Three takes on Ben Wallace: Patrick Walters of NOISE says special players from special teams get special treatment while Michael Rosenberg says that the Pistons decided that ignoring the transgression would be best for the team's title hopes and Chris McCosky says Wallace knows his actions that night were wrong, but his motives were right. Two sides of one issue: Andrew Revkin says media is locked in polarized view of global warming. DeVos & Granholm Agree?? One United Michigan.

Detroit Can Learn a Lot from London

Endless Columns
(from the Michigan Central Station)

Model D has a brilliant feature that looks to the diverse, vibrant, ancient city of London for lessons that can be learned about making Detroit (and other cities) great. The first lesson it takes a long time and constant effort to build a great city is followed by:

London's second lesson: a city does not get better if it destroys its great buildings. Keep and preserve great architecture. There are buildings from the second century in London, beautiful ancient works. They may not perfectly suit our modern needs, but they provide an enriching spiritual connection with the past. They are critical to the character and life of the city. They tell us about human history. It's because of this history that millions of people visit London each year...

We heartily urge you to go and read the rest of London's Calling from Model D.

Detroit Hip-Hop Icon Passes

Detroit rapper Proof, born Deshaun Holton, was shot and killed yesterday. Proof was the founder of Detroit-based hip-hop supergroup D12, a close friend of noted D12 member Eminem, tireless worker on the behalf of Detroit hip-hop. Assume an "explicit lyric advisory" on all links from this post...

Visit D12 World
Proof's label Iron Fist Records (links to MySpace, which then jumps to MTV - if you're quick, you can stop the load and listen to tracks at MySpace)
Read A Day of Mourning from Clever Titles are so Last Summer (3 more tracks)
Coverage from DetroitHipHop.com
Read DESHAUN HOLTON, AKA PROOF 1973-2006: Slaying silences driving force of Detroit hip-hop in the Freep

Project Could Give Michigan the Lead in Bio-Economy

The Lansing State Journal reports that MSU prof Kris Berglund's research has helped make small-scale distilling a viable industry in Michigan, laid the foundation for the state's only gourmet mushroom production facility and could now be the key to a new biotechnology park in Wayne County that would produce ethanol and a "green" version of a molecule called succinic acid, which is used in chemicals ranging from runway de-icers to pharmaceuticals. The biotechnology park is a joint effort between Wayne County, Michigan State University and Diversified Natural Products, a Scottsville company that has licensed many of Berglund's patents.

While the project is still in the development stages, the promise of a future when the basic building blocks for fuels, synthetic materials, industrial chemicals and a host of other products can be taken from plants is compelling. If the bio-tech park becomes a reality, Berglund says it "will put the state ahead in this overall bio-economy race."
Read State leaders pin big hopes on MSU's biotechnology experts in the LSJ

DeVos Calls for Tax Cut in Addition to Replacing SBT

The AP reports Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos says that a business tax cut should be part of any plan to replace the Single Business Tax in Michigan. DeVos also said he might not come up with specific proposals before the November election for replacing the nearly $2 billion a year revenue that would be lost by a repeal. "I'm not going to get into the middle of a sort of pick-a-number time because this isn't about quick numbers," DeVos added that it "...needs to be meaningful and it needs to be significant."

Granholm campaign spokesman Chris De Witt countered "This man has no plan, he wants to cut taxes that he will personally benefit by and he will not make any suggestion on how to replace over $2 billion in the state budget. He just will say, 'Elect me.'"
Read DeVos says business tax overhaul should include tax cut in the Detroit News

Major Grant to WSU for Business Tech Research

The Great Lakes IT Report says that the National Science Foundation has awarded a $426,000 grant to Wayne State University for a three-year "Digital Diffusion Dashboard Project." Allen W. Batteau, director of Wayne State's Institute for Information Technology and Culture said "Digital Diffusion will create a dashboard to manage and accelerate the diffusion of innovations within a global enterprise -- by harnessing information that already flows through a company's IT infrastructure." The project is a partnership of communication, engineering and business anthropology scientists working with auto industry information technology professionals.
Wayne State University Institute for Information Technology and Culture