Stephen Tuttle | Author

Twin Myths: Tall Buildings and a Bypass

Feb. 5, 2022

Do you know what downtown Traverse City needs? More tall buildings and lots of them.  

We can't stop there. We need smaller houses on smaller lots to avoid a dystopian future of actual elbow room. Those yards where kids could throw a ball or climb a tree with maybe enoug... Read More >>

Safe from Fairness

Jan. 29, 2022

There are some things about the 2020 elections we know to be facts despite all the noise coming from the losers.

We know, for example, there was neither widespread fraud nor voting irregularities sufficient to change the outcome of local or national elections. We know early voting... Read More >>

New Districts, Same Players

Jan. 22, 2022

We're now well into our constitutionally required decennial exercise in reapportioning legislative and congressional districts. As populations changed, our Founders thought it wise to reevaluate our district's borders every 10 years. It didn't take long for politicians to figure out they ... Read More >>

Who's Next?

Jan. 15, 2022

Let's assume, regardless of what happens in 2024, Joe Biden is not the future of the Democratic Party, and Donald Trump is not the future of the Republican Party. Let's further assume neither Biden nor Trump will be their party's nominee in 2024, age having discouraged the former, and the... Read More >>

A Letter from 2050

Jan. 8, 2022

We thought the new year might be a good time for those of us living in the future to explain what is happening with the mess you left us. It's not as if you weren't warned. 

Way back in 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius appears to be the first to have predicted increas... Read More >>

A Danger to Themselves and Others

Jan. 1, 2022

When will this pandemic end? If by “end,” you mean disappear, the answer is never.

Most medical experts now agree the COVID-19 coronavirus is likely to be with us in some form forever. 

As this is being written, the United States has recorded more than 52 ... Read More >>

The Only Gift Ideas You Need

Dec. 18, 2021

This time of year we're told it's better to give than receive, and it's the thought that counts. That makes it a lot easier to suggest some gift-giving ideas. 

To all healthcare workers, a full week without a single new Covid case or death. We'd all hope for a much longer bre... Read More >>

Second Thoughts

Dec. 11, 2021

Supreme Court watchers are now predicting another expansion of gun owners’ rights, an interpretation of the Second Amendment its authors never imagined.

New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen could give New York residents the

right to carry a concealed ... Read More >>

Conspiracies Everywhere

Dec. 4, 2021

This will one day undoubtedly be referred to as the Golden Age of Conspiracy Theories. There is hardly a subject you can mention that does not have one or more groups claiming some manner of conspiracy exists sure to threaten us all.  

There are so many outlandish conspi... Read More >>

Still Burning and Banning

Nov. 27, 2021

The first incident we know about took place in 213 BCE when Emperor Qin Shi Huang, upon conquering new territory, ordered all books, scrolls, or other papers that mentioned his predecessor be burned, lest he be compared unfavorably. 

The latest we know about occurred November... Read More >>

A Few Holiday Turkeys

Nov. 20, 2021

 

According to research conducted by the Economist/YouGov, fully 28 percent of Republicans believe Donald Trump will be “reinstated” as president on or before Jan. 1, 2022. That means around 14 million people believe, or have been led to believe, a delusion that i... Read More >>

The Distance We Must Still Travel

Nov. 13, 2021

There was certainly more than one reason Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost his gubernatorial race in Virginia. But many think the tipping point in that campaign occurred when McAuliffe had the temerity to say this: “I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach ... Read More >>

Consumers Lose Again

Nov. 6, 2021

The Build Back Better legislation, President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion social program and climate legislation, is no more. It was maimed, dismembered, and chopped in half by the whining, quibbling, and obstructing interference of Democrat Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten ... Read More >>

Climate Update

Oct. 30, 2021

It's once again time to run our irregular statistical check on that pesky climate change business. Whether you believe in actual climate change science or think this is all part of some natural cycle or don't believe anything unusual is happening, it's hard to deny some of the numbers.Read More >>

The Ugly Side of Unregulated STR

Oct. 23, 2021

We've traveled this road before and found it bumpy and uninviting. Now the Michigan legislature wants to drag us down the same route.

Thanks to recent reporting by Craig Manning in The Ticker, we know House Bill 4722 and Senate Bill 0446 would prevent cities and towns from regulat... Read More >>

The Democrat Dilemma

Oct. 16, 2021

The Democrats' two big legislative initiatives, the infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation bill, have stalled. They have no one to blame but themselves.

President Biden initially said there would be no connection between the two massive bits of spending; that they were ... Read More >>

A Theory In Need Of Replacement

Oct. 9, 2021

Thank goodness we have yet another conspiracy theory afloat among the far right. They like to call this one the Great Replacement Theory, allegedly being promulgated by the usual suspects: progressives, the Clintons, the Obamas and the omnipresent George Soros.

Replacement theory ... Read More >>

Enough!

Oct. 2, 2021

It should have put to rest the nonsensical fabrications of a failed president and his delusional acolytes. It did not.

After 10 months and $6 million, the Great Maricopa County Election Audit in Arizona was finally completed. It was conducted by an outfit from Florida calling itse... Read More >>

Same As We Were Before

Sept. 25, 2021

Despite some rather dramatic headlines, America is not awash in crime nor has the pandemic increased most crime categories. 

According to FBI statistics, crime overall in our 25 largest cities was down nearly 30 percent in 2020 from 2019. As might be expected, because far mor... Read More >>

The Unfriendly Skies

Sept. 18, 2021

A woman on a Southwest Airlines flight refuses to fasten her seat belt or put on her mask. The video, taken by another passenger, shows her standing and repeatedly striking a flight attendant until another passenger intervenes. The flight attendant has a tooth knocked out, three others cr... Read More >>