increase by as much as 3%.

And in a July 27 statement, Vernier said the company was cutting production in Fort Smith because U.S. appliance demand “is at recessionary levels.”

Primarily the result of the housing-sector induced national recession, Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool made production cuts and layoffs causing employment in Fort Smith to drop from about 4,600 in early 2006 to less than around 1,100 today. In 2010, the company cut about 850 jobs at its Fort Smith operation, which left the employee count at 1,020 hourly and 110 salaried workers at the end of November.

The global appliance maker employs about 67,000 around the world and posted $18.4 billion in revenue during 2010.

http://www.thecitywire.com/?q=node/17229

2011-08-11T10:33:00.003-04:00

Recent communication rec'd by Rev. Pinkney:

"The Berrien County Register of Deeds has known since the summer of 2007 that the 99 yr. Lease-Agreements are stolen, have not made any attempt to address the matter, for such attempt would draw attention to the Jean Klock Park of which legal process--State or Federal--never took cognizance of said Lease-Agreement or the fact that the Jean Klock Park never went through the receivership process the Warren State Park went through a year before: there is no "Trustee" at the Jean Klock Park, nor the Warren Properties except the State Park now that receivership process is complete.

The Klock Foundation, went into dissolution and became merged into the Berrien Community Foundation, but the Park again never went through the receivership process: botched Government process based upon the crime of the stolen 99 yr. Lease-Agreements: ...other Jack Nicklaus Projects where Golf Courses have consumed Parks the missing 99 yr. Lease-Agreements there, here would be the hard evidence of the premeditated crime at the Berrien County Register of Deeds.

Let me know if you are interested. ...the pending Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights case against Casey's Bar, whose current status after a year before the Dept. is "ongoing investigation." In other words, there is a criminal investigation running side by side. Think about it, it's not for me, it is for Mr. E.K. Warren, something County Government can't get through its head for whatever reason."

2011-08-02T09:21:00.007-04:00

Former Congresswoman and 2008 Presidential candidate
Cynthia McKinney - Featured speaker

NAACP Benton Harbor 2nd Annual
Freedom Fund Dinner

Oct. 8, 2011, 7pm (doors open 6pm)

Lake Michigan College
2755 E. Napier Ave.
Benton Harbor, MI

$50 dollars donation
includes dinner
200 tickets total - reply soon!
contact Rev. Edward Pinkney 269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net
make checks to
NAACP-BH
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

***************************************************************

Statement by legendary Detroit activist General Gordon Baker: The Rev. Pinkney's victory in the courts of Benton Harbor marks a great triumph for the trade union movement as a whole in the U.S. and particularly for the social movement throughout the state of Michigan and the whole country. Clearly, it was in the interest of Whirlpool Corporation to silence a voice like Rev Pinkney so the property Whirlpool needed could be acquired with little opposition.

Rev. Pinkney accelerated the struggle against corporate control of our lives and offers new hope for the people of Benton Harbor.

2011-07-30T14:54:00.004-04:00

Who is Roger Fraser?

The Herald Palladium, Whirlpool media arm, reported on a meeting held 2 days ago:

A meeting of the managers
Gov. Snyder to address city managers convention in St. Joseph Thursday
By John Matuszak July 27, 2011
St. Joseph - For the first time, St. Joseph is hosting a gathering of around 100 city managers and other government leaders from across the state and, also for the first time, Michigan's governor will speak to the organization...The highlight of the workshop event will be a "State of the State" address by Gov. Rick Snyder from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Thursday at the Heritage Center. Snyder is scheduled to review his first six months in office and talk about issues crucial to local governments.
...Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joseph Harris will be part of a panel discussion Thursday morning on "Public Act 4: The Local Government and School District Responsibility Act of 2011,"...Harris will be joined on the panel by Roger Fraser, (emphasis added) deputy state treasurer for local government services and former city manager of Ann Arbor...
http://heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/07/27/local_news/5828420.txt

Who is Roger Fraser? This is extremely important info for Michigan residents:

Snyder Treasury Appointee Who Implements EM Takeovers Abused City Credit Card,
Ignored Auditor Warnings & Plunged Town into Deep Debt
...the choice [by Gov. Snyder] of Roger Fraser for this very important role stands out as highly questionable at best. The fact is that the City of Ann Arbor was nearly a half billion dollars more in debt after his time [9 years]as City Administrator. This should be enough to raise some red flags. However, when you dig into the details of how these debts arose, the red flags begin to flap more vigorously. The shifting of funds, sloppy record keeping and irregularities associated with the use of credit and purchasing cards, some by Roger Fraser himself, call his credentials into serious question. Under Fraser’s guidance, the City of Ann Arbor was guilty of some of the very actions that the cities of Benton Harbor and Pontiac, both of which now have EMs, have been criticized for.
...He’s the last person Michigan residents should have expected to see evaluating which cities in our state will be taken over under the auspices of Public Act 4. Full story: http://www.a2politico.com/?p=9526

2011-07-29T09:31:00.000-04:00

Whirlpool to Cut 20-25 Salaried Jobs in Fort Smith
By Lance Turner 7/27/2011

Whirlpool Corp.'s Fort Smith plant will cut 20-25 salaried jobs before the end of the year, according to a statement from the appliance manufacturer. "Demand for major appliances in the U.S. is at recessionary levels," Kristine Vernier, a spokesperson for Whirlpool, said. "Whirlpool has confirmed that a salaried reduction in force at its Fort Smith plant is necessary to better reflect current demand and volume.

"Approximately 20-25 salaried positions will be eliminated by the end of the year through layoffs or retirement," she said.

Vernier said Whirlpool employs about 1,055 people, including 105 salaried and 950 hourly positions.

The layoffs are the latest at the appliance-maker's Fort Smith plant, which has laid off and rehired workers as demand for its products rises and falls. The company had also shifted production of some of its Fort Smith products to a plant in Mexico.

As recently as 2007, Whirlpool was reported to be the ninth largest employer in Arkansas, with 4,200 employees at the company’s Fort Smith plant. But the number of employees working there has since declined.
Click here to find out more!
Click here to find out more!

A year ago, the company said it employed 2,150 people in Fort Smith.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=127769.54928.139911

2011-07-27T08:26:00.003-04:00

All in the Family

Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool, has a cousin named Aubrey McClendon. Upton and Whirlpool take Lake Michigan lakeshore from the public for a resort for the wealthy; McClendon copies his cousin Fred on nearby lakeshore land. In both cases, local residents cooperate with the corporation (in Berrien) and the two billionaires.

When a billionaire wants lakeshore land, a show of law enforcement must be brought in to intimidate the commoners.

Despite vocal opposition, Saugatuck Township accepts dune settlement with Aubrey McClendon July 23, 2011

"...Board members took less than 30 minutes to agree to the settlement deal.

'I think the whole thing tonight was a sham. They simply ignored the people who spoke who were overwhelmingly against the development and the settlement,' said Harris.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/07/despite_vocal_opposition_sauga.html

2011-07-25T07:31:00.006-04:00

Whirlpool swings to $161m loss

By Jeremy Lemer in New York, July 21, 2011

Whirlpool, the US household-appliance maker, swung to a loss in the second quarter as it settled a legal dispute and struggled to cope with a “difficult economic environment” characterised by higher raw material prices and volatile demand.
Jeff Fettig, chief executive, said consumer demand was being hurt by “high unemployment, low consumer confidence, and recessionary housing levels” in North America and Europe while high inflation was starting to hit emerging markets...
Whirlpool’s sales in North America slid 7 per cent to $2.4bn, but rose 14 per cent to $841m in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and gained 25 per cent to $1.3bn in Latin America.
Whirlpool shares closed down 3.8 per cent at $72.78. Over the year to date, the stock price has fallen about 17 per cent on fears that a sagging economic recovery would dent consumer demand.
The Benton Harbor, Michigan-based company reported a loss of $161m, or $2.10 per share, in the three months to the end of June compared to a net profit of $205m, or $2.64 per share, in the same period last year.
Much of the loss stemmed from $522m in expenses to settle a long-standing dispute with Banco Safra over an unauthorised loan undertaken in 1989 by an employee of a company that later became part of Whirlpool.
Excluding non-operating charges, Whirlpool earned $2.76 per share compared to $2.82 in the same period in 2010. Sales rose 4 per cent to $4.7bn, thanks largely to currency effects, but global shipments of white goods rose year over year.
Whirlpool, which makes the Whirlpool, Maytag and Amana brands of home appliances, employs about 71,000 people and had annual sales of about $18bn in 2010.
Mr Fettig said he expected “global economic volatility to continue in the near term”, and said the company was now forecasting record full-year raw material and oil related costs of between $450m and $500m – double the company’s estimate in early February.
But he added that the company would aggressively pursue margin improvements by raising prices, introducing new, less material-heavy products and by optimising its supply chain to reduce freight and warehousing costs.
Whirlpool reaffirmed its full-year guidance for operating earnings per share of between $12 and $13 and free cash flow guidance of between $400m and $500m, but said that the current environment meant it would likely hit the low end of the range.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c06fff84-b3a1-11e0-b56c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1T7EhbayW

2011-07-22T08:08:00.003-04:00

Judge: No triple bill for ex-EM Blackwell -
Former Highland Park official may yet have to pay state's legal costs
Doug Guthrie/ The Detroit News, July 09. 2011

Detroit—A Wayne County judge rejected a Michigan attorney general's request Friday for triple damages against Highland Park's former state-appointed emergency financial manager.

But Arthur Blackwell II may be required to cover the state's legal fees for the civil lawsuit trial, where he was found liable for improperly taking $264,000 from the cash-strapped city, said Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. -Full article:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110709/METRO01/107090328/1409/metro/Judge--No-triple-bill-for-ex-EM-Blackwell

2011-07-21T19:34:00.002-04:00

Another in a long line of disappointments

Let me be blunt: Benton Harbor residents suffer in ways that a civilized society would never allow. Sometimes Rev. Pinkney practically shouts for help. Some in BH believed the arrival of Heartland Revolution and John Waltz would make a difference.
Waltz needed Recall Rick and "end the EFM law" petitioners and claimed he had a $60K budget. He said he'd hire BH residents. Small jobs like this are needed badly in BH. (As are substantial employment...)

Mike Williams and Donna Rosman were interested in working on both efforts, but lost trust in Waltz when he hired a St. Joe resident for the job. It looked to them like Waltz never intended to hire BH residents -- to this date he has hired none. Mike Williams reports telling Waltz to stay out of BH, and also telling Commissioner Dennis Knowles that he will no longer associate with him because of his connection to Waltz and Heartland, and because Knowles voted in favor of bringing EFM Harris to BH.

Traverse City and BH sources have reported receiving emails from John Waltz advising people not to work with Rev. Pinkney. Waltz's reasons are not known, but we wonder if Pinkney being a thorn in Whirlpool's side has anything to do with it. We hope Waltz doesn't disapprove of Pinkney's daily court watching, attempting to stop juvenile and innocent convictions, daily counseling of residents at the soup kitchen and library, and various other justice related activities. (His goal of getting 1000 residents registered to vote has just been achieved.)

John Waltz turned out to be another in a long line of disappointments for BH residents. When will sincere and genuine help come to this long-suffering and isolated community?

2011-07-18T08:33:00.001-04:00

Whirlpool has destroyed the city of Benton Harbor by buying
Black people and bringing in the Emergency Financial Manager by Rev. Pinkney

When we look in the mirror we sometimes fail to see our flaws and strengths. Whirlpool has blinded residents by dividing and conquering. The corporation uses the Boys and Girls Club, Band of Brethren, First Chance, Inc., and the Consortium for Community Development to make it appear as if the Black community supports the Harbor Shores project and Whirlpool's takeover of Benton Harbor. It’s devastating what money can do. Whirlpool also controls the BH school board, and every sizeable board in Berrien County.

Whirlpool Corporation was one of the first to outsource jobs to countries with weak or nonexistent labor and environmental standards which in some cases have child workers. Congressman Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool, voted for NAFTA. What is most important about outsourcing, it permanently eliminates jobs, destroying communities in the process.

Thanks to Whirlpool and congressman Upton, Benton Harbor is now under a dictator. They would like us to believe that checks and balances in government are not important. Benton Harbor doesn’t matter enough for that. We don’t need checks and balances -- multiple governing branches to ensure that a single force doesn’t dominate. All BH needs is EFM Joseph Harris to make every single decision for us.

That is the message inherent in the EFM legislation proposed by state Rep. Al Pcholka and Gov. Rick “the Rictator” Snyder and given speedy approval by the legislature. We must say no to Pscholka and Snyder. We must say no to Whirlpool. We must say no to Harbor Shores. We must say no to the PGA. We must say no to the hostile take over of Benton Harbor.

2011-07-17T12:42:00.003-04:00

About those Whirlpool layoffs in Iowa we reported yesterday (look below)...
The Des Moines Register tells us that just last year the Iowa state and county government gave MILLIONS to Whirlpool, the corporation that never stops taking

"Last year the Iowa Department of Economic Development approved a $6.5 million forgivable loan to Whirlpool. Iowa County also granted the corporation $1.5 million. The money was expected to be invested in upgrading equipment, improving production processes and making the plant more energy efficient."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110717/BUSINESS/107170333/-1/prep_insider/?odyssey=nav|head

2011-07-16T14:43:00.003-04:00

[Profit over people] Whirlpool Lays Off 315 at Amana

Whirlpool announced on Thursday that it would be cutting 440 jobs at the plant as a result of the downturn in the economy. By James Steward

AMANA, Iowa - Whirlpool Corp. announced plans Friday to lay off about 315 workers at its refrigerator plant in Amana due to the slow economy.

The layoffs were posted at 10 a.m., workers said, and affect much of the third shift except specialists such as tool and die makers and mechanical maintenance workers.

Randy Krewson, business agent for Machinists Local 1528, said the layoff included 250-260 permanent and 55-60 temporary workers.

The layoffs affected workers with seniority back to June 30, 2008, including many summer employees who are enrolled in college during the remainder of the year.

Whirlpool “geared up in early spring to make a lot of units,” said Randy Mumm, a 33-year member of Machinists Local 1526 from Walford who saw the layoffs posted at about 10 a.m. Friday, July 15. He said it appeared that the demand simply didn’t materialize.

Whirlpool Corp. did not immediately return messages left after normal business hours on Friday, July 15.

The company manufactures French door refrigerators at the plant and last year added a line of 50-pound icemakers.

Employees said layoffs were anticipated, but the company is limited in its work force reductions by terms of a state grant it received when it added the icemaker line, formerly housed at a plant in Evansville, Ind., that has since closed.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Whirlpool-Lays-Off-315-at-Amana-125669313.html

2011-07-15T09:08:00.002-04:00

Another unbelievably greedy and selfish person in the Fred Upton clan wants to destroy gorgeous lakefront beach and untouched habitat in Saugatuck, Michigan, up the lake from Benton Harbor. He's Aubrey McClendon. Google his name for more info... The meeting this Monday has been moved, most likely to cut down on attendance. Wear red if you don't support the piranha, McClendon.

Limited seats for dunes hearing July 18

By Scott Sullivan, Editor, Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Saugatuck Township board and planning commission will hold a joint public hearing Monday, July 18, to consider a proposed settlement of litigation with Singapore Dunes LLC.

The session, first announced as being in the Saugatuck High School gymnasium, has been moved to the smaller, 200-seat cafeteria due to building scheduling conflicts including a school board meeting, basketball games and a goat rodeo that night, said officials. The hearing starts at 6 p.m.

Singapore Dunes owner Aubrey McClendon is suing the township in U.S. district court claiming it rezoned his Lake Michigan-fronting property illegally.

The Oklahoma billionaire has announced conceptual plans to develop land north of the Kalamazoo River with a 66-slip marina, nine-story inn, high-end homes, nine-hole golf course and equestrian area, leaving most of its 320 acres in their natural state, but has not submitted formal plans to the township.

His suit claims the township illegally down-zoned his land in 2006 to prevent development and has been corrupted by taking more than $30,0000 in payments from the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance, a local nonprofit land-preservation group.

The township counters that McClendon has not submitted formal plans for development nor followed procedures with the planning commission and/or other boards to do so.

The proposed settlement, much discussed in letters and ads on ensuing pages, may be reviewed under “Breaking News” on the township’s Web site, www.saugatucktownship.org.

Supervisor Bill Wester told persons attending the July 6 township board meeting he expected Singapore Dunes to begin Monday’s public hearing with a presentation.

“Afterwards anyone can speak, not just township residents,” he said. “But we will ask speakers if they are residents.

“We want to take residents’ temperatures regarding the proposed settlement. We may or may not vote on it.

“It’s not a slam dunk,” he said.

http://www.allegannews.com/articles/2011/07/14/cr_news/1.txt

2011-07-13T09:44:00.009-04:00

Benton Harbor city commissioners recently gave Whirlpool a FIFTY MILLION DOLLAR TAX BREAK. Yes, a starving town gives it up for the filthy rich greed-based corporation. Why? One can speculate: over decades, WP money has found it's way into cooperative BH residents' pockets and commissioners could assume that will continue to happen. So what's fifty million for a few thousand in hand? Keep in mind that commissioners mostly voted "for Whirlpool" until their power was removed a few months ago. Below WNDU tells us that WP so very generously donates 3.8 million to BH. Kudos for mentioning in the same sentence that WP spends 60 million on their new riverfront BH office complex. Of interest also is that WP money will teach boxing to BH kids. In St. Joe they fund tennis. If you check out the comments after the article's online version, you get a feel for the current state of Berrien County racism, or maybe St. Joe racism...

Benton Harbor decides how to spend Whirlpool donation

After much back and forth between Benton Harbor's leaders, the city has decided how it will spend its donation from Whirlpool

Reporter kelly.taylor@wndu.com

After much back and forth between Benton Harbor's leaders, the city has decided how it will spend its donation from Whirlpool according to our reporting partners at The Herald Palladium.

Emergency Manager Joe Harris, Mayor Wilce Cook and Mayor Pro Tem Marcus Muhammad have signed an agreement.

The money will go toward new emergency response vehicles, equipped with hoses and water tanks, a summer jobs program for kids, parks and swimming and boxing programs for kids.

In all, Whirlpool will invest $3.8 million in the community, as it builds its new $60 million office complex downtown.

http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/Benton_Harbor_decides_how_to_spend_Whirlpool_donation_123510014.html

2011-07-09T15:46:00.005-04:00

[We have a question for Ralph Crenshaw and Ricky Hill, Benton Harbor Housing Commissioners:
Where's the $87,000.00?]

HUD audit finds fault in state's Neighborhood Stabilization payouts

June 21, 2011 |
BY GRETA GUEST
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Related Links
* HUD audit of Michigan's use of Neighborhood Stabilization Fund dollars

Michigan State Housing Development Authority got some red marks on the way it implemented its Neighborhood Stabilization Fund dollars, according to a recent audit.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the state’s handling of the program’s first round of funding. In its report dated June 3, it found the authority missed some deadlines to allocate funds and lacked documentation in other areas...

...• MSHDA may have allocated nearly $87,000 for Habitat for Humanity Michigan and the City of Benton Harbor for administrative costs that lacked documentation.
gguest@freepress.com.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110621/BUSINESS04/110621042/State-audit-finds-fault-Neighborhood-Stabilization-payouts?odyssey=nav|head

2011-07-05T08:13:00.007-04:00

[Whirlpool: $17 Billion Annual Profit]

[Whirlpool] Hoover retirees ponder options in wake of health insurance change

...Whirlpool has told workers it will end supplemental medical and pharmacy coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees who are 65 or older. The plan will be replaced by a stipend of up to $50 a month to help pay for a Medicare supplemental plan and $35 per month to help cover the cost of a Medicare Part D supplemental pharmacy plan.

Younger retirees will be offered a health savings account plan and wellness-focused program instead of current company-provided health care. The new plan matches one now offered to Whirlpool employees...

...Retirees contend planned changes violate contracts that Hoover and its employees approved over the years.

“This is supposed to be vested for our lives,” Kassey said. “I don’t know how anyone thinks that this is even close to what they promised us when we retired.”

Repace said Local 1985 routinely negotiated contracts that covered the needs or retirees, including health insurance benefits. He said the proposed change does away with the negotiated plan. “They cannot do that.”

John Zawaski Jr., who retired after 36 years, said it doesn’t seem right for Whirlpool to change health insurance plans.

“We gave up wages in order to get better insurance coverage, so it wasn’t exactly free,” he said...

http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x795262443/Hoover-retirees-ponder-options-in-wake-of-health-insurance-change

$17 Billion Annual Profit:
Happy birthday Whirlpool ... and many more

...Whirlpool has grown to number 67,000 employees [how many in foreign countries where labor & environmental laws are non-existent?] and sales of $17 billion annually.

Construction of a new $85 million campus of three office buildings on the riverfront in downtown Benton Harbor is under way. Maintaining Whirlpool's global headquarters and administrative offices in Benton Harbor is a major commitment to the area's tax base and employment.

http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-06-09/news/29641348_1_habitat-home-harbor-shores-jack-nicklaus-signature-golf

2011-06-30T13:09:00.002-04:00

Protest against Whirlpool’s land grab

...the homeless are almost everywhere in the city, in front of you behind you, by the side of you, and behind windows. You can hear them around the corner and see their shadow from far away.

By Dorothy Pinkney

The Benton Harbor City Commissioners have formed a partnership with Whirlpool, the largest appliance maker in the world. The partnership is to continue developing Benton Harbor and, in the process, to drive the homeless and the residents completely out of the city. The final nail has been placed in the coffin.

Already, the homeless are almost everywhere in the city, in front of you behind you, by the side of you, and behind windows. You can hear them around the corner and see their shadow from far away. You try to avoid looking directly into their eyes and you pretend you do not hear them when they talk to you. You walk around the block to avoid them and you walk faster to leave them behind you. These people that you consider to be zombies are actually human beings. They are just homeless.

Benton Harbor is overwhelmingly poor and majority Black. By their actions, Whirlpool is saying that Black people are criminals, and that they look filthy, Whirlpool does not know what kind of scary things homeless people may do. They fear that the poor will rob the rich who come to Benton Harbor. The solution is to get rid of all Black people from the city of Benton Harbor with the help of the all-Black City Commissioners. Recently, a $50 million tax abatement was approved for Whirlpool’s new $68 million complex in Benton Harbor’s downtown by the commissioners. This tax give-away is in addition to previous million dollar land grabs for the lake front development. It is time the people take a stand not only against Whirlpool, but against the city commissioners.

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2010.11/PT.2010.11.12.shtml

2011-06-27T09:25:00.004-04:00

Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel speaks on behalf of recently arrested Harbor Shores developer.
Noel hails from Kentucky, one of the more corrupt states in the US - Noel worked previously in the tobacco industry. A perfect resume for a job at Whirlpool. See this good ol' boy's bio at the end.

Developer for Harbor Shores arrested

Mark Hesemann pleads no contest following incident at Lion's Den
By Julie Swidwa, Saturday, June 25, 2011

St. Joseph- Mark Hesemann, a contracted developer for the real estate arm of Harbor Shores, reached a plea deal with prosecutors Friday following his arrest Wednesday at an adult entertainment store in Sawyer.

His lawyer, Andrew Burch, said Hesemann pleaded no contest before Berrien County Trial Court Judge Gary Bruce to a charge of disturbing the peace. Hesemann was originally charged with retail fraud, commonly known as shoplifting, according to state police Sgt. Ken High at the Bridgman post.

Burch said alcohol contributed to his client's acntions.

High said Hesemann was arrested around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday by Trooper Gary Guild at the Lion's Den Adult Book Store after he allegedly tried to steal two pornographic DVDs.

Hesemann is the managing director of Evergreen Development Co. in St. Joseph, which is under contract to develop the real estate arm of the Harbor Shores golf course development. Jeff Noel, president of Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc., said Friday he was unaware of Hesemann's arrest before being contacted by The Herald-Palladium.

Speaking on behalf of Harbor Shores, Noel said, "I'm absolutely surprised. I've known Mark for all these years we've been working on Harbor Shores together."

Noel went on to say, "I'm disappointed, and yet because I do know Mark it's most important to try to understand what transpired and get all sides of the story. Until we have all the information and know exactly what transpired, it would be wrong to predetermine what it will mean for Mark and his relationship with Harbor Shores."

..."(Hesemann) has a very caring heart. He is very committed to this community and he wants to see it succeed," Noel said. "He's given a lot of time and energy into this community. [We know that when Noel talks about wanting 'this' community to succeed, he is definitely not referring to citizens of Benton Harbor.]

Full article while still available: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/26/local_news/5357891.txt

BIO: Jeff Noel was appointed corporate vice president, Communications and Public Affairs 2004. Noel is responsible for the company's global external and internal communications, government relations, and corporate affairs departments, including Whirlpool Corporation's strategic community partnerships and also serves as the president of the Whirlpool Foundation.

Noel is also actively involved in area initiatives including serving as Chairman of the Harbor Shores Development and Bluffside projects and as a member of the Michigan Colleges Foundation. Additionally, he was appointed vice chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 2011 and serves as general vice chairman for the 73rd Senior PGA Championship.

Prior to joining Whirlpool, Noel served for 11 years as president of Cornerstone Alliance, a Benton Harbor-based economic development group. He also served as commissioner of management and operations for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Department, director of government affairs for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation and executive assistant to U.S. Senator Wendell Ford of Kentucky as well as an owner/developer of over 700,000 sq. ft of commercial real estate.

Noel holds a master's degree in business administration from Marymount University and a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.

2011-06-24T10:39:00.003-04:00

Jeff Fetig pays a mere $603 million while Benton Harbor homeless wander the streets

Whirlpool Agrees To Pay $603 Million To Settle Brazil Bank Dispute

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

A Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) subsidiary agreed to pay about $603 million to settle all claims related to a long-standing dispute in Brazil with Banco Safra SA, leading the household appliance manufacturer to trim its full-year earnings outlook.

Whirlpool, whose brands include Maytag, KitchenAid and Amana, now expects to report earnings of $8.30 to $9.30 a share, including the costs related to the settlement. The guidance without the charge had previously ranged between $12 and $13.

The company said the settlement related to the enforceability of an unauthorized loan entered into in 1989 by an employee of Embraco, which subsequently became part of Whirlpool's Brazilian business, and who was terminated that year.

The agreement, subject to the approval of a Brazilian court, would result in Whirlpool paying the Brazilian bank about $295 million in the third quarter and $308 million in the first quarter of next year.

Whirlpool said it would record an additional charge of about $439 million in the second quarter to reflect the full amount of the agreement. It expects to fund the settlement with available cash.

"After fully considering all the circumstances, the uncertainty and potential outcomes, it was a prudent decision and in the best interest of the company and its stockholders to settle this case now," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff M. Fettig.

Whirlpool's shares were down 0.1% to $77.13 after hours.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201106221801dowjonesdjonline000673&title=whirlpool-agrees-to-pay-603-million-to-settle-brazil-bank-dispute

2011-06-22T08:58:00.002-04:00

Terrance "T-Shirt" Shurn Memorial was a Great Success

It was a wonderful afternoon with intervals of great sadness. Not only in mourning for T-Shirt, but for the homeless and mentally ill human beings roaming the streets of Benton Harbor. It's easy to understand why Rev. Pinkney has a tone of desperation and urgency in his voice at times. Almost unfathomable is the inhumane cruelty of one of the world's wealthiest corporations letting this happen within mere blocks of their headquarters. The argument can be made that it's happening because of the corporation's outsourcing. Would they EVER let this happen in St. Joe? (you can answer...)

**************

Many thanks to all who attended the the Terrance "T-Shirt" Shurn Memorial Rally last Saturday. It marked the 8 year anniversary of the BH uprising, a public response to the June 16, 2003 high-speed Benton Township police chase resulting in the death of Terrance "T-Shirt" Shurn.

During the course of the afternoon there were between 200 and 300 people listening to speakers and bands, and partaking of the catered food. Rev. Pinkney read a poem he wrote for T-Shirt, What Is Next? A really great speech was given by Fred Hampton Jr. from Chicago, some highlights of which are at the end of this report. The rap group Stargang performed an excellent original song. Ellis Bethea sang (beautifully) We Are America with input from recorded Rachel Maddow talking about BH - unusual to say the least! Two other bands were Big Dudee Roo and Chicago blues band, Amoree. Rev. P. led the audience in 3 minutes of silence, a very simple but very moving tribute to T-Shirt.

Law enforcement profiling and brutality, Whirlpool land grab and destruction, Whirlpool outsourcing of jobs to Mexico, and state takeover of BH are all actions which oppress residents. Pinkney spoke about this, and took the opportunity to educate. He said the dictatorship called Emergency Financial Management is facism. Whirlpool has been systemically destroying the city and driving citizens out; the new governor
Rick "the Ricktator" Snyder is now assisting the corporation as did the former gov., Jennifer Granholm.

Other points made by Pinkney:

--Gone is democratic self-rule in BH. Almost gone is collective bargaining. Public discourse is minimized as local elected officials are stripped of authority. The EFM, Joseph Harris, can: remove elected officials without permission from the people, disburse all state-fed.-local funds without oversight, reject-modify-or-terminate any contract, sell off local gov. property, borrow money, and ignore notice requirements for the public in the adoption of ordinances.

--12,600 families will be thrown off welfare rolls on Oct. 1. They also lose health insurance and food stamps. Every month thereafter more families will be eliminated. If you have been on welfare for 3 years, you have just 1 year left.

Several of many points made by Fred Hampton Jr.:

--oppression is embarrassing.

--what they have in mind for our "new housing" is either the penitentiary or the graveyard.

--gentrification = land grab.

--it's important to distinguish between the ability to articulate and intelligence.

--the will of the people is greater than everything else including technology and politicians.

He stated that he's been struggling with law enforcement since before he was born. During the violent Chicago police death of his father, a cop put a gun to the pregnant mid-section of his mother. (She was pregnant with Fred Jr.)

In talking privately with Hampton, it was learned that his family is guarding the legacy of his father to maintain it's integrity. There are two places on facebook where this information can be accessed: The Real Chairman Fred Sr. and Who We Be POCC.

2011-06-20T10:33:00.004-04:00

Large-scale fraud in the design and operation of the
public access and case management systems of the US courts

Request for investigation/impeachment, in re: Conduct of Alleged Simulated Litigation in Richard I Fine v State Bar of California et al (2:10-cv-00048), in the US District Court, Central District of California

The case originated in Fine’s individual case, alleging conspiracy by California judges and others, as part of intimidation, harassment, and retaliation. The case also reflects conduct of a racketeering enterprise, the LA-JR (alleged Los Angeles Judiciary Racket), its patronizing by certain US judges in the US District Court, Central District of California, and the large-scale fraud in the design and operation of the electronic record systems of the US courts, PACER and CM/ECF.

Former US prosecutor Richard Fine
Los Angeles, June 20 – Joseph Zernik, PhD, and Human Rights Alert (NGO) filed complaint with the US Congress and with the US Attorney Office, Los Angeles, against US Judge JOHN WALTER, US Magistrate CARLA WOEHRLE, Clerk of the Court TERRY NAFISI, and others in the US District Court, Central District of California, alleging public corruption through the conduct of simulated litigation [[i]] in Richard I Fine v State Bar of California et al (2:10-cv-00048). [[ii]]
Dr Zernik has gained substantial experience in analyzing fraud in state and US court records in recent years. His opinions were repeatedly supported by highly reputed experts. [[iii]]
Richard I Fine v State Bar of California et al originated in Fine’s complaint pursuant to Deprivation of Rights under the Color of Law (42 US §1983), alleging the circumstances, where California Judges illegally conspired against him at the behest of the State Bar officials, Los Angeles County government officials, and lawyers for the developers, who opposed him in the courtroom. [[iv]]

However, the affair as a whole should be deemed part of the intimidation, harassment, and retaliation against the former US prosecutor Richard Fine. Following his protest of the corruption of California judges, he was held in solitary confinement for 18 months, starting March 2009, with no warrant ever issued, and no judgment/conviction or sentencing ever entered in his case. Eventually, he was released with no valid court order, either. [[v]]
The complaint further alleged that the case reflects conduct of a racketeering enterprise, the LA-JR (alleged Los Angeles Judiciary Racket), which undermines the rights of all 10 millions, who reside in Los Angeles County, in particular, and residents of California, in general. Conduct of the Los Angeles courts in both the civil and criminal divisions was the core evidence, submitted by Dr Zernik to the United Nations, which the 2010 Human Rights Council report, which noted, “corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California”. [[vi],[vii]]

The complaint also provides further evidence of the large-scale fraud in the design and operation of the public access and case management systems of the US courts, PACER and CM/ECF, [[viii]] and patronizing of the LA-JR by certain US judges in the US District Court, Central District of California. [[ix],[x],[xi]]
A pattern of false and deliberately misleading court records is found in the case of Richard I Fine v State Bar of California et al (2:10-cv-00048):
Clerk of the Court TERRY NAFISI refuses to certify any of the PACER dockets of the court;
No valid summonses are found in the docket, in alleged violation of Duties of the Clerk pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;
No Civil Cover Sheet is found in the docket, which is required for the opening of a civil docket;
No valid Assignment Order for Judge JOHN WALTER is found in the docket;
No valid Referral Order for Magistrate CARLA WOEHRLE is found in the docket;
Numerous entries in the docket are by Ms DONNA THOMAS, who upon information and belief is not a Deputy Clerk, and Clerk of the Court TERRY NAFISI has denied numerous requests to confirm or deny DONNA THOMAS’s authority as a Deputy Clerk;
The Clerk of the Court routinely denies access to the electronic authentication records (NEFs – Notices of Electronic Filing), and in similar cases, where the same persons were accused, all NEFs were eventually discovered to be invalid;
Attorney KEVIN MCCORMICK, who appears in this case on behalf of the Defendants, falsely appeared on behalf of related defendants in a related case, with no authority at all, and
No declaration or any other record signed by any of the Defendants is found in the pleading filed on their behalf, consistent with conduct of simulated litigation, and appearance by an unauthorized attorney.
The case should be deemed of the highest public policy significance, since it holds at bay the prospect of any honest court services in Los Angeles County, in particular, and in California, in general. Of note, the 2010 official Staff Report of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations referred to "corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California".

The case also reflects the fraud inherent in the design and operation of PACER and CM/ECF, the public access and case management systems of the US courts.
The complaint was copied to the US Congress Judiciary Committees and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

LINKS

[i] Simulated Litigation here refers to cases, where the evidence shows conduct defined in the Texas Criminal Code as follows:
Texas Penal Code §32.48. SIMULATING LEGAL PROCESS.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person recklessly causes to be delivered to another any document that simulates a summons, complaint, judgment, or other court process with the intent to:
(1) induce payment of a claim from another person; or
(2) cause another to:
(A) submit to the putative authority of the document; or
(B) take any action or refrain from taking any action in response to the document, in compliance with the document, or on the basis of the document.
(b) Proof that the document was mailed to any person with the intent that it be forwarded to the intended recipient is a sufficient showing that the document was delivered.
The practice is widespread in both the state and US courts at all levels.
[ii] 11-06-20 Impeachments Investigation of Judge John Walter, Magistrate Carla Woehrle, Clerk Terry Nafisi, and others in the US District Court, Central District of California, in re:Fine v State Bar (2:10-cv-00048) s
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58273437/
[iii] 11-05-08 Joseph Zernik,PhD, Biographical Sketch
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46421113/
[iv] Richard I Fine v State Bar of California et al (2:10-cv-00048) in the US District Court, Central District of California: See [ii], above.
[v] 11-04-23 Habeas Corpus in the United States - the case of Richard Isaac Fine
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24729084/
[vi] 11-01-07 Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California: Widespread Public Corruption and Refusal of US Department of Justice to Take Action
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46460640/
[vii] For review of the LA-JR see also United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) submission of Human Rights Alert (NGO) as part of the 2010 UPR (Universal Periodic Review) of Human Rights in the United States:
1) Press Release:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30200004/
2) Submission:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30147583/
3) Appendix:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30163613/
4) 10-04-19 Human Rights Alert (NG0) submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2010 Review (UPR) of Human Rights in the United States as incorporated into the UPR staff report, with reference to "corruption of the courts and the legal profession".
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38566837/
[viii] 11-06-02 DRAFT Request for US Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation of Integrity, or lack thereof, of electronic record systems of the US courts
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56893149/
[ix] Complaints/requests for impeachment: See [xiv], above.
[ix] See also review of alleged fraud and racketeering by Woehrle, Nafisi, Thomas, and others in conduct of simulated litigation of Zernik v Connor et al (08-cv-01550), where a group of judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court were alleged of conduct amounting to racketeering:
11-01-07 Log Cabin Republicans v USA et al (10-56634) at the US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit - Motion to Intervene and Concomitantly Filed Papers as published in the online PACER dockets
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46516034/
[x] Complaints/requests for impeachment:
10-07-04 Fine v Sheriff of Los Angeles County (2:09-cv-01914) Complaint against Attorney Kevin McCormick and the California Judicial Council, Chaired by California Chief Justice Ronald George – for public corruption, deprivation of civil rights under the color of law – Pertaining to Habeas Corpus Petition of 70 Year Old Former US Prosecutor Richard Fine.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33879469/
10-07-12 Zernik v Connor et al (2:08-cv-01550) Complaint against US Magistrate Carla Woehrle and others at the US District Court, Central District of California – for Public Corruption and Deprivation of Rights:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34194403/
10-12-07 Request for Investigation and if Appropriate - Impeachment Proceedings - against TERRY NAFISI - Clerk of the Court, US District Court, Central District of California s
http://www.scribd.com/doc/44818903/
10-12-04 RE: US Judges JED RAKOFF, VIRGINIA PHILLIPS, JOHN WALTER, US Magistrate CARLA WOEHRLE - Request for Investigation, Impeachment Proceedings Where Appropriate s
http://www.scribd.com/doc/44669382/
[xi] See also review of alleged fraud and racketeering by Woehrle, Nafisi, Thomas, and others in conduct of simulated litigation of Zernik v Connor et al (08-cv-01550), where a group of judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court were alleged of conduct amounting to racketeering:
11-01-07 Log Cabin Republicans v USA et al (10-56634) at the US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit - Motion to Intervene and Concomitantly Filed Papers as published in the online PACER dockets
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46516034/

2011-06-14T09:10:00.002-04:00

From the Editors, People's Tribune

...corporate power moved swiftly and decisively
to destroy democracy in Benton Harbor

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet. The coup that overthrew democracy in Benton Harbor, Michigan and established a dictatorship called Emergency Financial Management is fascism - no matter what they call it.

Corporate power has declared war on us. The laws of military war and political war are the same. One of these laws is to never attack the enemy where they are strong -- attack where they are weak. The weak points in the defense of American democracy has always revolved around the African Americans. When President Reagan decided to attack the social safety net of all impoverished Americans, he concentrated his fire on the "Welfare Queen" in the Black ghetto. The majority of Americans stood passive while laws were passed lowering living standards. When the rest of the Americans realized these laws also applied to them -- it was too late.

When the Public Sector Unions came under attack in Wisconsin, it created a fire-storm as it should have. Labor unions and progressives rallied to defend the unions of the public service workers. The American Left is rooted in and responds to the economic struggles of the unions. Meanwhile, corporate power moved swiftly and decisively to destroy democracy in Benton Harbor - a poor Black community that few care about. They thus set the stage to destroy democracy in all of Michigan and then throughout the United States.

Again, fascism has struck at the weak point - where the struggle for democracy meets the reality of Black America. The future of our country is in the political -- not the economic arena. Fascism is a political, not an economic order. To win this war we must first disarm the enemy of this historic weapon of race - and fight for the political as well as economic rights of all Americans. The corporate takeover of Benton Harbor proves again that if we - the people - do not take over the corporations - they will take over us.

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2011.05/PT.2011.05.12.shtml

2011-06-09T09:48:00.006-04:00

Whirlpool Won’t Pay 35% Corporate Income Tax,
it Will Pay 0%

March 6, 2011 by Jane Jamison

From WSJ via the Tax Prof blog.

This will infuriate you if you are doing your income taxes.

WSJ: Whirlpool Parlays “Green” Credits Into Zero Tax Liability

Whirlpool Corporation recorded $18 billion in global sales and $619 million of earnings in 2010 but won’t pay anywhere near the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% on those profits. Its effective tax rate will be 0%.

As Bloomberg first reported last week, Whirlpool has stockpiled more than $500 million in tax credits for making energy-saving “energy star” appliances—washers, dryers, refrigerators and so on. The firm gets a production tax credit of up to $200 per refrigerator, $75 per dishwasher, and $225 per washer and dryer. General Electric has also collected about $200 million of these credits.

Think of these energy efficiency tax carve-outs as a version of the earned income tax credit for corporate America. Except Whirlpool and GE aren’t poor.

The deal gets sweeter. Those credits can be carried over from one year to the next for up to 20 years. Whirlpool is collecting so many credits that it may not have to pay a dime of corporate income tax for years. The lost revenue from GE and Whirlpool alone far exceeds the $78 million revenue “cost” over 10 years that Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation predicted for the credits. …

Special favors like these also create a business constituency against tax reform that would benefit the overall economy. Whirlpool carries its $500 million of unused tax credits as an asset on its balance sheet, so cutting tax rates shrinks the book value of that asset. “This is why so many companies actually oppose lowering tax rates,” says Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation.

The White House claims to want to reduce corporate tax rates in a “revenue neutral way” by closing loopholes. Yet it’s hard to take that commitment seriously when its new budget proposes to extend the green-credit windfall for another year. Whirlpool is one more case study in the case for corporate tax reform.

http://www.uncoverage.net/2011/03/whirlpool-wont-pay-35-corporate-income-tax-it-will-pay-0/

2011-06-06T09:13:00.004-04:00

Facism Deepens in Benton Harbor

If a city official wants to attend a city commission meeting, permission from EFM Joe Harris is required (IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?)

WSJM reports: "Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joseph Harris has issued a couple of orders, apparently designed to reign in actions by the city commission not permitted by Michigan's EFM legislation.

First, an order from Harris on Friday states that "no City official, employee or agent shall appear, in an official capacity for or on behalf of the City, at any meeting or hearing of the City Commission or any of [the city commission's] committees without the express written approval of the Emergency Manager, except the City Clerk [who] shall be permitted to attend any City Commission meeting....for the sole purpose of keeping the meeting minutes." It appears as though this new rule is intended to prevent any department heads or others from reporting to the city commission in an official way, which effectively shuts the elected leadership out of any informational discussions regarding city operations. Additionally, the order from Harris goes on to state that the city clerk must attach language to the minutes of all Benton Harbor Commission meetings stating that any resolution passed by the body has no legal effect.

A second order from Harris on Friday excuses Commissioners James Hightower and Bryan Joseph from attending commission meetings. The orders are effective immediately."

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/06/benton-harbor-efm-continues.html

2011-06-01T18:42:00.001-04:00

Shurn Memorial Rally & March for Justice

Organized by NAACP-Benton Harbor & BANCO

Saturday, June 18, 12noon
Meet at the Benton Harbor Public Library
213 E. Wall St.

Rally followed by a march across the bridge to the
Berrien county courthouse to take a stand for justice

June 18 will mark the eight year anniversary
of the June 2003 Uprising in Benton Harbor.
It was a public response to the high speed
police chase and death of 28 year-old
Terrance T-Shirt Shurn, a very popular BH resident.

His death is only one incident in MANY of Benton Harbor
police brutality and violence. No city should have to
endure what this one has.

Please come and join the first Shurn memorial
rally and march for justice in Benton Harbor.

NAACP-Benton Harbor and BANCO
President: Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001, call anytime

“The thrust [of the Berrien county courthouse] is to physically remove and destroy families through the use of the criminal justice system. Every person they can put in jail; every person whose voting rights they can revoke with a felony conviction; every person they can cause to lose their job by putting them on probation; every person they can cause to lose the ability to pay for basic necessities through imposing ruinous court costs and probation is all part of the process. In the 1960s, it was called Negro removal. In Bosnia, it was called ethnic cleansing. It could be called genocide, the removal of the minority population for the purpose of redevelopment of the land. That’s what’s happening in Benton Harbor and the foremost leader of the resistance is Rev. Edward Pinkney.” --Civil rights atty. Hugh "Buck" Davis

2011-05-28T10:24:00.003-04:00

Great article on corporate crime and Benton Harbor

Pinkney Interview
BENTON HARBOR: THE STOLEN TOWN

by Kathy Nathan

As consumers of main stream media “news” and accounts on events in our world and communities, we often see and read reassuring reports about the apprehension of dangerous criminals who commit bank robberies and convenience store heists with the aid of fire arms or threats. It makes us all feel safer to know the criminal has been detained and will probably be brought to justice. Sadly, there are much more ruthless and destructive criminals abroad which the media prefers to ignore as they sack and ruin the once vibrant state of Michigan. But equally sadly the MSM media remains disturbingly blank about these events. Specifically I am talking about the heist which has been taking place in the beseiged lake front community of Benton Harbor over a number of years.

In this case, the robbers and criminals do not wear masks or work under the cover of darkness. Their plundering and dismemberment of the once-thriving working and middleclass community in Benton Harbor is openly performed in broad daylight. Those who are committing this open heist claim to be “public servants,” legitimate business interests, and “protectors” of the environment. Their only cover is the indifference of the media and the ignorance of the rest of us. As a reader of the bhbanco.org blog, I have been following these events over the years with increasing consternation. How can this be happening now in the “era of racial equality” in a country “by and for the people?”

In a recent phone conversation, Reverend Edward Pinkney took some of his valuable time as one of the only active voices standing up for the people against the oppression happening in Benton Harbor to fill me in on some of the details. Even though I have been somewhat aware of this situation for some time, the facts and figures he quoted tell a story that is beyond appalling and which make the petty bank robberies and break-ins that our media is always highlighting seem like mere little kids stuff. When we can begin to grasp the truth behind these numbers we see who the real criminals and sociopaths are. The figures he quoted check out with the US 2010 census report.

Pinkney explained to me how the heist taking place isn’t just on paper. The city of Benton Harbor’s elected mayor, Wilce Cooke, has literally been removed from his offices. He is “allowed” to use a community owned space with telephones which he shares with the other disenfranchised elected officials. All the real work of governing the town is now performed by Joseph Harris who has the title of Emergency Financial Manager. He has been given tax supported office space and is answerable to Gov. Rick Snyder. Thus the citizens of Benton Harbor have been effectively deprived of the right to electing their own government officials. They no longer have a voice and their “vote” is a meaningless gesture to elect a token official who does not even have a real address.

Pinkney believes that the power grab has occurred to consolidate the victory of corporate interests over an oppressed and racially targeted community. Indeed, the facts do validate his claims. As Pinkney reports, the population is 94% black and 90% below the poverty level. Unemployment is anyone’s guess from 60% to 80%.
While asking for and obtaining huge tax breaks as “incentives” for business, Whirlpool Corp. then proceeded to outsource and move all its manufacturing jobs to Mexico and other similar countries outside the US, thus impoverishing the local workers in Benton Harbor and similar towns in the area who had worked for Whirlpool for decades.

In the meantime, Benton Harbor has been asked to underwrite the Whirlpool Corporation by allowing them reduced fees for operating their offices here. This corporation has taken the offered goods and services and given nothing in return on a state, local, and national level. For example, the US government gave Whirlpool over $500 million dollars in tax breaks and Whirlpool has taken 19.3 million from the state of Michigan Economic Growth Authority. Apparently, judging from the horrific statistics, none of these incentives, benefits or tax supported handouts have trickled down to the people who remain in a dire state.

Now, with the help of US congressman Fred Upton (one of the principle heirs to the Whirlpool fortune), Whirlpool is attempting to grab the remaining park land belonging to the city of Benton Harbor and the homes that border it from the legitimate owners. In the place of the public parks, Whirlpool hopes to construct condos, golf courses and playgrounds for the very wealthy elite who people their offices—all of which will be off limits to those who currently own and use this land.

Because the victims are all poor (by design) and black these blatant robberies and crimes continue seemingly invisible to our media--and the rest of us as well. I agree with Reverend Pinkney. It is time to end the era of the corporate robber barons personified by Whirlpool and its minion Fred Upton. We need a federal grand jury investigation into their theft and dismemberment of an entire town and their use of public funds and resources to further personal wealth. It is the ugliest of heists and those participating should feel the force of the laws which protect us.

But how can this be accomplished? Pinkney has the following observations on that point:

“We the people must change the system; it is broken. The time is now. In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand ….”

“Our pathway must be through the soil up...through swamps, forests, streams and rocks...up through commerce, education, and religion. We cannot begin at the top to build a house...if we try to do this we shall reap folly as our reward. We must start at the grassroots. The time is now.“

2011-05-25T10:34:00.010-04:00

EFM Joseph Harris and some commissioners:
90% of Benton Harbor residents are in favor
of EFM total control [NOT!]

Rev. Pinkney is often asked to speak on
radio programs. Monday morning he was on
in Detroit. It was reported that
Benton Harbor EFM Joseph Harris and
several BH city commissioners stated or
agreed that 90% of BH residents are in favor
of EFM Harris's one-man control of their town.

With close to 90% of BH residents
in poverty, we doubt their
generalization.

It has been said that poverty is a full-time job.
Anxiety about where meals and housing will
come from is all-consuming. Anxiety about
how to find employment and provide for a family
take up 24 hours each day. It's an existence
that no human being should ever have to bear,
but in the US, pulling oneself up by bootstraps
is the revered way of life.

In Berrien County, destroying Benton Harbor
is a major goal of Whirlpool, Rep. Fred Upton,
and the rest of the power players.

People living in poverty rarely have time to
follow news or current events. 90% of BH residents
are not lucky enough to have the leisure time to
acquaint themselves with the sordid politics imposed
on their town by Whirlpool, the St. Joseph rich
folks, or state government.

EFM Joseph Harris actually works for the Whirlpool Corp.
He spent part of at least one morning this week
at Cornerstone Alliance - Whirlpool's real estate arm.
His is an agenda which we will never see reported
in mainstream media. It's not hard to guess...

2011-05-16T12:10:00.005-04:00

Comment by Paula, a St. Joe resident, from a
Friday, October 08, 2010 post:

"It is very evident that political neglect, oppression, racism and discrimination are alive, well and thriving in St. Joseph/Berrien County"

http://bhbanco.blogspot.com/2010/10/it-is-very-evident-that-political.html

The comment: "My respect and sympathies to Mr. Peeks family. I am so sorry this happened. For the record I am a white St. Joseph resident who believes fully
that the sentencing for Paige Karsten would have had a very different outcome if the situation had been reversed. I am abhorred at this conviction and believe it is very unfair to Mr. Peek's family. I do believe if Mr. Peek had been drinking and driving a vehicle and ran into the back of Karsten's vehicle killing her, all hell would be breaking loose in St. Joe. I am sick of this double standard and it does make St. Joseph, residents look racist. (which we are not all that way.)
I would have liked to have seen this woman get more time, the Mi laws are for 15 yrs. for OWI and causing a death. I believe people who drink and drive should get the maximum penalty, and I don't care if there is a baby at home, whether she is a blond or not or if her parents live in an affluent neighborhood or not. Again my sympathies to you and your family may the Lord help you heal. God Bless."

2011-05-14T11:15:00.003-04:00

When reading the following brief report on Whirlpool activities keep in mind:

--Rep. Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool, was a sponsor of NAFTA.

--Upton is one of the wealthiest reps. in congress and therefore has a lot of power (to influence the 5 to 0 vote reported in this article.)

--Antitrust law was out the window while Whirlpool gobbled 72% of the domestic market through product and brand acquisition. Now they're demanding protection FROM the law via tariffs on foreign manufacturers to protect domestic jobs? The majority of which they continue to EXPORT?

--The motivation here is to tax these two companies so prices of their products are driven up in the US - Whirlpool products will have less competition as a result.

--Of course, Whirlpool can still sell appliances world-wide without tariffs (taxes).

US rules imports harm Whirlpool’s business
Bloomberg News / May 14, 2011

WASHINGTON — Whirlpool Corp., the world’s largest appliance maker, is being harmed by low-cost refrigerators from Mexico and South Korea, a US trade panel ruled, paving the way for tariffs on those imports.

The US International Trade Commission voted 5 to 0 in Washington yesterday in a preliminary ruling on the petition by Whirlpool to get antidumping and countervailing duties imposed on so-called bottom-mount refrigerators made by Samsung Electronics Co. or LG Electronics Inc. in the two nations.

LG said it will “aggressively contest’’ the decision.

The decision is the first of four the US company must win before tariffs of as much as 183 percent are imposed.

A spokeswoman for Samsung didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking a response.

“This unanimous decision by the ITC validates the action we’ve taken to protect our 23,000 US employees and the communities in which they work,’’ Jill Saletta, a spokeswoman for Whirlpool, said in a statement.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/05/14/us_rules_imports_harm_whirlpools_business/

2011-05-13T16:31:00.007-04:00

California Teachers Protest Cuts, Gov. Snyder Heckled at Parade Allison Kilkenny, May 9, 2011

--Good article from The Nation, except for the fact that one important word is missing: Whirlpool

...In Michigan, protesters greeted Gov. Rick Snyder during Benton Harbor’s annual parade. The governor has become the center of much controversy lately due to his statewide budget that includes deep cuts in education, while providing billions in tax breaks for businesses, and his proto-fascist use of appointed “emergency manages” to reject, modify, or terminate the terms of any existing contracts or collective bargaining agreements and dissolve local governing bodies of schools and cities.

Activists chanted “Recall Rick” as the governor passed.

Some of the protesters, who were led by the AFL-CIA, came from as far away as Kentucky.

"People are waking up," said Betsy Coffia, who traveled from Traverse City, Mich. to protest the parade. "Michigan didn't have a Wisconsin, things just sneaked in behind us. We're starting to realize that unless we the people start getting engaged, and make our voices heard, we're going to lose what we thought we had."

Michigan Rep. Al Pscholka was also scheduled to appear in the parade, but declined to participate after he heard about the scheduled protest.

Pscholka said he was “deeply disappointed and angered” about the news of the protests, and while the protesters have a right to exercise their First Amendment liberties at the parade, “that doesn’t make it appropriate.”

There may be some sore feelings on the part of Pscholka due to the fact that his own constituents are trying to force him out of office via recall for a variety of offenses, including his role as the author of the Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) legislation.

Conveniently, the new EFM rules could abet Pscholka’s finances.

In addition to being the state Representative from the area that includes Benton Harbor, Pscholka is a former aide to Congressman Fred Upton, a man who has deep ties into shoreline development efforts all along Lake Michigan including in Benton Harbor…

Pscholka himself was the president of the Board of Directors of the Cornerstone Alliance in 2008, the group that developed the Harbor Shores golf course and luxury residential development that snagged some of Benton Harbor's public park for its own use. This is a fact he conveniently left off his campaign site's About page when he ran for Congressman.

The first use of the new EFM law to take over a city's government was right in Benton Harbor, the area that Rep. Pscholka represents and where he has deep financial interests. And the first thing EFM Joseph Harris did after dismissing the City Council was to rejigger the Planning Commission and Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, the two groups who make crucial decisions regarding shoreline development in Benton Harbor. Harris replaced some of their members with new members selected by him.

With that blatant conflict of interest in mind, it’s no surprise residents of Benton Harbor want to recall Pscholka. Here is a representative using, and in some cases changing, the laws to benefit his financial self-interest.
http://www.thenation.com/node/160516

The Colbert Report: The Word - Autocratic for the People

2011-05-10T15:59:00.003-04:00

via WSJM AM 1400 & FM 94.9

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

2011-05-10T09:14:00.006-04:00

Whirlpool has paid no corporate taxes for 3 years

[Nice work from eclectablog.com! Props for digging into some of the dirt on Wpool.]

"You know Whirlpool, the large corporation that is an integral part of the city of Benton Harbor and who received $3.87 million in tax breaks from the city of Benton Harbor last year?

According to Business Week, they haven't paid a dime in corporate taxes in three full years. And, last year, they got a $64 million tax REFUND."

Full post with links: http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/05/whirlpool-has-paid-no-corporate-taxes.html

Governor Rick Snyder Walks in Benton Harbor Blossomtime Parade

2011-05-09T14:42:00.000-04:00

Rick Snyder in Benton Harbor 2011

2011-05-08T15:49:00.001-04:00

2011-05-04T09:44:00.004-04:00

Excellent article from Truthout.org

Democracy on Hold in Benton Harbor
Tuesday 3 May 2011, by Ryan Harvey

While the country watched the protests in Wisconsin spill into the State Capitol Building, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was passing a controversial bill that many consider a direct attack on the constitutional rights of the citizens of Michigan.

Public Acts 4-9, also called The Emergency Financial Management bill, gives already existing "Emergency Financial Managers" (EFMs) sweeping new powers, allowing them to literally suspend the entire elected bodies of municipalities they deem to be failing, and suspend collective bargaining agreements with unions for up to five years.

Immediately after the bill passed, an EFM took complete control over the city of Benton Harbor as well as Detroit's public school system. EFMs are also in power in Pontiac and Ecorse.

As many as 400 [people are studying to become EFM's in Michigan]...

Having studied, these teams are ready to attack the local governments of Michigan to restructure their finances. "A SWAT team is an OK way to look at this," Michigan State University economist Eric Scorsone told Bloomberg last week of the trainees.

Many Michigan residents, especially those experiencing poverty or hanging on to medium-income jobs, are outraged. Protests, lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and local municipalities and calls for Governor Snyder to be recalled...

"It's a dictatorship," Marian Kramer of the National Welfare Rights Union in Detroit says. "They are restructuring the government to protect the interests of corporations, that's what this is all about. It's not about us."

"They have violated the constitution for the residents of Benton Harbor," says Rev. Pinkney of Benton Harbor. "This is a constitutional issue."

He and hundreds of others have been organizing and participating in demonstrations, lawsuits and other forms of protest against the bill.

Benton Harbor residents say that Whirlpool, the world's leading manufacturer of major home appliances, and which once employed many in Benton Harbor in manufacturing jobs, might have a role in the EFM law as well; State Rep. Al Pscholka, who introduced the bill, formerly sat on the board of a Whirlpool-funded nonprofit in Benton Harbor now behind a controversial development on the town's beach. And his former boss Rep. Fred Upton is a Whirlpool heir who owns property near the development.
(emphasis added)

Sucked Down the Whirlpool

Benton Harbor has long dealt with abject poverty, job loss from outsourcing and low-level corruption. [maybe not so low-level]

...many residents say that appointing an EFM with no legal accountability whatsoever will only make...problems worse.

"You as a citizen have no rights," Marian Kramer says. "The EFM only responds to the governor and his committee, not to the people."

Benton Harbor residents point out the state government's two-faced approach to their community. They see Whirlpool as the real criminal, overshadowing anything a city commissioner could do in a lifetime.

Whirlpool, which has its global headquarters in Benton Harbor, has long controlled the city. In 1986, at the behest of business leaders, Benton Harbor was designated as an "Enterprise Zone" to give tax exemptions to the private sector. Whirlpool quickly ate up the exemptions.

At the same time, the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor area was losing over 5,000 jobs. Whirlpool continued layoffs into the '90s, until in 1996 they laid off half of the workers at their Evansville, Indiana, plant.

Today, less than one-third of Whirlpool's workforce is inside the country.

Full article with photos and footnotes:

http://truthout.org/democracy-hold-benton-harbor/1304445865

2011-05-03T18:12:00.001-04:00

Benton Harbor City Commission defies Emergency Manager

Check out the weblog post over at the Michigan Messenger!

2011-05-02T08:01:00.004-04:00

Michigan’s Republicans are creating a legal model for American fascism for the benefit of Wall Street. The state’s new emergency financial management legislation “is the prototype for a host of laws designed to make government – the state – a compliant tool for a dictatorship of the most predatory sections of the ruling class.” Naturally – this being the United States – the first localities targeted for de-democratization are Black.

Michigan’s “Emergency” Financial Regime:
What Fascism Looks Like

“There is nothing to stop the state from abolishing democratic governance in any of Michigan’s cities, if an emergency can be declared or created.”

Fascism is not all about jack-boots and guys with mustaches. It is a system of economic and social control. The particularities of fascism in any given nation grow out of the special dynamics of that country. Fascism in the United States will be blow-dried. And its legal and bureaucratic form will take shape in places like Michigan, where an innocuous sounding piece of legislation called the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act is the prototype for a host of laws designed to make government – the state – a compliant tool for the dictatorial rule of the most predatory sections of the ruling class. In 2011 America, that’s Wall Street, finance capital.

Michigan’s law allows the state to appoint emergency managers to nullify contracts, including labor agreements – which is what has unions upset. But the scope and intention of the law is much deeper and wider than simply anti-union. The legislation allows emergency managers to nullify the powers and authority of local governments of all kinds. One of its supporters gave the game away when he spoke of the need to impose a kind of “financial martial law” in which all pretense of democracy would be abolished in targeted communities. The community the Republican politician had in mind was Detroit, the Black metropolis, where the public schools were promptly put under emergency state control. But there is nothing to stop the state from abolishing democratic governance in any of Michigan’s cities, if an emergency can be declared or created. On April 15, the mostly Black city of Benton Harbor, the poorest jurisdiction in the state, was placed under total financial martial law, its citizens suddenly made more powerless than Blacks in Selma, Alabama, prior to the civil rights movement.

“Wall Street imposes instant emergencies on the larger society by starving cities and schools and the public sector in general, in order to strip down, privatize and commodify every asset in sight.”

Fascism always requires an “emergency,” a “crisis,” to justify the surrender of whatever citizen liberties previously existed. Its mass organizing principle revolves the “Other” – the scapegoating of a hated group that can be blamed for the emergency. Historically, in the United States, that “Other” has been Black people – although other “Others” have been added to the list. The U.S. has always been fertile ground for fascist politicking – in fact, I have long maintained that White Terror under southern Jim Crow was a peculiar form of American fascism.

Fascism is also associated with militarism and the national security state, which are certainly famiiar aspects of modern Americana. More importantly, the militarization of the inner cities has been an established fact since the mid-1960s. The proof is in the one million African Americans behind bars.

The “crisis” that justifies the outright abolition of democracy – beginning, of course, in Black America – is the crisis afflicting finance capitalism. Wall Street then imposes instant emergencies on the larger society by starving cities and schools and the public sector in general, in order to strip down, privatize and commodify every asset in sight. Michigan's fascist model will doubtless be duplicated across the nation, as Wall Street moves to rule directly, through its emergency managers, by one name or another. The permanent emergency has begun.
www.BlackAgendaReport.com

2011-05-01T08:44:00.002-04:00

Rep. Fred Upton, of the family that began Whirlpool, is now in a position to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency

A comment from http://michiganmessenger.com/48670/demonstrators-benton-harbor-is-the-new-selma

The property that was gifted in perpetuity to the citizens of BH is very valuable as beach front on Lake Michigan. The development of the golf course, water park, hotel, etc. will be built for people who can afford the $5,000 annual fee. BH has suffered from extreme poverty for decades [and also suffered what seems to be unspeakable - monumental injustice metted out by Berrien county law enforcement and the courts: most egregious and numerous illegal convictions and imprisonments of African-American innocents and juveniles in the state - it's how Whirlpool has destroyed humans and families in order to steal land]; and like other towns and cities, especially in urban areas; the lack of employment, the economic crisis in our state and across the nation, and the lose of tax revenues have exacerbated the further ruination of the basic services necessary for a healthy community.

Benton Harbor is important for two main issues; first the loss of self governing by the elected city officials being replaced by the Emergency Manager assigned by the governor of the state which negates our democratic principles. And the second issue has to do with the property itself and specifically the trade of a property that was owned by Whirlpool. Whirlpool is a Fortune 500 corporation that is celebrating its 100 year anniversary; the property exchanged was found to be contaminated and toxic. Removing the toxins will be expensive and prohibitive to a community that is financially crushed.

...Attorney... who has filed a federal suit on behalf of citizens stated that "The concealment is breathtaking." Rep. Fred Upton, of the family that began Whirlpool, is now in a position to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency and citizens will lose the only watchdog to examine the ongoing war against our environment. For these reasons, what happens in Benton Harbor relates to every citizen in our nation.

2011-05-01T08:34:00.001-04:00

A recall petition against Michigan state Congressman Al Pscholka has been filed.

You can view the official letter - http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/recall-of-michigan-congressman-al.html#disqus_thread

Here's the text:

April 28,2011

Representative Al Pscholka
Michigan State House of Representatives
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, Ml 48909-7514

Re: Receipt of Recall Wording

Dear Representative Pscholka:

You are hereby notified that pursuant to provisions of Section-168.952 of Public Act
456 of 1982, that presentation of "reasons for recall" from your office of 79th District State Representative was made in this office on this date. The recall wording was filed by Mr. Dennis Knowles and a copy of said wording is attached.

You are further notified that a clarity hearing of the Berrien County Election
Commission has been scheduled for 8:30 A.M. on May 9,2011. This hearing will be
held in the County Clerk's conference room on the first floor of the Berrien County
Courthouse in St. Joseph.

The purpose of this hearing will be to rule on the clarity of the reasons for recall as provided by said Act 456 of 1982. The hearing is open to the public and attendees will be given the opportunity to address the Election Commission if they so wish.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

Sincerely,
Chief Deputy Clerk
Berrien County, MI

Al Pscholka is a former aide to Congressman Fred Upton and now represents the area that includes Benton Harbor. He is also the father of the odious Emergency Financial Manager bill that was signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder and gave sweeping powers to the EFMs including breaking contracts, selling off the assets of a municipality and dismissing the elected officials (as has been done in Benton Harbor.)

Once the wording is approved (similar to what was done this past week for the recall of Governor Rick Snyder), petitions signature collection can begin. This will be a tough effort given that, outside of Benton Harbor, Pscholka's district is VERY conservative.

2011-04-29T07:42:00.005-04:00

Excellent Roger Bybee article on Snyder, Michigan, and Benton Harbor

Democracy vs. Profit is Central Issue in Takeover of Benton Harbor, Mich.

By Roger Bybee Apr 26, 2011

There is no place in the United States that more cruelly illustrates the intensifying conflict between corporate power and democracy than Benton Harbor, Mich., the first city to be placed under what some Michiganders call “financial martial law.”
(Photo by Daymon Hartley/VoiceofDetroit.net)

In March, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder won approval of Public Act 4 (i.e., the Emergency Manager law), which permits him to declare that a city is in fiscal crisis and then to appoint an overseer with unlimited powers including the elimination of existing union contracts. Significantly, chief sponsors of Public Act 4 were State Rep. Al Pscholka, who was a former aide to Whirlpool heir U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, and also "a former vice president for one of the major entities involved in building the luxury golf development,"...

...Benton Harbor's population is 92% African-American and deeply impoverished by the de-industrialization of the city and surrounding area. Whirlpool’s recent plant shutdown is the most recent, crushing blow as the corporation continues to expand significantly in low-wage plants in Mexico, despite taking $19 million in federal recovery funds. Benton Harbor is plagued by the lowest per capita income in Michigan ($8,965), with 42.6 percent of the population living below the poverty line, including a majority of kids under age 18.

Full article: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7237/democracy_vs._profit_central_issue_in_benton_harbor_takeover/

2011-04-28T07:43:00.003-04:00

Jesse Jackson calls for uprising in Benton Harbor

The Chicago Sun Times article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/5013203-417/time-for-an-uprisingin-benton-harbor.html

is reprinted in the Michigan Messenger - the article and comments are worth reading. Here's the first part -

Benton Harbor’s finances are a mess. How could they not be in a town stripped of jobs and hope? So, the state has stripped its residents of their democracy. In what is accurately termed “fiscal martial law,” the state has named a czar to run the city. That appointee, Joseph Harris, has issued an order essentially stripping the elected city council of all powers. No money can be spent, no taxes raised or lowered, no bonds issued, no regulations changed without his approval. Benton Harbor’s residents now live in a dictatorship imposed by a Republican governor famous for his belief that the poor should be punished and the rich rewarded.
This appointed dictator claims breathtaking powers. He can sell public assets, dismiss pension boards and take control of public pension funds and revoke labor contracts. What triggers this takeover? The law is remarkably vague. The governor may act if a payroll is missed, if there are complaints of late bill payment, if pensions are underfunded, if there is a significant budget deficit, a term that goes undefined.
This takeover is a recipe for the worst abuses of oppression, cronyism and corruption. And here, too, Benton Harbor is the example. One of the few citizen treasures in Benton Harbor is the Jean Klock Park, a half-mile of sandy dunes on the edge of Lake Michigan. It was bequeathed to the children of Benton Harbor by the Klock family in 1917 in memory of their daughter.
But developers backed by Whirlpool now want to appropriate a large portion of the park to turn it into a Harbor Shores golf resort with a 350-room hotel, two marinas, a 60,000-foot indoor water park (for members only), and a fancy golf course open to all who can afford a $5,000 entry fee and be approved by the club. The town’s citizens have resisted this development, which is under litigation...Full article:

http://michiganmessenger.com/48579/jesse-jackson-calls-for-uprising-in-benton-harbor

Listen to this EFMer - Joe Harris

2011-04-27T16:45:00.006-04:00

Emergency Financial Manager Training - February 10 & 11, 2011 - Michigan State University

Play the audio here

"The EFM order, an "order" or directive, has the force of law. It is the same as a resolution or an ordinance so you're running the city. You are the mayor. You are the Commission. You have taken over from them so just in case you're wondering why they don't like you too much. You've taken that authority away from them and they will challenge you every step of the way and they will try to use the community, try to get the community against you."

"...the ONLY place in the Act that requires that you do something in consultation with the Commission is when you prepare your annual financial report. You don't have to do ANYTHING with these guys. And, I would love to, but I know -- I know the individuals and I know what their motives are and the fact of the matter is anything I do they're going to try to undermine me. So the fact of the matter is, the City Manager is now gone -- I am the City Manager. I replaced the Finance Director. So I'm the Finance Director and the City Manager. I am the Mayor and I am the Commission and I don't need them. All I need is the expertise."

"...I can't over-emphasize the fact that you need to read the charter, you need to read the collective bargaining agreements -- the CBA. You've gotta know what you can do and what you can't do. And I found so many holes in the fire -- the police is tight -- in the fire collective bargaining agreement, they don't have a leg to stand on. The fact of the matter is we've got them where we want 'em!"

Hat tip to eclectablog

2011-04-27T07:52:00.001-04:00

Posted by Libby Spencer, Mon, Apr 25, 2011, Detroit News
A question of timing

One question I haven't seen asked or answered in the story of Benton Harbor is about the timing of EFCzar Joe Harris' move to dissolve the city government. The law was signed on March 16, 2011. Section 141.1530:(30)(2) of the EFM law clearly states an existing EFM has to wait 60 days to exercise their powers under section 26(3), So how is it that Harris dissolved the Committees in 30 days? Is he somehow doing an end run because he didn't actually remove them from office, but merely prevented them from governing while allowing them to keep the title?

And as an interesting aside, the City Commissioners are only paid $90 a month yet word has it, they haven't been paid their monthly stipend for attending meetings since February. Which is before the law was even enacted. Looks to me like Mr. Harris is using his power simply to punish his critics.

From The Detroit News: http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/politicsblog/index.php#ixzz1KiwaVAf6

End the Silence March and Rally Wed noon

2011-04-26T20:02:00.003-04:00

This is going to be attended by people from many parts of the country and state.
Current projections say at least 1000 people will come to Benton Harbor.

Live coverage by MSNBC and Ed Schultz
Speakers include Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero

End the Silence March and Rally Wed. 4/27, 12noon, Benton Harbor, MI

March/rally in Benton Harbor, Michigan in response to the usurping of the rights and democratic process of their city government and their citizens by empowering a non-elected Emergency Financial Manager to take over the day-to-day operations of Benton Harbor.

Meet at the Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce located at 38 W. Wall St., Benton Harbor - march to City Hall.

EFM Joe Harris "talks trash" about elected officials and union bargaining rights

If you scroll down at the following website you'll see a short video of the Benton Harbor, Snyder trained, EFM speaking. Text of the talk is also provided. His intentions are clearly not to help Benton Harbor.

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/benton-harbor-is-city-weve-failed.html

Scroll to the bottom and find out more about tomorrow's demo, and other coming events.

Benton Harbor in the news

2011-04-26T13:50:00.001-04:00

2011-04-25T14:08:00.001-04:00

Benton Harbor takeover sparks furious reaction
Opponents mobilize protests, repeal campaign
By Eartha Jane Melzer 4.20.11

The impoverished former industrial town of Benton Harbor has become a flashpoint in the controversy over the new law that allows the governor to appoint Emergency Managers with virtually unlimited authority over local governments.

On Thursday the state-appointed Emergency Manager Joe Harris used the expanded powers granted by the new law to issue an order banning the city commission from taking any action without his written permission.

Benton Harbor City Commissioner Juanita Henry says her constituents are angry and looking for help, but without the power to hold meetings the city commission can’t
even provide an official venue for citizens to ask questions and get answers.

“They are using Benton Harbor as a test case,“ Henry said. “If they have disenfranchised the people so badly they just don’t respond to anything, they can do this all over the country.”

Community activist Rev. Edward Pinkney said that many Benton Harbor residents only learned that their city government had been sacked by reading about it in the paper days later.

Though home to the corporate headquarters of appliance giant Whirlpool, the city lost its last manufacturing plant this year, almost half the population lives below the poverty line and the public lakefront has been privatized as part of a luxury golf development backed by the Whirlpool corporation.
(An appeal of the conversion of the city park is underway in federal court.)

Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved a state takeover of Benton Harbor’s finances last year after the city needed help meeting payroll.

Relations have been strained between the elected officials and the Emergency Manager Harris. In January the city commission tried to oust him after criticizing his expenses and his plans to cut the fire department.

“People should be paying attention to what is happening here because Benton Harbor is GROUND ZERO for the future of what is to become of our state under Governor Rick Snyder,“ said Carole Drake, who fought the privatization of Jean Klock Park in state court.

Locals in Benton Harbor said they will work to repeal their state Rep. Al Pscholka, who sponsored the bill, as well as State Sen. John Proos and Gov. Rick Snyder who also approved it.

A group called Heartland Revolution is planning to rally at the Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce and march to City Hall on Wednesday, April 27th to protest the takeover of the city.

The total suspension of power for local officials has brought Benton Harbor’s situation into focus for other Michigan communities, where people now worry that growing budget problems could mean that they will face similar loss of assets and control.

“I have been in touch with people all over the state via e-mail, face to face and Facebook … this is a hot
topic all over the place and our community FB page A Referendum to Reject PA 4 has quickly quadrupled in size in just the last 24 hours as we have reposted the link with our different contacts,“ said Traverse City activist Betsy Coffia. “I think Benton Harbor really shook some folks up.”

Coffia said that repeal advocates are talking with legal experts about how to draft official language for a petition.

According to information from the Secretary of State website, in order to have a referendum on a newly enacted law petitioners must gather signatures from 161,305 people — five percent of the number that voted in the last gubernatorial election.

The signatures must be submitted within 90 days of the end of the legislative session in which the bill was passed. If the group manages to gather enough certified signatures, the Emergency Manager law would be automatically suspended until a repeal vote can be held on the next general election date.

“Education is key as the groundwork is laid for an organized referendum to repeal,” Coffia said. “This motivates me to educate as many people as I can so that we will be fully prepared to sign our name as registered voters repealing this law.”

http://michiganmessenger.com/48333/benton-harbor-takeover-sparks-furious-reaction

2011-04-23T09:03:00.002-04:00

Interesting comment from http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/18/6489195-whats-at-stake-in-benton-harbor?&threadId=1168621&commentId=20694762#c20694762

"Louann", So the poor did it to themselves, isn't that always the case...according to people like you who more than likely have lived a privileged existence, this is the usual argument from those who have had it good. A very narrow minded view of humanity especially the underprivileged. How dare they need more than scraps. The very idea.

"Concerned Benton Harbor Citizen", thank you for setting the stage for a compassionate perspective. I mean really, the residents are human beings in need, but like the story all across this country people of color, make less have less, are worth less, and simply have so little compared to many in this country. But they do have more in that there are more of them incarcerated, get harassed and stopped more often, never given the benefit of the doubt, and generally are more inclined to be left out due to lack of opportunity. If someone does not believe me, look up the statistics, it is all there. In spite of a self described African American as the most powerful man in the world as president, there seems to be an undercurrent of disrespect for people of color. I am reminded of the interview between President Obama and Bill O'Reilly who interrupted the president 46 times and did not allow him a complete thought to be expressed; and Brett Baier who also did an interview with the President on FOX noise, he also interrupted so many times that the main thing the president said was that I'll tell you if you'll stop interrupting me.

I'm not sure why people of color are in the situation they are in, but I suppose if you have been considered to be just someone's property historically then those attitudes filter down. The older population that has the most racist views are dying out and that may be why the Tea Party came into existence, in spite of what they themselves claim.

There may be hope after all.

The Republican party seems to be ruled by the sentiments of Ayn Rand, who thinks altruism is a bad thing, and that being completely only selfish is a great philosphy. Which is different from self interest. Chimps have been observed to comfort fellow chimps who lost a fight with a stronger opponent. Competiton is not the way, cooperation is. Republicans love neoliberalism and they want all of America to be a series of everyone competing with everyone else to their own advantage. Democracy is a hindrance to neoliberalism due to its equalizing philosophy.