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Michigan

Feb 2005Estimated percentage by which the number of automobiles made in Ontario last year exceeded the number made in Detroit: 4
Source:

Ward's Communications (Southfield, Mich.)

Jan 2004Days of below-freezing weather last winter in Hell, Michigan : 86
Source:

National Climatic Data Center (Asheville, N.C.)

Aug 2003Rank of Detroit among major U.S. cities whose residents give the largest portion of their income to charity: 1
Source:

The Chronicle of Philanthropy (Washington)

Jun 2003Year in which Detroit presented Saddam Hussein with a key to the city: 1980
Source:

Office of the Mayor (Detroit)

Sep 2001Ratio of the number of pupils per teacher in Michigan's schools to the number of inmates per guard in its prisons: 18:5
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Center for Educational Performance and Information (Lansing, Mich.)/Department of Corrections (Lansing)

Aug 1998Chance that a Detroit household has no access to a car: 1 in 3
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Detroit Department of Transportation

Aug 1998Rank of Detroit, among the 20 largest U.S. cities, in municipal spending on public transportation: 20
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Detroit Department of Transportation

October 9, 2007The Republican candidates for president gathered in Dearborn, Michigan, for a debate on the economy. Mitt Romney, who was born in Detroit, bemoaned the “one-state recession“ gripping Michigan; Duncan Hunter repeatedly blamed the loss of American manufacturing jobs on free-trade policies with “communist China”; Ron Paul attributed the large profits of hedge-fund managers to a conspiracy among politicians, banks, Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, and the military-industrial complex to inflate or destroy currencies and swindle the middle class; and John McCain advised Paul to read ”The Wealth of Nations." The candidates generally agreed that taxes are too high. “We’re taxed to the max,” said Sam Brownback. Mike Huckabee touted his Fair Tax proposal to abolish the IRS and to tax consumption as a way to shift the tax burden onto drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and illegal immigrants. Paul and Tom Tancredo refused to pledge to support the Republican nominee in the general election.
Source:

New York Times

March 21, 2007 Al Gore returned to Capitol Hill to testify that global warming is a planetary emergency. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts called Gore a prophet, and Rep. John Dingell of Michigan addressed him as “Mr. President.” Joe Barton of Texas, the leading Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Gore he was “totally wrong” and that, if need be, Republican lawmakers would stay late for an “all-out cat fight” with Democrats. Ralph Hall, also of Texas, speculated that Gore's attack on the energy industry could result in war “when and if OPEC nations abandon the U.S.A.,” and Roscoe Bartlett (R., Md.) said that he thought it was “probably possible to be a conservative without appearing to be an idiot.
Source 1:

AP vie Breitbart

Source 2:

Huffington Post

November 19, 2006Football coach Bo Schembechler died and Ohio State beat Michigan 42-39.
Source 1:

ESPN

Source 2:

The New York Times

May 30, 2006A potent drug cocktail killed at least 48 people in Detroit.
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Detroit Free Press

April 4, 2006Someone was mutilating and killing the dogs of Superior Township, Michigan.
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WHIO-TV

April 3, 2006Scientists in Michigan determined that children behave better after their tonsils are removed.
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Forbes

February 5, 2006Before the Super Bowl, Detroit presented Steelers running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis with a key to the city; he is the first person to receive the key since it was given to Saddam Hussein.
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JournalNow.com

February 3, 2006In Detroit the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. The Department of Homeland Security monitored the event using holograms.
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CNET News.com

December 23, 2005In Warren, Michigan, a 14-year-old boy allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl in a church bathroom during a Christmas play.
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WXYZ.com

December 8, 2005A police officer in Hamtramck, Michigan, tasered his partner during an argument over whether to stop their car to buy a soda.
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MSNBC

November 23, 2005Violent shopping incidents occurred in Hamilton Township, New Jersey; Elkton, Maryland; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Orlando, Florida; and Sunrise, Florida, where a 72-year-old woman was trampled.
Source 1:

WTOPNews.com

Source 2:

NBC10.com

Source 3:

The Miami Herald

Source 4:

Reuters

Source 5:

KYW.com

August 5, 2005A man in Royal Oak, Michigan, attempted to fend off police with a medieval-style sword while wearing chain mail.
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FoxReno.com

August 5, 2005A Michigan woman beat her boyfriend with his own prosthetic leg.
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ABC12.com

July 16, 2005In Traverse City, Michigan, a woman drowned in a vat of cherries.
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Detroit Free Press

July 12, 2005A thirteen-year-old boy in Kalamazoo accidentally burned down the family meth lab.
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WWMT.com

May 13, 2005Three Michigan judges decided that a cable show featuring a man's joke-telling penis was more about indecent exposure than free speech.
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ABC News Online

May 5, 2005Eighty-eight members of Congress signed a letter, written by Representative John Conyers of Michigan, calling for an inquiry into a British memo that implied that George W. Bush had already decided to go to war by July 2002. “This should not,” wrote Conyers, “be allowed to fall down the memory hole during wall-to-wall coverage of the Michael Jackson trial and a runaway bride.”
Source:

The Raw Story

May 4, 2005A papyrologist at Oxford University announced that new techniques in spectral imaging, which make it possible to decipher previously illegible ink on papyrus fragments, have yielded parts of a lost tragedy by Sophocles, a novel by Lucian, and an epic poem by Archilochos; researchers also applied the technique to third- and fourth-century manuscripts of the Revelation of Saint John and discovered that the number of the beast, contrary to popular belief, is 616, the area code of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Source:

National Post

March 26, 2005At a mall in Michigan, a twelve-year-old boy punched the Easter bunny in the nose.
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Boston.com

February 7, 2005A four-year-old Michigan boy snuck out of the house and drove his mother's car to a video store.
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CNN.com

January 11, 2005 Herpes struck the horses of Michigan.
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San Jose Mercury News

October 31, 2004There were reports of gay-marriage push polls in Michigan.
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Talking Points Memo

October 13, 2004People in Detroit were debating the wisdom of creating an "Africa Town" district, where the city would give special loans to black businessmen.
Source:

New York Times

October 8, 2004 Republicans in Michigan were calling on authorities to prosecute Michael Moore for offering to give clean underwear to college students if they would promise to vote.
Source:

Associated Press

April 11, 2004 Children in Flint, Michigan, found two loaded pistols during an Easter egg hunt.
Source:

Flint Journal

December 18, 2001In Michigan, a postal worker pleaded guilty to throwing ten gallons of porcupine feces on his colleagues.

SEPTEMBER 2008

TYRANNY OF THE TEST
One Year as a Kaplan Coach in the Public Schools
By Jeremy Miller

THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR
Searching for Deadly Toys in China’s Pearl River Delta
By Donovan Hohn

WILLOWS VILLAGE
Story by Dagoberto Gilb

Also: Vivian Gornick and Francine Prose