“War on Whistleblowers” exposes the government assault on free speech
By Dave Palmer BraveNew Foundation, creators of such documentaries as Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price and Iraq for Sale has released “War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State.” The film is focused on exposing how our government deals with employees and contractors who discover and report potentially catastrophic information regarding government [...]
Need a vacation? Just work overtime!
By Dave Palmer According to an article in the Huffington Post , the GOP-led House of Representatives is working on a bill that would allow employees to choose to take compensatory time in lieu of overtime. The idea is to allow workers to work overtime (each hour counting as an hour and a half of comp time) [...]
USDA: Faster lines and less inspectors equals cleaner food.
By Dave Palmer The Obama administration is at it again, letting down progressives that believed in his message of change and moving forward while putting smiles on the faces of the corporate profiteers. According to a Mother Jones article, a new budget for the USDA released on April 10 proposes allowing chicken and turkey slaughterhouses [...]
U.S. Senators show public opinion means nothing to them
By Dave Palmer Another day, another filibuster. Increasingly, this seems to be the mantra that is chanted silently in the heads of Senate Republicans. Once again, a filibuster-proof vote was required in a bipartisan agreement regarding the latest gun control bill to hit the Senate floor. Once again, votes fell largely on partisan lines, with [...]
A case to overturn DOMA and California’s Prop 8
By Dave Palmer The Supreme Court seems to be recanting on their decision to hear oral arguments in what portends to be a landmark decision in the field of marriage equality, taking on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman for federal purposes, and [...]
Two and a half months and $110: A case for tougher gun background checks
By Dave Palmer Two and a half months and $112. This is the length of time and the amount of money it cost me to renew my teacher certification with the State of Michigan. This waiting period was preceded by filling out an online form, Wayne State University telling me I needed to submit a [...]
Congress gets vacation while we get sequestration
By Dave Palmer Normally, when someone returns from a two week vacation, they set about getting immediately back to work. Projects are resumed, presentations turned in, and meetings attended. Of course, our Congress is far from normal when it comes to returning to work. After a rousing four days back on the job, both the [...]
Regulating things that hurt society: Exploring the Second Amendment (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” These 26 words are the center of much discussion and controversy lately in our country. So much so, that President Obama sees the need to [...]
Schools as social service hubs: Worst idea ever (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer According to an article in the January 24 edition of the Detroit Free Press, schools may soon be required to function as hubs for other social services through the Department of Human Services’ Pathway to Potential program. Duane Berger, chief deputy director of the Michigan Department of Human Services stated in the [...]
Dear Idiots…An open letter to Congress: Stop the Education Cuts! (Society’s Slideshow)
Dear Idiots, As a constituent and an educator, I want to express my deep concern about the “sequestration” cuts delayed for two months under the American Taxpayer Relief Act. The sequestration cuts propose to cut $3 billion from education in 2013 alone. Education and other programs serving, children, working families, seniors, and other vulnerable populations already [...]
AIG Shareholders: Thank You, America, We’ll See You in Court (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer The 2008 mortgage bubble burst resulted in many banks failing. However, some of the banks, including AIG, were deemed “too big to fail”, and were therefore given part of a massive $800 billion bailout from the government. AIG received a $182 billion share of the bailout. Promptly thereafter, AIG paid six and [...]
A New Year’s Resolution for Congress: Pay America’s Bills! (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer The 113th Congress is duly sworn in, and once again House and Senate Republicans are up to their old tricks. So far, they’ve managed to find time to vote on whether or not they deserve a pay raise, schedule a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act for the 33rd time, and turn [...]
Guns in school, an atrocious policy (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Michigan Legislature is once again demonstrating incredible lack of judgement and perhaps intelligence as they passed legislation that according to MLive would allow concealed weapons carriers to bring guns into places formerly forbidden. These terribly dangerous places where apparently no one is safe include stadiums, schools, and places of worship. The law [...]
Right to Work successful at dividing labor (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Yesterday was a dark day for the labor movement as Governor Rick Snyder recanted on yet another promise to not pass legislation he claimed was not on his agenda as governor by signing the Right to Work bill. Union members from all corners of the state swarmed Lansing to support and protest [...]
Senator Mitch McConnell filibusters his own bill (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer According to an article on Huffington Post yesterday, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will go down in Senate history as being the first member of that body to have ever filibustered his own proposal. Senator McConnell made a motion to vote on legislation that would let the president extend the country’s borrowing limit on [...]
Stop the “Parent Trigger” Law (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer It is with great dismay that I am writing again regarding proposed reforms to the Michigan Public Education System so soon after my latest diatribe regarding HB 6004 and SB 1358. Now, the Senate is taking up Senate Bill 620, also referred to as the “Parent Trigger Law.” Specifically, the bill gives certain [...]
Lansing seeks to expand EAA authority beyond failing schools (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Michigan Legislature is accelerating the process by which it dismantles public schools and hands them over to private entities, and it’s doing it through the Educational Achievement Authority. The EAA was originally designed by Michigan Legislature to take over the bottom 5% of schools and school districts (labeled Persistently Low Achieving, or [...]
Celebrate “National Buy Nothing Day” (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Every Thanksgiving, Americans celebrate the things they already have for which they are thankful. The next day, and sometimes later the same day, they go out and trample each other to buy things for others so they can have something more to be thankful for next year. It’s time to bring this [...]
Wal-Mart Workers, Unite! (Part Two)
By Dave Palmer Just when Wal-Mart thought it was safe to go back to their old song and dance routine of union suppression and worker intimidation, SHA-BAM! Wal-Mart workers strike again! (No pun intended) This time, according to Yahoo! Finance, Wal-Mart workers plan to hit the Walton family right in the giblets by protesting over [...]
IRS pressured to rescind tax exempt status for churches? (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer According to an article on the Huffington Post, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a complaint with the IRS regarding churches that violated the tax agency’s rules regarding churches and political speech. While the First Amendment guarantees churches the rights of freedom of speech and to worship, the IRS [...]
General Motors and Chrysler to Romney: Shenanigans! (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Election season is rife with advertisement that sometimes doesn’t tell the whole truth. Sometimes they take the form of attack ads that rake an opponent over the coals on their policies and beliefs using heavily spun facts or rhetoric. Sometimes they take the form of an ad explaining what a candidate stands [...]
“Flaming Hot Cheetos” have schools flaming angry (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Flaming Hot Cheetos have become all the rage in schools across the country, so much so that schools are actually considering banning the food altogether. Schools in California and New Mexico have already cited the snack’s unhealthy ingredient list as the main reason for the proposed ban. The Huffington Post reports that [...]
Banks reverse mortgages, rip off seniors. (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer Senior citizens, beware! The only thing scarier than Halloween is the likelihood that you could lose your home after an unscrupulous mortgage lender sells you a reverse mortgage. The commercials for reverse mortgages dot the television airwaves like stars in a constellation, and many promise senior citizens they can borrow money against [...]
Wal-Mart Workers, Unite! (Society’s Slideshow)
By Dave Palmer What? Wal-Mart workers are on strike? Cats are living with dogs, mice with men, leopards with cheetahs! An article on huffingtonpost.com tells of the first ever Wal-Mart worker strike. The strike started in Los Angeles, and has already spread to a dozen cities. The workers are protesting company attempts to “silence and retaliate against [...]
