Tag Archives: Washington State

Raising the minimum wage in Michigan is the right thing to do

By Mark | April 15, 2013

At the end of last week, Democrats in Lansing, led by State Senator Bert Johnson, proposed that we increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, from $7.40, where it’s been set for the past five years, in spite of the rising cost of living. Given that it would make Michigan’s the highest minimum wage [...]

Posted in Economics, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged ALEC, Bert Johnson, Elizabeth Warren, Idaho, income inequality, minimum wage, Obama, poverty, shifting the tax burden to the working class, slavery, Subway, trickle down economics, Wal-Mart, wealth inequality | 15 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Charlie Slick

By Mark | March 30, 2013

I don’t know how to break this to you, so I’ll just come right out and say it… It looks as though beloved local pop idol Charlie Slick will soon be joining the ranks of those leaving our community. Following is his official exit interview. MARK: I’m thinking of requiring everyone who wants to leave [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Mark's Life, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged alcohol, Axel Rose, balding, big women, black licorice, Brian Eno, bubbles, Canton, Charles Slick, Charlie Slick, childhood, childhood memories, circuit boards, comedy, Detroit, Downtown Home and Garden, drugs, Drum Buddy, Dustin Diamond, electrical engineering, exit interviews, flipping coins, glitter, Global Warming, Green Acres, hair, hair and tooth loss, Hotel California, I Dream of Genie, infomercials, inventing, inventing our way out of disaster, Justin Timberlake, Kentucky, Krampus, lesbians, math, Monticello, Mr. Ed, music, music scenes, Nick at Nite, Oakland, pop music, Portland, Puget Sound, Quintron, reinventing, Rock and Roll, Sagittronics, Sherwood Bar, Sigourney Weaver, stand-up, strong women, Totally Awesome Fest, visionary musicians, Washtenaw Community College, Water Hill Music Festival, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews | 16 Comments

David Landrum on the launch of Two James…. the first distillery in Detroit since Prohibition

By Mark | January 31, 2013

As you may have heard, a new distillery will soon be opening in the Corktown section of Detroit, not too far from where our friend Lisa Waud will be opening the new flower shop I told you about a few days ago. From what I’m told, it will be the first legal distillery to operate [...]

Posted in Detroit, Food, Local Business, Locally Owned Business | Also tagged absinthe, Acetaldehyde, Acetone, American Liquor Company, bootlegging, bourbon, Cafe Felix, Calvados, Camp James, Canada, Chattanooga, cider vinegar, cocktails, Colorado, Corktown, Corktown 500, David Landrum, David Pickerell, Detroit River, Distilled Spirits Producer, Dry Fly, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurship, Ethanol, Farm to Bottle, Fred McLaren, Frederick Myll Co., George Washington, Hiram Walker, Lake St. Clair, Leopold Brothers, liquor, Lisa Waud, Makers Mark, martinis, Mercury Bar, Methanol, Michigan Avenue, Milk & Honey, Mount Vernon, Peter Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Portland, Pot and Box, prohibition, Purple Gang, Robinson and Aronheim, Rodney Dangerfield, rye whiskey, Sasha Petraske, scotch, smuggling, St. Clair River, Stone House, Thornsby, Todd Leopold, Two James Distillery, Volstead Act, whiskey | 17 Comments

Accelerating Community Capital (part one)… at the BALLE 2012 conference

By Mark | May 17, 2012

I spent the day in Grand Rapids, participating in a workshop on new models that are evolving for local businesses to raise capital from lenders, investors and donors, at the 10th annual conference of the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE). What follow are my rough notes, for those of you who care about [...]

Posted in Economics, entrepreneurism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Awaken Café, BALLE, big box retail, biomimicry, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Capital Institute, Capitalism, Catskills, Co-op Power, co-ops, Common Market, cool local initiatives, Coop Power, credit unions, crowdfunding, CSA, Cutting Edge Capital, Direct Public Offerings, Don Shaffer, Equal Exchange, Erin Kilmer Neel, financial reform, financing local companies, general store, Harlem, investing, investing in the future, Jenny Kassan, Jobs Act, John Fullerton, JPMorgan Chase, liquidity, Little City Gardens, Local Economies Project, local economy, local investing, Localvesting, Lynn Benander, Marty Gay, Michael Shuman, Michelle Long, micro-financing, Move Your Money Project, move your money to a credit union, New World Foundation, Oakland, off-grid, personal finances, Port Townsend, Port Townsend LION, Quimper Mercantile Company, regenerative capitalism, resilience, resiliency, RSF Social Finance, SCOR, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Slow Money, Small Company Offering Registration, South Bronx, startup investing, Sustainability, unaccredited investors, what is wealth, White Dog Cafe | 12 Comments

On finding myself in the Oregon darkness, not far from Ape Canyon

By Mark | August 27, 2011

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the prospect that we were surrounded by bigfoot. I had a ton of books about the evidence of their existence, and I spent a good deal of time traipsing around in the woods, thinking about them. Maybe it was all the episodes of In Search Of [...]