Other Opinions

Other Opinions U.S. Rep Bart Stupak Social Security: don‘t mess with success
By U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
Social Security is one of the great American success stories, and
August 14 marked the program’s 75th anniversary.
On August 14, 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social
Security Act into law, and since then Social Security has been
providing our seniors, disabled citizens, children, and widows and
widowers with a guaranteed source of income.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle 5 Ways to Improve Elections
We can do so much better. It isn’t that we’re about to nominate the
wrong candidates, though that is always a distinct possibility. It’s
more that the entire election process could be a lot better with a few
minor improvements. For example:

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Keeping Bad Company
All incipient political and social movements give birth to fringe
elements unable to control their baser instincts. As the primary
elections draw nigh in several states, those tattered fringes have
started to move to the front.

Other Opinions George Foster Mid-summer sports roundup
Say good-bye to international soccer... again. We will check-in after
another four years, just before the next World Cup. Rats! Many of us
were so-hoping this would be the year Americans caught on to the sport
that the rest of the planet lives for every day.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Webs of Blather
We’re now barely two weeks away from the gubernatorial primary
election. So, let’s review.
The Republican race is down to three, maybe four, legitimate
candidates. As this is being written, Attorney General Mike Cox and
Congressman Peter Hoekstra are in what amounts to a statistical dead
heat. Businessman Rick Snyder is a very close third and Oakland
County Sheriff Mike Bouchard trails.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Our Wars
Michael Steele, chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), has
put the Afghanistan war in the headlines again. Mr. Steele, who
apparently believes his job is to make outrageous statements for which
he must subsequently apologize, said Afghanistan is now wholly Barack
Obama’s war and we have no chance to win, anyway.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Fourth of July
“...We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are
created equal...”
So begins the seminal section of our Declaration of Independence,
one of the boldest, bravest and most remarkable documents in human
history. Thirteen years later an even more startling document, the
Constitution of the United States was ratified

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Befuddled and beleaguered BP CEO Tony Hayward had his day before
Congress. He apologized, he groveled, he’d have probably prostrated
himself before the committee members had he thought of it. Our
elected representatives, ever vigilant, were having none of it. They
blustered and pontificated and bloviated. They were filled to bursting
with self-righteous indignation. Hayward sat and absorbed it all, the
demon being cast out by a nationally televised public exorcism.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Welcome to the Age of Irrational Absolutism
Republican voters have an agenda. They expect their candidates to be
strongly anti-abortion, strongly opposed to any kind of legal
recognition of the gay and lesbian community, strong supporters of the
Second Amendment and possessed of some kind of Christian belief system
they’re willing to inject into the political arena. Their policy
requirements are equally simple – less government and lower taxes.
They are not especially picky about specifying just how much less
government they want or how much lower taxes should be but,
apparently, they’ll know both when they see or hear them. Add to that
a growing vitriol about illegal immigration.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Surviving Really Bad Neighbors

Much of the world is once again mad at Israel. When Israeli commandos
boarded an aid ship attempting to penetrate the ongoing blockade of
Gaza, they encountered club-wielding “activists” and fought back with
gunfire. The result was several injured Israelis and nine dead
activists.

Other Opinions M.D. Physicians Against Biomass: Why you should be concerned
By Laura Shea, M.D.
As a physician studying the recent environmental health research, I am
deeply concerned over the air pollution that biomass incinerators in our
region will create.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle The War We Cannot Win
The White House has announced they are going to take a new approach to
the country’s endless battle against drugs and drug use, focusing their
efforts on a public health approach – education and rehabilitation –
instead of continuing the futility of a criminal justice approach. Maybe
this is a good idea given that we’ve been getting our asses kicked in the
half century long “war on drugs”.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle No score at the end of the first quarter
And we’re off. The first wave of 2010 elections are over. Depending on
who you listen to, the results were a shocking repudiation of Barack
Obama or a complete rejection of all incumbents, or the first signs of
a tsunami of conservatism, or the beginning of the tea party era in
American politics. Or none of the above.
The messages were so mixed it’s impossible to draw broad conclusions
no matter what the experts say.

Other Opinions Stephen Tuttle Many of us assumed that oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had to meet
stringent government safety regulations and included layers of fail-safe
devices to prevent a massive oil spill. Now we know we were wrong.
It is increasingly clear that government oversight of BP’s Deep Horizon
drilling rig was fatally lax. It is also clear that BP cut corners and
sacrificed safety in favor of speed.

Other Opinions George Foster This Week’s Biggest Losers
As fans, why are we always shocked when our sports gods prove to be very
human? The continual reports of cheating, lying, and ill-manners, not to
mention criminal behavior is enough to bring us to the jarring conclusion
that celebrity athletes may not worthy of our worship.