WYFP: "Be Ready" edition
Like that commercial says, “Life comes at you fast.”For us Catholics, advent is a time of preparedness. Even some of the Bible readings at Mass center around being prepared for the second coming....
View ArticleJason Sokol calls out the misappropriation of Dr. King's legacy
While we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, The New York Times’s Jason Sokol cautions us to view that legacy in terms of what King really did and stood for — and not the...
View ArticleGrand Rapids superintendent agreed to all-expenses-paid trip to back Betsy DeVos
Very disappointing news from Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos’s back yard.Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal recently broke from the education crowd when she...
View ArticleWYFP: Trump-Free Open Thread
Well, I don’t have as many FPs to complain about as I thought I’d have.I mean, besides the fact that it’s cold. But it’s February in Michigan.Oh, and I got a flat tire yesterday.Oh, and… everything...
View ArticleKerry Eleveld's father has passed. And what a life he lived, right up to the...
Most of us have our obituaries published — and our life celebrated — only after we pass away.Bob Eleveld wasn’t most of us.Upon learning that his time was coming to a close due to cancer, Eleveld —...
View ArticleAngry about Gorsuch on SCOTUS? Want to fight back? Here's your chance!
Angry about Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation?Looking for a way to fight back?While the U.S. Supreme Court is important, so are other courts, such as the Michigan Supreme Court. 2018 gives us the chance to...
View ArticleWYFP: Bring Back Meritocracy Edition
I was going to start this off by saying that we are not a meritocracy. But that is so obvious to pretty much everybody in Kosland.Amidst everything else that makes this administration an utter disaster...
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WYFP: Who You Represent Edition (with a nod to Richie Righteous)
This used to make me proud.Good representation is important.Bad representation is a source of shame.Amidst the horror of everything else that this administration has done and been, one of the things...
View ArticleThe DeVoses backed my mayor. Now I'm running.
This happened a few years ago in my hometown:Stephen Kepley got a flood of cash from the DeVos family and other Republican donors late in his campaign to become Kentwood mayor. The surge in fundraising...
View ArticleAP can't help but weave a jab at Hillary Clinton into their 9/11 remembrance...
The AP reported this morning on some of today’s observances marking the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The piece included remembrances from victims’ relatives, future plans for Ground...
View ArticleWe the people? Or they the billionaires?
On this day 230 years ago, our Constitution was signed after months of debate in Philadelphia. As then-Senator Barack Obama said in 2008, "The document they produced was eventually signed, but...
View ArticleWYFP? Dirty 30 Edition
Today’s my 30th birthday!Of course, it’s in the midst of my mayoral campaign, so I haven’t really stopped to reflect on the last three decades and my hope for the next year and decade. I promise that...
View ArticleWYFP: 11,000 Days Old Edition
October 21, 1987. The stock market was recovering from its crash two days earlier. Robert Bork was two days from being, well, Borked. And a woman at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC, gave birth to...
View ArticleWYFP: Driving Me Crazy Edition
As of Thursday, I’m no longer driving my FP.In last week’s WYFP, I ranted about the many problems that I had with my 22-year-old, 159,200-mile car:The windshield is cracked.The right window won't roll...
View ArticleAngry about the Janus v. AFSCME decision? Want to fight back? Here's how:
Today’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME is obviously disappointing to us progressives.So how will we respond? Will we wallow in defeatism or self-pity? Or will we fight back?I’m fighting back — and I hope...
View ArticleMe vs. right-wing groups - in the *Democratic primary*
You know as well as I do that our freedoms are in jeopardy. Many wealthy people and groups are trying every day to undermine our rights. But there are also people and groups who are working to protect...
View ArticleWYFP: Last-Minute Hiring Freeze Edition
I was THIS close to being offered a job through the November election.Two different people within the organization said that they were planning to make me an offer (one said that to me; the other said...
View ArticleGreat news: All Michigan voters to get absentee ballot applications!
To quote a certain former VP, this is a big [freaking] deal!Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Tuesday all of Michigan's 7.7 million registered voters will be mailed absentee ballot applications so...
View Article"Someone who is the demographics of my district": Rising Dem star's opponent...
Darrin Camilleri’s star has been rising in Michigan Democratic politics.In 2016, Trump won the 23rd State House district by 12 points. Yet Camilleri, the young Maltese-Mexican-American and first-time...
View ArticleWYFP: F*** Cancer
When I signed up to write this week’s WYFP? diary a couple weeks ago, I planned on talking about how my digital media and writing business is struggling. More specifically, I sometimes wonder if I’m...
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