Wednesday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 07:30:18 AM EDT

Lots to talk about today, so let's get to it...

• Michigan Messenger: New DHS director faces some uncomfortable questions but passes confirmation hearing. Michigan's wannabe Ann Coulter tried to give Ismael Ahmed some grief yesterday, but the Senate's Families and Human Services Committee voted unanimously to support his appointment after hearing 30 speakers offer testimony in support of the new DHS Director.
• State News: Group seeks to extend term limits for state legislators. Term limits appear to be the hot topic since last week's budget deal went through.
• Rudy Giuliani: Michigan needs fiscal discipline. Rudy says the answer to Michigan's problems are more tax cuts. Boy, thanks for those pearls of wisdom.
• Senate Dems: Senate Democrats, Business Leaders Urge Support for Clean Energy Development. There's still more work to be done on the budget, but it's time to take up important bills on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Bay City Times has a short post about this renewed legislative push here, and Kevin has a related post up about the BlueGreen Alliance over on Michigan Messenger.
• Department of History, Arts and Libraries: Great Lakes Arts, Culture, and Heritage Survey Results Give Michigan a Powerful Tool in Leveraging a Key Economic Sector. Okay, so that lengthy headline is pretty self-explanatory. Check out the release for more info.

• AP: Go Solar program turns power users into power savers. "I view it as prepaying for utilities," said Skinner, 56. "We're bargaining over time that it'll be worth it because one day, we'll get free energy."
• DFP: Chrysler, UAW push the deadline. A nice update on the status of the negotiations. We'll know what happens by 11 a.m.
• State News: Adjunct physics professor at MSU wins Nobel Prize. "This year?s Nobel Prize for physics winners Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg?s research could potentially allow for more songs on an MP3 player or more memory on a laptop. Fert, an MSU adjunct professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, along with Grunberg, discovered and pioneered a giant magnetoresistance field in 1988."

• DFP: Obama, Edwards, Richardson withdraw from Michigan primary. Derek thinks this may put Michigan in play for Republicans in the general election. Philgoblue from Michigan for Edwards will temporarily suspend his online activity for Edwards and is urging his readers to vote for Chris Dodd.
• Stephen Henderson: Candidates dodge Michigan economic issues. "The implicit message is not reassuring: Michigan and the places like it would not be able to look to a GOP White House for help. That's probably not a surprise to many people here, but it was startling to see nine presidential hopefuls so insistently dodge this state's issues for two full hours."
• Flint Journal Blog: John Cherry, Dan Kildee considering bids for governor. Looks like two Genessee County Dems are considering making a run at the nomination, although Kildee said Cherry's decision would "influence" his own and added Cherry would "be a great governor."
• Greed, Eggs, and Ham: Garn Lewis for State Representative. "Saginaw area progressive activist, Garnett Lewis, announced in August that she will run as a candidate in Michigan's 98th congressional district. Garn is a professor at Central Michigan University with 24 years of experience in higher education." Be sure to check out campaign website.