The Ballenger Report

Question 1): MIRS newsletter this week quoted the late, great George Bernard SHAW this way: “If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.” MIRS imagined that Shaw may have considered making a similar observation about attorneys, but probably didn’t want to get sued. So, let’s consider the Michigan Independent […]

Question 1): Last week, the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission finally released its maps for Michigan’s 13 Congressional Districts, 38 state Senate seats, and 110 enclaves in the state House of Representatives. How has the ICRC done so far, and will the maps hold up? Answer 1)): Obviously, holding closed-door meetings, only to be told by […]

‘Wait, what?’ quip lead list of words, phrases to banish in 2022 THE DETROIT FREE PRESS from the Associated Press Dec. 31, 2021 SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The judges of a Michigan university’s cheeky annual “Banished Words List” have a message for texting and tweeting Americans: Your “wait, what?” joke is lame. The phrase […]

New post on Biggs Works and More Thoughts for the Day, December 22, 2021: AG Nessel is having a bad week. by Thomasdbiggs The week before Christmas was not a good week for Attorney General Dana Nessel.  On Tuesday, Dec. 21, a three-judge state Court of Appeals panel vacated the conviction of former MSU gymnastic coach Kathie Klages, […]

  Happy Holidays from The Ballenger Report!  

Question: According to University of Michigan economic experts, Michigan will experience a ‘nearly complete recovery’ from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the coming weeks and months, the Republican-controlled Legislature will send billions of dollars in federal COVID relief money to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature. Added to that, The House, Senate and Governor’s office have […]

Question 1): What, if anything, will be the political ramifications of the Oxford, Michigan, School District shootings? Answer 1):  Legislatively, we can only hope there will be some bipartisan, common sense, incremental steps taken to address some of the obvious mistakes that were made, including what seems to amount to almost criminal negligence by Oxford […]

Removing illegals from the nation: Ike showed us the way Exclusive: Brent Smith touts ‘Operation Wetback,’ which caused extensive self-deportation By Brent Smith WND/Daily Angle December 9, 2021 Putting aside those who are freely crossing into our country expressly to do us harm – i.e., terrorists (yes, they still exist) – there are untold amounts […]

Question:  Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) has pushed back against demands that it release a pair of briefing memos on the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA), prepared by its legal counsel, which opt to classify the documents as privileged attorney-client communications that cannot be shared with the public. The ICRC has been under pressure […]

by Derek Thompson The Atlantic magazine Dec. 2, 2021 Let’s start with a simple mystery: What happened to original blockbuster movies? Throughout the 20th century, Hollywood produced a healthy number of entirely new stories. The top movies of 1998—including Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and There’s Something About Mary—were almost all based on original screenplays. But […]