LSJ Blogs: People's Politics

Happy Holidays

To all our readers, I hope you have safe travels, and keep warm, and spend time with people you love, and create memories you will cherish, whatever holidays you celebrate or don't celebrate.  Peace to you all.

Kwame, the Campaign Hot Potato

Attorney General Mike Cox has just announced that if former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick used campaign funds to pay legal fees for his various lawsuits that were unrelated to the duties of his office, that it would be illegal, a violation of campaign finance law.  He has formally requested that Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land investigate this possible violation.

Quick, Terri, grab the hot potato!

Nobel Acceptance Speech

I have been a frequent critic of President Obama; I believe his liberal policies are bad for the country and I was especially critical of his “apology speeches” overseas.  However, I must say after reading his speech in Norway, I was pleasantly surprised.  While I am not as enthusiastic about it as many prominent Republicans, I believe it was such a refreshing piece of rhetoric that I was proud of him being our President.  I hope he continues this line of thinking.  Good job President Obama.

War on Christmas, or War on non-Christians?

Every year around this time, we start hearing people complain that there is a "War on Christmas."  And every year at this time, when I'm buying groceries or running errands or eating out, as I hear the piped in Christmas carols and see the Christmas decorations everywhere, I think "Really??  Are you serious?  It's freaking everywhere!" 

Health Care Debate

When I think the health care debate in Congress can’t sink any lower, I am again astonished by the depths our representatives can go to push their ideology at the expense of we the people.  Harry Reid made a grand announcement announcing a “possible breakthrough” or compromise  to move the stalled bill through the Senate.  What is this breakthrough?

Random shorts

The smoking ban in "all"  public places within Michigan, including unbelievably in privately owned businesses, is supposed to come to some sort of climax this week according to various sources.  The ban would define all restaurants and bars as “public places.”  The holdup on this outrageous violation of private property rights seems to be to smoke or not to smoke in “casino floors and cigar bars.”  While I am absolutely opposed to the state getting involved in private business, the concept of considering banning smoking in a cigar bar is ludicrous; it is absolutely equivalent to the state shutting down a legal business on which a private entrepreneur spent his/her own capital and sweat equity.  It is totally wrong.  From the casino aspect, it is inconceivable that the state would stop smoking in a small restaurant but leave the big cash cows in Detroit and elsewhere alone.  It would be morally repugnant.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Monday December 7th is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  In honor of this, I'd like to share a story of how I learned some things about WWII.  Of course, I had family members and friends who had served in that war, but they didn't talk about it much, and it didn't occur to me to ask questions.  I regret that now that many of them are gone.  I didn't learn about it in my history class in high school, because the instructor was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and he decided to skip all the war chapters.  Seriously.  But at the time, I didn't care.  I was busy protesting our involvement in Vietnam - what did I need to know about those dusty old wars that happened before I was even born?

Honduran elections

What to make of the November 30 elections in Honduras and the US response to same?  For those of you who have not followed the situation, former president Jose Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted by either a coup or the Supreme Court of Honduras by a constitutional process depending on who one listens to, was the big loser.  Presiding over the election was interim president Roberto Michelleti who agreed not to seek an elected term in order to provide a semblance of a democratic process.  The new president elect is Porfirio Lobo who seems to be a decent sort of chap.  He won with a 56% majority in an election where roughly 60% of the eligibles voted.  Interestingly, he was Zelaya’s opponent in the last presidential election.  He is center-right in his political beliefs; someone even the moderates should like.

Climate Research Unit

A number of emails have been uncovered from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, England; it is apparently unclear if the emails were leaked by someone inside the CRU or picked off by hackers.  Regardless of the source of the release, the emails seem to be credible and provide a fascinating insight to the world of the global warming acolytes and alarmists.  For full disclosure, I haven’t read all of the emails but they may be found here for your reading pleasure.

it all seems so hopeless

Well, it must be a holiday lull...maybe everyone is caught up in the overwhelming news that  Tiger is indeed human, like the rest of us.  Maybe a couple of you noticed that we have committed another 30,000 troops  to a worthless endeavor?  Some of you may remember back during the election, how I placed importance on the people the new president would nominate to his cabinet posts, and  the fact that a law should be enacted to make sure none of them belonged  to any secret organizations?  I got  lots of flack  for that,  some laughed and wondered if  black choppers were seen flying around too. After the election, I told you, everyone of the cabinet members  belonged to the council on foreign relations, and most of them also belonged  to the bilderberg group.  These are both very powerful organizations, with the richest people in the world at their cores..wars and the ensuing property divisions are the fastest ways to gain wealth....is it any wonder that we cannot end these wars, and use  these monies  for human good?  I think  most of our people  and the world population  too, wou