I suppose this column will disappoint some readers and thrill others. Probably all for the wrong reasons. Nevertheless … I really have become disappointed with President Barack Obama. Discouraged and disappointed. I had hoped for and expected a lot when Barack Obama took office following the eight interminable years of George Bush’s administration. (And, no! [...]
Women in general decide elections. They vote in larger numbers than men. Independent women, more specifically, wield tremendous electoral power because they don’t vote the party, they vote the person. When a relatively unknown congressman from Pleasant Ridge ran the first time for governor, it was wife Paula Blanchard who suggested to then hubby Jamie [...]
To the Editor: On Sunday, May 19th, I was on a motorcycle ride with my wife and friends headed north on US37. Passing US10, my bike failed to shift and I had to pull over in the midst of 100’s of motorcycles leaving the Blessing of the Bikes. Almost instantly a MSP Trooper pulled in [...]
TO THE EDITOR: Over one million Michiganders are uninsured today. As the Michigan Legislature finalizes the state budget, they have a tremendous opportunity to extend coverage to 450,000 Michigan adults, including 866 Lake County residents with income below 133 percent of poverty. I encourage them to take advantage of it. Last week HB 4714 was [...]
At times, legislation that was considered to be dead due to lack of sufficient support, unexpectedly re-emerges with a real chance of being passed by the legislature. The phrase often used for this phenomenon at the Capitol is “the corpse just winked.” Clearly, when a measure that had been decidedly “off the table” suddenly reappears [...]
Life is hard at times isn’t it? I mean life is tough sometimes! Our jobs and our families and our spouses can get the best of us at times. With everything in this world that tries to wrestle for our time and energy we find ourselves dealing with temptation on a regular basis. Whether it [...]
“What if our brave soldiers were told they couldn’t practice their religion? That they were able to fight for OUR religious freedoms but they couldn’t practice their own?” – U.S. Rep Michelle Bachmann Horrifying. How frightening to think that a soldier or soldiers in the U.S. military could not practice their own religion. Thank [...]
Amy Meyer was curious. Then she was appalled. Then she was charged with the “crime” of using a cell phone to video what appalled her. Welcome to the Brave New World of “ag-gag” laws being pushed by agribusiness corporations to stop reporters, workers, animal rights advocates, and even curious 25-year-old truth-seekers like Meyer from recording [...]
Every effective leader had one. President Nixon had Bob Halderman. Gov. Milliken had his Jerry Miller. Gov. Blanchard relied on the whiz kid Bob Bowman. Gov. John Engler had Gov. John Engler and Gov. Granholm had John Cherry, though most in town believe he was heavily under-utilized. Nonetheless these leaders had that somebody who could [...]
There’s an amusing story that demonstrates how focusing too much on just one aspect of a situation sometimes obliterates one’s view of the bigger picture. Once there was a lonely magician who went to a pet shop seeking a companion. “You’re in luck,” the shop clerk told him. “We have a parrot for sale that [...]