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Republicans in Michigan don't believe in democracy and they aren't above…

Republicans in Michigan don't believe in democracy and they aren't above going to any lengths to prevent it. Last year the newly Republican-controlled legislature and the governor passed an emergency manager law. Under the law, the governor can dismiss locally elected governments and replace them with an appointed manager.

Needless to say, many of the voters of Michigan were not impressed and were more than willing to sign a petition that would put the law on the November ballot. After crates of petitions were delivered to the state board of canvassers, the signatures were checked and even after some were disallowed, there were 203,238 signatures, 40,000 more than required for a recall vote.

However, four member board deadlocked 2-2 along party lines about approving the ballot measure. It turns out that a group called Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility protested the petition on the grounds that the font was too small. Not the language of the ballot, or the validity of the signatures but the font size!

It turns out Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility happens to operate out of the law offices of Jeffrey Timmer, one of the two republicans on the board of canvassers. Despite the obvious conflict of interest Timmer did not recuse himself from the vote. What a farce!

#emergencymanager #michigan #recall

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EM referendum off November ballot, opponents vow appeal

The Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 along party lines today on whether Michiganians will get to vote in November on a repeal of the controversial emergency manager law – sparking angry shou…

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This is a very interesting take on what the next generation Mustang might look like….

This is a very interesting take on what the next generation Mustang might look like. Rumor has it that the current retro-look will give way to something more like last year's Evos concept. This blend of old and new seems like it might still be a bit too close to the old.

What do you think?

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Should the Next-Gen 2015 Ford Mustang Look Like This? – WOT on Motor Trend
This rendering from our illustrator shows one possible look of the 2015 Ford Mustang. Should Ford's next-gen pony car look like this?

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662 hp and 5 mpg better than the camaro zl1 7

#ford #gt500 #torque

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This Just In: The 2013 Shelby Mustang GT500 has 662 horsepower & hits 60 mph in first gear.

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2013 Shelby Mustang GT500 Certified At 662 Horsepower
Get ready for ludicrous speed–the 2013 Shelby Ford Mustang GT500 has been certified at 662 horsepower–12 more than the promised 650–and 630 pound-feet of torque. Why? Because muscle car. We guess. …

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Yet another Lotus chassis has been re-purposed as an electric vehicle, this time…

Yet another Lotus chassis has been re-purposed as an electric vehicle, this time as the foundation of the Infiniti Emerg-E concept. Previously the Elise/Exige chassis has been used to underpin the Tesla Roadster along with a few other concepts and attempts at electric sports cars that went nowhere.

Nissan opted to use Lotus' newer and larger Evora to make a roomier and more comfortable car.

Both of these chassis' make good platforms thanks to their light weight and flexibility. The original Elise marked the debut of platform constructed by adhesive bonding of aluminum extrusions. This construction method makes the chassis strong and easy to modify by lengthening various sections.

For what it's worth, this isn't Nissan's first interaction with Lotus. Like many major automakers, Nissan has quietly contracted Lotus Engineering in the past for vehicle development help, especially on ride and handling.

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Dissected: Lotus-Based Infiniti Emerg-E Sports-Car Concept
Infiniti's stunning Emerg-E sports-car concept gets broken down to expose its Lotus bones and range-extended electric powertrain. Read the story and see photos at Car and Driver.

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The ever increasing trend toward agricultural monocultures is perhaps the single… 2

The ever increasing trend toward agricultural monocultures is perhaps the single biggest environmental threat that we face. By genetically engineering seeds in an attempt to create disease and pest resistant super-breeds and preventing farmers from collecting and saving seeds we limiting the natural course of evolution of plants and artificially limiting variety.

The problem is that the bugs and diseases we are trying to fight continue to evolve and become resistant to our attempts at countermeasures. No matter how hard humans try, we can never anticipate every eventuality.

Without a variety of breeds, monocultures inevitably succumb to something we couldn't anticipate. We need to acknowledge that while tremendous strides in nutrition and human health have been made through science over the past century, we shouldn't be so egotistical as to assume that we can solve everything. In some cases we should let nature takes it course and that includes letting different breeds of plants and animals flourish so that we can hedge against the threats to our food supply.

Reshared post from +Full Circle

This infographic shows a reduction of produce variety in the last century as a direct result of big businesses (i.e. Monsanto) controlling the world seed supply. It's time to change our food system!!

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(Tue01) +Scott Monty interview on Google+:

Reshared post from +Guy Kawasaki

(Tue01) +Scott Monty interview on Google+:

http://www.digiday.com/brands/why-ford-believes-in-google-plus/

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Why Ford Believes in Google Plus
Ford was one of the early adopters of Google Plus. Social media chief Scott Monty thinks it's a mistake to count out Google's big social bet.

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Two years after showing off the original Electric Networked Vehicle (ENV) concepts… 1

Two years after showing off the original Electric Networked Vehicle (ENV) concepts at the Beijing Motor Show and Shanghai World Expo, GM is back with Version 2.0. This time around it retains design ideas from the European designed original but it's been refined to be actually usable in the real world rather than just on smooth, flat surfaces. The fully autonomous driving capability, vehicle-to-vehicle communications and electric drive remain but the Segway-based, two-wheel balancing chassis is swapped for a four wheel setup. ENV 2.0 now has amenities such as climate control and some minimal cargo space.

It will be interesting to see how the field trials of this vehicle work out when they begin in the next year or two. Vehicles like this are ideally suited to dense urban environments as part of car sharing systems. Think of it as personal, point-to-point mass-transit.

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It's been several years since +Ford Motor Company sold off Jaguar and Land Rover… 3

It's been several years since +Ford Motor Company sold off Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors, but the Dearborn automaker has continued supplying some parts to the British luxury automaker including engines. The diesel engines that are available in European Jags and Land Rovers are built at Ford's Dagenham diesel center in the UK and the base V6 in the XF, XK and XJ is a version of Ford's Duratec 3.0-liter.

At the Beijing Motor Show, Jaguar announced that it will be following the industry-wide trend to engine downsizing by replacing the current V6 engine with the 2.0-liter Ford EcoBoost four-cylinder. The turbocharged and direct injected engine will produce 237 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque. This engine is already available in the Ford Edge and Explorer and it's coming to the 2013 Fusion later this year.

Would you go for a small four cylinder engine in a car the size of the XJ? Depending on how you use the car it certainly seems plausible and it will no doubt offer better performance than even V12-powered XJs of the not so distant past.

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