Long-term readers of this site probably know about the State Policy Network (SPN). This is the Koch brothers-funded network of state-based “think tanks” used to spread anti-worker, pro-corporate propaganda with the goal of changing policy and laws in states to favor businesses and to harm the positions of workers. Working with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Americans for Prosperity, […]

The outpouring of support and help from around the country and around the globe to help the people living in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is as astonishing as it is heartwarming. There are a couple that are worth noting because they are the least likely to want to do ANYTHING to help Donald Trump’s America. First, Mexico stands ready […]

We’ve seen this movie before… Last month, disinfectant dispensing equipment that chlorinates the drinking water supply of Flint, Michigan ran dry, allowing untreated water to be distributed to city residents. According to documents obtained by MLive reporter Ron Fonger, a plant worker attributed the mistake to water plant staff members who are severely over-worked and under-paid: A Flint water plant […]

Native Americans protest Enbridge’s Line 5 in shadow of the Mackinac Bridge Under the Straits of Mackinac, just west of our iconic Mackinac Bridge, there is a set of two pipelines known as Line 5 which are owned by the Enbridge oil company. They were built in 1953, making them 64 years old this year, and before the Great Lakes […]

In one of the major labor victories since Republicans made the birthplace of organized labor in America a so-called “right to work” state, 1000+ nurses at Traverse City’s Munson Medical Center will now be represented by a union for the first time: A vote to unionize registered nurses at Munson Medical Center will soon be certified. The two-day election took […]

Connor Bridges from Fowlerville reached out to his state senator Joe Hune this week to express his disappointment in his continued support of Resident Donald Trump. What followed may be the most unprofessional behavior by an elected state legislator toward one of his constituents that I’ve ever witnessed: Click to embiggen The rally Connor speaks of was a gathering of […]

As you may know, I am the Chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party in Michigan. We’re in a liberal bubble where the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University are. Yesterday, following Donald Trump’s egregious “Both Sides” defense of fascists, our Executive Board composed a press release and then reached out to our Republican counterparts in the Washtenaw County […]

One of the big questions of for today’s Americans is “What would you have done when the fascists were rising to power in the run-up to World War II?” We no longer need to ask that question because will now be able to see precisely what we WILL do. My grandfather knew. He enlisted in the Army and went off […]

Anne and I are friends with Nikki Joly from my hometown of Jackson, Michigan. On Thursday of this week, the home she shares with her partner, Chris Moore, was destroyed by a fire, killing their two German Shepherds and three cats. In addition to being a nurse and a veteran, Joly is the director of the Jackson Pride Center and […]

In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, documents that contradicted Big Brother’s enforced worldview were burned by sending them down the Memory Hole by the Ministry of Truth. It’s a frightening concept really, that the government could control our thoughts and memories by eradicating any it doesn’t like. That is no longer a concept, it’s being put into practice by the […]

If you’ve been watching the ever-increasing demonization of teachers in Michigan over the past decade, you probably have asked yourself at one time or another, “Why the hell would ANYONE want to be a teacher in Michigan?” It’s a fair question. Republicans in our state legislature have cut their benefits, based their advancement on student progress when much of what […]