Tag Archives: unemployment

Jessica Meissner on assisting non-venture capital backed companies, and expanding the role of co-ops in Michigan

By Mark | May 5, 2013

Among the people in the audience at Thursday night’s “Doing Business in Ypsilanti” panel, was a woman who has been tasked by Washtenaw County to study the needs of non-venture capital funded entrepreneurs, and make suggestions as to how we might better support them. Her name is Jessica Meissner, and what follows is our email [...]

Posted in Economics, Michigan, Ypsilanti | Also tagged access to capital, Alternative Energy, BALLE, BEC, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, co-ops, collaboration, cooperation, cooperatives, corporatocracy, Costa Rica, Dug Song, economic anthropology, Jessica Meissner, local procurement, Maker Works, Organic Valley, Paul Saginaw, purchasing, sharing assets, Small and Mighty, small business, sustainably, The Shed, Tom Root, triple bottom line, underemployment, University of Michigan, venture capital, Washtenaw County, Wisconsin, workforce development | 9 Comments

Will Michigan follow Indiana and be the next “right-to-work” domino to fall in the right’s ceaseless quest to rollback worker rights?

By Mark | December 5, 2012

When the citizens of Michigan recently failed to pass Proposition 2, which would have established the right to collective bargaining in our State Constitution, we signaled to members of the Republican party that now was the time to launch their all out attack on organized labor. When Prop 2 lost by 15-points, we demonstrated to [...]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged agency fee, collective bargaining, corporatocracy, Dick DeVos, freedom to work, Greg McNeilly, health insurance, Indiana, Jase Bolger, labor, labor history, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Proposition 2, Randy Richardville, Rich Studley, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, Robert Vodicka, UAW, union busting, union security, unions, veto, voter suppression, Washtenaw Community Action Team, Windquest Group | 31 Comments

For those of you who don’t leave the bed over the weekend, here’s the deal with the controversy surrounding the latest jobs data

By Mark | October 7, 2012

On Friday, the the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that, for the first time since President Obama took office, unemployment had fallen below the 8% mark. And, as Romney had repeatedly drawn the line in the sand at 8%, reminding American voters incessantly, since winning his party’s nomination, that Obama had presided over [...]

Posted in Economics, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Al Gore, Bureau of Labor Statistics, conspiracy theory, consumer confidence, Florida, GE, General Electric, Henry Waxman, housing market, Jack Welch, Karl Rove, Labor Department, media consolidation, NBC, news media, Obama, Presidential politics, reality deficient, Romney | 18 Comments

Responding to the conservative nonsense of family members on Facebook

By Mark | August 13, 2012

A close family member of mine liked the following graphic on Facebook, and, now, as a result, the rest of my night is going to be spent debunking or otherwise providing context for these “facts” as put forward by an organization called RightChange. [According to their website, RightChange, the organization responsible for this graphic, "has [...]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged astroturf, clinical trials, FDA, food stamps, Fred Eshelman, Ketek, Medicaid, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Republican obstructionism, RightChange.com, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program | 23 Comments

Robert Reich speaks out on Reddit

By Mark | September 3, 2011

Economist and Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich showed up on Reddit today… I believe at the behest of his son, who works for CollegeHumor.com. I’d encourage you to read the whole thing, but here are some highlights: evasilev: What is the top priority policy change you would like to see outlined in Obama’s upcoming [...]