It's Official

by: ScottyUrb

Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 18:41:03 PM EST

The Hon. Mark Schauer, Member of Congress for Michigan's Seventh District

The Hon. Gary Peters, Member of Congress for Michigan's Ninth District

With the new Congress having convened today, let's congratulate Michigan's two new Democratic Members of Congress!

Jump below the fold to find out how to contact your members of Congress!

Detroit Seniors Going Hungry Increase

by: DianeS

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 12:20:30 PM EST

The Detroit News reports:

Ruby Allen can't remember the last time she went grocery shopping.

Instead, she relies on whatever food her children drop off, and the five frozen Meals on Wheels dinners delivered to her home each Monday.

"Without the meals, it would be hard for me to get three meals a day," the 80-year-old Detroiter said. "It would be breakfast and whatever I can get for lunch or dinner. Meals on Wheels helps me get through the week. I always tell people we were raised during the Great Depression. You learn to survive. You learn to make do with what you have."

But an increasing number of seniors don't have enough to make do. According to a recent national AARP survey, 59 percent of people 65 and older said rising costs and a tightening economy have made it more difficult for them to pay for essentials such as food, medicine and gas.

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan reports that 41,579 unique callers ages 50 and older telephoned its 211 helpline in 2008 for such basic needs, up from 16,702 callers in that age range in 2007. Detroit Meals on Wheels, which serves more than 1 million meals a year to people 60 and older, has a waiting list of nearly 700 hungry seniors, according to the Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

Below the fold, contact info for agencies that may be able to help, as well as ways to be of assistance...

An Alan named Cropsey beats down anti-bully measure

by: Eric B.

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 11:39:39 AM EST

So, finally, we learn why the state Legislature couldn't pass the anti-bullying measure last year ... the Alan named Cropsey pushed it into a snowbank and took its milk money.

The proposed bill, which would have helped schools craft anti-bullying policies, failed to be enacted before the last session of the current Michigan Legislature concluded Friday, Dec. 19.

It was killed by Sen. Majority Leader Alan Cropsey.

...snip...

Richardville, the president pro-tem of the Senate, said he will continue to make anti-bullying efforts a priority.

"It's a problem that won't go away. It will only get worse," Richardville said by telephone Dec. 30.

"Every moment or every day that we wait, a child might be bullied, beaten up or worse."

That's Monroe Republican Randy Richardville to you, sunshine. The Alan named Cropsey refused even his own caucus members to let the bill come to a vote.

It required more than the Alan named Cropsey to kill it, too.  Congressional candidate Wayne Kuipers held the bill in his committee for more than a year.

The bill would require schools to craft an anti-bullying policy and hold inservice training.  The Right has criticized the legislation as "special rights" treatment for gay and lesbian students.

My personal response is that at the beginning of the year, there must have been a great many gay and lesbian students in my son's first grade class.  There were a group of boys who pushed around the other kids to where it was distracting from the learning environment, and it stopped only after one of the kids was transferred to a different class with fewer kids and another one moved away.

Coincidentally, my son's first grade class is in the state Senate district represented by the Alan named Cropsey.  Way to represent, d00d.

And we're still working on second hand smoke

by: Eric B.

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 10:28:26 AM EST

In the first of a two-part episode called "Common sense shit killed last year by Alan Cropsey," we go to New York, or at least the New York Times.

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.

That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.

Doctors from MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston coined the term “third-hand smoke” to describe these chemicals in a new study that focused on the risks they pose to infants and children. The study was published in this month’s issue of the journal Pediatrics.

“Everyone knows that second-hand smoke is bad, but they don’t know about this,” said Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

Parents of asthmatic children have probably heard this ... if their kid was ever treated by a pediatric pulmonary expert.  At least, that's when I first heard about it.

This is actually very basic stuff.  You go into a place where people are smoking.  The smoking doesn't just wipe away cleanly from you, sticking only to your lung tissue.  I mean, anyone else do the experiment where you go into a bar, walk home, and the next morning awake to find your hair and clothes smelling like an ash tray?

Like with anything else involving cigarettes, contained within that stink are toxins and ash particulates that not only can prompt asthma attacks but are in general very bad for you.

more... 

Thousands protest Gaza bombing in Dearborn

by: DianeS

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 01:41:51 AM EST

Via the Dearborn Press and Guide:

The large, peaceful group gathered in protest of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip that have killed several hundred people in the last week, according to United Nations figures. Those in attendance could be heard - by the large number of vehicles that stopped in the area - yelling out several chants, including "Bring free Palestine," "One, two, three, four, stop the killing, stop the war," and "Bush and Olmert, you can't hide. You are guilty of genocide."

"This is a call for justice and a call for peace," said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Several local and national groups are also urging concerned parties to contact elected officials with the hopes of ending the war, as well.

"This whole war has been very ugly and what the people of Gaza are facing is true genocide," said Hamad, who added the crowd was one of the biggest he has seen for a protest.

There were even protests just down the road from my neck of the woods, across the border in Toledo, Ohio  on Friday, where several hundred people gathered to call for an end to the violence.

More below the fold...  

'Half man, half dinosaur'

by: DianeS

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 21:32:35 PM EST

A tragic tale involving a Michigan soldier in Detroit News today:

Steven Kelsey is jailed without bond on one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony murder in the New Year's Eve attack on his 17-year-old sister, Jesika, Oakland County Sheriff's officials said.

Kelsey, in a confession read in court Saturday morning, allegedly told authorities that after stabbing Jesika in the neck, he stabbed his sister at least once in an eye -- in an attempt to jab into her brain.

Kelsey stood mute and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

He also confessed to raping his sister, sheriff's officials said, but was not charged with sexual assault.

Kelsey is held without bond in the Oakland County Jail without bond in the slaying.

There has been a growing focus of late on violence committed by returning Iraq war veterans, and while this young man had not yet deployed, apparently, he indeed passed all the screening required by the military. 

Exactly what is revealed in these screenings, and reportedly  disregarded in some cases by the military, is cause for concern.

 Continued below the fold...

Saul Gets His WaPo Shout-Out

by: kelster

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 09:37:35 AM EST

A regional divide has emerged between North and South, with former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael S. Steele and Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis pitted against Saltsman of Tennessee and Katon Dawson, the South Carolina party chairman. While not criticizing the candidates or party members from the South, Steele and Anuzis have emphasized the importance of competing in states where the GOP has struggled in recent years.  "If we are a party that can speak to Utah, South Carolina and Kansas, but can't reach voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will be a losing party," Anuzis has said. "We must adopt a strategy that carries our message to every state." The Michigan leader has also tried to cast himself as a different kind of Republican, noting that he is a member of the Teamsters union and a rider of a Harley-Davidson Road King.

Michigan's growing film industry

by: Eric B.

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 13:37:13 PM EST

More signs that the tax breaks offered the film industry last year are a complete and abject failure and should be repealed.

State film officials say they are on the verge of sealing an $80 million development deal that would create three film and television production studios in southeast Michigan, boosting one of the state's few fast-growing industries.

Two of the potential locations for the permanent studios -- including one in Detroit -- haven't been used in years, while the third site would have to be built. One of the facilities would be a multi-studio complex that would occupy up to 130 acres, state officials confirmed. Another facility would be geared toward post-production work, such as audio and editing.

But, yet, do we really know if we can afford the tax breaks that made this possible?

Against this stands the conservative line that government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners and losers in the market.  This isn't a reason to reject that line of thinking, by the way, but evidence that reality has rejected that line of thinking.  If you aren't a big fan of reality, then you could still make that argument.

On the other hand, if you don't want government in the business of picking winners and losers, you should probably not be happy that Chrysler got its first $4 billion in loan money.  You should also be pretty ticked off at Sen. Richard Shelby, whose home state of Alabama spent billions luring Toyota and Honda.  The rest of us who don't approach things with such a rigid, inflexible approach to ideology get to wallow in our relatively while sleeping the sleep of the shameless at night.

Building Our Party: Our Vision for the Democratic Party

by: ScottyUrb

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 16:52:39 PM EST

• The Democratic Party needs to be more cohesive, better organized, and responsive to the needs and desires of all of its members (not just the wealthiest donors).
• Elected officials need to know the views of their constituents - and why they hold these views.
• Citizens need to realize that active citizenship requires more than just voting every so often.
• President Obama will need our help in making progressive policy, because...
• The people of this country - indeed, of the world - need food, clothing, shelter, a top-notch education, superb health care, a clean environment, the opportunity to work for a decent wage, and so much more.

Recently I discussed some of the values I hold, and why these values make me a Democrat. Over the next several days I will be sharing a lot of what I believe we as grassroots progressive Democrats and as bloggers can do to build better communities, a better Party, and a better society. Join me below the fold, where I discuss what I envision for our Democratic Party. Please, add your own thoughts! After all, this is OUR party!

Wishes for a New Year

by: Eric B.

Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 11:32:59 AM EST

Well, The Twilight Zone is on the Sci-Fi channel, and I see that the Clint Eastwood marathon has started on AMC, so it must be New Years Eve.  Have a happy, safe holiday to all of you.

Here shortly, new members of the state House will be sworn in.  It also means a bigger majority of Democrats, which you'd think would mean good things, except that the Speaker of the House always manages to disappoint and that there is still an obstructionist majority in the state Senate.

Below the fold, my wish list for the new Legislature.  That is, beyond the obvious, which is an economic turn around.  Everything listed relates in some way to the environment.  What can I say ... I'm an environmentalist.

more...

New Year's Eve Open Thread

by: ScottyUrb

Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 00:44:39 AM EST

• How are you celebrating New Year's? This will be the 14th time I've watched the ball drop on TV. My aunt and mom will join me for the party. This will be my first New Year's since I turned 21!
• It's that time of year again - time for an iconic tradition that is sure to be a game changer on Wall Street and Main Street! Yes, Lake Superior State University has released its annual List of Words and Phrases Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness!
• "A Horrible Year for Michigan Mercifully Ends," declares the title of this article on WZZM13.com. May 2009 bring us a better economy, more influence in politics, less scandal at Detroit City Hall, and better football.
• Per state law, state and county elected officials who were elected at the November election will take office for their new terms at noon on New Year's Day (except for Andy Meisner in Oakland County, who takes office in July; thanks to Brainwrap for pointing that out in the comments). So, starting 721 minutes into 2009, we will be able to refer to Justice Hathaway, Representative Scripps, and Prosecutor Cooper without using the suffix -elect after their new titles!

On behalf of all of us at Michigan Liberal...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Russian academic reveals The Guv's role in secret plot

by: Eric B.

Mon Dec 29, 2008 at 09:06:33 AM EST

Now we see the real reason why Jennifer Granholm ran for, and won, the governorship at the precise time that she did.  It was all part of a cunning plan to bring the state of Michigan into the sphere of Canadian influence.  Read here.

Is it a coincidence that a high-powered, Harvard-educated lawyer with so many flagrantly Canadian qualities about her just happened to become Michigan's governor eight years before the country is predicted to collapse into turmoil and put our state under a despotic Canadian rule?  Our only salvation is that in December of 2012 the Mayan calendar ends, which presages the world's doom.

The price of coal

by: Eric B.

Sat Dec 27, 2008 at 14:21:03 PM EST

Who could have foreseen that sawing off the tops of mountains, digging out coal, and burning that coal would produce solid waste laced with toxic metals ... or that we might yet see a day where that waste was contained ruptured, spilling it out into nearby neighborhoods and rivers.  Lansing is apparently lucky.

Safeguards for Lansing's coal ash storage area should prevent the kind of spill that now is threatening a community in easternTennessee, officials said.

The North Lansing Landfill - the city's only landfill storing the ash - is equipped to contain it from seeping into the city's underground water supply, said Mark Nixon, spokesman for the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which places its ash at the site.

"We created a 110-foot slurry wall out of liquid clay that is an impenetrable barrier," Nixon said.

On the other hand, the Superfund cleanup site in St. Louis (Gratiot County) is where a sludge cocktail of chemicals related to the manufacture worked its way through a slurry wall and at one point threatened the local drinking water.

Also, with the heavy snow earlier this week, followed by 50 degree temps and rain, we may yet see what have become common and frantic wintertime e-mails from the Sierra Club's Michigan chapter about how various sewage lagoons surrounding various CAFOs have filled to capacity and threaten to foul nearby rivers with untreated swine waste (Vreba-Hoff, we're looking in your direction...). (By the way ... it's again worth pointing out that if you object to this kind of thing happening, Alan Cropsey says that you hate farmers and should stop eating.)

The lesson worth learning ... solid waste ain't safe as long as it's just sitting around.  No matter how many reassurances are offered, there is always the law of unintended consequences. Also, coal sucks.  Also, there is no such thing as clean coal.

RIP Staff Sgt. Christopher Smith, 28 (Grand Rapids); Spc. Stephen Okray, 21 (St. Clair Shores)

by: Eric B.

Sat Dec 27, 2008 at 13:31:49 PM EST

From the AP:

Two soldiers from Michigan who were among three who died when their vehicle crashed on Christmas Eve in Baghdad are being remembered by relatives for their devotion to their families.

The Department of Defense on Friday identified the soldiers as Staff Sgt. Christopher G. Smith, 28, of Grand Rapids; Spc. Stephen M. Okray, 21, of St. Clair Shores; and Spc. Stephen G. Zapasnik, 19, of Broken Arrow, Okla.

Smith and Okray are the 167th and 168th servicemen with known ties to Michigan to have died in the war in Iraq.

What's worthwhile about newspapers...

by: Eric B.

Fri Dec 26, 2008 at 11:01:36 AM EST

Jack Lessenberry devoted his entire column in this week's Metro Times to the coming distribution changes at the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. You know, the changes that mean that papers plan to focus more on pixels than ink.  These paragraphs, near the end, jump out.

Frankly, I hope I am wrong, that these papers thrive and flourish. I hope that they don't pull the plug on the News, the stronger news product, and that the Free Press discovers that Matty Moroun may be far more important, in the final analysis, than one sleazy mayor who learned how to text-message.

However, if you look back on the various promises and predictions Gannett has made since it arrived to suck the lifeblood out of the Detroit News (See Bryan Gruley's excellent book Paper Losses) you can't be too very optimistic.

Newspapers nationwide are in crisis, thanks in large part to changing media tastes, but also to greed and mismanagement. But they are desperately needed; otherwise, Kwame Kilpatrick would still be mayor, Richard Nixon would have gone on abusing power, and citizens of 10,000 towns would not have a clue how their government works. We need to make sure newspapers continue to thrive, and that everyone has an opportunity to read them too.

For the same reasons that Lessenberry thinks that the new circulation model, which isn't really circulation but trying to squeeze blood from the Internet turnip, I dissent from the last sentence from the excerpted section.

We don't need to make sure newspapers survive.  That is, we don't need newspaper companies to survive, and the newspaper itself is a 19th century product that is dying in the early 21st century.

more...