Detroit vs. the suburbs
Last week, we ran "How to make peace with the suburbs," an excerpt from writer Aaron Foley's new book, How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass.
Ken Dause writes:
Great article! I'm "from Detroit" since I lived there until I was 12 and my bike got stolen. That was 1977. All my education was within in the city limits, including college, albeit private. Oakland County resident since then. Can't take my Detroit roots and passion away from me!
Erica Schroeder DiCosmo writes:
I grew up at Harper and Cadieux, I had a fantastic childhood in Detroit, and I love the city with every fiber of my being. I live in northern Oakland County now, because my husband works in Romeo and we couldn't afford to live in Macomb County near the plant. I would move back to the city in a heartbeat, but my husband grew up in Troy and has his "suburban" mentality that it is all what you see in the news. Whether you live in the New Center area, Rochester, or Roseville, enjoy the city for what it has to offer, but don't make assumptions about those who live in the suburbs if you don't want them to make an assumption that you chose the city.
The system is fucked
In his Dec. 2 Politics & Prejudices column ("Stealing our right to vote"), Jack Lessenberry wrote about efforts by the state's Republican majority to seemingly make it harder for people to cast ballots.
Steven Mason writes:
Good to shine some light on the cockroaches in Lansing. Eliminating straight-ticket voting will also cause voters to take more time voting and you can be certain the Republicans will not provide more voting machines so lines do not become miserably long — that is what they want and it is how Bush the younger won re-election in Ohio in 2004.
The current Republican Party is largely racist, no denying it, and it starts at the top with their leader Rick Snyder, who refers to minorities as "those people" when he is interviewed on eliminating programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Snyder is not a rational businessman if his goal is to attract skilled trades workers to Michigan. If Snyder were truly rational about developing and attracting skilled trade workers, why would he decimate programs that have enormous impact on their quality of life in Michigan? Sndyer cut Michigan's unemployment benefits to the lowest in the nation even though virtually all skilled trade workers in Michigan are laid off regularly and need to the assistance. Sndyer eviscerated workers' compensation in Michigan, which is something that real workers need to live on if they are seriously injured on a construction job. Snyder eliminated the most significant workers' safety commission so there is little to no pressure from the state on employers to be cognizant of workers' safety.
Jack, you have barely scratched the surface when you look closely. Sndyer claimed to run on transparency in government and immediately set up a secret slush fund, awards contracts without competitive bidding to friends, family and supporters, and Snyder changed the courts so FOIAs against the state now has to be pursued in a special court where the Republican-controlled Supreme Court controls which judges get the FOIA cases.
I could go on. John Engler was a good government humanitarian compared to Rick Snyder.
John Strate writes:
There seems to be a lengthy list of ethically challenged legislators in Lansing. It's time to dispense with the delusion that term limits would result in the election of publicly spirited citizen legislators. Who are they? Many are recruited by organized groups. Many are obsessed with where they will be employed after they've served their last term. A few are overly burdened by ideological baggage and beyond reason. Many upon arriving don't know much about their responsibilities — for example, nearly all don't have a clue that it's their responsibility to oversee state agencies.
Mentioning Menjo's
In response to our Dec. 2 Raise the Bar profile on Menjo's, Beverly Raub writes:
Menjo's was my Friday night go-to spot in the early 1980s. I remember both the staff and patrons being welcoming to females even then. It was the "best fucking sound in town" and everyone perfected their dance moves at Menjo's. Not just Madonna.
