We’ve been writing about Line 5, Enbridge’s 67-year-old twin pipelines under the straights of Mackinac for 5 years now: June 23, 2015 — Enbridge Line 5 pipeline beneath Straits of Mackinac – too old, unsafe, and a threat to the Great Lakes September 10, 2015 — As protesters call for Straits of Mackinac oil pipeline to be shut down, Enbridge […]

Welcome to 2020 Recall the great civility freakout of 2018. Polite society rose up to speak on behalf poor Sarah Huckabee Sanders who — in the midst of an uproar over the unlawful kidnapping of thousands of children, many of whom still haven’t been returned to their families, by this administration — was asked to leave a restaurant after receiving […]

“Two North” is a story about a Christmas when I was in grade school during a period when my mom was spending time on the psychiatric ward of our town’s hospital after trying to commit suicide to escape a physically-abusive husband. I was thirteen. It was a cataclysmic event in our lives but it brought us together into a two-person […]

The case for Trump’s impeachment is proven but the message must be hammered New documents sent to the Center for Public Integrity confirm both articles of impeachment for Donald Trump passed by the House of Representatives last week. In files a court ordered the Department of Defense to release on Friday, we learn that Trump asked about aid to the […]

In the aftermath of the recent Public Education Forum in Pittsburgh last week, I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of education reform related posts on social media. Unfortunately, just as with our more strictly political dialogue these days, it can be difficult to distinguish between facts and “Corporate-Reform-Agenda-Propaganda” (i.e., CRAP), or #alternativefacts. In the spirit of giving, I offer […]

We need to know William Barr’s role in the Ukraine scandal Besides all the things he wasn’t impeached for, the most remarkable thing about the impeachment of Donald Trump is how accurate the whistleblower’s complaint has turned out to be. This was a point Marcy Wheeler made to us several weeks back, and she suggested that this is why Trump […]

The following opinion editorial was written by Cayley Winters, the West Michigan Communications Organizer for Progress Michigan. She is from Battle Creek and shares her perspective on Donald Trump and Mike Pence holding a rally there today, in the Congressional District of Congressman Justin Amash, an ardent opponent of Trump who left the Republican Party over his opposition to Trump’s […]

“The partisan divide in the country was on stark display Monday as U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin explained her decision to support the impeachment of President Donald Trump. A small contingent of Trump supporters chanted, hollered and booed throughout the entire town hall, making it difficult to hear any of her explanation. The majority of the audience, however, was in Slotkin’s […]

I just got home from Pittsburgh where Chris Savage and I were covering the Public Education Forum for Eclectablog, and have been looking forward to sharing my thoughts on what transpired. Before we get to the candidates’ performances, I want to make sure to congratulate the organizers of this event, especially Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, and […]

The GOP gave up on elections when they saw how well stealing Florida in 2000 worked Consider three stories from this week: 1. Georgia closed 214 polling places from 2012-2018. That prevented between 54,000 to 85,000 people from casting ballots, finds new @ajc investigation. Stacey Abrams missed runoff by 21,000 votes. Black voters 20% more likely than whites to be […]

Given that education consistently ranks among the top issues for voters in most public opinion polls, with the vast majority (82%) of parents of school-aged children reporting that they are either “somewhat” or “completely satisfied” with their child’s education, one could be forgiven for being flummoxed by the near-absence of questions about teachers, schools, or education in general at any […]