RTR Relaunches Blog at ricothomasrico[dot]com

Read all my new blog postings at ricothomasrico[dot]com.

Mark Your Calendar: Next Online Discussion with Efren is May 26th, 6:30 p.m. EST

The next online discussion with the wrongfully-convicted Efren Paredes, Jr. will be Tuesday, May 26, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.  Participating bloggers who sign up on the Facebook event page will get the call-in number and you can pose your questions directly to Efren.  The program will be live online at www.mogulus.com/ricothomasrico. Viewers can use the chat function to ask questions during the program.

The Michigan House Judiciary Committee changed the hearing date from Wednesday (May 27th) to Tuesday, May 26th.  The hearing will focus on a set of pending legislation that would, essentially, end the use of juvenile life sentences without parole in Michigan.  The committee moved up the hearing by one day. We will stick to the schedule and have the online discussion with Efren Tuesday starting at 6:30 p.m. and bloggers are asked to post they commentary on Wednesday, May 27th, as originally planned.  

Please pass the word to any bloggers you know.  Check back here from additional information and details. 

P.S.  Mogulus is transitioning to Livestream.com.  So my online video channel can now also be viewed at www.livestream.com/ricothomasrico.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

RTR's Monday Moanin' 11 May 2009

Monday moanin' ain't so bad today with the Detroit Red Wings up 3 - 2 on the dirty ducks from Anaheim...

= Should I just turn myself in now? Over-reaching proposed federal legislation would scoop up pesky bloggers, according to Wired.com.

= The Chicago Trib's travel writer called Ann Arbor a "true Midwest Eden" on Sunday and gave a good mention to Zingerman's. If I'm lucky, I'll make it to A2's Street Art Fair this year, July 15 - 18, 2009. One of my all-time favorite bookstores, Ann Arbor's Shaman Drum Bookstore, has been struggling to survive. It's worth a visit and support if you're in the area.

= Notable activist conferences include next Saturday's Michigan Policy Summit in Detroit. This summer, the Allied Media Conference returns to Detroit on July 16th - 19th. Netroots Nation convention will be held in Pittsburgh, August 13 -16, 2009. Next year the U.S. Social Forum will convene in Detroit, June 22 -26, 2010, with details pending.

= Trolling around Twitter has led me to some great Michigan bloggers like social spiritual observer iAllison, social media expert ThatDamnRedhead, and the journaling okthanx.

= You didn't hear it from me continued.

= Baseball continues to be Barry Barry Bad. This last week A-Roid returned to cheering baseball crowds and drug-tainted Manny was suspended for 50-games. When will people admit that "America's past-time" has lost its credibility, just like its torturing federal government and corrupt Wall Street.

= It was funny reading about the early, errant passes by Detroit Lions new quarterback, Matt Stafford. Reporters covering Stafford's first practice were already panicking about the accuracy of his first throws IN PRACTICE. My small hope is that Stafford takes a better liking to Michigan weather than some other University of Georgia transplants I've gotten to know lately.

= Isn't it obvious that former-Michigan Governor John Engler won't be content until he completely ruins this state. Engler, the architect of Michigan's fiscal ill-health, is now publicly recommending nuclear power as the state's future energy source and he wants the U.P to be the location of the next Guantanamo prison.

-- Rico Thomas Rico