EclectaLadies and EclectaGentlemen! Announcing our latest project: THE SAVAGE FEAST! As most of you probably know from reading Eclectablog, I am married to one of the most talented photographers in the country, Anne Savage. You also probably know that the two of us have a passion for food. Gardening. Local foods. Organic foods. Cooking. Food preservation. It’s all a major […]

The University of Michigan set a new record this week. And it’s not one I think is particularly pride-worthy, quite frankly. Michigan football coach Brady Hoke finalized his salary with the university earlier this week when he signed a six-year contract with an average annual compensation of $3.25 million. Seriously? $3.25 MILLION a freaking YEAR??? All these cries about how […]

Talking Points Memo has an exclusive report detailing sweeping Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to three of the biggest universities in Michigan. The universities involved are Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. The Mackinac Center For Public Policy, based in Midland, Mich., submitted the FOIA requests last Friday […]

With all this talk about deficit reduction these day from both sides of the Congressional aisle, I was interested to learn this morning that there is actually a mechanism for members of Congress to return part of their salary ($174,000 per year for non-leadership positions) to be used toward reducing the deficit. Sure, it would be a token effort; symbolic, […]

Just after Tim Walberg took office this year, I went to his official Congressional website and signed up to receive his constituent emails. I waited and waited and no emails came. Then, one day recently, a friend of mine forwarded his latest email to me with some comments. I checked my email folder. No Walberg email. I checked my spam […]

For the past 6 months, I’ve been predicting that the east side of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, which includes Chelsea, Dexter, Scio Township and tiny bit of Ann Arbor, will get lumped in with Congressman John Dingell‘s 15th District during this year’s redistricting process. The Republicans in Michigan have the keys to pretty much every office involved in redistricting. With […]

Planned Parenthood arrived in Ann Arbor, Michigan yesterday with its giant pink bus. They are currently on a tour around the country to raise awareness about the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood’s Big Pink Bus All photos by Anne C. Savage — please do not use without permission Over 500 supporters showed up to show that they […]

Every year at the Netroots Nation conference, a group of very hard-working, compassionate and caring people step up to help our men and women in the armed forces in an impressive way. They spend the year raising funds and soliciting contributions and then, in a several hour frenzy of activity, they assemble CARE packages to be sent to our troops […]

It’s not often I am rendered completely bewildered and speechless by a news item but this morning, I am. And, big surprise, it’s because of news coming out of Arizona. What would you think if you read this? …[A]rmored vehicles, including a tank, rolled into their neighborhood to make the bust. Neighbor Debra Ross was so worried she called 911 […]

You may recall me writing about how the Michigan city of Allen Park planned to layoff their entire fire department. Well, they have reversed that decision. But not before wringing concessions out of their fire fighters. Of course. The Allen Park City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to rescind layoff notices that were sent to the city’s 26 firefighters last […]

Yes, you read that right: outlawing workplace safety rules. Governor Rick Snyder has, apparently, identified one of the chief reasons Michigan businesses aren’t successful and why businesses refuse to come to Michigan: they are afraid we’ll pass a law requiring businesses to implement ergonomically safe workplaces. Well, they need not worry anymore. Today, Snyder signed a bill outlawing laws that […]