Health Care
June 8, 2009
As our nation’s law makers gear up for the health care debate and I, having recently found a job had the privilege to choose my first very own health care plan, I need to share this video. Funny, I didn’t see the place to sign up for the second option this grandpa mentioned.
Wings do it again
May 15, 2009
Great article in the Free Press today about the Wings game 7 win last night versus the annoying Anaheim Ducks. Female hockey reporter (unique, right?), Krista Jahnke had a fresh take on Detroit and what it means for the Wings to continue to win: it is fun!
Jahnke writes:
Is this the end for them?
May 13, 2009
Bob Herbert is on point
May 12, 2009
This is a must read:
New York Times Op-Ed: “What Color Is that Baby?” By Bob Herbert
“It’s a searing double-standard that tells us volumes about the ways in which we view one another, and whose lives are considered to have value in this society and whose are not. Another disturbing aspect of the coverage is the extreme prurient interest that drives it. The press goes wild over stories about murderous attacks on women who are young, attractive and white.
A closer look at how and why the news media covers some of these stories is overdue. I’d like to see more coverage, not less, of murderous violence in the U.S. But I’d like that coverage to be much broader, more meaningful and less sensationalized.”
Morning pick me up
May 12, 2009
Thanks, Julia
Immigration Reform
May 11, 2009
Like my country, immigration reform is something I have struggled to completely wrap my head around. In one sense since the beginning of this nation the most recent immigrant group has been marginalized, ghettoized and discriminated against. The Polish lived in a separate part of town from the Irish from the Italian, etc. And yes, most of the immigrants who entered in the United States during the great waves of immigration were processed through Ellis Island or done so legally. Of course, I am sure not everyone entering our country during those historic times were legally processed but it is safe to say most did.
Many immigrants who enter into our country today do so legally as well. There was a great LA Times article today about the large numbers of immigrants recently naturalized in California and how that will change the way the state votes. But as we all are aware of there a many folks who enter this country and stay here illegally. It is because of the large number of folks who are here and didn’t enter into the proper legal channels to gain work permits and citizenship that we hear about terrible raids on communities and factories.
What I do know is the technology and resources that have been ramped up in efforts to round up those who are in this country illegally pale in comparison to the resources provided and technological improvements that have been made since the days of Ellis Island. Yes we need to make our borders more secure, too many humans have died as a result of an insecure boarder. But our efforts in naturalizing immigrants need to be improved 100 fold.
The video I posted above brought me to tears and all I can say is that I hope this young boy becomes an immigration lawyer. And if ICE doesn’t alter their way of doing business by the time he does, all I can say is, look out!
ILVTOFU
May 11, 2009
How do you interpret this denied vanity license plate?
It took me a minute but I got around to understing how it might be misinterpreted. The LA Times ran an interesting story about a vegan woman’s love for tofu and her desire to share it with motorists stuck behind her in traffic and how it has lead to intriguing free speech law suit.
“All Kelley Coffman-Lee wanted to do was broadcast her love of tofu to the driving public. So the Colorado vegan applied to the state’s Department of Revenue for a vanity license plate for her Suzuki SL7 carrying the message: ILVTOFU. Clerks at her local motor vehicle office approved the plate — but it did not escape the discerning eyes of state revenue officials, who detected another way that Coffman-Lee’s penchant for tofu could be read.
Not only that, but Coffman-Lee’s pithy ode to soy went straight onto the department’s list of letter combinations banned under a state law that permits authorities to weed out those applications deemed “offensive to good taste or decency.”
Others that haven’t passed muster: OBITEME, 2EROTIC and PASSGAS. The list has grown to 2,744 entries over the years as residents apply for creative letter combinations to express their personal preferences. “Ever since we’ve had vanity plates, there’s been someone trying to slip one by us,” Couch said…
Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has entered the fray, questioning what it calls censorship by the state. The ACLU has obtained the list of banned phrases. The list reveals “the more serious ways in which this attempt to purge offensive words has wound up being an effort to censor ideas and viewpoints,” said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado ACLU. He noted that the list includes: BADUSA, 4HEMP and OK2BGAY.”
Jesus Christ
May 7, 2009
FoxNews has done it again. I challenge you to watch this segment with a straight face. If you don’t hear something that is completely absurd please leave me a comment informing me of how far off base I am.
Highlights/lowlights (These hosts are such twits):
(1:10) Shouldn’t our President lead by example?
(1:40) Obama is making a political decision about this and I don’t think we should include prayer in a political decision (that is the point, idiot. He isn’t pushing prayer on what should be a Secular Governement).
(2:40) Obama made time to go to Ray’s Hell Burger in public but not to go to church to pray in public.
FoxNews: fair, balanced, and confused…
Photoshop, I don’t think so
May 4, 2009
Believe it, there is actually a car there. This incredible young lady actually painted the car to look as if it was invisible.
How dare you
May 1, 2009
How dare you put out a video so inflammatory, so racist, so full bullshit and propaganda? I almost don’t want to repost this video but I feel I should so more people can see it and become as enraged at the example of politics at its lowest as I am.
Utterly distastefull and grossly neglegent. Fuck you, John Boehner. You are a pathetic excuse for an American.
Damn you, Mitch
April 30, 2009
I just took a few minutes to read an article from the online version of the Detroit Free Press depicting the promising start for the youngest player in the majors, 20-year-old Tiger starter, Rick Porcello. I can’t lie. I was swept away by the eloquant writing. I felt as if I was there, as if I was the 20 year Tiger starter who grew up a Mets fans, hating the Yanks and holding them scoreless thorugh three innings. Much to my chagrin, when I reached the end of the column I read:
“Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com“
The damn piece was written by a guy I can’t stand. Well, everyone can get lucky sometime, right? But honestly, do yourself a favor and take a look at it:
Up-and-down night for new kid in town
Swine flu is spreading rapidly
April 30, 2009
Do you have swine flu? chek your symptoms here:
You have to be kidding me
April 24, 2009
I’m from the school of thought that everyone should have the right to vote, but this Michelle Bachmann character really makes me rethink my stance. Sorry Minnesota, I’ll let you slide on the ridiculous accent but to think you people actually voted for this wench? I know this is not the first outrageous statement she has ever made but it is the latest.
Tip of the hat to Thinkprogress for the video
Oy Vey
April 24, 2009
Can’t Believe It
April 24, 2009
I want to applaud Shepare Smith? After watching this clip, I bet you will to. Check it out:
Happy Earth Day
April 22, 2009
ripped from Daily Kos:
From Bill in Portland, Maine:
From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
I have never seen…
A bison throw a cigarette butt out a car window
A flock of geese rip the top off a mountain
A seal cause an oil spill
A hippo drive a Hummer off a dealer’s lot
A lemur leave the faucet dripping
A raccoon go out for the evening and leave all the lights in the house on
A bobcat fight legislation to lower smokestack emissions
A songbird sing “Drill Baby, Drill”
A panda dump raw sewage into a river
A pride of lions so dependent on oil that they’re willing to wage war over it
A slug (the real kind, not the George Will kind) claim that our biggest worry is global cooling
A gorilla fail to keep its tires properly inflated
A salmon pollute a stream with mercury
An elephant claim that his God says it’s okay to pillage the world’s natural resources willy-nilly because pachyderms are the “chosen ones”
A lizard mock public transportation
A penguin claim that the melting polar ice caps are no big deal
A crocodile think up new ways to go overboard on plastic packaging for portable electronics
A Yangtze River dolphin do much of anything lately
Today is Earth Day, an event we celebrate every year to remind ourselves that we’re, for the time being, the biggest parasites on the third rock from the sun. Approximately twenty million trees will be harvested to print an Earth Day message of conservation in newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, catalogues, inserts and handbills—a message I can deliver here in three words: stop wasting stuff.
Rock Bottom, hardly
April 21, 2009
Rockcookiebottom.com is my new favorite site on the tubes. The artist featured in the previous post is the creator and sole contributor to it. The link to the video below explains what Rock Cookie Bottom is all about:
chilling
April 21, 2009
Ripped from Undiplomatic
Figures
April 20, 2009
Detroit can never get 100% good news. Even if that good news is a Pulitzer Prize!
Free Press wins Pulitzer for coverage of mayoral scandal
Lead:
The Free Press won its ninth Pulitzer Prize today for its coverage of the text message scandal that led to the resignation and jailing of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Journalism’s highest award, the Pulitzer for the Free Press was announced this afternoon by Columbia University in New York, which awards the annual prizes.
Now if the D could earn more awards like this and fewer like the one the they won it for, the ghost town of a city would be looking like a Boomtown sooner rather than later.
Bringing it back…
April 20, 2009
Ripped this from my homie, Brownshoes at That’s What’s Up
Nice Suit, Mitch
April 20, 2009
idiot
Sunday’s Detroit Free Press ran a piece by the biggest ambulance chaser reporter, Mitch “I love myself and why shouldn’t I” Albom. I should provide a little background on why I despise him so, but that will have to wait for a longer post, sometime in the near future.
The column in the Free Press criticizes the literal overnight public/internet obsession with the newest reality star, church working, never been kissed, opera singing phenom, Susan Boyle.
Mitch writes:
And what scares me is this: What’s fast on the way up is fast on the way down. I remember interviewing William Hung a few years ago. You remember Hung. He was an “American Idol” contestant who sang so badly that he became endearing. He made a record. He was hot for his 15 minutes.
But by the time I spoke with him, his 15 minutes were up. He was promoting something, but you could tell nobody much cared. The public was on to the next oddball phenomenon — which is a specialty of the Internet.
Meanwhile, Hung — who dropped out of college to pursue his singing — acted as if he’d be recording forever. He got defensive about his talent. He honestly thought people found his off-key performances melodic. It was sad.
Aren’t we all so happy that we have Mitch “Johnny on the spot” Albom to rear his gremlin-like, parasitic head whenever a story that everyone had already covered to tell us to beware of our obsessions. Of course Mitch talked with Hung years ago, he lands all the bigtime interviews. Why wouldn’t he, He’s Mitch! But to compare Boyle with Hung is negligent at best.
Point being Mitch, because of the incredible advances in technology we have made since the days of Elvis we are able to get quicker access to raising stars and snowballing human interest stories.
You would be out of a job if the news ran on a slower news cycle. You make your living by popping in only when there is a frenzy around a potential “15 minute of fame” piece.
You love basking in others’ lime light. Let us be honest, you do that because you are a hack who can’t really cut it and you have burned more bridges with your colleagues then you have helped to build. So when it comes down to it, you swoop in when the story has already be written and reported on and you put a little glossy coat over it and pass off your grand standing journalism as literary excellence.
Mitch, please.
Updated…Enjoy
April 20, 2009
Happy Holidays
April 19, 2009
Christmas comes early this year…
Happy 420 everyone!
Change?
April 8, 2009
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes, among other key pillars, a separation between Church and State. This means that the U.S. government cannot endorse any single religion and must protect the practices of all religions, including the right not to practice at all. This is why it is disappointing that our 44th President, Barack Obama, the candidate of change, has not decided to dismantle the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. I understand that President Obama is a proud observer of the Christian faith. I also appreciate that he has compassion for all religions as well as non-believers, but how devout the President may be in his personal religious beliefs should be irrelevant when it comes to his public policies. It should have been barely relevant information when he was running for President and in a nation founded partially upon a separation of Church and State his personal views of faith should have even less relevance as he runs the country.
Yes, the Office of Faith Based Initiatives does allocate funding for the continuance and establishment of worthwhile programs. Establishing soup kitchens and homeless shelters are selfless acts of love and compassion for those less fortunate. But can those efforts be made without a belief in god? Are human beings capable of having compassion and respect for their less fortunate neighbors without a belief in a god or devotion to a book that instructs one to behave this way? The answer, of course, is yes. Acts of kindness for the sake of doing the right thing are possible without devotion to a god. Programs to support the less fortunate such as affordable health care clinics in impoverished areas of our country—urban and rural—and the establishment of enriching after-school programs for at risk youth, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters can be established and carried out without the advice and consent of those appointed to a Presidentially anointed faith-based office.
It is possible that religious organizations are intrinsically better organized to carry out some of these social support programs and I believe they provide great services and I encourage them to continue their programs but under the condition that they receive no funding from the taxpayer. A similar office can be established within a department such as the Department of Health and Human Services and individuals can be appointed to help allocate taxpayer funds to programs that are secular in ideology and provide similar acts of compassion and support for other human beings. The advantage here would be that the First Amendment would be observed and upheld.
I encourage President Obama to honor his campaign promises of change and continue to diverge from the policies of our last president. He can start by deciding to dismantle the Office of Faith Based Initiatives and leave programs founded in faith for the religious arena and instead reassign social support programs that are based in scientific reasoning and compassion for fellow human beings to the secular departments of the United States government.
Social Comment
April 8, 2009
Eminem has done it again.
His newest single, “We Made You” off the album “Relapse” due in stores May 19 has already been discussed on MSNBC headline news and is sure to continue to make a stir. Considering how Gov. Palin’s press shop works I would not be surprised to see an official response to how she is depicted in the music video and lyrically published in XXL magazine.
As misogynistic and homophobic as Eminem lyrics can be he is usually spot on when reporting his observations of how our society is prone to unnecessary moral panics and pop star obsessions.
Examples:
Now what…
November 10, 2008
Here is a laundry list for the Obama administration to get started on. I am very impressed with the team so far. It doesn’t appear as if they have celebrated their victory for a second. Hard working as promised. It bodes well for our country, our world.
Who Doesn’t Matter Anymore?
November 6, 2008
Keith Olbermann couldn’t have put a bigger smile on my face on last night. In case you missed it: check it out
everyone poops
November 5, 2008
With exception of George Bush and Dick Cheney, everyone poops.
Politics is one thing but we are all people after all. John McCain is an incredible man. Sarah Palin is fine too, extremely unqualified but still she isn’t pure evil.
Obama exudes this ideal I think more than anything else. Barack Obama unites people. He understands that nothing can ethically be done without uniting folks, being transparent, up front and honest.
If you noticed the jubilation around the world last night you can understand that we are back on the map. This country is doing the right thing after nearly a decade of criminals destroying everything folks around the world look to this country for.
I could not be more proud of the United States of America. I could not be more proud to say I am from the USA.
With 56 ensured seats in the Senate and still a possibility (though probably not) of 60 it will allow Barack Obama to follow through on many of his bold promises. Yes, it will take some time to see it all come to fruition but in the next two years the ground work will be laid as we undo the what has been done in the last eight. This will allow the next two to really get started on the tasks of making real change.
We saw what a democracy looks like last night. It is fantastic to see what happens when there is no intimidation and discrimination at the polls. Democrats win, they win big.
I’ve never enjoyed a hangover like this before.
Remember, this is only the beginning. The election is only the first step. We have some work to do.
Yes we can, yes we will, yes we did, knew we could.
Tell it
October 22, 2008
I believe this will be similar to my response in an attempt to explain/defend my career plans as I approach graduation in December to inquisitive friends and family members.
…well I don’t think I’ll put it out there just like that but Mr. Black makes a pretty solid point.
[credit this video to my buddy who got it from milk and cookies]
Looking to point fingers?
October 22, 2008
I guess you can point at me
Take That Bill Maher
October 21, 2008
Have to wonder what Bill Maher’s movie Religulous is really trying to do. Make a point, make a change, or just make money?
Here is a group that is doing all three.
Thanks Katie, for the link.
Is it just me?
October 21, 2008
…Or are the 2008 Dallas Cowboys scarily similar to the dynasty years of the early 90s?
They have the criminal:
All-American pretty boy Quarterback:
Prima Donna:
and yes Jerry Jones is still perusing the sidelines during the games:
The glaring difference is that this year, they don’t have nearly as much talent as they did in the 90s. Too Bad not every team this season can’t be like their squad from 1995.
Remember him?
Relevant?
October 19, 2008
Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama is almost as convincing as his plea to the UN for support in the invasion of Iraq.
Sarcasm aside, Powell’s seven minute endorsement was quite elegant, moving even. But how much does Powell’s endorsement even matter?
Diversity Dialogs
May 8, 2008
Finally!
April 17, 2008
Someone other than Keith Olbermann delivers a special comment with some passion and anger….
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is my new hero. Let’s hope this calling out of the administration has some teeth to it.
Time is up, Georgy
April 7, 2008
Free word association:
Funny, embarrassed, pathetic, telling, fitting, sad, shame on us…get this moron out of here.
Put ’em up, Rod
April 5, 2008
We all know that Jim Tressel is a boyscout and that he wears a stupid-ass sweater vest complete with an American flag broach. He also drinks wine coolers.
Most importantly, since he took over at OSU he has put together some badd-ass squads, all but one has beat Michigan. Tressel’s latest strike appears to be a blatant attempt to bring back the Woody and Bo days.
Does Coach Rod have a comeback for the douche bag from Columbus? Will he let his coaching speak for itself (preferred method of revenge)? But the most intriguing question on my mind is whether Rod will be in Ann Arbor long enough for another ten year war?
My prediction: I would be surprised if he stays in the Deuce for more than three seasons.
Irony at its best
April 2, 2008
Yet another political sex scandal. They just keep getting funnier.
Taken from the Detroit News:
To give you a point of reference as to where the incident occurred: 
Coincidence? I think not.
It just never stops…
March 27, 2008
I am not in favor of the death penalty. Never have been, never will be.
But when it comes to the folks who have squatted on the White House property the last eight years, I may reconsider my stance.
Check out this gem I across on Thinkprogress.org One of my favorite blogs
the others…
March 27, 2008
Umm…Wow!
March 25, 2008
Last Wednesday March 19, 2008 The Colbert Report kicked some major ass!
1. Check out this rant: The Word
2. George W. Bush is either the most insincere son of bitch or the phrase ignorance is bliss manifests itself within every statement he makes. His remarks are so heinous that Colbert has a hard time staying in his satirical character.
Bear with the commercials…
bone dry
March 25, 2008
Hello everyone. My name is Sam. I have a problem. I am a political junkie but, I’m all tapped out now. I’ve gotten as high on politics as I can get. It pains me to say this but my patience for politics as they stand right now are growing thin, very thin.
I should clarify. Not all politics. Presidential politics. Namely, Democratic Primary Presidential politics. So many of my democratic heroes are showing some pretty ugly sides lately. No, I’m not talking about New Mexico Governor’s facial hair. I am talking about him, though. I’m talking about James Carville too. The business between them is a bunch of malarkey.
One week ago, Senator Barack Obama delivered the most frank, open, honest, realistic, inspiring, challenging, heart felt addresses that I have been witness too.
I was driving from Delray Beach, Florida to Lakeland, Florida on the way to a Detroit Tigers spring training game with my folks, my grandmother and the man “she is going with.” I will never forget where I was as I listened to Obama’s words through the satellite radio of the rented Chrysler 300M, the way my Tigers hat itched on my head, how happy I was to be wearing sunglasses because the sun was out and, the constant adjusting and readjusting of the uncomfortable seat belt by my grandmother. Most importantly of course, I will remember Barack Obama’s words.
He simply and humbly offered candidness and honesty and flat out intelligence. He came to the podium as a true public servant. He laid it all on the line. He didn’t apologize for the way he felt, he didn’t play political games, he spoke from the gut and showed us that what we see from him is what we get; honesty, openness, and compassion.
What has come of it?
Bickering? Mud slinging? Passport sandals? Sex Scandals? Suggestions that he didn’t say enough?
How racist is our country? Did his address really not challenge our country to look ourselves in the mirror and begin to mend race relations?
This is not an original thought but I need to reiterate it. Obama’s address should be heralded and filed among those delivered by Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and, Martin Luther King. Amog the greatest addresses in our Nation’s history.
Maybe I’m naive but I was under the impression that when I got back from playing golf and laying on the beach and taking a vacation from politics that Obama would have all the momentum in the world and it would only be a matter of days that Senators Clinton and McSame would be distant memories as presidential candidates.
Boy, was I disillusioned. And now, I’m frustrated, I’m tired of all the talking heads and pundits and surrogates battling back and forth. I need a break from Presidential Politics and so do the people of the United States.
I need to find a new topic.
Fresh set of eyes…
March 14, 2008
evidently, expanding equal eye’s empire…
Equal Eye 