[MGD]

Originally Posted by darstar

Nope , O' wait , we got Bigfoot..... and , quite a few First Nation people , some of them are blond however.

Wowwwww are you serious? And is that really where the bigfoot legend comes from?

Also, sidebar, what is an "ice heave"?

[darstar]

Originally Posted by MGD

Wowwwww are you serious? And is that really where the bigfoot legend comes from?

Also, sidebar, what is an "ice heave"?

No , Bigfoot is everywhere in North America. However , last year there were a lot of sittings here in Marquette County. The tin foil hat folks will be back this summer , its good for business.

" Ice heaves " are when moisture gets into the cracks in the pavement , and freeze in mass under the surface. Ice expands when there are swings in temps., and , up comes a chunk of pavement. The fix , ( current thinking ) , is in the fall , they try to seal all the cracks in the asphalt , so it won't happen , but , it still does. The problem is worse with concrete , one of the reasons in the North most roads are asphalt . At lest we don't have perma frost like in Alaska and Canada. Our ground freezes to 6 feet , thats about it most places. Snow cover helps a lot , as an insulator, and , we get lots of that.

[MGD]

Originally Posted by darstar

No , Bigfoot is everywhere in North America. However , last year there were a lot of sittings here in Marquette County. The tin foil hat folks will be back this summer , its good for business.

" Ice heaves " are when moisture gets into the cracks in the pavement , and freeze in mass under the surface. Ice expands when there are swings in temps., and , up comes a chunk of pavement. The fix , ( current thinking ) , is in the fall , they try to seal all the cracks in the asphalt , so it won't happen , but , it still does. The problem is worse with concrete , one of the reasons in the North most roads are asphalt . At lest we don't have perma frost like in Alaska and Canada. Our ground freezes to 6 feet , thats about it most places. Snow cover helps a lot , as an insulator, and , we get lots of that.

That sounds disgusting. lol

Lots of that...and you sound like the king of understatement too, so that should have probly been in all caps. lol

[PineHallGirl]

Originally Posted by D-Towner

That's kind of funny considering Kid Rock is a Michigander of southern extraction who made a name for Michigan's Musical Talent.

God. Who cares about Kid (come lately) Rock?

Tell me what songs of his we will cherish in years to come? Not.

[PineHallGirl]

Originally Posted by darstar

Nope , O' wait , we got Bigfoot..... and , quite a few First Nation people , some of them are blond however.

VIKINGS! The original rockers....

Blond is Beautiful! (hey, what not? got a problem with that? huh?!!)

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

When this thread topic was first created, people were under the illusion of a “one-state recession”. I have been trying to communicate to people, including this forum, since about 2004, that an economic calamity coming. I chimed in on the Michigan forum and offered my interpretation that Michigan, as was true historically, was simply foreshadowing the fate of the nation overall. Michigan, for at least the last 50 years, has been a leading economic indicator to the health of the US economy.

That said, I do not see Michigan emptying out like many think or fear. Sure, it will lose population because of the push factor of a bad Michigan economy, however, unlike previous downturn periods, there is no PULL factor of a really great economic region where people can now go to and find work. Texas has managed to remain fairly stable only because of oil; however, with oil down to 38 dollars a barrel, Texas oil rigs are slowing. The other states that are doing well are so small that they could not support the massive influx of people looking for work.

I think if unemployment hits 15% nationally, which would be the equivalent of the Great Depressions 25% unemployment (due to the different way that unemployment is calculated today), you might see a growth in Michigan’s population. Why? I theorize that many people will start moving back in with parents when things get real bad. Many of the 20 and 30 something folks who left Michigan for other states may find themselves returning home when they cannot find employment were they currently live and have no place to live.

Long range, I don’t think that the average person realizes the global pressure growing over fresh water supplies. Fresh water will become a major issue in the coming decades and Michigan is surrounded by abundance. What’s old is new again. Human settlement will again become heavily influenced by water. Dense urban settlements will be the most energy efficient for this centuries energy issues. So in the transition period, Michigan will be worse off than most , but in the long run, Michigan and Detroit will benefit from its Geographic location like California benefitted from theirs (sunshine and good weather).

True......the great lakes are indeed the midwest's great trump card..

[darstar]

Originally Posted by PineHallGirl

VIKINGS! The original rockers....

Blond is Beautiful! (hey, what not? got a problem with that? huh?!!)

Them Vikings sure did get around, still do , I am told.......

[PineHallGirl]

Originally Posted by darstar

Them Vikings sure did get around, still do , I am told.......

Oh those ruthless barbarians...Diversity!

I think I came from the small tribe of crazed horned helmet wearing Vikings called the Berserks...

[Indentured Servant]

Dwindling water supplies are a greater risk to businesses than oil running out, a report for investors has warned.
Among the industries most at risk are high-tech companies, especially those using huge quantities of water to manufacture silicon chips; electricity suppliers who use vast amounts of water for cooling; and agriculture, which uses 70% of global freshwater, , says the study, commissioned by the powerful CERES group, whose members have $7tn under management. Other high-risk sectors are beverages, clothing, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, forest products, and metals and mining, it says.
"Water is one of our most critical resources – even more important than oil," says the report, published today . "The impact of water scarcity and declining water on businesses will be far-reaching. We've already seen decreases in companies' water allotments, more stringent regulations [and] higher costs for water."
Droughts "attributable in significant part to climate change" are already causing "acute water shortages" around the world, and pressure on supplies will increase with further global warming and a growing world population, says the report written by the US-based Pacific Institute.
"It is increasingly clear that the era of cheap and easy access to water is ending, posing a potentially greater threat to businesses than the loss of any other natural resource, including fossil fuel resources," it adds. "This is because there are various alternatives for oil, but for many industrial processes, and for human survival itself, there is no substitute for water."
In a joint statement, CERES' president Mindy Lubber and Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, urged more companies and investors to work out their dependence on water and future supplies, and make plans to cope with increased shortages and prices.
"Few companies and investors are thinking strategically about the profound business risks that will exist in a world where climate change is likely to exacerbate already diminishing water supplies," they say.
"Companies that treat pressing water risks as a strategic challenge will be far better positioned in future," they add.
The CERES report adds to growing concern about a looming water crisis. In the Economist's report, The World in 2009 , Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of food giant Nestlé, wrote: "under present conditions… we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel". And at its annual meeting this year the World Economic Forum issued what it itself called a "stark warning" that "the world simply cannot manage water in the future in the same way as in the past or the economic web will collapse".
CERES, which has members in the US and Europe, made recommendations, including that companies should measure their water footprints from suppliers through to product use, and integrate water into strategic planning, and that investors should independently assess companies' water risk and "demand" better disclosure from boards.

Water shortage will damage business 'more than oil scarcity' | Environment | guardian.co.uk


Reports of Michigans demise are premature rationalization..... Michigan will boom in the next 50 years.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by darstar

Them Vikings sure did get around, still do , I am told.......

The Vikings landed on the North American continent before Christopher Columbus ever did. Vinland was founded by the Vikings at what is now modern day Newfoundland(minus Labrador). Water is a big part of life.