*A perennial problem in Michigan elections will reach its yearly peak soon. August primary elections sneak up on voters who quickly find they might not have ready access to independent information about candidates and issues. Vote411 is an attempt to help. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters Education Fund, the site offers ballot language, […]
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Land O Links
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *On the subject of death, surveys show most people will agree to practically any “life-saving” treatment available. Doctors, by contrast, would reject almost all of the current treatments in such situations, except for pain meds. Why?: “First, few non-physicians actually understand how terrible undergoing these interventions can be. He […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
NOT SO OPEN ANYMORE: America’s standing as a land of new opportunities and new vistas is being pummeled by data showing that mobility is declining. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *America, we hardly knew ye. Once we were considered a land of mobility – both by economic class and geography. The facts have gotten […]
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Land O Links
*In “The real problem with law schools: They train too many lawyers,” Eric Posner writes, “The figures are grim, and the human cost is real. Ninety-two percent of 2007 law school graduates found jobs after graduation, with 77 percent employed in a position requiring them to pass the bar. For the class of 2011 (the latest […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* A dose of “good news, bad news”: “The average hourly wage (of the fastest-growing job category in America) is just $9.70 an hour, according to the Labor Department. For those in the industry who work full-time, this amounts to roughly $20,000 a year. Many health care aides only work part-time though — and they […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* So much for Michigan’s fracking boom. Remember when media outlets – including this one — were full of references to the Antrim shale formation and how the natural gas there would be a big deal. Well, not so much, according to these charts from ProPublica. The wellhead price of gas has dropped by half since […]
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Land O Links — RTW edition
Michigan’s dash to become the 24th Right to Work state — and the physical and political turmoil in Lansing last week surrounding it — drew plenty of attention from the national media. * In “Rick Snyder, Michigan’s reluctant union-buster,” Alec MacGillis of The New Republic wrote, “For now, we’re left with Rick Snyder, the Hamlet of […]
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Land O Links
“There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating — people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing” — Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and author. * Durable goods manufacturing, as a percentage of total economic activity, is “at or near pre-recession levels for each Seventh District state,” says the Federal […]
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Land O Links
“We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed but to those who have differed” — Charles Caleb Colton, 19th century English writer. * Bridge’s media partner, Mlive.com, is publishing an impressive series this week on self-defense shootings in Michigan. First major point: There are far more of these shootings than the […]
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Land O Links
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” — James Madison, “Father of the Constitution” and fourth president of the United States. * The overall student loan debt number isn’t cause for panic, argues Andrew Rotherham, the man behind […]
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