The African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County is having an Underground Railroad Bus Tour on Saturday, October 15, 2011 from noon-3:00 p.m. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes, hidden places, determined citizens and self-liberated people of color seeking freedom. Two essential routes to Detroit and ultimate safety in Canada crossed in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. […]

Break time.

Well, at least they don’t try to hide it anymore. Republican State Sen. Dave Robertson of Grand Blanc wants the governor to be able to appoint far more people in the government than he already does, saying “the heart of the issue is political power.”“ Michigan’s governor appoints about 100 people directly to run the departments of state government, but […]

I keep coming back to the derisive douchebaggery of Detroit News‘ editor Nolan Finley where he basically called Occupy Wall Street protesters animals (“menagerie of malcontents”) and people who “resent that some people have nice stuff and others don’t”. It’s a common refrain among the millionaire/billionaire apologists out there. Many of these people are tea partiers, of course, and the […]

Welly, well, well, well. Who whoulda thunk it? Favorability rating: UP 11 points Job approval rating: UP 6 points Congressional Republicans: DOWN a whopping 15 points! Poor David Nir at Daily Kos just can’t explain it. “I can tell you what changed in our cross-tabs,” he says, “but I can’t tell you why things changed.” It’s a complete mystery why […]

Occupy Wall Street protesters are taking their protest to the homes of mega-wealthy 1-percenters today and the march is now underway, according to a friend who just texted me Accompanied by an “unreal” number of camera crews, the protesters are protesting, in part, the expiration of a two-percent “millionaires tax” later this year. “99 per cent of the residents of […]

Local control, local government, local self-determination. These are the hallmarks of the tea party Republicans and conservatives in general. Recent efforts by Michigan Republicans prove conclusively that this is a lie. They are not interested in local control; they are interested in conservative control. Period. In September, I wrote about two bills passed by the House to limit domestic partner […]

Last month, I wrote about how Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman was being asked to recuse himself from the suit challenging the constitutionality of the Emergency Manager Law. Lawyers fighting Michigan’s tough new emergency manager law want a Michigan Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from the case because his wife represents the government in a separate lawsuit challenging […]

They’ve pretty much villified and demonized the unionized teachers in Michigan and taken every available step to stripping them of any ability to bargain for and/or receive decent labor agreements. So who is next on the Michigan Republican’s hitlist? Police and firefighters, of course. Police and fire unions are opposing a bill they said would limit compensation and suitable health […]

The University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council (UMPNC) has been in contract negotiations with the University of Michigan for over six months. The University has been holding firm on not making any significant concessions which is making the possibility of a strike by the 4000 unionized nurses more and more likely. I have a friend who is a U of […]

My good friends at the Washtenaw Community Action Team are hosting a film series and social forum called “The Power of Working People”. Their announcement follows. Highly recommended! The Washtenaw Community Action TeamPresents The Power of Working PeopleA Film Series and Social Forum The Washtenaw Community Action Team (WCAT) announces — The Power of Working People – A Film Series […]