Free Republic

Filmmaker Michael Moore, the outspoken political activist whose documentary-style movies frequently condemn capitalism, reportedly owns nine different homes — including a $2 million mansion in Torch Lake, Michigan. The Smoking Gun first reportedMr. Moore’s house collection. Among Mr. Moore’s homes are the 10,000-square-foot lakefront residence in Michigan and a condominium in Manhattan that was once split into three separate condos, the Detroit News reported. He also owns seven other residences at various locations. Mr. Moore’s holdings were revealed in divorce papers from his wife of 22 years, Kathy Glynn. CelebrityNetWorth.com lists the couple’s collective wealth at $50 million.

Proposed rankings would classify genomes by completeness and quality.Scientists have proposed classifying genome sequences into six groups, based on their quality.A. Sumner / Science Photo Library Researchers who have mapped a species' genome need to be more explicit about the quality of their sequence, says an international team of genome researchers."People generating these sequences should discriminate a bit more between the products that they provide to the rest of the scientific community," says Patrick Chain of the Joint Genome Institute at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico who is first author of a policy paper on genomic standards...

METAMORA TWP, MI – A Livonia man died after he was attacked by two large dogs while he was out for an evening run Wednesday evening, July 23, .. Metamora Township Police Chief David Mallett. ... Mallett said the dogs responsible for the attack are two 3-year-old Cane Corsos. A Cane Corso is described by the American Kennel Club as a "mastiff type" dog that ranges in size from 23 1/2 to 27 1/2 inches tall at the shoulder. ... Mallett said there was a report of a dog bite in May 2012 where the animal did come back to...

A pregnant Michigan teenager was strangled and her boyfriend was decapitated after apparently connecting with a stranger through the online service Craigslist for a sexual encounter, police said Monday. The police chief in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb, said that 18-year-old Brooke Slocum was held captive before her death. Her body was found Thursday in the trunk of the suspect's car. She was eight months pregnant. Chief James Carmody says her boyfriend, Charles Oppenneer, 25, was found decapitated in a park a day earlier. His head hasn't been found... Police got a search warrant for (31-year-old Brady) Oestrike's home, and...

When it comes to major federal issues such as health care, energy plans and the role the government should have in banking and housing, Republicans Tom McMillin and Mike Bishop have very similar views. Both are well-known conservatives running to replace U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell, for the 8th Congressional District seat. Rogers is retiring. Bishop was the Senate Majority Leader under former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Since leaving office, Bishop has been the chief legal officer for International Bancard Corp. and is an adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. McMillin was elected to his third term in the...

WASHINGTON – As the only member of Congress to serve in both Vietnam and Iraq, Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Mich., knows what a dysfunctional country looks like. He has seen his share of suffering and squalor during 27 years of service in the U.S. Army and National Guard, and after evacuating from the surge in Iraq in 2007 with a neck wound. On Monday, Bentivolio had just returned from a three-day fact-finding trip to Central America to see the source of the immigration crisis for himself. The congressman told WND that conditions in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are certainly not...

A year after filing for bankruptcy, Detroit is building momentum to get out, especially after workers and retirees voted in favor of major pension changes just a few weeks before a judge holds a crucial trial that could end the largest public filing in U.S. history. Pension cuts were approved in a landslide, according to results filed shortly before midnight Monday. The tally from 60 days of voting gives the city a boost as Judge Steven Rhodes determines whether Detroit’s overall strategy to eliminate or reduce $18 billion in long-term debt is fair and feasible to all creditors. Trial starts...

Link only:http://www.clickondetroit.com/consumer/detroit-retirees-vote-in-favor-of-pension-cuts/27081476Many covering this Story at this early Stage can't be posted on FR.

Last week, a bankruptcy judge ordered the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to come up with answers for helping residents pay their overdue water bills, in light of the thousands of shut-off notices the agency has issued across the city. While the water authority must present its alternatives in court today, two resourceful women have already come up with one solution.Turn on Detroit's Water is a website that matches donors with Detroiters who are struggling to pay their water bills. The site invites residents with overdue bills to submit their information. From there, the site—which is the work of Tiffani Ashley Bell and Kristy Tillman—matches...

Asked by Capitol City Project’s Joe Schoffstall on Friday whether or not she had a stated position on Israel's recent foray into Gaza, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) couldn't be reached for comment. Instead, she did exactly what she did two years ago at Netroots Nation when facing tough questions from reporters: she ran away. In a sense, one might call this the Gov. Chris Christie approach. That is, if you're a politician, never answer loaded questions about sensitive political issues unless you absolutely have to (although, in fairness, Gov. Christie doesn't always follow his own advice). Nevertheless, better to be...

A prominent sign at the Detroit water protest..."Where do you expect us to sh**?"Detroit liberals marched to demand free water on Friday. The leftists don’t believe they should have to pay for it. It’s not their responsibility.Hollywood liberal Mark Ruffalo joined the protesters to demand free water as did many attendees from Netroots Nation. Mark Ruffalo is in Detroit fighting water shutoffs. The Avengers actor leading the march downtown. pic.twitter.com/HRik6VWxdn

Flint may be Michigan’s second city to plunge into bankruptcy unless retirees accept cuts in health benefits that threaten to unravel a balanced budget. As Crain's Detroit reports, Emergency Manager Darnell Earley (Flint’s third emergency leader since it was placed under state control in 2011) warned "If we have no ability to mitigate the cost of retiree health care, that’s going to make it very difficult for the city to remain financially stable over the next few years." As Eric Scorsone notes, "Flint's at the forefront, but a lot of cities are on the same train, and that train is...

There’s big trouble in little Progressivetown, folks. That’s trouble with a capital T, which rhymes with We, as in We (meaning Daily KOS) won’t be going to Netroots Nation next year because it’s being held in Arizona. Netroots Nation announced two days ago that Phoenix, Arizona would host its 2015 conference. I wish the conference the best, but it will unfortunately take place without Daily Kos’ attendance or assistance. I made very clear in the wake of Arizona’s passage of SB 1070 that I would not be setting foot in the state, nor spending a dime in it until the...

The bankrupt city of Detroit has a water problem. The city is trying to collect over $90 million dollars in unpaid water bills. As part of that effort, thousands of residents have had their service cut off. On Friday, in conjunction with the Netroots Nation conference, a rally and march were held to protest the service interruptions and demand the water be turned back on regardless of any money owed. Congressman John Conyers spoke to the crowd at the march, demanding that corporations pay up what they owe so that residents who owe can have their bills covered.  "We're gonna fight...

VIDEO Our campaign to draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for President in 2016 is gaining huge momentum. Warren came to Netroots Nation in Detroit and #ReadyForWarren was there to greet her in style alongside thousands of grassroots progressives. Americans of all stripes are calling for a leader who will fight for an America that works for all of us, not only the wealthy and the well-connected. Join us. http://ready4warren.com. Filmed at Netroots Nation 2014 in Detroit, MI. Song written and performed by Jessie Murphy & friends. Video produced, directed, and edited by The Self Agency.

The Daily Kos has come a long way since the days when  they merely rejoiced in being easily bribed at their YearlyKos conventions (now renamed Netroots Nation) by presidential aspirants such as Mark Warner who plied the Kossacks with free sushi and expensive liquor at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas in 2006. Yes, they have moved up in the world to the point where they perceive themselves as king, or rather queen, makers. Not only have they basically endorsed the presidential candidacy of Elizabeth Warren, they have even provided her with a campaign song, Run Liz Run. Oddly enough, even...

Should the Democrats nominate Elizabeth Warren for President in 2016, as a draft-Warren movement, some liberal pundits and enthusiasts at this week’s Netroots Nation convention believe? Should Republicans nominate Ted Cruz, who has kept his options open with frequent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire? In some ways, Cruz and Warren are mirror images, and the cases for and against them are surprisingly similar. But there are also some critical differences.Before 2008, the idea of a presidential contest between two first-term Senators in their (by then) fourth year in Washington would have seemed ridiculous; in 1988, Dan Quayle was roundly...

On the second day at Netroots, which was held in Detroit, Michigan, about 300 attendees at this liberal conference took to the streets to protest the proposed water-shut-offs. The city has begun cracking down on residents who haven’t been paying their water bills; 42,000 have seen their water turned off since July of 2013. The Atlantic reported on July 17 that residents are paying plumbers $30 to turn their water back on illegally. Although, while Netroots participants were there to be the voices for these people, the folks affected are remaining quiet: Residents targeted by the shut-off campaign have been...

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) likes to present itself as the champion of the little guy. But officials of SEIU Healthcare—“the fastest-growing union of healthcare, child care, home care and nursing home workers in the Midwest”—aren’t averse to a little high-living. For example, in FY 2013 officials of SEIU’s Illinois-Indiana healthcare division (SEIU-HCII) chalked up more than $1.1 million in travel expenses—$13,000 of it on D.C. hotel expenses rung up at President Obama’s second inaugural. The union designated all that travel as “representation activity.” Also claimed as a “representation” expense: a $6,000 liquor store tab for “beverages for...

DETROIT — A young man who participated in a mob attack on a Detroit-area motorist needed a father to "beat the hell" out of him as a kid to discourage him from committing such a crime, a judge said Thursday. The stunning remarks by Wayne County Judge James Callahan came as he sentenced Latrez Cummings to six months in jail. In response to the judge's question, Cummings, 19, said his father wasn't around when he was growing up. Callahan said Cummings needed a dad, "someone to discipline you. Someone to beat the hell out of you when you made a...