Redeux News: President Obama Visits Detroit Auto Plants

 

President Barack Obama will be visiting two Detroit auto plants today, touting the huge success of the loans and corporate makeovers of 2009. Over 55,000 direct jobs were saved; along with tens of thousands of indirect jobs with suppliers, OEMs, nearby businesses. People could save their homes and of course there was an economic stimulus when all of those people have jobs and businesses large and small become more viable. The President of the United States of America will visit the Jefferson Chrysler Plant were a new Jeep Cherokee will be built; and the Detroit-Hamtramck GM plant where the new Chevy Volt will be built.

 

 

Tom Walsh, automotive writer for the Detroit Free Press, published a great article today on why President Obama's work with the auto companies is one of his greatest accomplishments to date and nothing short of a miracle. Although many may not agree, I agree with Tom that the Prez should definitely be given his props for keeping the USA out of a depression and literally saving the U.S. auto industry. Read Tom's article here. 

 

 

 

 

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Redeux News: BCBS moving 3,000 jobs to Detroit RenCen!

 

 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced today that is it moving 3,000 of its employees from Southfield to the RenCen (Towers 5 and 6). That is very good news for the headquarters of General Motors which owns the Renaissance Center, as this move will put the occupancy rate near 90%. It is also very good news for the downtown area and downtown businesses.

 

 

 

We LOVE good news in Detroit!

 

 

 

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Redeux News: Downtown Becoming 2nd Tech Hub in Detroit?

Enjoying Campus Martius Park in the Summer

OK, Dan Gilbert was slightly upset when "King James" bolted from his Cleveland Cavaliers, but he is still committed to Detroit with his main gig, Quicken Loans. In 2007, Gilbert announced his decision to move the Quicken Loans headquarters to the Compuware Building near Campus Martius, and the move will be completed next month, bringing over 1,700 employees downtown.

A high-tech firm, Galaxe.Solutions, is also setting up headquarters downtown across the street from Campus Martius at 1001 Woodward Avenue in the next few weeks. Galaxe.Solutions plans to hire up to 500 new people in the next few years and is committed to reverse the outsourcing of tech jobs overseas. Dan Gilbert is working to get more small and tech-focused businesses to also move downtown, and several new restaurants have submitted plans to open soon.

Dan Gilbert says that he wants to re-name the downtown portion of Woodward Avenue "Webward". Along with "TechTown" in the New Center Area, Detroit could soon have two vibrant high-technology centers within the city limits.

Redeux News: Small Business Micro Loans from Sam's Club

Sam's Club has announced the pilot of a new small business funding program for its small business members in conjunction with Superior Financial Group. Small business owners who are also members of Sam's Club Small Business membership group can apply for micro loans in amounts from $5,000 to $25,000. The entire process is being handled by Superior Financial Group; Sam's Club is not actually in the lending business.

The program is intended to assist all qualified small business owners, but especially women- and veteran-owned businesses. According to the Sam's Club website, members who apply online for the small business loans will receive 20% off discounts on certain purchases, a 7.5% APR, and a $100.00 reduction in the application fee. The loans have a fixed 10-year term and no early payment penalty. Applicants must first be members of the Sam's Club Small Business Club; those memberships start at a cost of $35.00 per year.

For additional information, see article at the the Black Web 2.0 website.

Wordless Wednesday: Vuvuzela Alert!

 

Did you know the Detroit has an "official" futbol (soccer) league made up of teams which represent the beauty and diversity of various Detroit Neighborhoods?

 

Learn more about the Detroit City Futbol League and see the schedule for the championship games THIS SATURDAY here.

Check out the Detroit News Video of the League here.

 

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"Am I Not Human?" Global Blogging Project: Why the NAACP was Founded

Warning: This post includes very graphic and

very disturbing historical images.

 

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) has been in the news recently; 1st because of their resolution against the racist elements of the "Tea Party", and secondly because of their handling of the Shirley Sherrod incident (click the link to view the full unedited speech by Mrs. Sherrod).

Some people have claimed that the NAACP is no longer "relevant"; others try to make the NAACP the perpetrators of racism, rather than the organization which has been fighting racism in all forms for one hundred years. The NAACP evolved from the Niagara Movement, founded in 1905 by Dr. William Edward Burghardt DuBois and composed of a multi-racial group of professionals and scholars to alert the American public to the pervasive racism at the time. In 1910, Dr. DuBois also co-founded the NAACP to fight the racist activities suffered by African-Americans and other people of color in the United States and elsewhere in the world. (Hence the name "colored people"...all people of color.)

The most outward manifestation of overt racism against Black people in America, particularly Black men, was lynching. Black men (and in lesser numbers, men of other races who were deemed "nigger-lovers") were lynched by the thousands from the 1860s through the 1950s. Black men were hung from trees, utility poles, gallows and bridges for the smallest infractions; usually without trial or any type of constituionally guaranteed due process. Often, these lynchings were treated by "white society" as parties or family picnics. Often "wish you were here" postcards featuring pictures of the lynched men were sent to non-attending family and friends.

Were these men not human?

Was the NAACP being "racist" for attempting to eradicate this inhuman practice and many others that made all people of color second-class citizens in their own country? Is the NAACP the racists here, or maybe some of those who want to "take their country back"? Back to what? The "good old days"? Good for whom? Not most colored people.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

These photographs and more are available at the Without Sanctuary website.

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Shirtless Wednesday: The Old Spice Guy will Make a Video for YOU! Just Ask!

Yes, that's right! If you ask the Old Spice Guy a question, he just might answer you in a personalized video! Here he answers Celebrity Blogger Perez Hilton:

 

 

via Mashable.com

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Redeux News: Do you have your Passport?

 

New Passport Fees - Effective July 13

New passport fees for the U.S. Passport Book, the U.S. Passport Card, and other passport services will be in effect on Tuesday, July 13, 2010.

The schedule of new fees for passport application services is as follows:

 

U.S. Passport Book
			Passport Fee Payable to Department of State	Acceptance Fee Payable to Acceptance Facility	Total Applicant Fee
Adults: First-Time (Age 16 and older)			$110	$25	$135
Adults: Renewal (Applying with DS-82)			$110	$0	$110
Minors (Under age 16)			$80	$25	$105
U.S. Passport Card
			Passport Fee Payable to Department of State	Acceptance Fee Payable to Acceptance Facility	Total Applicant Fee
Adults: First-Time (Age 16 and older)			$30	$25	$55
Adults: Renewal (Applying with DS-82)			$30	$0	$30
Minors (Under age 16)			$15	$25	$40
Other Service Fees
Additional Visa Pages					$82
File Search Fee					$150
Expedite Processing					$60

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Happy #CanadaDay, eh?

OK, if you've lived in Detroit long enough, you know that one of our "bragging rights" is that Detroit is the only place in the USA where you go south to Canada! Windsor, Ontario is right across the Detroit River...we wave at each other!

Since we celebrate #CanadaDay AND #IndependenceDay here in Detroit, USA, I thought you'd like to know how ELSE you can tell if someone is a Canadian:
(Thanks to Canadian Ian McKenzie of Ian's Messy Desk)

1. You understand the phrase “Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine on the chesterfield.”
2. You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.
3. You drink Pop, not Soda.
4. You know that a Mickey and 2-4’s mean, “party at the camp, eh!”
5. You don’t care about the fuss with Cuba. It’s a cheap place to go for your holidays, with good cigars and no Americans.
6. You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.
7. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
8. You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.
9. You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion,
   Michael J. Fox, John Candy, William Shatner, Tom Green, Matthew Perry,
   Mike Myers, Neve Campbell and Pamela Anderson are all Canadians.
10. You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
11. You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is pronounced “Zed”.
12. Your local newspaper covers national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.
13. You know that when it’s 25 degrees outside, it’s a warm day.
14. You know how to pronounce and spell “Saskatchewan”.
15. You perk up when you hear the theme song from ‘Hockey Night in Canada’.
16. “Eh?” is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite than, “Huh?”
17. Your Beer Case handles Are Big Enough To Fit Your Mitts
18. You know that we don’t all live in igloos and ride polar bears to work.
19. Every murder is reported.
20. You froze your tongue to something metal and survived to tell about it.

 

 

Betcha didn't know that the border between the US and Canada
is the longest continuous land border in the world!

Canada is a beautiful country; Ontario is a great Province; and Windsor is a fun and interesting city to visit! Sometime soon, take a trip to our "neighbors to the north"; but remember, to get to Canada from Detroit: go south, young man!

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