joegraber

George Ramsey and Judy Gilchrist

Three Rivers Area • Nov 9, 2009 9:35 PM

Ramsey's loss is his own fault. I didn't know either in the race...never talked to them or had any mail or interaction. I was leaning toward voting for Ramsey until I saw his table and sign right in the school yard. I hate it when candidates try to campaign at people as they enter the voting place. Neither I nor my wife voted in that race...yes they had to override the machine when I submitted the ballot.

Michigan unemployment is highest in the nation

These United States • Dec 27, 2008 2:45 AM

I had a Ford Ranger 1989. All the important stuff was Mazda and like the little plastic emblem was Ford. At about 250,000 miles I sold it to the junk yard for $85. My belief has been that most of the improvement in domestic autos the last 20 years is the result of cooperation with foreign automakers.

American Axle workers strike

Three Rivers Area • Mar 22, 2008 5:39 PM

I thought Thursday's "Crain's Detroit Business" was interesting. Article pointed out that AAM has begun shifting more production to Mexico (of products not previously made there) and both Chrysler and GM are taking delivery of these parts (aside from what was already being made in Mexico).

Bill To Allow Police Misconduct Hidden From Public

These United States • Mar 8, 2008 11:55 AM

I guess this bill's passage would just be another reason (in a long list of reasons) for me not to visit Utah. Thoughts: First, Sherman is setting up a straw man. There is not an issue here with all discipline. It is official misconduct by an officer in the course of their duties. Of course we don't need to see that Bill showed up 15 minutes late for his shift. I'm not sure if you saw the video in question here, but that cop ought to be fired, at the least, for his total incompetence. He had no ability to handle even the minimal amount of conflict that happened at that traffic stop. Second, I work for a private company who pays my wages. My employer has total access to my files. Police officers are public employees. That comes with rights, responsibilities and scrutiny. I was a public employee at one time, and I understood that I worked for the public and there was a different level of scrutiny. Third, Senator Buttars sets up a straw man by saying that defense attorneys will ask officers if they were accused of "x, y and Z" and the police officer will have to say "yes". He just leaves it there as if the prosecutor isn't going to get up and make it clear that bogus accusations are bogus accusations. And, who wouldn't like to know that the officer testifying against them has been found to have tampered evidence or lied before...or had some other misconduct. Obviously, an officer who has been found to have committed official misconduct should have court testimony weighted with that knowledge. Finally, I would agree with Sherman that we don't have a bunch of rogue officers committing attrocities on citizens (although there are bad apples...just review Schoolcraft's last 20 years). The larger problem is with incompetance of officers. I have had more experience with officers not knowing the law than with them bullying. Also, having experienced an officer kinda losing it similarly to the way the one in question did, I would never want to limit one's ability to access that information.

American Axle workers strike

Three Rivers Area • Mar 5, 2008 6:52 AM

Working Class -- I have no doubt that this was partly GM's plan. You don't see the beauty of it? GM is not selling SUVs and doesn't need AAM products right now. They also don't need to have their SUV factories running. They also settled with the UAW for less valuable contracts than AAM has. So they just put pressure on the AAM management to make demands on the UAW there. Make dramatic demands and they'll go on strike...which shuts down the lines that they are overproduced on anyway. Also, it has the double advantage of dividing the union. GM can tell their own UAW workers that it is AAM workers fault that the GM plants are down and they (GMs workers) are out of work...not GMs. It is those AAM workers who are making a lot more money than the GM UAW workers...etc... I can't believe that you fail to see GM's hand in this. The strike works for GM and AAM. These effects have all been clearly reported in the news...I've been noting that here. Was it a GM plan? If it was, it seems like it worked pretty well. Can a UAW strike at AAM shut down GM plants? Yes. Has this strike shut down GM plants? Yes. The products coming out of those plants hit a new low in market demand. They're not selling. Would those plants have shut down without a strike? Likely. Does it benefit GM to have them shut down because of a strike at AAM? Absolutely. So I guess it is funny that I mentioned GM all my posts. It must be that I'm just too stupid. Isn't it interesting though that AAM is right now still producing products for Chrysler? My understanding is that they're running one line at a time with supervisors... Maybe someone has more info on that.