Scraps and notes.

An all-links piece tonight, sorry. I had a full, long and busy day, and am working on a story, and it’s going …fairly well. Y’all might even like it. But right now it’s after 9 p.m. and I just want to shovel some links out and go to bed.

Hoosiers! Remember when the state didn’t observe Daylight Saving Time and every year we talked talked talked it to death? And how perhaps one good thing Mitch Daniels did was ram it through the legislature? Well, Michigan is regressing in that direction, or at least there’s a bill in the legislature and it’s getting a little attention. I don’t think it’ll pass, but reading my colleague’s story about it? It made me feel…12 years younger. Because stories like this ran every year.

My young friend Dustin loves to see “the olds,” as he calls the music stars of my youth, and I am old enough to be Dustin’s mother. In fact, I am older than Dustin’s mother, and now that we have that out of the way, Dustin! Someday an experience like this will happen:

Few concert experiences are more dispiriting than watching a proven artist flounder onstage. Especially when the performer happens to be an icon. His glory days behind him, Kris Kristofferson played a 95-minute show Wednesday at a sold-out City Winery that engendered feelings of pity, discomfort and bewilderment. Witnessing the 80-year-old singer-songwriter/actor struggle to get through even a single verse without mistakes raised the question of why he chose the solo route — and put his dignity at risk.

This weekend he spotted Exene Cervenka in Detroit, and chatted her up. It’s like Pokemon Go for him.

The semiotics of the all-male Trumpian photo op. Disturbing:

At some point, we have to ask: Is this really a pattern of errors? Maybe these aren’t tone-deaf mistakes at all, but intentional messages to right-wing supporters.

…Of course, the reality behind the photo is nearly as disturbing as the image itself. There weren’t many women in that room because the Freedom Caucus appears to be almost entirely male. Women make up less than nine percent of congressional Republicans. President Trump’s cabinet is the most white and male in 35 years. Among his top staff members, men outnumber women two to one. From the top of the Republican Party on down, men run the show; there just aren’t enough women for every photo.

Yet this, too, is a choice, and it also sends a message about the party’s values and to whom it appeals. Republicans bank on a white male voter base that is shrinking demographically, yet they are making no real effort to broaden their appeal, perhaps counting on voter suppression to make it harder for likely Democratic voters to cast their ballots, and simultaneously throwing red meat to the men they need to turn out to carry them to victory.

Finally, Dexter is fine! He writes:

…just busy here with a massive spring cleaning, for which we had to hire two cleaning ladies as Carla Lee has cataract surgeries (one tomorrow) and next month her second knee replacement. This is the total job here, from wall washing to carpet scrubbing to emptying and sorting every shelf and cabinet and donating ten big garbage bags of out-of-date clothing, coats, boots and such. I am just going to wait until next year to do the same to the garage.

We care about each other at this blog, folks.

Posted at 9:40 pm in Current events |
 

65 responses to “Scraps and notes.”

  1. Dexter said on March 27, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    Well hello ever’buddy. I know there are a couple of “Friends of Bill” here…in the April Grapevine magazine the “Dear Grapevine” story about the nervous drunk at a baseball game was penned by …moi. From time to time I have always heard the muse and lifted the quill and filled the inkwell…. 🙂

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  2. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 2:23 am

    Glad you’re doing well, Dexter, and congratulations on being published in Grapevine!

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  3. alex said on March 28, 2017 at 6:26 am

    The sudden fascination with scrapping daylight savings time is just more fringe lunacy about getting “government” out of our lives. Maybe Alex Jones will convince his followers that the days of the week and months of the year have also been imposed on us by tyrants. Maybe Donald Trump will decree that summer is the only season from now on. Oh, wait. He’s already doing that, I’m afraid.

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  4. Suzanne said on March 28, 2017 at 8:06 am

    See, there is a plan here from the far right. Earth is becoming overpopulated. Abortion & birth control are wrong. What to do besides carpet bombing. If we roll back environmental protections, there will be pollution and unstable climate which will kill people, but that’s God’s will, so nothing can be done about that! Brilliant!

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  5. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 8:15 am

    No wonder the Republicans are blowing Putin: they have the same tendency to rewrite history.

    https://twitter.com/yashar/status/846584836517179392

    Where are they digging up this sorority trash?

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  6. Icarus said on March 28, 2017 at 9:59 am

    “The sudden fascination with scrapping daylight savings time is just more fringe lunacy ”

    I’m just tired of having a stare down with my microwave for six months of the year

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  7. Danny said on March 28, 2017 at 10:08 am

    I read the comments regarding United yesterday and they are one of my least favorite airlines too. They flew us back from Europe on a long haul on a played out 737. What a bunch of a-holes.

    My favorite airlines so far is Lufthansa. German efficiency and class at its finest. And my company cheats out on international travel. If you want premium economy, you have to purchase the upgrade on your own dime. But I lucked out on one long haul because schedule changed at last minute and premium economy was all that was left.

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  8. Danny said on March 28, 2017 at 10:09 am

    Cheaps out

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  9. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 10:11 am

    Republicans are just something Putin pulls out of his ass, now. Abject traitors.
    https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/846724292977082368

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  10. Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2017 at 10:43 am

    Guess what airline I’m flying tomorrow? United, natch. It’s the only choice if you’re crazy enough to take on a one-day trip to NYC from the Fort. But I don’t care if it’s a little late or I don’t have much leg room, because I usually fly Allegiant. My daughter and I cooked up a visit to see Sunday in the Park With George, my favorite musical by my favorite composer. I love the show, she loves Jake Gyllenhaal, what could be better? Wearing jeans, though I understand that as a paying customer, leggings would be welcome.

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  11. Bitter Scribe said on March 28, 2017 at 11:30 am

    From what I understand, Kristofferson used to have quite a drinking problem. Hope he’s got that under control.

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  12. basset said on March 28, 2017 at 11:59 am

    Saw a t-shirt last night that I wish I hadn’t… Trump and Putin as a leather couple, you get one guess who was holding the leash.

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  13. Jenine said on March 28, 2017 at 11:59 am

    @ Julie: yay Sunday in the Park! Have a great time.

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  14. kayak woman said on March 28, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    When I was in high school in Michigan’s eastern UP, we effectively had a year or two of year-round DST. (A quick google suggests that the UP moved to Central time for a while. My memory is fuzzy on the details.) What my memory is clear on is that the sun didn’t rise until 9AM in the winter! I’m skeptical that this will actually happen but I hope our lawmakers think it through carefully.

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  15. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    Bitter Scribe: Eugene Chadbourne said Kris would be better if he hadn’t used an ice cream cone for a cokespoon.

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  16. susan said on March 28, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    bassett @12 I would love to have a t-shirt with this printed on it. That’s one of my favorite images of the lovers. Because it is grotesque and apt.

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  17. Mark P said on March 28, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    I just saw a campaign ad for Dan Moody, an old white man and a republican, to replace Tom Price in Georgia. It was Georgia Sen David Perdue, an old white man. He said, “Dan is one of us.” I think we all know what that means.

    Right now Democrat Jon Ossoff is running even with the top Republican at around 30% which could lead to a runoff. Unfortunately I expect all the Republicans to support whichever Republican ends is in the runoff.

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  18. Mark P said on March 28, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    I just looked back at the ad. Perdue was looking at the camera with a smirk. I expected him to wink when he said Dan was “one of us.”

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  19. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    Kayak woman, if we had DST year round here, that’s when sunrise would be in the winter; your memory is correct. I’m the odd person; I don’t like DST, especially living up here, and I hate the change twice a year.

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  20. Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    Thanks, jenine; there aren’t too many fans of musicals here but I had to share anyway because I’m so darn excited.

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  21. Deborah said on March 28, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    So now the republicans are saying they’re going to take another go at repealing Obamacare. Sigh. Really?

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  22. Jeff Borden said on March 28, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    It appears that whenever the administration of the Orange King is flummoxed, it will resort to the usual race baiting and olga-booga scare tactics about those darned brown people. The statement by AG Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III about sanctuary cities is clearly intended to fire up a base that has had little to cheer for so far.

    And now the King’s approval rating is at 36%. . .after less than 100 days in office. Folks, it took President George W. Bush until 2005 to hit that level and he had the tragedy of the Iraq War and his inept response to Hurricane Katrina against him. At this point in his administration, President Obama was still at 60%.

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  23. Dorothy said on March 28, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    I’m a fan of musicals!!! I AM I AM!!!

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  24. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    36% of this country haven’t put their tongues in a lamp socket because they don’t fucking know how to unscrew the bulb.

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  25. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    I’m a fan of musicals, too, and a fan of Sondheim!

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  26. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 28, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    “There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow . . .”

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  27. Deborah said on March 28, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    I like some musicals, not all. Sondheim is the best.

    Santa Fe was a sanctuary city, but now calls itself a welcoming city (it’s the state capital, which a lot of people don’t know, in fact a lot of people don’t know there’s a state called New Mexico which is mind boggling). I don’t know how much they changed policy wise, but they did it to keep much needed federal dollars. There is a church in the city near our place there where undocumented men hang out looking for work, everyone knows about it, if you need handyman type work you can stop by there and hire someone on the spot. After Trimp’s inauguration there weren’t any guys hanging out there for about two weeks. It’s back to being populated again (as of last week before I left anyway), but not by as many.

    The city of Santa Fe is trying to put through a tax on sugary drinks to fund public preschool education, they’re getting a lot of pushback from the usual suspects. Gov Susanna Martinez (R) of NM is horribly unpopular right now. She can’t run for gov again because of term limits, she has a Dem legislature now, thank goodness. They’ll probably get a Dem gov next, I hope so anyway. The current mayor of Santa Fe is an early contender for gov, he seems pretty good and he’s an openly gay man with 2 daughters as he was previously married to a woman.

    At one point Chicago was also a sanctuary city, I don’t know if it still is.

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  28. Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Rodgers & Hammerstein are a fave too, and I just listened to Oklahoma again yesterday. But Sondheim isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and Sunday in particular isn’t performed often. In fact, I’ve only had the chance to see it live once before. I’ll be interested in how they solve the technical challenges.

    Did I mention I’ve never been to NYC? I’m almost embarrassed to admit that, but somehow it just never happened. So in the two hours of free time we have, we’re going on one of those bus tours around the city.

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  29. Suzanne said on March 28, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    Have fun, Julie! I love NYC. I would love to see Hamilton there, but that is not likely! Glare at Trump Tower for me.

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  30. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    I’ve never been to NYC, either. Someday.

    I accomplished one thing today; I was able to put a bug in the ear of our schools foundation executive director about the need for a pot of money to support the truancy board. Should be easily doable, mostly requires recognizing that it needs to be done. As my school board friend was saying, since we are a fairly affluent district, people forget that we do serve low income kids. Because we’re a large district, the number of low income kids we serve is larger than the total number of kids in some districts in the state. Sometimes, assumptions get made about resources that are available to kids at home that aren’t true, especially in our middle schools and high schools.

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  31. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    The ruling has come down in the SCOTUS argument I attended last November! The outcome is what I expected, Kennedy joining the liberal wing in a 5-3 decision overruling Texas in Moore v. Texas, regarding the evidentiary standards Texas uses to determine intellectual disability in applying the death sentence. This was the “Of Mice and Men” case, because the Texas Court of Appeals made mention of Lenny in its decision.

    http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/03/opinion-analysis-victory-intellectually-disabled-inmates-texas/

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  32. Deborah said on March 28, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    Julie, Sherri and those of you who haven’t been to NYC before, I advise you to take the circle line tour (boat ride) around the isle of Manhattan. I had been to NYC many times before I did that, on business mostly, but Little Bird was interested in doing it when I was there with her once, so we did and it was magnificent. You get a sense of the place that you don’t get from walking or auto-ing around in it. Also just walking from downtown through midtown and then on up (I don’t remember what they call that, uptown seems wrong). It’s a very walkable city all times of day and night.

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  33. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 28, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    Hat tip and deep bow, Sherri. Hope they give your truancy board the funding. Great idea.

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  34. Sherri said on March 28, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    It’s been a depressing winter around here. I’m adding an third day a week with my trainer, because it’s starting to get to me and it’s easier to get an extra day a week with her than an appointment with my therapist!

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/february-march-rainfall-totals-set-seattle-area-record/

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  35. Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2017 at 7:34 pm

    As I was listening to the report about the case, I’d forgotten it was the one you observed, Sherri. Way cool. And you’re work is making me feel indulgent, jetting off to NYC and all. I’m also seeing Hamilton in Chicago next month, but don’t give up hope, it seems they’re announcing new companies left and right. Soon it’ll be in four cities with two traveling tours also.

    Deborah, my daughter had already booked the bus tour, but we literally have only two free hours IF my flight gets in on time. We have a reservation at Sardi’s, and they told me lunch will take two hours also. As soon as the show finishes we’ll be running for the train to the airport. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.

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  36. Dexter said on March 28, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    I have been going to New York every few years for the last 50 years, 1967 was my first trip as my senior class went for the general tourist itinerary. We saw the Rockettes, the buildings, a cruise by Lady Liberty (the island was closed to tourists then for repairs),and for me the highlights were the Empire State Bldg. and #1 was the St.James Theater where we saw Martha Raye in “Hello Dolly”. My one and only Broadway or off-Broadway show. In the ensuing years I went to shop once but mostly I went to see my good buddy Greg who lived on the edge of Harlem up on 111th Street, near Columbia University. Soon he moved to rough tough dangerous Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Museum off Eastern Parkway. He packed a pistol until he was mugged once and he told me he had to use utmost restraint from killing a teen. He ditched the gun and after some bastards broke into his crib and stole his expensive stereo, and he installed a big thick steel door and a “police lock”, a contraption that makes entry very difficult…then the crooks busted out a transom and stole everything, and that was that, and off to Connecticut he went to stay. I have only been back 4 times since then. I couldn’t enjoy it anymore because I walk slowly these days and I’d be too slow for the foot traffic. I walk like I’m 90, no kidding.

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  37. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    She should have been president, but our country wasn’t strong enough to overcome the fears of pissy ass little white men.

    http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03/28/hillary-clinton-womens-conference-ryan-sot.cnn

    Hopefully self induced diabetes and heart disease coupled with Republican health plans will scrape these barnacles off the boat.

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  38. coozledad said on March 28, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    Oh, and Republicans are currently sucking off Russian mob trash.
    https://twitter.com/hashtag/russiagate?src=hash

    Try and dress that up in the flag, pompadour cocksuckers.

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  39. Dave said on March 28, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    Dexter, we went on a class trip in 1968 to Niagara Falls, Boston, New York City, and Atlantic City, all of this in a week. We saw Golden Rainbow, starring Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. I guess going to a Broadway show was part of the experience of going on a senior class trip. That’s also my only Broadway show. The only other shows I’ve ever attended like that were a few Kenley Players summer stock shows at the now-gone (I think) Veteran’s Memorial auditorium in Columbus. We also went up to the top of the Empire State Building and toured St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

    I went there again in 1971 as part of a sociology class group at OU-Lancaster and we went to the Statue of Liberty and got to go up in Miss LIberty’s head. We also saw John Lindsay, then the mayor, tape a TV show. I haven’t been back but would love to go again.

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  40. Rana said on March 28, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    Deborah, Chicago’s still a sanctuary city. Trump’s used us as a rhetorical punching bag enough by now that I think anything the city can do that amounts to flipping him off is going to be met with approval. http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/emanuel-brands-trumps-sanctuary-city-threat-a-bit-of-a-joke/

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  41. Dexter said on March 29, 2017 at 1:28 am

    Well, Trump has relinquished the oval Office…all Hail! President Jared Kushner.
    My fave photo of the week was the one Zorn posted during his trip to Frankfort, KY of a man holding a sign, “I Made A Huge Mistake”.

    Here in Williams County Ohio, shame-justice is ba-a-a-a-ack. Folks who are caught shoplifting at the Bryan Walmart are apparently given the option : go into the system and do time at the local youth or area jail (you’d swear it was a prison by the size ad general looks)or , and this is the solemn truth: wear a fucking sandwich board while walking the sidewalk by the 4-lane major street proclaiming “I STOLE FROM WALMART”. They have to walk out there a helluva long time, too, back and forth.

    Wife Carla Lee’s second cataract surgery went well. She much-prefers the doctor-system in Defiance so we go there a lot. It’s only about 22 miles or so and even though the big new fancy Parkview hospital is less than a mile away here, by driving to Defiance we avoid all the bullshit associated with the Parkview system.

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  42. Sherri said on March 29, 2017 at 1:32 am

    If, like me, you’ve been left completely mystified by the actions of Devin Nunes, wondering what the hell turns a Congressman into some cloak and dagger spy guy, Josh Marshall has some thoughts for us.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-gravity-is-strong-part-2

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  43. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 29, 2017 at 7:39 am

    So you’re in defiance of the Parkview system.

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  44. Suzanne said on March 29, 2017 at 8:08 am

    Some relative of mine linked to something about The Russian situation from some right wing blog. The comments were amazing. “Why shouldn’t we be friends with Putin?” “We need closer ties to Russia” “Just a bunch of lefties whining again” and the like.
    Once again, I am left thinking that yes, people really are that ignorant.

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  45. brian stouder said on March 29, 2017 at 8:42 am

    I think Jeff has bagged the pun-o-the-day!

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  46. Mark P said on March 29, 2017 at 9:09 am

    I spent the night in a hotel near Times Square back in the late ’90’s. I woke up around 3 am and looked out the window. The street was as busy as the busiest time of day in my hometown. Probably busier.

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  47. Deborah said on March 29, 2017 at 10:34 am

    Remember how much the right wing screamed about Obama’s executive orders, that there were so many and he was acting like a king or god? So far in 60+ days of Trimp’s administration he has signed 31, and 7 proclamations. I found this wikipedia listing of all the EOs signed by all presidents so far https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_executive_orders. It hasn’t been updated with Trimp’s latest yet. Roosevelt had the most so far, but many of those probably had to do with war efforts (?) I don’t really know. Wilson had quite a few too (ditto). Obama had less than W Bush and Reagan, Clinton too. If Trimp keeps it up at an average of 2 a day, he’ll have quite a few when his 4 years are up.

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  48. Deborah said on March 29, 2017 at 11:33 am

    I should have said one EO every 2 days. Duh.

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  49. Mark P. said on March 29, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    Steve Bannon is going to end up with carpal tunnel syndrome if Trump keeps up that pace.

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  50. jcburns said on March 29, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    Maybe when Dustin refers to “the Olds” he’s really just talking about a car made in Lansing.

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  51. Joe K said on March 29, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    Nancy,
    Eating lunch at the side street dinner in gross point,have you ever eaten here?
    Pilot Joe

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    • nancy said on March 29, 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Yes, and it’s very tasty. I wish I’d known you were coming. As it is, I’m downtown today.

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  52. Joe K said on March 29, 2017 at 1:44 pm

    I have been coming up to city airport every Wednesday for 4 out of the last 5 weeks the area around here is depressed to say the least, driving up to Apple Annie’s about 10 miles north on Gatroit street is eye opening, places are torn up, big swaths of burned out homes bare lots, my question is what do you do about it, the easiest thing would be to level about a 5 mile square and start over, but where or what do you do with the people that live there? Where would you move them to? I really wish I had the answer, there are jobs available close by welder, cnc operators, machinist, jobs that pay a livable wage and then some, a good welder can make 6 figures but it’s not glamorous work, but their begging for help. Biggest draw back from the people I talk with is passing the drug test then not wanting to work any overtime. The jobs are there.
    Well anyway after eating in Grosse Point, I drove down to the water and checked out the other half, WOW some of the houses along the lake, old money for sure, looked for the proprietress but saw no Jack Russel walkers but lots of Golden Retrievers. The difference in only a few miles between the woods, the farms,and south of 8 mile is stunning.
    Pilot Joe

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  53. coozledad said on March 29, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    Ruh ro.

    https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/847105025973219330

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  54. brian stouder said on March 29, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    The history of the Taliban might make an interesting B-movie.

    First, the damned Russians invade Afghanistan, and mess up the Olympics – AND hurt President Carter (and help elect RWR); and we support the Taliban versus the Russians….right up ’til – waddaya know?! – it turns out they hate the hell out of us, and blow up Marines and Navy ships…and ultimately – the WTC & Pentagon.

    And now – Trump’s Russkies like the Taliban?!

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  55. Deborah said on March 29, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Oy…”I really wish I had the answer, there are jobs available close by welder, cnc operators, machinist, jobs that pay a livable wage and then some, a good welder can make 6 figures but it’s not glamorous work, but their begging for help. Biggest draw back from the people I talk with is passing the drug test then not wanting to work any overtime. The jobs are there.”

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  56. Joe K said on March 29, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    Deborah,
    Do you have a solution or just throw money at it like we have done for God knows how long? And it just gets worse.
    Pilot Joe

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  57. Sherri said on March 29, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    So, VP My Pants won’t eat alone with a woman who’s not his wife, or attend events where alcohol is served unless his wife is present. Somehow or another, my husband and I have been able to control ourselves and remain faithful to one another despite regularly breaking both of these rules.

    When I was trying to control my drinking, I had to put all sorts of rules around it, and invariably broke them. Once I was secure in my sobriety, I could be in a bar around other people drinking, and I drink something other than alcohol, because there are things more important to me than drinking alcohol. My husband and I are secure in our marriage and trust each other. If we didn’t, no rule would stop problems.

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  58. Deborah said on March 29, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    Joe, blaming it on people who aren’t able to “pass the drug test” and/or are “not wanting to work any overtime” sure isn’t the answer. Nor is talking to people who say those things are the problem. Getting people job skills and getting them early, as in preschool. And yes that takes a sustained effort.

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  59. Sherri said on March 29, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    A urine screen for marijuana is not useful for determining whether or not a person is impaired or will show up at work impaired, unless you’re Jeff Sessions and think that anybody who uses marijuana is a “bad person.” Marijuana use can be detected in your urine days to weeks after use.

    If everybody who had had a drink in the past week was excluded from a job as a welder, people would think that was ridiculous, but that’s true of where we are with drug screens for jobs.

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  60. basset said on March 29, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    Susan@16, I now know the true meaning of “cannot unsee.” That is just awful.

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  61. Sherri said on March 29, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    I didn’t think NBC was ever going to give in, but finally, they’re going to show the Olympics live, even on the West Coast!

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/29/521913449/the-olympics-tv-time-delay-is-going-away-nbc-says

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  62. Sherri said on March 29, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    Seattle is suing the trump administration over the sanctuary cities nonsense.

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-sues-trump-administration-over-sanctuary-cities/

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  63. David C. said on March 29, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    What a fucking idiot.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/have-you-heard-of-susan-b-anthony-im-shocked-trump-stuns-women-at-empowerment-event/

    “Around we’ve had leaders like Susan B. Anthony. Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony? I’m shocked that you’ve heard of her — who dreamed of a much more fair and equal future and an America where women themselves as she said helped to make laws and elect the lawmakers, and that’s what’s happening more and more.”

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  64. beb said on March 29, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    I grew up in St. Joe, In. where the daylight saving fuss went to extreme lengths. The line dividing Eastern and Central time zones passed between St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. One year because Elkhart kept Eastern daylight saving time and St. Joe stayed on Central standard time there was a two hour jump in time just crossing country line road, which a lot of people did to work in Elkhart. I thought Indiana had finally come to its senses when it decided to keep the same time year round. If Mitch Daniels was the one who put Indiana back on Daylight savings time … he can go rot in hell. (Oh, wait, he already is for his many sins against the Hooiser state!)

    Alex wrote: “The sudden fascination with scrapping daylight savings time is just more fringe lunacy about getting “government” out of our lives. ” First it’s not a sudden facsination. It happens every year when weary people wonder why they have to get out of bed in the dark after if had been light. Statistics show that people have a greater chance for traffic accidents and heart attacks when “springing forward” or “falling back.” For most people the iissue isn’t whether we have standard time all year round or Daylight time, as long as the twice annual changing of the time stops.

    Hey, how many Republicans does it take to replace a suppository in Putin’s Ass?
    A: All of them.

    Joe@52: Our previous mayor had the idea of moving people from mostly vacant streets to more viable streets and letting that land just go feral. There are about 8 empty, boarded up houses on just our street. I would love it if that houses were rehabbed and filled with people from deserted portions of Detroit or Syrian refugees or whoever. But moving people costs money, which Detroit famously doesn’t have.

    Jobs like welder, CDC operator or machinist all require extensive training. And most of the people without jobs in Detroit don’t have that training, don’t have the money to pay for-profit schools for that training or have things like prison records which disqualify them for jobs. But then a lot of the unemployed are elderly, sick or children or the care-givers for the first three. There’s a limit to how many able-bodied persons are able to hold a job because their time is already committed. You treat unemployment as a voluntary thing (laziness, etc.) but poor people often have complicated lives that makes a regular job difficult.

    Sherri@57: Your description of VP My Pants makes him sound like an ultra-conservative Jew. They’ve got all kinds of strict rules about what women do or where they can be.

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