The Culture Vulture (Books): The Oxymoronic Book Club Culture: A Society Populated by Socially-Stunted Introverts
What is culture? I guess you could define it as high-brow, artsy stuff, but the sociologist in me thinks of this concept more as it applies to society—a cohesive unit in which the members work together for their own individual benefit or…
Weekly Whopper: "Ann Arbor’s Long Term Debt Has Increased from in $119M in 1999 to $246M in 2010."
On March 3, 2011 Council member Christopher Taylor sent out an email to Ward Three constituents that purported to "explain" the extent and reasons for the city's ballooning debt load. AnnArbor.com published Taylor's assertions in its print…
The Politics of Spin: U of M President Touts Belt-Tightening to State Lawmakers
Dr. Mary Sue Coleman is smart. That goes without saying. She does have a Ph.D., after all. She's also clever. Her recent act in front of the Michigan State Legislature was a performance that the Academy should recognize next year with a…
Urban Exile: Common Courtesy & Every Day Strangers
A2PNotes: In 2010, John Hieftje and First Ward Council member Sandi Smith both ran for re-election and patted themselves on the back for "doubling beds at the homeless shelter." If you count a chair as a bed, Hieftje and Smith were telling…
The Politics of Oops: Council Member Email “Explanation” of City Debt Includes Factual Errors & Omissions
AnnArbor.com's political repeater Ryan Stanton struck again last week. This time, Stanton and AnnArbor.com simply "repeated" incomplete and incorrect information presented in a constituent email sent to the paper by Third Ward Council…
The Parent Trap: Can We "Please" Teach Manners? "Thank You!"
I told one of my readers that I would try my best to not be preachy, but I might cross the line this time. So if you think (grudgingly) that this title may apply to you and you have no desire to fix a possible problem, or you don't want…
The A2P Foodist: Investing Wisely in a Community Farm
On February 11, 2011 the World Bank issued a warning concerning a predicted sharp rise in global food prices. As a result, food sellers have been making concerted efforts to pass along the rising cost of ingredients to consumers. In the…
After 2 Months in Office, Gov. Rick Snyder’s Approval Rating Tanks
Newspaper editorialists and political pundits have praised Governor Rick Snyder for not attacking Michigan's public-sector union employees, or like Wisconsin's Governor, trying to restrict collective bargaining on the part of public-sector…
Weekly Whopper: “We are blessed to have one of the largest football programs in the country.”
The University of Michigan's Athletic Director Dave Brandon (pictured, left) is a confused man who has, obviously, never understood that value for money means paying the least amount of money for the most value. In a January 7, 2011 entry…
The Culture Vulture: On Glenn Beck, Benito Cereno and Scared White People
By Dorinda Fox
I don’t watch Fox News and don’t want to. However, many of my long suffering students, who patiently read what I ask them to read and perform academic tasks I deem worthy, do watch Fox News. If they can read material that…