Attention: metroDetroit™-specific content. Deal.

…but the three giant abstract sculptures are still part of Lakeside's repurposed future.

!"Untitled", Fletcher Barton

^{Untitled by Fletcher Benton, JC Penney court at Lakeside Mall. Photo: Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily}

> “We have been deeply moved by how much Lakeside Mall has meant to the Sterling Heights community for nearly 50 years,” Allison Greenfield, principal of Leviathan Development and chief development officer of Lionheart Capital, said in a news release. “This inspired us to create plans for repurposing the existing public art within the reimagined Lakeside. One of Lionheart’s main pillars is to reduce waste and facilitate reuse of serviceable materials and items, when possible, in the redevelopment process.”

Emphasis mine. Am I the only one who finds this statement…meaningless? How is "repurposing the existing public art" going to help in this lofty goal? They're demolishing the place and most likely disposing of the tons of rubble in the most traditional and cost-effective manner. Hardly "reduce-reuse-recycle." Empty, useless marketingspeak and a little tone-deaf too.

!"Untitled", Bruce Beasley

^{Untitled, Bruce Beasley, Lakeside Mall. Photo: Lakeside Mall}

> Lakeside Town Center will feature residences, parks, a hotel, office spaces, retail outlets, dining establishments, and more. Approximately 30 acres will be dedicated to the new public spaces, incorporating the repurposed sculptures from Lakeside Mall. “This thoughtful integration will enhance the community’s cultural landscape and preserve the artistic legacy of Lakeside,” officials said in the release.

!"Untitled", Buky Schwartz

^{Untitled, Buky Schwartz, Macy's court at Lakeside Mall. Photo: Lakeside Mall}

> A date for the fixtures sale will be released later this year, according to the release.

Further reading:

• WXYZ-Detroit: 'One last glimpse' *** If you can't see the crazy person on the bus, it's you. !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

> Jacob Russell says he’s been part of metro Detroit’s mostly white improv scene for almost 13 years and noticed his peers didn’t know much about contributions Black people made to American history. The comedian, who grew up on Detroit’s west side, said that disconnect inspired “Birth of a Ho’ Ass Nation,” a satirical one-man show to “give them a perspective of how I grew up and what I was taught.”

> Russell said he was inspired to write the first play, which he first performed in 2017 and has since become a series, because he wanted to offer his audience something deeper than just jokes.

> Along with writing the play, Russell, 38, plays all the characters like Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Du Bois and Ida B. Wells. He also throws in some non-historical figures–a human version of Jim Crow, a talking lion simply named Lion and a heightened version of himself. *** Everything I say is a lie… !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

> Michigan lawmakers didn’t just pass an $83 billion budget early Thursday, they also approved nearly 100 other bills during a marathon 19-hour session before finally breaking for summer recess.

> Some of the bigger policy changes, such as opening the Legislature and governor’s office to Freedom of Information Act requests and expanding unemployment benefits to 26 weeks, made immediate headlines.

Read on to learn more about the "Taylor Swift bot ban" and the bill against the ludicrous "Gay Panic Defense." *** Anger or hatred is like the fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it. -- Gautama Buddha !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

> “Today, Detroit takes a step into a major national leadership role in fighting climate change,” Duggan said at the event in the footprint of the Gratiot-Findlay project. “127 city buildings are currently powered by 33 megawatts of energy per year from traditional sources, largely fossil fuels,” Duggan said. “In the next two years, we are going to build solar fields that are going to produce that 33 megawatts of energy in renewable energy, effectively generating all the power for city buildings from solar fields.”

> Duggan said Monday that the program targets “some of the most blighted areas in the city” and would be “helping neighborhoods that think they’ve been forgotten.”

> Homeowners in the footprint of the proposed solar fields stand to receive twice the fair market value of their homes or $90,000, whichever is higher, while renters will get 18 months of rent to relocate. Homeowners within community benefits areas surrounding the projects will receive $15,000 to $25,000 each for energy efficiency upgrades.

> Support for solar arrays in city neighborhoods has been far from unanimous. Detroit dropped a plan for a project in Grixdale Farms after residents raised concerns about the potential for solar fields to hurt property values or add to issues with blight and crime in the area outside the project’s footprint. *** Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy! !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

> According to the state, a small population of juvenile spotted lanternfly was recently detected in Lambertville [Monroe County]. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the findings last week.

!Spotted lanternfly

_{Adult spotted lanternfly. Photo: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, bugwood.org}

> “The infestation was detected through spotted lanternfly monitoring traps deployed by Michigan State University (MSU), as part of collaborative survey initiatives with MSU, MDARD, and the USDA,” MDARD’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director. Steve Carlson said in a statement. “This work is a critical component of our ongoing efforts to identify and limit the spread of spotted lanternfly in Michigan.”

> The spotted lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper native to eastern Asia. It was first found in the U.S. in 2014 and spread rapidly.

See it. Squish it. Report it.

According to Michigan.gov's Michigan Invasive Species website…

> Spotted lanternfly feeds on more than 70 different plants including grapes, apples, hops and hardwood trees. The insects cause direct damage by sucking sap from host plants and secreting large amounts of a sugar-rich, sticky liquid called honeydew. This honeydew and the resulting black sooty mold can kill plants and foul surfaces. The honeydew often attracts other pests like yellow jackets, flies, and ants, affecting outdoor recreation and complicating crop harvests. *** Anger or hatred is like the fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it. -- Gautama Buddha !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Over at !music@midwest.social we've got a sidebar with a "total subscribers" shields.io badge, like many other communities all over the Lemmyverse do. I made a simple, non-badge-related edit to the sidebar and due to what seems an aggressive image proxy, the shields.io badge address gets mangled after the edit is saved.

!This is !music

This is "Community Info" from !music@midwest.social on Jerboa. At the bottom of the screen is the midwest.social/api/v3/image_proxy image.

!This is !detroit

This is "Community Info" from !detroit@midwest.social on Jerboa, as an example of a working badge. At the bottom the screen is the working shields.io badge.

The pre-save preview shows everything as should be. It's only when the edit is saved does the badge address get mangled.

I contacted our fearless leader, @seahorse@midwest.social, and he changed an image proxy setting. Now !music@midwest.social works as it should. Any further details or information in regards should be asked of him. Thanks. *** Workers of The World...Relax! !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

• Hart Plaza
• Belle Isle
• Ford Motor Company’s official rooftop party. Yeah. Real proletariat there, Lee. $350 a pop. Yes, proceeds do go to the The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation.
• TV (WDIV-4)

There. I just saved ya the trip. No thanks necessary. For those of you still asleep, it's tonight. Act accordingly.

Happy (early) Canada Day to our brothers and sisters across the river. *** Free your mind and your ass will follow… !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Possibly following in the traditions of Christmas decorations in November and summer Black Friday sales, some municipalities have been celebrating American Independence Day weeks in advance. Much of a super-genius as I am, I never really understood what's the rush. In any case, the linked article from our pals over at BridgeMichigan lists the pyrotechnic spectacles planned and already passed here in the Great State of Talktothehand-and-Belial.

Just to—ehmmm—present the other side of the coin for those who appreciated a pretty explosion, here's Planet Detroit's "Michigan fireworks add to air quality problems".

Screw humans: maybe it is time to consider a different way to celebrate the Fourth of July: from the Humane Society: "Fireworks: An explosion of fear for animals"

Oh, and a premature Happy Canada Day to our friends to the North…uh, and South! You know…the ones with better beer and better health care… *** What We Want Now !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

> Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation on Wednesday — which also was Juneteenth — to celebrate the contributions of Black athletes in the Negro National League. The Detroit Stars was one of the original eight teams represented at the birth of the league in 1920.

> May 2 will be known as “Negro Leagues Day” in Michigan, the day in 1920 that its first game was played.

> Rep. Helena Scott (D-Detroit) who sponsored the legislation to recognize the league, told a legislative committee in May 2023 that the league and its athletes stood up against racism and pursued greatness. “Without the influence of these exceptional players and the Negro League, Major League Baseball wouldn’t be what it is today, and America wouldn’t be the country that it is today,” Scott said during a state House Governmental Operations Committee hearing last year. *** Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts. -- Gautama Buddha !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

From our friends over at BridgeMichigan, Sneha Dhandapani writes about the spreading idea in the Michigan legislature of a statewide ban on cellphones in school. Some state representatives and school districts don't think that's such a good idea…

> While there is currently no bill in the Legislature to implement a statewide ban in Michigan, some individual schools and districts are experimenting with the policy, hoping to improve academics and curb rising levels of anxiety and depression tied to social media.

> A study by Central Michigan University surveyed more than 600 students between seventh and 12th grade and found learning increased with a decrease in smartphone use, including at school and during homework. A separate study found that students who did not have cell phones in a classroom had higher levels of course comprehension, lower levels of anxiety and higher levels of mindfulness than those with cell phones.

Whether you're a parent or not, aren't higher comprehension, lower anxiety and higher mindfulness qualities we want in our students?

> State Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, a former teacher, said he “would be uncomfortable with a state mandate on (cell phone bans in classrooms) as no two communities are the same.” Koleszar emphasized support for local control and allowing teachers to make their own decisions regarding cell phone use policy.

> [Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles,] called a potential statewide ban “one of the worst ideas that we could come up with as legislators.” He emphasized that allowing schools and districts to make their own decisions regarding cell phone policy is important because “this is a cultural learning issue where kids are gonna have to learn how to deal with these distractors at some point in their life.”

Ironically enough, Rep Paquette, one of your own proposed exactly this idea in 2022…

> In Michigan, then-state Rep. Gary Eisen, R-St. Clair Township, sponsored a 2022 bill that would have required districts to prohibit cell phone use during the school day. The proposal died in committee, however.

One of the weakest excuses I've heard against any cellphone ban is from parents, saying "what if I need to contact my child in case of an emergency?!" Is calling the school not an option? *** My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right? -- Charles Schulz !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

🥵

Maybe you wanna see something light while getting out of the oppressive, heavy, humid Detroit summer? Something escapist for your escaping the heat. A romantic comedy with a happy ending for everybody…well, for almost everybody. Are you in luck!

Friday evening, 8:00pm, at the historic (and air-conditioned!) Redford Theatre (at fashionable 17360 Lahser Road, just north of Grand River Ave.) is the 1987 romantic comedy, Moonstruck!

Directed by the late, great Norman Jewison (Fiddler On The Roof, In The Heat Of The Night), see 80s post-op Cher riding the top of her wave as a movie star and pre-op Nicolas Cage at the beginning of his…

> Cher is perfect as the widowed woman, convinced she is cursed by bad luck, who agrees to remarry, only to fall for her fiance’s opera-loving baker brother (Nicolas Cage). This still fresh romantic comedy from Norman Jewison (who passed earlier this year) is a love letter to Italian culture and New York City.

⚜ _***** ⚜ 📽 ⚜ _***** ⚜

Godzilla Saturday! 🏢🦖🔥

You want light? Some frivolous entertainment? How 'bout a man in a rubber monster costume terrorizing both a scale model of Tokyo and another actor in a blobby, shapeless rubber costume? No CGI here, no shin nothing except maybe getting kicked!

On Saturday, the historic Redford is showing not one but two masterworks from Japan's Toho Co.…oh, no!…it's a Godzilla Double-Header!

At the 2:00pm matinée is 1971's *Godzilla Vs The Smog Monster!

> Perhaps the trippiest film in the original Godzilla series, in which the big guy battles a creature born of out-of-control pollution. Rare to see in any form, we screen the dubbed version that ran in US theaters in the early 1970s.

Then later at 8:00pm is the original, the one that started it all, Ishiro Hondo's 1954 Godzilla!

> 70th anniversary screening! Celebrate the birth of everyone’s favorite atomic dinosaur, stomping Tokyo on the big screen and in glorious black and white. We present the film’s recent restoration in Japanese with English subtitles.

⚜ _***** ⚜ 📽 ⚜ _***** ⚜

Tickets for all the shows are the usual $7 and $5 for seniors and kids. Stay cool "old school", fool! Go to the movies! *** My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right? -- Charles Schulz !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

The Detroit Film Theatre at the world-reknown (and air-conditioned!) Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates cinematically the Juneteenth weekend with not one but three blockbusters of African Americana!

Tomorrow at 7:00pm, one showing only, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson's 2021 award-winning documentary, Summer of Soul!

> In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson fashioned a joyful and transporting documentary — part music film, part historical record — created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in New York.

> Incredibly, most of the footage was largely forgotten–but no more. Summer of Soul shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being, and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of injustice, past and present. Including concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and many more. Academy Award® Winner, Best Documentary Feature; Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival. (118 min.)

Try to stay seated.

⚜ _***** ⚜ 📽 ⚜ _***** ⚜

Stormy Weather

On Saturday, at sweltering 3:00pm and muggy 7:00pm, the final days of the Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898--1971 exhibition close with the 1943 classic, star-studded musical, Stormy Weather!

> One of two musical entertainments featuring all-Black casts released by major Hollywood studios in 1943, Stormy Weather has a traditional movie romance plot — but what really matters in this incredible film is the cast and musical numbers.

> The great Lena Horne, whose performance of the title song is one for the ages, is only one of the brilliant talents on screen; there's also Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Katherine Dunham and her dance company, Dooley Wilson (Casablanca’s piano player), and the astonishing Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold, performing what may still be the greatest dance number in movie history [emphasis mine -- r² ] (their tap shoes are on display in Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898 – 1971, at the DIA through June 23). (78 min.)

"Different Times": from the Wikipedia entry…

> Although Stormy Weather and other musicals of the 1940s opened new roles for African Americans in Hollywood, breaking through old stereotypes and far surpassing limited roles previously available in race films produced for all-black audiences, it still perpetuates stereotypes. Notably, the musical numbers in the movie contain elements of minstrelsy. The performance of a cakewalk, for example, features flower headdresses reminiscent of the Little Black Sambo figures used in historical misrepresentations of Black American males.

…just so you know.

Performing live at 7:00pm screening is the DFT's special guest, Detroit's musical child prodigy, Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson!

⚜ _***** ⚜ 📽 ⚜ _***** ⚜

Moonlight

Finally, at the Sunday 2:00pm matinée, director Barry Jenkins' 2016 Academy Award winning film, Moonlight, starring Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes and Mahershala Ali. Moving. Touching. Difficult. Gripping. Yeah, it's all those adjectives and more. Jenkins' adaption of Tarell Alvin McCraney's play follows the life of Chiron from childhood to adulthood, his relationship with father-figure crack dealer Juan and his addicted mother Paula and how he just tries to navigate through the situations he finds himself in, inside and out. If you've never seen this powerful film, I'll say no more other than it's not what you'd call a "popcorn movie". You may need to bring Kleenex along.

⚜ _***** ⚜ 📽 ⚜ _***** ⚜

Tickets for all showings are $10, $8.50 for seniors, students and DIA members and available online (plus $1.50 inconvience fee).

Stay cool "old school", fool! Go to the movies! *** My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right? -- Charles Schulz !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

So much going on today here at !detroit@midwest.social(disease).

From ace reporters Robert Snell and Louis Aguilar at the News, "rat, meet sinking ship"…

> …prosecutors are applying more pressure on Smith by slapping a lien on his $1.25 million home, a move that reveals possible new criminal charges that could be filed in connection with one of the largest alleged embezzlements in a public corruption case in recent Detroit history[…]

> Plea negotiations were described in a federal court filing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Moran and Smith's criminal defense lawyer, Gerald Evelyn, on June 10. […] "The parties jointly request that the court continue the period in which an indictment must be returned by 60 days in order to permit the ongoing plea negotiations to continue, as the issuance of indictment may change the posture of the parties in negotiations," the lawyers wrote.

> The lien signals Smith's home in a Novi gated community may be subject to forfeiture to the government because investigators believe the property is linked to fraud, bribery/theft and money laundering. "If the Department of Justice has liened property, that's a pretty good indication that it is proceeds of unlawful conduct," Birmingham criminal defense lawyer Wade Fink told The News after learning about the lien. "As a criminal defense lawyer seeing this, I would certainly be worried about a forthcoming indictment or ongoing discussions about what that indictment is going to look like."

Yeah, me being a mere genius and not a lawyer, I kinda see it that way too.

One last thought: all this hullabaloo these days about US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepting "gifts" with an estimated value of $2.4M. That's peanuts! Kids' stuff in comparison!

Alt link for your convenience via archive.is *** What We Want Now !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Why is this even posted here at !detroit@midwest.social? Read the article (or as much as you can stomach), peruse the graphic, and then you'll understand my perplexity…

> Our study ranks 100 vehicles judged through the same five criteria as it’s been since the 2020 edition: assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin and U.S. manufacturing workforce. More than 400 vehicles of model-year 2024 vintage were analyzed to qualify the 100 vehicles on the list.

The tl;dr graphic…

[!Where's GM? Ford?](https://web.archive.org/web/20240618174037im_/https://carsdotcom.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/24_AMI_national-map_mg.jpg) _{Detroit isn't even on there once! Cars.com graphic by Melissa Galicia}

> The top 10 shifts considerably thanks largely to Tesla. The Texas-based all-electric automaker locked out the top four in the 2023 index, but its Model S sedan and Model X SUV come in at Nos. 4 and 9 this year, and noticeably absent from the top 10 is a vehicle that once ranked No. 1 outright in 2021: the Model 3 sedan. On the receiving end of these drops are Honda, whose Passport SUV now lands at No. 2, plus its Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup truck at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively; Volkswagen, whose ID.4 electric vehicle ranks No. 3; Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus, with the Camry sedan and all-new TX SUV at Nos. 7 and 10, respectively; and Jeep, whose Gladiator rises to No. 8 this year.

It's so 20^th century but this town still insists on referring to itself as "Motown" or "the Motor City." Pffffft.

That's depressing. I need to see something adorable!

Happy Juneteenth! *** What We Want Now !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Happy Jubilee Day, Detroit! !Flag

> This episode of Visions is celebrating Black Music Month!

> You’ll hear music across all jazz genres and the decades exclusively from Black artists, including Hank Mobley, Meshell Ndegeocello, Marcus Belgrave and more.

> Jazz music is black music, but there’s no better time to celebrate it than during June’s Black Music Month.

See, Kaleigh dearest, that's where you're wrong. Jazz/black music should be celebrated every day! 🥰 🎶

EDIT 08:57:54 CEST: typographic error. *** What We Want Now !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Following up on !michigan@midwest.social post Tribes urge U.S. to weigh in on Line 5 case as appeal sits in court, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has dragged back kicking and screaming a court case that should have never left the State judicial system…

> “This case never should have left state court in the first place, and after this long delay caused by Enbridge’s procedural manipulations, we’re elated to welcome Nessel v. Enbridge back to its rightful judicial venue,” Nessel said in a statement. “The State has an obligation and imperative to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of pollution, especially the devastating catastrophe a potential Line 5 rupture would wreak upon all of Michigan. As we’ve long argued, this is a Michigan case brought under Michigan law that the People of Michigan and its courts should rightly decide.”

!Enbridge Line 5 Map

_{645 miles from Superior to Sarnia. Graphic: Laina G Stebbins}

> When a coalition of 63 tribal nations from the U.S. and Canada submitted a brief in support of returning the case to state court, David Gover, managing attorney for the Native American Rights Fund said in a statement that a rupture in the pipeline would destroy the right to hunt, fish gather and continue living in land ceded by the Anishinaabe in 1836.

> “This is another step towards enforcing the permanent shut down of Line 5. We appreciate Attorney General Nessel’s persistence in the fight to protect our waters from a catastrophic oil spill in the heart of the Great Lakes,” [legislative and political director for the Michigan Sierra Club Christy] McGillivray said. “Michiganders have every right to protect themselves from the most dangerous oil pipeline in America, and Attorney General Nessel is representing the will of the Michiganders she works for. It’s past time Line 5 was shut down once and for all.” *** Everything I say is a lie… !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

More insanity that is 21^st Century American Life…

> [Texas resident Lauren] Miller […] testified Wednesday before a U.S. Senate panel about the struggles she faced after learning in 2022 one of the twins’ brains wasn’t developing correctly and was about half fluid.

> The fear was complicated by Texas’ strict restrictions on abortion, which forced Miller to seek out treatment options without her doctors’ assistance.

> Miller testified that, thankfully, she had a longtime friend she could trust who was an OB-GYN [in Colorado], who understood the landscape of abortion laws and knew doctors who could help address her diagnosis.

> Miller said the best option for her and her family was to have a single fetal reduction, but that was technically an abortion and she couldn’t get it in Texas. […] “We didn’t tell anybody what had happened,” Miller said Wednesday. “We didn’t tell anybody what we had done because we were so scared.”

Between bump stocks, mass shootings and anti-choice proponents, the American Right apparently prefers abortions after birth. Some of our State Representatives think Mrs Miller's plight is wrong as “God doesn’t make mistakes.” *** A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

First posted last week here, 18-year-old chess champion—the highest-rated African American female chess player in history—Jessica Hyatt's visit to the DIA in an organized simul against 27 opponents "outed" a whole bunch of Detroit dads and grandfathers who have introduced their daughters and granddaughters to the analytical game of chess.

> [hellip;]there's a group of Detroit dads that have been making moves for years; taking their kids to practices and tournaments all over; sitting in silence — sometimes for hours at a time — as their progeny test wits, strategy and skills against their opponents, and loving every minute of it. Unlike soccer or hockey, any congratulatory cheers are saved for the end of the game. But these fathers' pride is on display all the time.

> “When I introduced my daughter to chess, it was all about giving her critical-thinking skills, and she was like: ‘Oh, I love this game,’ " said Keith Walker, whose middle school daughter, Madison, is on the chess team at Bates Academy. “Now, I’ve been a part of the chess community in Detroit for about six years, and I can say that the fathers behind the chess scene are very strong. We give our kids security and safety, and we also look out for all of the kids that are playing. So all the kids are my kids and we become a unit.”

> The smile on Michael Slater Jr.'s face as he took advantage of the minutes right before the start of the simul at the DIA to take some up-close pictures of his daughter Amara — a rising third-grader at Bates Academy — let everyone in the Great Hall know that Slater, too, definitely was having fun. […] “I support Amara in chess because she enjoys playing and I enjoy watching her,” Slater said[…] “But I am going to speak for all of the dads in Detroit’s chess community and say that we’re here and we’re involved in everything that we see our children do.”

Alt link for your convenience via archive.is *** What We Want Now !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Some days, those who would command govern represent us just make it too easy for, among other things, finding "post fodder."

In the shadow of Michael William Nash's demonstration of his 2^nd Amendment rights on Saturday, according to The News…

> Twelve Michigan House Republicans have sponsored a bill this month to the name the AR-15 "the official rifle of this state," drawing criticism from opponents who labeled the proposal unserious and inappropriate.

For those who don't know, the AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle. Bear that in mind when reading the following.

> State Rep. Brian BeGole, R-Antrim Township, a former Shiawassee County sheriff, was the primary backer of the AR-15 measure and said in a statement issued Tuesday that thousands of people in Michigan own an AR-15. […] “This distinction recognizes these law-abiding gun owners who are often vilified just for having a firearm as a hobbyist or to keep their homes and families safe," BeGole said.

That's some hobby. Keep their homes and families safe. Safe from the government BeGole has represented most of his life, according to the oft-debated 2^nd Amendment.

> However, Ryan Bates, director of End Gun Violence Michigan, said BeGole's bill was about "worshiping the rifle that is the preferred weapon of mass shooters." […] Bates noted that on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stocks, a rapid-fire gun accessory that was used in a mass shooting at a music festival Las Vegas in 2017.

> "That shooter used 23 AR-style rifles modified with bump stocks to kill 58 people and injure nearly 500 in mere minutes," Bates said. "We now live in a world where any deranged person can turn an AR-style rifle into a machine gun capable of firing 400-800 rounds per minute, a level of firepower that quite simply overwhelms law enforcement."

We all know that rabbit and pheasant can get pretty mean. And who doesn't like their venison pre-ground? To quote my favorite philosopher and thinker, myself…

> It’s forever High Noon in this nation of cowboys.

Ah, almost forgot! Use it everyday!

Alt link for your convenience via archive.is *** If you can't see the crazy person on the bus, it's you. !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Some days, those who would command govern represent us just make it too easy for, among other things, finding "post fodder."

In the shadow of Michael William Nash's demonstration of his 2^nd Amendment rights on Saturday, according to The News…

> Twelve Michigan House Republicans have sponsored a bill this month to the name the AR-15 "the official rifle of this state," drawing criticism from opponents who labeled the proposal unserious and inappropriate.

For those who don't know, the AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle. Bear that in mind when reading the following.

> State Rep. Brian BeGole, R-Antrim Township, a former Shiawassee County sheriff, was the primary backer of the AR-15 measure and said in a statement issued Tuesday that thousands of people in Michigan own an AR-15. […] “This distinction recognizes these law-abiding gun owners who are often vilified just for having a firearm as a hobbyist or to keep their homes and families safe," BeGole said.

That's some hobby. Keep their homes and families safe. Safe from the government BeGole has represented most of his life, according to the oft-debated 2^nd Amendment.

> However, Ryan Bates, director of End Gun Violence Michigan, said BeGole's bill was about "worshiping the rifle that is the preferred weapon of mass shooters." […] Bates noted that on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stocks, a rapid-fire gun accessory that was used in a mass shooting at a music festival Las Vegas in 2017.

> "That shooter used 23 AR-style rifles modified with bump stocks to kill 58 people and injure nearly 500 in mere minutes," Bates said. "We now live in a world where any deranged person can turn an AR-style rifle into a machine gun capable of firing 400-800 rounds per minute, a level of firepower that quite simply overwhelms law enforcement."

We all know that rabbit and pheasant can get pretty mean. And who doesn't like their venison pre-ground? To quote my favorite philosopher and thinker, myself…

> It’s forever High Noon in this nation of cowboys.

Ah, almost forgot! Use it everyday!

Alt link for your convenience via archive.is *** If you can't see the crazy person on the bus, it's you. !detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social