The Debate between Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last Thursday was interesting in several ways. For me the most remarkable occurrence was the frank discussion of structural racism by both candidates. They used the terms “institutional” and “systemic.” It appears that Hilary Clinton is pushing hard to retain her problematic hold on black voters for … [Read more…]
Sometimes we just have to pass the word. Below I share the last two paragraphs of the article by Charles Blow in the NY Times today. The article is entitled, “White America’s ‘Broken Heart’.” “America has a gauzy, romanticized version of its history that is largely fiction. According to that mythology, America rose to greatness … [Read more…]
Under Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law, the state can take over financially struggling cities by handing complete authority to an appointed “Emergency Manager.” This happened to Flint in 2011. These emergency managers assume charge of all aspects of local government. In 2014 they changed Flint’s water source to save an estimated $5 million per year. In switching … [Read more…]
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), the so-called “Obamacare,” is a rousing success. ACA has reduced the number of uninsured persons. While I would like a plan that would reduce this rate of uninsured persons to zero–a universal health care plan–the ACA, as developed by conservatives at the Heritage Foundation, was not designed for that purpose. … [Read more…]
A few weeks ago Vice-President Joe Biden decided not to enter the presidential nomination race. At his press conference, he threw a zinger–presumably at Hillary Clinton–about partisanship, as if the failure to collaborate across party lines is the fault of Hillary or other Democrats. That is strange considering how often Republican leaders in Congress expressed … [Read more…]
This is a message to non-sports fans as well as sports fans. On December 31, four college football teams from big-time football schools, the old Division I-A which is now called the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), will start a three-game playoff for the so-called national championship. These three teams are Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State, and … [Read more…]
“A little good news” in Kentucky last month: among all the recent bad news in criminal justice, the outgoing Democratic governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshar, created a positive situation with the restoration of voting rights for 140,000 felons. This is good news for those of us who contend that once a person serves his or … [Read more…]