Bad News Badenhausen

Meet Kurt Badenhausen. He's a senior editor at Forbes. His specialty is statistics. No idea what's up with the saintly halo and the mesmerizing gaze in this picture. Perhaps he's auditioning for the role of Russian Icon in an amateur theater production.

With the country bogged down in Iraq, a recession looming, the deficit skyrocketing, and gas prices spiking, Kurt certainly has some weighty subjects to cover. So what is he writing about during these troubled times? What undiscovered journalistic gems is he unearthing? Well, he's just come out with a piece that reveals Flint and Detroit are "miserable" places. According to Kurt, Detroit is the most miserable place in the entire country. Alas, Flint has to settle for the third most miserable.

Don't you just love Kurt?

A Piece of Cloud

As if Japan and Europe weren't enough competition for the Michigan auto industry, China is now on the horizon as well. This Tang Hua electric car is called "A Piece of Cloud." It's hard to imagine this over-sized Skittle rolling down Dort Highway, but you never know. The Photo is courtesy of Auto Pacific Vehicle Voice, a great website for car enthusiasts.

Amy Palomar's Vision of Flint

Amy Palomar's first real visit to Flint was this past December with photographer Paul Hitz. Paul went to school in Flint and was more than happy to show Amy around. They ended up stopping in at The Lunch Studio to check out a Flint City Handmade Craft Market.

That's where they met Joel Rash, who is a Flint resident, a commercial real estate owner, and the current manager at the Center for Entrepreneurship at U of M Flint. Joel was gracious enough to let them shoot the the historic Capitol Theater.

"It was wonderful to see this artist movement in Flint and Joel's passion for the city really touched me," she says. "There is so much reason for Flint to make it and I think people like Joel Rash, places like The Lunch Box and movements like Flint City Handmade can make it happen."

Palomar is a metro-Detroit based photographer. You can see her work at the Exposure.Detroit show until March 7 and at the Bean and Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak.

Family Fun!

It happens to the best of us. We go to Chuck E Cheese on Miller Road in Flint, have a few beers, eat some pizza, have a few more beers, play some video games, have a few more beers...and start brawling. The Flint Journal has the details:

The first call came in at 8:53 p.m. concerning a fight among three teenage girls at the pizza parlor. A Genesee County Sheriff's paramedic and state troopers quickly got the fight under control, and canceled other officers headed that way to back them up.

But a few minutes later, the officers sent out a second call as the fight erupted again, and quickly turned into "a knock-down, drag-out between 75 and 80 people," said Flint Township police Sgt. Tim Jones.

"The biggest thing we did was just try to control the crowd. Once pepper has been sprayed, it's floating in the air so we called in for medical help in clearing it. If people aren't used to pepper spray, they get pretty scared and angry," said Jones.

And the fun was really just beginning.

On Sunday, it looked like it was going to happen again. A TV news crew was in the parking lot filming a segment on the previous night's brawl when a family fight broke out among several women and escalated to a group of about 10 in the same family, said Jones.

Pretty Vacant

More arresting images of Flint from Jar With Most

The now-demolished Chevrolet Plant

West First Street

Texting and Privacy

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is probably wondering just how the Free Press got a hold of his text messages, and the rest of the country is suddenly worried about their own privacy.

The telecom companies promise that they don't store text messages. Well, that's not very reassuring, given their track record.

"Phone companies are supposed to deliver our messages, not spy on them," says Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a civil liberties organization not to be confused with the Detroit newspaper that broke the Kilpatrick story. "But at every turn, these telco giants trample on basic constitutional principles of privacy and free speech. When you break the law you should face the consequences."

And just how damning are the text messages that the mayor exchanged with his chief of staff Christine Beatty? Remember, they testified under oath that they were not having an affair.

"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002, according to the messages obtained by the Free Press.

"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied to the mayor. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"

On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote Beatty: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

Ghost Bar

Another belly up Flint bar — The LL-T on South Saginaw. I think it started out as Bill's Still, then new owners rearranged the letters a bit, using a sideways "I" as a hypen. The photo comes via the flickr account of Jar With Most, who has a great collection of Flint images.

Detroit and The Wire

Fans of The Wire, the critically acclaimed HBO crime series set in Baltimore, are probably thinking the situation in Detroit with embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick sounds eerily familiar, especially if they happened to catch the trials and tribulations of Herc (above) in Episode 39: Soft Eyes.

Confused about the morning schedule for the Mayor, officer Thomas "Herc" Hauk waits by the truck, loses patience and goes looking for Lieutenant Hoskins, who heads the security detail. Opening doors in his search for his supervisor, Herc is surprised to encounter Mayor Clarence Royce on the receiving end of a robust act of fellatio, courtesy of his secretary. Stunned like a cow with a sledgehammer, Herc stares at the sight for a moment before slamming shut the door. In that moment, the Mayor sees him...Driving Royce, Herc catches the Mayor's eye in the rear view, certain now he's doomed for what he witnessed...Herc seeks out Carver to get advice on how to handle his embarrassing situation with the Mayor, convinced he'll never make rank now. "This is way beyond my pay grade," says Carver, thinking about who to consult...Herc gets advice from the politically connected and astute Major Stanislaus Valchek, who has a different take on Herc's predicament. The Major would like to be in Herc's shoes: "Kid, careers have been launched on a helluva lot less. Just shut up and play dumb."

For more evidence of life imitating art — or perhaps it's the other way around — read the deposition of Officer Walter Harris, a former member of the mayor's security division, as he describes his very Herc-like experiences with Kilpatrick. It's available at Detroit Uncovered about halfway down the page in the right-hand column.

Michigan May Count

Hillary Clinton makes a bid for Michigan and Florida delegates after the Democratic National Committee unseated them to punish the states for their rogue primaries. Talkingpointsmemo weighs in on the possible motivation:

A cynic would note that Hillary was the only major candidate whose name was on the ballot in Michigan, running against "uncommitted," and that she is also favored to win Florida after none of the candidates campaigned in the state.

Unhappy Zip Codes

For all the talk of the overheated real estate markets in places like California and Florida, CNNMoney's list of the top 500 foreclosure zip codes is littered with rust belt locations, including Detroit and Flint. Overall, Michigan has 34 zip codes in the list. Detroit has four in the top ten. And 48504 — my old zip code encompassing Bassett Park — has the most foreclosures in Flint.