The Kalamazoo Gazette notes that while our state's leaders pay lip-service to protecting our environment and many plans call for re-development that leverages our amazing natural assets, we are almost at the bottom of US states in spending to protect & enhance them.

Great Lakes Town Hall turns two

In December 2005, an online social network called the Great Lakes Town Hall was formed with idea of uniting communities throughout the Great Lakes region. Every week, the site features an expert writing essays in their Opinion Forum about some aspect of life in the Great Lakes basin. Two years and 1,400 original essays later, they're hoping you'll take some time to share your thoughts on the site's future. And yes, my friend Dick Huey is there this week with some interesting observations about real estate.

Wake up and smell the future

In Pointing at Vesuvius, The Center for Michigan's John Bebow looks at last week's visit by U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker as part of the Fiscal Wake Up Tour. The central argument is that the rapidly rising costs of Medicare, Social Security and long-term obligations like the interest on the national debt "will create a tsunami if we don't do something about it." Numbers like $50 trillion can seem abstract but the $440,000 for every household in the United States. MSU economist Charles Ballard brought it home for the crowd by noting that "Michigan's policies have been distressingly consistent with the short-sighted policies at the federal level."

KAP Muskegon State Park by snapshot720

In case you're wondering, "KAP" stands for "Kite Aerial Photography" and this photo is a great example of why you might send your camera up into the sky. It shows the WWII era USS Silversides SS-236 and the prohibition era USCGC McLane in their berths at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum in Muskegon. He notes that the Silversides is 312' long but only 27' wide. This is one of a set of photos he took from Muskegon State Park.

MiLife, MiTimes, MiUltimateguidetonewmedia, MiBraindrain?

It's the season of giving and the folks at MiLife MiTimes have created The Ultimate Guide to New Media in Michigan in appreciation of all the young, creative, innovative, outgoing and optimistic folks in Michigan. They list a lot of favorites and some I hadn't see like the Detroit Fashion Pages. Somehow Absolute Michigan made their list too - must have been a typo on age verification form. Also don't miss publisher Eric Cedo's dismantling of the Michigan "brain drain" myth.

Muskegon, Michigan

Wikipedia's entry for Muskegon says that settlement of the city began in earnest in 1837 and that during the lumbering era, Muskegon was known as "Lumber Queen of the World" and boasted more millionaires than any other town in America. The city's population as of 2000 was 40,105. Absolute Michigan keyword Muskegon would like you to know about the Inside Muskegon Podcast (who has today posted podcast #100), the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and the Muskegon County Convention & Visitor's Bureau.