In what seems like a pretty clear attempt to appease the far right and drive more of Michigan’s poor from the public assistance rolls, Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation on the day after Christmas giving the State the power to collect and test the urine of welfare recipients suspected of using drugs. [“Merry Christmas, welfare […]
I’m happy, of course, that the New York Times came out today advocating for the prosecution of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and those in their administration responsible for green-lighting the use of torture against those thought to have knowledge of terrorist activities directed at the United States. I can’t help but wonder, however, how much […]
I had the good fortune a week or so ago to attend the Netroots Nation conference in Detroit. Among the people that I met while there was attorney Alec Gibbs, who, in recent years, has been keeping busy representing retired public employees left without adequate insurance in the wake of the Emergency Manager takeover of […]
I was alerted today, by friends in Hamtramck, that their police force had just taken possession of an armored military assault vehicle, and I was reminded of a good conversation we had here about a year ago on the growing militarization of American police forces. If you have time, I’d encourage you to go back […]
The ACLU today announced that they would be launching a broad investigation into the militarization of America’s domestic police forces. As of this evening, ACLU affiliates in 23 states have signed on to assist in the investigation, and it’s thought that more will join shortly, assigning investigators and filing Freedom of Information Act requests with […]
