Commentary
Susan J. Demas: Michigan Sen. Lucido must be held accountable for his vile sexist remarks
By now, I hope you have read the first-person story by Advance reporter Allison Donahue in which she thoroughly details the belittling and sexist remarks made to her by state Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.) — some of which were in front of a group of Catholic schoolboys. What Lucido did to Allison was needlessly […]
I tried to interview Sen. Peter Lucido. He told me a group of schoolboys ‘could have a lot of fun’ with me.
I waited outside the Michigan Senate chamber to ask Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.) on Tuesday for a comment about the Detroit Metro Times’ story reporting that he was a member of a violent, anti-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Facebook group, which has since been deleted. What was meant to be an opportunity for Lucido to respond […]
Rick Haglund: Whitmer should address Michigan worker pay in her State of the State speech
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will have plenty of topics to tackle in her second State of the State speech on Jan. 29. We’ll no doubt hear about a new road funding plan after the Republican-controlled Legislature refused to raise even a single penny toward her request for a 45-cent hike in the gas tax last year. […]
Alex Rossman: CREC yourself before you wreck yourself: A revenue estimating conference playlist.
I have been making bad puns and dad jokes well before actually becoming a dad, and I’m particularly into reworking songs to fit my circumstances and situations. And for the roughly 14 years I’ve known about “CREC,” I’ve tried to make “CREC yourself before you wreck yourself” a thing. But with the January CREC slated […]
Column: EPA’s proposed ‘secret science’ rule directly threatens children’s health
The Trump administration is working to weaken U.S. environmental regulations in many areas, from water and air pollution to energy development and land conservation. One of its most controversial proposals is known as the “secret science” rule because it would require scientists to disclose all of their raw data, including confidential medical records, in order […]
Column: Climate change threat doesn’t get the Y2K urgency
Take a moment to think back to simpler times, to a long-gone era exactly 20 years ago this week, when we celebrated the dawn of a new millennium under the shadow cast by Y2K. Remember all that? Y2K was a universal computer glitch that threatened to shut down power grids, paralyze banking systems and incapacitate […]
Column: Myths around mental illness cause high rates of unemployment
Even though mental illness affects one in five adults – and depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide – secrecy and stigma around the issue continue. The problem is especially acute in the workplace. While individuals with mental illness often wish to work and are able to, their unemployment rates remain three to four […]
Susan J. Demas: Why are there so few stories about Trump’s health and sexual harassment scandals?
This week, President Trump may have stumbled into a war with Iran and was accused by yet another woman of sexual harassment. If you haven’t heard about the former, you can quickly remedy that by turning on cable news, whose speciality is cheerleading the march to war (any war). You could also click back to […]
Column: Trump’s Iran attack is a reminder Congress has to reclaim its war-making authority
It didn’t take long for “World War III” to become a trending topic on Twitter in the hours after news broke that a drone strike by U.S. forces resulted in the death of a top Iranian military commander. Almost simultaneously, Twitterati who’d never heard of the now-late Qasem Soleimani until cable news and social media blared his […]
Julie Cassidy: We must build the will to end homelessness in Michigan
The most recent Ending Homelessness in Michigan annual report is out, and we cannot ignore the numbers as the state grapples with a housing affordability crisis. As we work to create an economy that ensures everyone has the safe home that we all need to thrive, we must learn from our successes in reducing homelessness […]
Column: Americans bankrupted by health care costs: 4 questions answered
Medical bankruptcy has been a talking point for many Democratic candidates as they make their individual cases for health care reform. This begs a few questions about how widespread these bankruptcies are and what causes them. 1. How big a problem is medical bankruptcy? Medical bankruptcy, which refers to situations where individuals were forced into […]
Column: Sex education needs less fear, more information to be effective
I have only vague memories of my high school sex ed class. I remember sandwiched between a chapter on healthy eating and daily physical activity, a few pages of text and troubling photos highlighting the risks of untreated sexually transmitted infections (STIs). That’s about it. Abstain or be afraid of what could happen. Absent from […]