Free Republic

Proposal 18-2 A proposed constitutional amendment to establish a commission of citizens with exclusive authority to adopt district boundaries for the Michigan Senate, Michigan House of Representatives and U.S. Congress, every 10 years This proposed constitutional amendment would: • Create a commission of 13 registered voters randomly selected by the Secretary of State: o 4 each who self-identify as affiliated with the 2 major political parties; and o 5 who self-identify as unaffiliated with major political parties. • Prohibit partisan officeholders and candidates, their employees, certain relatives, and lobbyists from serving as commissioners. • Establish new redistricting criteria including geographically...

ByCONAKRY, Guinea (AP) - There's lucky: Finding a diamond when you're a young miner sweating it out in the west African forests of Guinea. And there's too lucky: finding a 182-carat stone, that everyone - starting with the government of Guinea - wants a piece of. Result: the stone - four times the size of the famous Hope diamond - was tucked away Monday deep in the vaults of Guinea's Central Bank, no pictures, please. And the 25-year-old miner who found it, if not exactly in hiding, was making himself scarce. No interviews, please. State radio in impoverished, mineral-rich Guinea...