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Thistleoak

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Hey everyone,
I haven't dropped off the BoB again, I've been lurking lol. I've been quiet as of late but keeping up on my PMs. I have been doing a ton of legal research on certain kinds of cases and their outcomes looking for a ray of hope. The small town I live in is under fire, by one single person , who is backed by a civil rights activists group.  Before I go any farther my apologies, Blackhorse and Carlos if this needs to be moved go for it, but my intent isn't to stir up trouble, I am being very careful how I word this as not to upset anyone, those who are in regular communication with me off the BoB know my thoughts and have heard some creative new salty language from me as of late.  Let me begin with a history lesson.  Father Jacques Marquette was a French missionary and explorer who helped map and take the Michigan territory and some may argue the first Whiteman to traverse this land.  He mapped and founded St. Ignace Michigan along with trading and building healthy relationships with the indigenous people of the territory. Contrary to popular belief ( Wikipedia has even been edited recently to say he died in Illinois territory) his final resting place backed and recognized by the Vatican is Ludington Michigan,  more precise Pere Marquette township.  For the last 2 or 3 generations there has been what some call a shrine in his honor which was actually his final resting place.  There is a large Jesuit cross that marks this final resting place with plaque that tells a brief history of Father Marquette.  We are being sued by this individual who is offended by this historical marker, if it is not removed the city and township will more than likely have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to trhis man.  After checking FOIA and doing research on him it seems this is how he makes his living, he travels to areas gets offended and sues to have historical landmarks of this kind removed, he has done so in 3 other Michigan suits and a very hefty suit in Hawaii. KICKER OF IT IS THIS GUY DOESNT LIVE IN OUR TOWN!!!!! I along with pretty much everyone else in my town are researching law and cases similar to this to find some type of loop hole.  This has nothing to do with religion to us locals, but more an attack on our local history , we are proud of our heritage and history.  On a side personal note that 30 ft cross saved my life. I was 19 and out on my small boat in Pere Marquette Lake which is in between the Pere Marquette River ( we noticing a pattern here lol ) and Lake Michigan in late October Salmon fishing.  A white squall with super thick fog snuck in from the North, we had our lights on the boat but cou ldn't be seen as the fog was so thick and the 45 mph wind gusts were pushing us in an unseen direction,  there are quiet a few structural hazards in this lake from sunken vessels to jetty poles do using my compass was useless as even with direction in the fog you could still run afoul and sink and even though I'm a strong swimmer the water temperature would have claimed my young life before anyone even knew I was missing.   I was terrified, I was making peace with the creator and begging forgiveness for all my transgressions... I KNEW that this was how I was going to die. A trivial situation these days with smart phones with GPS and realtime maps you can have at your disposal in an instant..... unfortunately for me.... This was the days of the old indestructible Nokias..... standard with the black and white screen and the ground breaking game of snake.  As I was giving up hope of surviving this, I looked and just barely was able to make out Father Marquettes memorial,  his final resting place... that big ass cross! I knew that if I motored toward it that I could make it to shore ( 4 miles from my truck, but on dry land alive) at this point there was about a foot of water in my small boat , I was swamped and that Johnson Sea King was screaming and struggling to push my swamped craft.  It was a VERY tense 10 minutes with now 5 ft waves and 50 mph wind gusts but I made it, I opened up the throttle and grounded her hard as I knew I wouldn't be able to pull her on land with all the weight of the water, I tore the whole side of the bow out but I didn't and still don't care, I was alive.  I sat on the ground, my back leaning against Father Marquettes final resting place and thanked the creator.... Once I calmed down I was able to call my dad and let him know what happened.  Told him not to worry about getting my trailer from the launch as my boat was wrecked and we could just load it in the bed.  Later that week reading the local fishwraps story of the squall I found out 4 boats had sunk, 2 men parished and every coast guard boat and even two different choppers were rescuing on the big waters... they would have never noticed me at the mouth of the big water , the recounts of other fisherman told of how the fog was so thick flares were useless.   That Historical marker of an early explorer saved my skin!  I know watch in sadness as I can't return the favor..... :(
 
Crap like that really gets my goat! Best of luck trying to save your local history. Unfortunately in this day and age I don't see much hope for you. Wish I could at least point you in the right direction.


Sad days indeed
Jim
 
The Wiki is absolutely correct. You have to think in time.

When Jacques (Pere) Marquette died, where he died was Illinois Country. A part of New France (Nouvelle France on the maps of the time). This is well over a hundred years prior to the existence of Michigan Territory.

Not near enough history of this time period is taught in schools.
 
Carlos":sbq6ihkd said:
The Wiki is absolutely correct.  You have to think in time.

When Jacques (Pere) Marquette died, where he died was Illinois Country.  A part of New France (Nouvelle France on the maps of the time).  This is well over a hundred years prior to the existence of Michigan Territory.  

Not near enough history of this time period is taught in schools.
I know he and Joliett did a lot in that area as well, was my neck of the woods considered Illinois at that time frame?
 
Alex,

Sounds like you're dealing with a drive-by lawsuit person. California has been plagued by them. A disabled man named Scott Johnson has piled up over 2,000 lawsuits by going from town to town, finding ADA compliance issues with restaurants, bars and other local establishments. His MO was similar to what you describe. Find a potential legal issue, sue the crap out of people, rinse repeat. I am not talking gross offenses here, I am talking doors a half inch short in width, restroom mirrors slightly too high, crap like this. I even read about an owner of a gas station that was sued for not having a safety shield installed under a bathroom sink to prevent hot water from splashing onto the legs of someone in a wheel chair, but the sink wasn't even plumbed for hot water. This has gotten so out of hand that CA has adopted certain reforms to a specific civil rights act that mandates that businesses in violation of ADA compliances also pay for the plaintiff's legal fees. Anyway, this has been a gold-mine for a handful of serial-filers like Scott Johnson.
 
Thistleoak":qi8ercnm said:
Carlos":qi8ercnm said:
The Wiki is absolutely correct.  You have to think in time.

When Jacques (Pere) Marquette died, where he died was Illinois Country.  A part of New France (Nouvelle France on the maps of the time).  This is well over a hundred years prior to the existence of Michigan Territory.  

Not near enough history of this time period is taught in schools.
I know he and Joliett did a lot in that area as well, was my neck of the woods considered Illinois at that time frame?
Yes. The Spanish in the south near the Gulf of Mexico. The French to the north. British and Dutch to the east on the coast. Illinois Country was vast. Virtually all of the center of the North American continent may have been a part of it. It got whittled down into new states, new territories, part of it became the Louisiana Purchase. Part of it was called "upper Louisiana" for a time. In that time period, where Marquette died was Illinois Country.
 
Carlos":ggdljxgz said:
Thistleoak":ggdljxgz said:
Carlos":ggdljxgz said:
The Wiki is absolutely correct.  You have to think in time.

When Jacques (Pere) Marquette died, where he died was Illinois Country.  A part of New France (Nouvelle France on the maps of the time).  This is well over a hundred years prior to the existence of Michigan Territory.  

Not near enough history of this time period is taught in schools.
I know he and Joliett did a lot in that area as well, was my neck of the woods considered Illinois at that time frame?
Yes.  The Spanish in the south near the Gulf of Mexico.  The French to the north.  British and Dutch to the east on the coast.  Illinois Country was vast.  Virtually all of the center of the North American continent may have been a part of it.  It got whittled down into new states, new territories, part of it became the Louisiana Purchase.  Part of it was called "upper Louisiana" for a time.  In that time period, where Marquette died was Illinois Country.  

Thank you.  Now that I read that I kinda remember that from history class.
 
I feel your pain Alex. A while back there was one of those arseholes that came 'round and sued our sewer treatment plant for exceeding allowable discharge specs. While It's an old and inefficient system they do as best they can with what they have, and the reality was that the amounts they exceeded were trivial.

Apparently this guy goes all around the country filing lawsuits on older treatment plants just for the dough. What a douchebag!

:no:

Hope you folks can prevail and keep the monument.


No Cheers,

RR
 
:fpalm:

Your best defence is their offense. Push the Democratic Process. "The needs of the Many Outweigh the needs of the Few"

"Or the One"

The biggest issue is the precedent being set. Once in, the flood will eat away at the wall. Find precedents that proceed the impending new precedent. Grandfather clauses, artistic and historical preservation arguements. I'm confident you will find what you need to support YOUR rights and liberties in difference to a visitor's. I would invite that person to go to foriegn counties and exercise his 'rights' and feeling offended there. Abandon your emotions at the moment and make a concise intellectual counter strike.
 
Sounds like that is an historical marker, not a religious statue. Local government often caves in to this kind of thing, because they don’t want to pay to go to court. Even if they win, they still have to pay legal costs. So they do the cheap thing and pay. Can’t really blame them, local budgets being what they are. Is the statue on public land? Could it be moved to nearby private land? This kind of home grown Talibanism complete with troops of instant activists is ridiculous, but generates billable hours.
 
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