Letters 4/7/05

April 6, 2005

What unions gave us
There are naysayers in every community who can look at a good thing and find fault with it. Just the thought of labor unions causes them to shudder.
Collective bargaining usually brings fair and equitable salary enhancements to employees for work performance.
As a retired UAW member, I have always advocated that “bargaining“ is the practice of labor and management sitting down together to openly discuss ways to promote productivity and establish trust and harmony between the two entities of the work force.
We should continue to look favorably at the labor union movement‘s most significant accomplishments over the last few decades. Allow me to name some examples:
• The Social Security Act
• The National Labor Relations Act
• The Civil Rights Act
• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• The Occupational Safety & Health Act
• The Family Medical Leave Act
• The Overtime Pay Act
Judging from the above, it is quite evident that appropriate strides were made by labor unions to protect the interest of all employees whether union members or not. Perhaps if management were more forthcoming with labor at Worldcom and Enron, employees‘ savings, pension funds and retirement nest eggs wouldn‘t have been squandered or stolen by a few unscrupulous executives.
Therefore, if we can again break the shell of conformity and embrace those things that make the American work force among the most productive in the world, we will continue to succeed.
This letter is dedicated not only to the nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital who are enduring the longest strike ever, but to all those union members who continue to show solidarity for a fair wage and benefit package enabling them to support a family as our forefathers strived for many years ago.

John Sanchez, retired UAW • TC

A Caligula moment?
When George Bush was governor of Texas, he signed a bill into law which gave the decision of life and death to the health care industry. If the hospital determined that the patient would not improve, and the family could not afford the care, then the hospital can withdraw treatment
after 10 days. During this time, the family is expected to find a hospital that will treat their child. If no facility is found, then the hospital can withdraw treatment (remove a feeding tube), even against the family’s wishes.
After signing this Texas bill into law, supporting the execution of retarded children, killing 100,000 Iraqis and 1,600 Americans to advance his family‘s business interests in the Middle East, why are George Bush and the neo-cons suddenly interested in a single dying
woman?
These actions amount to a shameless power grab designed to dissolve the constitutional separation of powers which exist between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government. George Bush wants the federal courts to be beholden to his wishes and is using this emotional issue to energize the fundamentalists into pressing support for his judicial appointments.
This is the Bushtapo’s Caligula Moment. They are testing their power now that they control both the executive and legislative branches with their aggressive design on the judicial branch.
The Roman emperor Caligula appointed his horse as consul much the same way that Bush is putting the federal government in the harness of a small extreme faction of the religious right by perusing this issue under such false pretenses. They are daring the secular humanists to call him insane. Those who do will be burned publicly at the stake, and the complete power of this extremist faction of the Republican Party over every aspect of our federal government and your lives will come to pass.
If they pull off this fraud, then the days of religious extremists actively sacrificing our virgins to the volcanos of religious emotionalism will have surely returned.

Tim Wiley • TC

Don‘t get drunk in Benzie
First of all I want to state upfront that I was guilty as charged of first offense drunk driving on December 9, 2004. I am not now or ever have advocated that it is alright to drink and drive, because it is not, so please do not do it!
Since I am a Christian, I have repented of my sin, and have been forgiven by Yahweh (God) and am now moving forward in my life. Since I have never been one of the “sheeple,“ but have always fought for and will continue to fight for my God-given rights, I guess that would explain the harsh sentencing that I always seem to receive.
I was sentenced to the maximum of 93 days with no work release for first offense drunk driving. This sentencing was by the same judge, Brent Danielson, who two years ago, in Manistee County, sentenced me to 45 days with no work release for first offense no operators license. By the way, I appealed to the honorable James Batzer in circuit court and he overturned Danielson‘s decision and threw out the whole case. I still had to serve the 45 days with no work release in the Manistee County Jail.
To say Judge Danielson is biased towards me would be an understatement. I was first classified eight -- very low security -- and put in general population in the jail. That lasted seven weeks to the day until I started my religious fast on January 27.
I was then moved to the drunk tank with a letter stating that this was not punitive action but just a way to keep an eye on me for my own safety. I was kept in the drunk tank for five days, two of which I was locked down. During one night I was harassed by the staff so that I could not sleep. I was then put in the maximum security cell for two weeks. My religious fast also lasted for two weeks.
During my time in the max cell I was made to go and see a counselor and also a nurse. They both found me to be in excellent condition, both mentally and physically. My classification also changed from eight -- very low -- to four, which is medium risk, while in the max cell.
I also had to write many grievances to force them to feed me according to my religious convictions of what I eat and do not eat. I was then put in the cell next to the max cell for the remainder of my time left. During that time I was also poisoned, intentionally or unintentionally, we may never know.
All of this for exercising my religious convictions and practices. The moral of this story is if you are going to drink anything at all, do not do it in Benzie County. Since the law changed from .10 to .08, that usually consists of one or two drinks for all involved to be considered legally drunk. So drink responsibly, if there is such a thing, while in Benzie County and leave your religious convictions and practices at the county line!

Gordon Lee Dean • Benzie County

Grasping for power
This month the Senate will most likely vote on what the Republicans call the “nuclear option.” This is about radical Republicans grasping for absolute power so they can appoint Supreme Court justices that favor corporate interests and an extreme right agenda over the rest of us. I sincerely urge our senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great, and oppose the “nuclear option.”
Despite Senate confirmation of almost 95% of President Bush’s nominees, radical Republicans are threatening to eliminate the filibuster to gain complete control over the Supreme Court. They want to use the Court to pay back big donors by rolling back worker protections, environmental laws, and privacy rights--all at our expense.
This is not a partisan issue. Ultimately you don‘t even have to oppose President Bush’s judges to oppose the “nuclear option.” This is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. And that’s something we can all agree on.
Kathy Rowe • TC

Sign of the times
Are we losing Michigan’s scenic resources? Are we sacrificing our view from the road? Is a drive in the country more like a drive through the yellow pages?
Scenic Michigan is working to protect Michigan’s scenic beauty and the aesthetic character of our communities. We are a non-profit organization that has been working since 1995 to promote conservation of scenic corridors; the only non-profit organization in Michigan working with concerned citizens and local units of government to protect and enhance gateways to our cities and communities.
Tourism is a vital indicator of Michigan’s economic strength, and aesthetics are critical to communities that depend on this industry. The President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors reports that natural beauty is the most important criteria for adults choosing a site for outdoor recreation.
In order to provide uniform, readable information to motorists, Scenic Michigan supported the logo signing program on our interstates and freeways, and Tourist Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) along our highways. We have published “Recommended Elements of a Sign Ordinance” and “Preserving Scenic Resources in Michigan Communities,” and have made them available to communities.
For information, contact the Scenic Michigan office; e-mail rick@scenicmichigan.org or go to the Scenic Michigan website at
www.scenicmichigan.org.

Abby Dart, Education Consultant
Scenic Michigan • Petoskey

Restore plowing funds
The snow is nearly gone, but we need to think now of putting ungroomed ski trails back in next year’s DNR budget. Three parking lots of state ski areas lost plowing services this year—all in the Traverse City area.
Two of them -- Lake Dubonnet and the Lake Ann Trail -- lie within the district of State Sen. Michelle McManus. Fortunately, McManus sits on a powerful subcommittee that strongly influences how the DNR spends money. Perhaps she can take the time to focus on this instead of, say, lobbying the DNR for a land sale so that Ice Mountain can draw water from Evart’s wells.
Without plowing, hundreds of acres of publicly owned land are inaccessible. It is illegal and dangerous to park along the roads where these trails are located.
State Sen. Jason Allen was responsive to my calls on this issue (Sand Lakes Trail is within his district). He explained, however, that skiers don’t pay “user” fees. He is exploring setting up a nonprofit to collect money for plowing, but I believe this would be problematic.
The right thing to do is to restore the miniscule funding needed for plowing.

Anne Stanton • TC

Corrections
Our “Best of Northern Michigan“ issue had a misspelling on the winner of “best gourmet food“ in the Boyne/Charlevoix area: that honor goes to Mahogony‘s restaurant. Also, the “best fajitas“ award should have gone to the Hofbrau in Interlochen.