Ferguson, Missouri...cooler heads need to prevail

I remember flying home on leave from military service in the 1960s and watching Detroit burn through the plane window down below during the race riots. It was an eerie sight then and a disturbing sight to watch the same happening in Ferguson, Missouri.

The national and international spotlight is on the area and CNN is reporting nothing but what is happening in the town on a minute by minute basis which to me, only adds to the problems there as people are now fully aware they are playing to a much larger audience. 

This intense scrutiny by the media is bringing out all those who see this as an opportunity whether for good or bad but mostly to serve their own interests before such a huge audience; their 15 minutes of fame.

It is obvious that the police in Ferguson have made some mistakes. Ferguson is a small town and the police force does not appear to have a public relations officer with the expertise to handle such matters and direct the police chief in what steps are advisable and which steps are absolutely wrong.

Not meeting with the family in a timely manner was definitely a huge oversight. Not releasing the name of the officer involved in the shooting served no purpose and only exacerbated the tension already building since it appeared to many that the police chief was somehow covering up and protecting the officer.

A huge mistake was releasing the video of Michael Brown robbing a store and manhandling the clerk that confronted him while at the same time finally releasing the officer’s name. To me as to many other people, it appeared that the police were trying to link the two as in the officer was merely confronting the robber when the officer did not know at the time that Brown was a robbery suspect.

People have a right to protest the shooting of an unarmed teenager (6 bullet holes) when it appears that there was no apparent cause for it…that is yet to be determined but the looting and violence that started as night fell was absolutely inexcusable and should not have been allowed.

Many now realize that there are the legitimate peaceful protesters during the day and the hooligan element that see all this as a license to cause mayhem by looting and destroying property in their own neighborhood and attacking the police (Molotov Cocktails). A Gerbil or hamster in a cage knows not to shit where they sleep; people are not that smart.

The police are in a damn if you do and damn if you don’t situation. Order has to be maintained and people and property have to be protected; it is their job. The police are being accused of overstepping their authority by using military force; now they are being criticized for under stepping and not protecting people and property; the National Guard has been called out just like in Detroit.

We all know that this shooting case has to be investigated and our legal system has to be allowed to work. Demanding immediate action is just plain stupid and harkens to the old lynch mob mentality and authorities cannot play to that mentality but need to process this case through legal channels and procedures.

Let’s be very clear about this case, a case we really don’t know all the details about. There is absolutely no justification for shooting let alone killing an unarmed man unless that man was about to do great bodily harm to you. Police are professionally trained to respond to many different situations without having to use deadly force. This is true even if the person being confronted is a criminal or committing a criminal act; arrest him and take him to jail.

There is the real possibility of a pretty big backlash against the protesters as well as the black community in Ferguson. Michael Brown was not just a typical 19 year-old looking forward to going to college as his parents have stated. As the store robbery video shows, he was a big man who had no problem with openly stealing from a store and then pushing and shoving the poor clerk that tried to confront him.

He was also walking with his buddy down the middle of a street and therefore blocking traffic an action that speaks to the devil may care attitude of Brown and his total disregard for rules and laws of a law abiding society; it will be hard to portray him as an innocent youth shot by a deranged racist police officer for doing nothing.

A grand jury is being convened to see if the officer, Darren Wilson, has broken any laws and needs to stand trial. The officer will have to prove that he fired because he feared for his life and the autopsy showed that the bullet that killed Brown entered at the top of his head which indicates that Brown either bowed his head in surrender or was charging the officer with his head lowered.

Police in this country do not have a good reputation historically when it comes to killing unarmed men who posed no credible threat to their lives and this fact will loom large in this case.

What needs to happen quickly in this case is for law and order to be restored in the community and for people to go back to their homes, remain calm and let the legal process begin; after all, we are a nation of laws.

The media and especially CNN will make sure that this case will be prosecuted properly by analyzing ever minutiae of this case for the foreseeable future.

IRAQ...YAZIDIS...and history

I have written about the situation in Iraq for many years now and as predicted the country of Iraq, for all intents and purposes, is now divided into three parts: Sunni, Shia and Kurd. The United States needs now to recognize this fact and quit trying to unite these three sectors; it’s a natural split…live with it!

The plight of the YAZIDIS piqued my interest as I have been studying the history of the region for many years.

Iraq, for all its current images of a desolate, dry and dirty country has an immense presence in our world history; it is after all the birthplace of civilization as reported by many historians.

The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is thought of as where the Biblical “Garden of Eden” was located and therefore where Adam and Eve emerged from. It is also where the Biblical Abraham came from (Ur) and where Jacob (Israel) the founder of the nation of Israel, spent most of his time.

This is where the Assyrian and Babylonian empires flourished (the area was known as Mesopotamia) and where the Jews of Judah (Jerusalem) were exiled to and where the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament) was written and compiled.

The area was conquered and settled many times and after the conquest by the Arab Muslims from Saudi Arabia it became known as a center of learning especially in Mathematics, Astronomy and Medicine. It is hard to believe but the world, including Western Civilization, benefited greatly by the knowledge coming out of this area.

What happened?

That is a long story but suffice it to say that people using religion as a dictatorial tool can squash learning/education to prevent opposition to their rule from developing and in so doing, push the people into the darkness of superstition and with it economic hardship.

The Yazidi are said to be followers of Zoroasterism which is an ancient belief system developed by Zoroaster way before any main religions were in existence. In fact, many of the main religions of today copied many of the tenets of Zoroaster in formulating their belief systems.

The fact that the Yazidis still exist and are among other peoples including Christians that still exist there is fascinating to me as a student of history who loves to trace how these peoples were originally introduced into the area. If you watch the videos of the people (Yazidi) in the area you will notice children with blond and red hair; results of the many invasions in the past.

The ISIS (State of Iraq & Syria) or the Levant is another invader and a good example how Muslim peoples sank into their pitiful state after a history of so much promise. These are religious barbarians hell bent on bringing back the Islamic Caliphate to the area; a time in history where a Caliph (successor to Muhammad) elected by the Sunni would be the absolute ruler. This is a Sunni concept; the Shia believe a religious Imam should be the Caliph.

The fact that they are offering the Yazidi the chance to convert to Islam or be killed shows how truly barbaric these people are. In history, the Caliphs allowed other religions to exist and even flourish in their domains but they did require a tax to be paid for the privilege; ISIS makes that offer to Christians but not to the Yazidis; probably because the Sunni do not recognize their religion as even a legitimate religion.

I would agree that ISIS needs to be wiped out totally as a lesson to future idiots trying to create an Islamic Caliphate and I think many Muslims no matter Sunni or Shia will agree with that.

I like the idea of arming the Kurds to the hilt so they can do the job for us as well as continuing our air strikes. The Iraqi army as well as the Iraqi government are hopeless and hapless and will not, I believe, be able to function effectively as a unit any time soon.

 

 

 

ISRAEL VS HAMAS, Part 2...Hamas

My wife and others like her have been decrying the fact that big bully Israel has been killing and maiming innocent Palestinians who have nowhere to hide.

Israel says they did not start the war and is only trying to keep its citizens safe from attacks being launched by Hamas, the military wing of the party controlling the Gaza Strip.

Yes, there is a lot of political pressure on Israel to stop the bloodshed but I am not seeing a lot of pressure on Hamas to stop the idiocy.

Hamas is sworn to destroy Israel and return Palestinians to their rightful land in Israel and they are sworn to achieve that goal by any means necessary which really just means violence and terror…forever?

Obviously common sense is not at work here. Israel is not going anywhere and continues to only get stronger with each year. The Palestinians are in desperate straits and have no future but stubbornly cling to a dream of return to the way things were before 1947.

Something or someone needs to shock them into reality; their children deserve a chance at a normal life and they will not get it unless the Palestinians start building a future based on reality.

Hamas and all groups like them need to disappear or somehow be eliminated. If the Palestinians cannot do this on their own someone else needs to help them and that someone else should preferably be an Arab state or group.

Currently there is talk about the West Bank government taking over Gaza which they used to govern until Hamas was elected to counter the corruption of the West Bank government.

 

 

ISRAEL VS HAMAS, Part 1

I have been reading and hearing a lot about the situation between Hamas and Israel from both sides and quite frankly, the whole debate is just maddening.

Normally, in any conflict one asks either side why are you fighting or what are you fighting for. The answer is not that easy to get especially from the Hamas side.

I have heard some people saying that Israel should not exist and that Israel has stolen the land from the Palestinians and needs to give it back…really?

Well let us tackle that issue first.

We all know the Bible stories about Israel and the fact that the Romans kicked their asses out of the region in 132 CE because they revolted constantly and Rome just did not want to put up with that anymore.

The Roman expulsion does not mean that all the Jews left; some stayed behind but not that many.

Arabs conquered the area in 635 CE and it remained in their hands for 1300 years. Eventually the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) conquered the area and it stayed in their hands until after WW1 when Turkey lost the war (they were aligned with Germany) and therefore all its possessions.

As we all know, the Jews were persecuted all around the world throughout history (another blog subject later) and as early as the 1800 were thinking of establishing a safe home (Zionism) in the area of Palestine and actually Jews started slowly trickling into the area and buying up land.

The Arabs did not mind a few Jews but when that number started growing, they got concerned.

The British were governing the area as part of their mandate after WW l and they tried to keep the peace as best they could until they couldn’t and said fuck this and left; this was after WWll.

Note: During WWll the Jews were definitely with the Allies and actually helped the Allied war effort. The Arabs on the other hand, saw a Nazi win as better for them since they would get the British out of Palestine and obviously exterminate all Jews.

The United Nations offered a partition plan to keep the two sides separated but the Arabs were not having any of that and when Israel declared itself a nation, the Arabs attacked (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan). We all know that did not go well for the Arabs and Israel took control of the area which resulted in some 700,000 Arabs fleeing their homes and here is where we have the main issue; they want their land back.

Some call the Jews as illegal invaders and occupiers (the land was conquered and occupied by many people throughout history) because the Arabs have been in the area for a very long time and this is a very valid point.

The Jews claim the land as given to them by God (Biblical source) which is dubious claim based on a religious belief…sorry, I don’t buy it. But I do buy their rationale for trying to create a Jewish nation as a way to escape all the persecutions they have suffered throughout history.

So where does all this history leave us?

The Arabs have a legitimate claim to the land (as do American Indians have legitimate claims to most of the United States) but they lost the war and therefore have to accept the consequences as have millions of people throughout history who suffered under a myriad of invaders and occupiers.

The bottom line is that the Arabs are not getting their land back and so need to drop their quest of getting that land back by destroying Israel…that will not happen and so get over it and make the best of what you can get.

To be continued…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trouble in a region few have heard of...

I have recently finished a course on the history of the “Steppes” or that part of the world known as Central Asia, a geographical region that is very unfamiliar to Americans as is its history and the affect that history had on the rest of the world.

Recently there have been many reports of turmoil with fatal consequences in the Chinese region known as XINJANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION roughly in northwest China.

That area known throughout history as the TARIN BASIN was where the SILK ROAD started and meandered all the way to Europe and brought the two parts of the world closer together through trade and communication.

The people living in the area and causing all the uproar are TURKIC UIGHUR MUSLIMS (wee-gurs) who want independence from China who they accuse of mistreating them.

The history of the region includes Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun and even Marco Polo. The peoples that populated the Steppes came out of Mongolia and were fierce warriors that conquered Central Asia and all the way to even include parts of Europe and the Middle East; and that is why their history is so important to understanding the peoples that now occupy those lands (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, etc.).

Note: Ukrainian and now Russian Crimea was populated by Tartars (decedents of the Steppe people) who live there to this day and are now under Russian domination.

We are living in some very interesting times…

 

 

 

 

RELIGIOUS FANATICS DESTROYING HISTORY AND CULTURE...WHY?

As a history nut or shall I say a lifelong student of history, I treasure what history has left us to see, to touch, to read and to ponder.

I consider historic relics as sacred no matter from what age or location they came from; a piece of physical history is priceless.

I know wars and revolution endanger pieces of history such as recently in Egypt and more recently in Iraq where the invading Muslim insurgents are hell bent on destroying everything that they feel is not part of their religion or their belief system. Remember the age-old Buddhist statues blown up in Afghanistan by the Taliban or al-Qaeda…why?

Now I am reading that the insurgents in Iraq blew up The Nabi Younes Mosque which housed Jonah’s tomb; yes the Jonah that spent some time in the belly of a whale.

I don’t care if you believe the Biblical story or not but the fact that Jonah is mentioned in the Bible as well as the Quran and people “believe” he is buried there and revere the place is enough to respect its place and function in history.

Hell anything that is part of the archaeology of our planet should be sacrosanct and treated with the utmost care because history is, I feel, so important to our human existence and experience.

The religious fanaticism that prompts these fanatics to destroy the relics of our history to me is just plain barbarism and the height of absurdist ignorance. I don’t care how you interpret the pronouncements of your religion; if your beliefs in any way hurt or damage people, places or things, you are then dubbed a common criminal and should be punished as such.

I think that Muslims around the world and especially in the United States need to stand up and voice opposition to what these fanatics are doing or risk the condemnation of their entire faith which I am afraid is happening anyway and mainly because good Muslims are silent and that silence appears as if they condone the fanatic’s behavior.

 

 

 

Gaza and Israel...WTF?

This morning’s Wall Street Journal said that we have not seen the world in this big of a mess since the 1970s…I agree, we have a lot of shit going on.

The current clash between Hamas of Gaza and Israel is on a list of hot button issues but this issue still confounds me…

I hear from my wife about how innocent Palestinians are being killed by Israeli bombs and how that needs to stop and I also see on the local news protesters from the Middle East holding up anti-Israeli signs demanding a stop to the slaughter.

When I ask why Hamas does not stop shooting rockets into Israel all I get is that those rockets have not killed anyone in Israel and that is a sane answer…really?

Three Jewish teenagers were killed by some Palestinians followed by the murder of a Palestinian teen as retaliation and we now have over 200 dead Palestinians and more to come…why?

Why is Hamas shooting rockets into Israel and why do people in the Gaza Strip support the insane actions of Hamas at least those interviewed on TV.

Why do women wail on TV at the sight of dead children after an Israeli bombing attack even though enough warning was given by the Israelis to evacuate the area; are they trying to look like martyrs? Do they want sympathy from the world but for what; they are responsible for their own conditions; their choices are what put them into this dire situation.

Even though my wife supports the Palestinians she also agrees with me that they are the cause of their own woes.

The fact that the rockets Hamas is firing into Israel will not do any damage and Hamas knows that and that is very telling as to what their motives could be for doing that. They know Israel will retaliate with force and possibly an invasion and yes, they want that to happen…why?

In my many arguments about this issue I keep asking what the people of Gaza / Hamas want to happen in the end. What is it that will make them happy enough to stop attacking and antagonizing Israel?

Well it seems Hamas wants this status quo to go on in perpetuity. Every few years they start a war with Israel, Israel bombs the hell out of them, money pours in to help them rebuild and the cycle starts all over again.

Is this a way to live? Would you not want a country of your own that you can prosper in, have the freedom to travel, raise a family without constant fear and have a realistic future?

Eventually, Hamas will build rockets or as seen today, drones that actually can do serious damage to property and life in Israel. When that happens, Gaza and its inhabitants will have to be eliminated by deporting them to Muslim countries that will take them and the Gaza Strip will be settled by Jews who will eliminate the problem that is Gaza today.

Does that sound like a solution the people of Palestine want? Once again, it is all up to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW INFO WHY CHILDREN FROM C. AMERICA ARE COMING HERE IN DROVES...

There was a critical part to the influx of Central American children into the United States that I was not aware of until now but if we had “secured” our borders like I stated in the previous blog, the issue would still not be an issue today.

The new information concerns the treatment of children from Central America and not children from Mexico, etc. Children from Mexico or other South American countries are immediately sent back (deported) to their country of origin.

Children coming from Central America cannot be immediately deported but must undergo a complex process mandated by a law passed a few years ago (2008) specifically to combat and deter sex trafficking.

So instead of changing the law or blocking this particular loophole and allowing immediate deportation of children from Central America and more importantly, removing the main reason these children are being sent here, Obama wants billions to process these children.

Unless the law is changed, these children will continue to come here. Our government is desperately trying to find housing for these children but state governors as well as ordinary Americans are trying to block these efforts knowing that these children will become and remain wards of the state for many years since the process to send them back is broken.

Well this is a fine mess we are in because of the ineptitude of our government and all those that work for our government…now what?

 

HOW COULD THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS IN TEXAS HAVE HAPPENED?

There are so many issues this Sunday (July 13^th) but I will start with the current immigration issue that has monopolized the airwaves for the last two weeks and has created a political firestorm.

The issue concerns the thousands of children from Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica & Panama) crossing our borders, many without any parents, and overwhelming our immigration system which appears to be at a loss as to what to do with these thousands of kids.

Immigration has been a hot button issue for years and is treated as a political hot potato. Obama wants to address the issue as did Bush before him, but the Republicans said it is a dead issue until after the November elections.

We all seem to agree that we absolutely need “secure” borders but where has that gone…nowhere. I have been to McAllen, Texas on many occasions and to the town across the river in Mexico called Reynosa and I will tell you that the river is basically a stream that anyone can cross including five-year-old kids; which they have been doing in the thousands.

Apart from the big issue of immigration, the immediate issue that needs immediate attention is that of the children from Central America which are streaming across our border because they have heard that once they get here they are in for good and statistics seem to prove that as fact.

Now we must admit that conditions in Central America have to be so horrendous that parents will send their kids towards the American border without them; paying individuals whose business is to transport children into the U.S.

First, I cannot believe that this has been going on for some years and this is the first we are hearing about it; how god-damn incompetent is our government.

Obama is asking for $$$ BILLIONS to send those kids back…really… so they can turn around and come on back?

I have already seen protesters blocking buses transporting those children to places they can be housed (like Lackland AFB where I did basic training in the 60s). These protesters are saying these children are bringing leprosy with them and will infect us all if allowed to stay here…I can see a scary movie out of this.

Bleeding hearts are saying we cannot send them back into the hell holes they came from; it’s inhumane.

This would NEVER even be an issue if our politicians had the balls to SECURE OUR BORDERS FIRST and then decide what to do with the illegals already in our country.

I am disappointed in Obama because I good CEO should always be aware what the fuck is going on in his country and not be surprised on so many occasions. Rick Perry the governor of Texas where the children crossed into is criticizing Obama for not being on top of the issue but it is Perry’s state and why in the fuck did he not know what was going on right under his stupid nose.

No, all the politicians are to blame for this fiasco because we have a dysfunctional political system which only WE can fix with our VOTE.

I am thinking we should throw the bums out…

 

 

 

 

 

THE END OF AN ERA: No More AACC Conventions...

Since I sold my company and retired in June 2013 after over 30 years in business, I have encountered many new firsts with the biggest one being not getting up at 6am every morning and going to work.

Another milestone is coming up this month.

My professional career has been in CLINICAL CHEMISTRY which is chemistry connected with the human body. An easy way to explain what I did was to point to all the “blood tests” your doctor ordered to determine the status of your health. My company Pointe Scientific, Inc. crated and manufactured a variety of “blood tests” for use by laboratories around the world.

My industry, like many other industries, has an annual convention that brings together practically everyone working in my industry and I am talking worldwide and that convention or meeting where new ideas are presented and discussed is called the AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CLINICAL CHEMISTRY and brought together many, many CLINICAL CHEMISTS; nerds of the clinical laboratory.

Since 1980, I have travelled to convention sites around the country. In many cases I brought my family when I could so we could create an adventure vacation out of a business trip.

Last year I attended the convention in Houston, TX which was basically my swan song where I got the chance to say goodbye to friends and colleagues I have known for all these years.

In 2011 we celebrated 30 years in the business with a great party in Atlanta, GA attended by many of our clients and colleagues from around the world.

This July the convention is in Chicago, IL, long one of my favorite convention cities.

Some of the other cities included; New Orleans, LA, Boston, MA, Anaheim, CA, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, Orlando, FL., Philadelphia, PA., San Diego, CA. and Los Angeles, CA.

Sometimes we flew to other destinations from the convention city like to Hawaii when the convention was in San Francisco or to Cabos San Lucas when the convention was in Anaheim, CA.

I have marked on my calendar the fact that I will not be attending the AACC convention this year for the very first time in my career but I am marking the occasion with mixed feelings. Yes, it was a pain to get everything organized for the show but once there, it was a magical if very exhausting time.

I think I will miss the friendships and relationships I have established with people worldwide in all these years but I also can feel the pressure of age and the energy required to perform this job adequately and I think I am glad to leave that to my younger cohorts who remain with the company, many of whom I have trained and guided through many years.

 

 

A PAIN IN MY RIGHT CALF AND UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT...WHAT CAUSED IT!

A SEVERE PAIN IN MY RIGHT CALF AND UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT has basically disabled me since the pain is so severe that I could not stand or walk for more than a few minutes.

This condition basically put my life on hold since I could not go anywhere or do anything that required standing or walking like shopping or standing in line.

My primary doctor was worried about a clot in the calf which is where clots come from (DVT or deep vein thrombosis) and could be life threatening. We did an ultrasound to eliminate that possibility.

We then took an x-ray of the right calf to make sure there was no bone fracture or some form of tumor…negative.

At this time I suggested that it could be a spinal problem since I have had those before (stenosis…narrowing of the vertebrae) which would press on the Sciatic nerve.

We took an X-ray of the spine and determined there was no stenosis visible that would cause the pain I was experiencing.

I suggested prednisone (steroid) to see if we could lower possible inflammation in the spine even though we did not see any inflammation…no pain reduction after a two week course of prednisone.

At this point my primary physician gave up and sent me to an orthopedic doctor.

She checked me out and was also baffled. All she could suggest was some physical therapy for the spine to open up the vertebrae since she was starting to agree with me that the pain was caused by a spinal problem.

After two weeks of therapy there was no reduction in pain.

I have been suggesting an MRI right from the start to show what the hell was going on in the spine but with the new health insurance policies; we had to try everything else before finally resorting to an MRI.

I finally insisted on an MRI since my life was pretty miserable and painful.

The MRI indicated a synovial cyst at the L5-S1 space of my spine (the very bottom) and the cyst was directly pressing on my Sciatic nerve.

I was directed to a neurosurgeon who said let’s cut the sucker out; which we did at Henry Ford Hospital in downtown Detroit. The surgery went well and I came too with a sore throat ( breathing tube down my throat) and a catheter.

I was feeling no pain but was given heavy duty drugs that I could administer to myself if I needed them; I did not.

I was also given a lot of antibiotic to prevent infection.

Spent one night at the hospital with no problem, had catheter removed…thank heaven and had my IV terminated; I was ready to go home.

The doctors were perplexed that I was not experiencing any pain at this point. They prescribed OXYCODONE and VALIUM to take home with me and a stool softener since all I have been through was sure to make me constipated.

The pain hit big time as soon as I got home. I could not sit up or sit down without pain and when I went to bed I made sure I took oxycodone every 4 hours. I probably helped me sleep but the pain was there especially when I was turning over from side to side.

The next morning the pain was with me big time and I had to alter the way I do my morning constitutional since I could not bend over and reach for anything.

I eventually managed to come downstairs and have breakfast but I think the oxycodone made me sleepy since I took a long nap…in the morning?

Walking is not a problem and my calf and foot pain is gone. I am supposed to walk as many times as I can to get back in shape.

I will have the stiches / staples out in 2 weeks and see the surgeon in another 2 weeks to make sure everything is OK.

I am hoping to return to a normal life after that.

I am writing this story just in case someone out there may be facing the same issues as I did and maybe knowing what happened to me may shorten the diagnostic phase of their problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canton parents object to out-of-district students for K-2.

I have lived in Canton, Michigan for over 30 years. Canton is a great place to live and raise a family and one reason is its school system which is first rate.

The Plymouth-Canton School System had financial difficulties like most Michigan school systems mainly because of state funds that have been cut. The schools have to make adjustments and the Canton school board has been very diligent about making cuts that would not in any way reduce the stellar reputation the Canton schools have.

Recently, Canton has opened up its K-2 grades to a school-of-choice designation which would allow 200 out-of-district children to attend Canton schools. This would bring in the needed $1.5 million to cover the shortfall for next year.

Judging by the reaction of Canton parents, you would think we were in a different era. How dare you let kids in from out-of-district; it will make our property values come down…really?

I don’t know how to take that reaction. Yes, Canton has been pretty conservative (Republican) in the past but with all the people moving in we have had an influx, although small, of some progressive folks.

How can kids attending kindergarten to second grade bring down home values and damage the reputation of our schools. How about looking at it in a different way; because of our great educational system, we will take kids from mostly lower performing schools and offer them a superior education which will help them get a better start to their lives.

If parents from Bellville, Westland and Garden City are willing to drive their kids to our schools on a daily basis are they not the type of parents that care deeply for their kids and want to provide their kids with every possible opportunity at a better future?

Somehow I feel that these Canton parents that are objecting to letting in these “other” kids feel these kids come from some riff-raff families with children that will only degrade our classrooms and somehow negatively impact our precious, better-than-thou children.

Really people…get a grip!

 

 

 

WATER IS NOT A RIGHT; It is a product that costs money...

Just when I thought Detroit was moving in the right direction I hear about a bunch of white do-gooders probably from the suburbs notifying the UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Detroit policy of shutting-off water to delinquent homes is a violation of their human rights.

In the past, many Detroiters did not pay their water bills because nobody came after them to pay; hey, let the suburbs pay. These delinquent households looked at their water bill as something that can be ignored.

Now under a mayor that actually knows what the hell he is doing, the water department is threatening these delinquent households with water shut-offs and guess what, most of them are paying…figure that one out?

But for the households that still don’t heed the water department’s warning; they shut the water off and in most cases the bills are paid and the water is turned on again.

I can understand why some households are having trouble coming up with the money to pay their water bill. Since they have refused to pay their modest monthly water bills, they have added up and now the number is quite large. The water department is offering payment terms but there are still diehards that will fight those bills as if they could not possibly have used that much water; I only flush the toilet once a month…

The bleeding heart groups that are protesting the water shut-off and demanding that everyone should have water and sewage services no matter if they can pay for them or not are: Detroit People’s Water Board, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and something called a Blue Planet Project.

Although I sympathize with those in Detroit who are having trouble paying for their basic needs, I feel that water has not been a basic need that they thought they needed to pay for; I bet booze and cigarettes take precedence over water for some of them.

I think it is high time that the new Detroit teach its residents about the priorities of life in the city and one big priority is water and sewer service and the best way to teach that is the basic Pavlovian method; reward and punishment; water on and water off.

The city has created payment plans as well as a financial assistance program for the city’s indigent population so it’s not as if the city is just shutting off water indiscriminately.

As for the idiots petitioning the United Nations for help; really? How about you bleeding hearts collecting money to pay those delinquent bills? Do you think that will teach people to prioritize their spending?

 

 

 

WILLIAM WILD FOR WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE...Reasons why...

I have been getting a lot of calls lately asking how I am going to vote in the local August primary and how I feel about the myriad of candidates that are running.

Here in Michigan we have a very stupid law that limits the terms politicians can serve in office which results in a constant turnover of office holders who are term limited so they need to run for another office.

My latest call asked me who I will vote for in the race for WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE a post held by one Robert Ficano who is also running for re-election.

Robert Ficano has the balls to run again after a track record of incompetence and corruption in county government. Our local news have been filled with monumental blunders by Ficano like the county jail fiasco that lost the county millions to his political appointees marching off to jail. If anyone feels they need to vote for Ficano they also need to be admitted to a loony bin?

Another local politician that just will not go away is Warren Evans. He has held many offices in local government including that of County Sheriff from which he was fired for an affair with a subordinate as well as a Rambo style video he had made for reality (police) TV.

What Warren has going for him is the fact that he is black in a majority black county (Detroit is in Wayne County). Many are counting on Detroit voters to see beyond race when they vote as they did when they elected Mike Duggan, a white mayor of Detroit. Hopefully they will vote for the best qualified and Warren Evans is absolutely not qualified to hold the county executive position and will only do the county harm.

Kevin McNamara, the son of a former longtime Wayne County executive Edward McNamara for whom our airport is named, is counting on name recognition.

Phil Cavanaugh, a state representative, is also counting on name recognition.

The one person I feel deserves our vote is WILLIAM WILD, the current mayor of Westland, MI. He has a proven track record of guiding the City of Westland through some tough financial times, making smart economic decisions with not a lick of corruption surrounding him; I hope he makes some noise so people in the county get to know him better and get to know his track record and therefore what he can do for Wayne County.