Mary Baker, an African-American woman, writes this astonishing piece on "Why I am no longer an African-American" over at the American Thinker. People who know this blog and my work with the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) probably understand where the article is going just based on that [...]
I'm not a big fan of the U.N., but found it curious when a google alert came up pointing me to work citing my 1993 honors thesis on military expenditure. The power of the internet. That work has already been cited by the Atlas Foundation (in 2005 I believe)' [...]
Over at Facebook on my personal photos page, I've posted some photos from the 2nd Annual Sam Adams Sammies Awards. The awards reward solid citizen activism and journalism at the local and regional level, and are a worthy cause. Kudos should be given to the citizens honored' [...]
Paul Jacob and two others now known as the "Oklahoma Three" are now free from charges brought by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democrat, who sought to retaliate against the three for a failed 2005 anti-tax petition drive. The drive failed after a special master of the [...]
In the current legal and political environment, one should never rule a frivolous suit being successful, particularly regarding the civil rights initiatives lead by Ward Connerly. Lawsuits are even repeated exactly verbatim in the same state even after opponents lose, as was the case recently in Missouri challenging MoCRI's attempt' [...]
Congratulations to President Barack O'Bama on his historic moment. His inaugral speech hit mixed notes in my mind, I'll point to two.
In my mind, this is the most interesting passage of the speech (which had no "zingers" like "fear itself" or "ask not"):
For we know that our patchwork [...]
Check out this stunning google visual I've created comparing four trend lines using google trend statistics, using the last four presidential nonimees (Bush, Kerry, McCain, O'Bama). Barack O'Bama quickly became the darling of both the media (bottom) and the [...]
The ACRI blog documents this mastery of frivolous abuse of process in Missouri.
The Missouri Secretary of State Jean Carnahan is submitting the same ballot summary proposal language that a court rejected last year, following a renewed request by MoCRI organizers to qualify for the 2010 ballot. That's an [...]
It's been a couple months as my regulars here will recognize (hopefully still coming off RSS). Elections and consulting intervene, and most of my online work is reported at www.outsidelansing.com or www.Oaklandpolitics.com. But this is still the place for my thoughts on race issues and anything not [...]
We're moving our reporting of the Howell School e-mail FOIA lawsuit over to OutsideLansing.com, even though it began here 17 months ago, since it fits that topical site better. But for those of you following it - the Livingston Circuit Court ruled in favor of us and the [...]
Shikha Dalmia is a Michigan writer formerly with the Detroit News. Here, in Forbes, she opines on how race preferences could be replaced with socio-economic alternatives - and how, if Barack O'Bama did it, he could transform the political landscape. The article was written just before O'Bama expanded his [...]
The brand new American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) blog (Ward Connerly's national organization focusing on race issues), run by well-known blogger LaShawn Barber, has this piece pointing out a Saginaw News article two weeks ago about Saginaw Valley State University's reaction to Michigan's Proposal 2 of [...]
Alan Foutz, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, points up an attempt by the Michigan Department of Transportation to mis-read and misuse the federal requirement exemption of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2 (2006 - 02), here in a Lansing State Journal column. I [...]
Doyle O'Connor, the former member of the Board of Canvassers' that refused to abide by a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling, has evaded sanctions from a 3 person panel in the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission hearings over his misconduct, according to this Detroit Free Press article. Democrats and [...]
Over at the fabulous "Empirical Legal Standards" blog, a new program unveiled by the University of Michigan Law School called "Wolverine Scholars" is criticized as a move away from standards and a "rankings grab" designed solely to artficially bump U-M's average Law student GPA so as to also bring [...]
Where Ward Connerly's civil rights initiatives have qualified (Nebraska, NCRI, and Colorado, CoCRI), he is facing the sharpest personal attacks yet to be aired on TV against him. The ads get nasty, with stretched claims about how he's made money (so what) working for his causes. Linked is the [...]
Seema Mehta of the Los Angelas Times writers this piece about how a man of courage working the University of California, Los Angelas Admissions office left his job and put his career on the line by revealing that he believe UCLA was violating Proposal 209, or the California Civil [...]
Ward Connerly and Valery Pech Orr have one less obstacle in Colorado now that the parallel "twin" amendment sponsored by opponents of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) has failed to qualify with enough signatures.
An initiative that would have preserved affirmative action programs in Colorado fell short of the [...]
The Associated Press wire, here through AzironaCentral.com, reports that AzCRI has dropped its legal challenge to recover signatures. While we had recently received a press release from Jennifer Gratz suggesting AzCRI had very optimistic possibilities in bona-fide challenges to recover valid signatures, it appears that one of the [...]
Michigan State University Professor Carol M. Allen has written a rather exhaustive (422 pp) textbook history of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2 of 2006 (06-02), which end racial and gender types of affirmative action in public education, public hiring, and public contracting here [...]
Zarko Research is publishing a document recently obtained from an unusual source (we won't go into those details). Previous versions of the document though reveal it is a public record and that the policy has been in place since at least 2003. The document is a memorandum from [...]
The Denver Post reports on this remarkable phenomenon - Democrats in Colorado are supporting Ward Connerly and Valerie Pech Orr's Colorado Civil Rights Initiative (CoCRI) at a higher rate than Republicans. Now remember these support rates don't include undecideds (before you worry too much about the seemingly low Republican [...]
In a short follow-up to the last post, where I noted that the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative (NCRI) "appeared" to be sufficient in signature total, I can now declare for certainty the Nebraska Secretary of State has found enough signatures valid and put it on the ballot.
Click More for NCRI's [...]
In a disheartening development, according to Arizona Republic, the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (AzCRI) petitions were, after review by County Recorders (Clerks), rejected because a number of signatures were found to be invalid. AzCRI is the third of five to fail to obtain sufficient signatures, and rumors of [...]
Jason Gillman over at Michigan Taxes Too Much raises a nice point about how "non-profits" really exist at the expense of the taxpayer and are "public". While this doesn't change the current interpretation of the law treating non-profits as private entities, it is a valid point philosophically so [...]
There's been much talk of a private fundraising effort to give race and gender based scholarships in the wake of Michigan's 2006 passage of Proposal 2. That effort is now officially the "Imagine Fund," based no doubt out of the liberal wealth-well-spring of Kalamazoo, where Jon Stryker Promise Zones [...]
If Oregon weren't perhaps the hardest state in the union among petitioning states, it would be a ripe target for Ward Connerly. Yesterday, Oregon's governor decided to enhance preference programs in state contracting, according to this OregonLive report:
He's issued an executive order asking 11 agency directors to step [...]
The Tuscon Citizen reports here on some interesting challenges by opponents of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative (ACRI), or Proposition 104 as it is called there. Some of this will sound familar and some technical, but here's a clip:
Violations included petitions circulated by felons whose civil rights hadn't been [...]
Colorado is facing a decision similar to Michigan's in 2006 - this one called Amendment 46. Interestingly, the Rocky Mountain News has done a "good thing" in reposting the raw video of Ward Connerly when he came in to visit their editorial board. Here's the YouTube video and [...]
Last I looked, I couldn't tell what someone's thoughts were based on how they looked. And I know its a bad idea to try. But in the never-ending battle of the left to invent great stories of fraud and deception by one of the Civil Rights Initiative (this time Missouri), [...]
Ah. It's a bit more clear why the Detroit News opined against 10% plans.
According to the Michigan Daily, Rep. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) proposed it in legislation recently. His idea, while I understand it is well-motivated, is misguided. MCRI's goal was never to dictate exactly how universities would respond [...]
We missed covering it here during our upgrade of blog software, but this one is priceless.
Priceless.
If you're a regular, you'll remember Doyle O'Connor, former Board of Canvasser member who refused to follow a court order to place the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2, on the ballot.
Well, the [...]
In its "quick hits" editorials, the Detroit News opines that a 10% plan for Michigan in the wake of Proposal 2 is a bad idea. I didn't catch where this was being seriously considered, but I agree with the Detroit News here. The inflexible % plans create other issues [...]
Rarely does this site do pitches for advertisers, but Ward Connerly's special to us. Yes, I worked for him in the past - but this site is an activist site in addition to providing original investigative news and opinion analysis. And Ward Connerly certainly has relevance to Michigan - even [...]
Took some finagling, but we're back up. The database is fixed and linking to us is possible again, using the perma-links.
There are some browser sizing issues, so if its too wide for your screen, I apologize. I'm working that bug out later.
Original post blogged on b2evolution.
[...]While I have a difficult time saying that a 55 page decision is well-written, I must give Judge David Lawson credit where it is due, and apologize for pigeon-holing him as a Clinton-appointee (although he does give unnecessary deference to really bad arguments, he doesn't take nearly as [...]
Been reading the Judge Lawson 55 page tome on why BAMN's (and a novel new ACLU generated argument) convoluted, but I guess creative in its own perverse sense, arguments on why MCRI should be unconstitutional.
What's interesting is this new argument by the ACLU - that amending the Constitution is [...]
Amanda Hamon of the Ann Arbor News picks up the irony with this priceless quote from BAMN member Kate Stenvig, who spoke out against Ward Connerly's appearance as a guest on a Federalist Society panel in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
"We are saying forcefully that he's not welcome in [...]
This month - a Diversity Summit in Lansing with a rather non-diverse roster of speakers. I see no Carl Cohen's, [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com.
In an irony trumping most ironies in the defense of the race preference industry, the Oklahoma Secretary of State and liberal critics of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OkCRI) are attacking poor, homeless people in an effort to derail the petition drive. According to this AP [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com.
In an irony trumping most ironies in the defense of the race preference industry, the Oklahoma Secretary of State and liberal critics of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OkCRI) are attacking poor, homeless people in an effort to derail the petition drive. According to this AP article [...]
The State News at Michigan State University gets this priceless quote from one of the MSU Trustees:
Joel Ferguson, chairman of the MSU Board of Trustees, said he hopes Proposal 2 is overturned, but isn’t optimistic.
“I don’t necessarily think they can succeed,” he said. “Anybody can file a lawsuit.”
True [...]
The State News at Michigan State University gets this priceless quote from one of the MSU Trustees:
Joel Ferguson, chairman of the MSU Board of Trustees, said he hopes Proposal 2 is overturned, but isn’t optimistic.
“I don’t necessarily think they can succeed,” he said. “Anybody can file a lawsuit.”
True [...]
I put this here because it is most in line with the mission of this blog, as opposed to my main Michigan and local news blogs. The Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) - that University of Michigan "student government" that can tax and spend small little bits of tuition away [...]
I put this here because it is most in line with the mission of this blog, as opposed to my main Michigan and local news blogs. The Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) - that University of Michigan "student government" that can tax and spend small little bits of tuition away [...]
The Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) has won at least one battle over language in the Cole County Circuit Court, according to this Missourinet article.
We've opined here before about how the Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, perverted the language to make MoCRI seem like it was [...]
Here's a highlight reel just for this blog in 2007. Note that most of the highlights for our work beginning in August shift to our sister sites, Oakland Politics and Outside Lansing.
2007 HighlightsJanuary 2007 – Differential responses by two cities (Grand Rapids and Lansing) to FOIA relating [...]
Zarko Research enjoyed 2007.
It was a year in which the Michigan Education Association (MEA) sued (May 8) to stop us from using FOIA to uncover misuse of taxpayer-funded resources by union leaders in the Howell Public School system during a collective-bargaining battle. Nothing wrong with aggressive bargaining - just [...]
Dawson Bell of the Detroit Free Press has picked up on our FOIA request & five part series here in this piece. Here's a link to OutsideLansing.com where we take note of Dawson's piece, and part 3 of our series citing the political diversity issue.
[...]Over at my sister site Equality Talk, I detail the story of yesterday's submission of signatures in Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OkCRI). I'll let that site do the work, but wanted to alert my readers here to the important national story. Not only is Oklahoma [...]
For those of you who follow my miscellaneous national and topical interests like signature-gathering, and Ward Connerly's SuperTuesday, you'll also know that I follow First Amendment questions of whatever type. The Paul Jacob story hits all three. Connerly is helping a group in Oklahoma collect signatures as I write. [...]
For those of you following the SuperTuesday of Equality by Ward Connerly, you'll note many of the opponents in the new five states suggest that there is no preference anywhere in their state governments, and hence the CRI's are "unnecessary" (of course, that begs the question, why oppose them).
In [...]
Linked here is a YouTube copy of a radio interview of Southern Poverty Law Center "intelligence director" Heidi Beirich.
Readers will recall the work this blog has done on the issue of how the SPLC has categorized Kyle Bristow and the Michigan State University (MSU) chapter of the [...]
Whoa, and does he ever. He accuses this writer's past - and society's continuing - nemesis, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), of "killing our children" (and I can't say that's wrong).
This is why Akindele's Unleashed blog is clearly one of the best in the Michigan blogosphere.
Here's [...]
The following YouTube video from Oklahoma shows an amazing 10 minute scene where a petitioner is ceaselessly harangued by a "blocker". The petitioner, trying to collect signatures for the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OkCRI), remains calm and level-headed while two others from the signature-management team videotape the situation.
Having [...]
DC Observer, which is a blogger's choice award nominee level blog with a tilt to the left, has used the "blood quantum" argument to attack Ward Connerly. DC Observer now claims the authority to declare "that it is not accurate to consider Ward Connerly as a black person." [...]
... and an Arizona CRI update.
Three must reads from our sister-site, OutsideLansing.com, all dealing with campaign finance research we've done, and on statewide stories.
First, a story of shady self-dealing from the newest, revived pro-stem cell ballot committee. $10K goes into the pocket of the same non-profit executive [...]
If it has to do with signature-gathering (particularly if not inside Michigan where one of my sister-sites will pick it up), its a subject ripe for PP&M. And this one is ripe - Ralph Nader has sued the DNC alleging a vast conspiracy (VLWC) by the Demoncratic National Committee [...]
Well, not Zarko Research directly. It's owner, me. My name, Chetly Zarko, something bloggers have from day one noticed (most liking it and mostly positive comments), and something I rather like (thanks Mom), has been deemed "VERY porn-worthy" by writers at Michigan Liberal.
And, you know, it is Halloween, so [...]
Richard Bernstein, vice-chair of the Wayne State board of control and son of attorney Sam Bernstein and brother of Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC) Mark Bernstein, all strong supporters of the U-Michigan race preference policies, has harshly criticized the U-M for its recent alleged failure to comply with the Americans [...]
With the advent of OutsideLansing.com and OaklandPolitics.com, my two newest blogs and news sites, which have clear regional news niches, I've given thought to the identity of my personal blog here.
It's focus has always been on equality issues (which EqualityTalk.com also steals from, but I will continue [...]
Had a wonderfully clear night last night with the closest approach of the moon to earth this year, so I took the opportunity to test out a few new tools in the camera bag, and am taking this opportunity to pitch our FlickR [...]
To its credit, Michigan State University has not yet succumbed to this blatantly out-of-bounds request to censor other students by members of a latino/a student group, according to the Lansing State Journal.
About 30 representatives from Chicanos y Latino Unidos (CLU), along with members of several other organizations, met [...]
The Howell Public Schools has witnessed its third school board resignation in six months. In addition to the two elected seats in May, that means that the majority of the board will be completely new by the time the next selection is made.
Howell is clearly a district in turmoil. Zarko [...]
The charge alone says it all.
In the story below, I note how Paul Jacob was charged with violating Oklahoma law in allegedly employing out-of-state signature-gatherers. Here, the Tulsa World reports some of the details:
"Oklahoma law requires anyone who circulates a petition be a qualified elector; that means a U.S. [...]
Paul Jacob, one of the principal forces behind the Term Limits movement and an architect of the recent TABOR drives, voluntarily submitted himself to Oklahoma authorities yesterday to be indicted by Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson. Jacob was indicted for helping bring non-Oklahomans into the state to petition for [...]
As most people now know, Michigan government shut-down last night for a few hours while most of us slept. It came back online at 430am with a bunch of new taxes, mostly increases in income tax and a few services added to the sales tax mix (23 services, to be [...]
The folks at State Sunshine and Open Records blog, also operators of the fabulous "WikiFOIA," have posted their interview of me here. The interview gets into some of my ancient past FOIA history - something I don't go into much detail on here. I recommend reading their other [...]
Many have commented on and complimented OaklandPolitics.com, the new Oakland County political news source and community builder. The geographic niche there should be obvious.
Now, Zarko Research & Consulting announces "OutsideLansing.com," a statewide community designed to fit the "center-right" niche (coincidentally referred to by Newt Gingrich in his Saturday [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com.
This news piece in the Detroit Free Press by Zachary Gorchow describes the City of Detroit's recent response to Proposal 2 (the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative - MCRI) in the area of government contracting.
And it's a mighty dumb response.
A policy that mandates companies performing publicly [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com.
In what can only be called continuing open defiance of Proposal 2, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), the University of Michigan has announced that admissions counselors will still receive information about an applicants race. Since they not legally allowed to use the information, including the [...]
Crain's Business Detroit reports that the City of Ann Arbor may 'take advantage' of the housing market recession to purchase more property for its "Greenbelt". If you follow the logic, you'll see that Ann Arbor is bringing upon itself much of its own difficulties.
"In the last six months, [...]
Bill Nowling at Lunchbucket Conservative has been pointing out the ties between Norman Hsu and Michigan's Democratic leaders Debbie Stabenow and Jennifer Granholm.
Democrats have taken a liking to continually beating on the Jack Abramoff scandal that is now a year in the past to point to Republican [...]
I've spent a fair amount of time creating this new site, OaklandPolitics.com, dedicated to Michigan's Oakland County. Check it out. It's one of several new and exciting things we're working on. And expect more here - we've been busy the last week and a half, but stay tuned [...]
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals (6th Circuit, Cincinnati) rejected as "moot" BAMN's appeal of Judge Arthur Tarnow's ruling in September 2006 that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2. BAMN's argument was that alleged fraud in signature collection should disqualify the initiative from reaching the [...]
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals (6th Circuit, Cincinnati) rejected as "moot" BAMN's appeal of Judge Arthur Tarnow's ruling in September 2006 that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2. BAMN's argument was that alleged fraud in signature collection should disqualify the initiative from reaching the [...]
The Michigan Education Association (MEA), a union of teachers, may have a union of administrators go on strike against it for messing with their retirement benefits. Now if that is an irony among ironies, I don't know what is. Here's a clip from Gongwer on the issue:
M.E.A. FACES POSSIBLE [...]
The Michigan Education Association (MEA), a union of teachers, may have a union of administrators go on strike against it for messing with their retirement benefits. Now if that is an irony among ironies, I don't know what is. Here's a clip from Gongwer on the issue:
M.E.A. FACES POSSIBLE [...]
Zarko Research was at Pontiac High School taping a political rally last night. We found this sign to be a particularly ironic thing to see at a school.
In addition to questions raised by a Pontiac city councilman about alleged "threats" made [...]
Zarko Research was at Pontiac High School taping a political rally last night. We found this sign to be a particularly ironic thing to see at a school.
In addition to questions raised by a Pontiac city councilman about alleged "threats" made [...]
For readers familiar with my work in 2003 Wall St. Journal expose and FOIA work (resulting in another FOIA win for ZR, but only after U-M stalled it long enough to evade impact on the case) attempting to get the simple numerical underpinnings of the so-called expert testimony [...]
For readers familiar with my work in 2003 Wall St. Journal expose and FOIA work (resulting in another FOIA win for ZR, but only after U-M stalled it long enough to evade impact on the case) attempting to get the simple numerical underpinnings of the so-called expert testimony [...]
This one's a real doosy. Perhaps inspired by the language of the automobile industry, an Oakland University Professor has produced a real clunker, as reported in the Oakland Press:
"As you look at how systems live and die, we're entering the death rattle," Dessert said. "We're entering a phase where [...]
This one's a real doosy. Perhaps inspired by the language of the automobile industry, an Oakland University Professor has produced a real clunker, as reported in the Oakland Press:
"As you look at how systems live and die, we're entering the death rattle," Dessert said. "We're entering a phase where [...]
Most of my Michigan readers are probably aware of former Michigan Lottery Commissioner and Granholm-Appointee Gary Peters and his recent declaration of candidacy to run for 9th District Congressional seat held by Joe Knollenberg. As a matter of full [...]
Most of my Michigan readers are probably aware of former Michigan Lottery Commissioner and Granholm-Appointee Gary Peters and his recent declaration of candidacy to run for 9th District Congressional seat held by Joe Knollenberg. As a matter of full [...]
Cross-posted at Equality Talk.
The power of wiki allows me as a blog writer some new flexibility. Here's a "timeline" of events we've created on the Wiki. It covers literally every event on equality issues you might want to add, although I anticipate it will be more detailed [...]
Cross-posted at Equality Talk.
The power of wiki allows me as a blog writer some new flexibility. Here's a "timeline" of events we've created on the Wiki. It covers literally every event on equality issues you might want to add, although I anticipate it will be more detailed [...]
In what will likely be the hottest Congressional campaign in Michigan, Bruce Fealk has declared himself essentially to be a shill for Gary Peters against Joe Knollenberg in the 9th District. He doesn't want any Democratic challengers to mess things up, according to this statement on a statewide political blog:
The [...]
In what will likely be the hottest Congressional campaign in Michigan, Bruce Fealk has declared himself essentially to be a shill for Gary Peters against Joe Knollenberg in the 9th District. He doesn't want any Democratic challengers to mess things up, according to this statement on a statewide political blog:
The [...]
In the post below, you'll notice that I've cross-posted the subject to my new blog EqualityTalk.com. EqualityTalk is MORE THAN A BLOG THOUGH.
It's also a "Wiki". The purpose is to act as a clearinghouse and knowledgebase of race issues. I strongly encourage all my [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com (see next post for announcement).
Joining the pantheon of weird, and bad, arguments against anti-preference ballot initiatives, is this attempt to paint the Curator (like a Regent) of the University of Missouri and lawyer for the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) as having [...]
In the post below, you'll notice that I've cross-posted the subject to my new blog EqualityTalk.com. EqualityTalk is MORE THAN A BLOG THOUGH.
It's also a "Wiki". The purpose is to act as a clearinghouse and knowledgebase of race issues. I strongly encourage all my [...]
Cross-posted at EqualityTalk.com (see next post for announcement).
Joining the pantheon of weird, and bad, arguments against anti-preference ballot initiatives, is this attempt to paint the Curator (like a Regent) of the University of Missouri and lawyer for the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) as having [...]
ZR apologizes for the initially bad camera-work in this video of Bruce Fealk, the anti-Joe Knollenberg protest leader who recently got into a bit of trouble for his statement to the Oakland Press. He said that Congressman Knollenberg should be a "good Catholic boy" and "atone for his [...]
ZR apologizes for the initially bad camera-work in this video of Bruce Fealk, the anti-Joe Knollenberg protest leader who recently got into a bit of trouble for his statement to the Oakland Press. He said that Congressman Knollenberg should be a "good Catholic boy" and "atone for his [...]
State Senator Mark Schauer (D, Battle Creek) has attacked State Senator Bruce Patterson's (R, Canton) claim that university cost control failure is the main reason for tuition increases. The liberal blogging machine, supported by self-proclaimed journalist and occasional mainstream media freelancer Eric Baerren, is rushing to attack Patterson by [...]
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