Stephen Tuttle | Author

The Iowa Caucuses

Jan. 25, 2020

On the evening of Monday, Feb. 3, after a full day's work and despite what might be horrible weather, Iowa Democrats will trudge to schoolhouses, fire stations, and other public buildings for their caucuses. It isn't a night for the timid.

They won't show their identi… Read More >>

More War

Jan. 11, 2020

Another military entanglement in the Middle East without an obvious plan, purpose or exit strategy. We've been watching a similar movie that never ends.

Neither Iran nor their terrorist proxies are likely to be subdued by our missiles and bombs .

It… Read More >>

More of the Same in 2020

Jan. 4, 2020

Despite what seemed like a busy year politically, not much actually changed in 2019. We're likely to get more of the same in 2020, making some predictions easy.

Locally, we already know Traverse City's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) wants to extend their TIF 97… Read More >>

Choosing Good Will

Dec. 21, 2019

Another year without peace on earth or good will toward anyone. Pretty much the same as last year, and the year before that, and before that.

We still have wars percolating away in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine, South Sudan, Somalia, Niger… Read More >>

Human Error

Dec. 14, 2019

Despite the advances made over the millennia, we humans continue to insist on maiming and killing ourselves, or others, in ever more inventive ways and with ever more poor decision-making.

Our cell phones are the latest culprit.

The Nati… Read More >>

Has He Done Enough?

Dec. 7, 2019

We know, for a fact, it is illegal to solicit or receive information from a foreign national or government to influence a federal election. We know that because it's written in black and white in the statutes.

We know, for a fact, President Donald Trump asked the new… Read More >>

Giving Thanks

Nov. 30, 2019

Thanksgiving is the best of holidays, except maybe for some cooks. It's a time when family, friends, and oftentimes stragglers with no place else to go are all welcome.

It has the added advantages of outstanding food and no secular connections; most everybody celebra… Read More >>

Boycotting Everything

Nov. 30, 2019

We are in an epidemic of boycotts, or at least attempted boycotts. These are bipartisan efforts, with both the left and the right mightily offended about something, offering up a long list of targets. The strategy is simple: Don't buy these products, don't shop at these stores, and don't in… Read More >>

“Untold human suffering … ”

Nov. 16, 2019

A recent report in the publication Bioscience, signed by 11,000 scientists in several different fields from 150 countries, declared we are in a “climate emergency” and warned of “untold human suffering.” That doesn't sound good at all.

This is … Read More >>

Taking Orders from a Fool

Nov. 9, 2019

What happened to those Trump generals? And where were their defenders?

Our presidents seem to have an affinity for the military. Uniformed officers, with chests bristling with ribbons, make for a most excellent photo-op. It's a physical manifestation of the real powe… Read More >>

More and Less

Oct. 26, 2019

As Washington goes from bizarre to surreal, here at home our local DDA wants more than it was promised, and a local school board gave us less than we deserved.

Legislation enacted in 1975 permitted the creation of downtown development authorities (DDA) to correct and… Read More >>

"It is Illegal ... "

Oct. 19, 2019

In June of this year, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News interviewed President Donald Trump. He asked the president, among many other things, if he would notify the FBI if a foreign government gave him negative information about a political opponent. Trump said he'd want to see the informati… Read More >>

Make the Investment

Oct. 5, 2019

Democratic presidential candidates touting universal pre-kindergarten and free tuition to state colleges and universities might be on to something. Now, if we could just get the politicians and bureaucrats to be equally interested in K–12 public education.

Fundi… Read More >>

Into the Abyss

Sept. 28, 2019

We're sending troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is a response to Iran's shoot-down of an American surveillance drone and, more recently, their alleged attack on a Saudi oil refinery and depot.

The troops are an effort to establish … Read More >>

Fire!

Sept. 21, 2019

October 8, 1871, was a very bad day for fires in the United States.

At the end of an unusually hot and dry summer, railroad workers clearing brush outside of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, accidentally set a fire that quickly turned into a wind-aided conflagration.

Read More >>

Perflouroalkyl and Polyflouroalky Substances

Sept. 14, 2019

Quite a mouthful, otherwise known as PFAS. Now the trick is to actually keep them out of our mouths.

PFAS, first developed in the 1940s, is not a single thing but a massive family of man-made chemicals — nearly 4,700 of them now, according to the Environmental Protec… Read More >>

A Cautionary Tale

Aug. 31, 2019

The Michigan Legislature is currently contemplating competing bills regarding short-term rentals. One of them might not be such a good idea.

Supported by the real estate industry, companies like Airbnb, and private property rights advocates, the first would prohibit zoning ordinance… Read More >>

Numbers

Aug. 24, 2019

Numbers are funny things. They can illuminate or deceive, confirm or deny, prove or disprove. Often, they mean little without accompanying context, and these days, we all add our own context.

When President Trump, who often makes up his own numbers, ran for president… Read More >>

Shadow Grasping

Aug. 17, 2019

The quadrennial invasion of presidential candidates is now fully upon Iowa. It's the Democrats this year, nearly two dozen strong, and all of them in a hurry; there is much to do.

The Iowa caucuses, frighteningly, are less than six months away. And no Democratic candidate … Read More >>

40 Every Day

Aug. 10, 2019

One headline said the nation was “shocked”; another, we were “stunned.” If true, why? Mass shootings have happened for so long and with such regularity we shouldn't even be mildly surprised. Another week, another massacre.

It has happened at a… Read More >>