I gave some thought about what to write for
this transition from one year to the next. In
the end it is clear that nothing political
was resolved in 2009 that we could close the
book on. If anything, most issues remain
unresolved and a few new ones have arisen.
For example, in my family our Social Security
income will be about $34 less per month in 2010
than it was in 2009, and that's before currency
devaluation because of inflation which has
not disappeared. We'll have roughly $400 less
because of increases in Medicare costs to us
(not counting the Blue Cross supplemental
cost increases). I'm not looking forward to
whatever medical care difficulties will be
introduced by the new health care laws passed
by the federal government.
About the only thing(s) that can be closed out
in 2009 are the three (the say things come in
3's and it certainly seems true in this case)
deaths of people I have been close to in my
life. I won't bother with details about two
of the individuals that readers here won't
be familiar with, but the most recent death
was a person I've written about (August 17)
in this publication before.
Alex Zelchenko died on the morning of December
24th 2009 at age 95. It appears that the
cancer tumor in his lung became infected,
leading to multiple organ failure and after
some days of lingering unconscious, he expired.
Alex was a perfect example of "pulling the
plug on grandma" not only once, but in his
case twice.
The one major improvement that seems to be
underway is that the beginnings of a political
awakening are evident. People need to become
more directly involved with governments at
all levels, to become more confrontational,
and vote the bad players out of office. That's
most of the career politicians in office today.
Tea parties are one thing, but without
translation into direct action on election day,
things like not voting a party line,
we'll have the same graft and corruption ongoing
in this community, state, and nation. Simply showing
up and voting isn't enough. Each of you needs to
put thought into how you vote.
We wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.
Bill Vajk
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Travelures Wind Turbines
Will Jim Dellies ever cease to amaze us?
Two new wind turbines have been installed.
Bill Vajk
Two new wind turbines have been installed.
Bill Vajk
Merry Christmas You!
Merry Christmas You!
While on the subject, this is a Christian
community. Crystal Falls had a public event
this season with the word Christmas playing
a predominant role, as did Caspian.
Iron River stands alone in taking the secular
progressive posture of involving government
funds and then removing the name of the
Christmas holy day from the original name
for the celebration of "Christmas in Lights"
as it was called the first year (because
Julie Melchiori was out of town at the
moment the ads were written and placed in
the paper and on the radio.)
Because of the flap over the name the second
year, I publicly offered $100 towards the
maximum of $1000 that Iron River's DDA
provides annually to fund the advertising.
Frankly, as news starved as our outlets are
for local news it seems to me that advertising
costs could be zero if the event were covered
as a local news item, something that's done all
the time by Iron Mountain and Iron River
newspapers as well as our radio station WIKB,
and WLUC-TV channel 6. Why involve government
money in the first place? It seems to me that
as much sponsorship as local businesses provide
for other events, they would step up and take
care of the small amounts of money actually
involved in a Christmas season parade.
But then I'm not one of the "in crowd" in Iron
County, and the way they do things I'm glad
not to be. The only reason our Christmas in
Lights parade is actually called Holiday in
Lights is because people in the community
don't step up and assert control over our
events. The community allows such things to
happen, leaving the same people in charge of
everything. Those who do stuff for the
community are at least willing to put forth
some effort.
What can be done to encourage and interest
others in taking the reins of their own
fate and interests? Can we spread this
around a bit? This is the season of giving,
the right time to think about giving back
to the community in the coming year.
Bill Vajk
While on the subject, this is a Christian
community. Crystal Falls had a public event
this season with the word Christmas playing
a predominant role, as did Caspian.
Iron River stands alone in taking the secular
progressive posture of involving government
funds and then removing the name of the
Christmas holy day from the original name
for the celebration of "Christmas in Lights"
as it was called the first year (because
Julie Melchiori was out of town at the
moment the ads were written and placed in
the paper and on the radio.)
Because of the flap over the name the second
year, I publicly offered $100 towards the
maximum of $1000 that Iron River's DDA
provides annually to fund the advertising.
Frankly, as news starved as our outlets are
for local news it seems to me that advertising
costs could be zero if the event were covered
as a local news item, something that's done all
the time by Iron Mountain and Iron River
newspapers as well as our radio station WIKB,
and WLUC-TV channel 6. Why involve government
money in the first place? It seems to me that
as much sponsorship as local businesses provide
for other events, they would step up and take
care of the small amounts of money actually
involved in a Christmas season parade.
But then I'm not one of the "in crowd" in Iron
County, and the way they do things I'm glad
not to be. The only reason our Christmas in
Lights parade is actually called Holiday in
Lights is because people in the community
don't step up and assert control over our
events. The community allows such things to
happen, leaving the same people in charge of
everything. Those who do stuff for the
community are at least willing to put forth
some effort.
What can be done to encourage and interest
others in taking the reins of their own
fate and interests? Can we spread this
around a bit? This is the season of giving,
the right time to think about giving back
to the community in the coming year.
Bill Vajk
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Some Clarity
It has become clear that the government envisioned
by the founding fathers has been broken by the
dishonesty of our elected officials. The
difficulties can be boiled down to the simple
statement that our founding fathers relied heavily
on the honesty of elected officials to actually
represent the needs and wishes of those who
elected them to office.
We see now that the votes of two key US senators
on the undisclosed Senate health bill was bought
and paid for by $300 million and more in fixes
sent to their elected districts.
Cap and Trade, the other major piece of
legislation, will be similarly passed. These
two pieces of legislation essentially remake
the entire financial and political makeup of
the United States.
We elected a president in these United States
mainly with a wink and a smile and a promise
of undisclosed change. Carelessness by the
electorate is complicit in everything that's
happening. It has been said that in the US we
always get the government we deserve. It is a
harsh reality that so long as dishonesty is
as rampant as it presently is, I have to add
"and then some."
These elected and appointed people already have
a plan. Shortly before the next election,
scheduled for November 2010, the economic
situation will look rosy just past the election.
It is a larger version of what's going on in
Caspien, MI, the subject of an article just
a few days ago. As a city commissioner (Sabol)
said, "but this helps the residents."
Mr. Sabol, if you wanted to help the citizens
you'd lower local taxes, and the citizens would
help themselves in ways that are important to
them. For the most part they don't need indoor
tennis courts, and so forth.
Glenn Beck has been bringing to listener
attention to a small communist book/paper for
a while. It is called "The Coming Insurrection"
and while it can be purchased from Amazon it is
also available in several translations from the
original French on the world wide web. It is an
extremely difficult read.
What's telling about this work, near the end,
says, "The goal of any insurrection is to
become irreversible."
Clearly what we're seeing in the federal
government, and Caspien, is the makings of
irreversible change. The only excuse found for
Caspien's the ski chalet these days was to
move the functions of City Hall there. But
what of City Hall itself? That, in a sane
world, is what should have been fixed to
become more functional. The ski chalet should
never have been built, just as I predict that
the proposed new public buildings should not
be built.
On the federal level, economically similar
things, scaled up, are happening. The health
care plan being passed as this is written,
"card check" for union votes, cap and trade
for energy, are all designed to carry the US
into a socialism that the average citizen has
no familiarity. It will, much as European
socialist governments were, irreversible
without significant pain some decades
in the future.
It seems the only thing that can save the
America most of us know and love is the Tea
Party that isn't even a real political party.
You can find "The Coming Insurrection" at the
following locations:
http://tarnac9.wordpress.com/texts/the-coming-insurrection/
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11879
Bill Vajk
by the founding fathers has been broken by the
dishonesty of our elected officials. The
difficulties can be boiled down to the simple
statement that our founding fathers relied heavily
on the honesty of elected officials to actually
represent the needs and wishes of those who
elected them to office.
We see now that the votes of two key US senators
on the undisclosed Senate health bill was bought
and paid for by $300 million and more in fixes
sent to their elected districts.
Cap and Trade, the other major piece of
legislation, will be similarly passed. These
two pieces of legislation essentially remake
the entire financial and political makeup of
the United States.
We elected a president in these United States
mainly with a wink and a smile and a promise
of undisclosed change. Carelessness by the
electorate is complicit in everything that's
happening. It has been said that in the US we
always get the government we deserve. It is a
harsh reality that so long as dishonesty is
as rampant as it presently is, I have to add
"and then some."
These elected and appointed people already have
a plan. Shortly before the next election,
scheduled for November 2010, the economic
situation will look rosy just past the election.
It is a larger version of what's going on in
Caspien, MI, the subject of an article just
a few days ago. As a city commissioner (Sabol)
said, "but this helps the residents."
Mr. Sabol, if you wanted to help the citizens
you'd lower local taxes, and the citizens would
help themselves in ways that are important to
them. For the most part they don't need indoor
tennis courts, and so forth.
Glenn Beck has been bringing to listener
attention to a small communist book/paper for
a while. It is called "The Coming Insurrection"
and while it can be purchased from Amazon it is
also available in several translations from the
original French on the world wide web. It is an
extremely difficult read.
What's telling about this work, near the end,
says, "The goal of any insurrection is to
become irreversible."
Clearly what we're seeing in the federal
government, and Caspien, is the makings of
irreversible change. The only excuse found for
Caspien's the ski chalet these days was to
move the functions of City Hall there. But
what of City Hall itself? That, in a sane
world, is what should have been fixed to
become more functional. The ski chalet should
never have been built, just as I predict that
the proposed new public buildings should not
be built.
On the federal level, economically similar
things, scaled up, are happening. The health
care plan being passed as this is written,
"card check" for union votes, cap and trade
for energy, are all designed to carry the US
into a socialism that the average citizen has
no familiarity. It will, much as European
socialist governments were, irreversible
without significant pain some decades
in the future.
It seems the only thing that can save the
America most of us know and love is the Tea
Party that isn't even a real political party.
You can find "The Coming Insurrection" at the
following locations:
http://tarnac9.wordpress.com/texts/the-coming-insurrection/
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11879
Bill Vajk
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A Great Place to Live
Iron County is a great place to live. One needs only
to look at the good news that constantly pepper the
Iron Mountain Daily News, the Iron County Reporter,
and WIKB, our local radio station.
Looking at a story on the cover of the Reporter for
December 16, 2009, we see that the city of Caspian,
in the first line of the article, has decided to
reduce the staff. The article goes on to mention
the termination of (possibly) an equipment operator.
And with the expected retirement of police Chief
Soderbloom, a part time officer will be hired, with
an anticipated savings of some $30,000.
But there are a couple of upside factors later in
the article to make people feel good and make them
forget about the information in the first part.
Caspien is planning an indoor tennis court facility,
two tennis courts, two indoor golf batting cages,
and the tennis courts can also be used for volleyball
or soccer! And maybe some maple boccie courts?
They're also going to have a Christmas decorating
contest (did you get that? Christmas decorating
contest when Iron River is so secular progressive
and politically correct that the word Christmas is
banned and the name is "the Holiday in Lights
Parade.") with prizes of $75, $50, and $25.
I think that's pretty good going for a community
that's reducing their workforce because of budget
shortfalls.
But I guess that building new municipal public
facility and having a Christmas decorating contest
will get the commissioners votes in the next few
elections. And too, people tend to forget the bad
news over time, even when the city offices were
moved from the brick town hall building into a
wood structure called the ski chalet.
Bill Vajk
to look at the good news that constantly pepper the
Iron Mountain Daily News, the Iron County Reporter,
and WIKB, our local radio station.
Looking at a story on the cover of the Reporter for
December 16, 2009, we see that the city of Caspian,
in the first line of the article, has decided to
reduce the staff. The article goes on to mention
the termination of (possibly) an equipment operator.
And with the expected retirement of police Chief
Soderbloom, a part time officer will be hired, with
an anticipated savings of some $30,000.
But there are a couple of upside factors later in
the article to make people feel good and make them
forget about the information in the first part.
Caspien is planning an indoor tennis court facility,
two tennis courts, two indoor golf batting cages,
and the tennis courts can also be used for volleyball
or soccer! And maybe some maple boccie courts?
They're also going to have a Christmas decorating
contest (did you get that? Christmas decorating
contest when Iron River is so secular progressive
and politically correct that the word Christmas is
banned and the name is "the Holiday in Lights
Parade.") with prizes of $75, $50, and $25.
I think that's pretty good going for a community
that's reducing their workforce because of budget
shortfalls.
But I guess that building new municipal public
facility and having a Christmas decorating contest
will get the commissioners votes in the next few
elections. And too, people tend to forget the bad
news over time, even when the city offices were
moved from the brick town hall building into a
wood structure called the ski chalet.
Bill Vajk
Thursday, December 10, 2009
About that FOIA lawsuit earlier this year
I sued the City of Iron River over John Archocosky's
failure to respond to an FOIA request for justification
of the "research" fees the city wanted to charge me
for some information I requested.
The amount contested was $38.46.
The city, that is John Archocosky, failed to respond. I
provided several warnings of lawsuit to both John as well
as some members of the city council that I intended to
sue. Only after all alternatives were exhausted did I
actually bring lawsuit.
I won't discuss the details or outcome of the suit in this
article, but am bringing to everyone's attention that not
only did the Michigan Municipal League provide for the
defense of the city in the suit, but eventually the city
had to pay at least a portion of the costs for the legal
defense mounted, in the amount of $ 5000. Settling
with me at an early stage would have cost the taxpayers
a whole lot less.
A copy of the August 2009 Check Register Report is
available for the reader's review at
www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/payMML.pdf
Please see the underlined entry on page 2, check Number 23304.
With this recent history, has the city learned a lesson
or not? The near term future will let us know whether
or not the city's arrogance will lead us down the same
road again because once again I am being about to be
forced to bring suit against the city.
Bill Vajk
failure to respond to an FOIA request for justification
of the "research" fees the city wanted to charge me
for some information I requested.
The amount contested was $38.46.
The city, that is John Archocosky, failed to respond. I
provided several warnings of lawsuit to both John as well
as some members of the city council that I intended to
sue. Only after all alternatives were exhausted did I
actually bring lawsuit.
I won't discuss the details or outcome of the suit in this
article, but am bringing to everyone's attention that not
only did the Michigan Municipal League provide for the
defense of the city in the suit, but eventually the city
had to pay at least a portion of the costs for the legal
defense mounted, in the amount of $ 5000. Settling
with me at an early stage would have cost the taxpayers
a whole lot less.
A copy of the August 2009 Check Register Report is
available for the reader's review at
www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/payMML.pdf
Please see the underlined entry on page 2, check Number 23304.
With this recent history, has the city learned a lesson
or not? The near term future will let us know whether
or not the city's arrogance will lead us down the same
road again because once again I am being about to be
forced to bring suit against the city.
Bill Vajk
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