A few days ago I posted my plea for Michigan residents to tell Governor Granholm to sign the Homeowners' Fairness bill - HB-4617S-4. I actually did this on several web sites. I think she is getting our message. I'm not sure if she will pass or veto the bill, but I'm convinced she knows the previously silent majority is speaking out through the Tittabawassee River Voice and our friends at Midland Matters.

Last week my friend Len and I had radio spots running on WSGW, a local radio station, all week long. The clincher was Wednesday, when Len had an interview session on the Art Lewis show on WSGW. Len's amazing when it comes to explaining such matters. I think he really got our message across because Thursday and Friday Art Lewis had call-in's all in support of the legislation. Folks this is democracy at work!!!  ¶ 7:46 PM

  If you are a Michigan resident please contact Governor Granholm today
and tell her to sign HB-4617S-4. Referred to as Homeowners' Rights legislation, it passed in the Senate last week - thoroughly upsetting our opponents who want big bucks from Dow and don't want logical or legal resolution. Last week the local environmental extremists flooded local airwaves with their reasons why the legislation should be vetoed by the governor.

By Friday we raised enough money to get our two cents worth in. We recorded our plea to residents asking them to phone, email or write to Governor Granholm and tell her to pass House Bill 4617 as revised and passed by the Senate. We will be on the air several times a day all of this coming week on WSGW in Saginaw and in Lansing as well... an affiliate of WSGW.

Some background: A couple of years ago our whole area was impacted by the goals of a special interest environmental extremist group, which is funded by big national money. I am co-founder, along with Len Heinzman, another resident, of an honest to goodness grassroots group known as the Tittabawassee River Voice. We were able to get enough local support via signatures to jump-start the homeowners' rights legislation and get it all the way through Michigan's House and Senate. Now the special interest extremists are worried and pressuring Governor Granholm to veto the bill.

If you live in Michigan please contact the governor today and tell her you want your residential property protected from being called a 'facility' without actual proof that it is contaminated. Tell her to sign HB-4617S-4. Please ask your friends to do so. The bill is currently on the governor's desk & it is expected she will make her decision, maybe before week's end. It's not about Dow or dioxin. It's about being 'guilty' of owning a contaminated property without having that property inspected.

You, too, could be guilty of owning a toxic waste facility if the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality decides, for instance they don't want weedkillers used on lawns... or find lead paint in houses in your neighborhood... and I could go on. MDEQ is already controlling your property if you own property in wetlands, lakefront or river front, sand dunes, any place containing ground water... well that just about covers the whole state, doesn't it?

In our case, the company involved, Dow Chemical, is already in the cleanup process and will continue according to their work plan with MDEQ and Michigan Lieutenant Governor Cherry. All you have to do is go to http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html - fill in the form and submit it. Granholm's office will be tallying the responses. Just fill in your real name, city & state, the issue is Homeowners' Rights legislation, HB-4617S-4, you are FOR it... and in the opinion section, something to the effect 'Please sign HB-4617 as amended & approved by the Senate. I believe the state should not be allowed to say my property is contaminated unless it has been tested and proven so.

Please do this today. For more info go to my Tittabawassee River Voice website.  ¶ 7:35 AM

  An interesting comment about new EPA cancer guidelines, from the ACSH Facts & Fears website. The way I read it, EPA says we should use science to decide whether certain chemicals cause cancer, but then they seem to feel that policy should supercede science. Does that sound right? Maybe I read it wrong.The New EPA Cancer Guidelines: How New Are They and What Do They Mean? ...By Michael Kamrin, Ph.D. August 26, 2005

  ¶ 2:47 PM

  Much ado about 150% protection of all people against all possible harmful effects from all things 'artificial' even though there truly is 'nothing new under the sun.' As a kid, I never even thought about the 21st century, let alone think about the fact I would be here enjoying it! I thank God every day that there were not so many activists to slow down and attempt inhibiting the technology (medical AND physical) that I was privileged to use throughout my growing years.

The Problem with Precaution By Sara Cuccio

'It turns out that there may actually be more risk in using this principle
than in not using it, as it often leads to rejection of the same technological
advances that have enhanced human health and longevity.'

  ¶ 6:59 AM

  Two Articles of Importance:

July 14, 2005
Chemicals and Newborns: Womb Mates?
By Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H.

==============================================================
July 13, 2005
Soft Drinks Under Siege
By Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H.  ¶ 7:49 AM

  A Prime Example of MDEQ's Audacity and Pomposity...
..occurred when DEQ dropped ball on dam inspections - - , as published in The Mining Gazette. MDEQ declared this small Michigan community in Stanton Township 'guilty' of having a dangerous dam. After $100,000 of work (which many thought was not really necessary), township officials contacted MDEQ to approve the job (per MDEQ specifications). MDEQ notified them that department no longer exists, so there is nobody to do the inspection.

Now how stupid is that!!???! Typical of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. They are omnipotent in authority... you MUST obey when they command. Oh well, ho-hum... nice dam folks!

Perhaps Stanton Township is just too darned small to bother with anymore. The Traverse City Record Eagle announced (during the same time frame)... Groups approve pact on dams. In this Michigan tourists' delight, there are four dams along the Boardman River, all importantly associated with hydroelectric power in the area. MDEQ is right there (dam department or no dam department) with Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, the city Light and Power department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in the decommissioning procedure pact with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Sure sounds a whole lot more important than the deal with little ol' Stanton, eh?  ¶ 8:14 AM

  Limit portions of farm-raised salmon, experts say

[Using guidelines from the World Health Organization, the researchers calculate that consumers should eat fewer than 10 meals of farm-raised salmon per month, and limit fish that's raised on northern European farms to 4 times per month.]

Yes, just because farm grown salmon eat mega quantities of feed containing dioxins. Why is it legal to put dioxins in animal food anyway? Where are the environutz on this issue? What quantities of dioxin exist in these creatures, anyway?  ¶ 2:32 PM