As children I suspect many of us engaged in a naughty game called Ding Dong Ditch.’The premise was to knock on the door or ring the bell of the victim and then scamper away before the homeowner opened the door.’No harm was done other than an exasperated person who grew weary of coming to the […]
Attending school in the innocence of the 50’s meant we were not troubled with all the regulations that are now running rampant in our society.? It meant that every morning we would take time to recite the pledge of allegiance and every classroom was decorated with an American flag.? (As an aside, there were only […]
Fans of the popular ‘Seinfeld? sitcom know that it was a ‘show about nothing.? The show ended a very successful nine-year run in 1998 but reruns flood cable and network television to this day. Another ‘show about nothing? that continues to run in our area is the annual trek to Mackinac Island by those who […]
Driving a car in the 50’s meant eight cylinder engines and two types of gasoline ? leaded regular and premium ethyl. Very few of us back then needed to power our clunkers with ethyl so chipping in to fill the tank meant only .50 cents apiece for the four of us who used to pal […]
Motoring to New York recently to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Yankees at the revered Yankee Stadium taught me two very important life lessons: Mayor Michael Bloomberg is genuinely a man of the people; and when it comes to height standards at a national hotel chain, size does matter. Permit me to explain. My […]
Opening Day in Detroit ? our national holiday! The pungent aroma of grilled hot dogs. Peanut shells crackling under one’s footsteps. The high fives from friends who also played hooky. The sight of batting practice taking place on manicured green grass which seems out of place what with snow banks still lining some of the […]
Back in 1986, the Great Orator as he was called, President Reagan uttered these prophetic words that still ring true today: ‘Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases ? If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.? I […]
The announcement from Starbucks in February that it would close for three hours to retrain about 135,000 in-store employees sent shudders through the thousands of coffee fanatics in the nation. Could it be that java aficionados would have to forego their venti, decaf, no foam, double vanilla, light-whip extra-caramel with cinnamon on top, expresso frappuccino? […]
It was in the 17th century that Chancellor of Germany Otto von Bismarck uttered those now famous words: ‘To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.? Frankly, observing what our Lansing Legislature has been concocting the last year has given me more indigestion than watching ground meat being […]
The latest brouhaha over the requirement that voters identify themselves before pulling the lever or marking Xs on a ballot is without merit and frankly borders on lunacy. Voting is one of the most important activities we, as Americans, can participate in and verifying the identity of would-be voters preserves the integrity of the process. […]