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ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN PAGE 6 November 23, 2011
For all of us who feel only the
deepest love and affection for the
way computers have enhanced our
lives, read on....
At a recent computer show,
COMDEX, Bill Gates reportedly
compared the computer industry
with the auto industry and stated:
“If GM had kept up with technolo-
gy like the computer industry has,
we would all be driving $25 cars
that got 1,000miles to the gallon.”
In response to Bill's comments,
General Motors issued a press
release stating:
If GMhad developed technology
like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following
characteristics (and I just love this
part ):
1. For no reason whatsoever,
your carwould crash...twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the
lines in the road, you would have
to buy a newcar.
3. Occasionally your car would
die on the freeway for no reason.
You would have to pull to the side
of the road, close all of the win-
dows, shut off the car, restart it, and
re-open the windows before you
could continue. For some reason
youwould simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a
manoeuvre such as a left turn
would cause your car to shut down
and refuse to restart, in which case
you would have to reinstall the
engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car
that was powered by the sun, was
reliable, five times as fast and
twice as easy to drive - but would
runononly 5 percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature,
and alternator warning lights
would all be replaced by a single
'This Car Has Performed An Illegal
Operation' warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask
‘Are you sure?’ before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason
whatsoever, your car would lock
you out and refuse to let you in
until you simultaneously lifted the
door handle, turned the key and
grabbedhold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was
introduced, car
buyers would
have to learn
how to drive all
over again because none of the
controls would operate in the same
manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the 'Start'
button to turn the engine off.
I'd like to add that when all else
fails, you could call 'customer serv-
ice' in some foreign country and be
instructed in some foreign lan-
guage on how to fix your car your-
self.
My sister sent this to me, after
some computer lover she knows
sent it to her over the internet. I
think GM, if they really did come
up with this, is certainly on the
right track.
Now, if I could just find the right
folder in which to save this so it
would get over to the printer….
No matter what the outcome of the hearing in Wayne
County Circuit Court may be, members of the Citizens Action
Group in Plymouth Township deserve a resounding thank
you fromresidents across the state.
These people have taken the elected leaders in their
municipality to task for not listening to those they were elect-
ed to serve. When the township officials and board members
decided, for whatever reasons, to gut the fire department in
the township, depriving the residents of both Advanced Life
Support and Emergency Medical Service, many citizens
balked, realizing the threat to themselves and their families.
When the township officials wouldn't listen to their argu-
ments and reasoning at publicmeetings, opting rather to con-
tinue their plan to reduce public safety services and allow
firemen to work on a volunteer basis from homes 15 miles
outside the township, the residents again loudly protested
the threat to theirwell-being and security.
When the Citizens Action Group amassed more than 3,500
signatures and submitted them to the township asking only
for a vote on a dedicated public safety millage to prevent the
board from savaging the fire department, they were soundly
rebuffed with claims that the real property owners could not
be easily identified and that condominium owners did not
actually own land and therefore couldnot sign the petitions.
Again, the group followed the procedures for correcting
what they feel in a misstep by their elected officials and col-
lected more signatures, this time verifying the ownership of
the land so that they were confident they had collected the
requiredpercentage of signatures.
They were again rebuffed by the very people they elected
to represent their best interests and told that they needed
even more signatures as the non-taxable property had to be
added into the equation determining the number of signa-
tures theywere required to submit.
These officials seem determined to have their own way,
without any respect for the wishes of their constituents or
concern for the safety of the residents of the community. They
argue that the $1 million deficit caused by the withdrawal of
the City of Plymouth from the joint fire safety agreement is
the cause of these measures, made strictly, they claim, to bal-
ance the deficit budget.
Watching the actions of these officials in this situationmay
provide a clue as to the motivation of the city to escape any
joint operation or dealingswith them.
The Citizens Action Group of Plymouth filed a show cause
petition last week in Circuit Court, demanding township offi-
cials validate their position in denying the public a vote on a
public safety millage. Understand, these folks aren't asking
the township officials to do anything more than allow the
public to be heard, to allow voters in the township to say
These people have taken the
elected leaders in their municipality
to task for not listening to those
they were elected to serve.
”
If GM had kept up with technology like
the computer industry has, we would all be driving
$25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.
”
Citizen group proves ‘You can fight city hall’
Don’t let my car run like a computer
High marks
for move
of school
elections
The ballots may be a little
longer on even years, but the end
result will benefit school districts.
Recently approved legislation
will move school elections to
November in even years, providing
more consistency and cost-savings.
State Rep. Kurt Heise (R-
Plymouth) sponsored the legisla-
tion, which received overwhelm-
ing support from both sides of the
aisle as well as the local munici-
palities, aswell.
And it's nowonder. It's smart leg-
islation-exactly the kind of thing
that we need these days. It will
allow school districts to piggy-back
on other local, regional, state and
federal elections, which will help
save the funds needed to put on a
separate election. It will allow for
more exposure for school issues. It
will ensure that school boards will
need to plan further ahead when
contemplating schoolmillages.
This is a major step in the right
direction in the goal to get more
people involved in school board
issues. It has always been a mys-
tery why they typically draw a
lower turnout than other local
elections; so many things depend
on the quality of the schools in our
community-the education of our
children, of course, aswell as prop-
erty values and the overall quality
of life.
It might be a bit ironic, given the
issues surrounding the Plymouth-
Canton Community School board
race, that one of the concerns some
school boards had with keeping
school board races with other, larg-
er elections was the potential
involvement of the major political
parties in the non-partisan portion
of the ballet.
Regardless, we think this is a
smart move. Elections should take
place in November, when voting
and civic duty is most often on the
mind.
See Group, page 7
Calendar of events
Women's Club plans events
To the editor:
The Belleville Area Women's
Clubmet onNov. 1 to plan for end
of the year activities. Once again
we will do the Bell Ringing for
the Salvation Army - Nov. 26 at
the Food Entrance to Walmart on
Belleville Road. The club will
participate in the chamber's
annual Christmas Parade and
will donate food items to the
Food Bank at the Belleville
United Methodist Church. Our
memberswill also decorate a tree
for the Festival of Holidays Trees
at theMuseum.
Our speaker was Katie Dallos,
the new executive director of the
Belleville Area Museum. She
told about future plans for the
museum and opening the build-
ing for special events by our citi-
zens.
We remember when they held
showers and parties when the
Grange was upstairs. The next
big event is the Festival of
Holiday Trees beginning Nov. 22
through Dec. 29. There are new
evening hours
Our Membership Chair,
Christina Brasil, installed two
new members: Jackie Leich and
Kathie Steigerwald.
A report was given on the fash-
ion show held on Oct. 26 at
Woodlands of Van Buren.
Enough funds were raised so that
we can provide two $1,000 schol-
arships for BHS Seniors plus a
$500 mature Woman's
Scholarship.
We participated in the Harvest
Fest and collected items for First
Step as part of Make ADifference
Day. October was really a busy
time.
The Belleville Area Women's
Club invites you to join us for our
Christmas Social to be held at the
Bayou Grill on Dec.5, at 6:30 p.m.
Please call Gloria Dougherty at
(734) 697-9892 to make a reserva-
tion. This is an event where you
meet the community and have a
good time.
MarilynMontgomery
and JanetMillard.
Belleville AreaWomen's Club