What the Michigan gubernatorial Democratic primary reveals about the thirst for progressive policies Two huge themes have preoccupied much of the coverage of the Democratic primaries this year: There’s the “drive to elect women” story and the “progressive policies are sweeping the party even if progressive candidates aren’t” refrain. These two themes collided Tuesday night with the primary victory of […]

Last week, 550 gallons of coolant containing toxic organic solvents (alkyl derivatives of benzene, specifically) were released into Lake Michigan from an electrical transmission cable running under the Straits of Mackinac. It happened because a ship went through the Straits dragging its anchor. (UPDATE: It appears that it was a tugboat owned by VanEnkevort Tug & Barge.) Enbridge Energy clearly […]

Repeat after me: Primaries are good. Primaries are good. Primaries are good… I used to believe that primaries were a waste of precious fundraising dollars and that they unnecessarily bloodied up our general election candidate. But in 2014, after Mark Schauer was defeated in his run for governor after facing no primary opponent, I changed my views. I came to […]

Most governors with a history of poisoning an entire city of Black people, an administration full of corruption and ineptitude, and with a laundry list of pro-corporate policies that have harmed the state in myriad ways would probably spend their final months in office being as non-controversial and quiet as possible. Not so with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. Despite his […]

“[Republican] Gov. Rick Snyder proposed legislation Monday to offset what he said would amount to an unintended $1.5-billion annual tax increase for Michigan residents resulting from the recent federal tax reform package.” That’s the lead sentence in an article in the Detroit Free Press from yesterday titled “Snyder proposes plan to offset federal tax reform for Michigan taxpayers“. The article […]

There’s one thing you can say about Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: He has zero #$@&%*!s to give when it comes to how things look or are perceived by the public. Today we have Exhibit A in this regard: Gov. Snyder has appointed Michgan’s chief medical executive Dr. Eden Wells to lead the newly-formed Public Health Advisory Council: Gov. Rick Snyder […]

The only thing Jane Lumm is ‘independent’ of is Ann Arbor’s values Jane Lumm, incumbent candidate for Ann Arbor’s city council in the 2nd Ward, ran as a Republican from 1993 until 2011. Tuesday, she’ll be on the ballot as an “independent.” You may not have believed Maya Angelou when she said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them […]

In these days of turmoil and strife, the odds are stacked against the average American. We’re in the fight of our lifetimes to save Medicaid and Medicare from Donald Trump and his Republican supplicants in Congress. We’re up against prosecutors and judges who think it’s more important to save welfare dollars than to keep a woman raped as a child […]

Hallelujah This afternoon, Sanilac Probate Judge Gregory S. Ross, the man who awarded joint custody to a serial child rapist with the woman he raped when she was 12 years old, reversed his decision and stayed his order and ordered a new hearing next week: A Sanilac County judge Tuesday stayed his controversial ruling granting a convicted rapist joint custody […]

More details have emerged in the disgusting story of Sanilac County Probate judge Gregory S. Ross who awarded a serial child rapist joint custody with his rape victim who he impregnated when he raped her as a 12-year old child. The Detroit News is reporting that his second victim, a woman he raped when she was 14, has come forward […]

Over the weekend I posted a piece about Sanilac Probate Judge Gregory S. Ross awarding joint custody of a 9-year old boy, the child of the woman he raped when she was 12 years old. Christopher Mirasolo held the girl and her sister captive for two days, impregnating her during that time. Under a plea deal, he served only six […]