What were the odds…? [DIA “Thinker” image modified from CC photo by Michael Barera | Wikimedia Commons] A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Christie’s auction house was in Detroit to appraise the Detroit Institute of Arts legendary collection. At the time, nobody knew who had called them in. Pamela Marcil, a museum spokeswoman, said “We don’t know who […]

This is hilarious Once the hero of the tea party by bringing a solid conservative and nearly libertarian slant to Michigan government, Lt. Governor Brian Calley is no longer feeling the love from from his off-the-charts-conservative tea party supporters. They appear to be on their way to get him replaced on the ticket in 2014. Some tea party members in […]

They love them some school accountability … until they don’t [CC photo by albertogp123 | Flickr] A couple of weeks ago, the Associated Press broke the story of an Indiana charter school run by a big Republican donor having its state-assigned grade, basically a measure of the quality of the school’s education, from a “C” to and “A” after he […]

Seriously, DEQ? Why do we even have these laws if you don’t enforce them? Last month I wrote about Kalkaska-based Team Services being busted for spraying salt water contaminated with toxic industrial solvents at hundreds, even thousands of times the legal limit. The brine sample contained 28,000 parts per billion of benzene, a known human carcinogen; 1,000,000 parts per billion […]

Uh, Mr. Orr? You’re doing it wrong Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr had some choice insulting words about union workers in Detroit. In the interview, he had this to say: For a long time the city was dumb, lazy, happy and rich…Detroit has been […]

“There is a group of extremists in the House that is controlling the agenda and that has to stop.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar When Wyandotte was in Congressman John Dingell’s district, every year he held a fundraiser at the Yack Arena. That ended in 2001 when redistricting took Wyandotte away. But, now, thanks to re-redistricting, Wyandotte is again represented by […]

And now I know what GGG, DTMFA, and pegging are As I mentioned last week, this week, I filled in for Dan Savage while he and his husband Terry (ooo la la!) are on vacation in Germany. It was a riot and only reemphasized that you literally cannot make everyone happy on the internet at the same time. For four […]

Meta, meta, meta… I just wanted give folks a bit of an update on what’s been happening on the blog lately. First of all, thanks so much to everyone who contributed during our Third Quarter Fundraiser. We had folks contributing via PayPal, by check, and by purchasing a TinyPass. Your donations help pay for the website hosting and upkeep along […]

“Show up, stand up, and speak up”

As I have written about before, grassroots organizing on behalf of Democrats is already well underway in Washtenaw County.

Last night, in the Blog Role segment of the Night Shift with Tony Trupiano radio show, I talked with Tony in depth about what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and where we are headed in Washtenaw County with regards to creating a network of neighborhood teams working to turn out the Democratic vote in 2014.

You can listen to it after the jump.

“This new scheme flies in the face of the Constitution.” Washtenaw County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum is rather legendary in the Ann Arbor area for his incredible grasp and deep understanding of Michigan election law. He is passionate about it, in fact. Which has led him to being put in a rather interesting situation this week. Six out of the seven […]

The 1960s called, they want their racist rhetoric back I know we’re not a true “post racial” society. I want us to be. But I know we aren’t. But, at least in most public discourse, it’s definitely no longer acceptable to say racist things or to make derogatory remarks about specific races. Call it ‘political correctness’ if you want but […]