Lansing – Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer responded to the Governor’s budget announcement this morning by stating that the dollars he claimed to be investing in Michigan schools existed only as talking points, not as real investments. She stated that a paltry 0.8% is not an “increase” when inflation is 3.3% and the Governor already stole $1 billion from the School Aid Fund last year. Instead, it’s another cut, plain and simple.

“The Governor promised us solutions, but instead his budget only gives us empty gestures designed to disguise the damage this administration has done to Michigan’s public schools,” said Whitmer. “The budget he is proposing for our K-12 schools amounts to putting a drop of water into a bucket he’s already cut a hole out of. It does nothing to solve the real problem he’s created.”

Whitmer added that a real investment in our education system is critical to getting Michigan back on track, something the Michigan 2020 Plan announced last month would provide.

“The Governor’s budget continues his divestment in education while we have a real plan on the table to move Michigan immediately to the top by creating the most well-educated workforce in the nation,” added Whitmer. “I look forward to working with the Governor to move our Michigan 2020 Plan forward because education is economic development and we need to focus on adopting proven pathways to success.”

33rd Annual State Of The Race

There is a clear and concrete line between the “have’s” and the “have not’s”. Sadly, this line is both economic and racial; local and national. The Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) has worked for 33 years to lessen
this gap by empowering and equipping the community with scholarships, food drives, training programs and much more.

So, as DABO prepares to celebrate 33 years of service with their annual “State of the Race” forum and dinner featuring keynote Randall Robinson, the community anxiously awaits solutions for change. This years theme is based on Mr.
Robinson’s book The Debt, — “Economic Apartheid: An American and World Dilemma.”
Randall Robinson, has been invited to share his expert opinion on ‘the economy’; the number one issue weighing on the minds of Detroiters. Mr. Robinson a Harvard Law Graduate, professor, author and world renowned human rights activist will serve as DABO’s special guest for the entire weekend of events.
Mr. Robinson is well known for being the founder of TransAfrica, an organization committed to promoting enlightened and progressive U.S. policies toward Africa and the Caribbean. He is the best-selling author of works such as Defending the Spirit, The Debt – What America Owes to Blacks, and more.
Robinson has shared his views on CNN, The Today Show, Nightline and other leading television programs, and now he will share them with the citizens of Detroit.
Rev. Horace Sheffield, Executive Director of DABO, recalls hearing Mr. Robinson on a radio interview when The Debt was first released and will never forget the comment about how

“A restoration, may call for a force equal to the force that created the situation…to result in change and full repair.”

He is looking forward to listening and learning from Mr. Robinson and the diverse group of panelist on the forum.

The Detroit Association of Black Organizations’s 33rd annual State of the Race festivities will consist of the the following weekend of events.

• Friday, February 17th ~ 5:30pm-7:30pm Networking Affair & from 10:00pm-2:00am the DABO Young Adult Committee at the Detroit Seafood Market – 1435 Randolph St.

• Saturday, February 18th ~ 8:00am-11:30am a Forum & Panel Discussion in partnership with Wayne County Community College District, Downtown Campus 1001 W. Fort St.

• Sunday, February 19th ~ 4:00pm-7:00pm Dinner & Fund Raiser at the Northwest Activities Center – 18100 Meyers Rd.

The Saturday forum is expected to draw hundreds of people and is free and open to the public. For more information and tickets visit www.dabodetroit.org to register or call the DABO office at 313-491-0003. The dinner with Randall Robinson as the keynote is Sunday, February 19th and tickets are available for purchase at the DABO office located at 12048 Grand River, Detroit, MI. The donations will benefit the DABO college scholarship fund.

Enforcement of the new law “will not disenfranchise any potential South Carolina voter,” Attorney General Alan Wilson argues in the suit against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

“The changes have neither the purpose nor will they have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority.”

The Justice Department in December rejected South Carolina’s law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, saying tens of thousands of the state’s minorities might not be able to cast ballots under the new law because they don’t have the right photo ID. It was the first such law to be refused by the federal agency in nearly 20 years.

The department said the law, enacted last year, failed to meet the requirements of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory practices that prevent blacks from voting. The Voting Rights Act also requires the Justice Department to approve changes to South Carolina’s election laws because of the state’s past failure to protect the voting rights of blacks.

VIDEO: South Carolina Attorney General Suing Federal Government

In the lawsuit, Wilson asks that a panel of three federal judges consider the case and declare that the rejected portions of the law are not discriminatory. Wilson also notes that South Carolina’s law is similar to one in Indiana that has already been upheld as constitutional. He says the photo ID requirements “are not a bar to voting but a temporary inconvenience no greater than the inconvenience inherent in voting itself.”

Read the rest of this article on WISTV.com

LANSING – In his budget unveiling today, Gov. Rick Snyder is set to propose plans for tying school funding to a set of specific benchmarks for Michigan’s universities. However, while such “performance-based funding” proposals sound attractive, other states have shown that such programs have been abandoned by 14 states over the last thirty years.

The American Federation of Teachers Michigan today cautioned that negative consequences could result if so-called “performance-based funding” initiatives are implemented for state schools. Such a funding mechanism has the potential to push universities toward raising the bar for college admittance for the sole purpose of increasing graduation rates, since universities would be solely focused on completion rates and not individual student success. Additionally, such school funding proposals may limit program and course offerings, discouraging innovation and entrepreneurial behavior.

“Instead of purposing one-size-fits-all requirements on Michigan’s universities, Gov. Snyder and the state Legislature should be focused on restoring funding for last year’s cuts to higher education,” said David Hecker, president of the AFT Michigan. “Michigan has failed to adequately funding our college’s and universities, which makes affording college more difficult for families and students. We share in the goal of seeing more students succeed in the classroom, but additional requirements placed on already-strained universities is not the way to accomplish this.”

Michigan has continued cut state appropriations for higher education over the last decade despite student enrollment increasing. From 2004 to 2009, Michigan suffered the sixth greatest drop in educational appropriations per full-time equivalent student in the nation. Additionally, Michigan saw the seventh highest increase in net tuition as a proportion of higher education revenue during the same period. The 2011-12 budget slashed higher education by another 15 percent.

“So-called “performance-based funding” initiatives would further diminish access and opportunity for Michigan’s students,” Hecker continued. “Countless other states have showcased the pitfalls of such funding mechanisms and Gov. Snyder should focus on providing basic funding for universities before rushing into a new funding experiment.”

AFT Michigan today also released a policy briefing memo to members of the Michigan legislature detailing why so-called “performance-based funding” is bad for Michigan’s students.

A copy of the memo can be viewed here.

After an underwear commercial featuring soccer player David Beckham aired during the Super Bowl, Martin tweeted to almost 95,000 followers: “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl.” Earlier that day, he took to his Facebook fan page and posted: “Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass.”

CNN has now joined national advocacy organizations like the National Black Justice Coalition and political pundits like Dr. Boyce Watkins who took a stand against Martin’s violent messages. The outlet recently released a statement saying, “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.” Because at the end of the day, people in the media are powerful change agents who can educate people to overcome prejudice — or they can perpetuate that prejudice, even if unintentionally.

Martin’s tweets advocating violence against gay people were not an isolated incident. They are a part of a larger anti-gay pattern. On Martin’s website he ignores the medical evidence about the ineffectiveness and harm associated with so-called “ex-gay” programs and instead praises his wife who he says “has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle.” He has compared being gay to being an alcoholic, or someone who is “hellbent on stealing.” He has used his platform to misrepresent religious views about LGBT people, inaccurately claiming that the church is uniformly anti-gay.

Since the controversy began, some have insulted Martin’s personal character and race when discussing this issue. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) strongly condemns these attacks. There is no excuse for race-based attacks or hate speech.

At a time when the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has found that violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is up 23 percent, we need people in the public eye to speak out against the dangers of anti-LGBT violence, not openly encourage it — even jokingly. The report also revealed that people of color and transgender women were most likely to be targets of violence. Of the victims murdered, 70 percent were people of color, and 44 percent were transgender women.

Despite his consistent anti-gay history, and first denying that the tweets had anything to do with the LGBT community, while not even addressing his anti-gay Facebook post, Martin recently issued a public apology:

“To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I’m truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant. I’m disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others.”

Only time and his actions will tell whether Martin’s words are sincere. For the sake of his young and impressionable Twitter/Facebook followers, viewers, and LGBT people who are targeted daily for who they are, I hope he is. Anti-gay violence is a serious problem facing millions of people, especially in our community. It’s no laughing matter.

This entire article can be read on The Grio

Leaders representing Michigan’s leading civil rights organizations today reiterate the call on former Congressman Pete Hoekstra to immediately drop a television ad inaccurately caricaturing Asians and to take down the “Debbiespenditnow” website, which was first aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl game.

In addition, American Citizens for Justice, American Indian Health and Family Services, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote – Michigan, Detroit Branch NAACP, Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan, Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, and National Action Network urge all candidates for office to refrain from exploiting people’s fears by using racial and ethnic stereotypes in their public communications.

At every level of American society, African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans and Native American/American Indians contribute to our nation’s culture and economy. These communities are also voting in record numbers and are engaging in democracy and elections in many ways and at all levels. Many of our organizations already have plans underway to register and mobilize underrepresented voters to the polls on Election Day, November 6, 2012.

Simple common decency and respect suggests that all candidates who aspire to represent citizens as elected officials refrain from remarks that, intentional or not, are offensive. The use of language and visual images that unfairly and inaccurately stereotype people by race and ethnicity is unacceptable in our politics and our lives, particularly when used by candidates who are supposed to represent the best that America has to offer. Democrats, Republicans, third party candidates and independents all must recognize the important contributions that communities of color make to Michigan’s economy. The use of stereotypical imagery or language is not just offensive – it is indeed unacceptable.

The sting of an icy wind and temperatures that dipped into the teens didn’t deter a small group of protesters as they marched along the sidewalk across the street from the U.S. District Court in Detroit a few weeks ago.

There are people in their 20s and members of the group that call themselves the Raging Grannies. There’s a lawyer and a real estate agent and a woman who does public relations.

What they have in common is the belief that American democracy has been hijacked by special interests with deep, deep pockets.

Dubbed Occupy the Courts, similar protests of varying sizes were taking place across America. The actions coincided with the second anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has opened the floodgates for political spending on the part of corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.

Along with clearing the way for the attack ads from so-called super PACs (political action committees) that have already played a key role in the run-up to this year’s presidential election, that case — Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission — has become the rallying point for a burgeoning movement that seeks to achieve something that has occurred only 27 times in America’s history.

What these people marching through the cold and gloom of a Detroit winter’s day want to do is amend the U.S. Constitution.

The changes they would make are both deceptively simple and extremely controversial.

In short, what they want the law of the land to say is this:

Corporations aren’t people. And money isn’t speech.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Isn’t that obvious?”

And the answer is: Not to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Spending spree

As of Jan. 20, $33 million has beenspent by Super PACs — which are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in support of a particular candidate as long as there is (supposedly) no contact occurring between campaign officials and the PAC.

Giving credence to the contention that the movement to amend could become more of a 99 percent issue than a more traditional dispute between rank-and-file Republicans and their counterparts on the left is the recent turn taken in the increasingly nasty GOP primary battle.

Essentially, we’ve been witnessing the two leading Republican candidates attacking each other for being … Republicans!

Doing much of the dirty work in both cases are commercials being paid for by Super PACs.

“It is only going to get worse,” says Dave Vance, spokesman for the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. “Most congressional races haven’t heated up yet. Once we get to the general election, a huge percentage of the country is going to have to live through these TV commercials. They’re only going to fuel public outrage and feed the perception that democracy is on the auction block.”

A better approach, he contends, is to pressure lawmakers into passing campaign finance and disclosure laws that will pass muster with the current Supreme Court.

With so much more to this story you have to go to Metro Times to check out the rest!

Popular opinion holds that marriage fails when people change and many are taught to believe that changing themselves as part of their relationship is akin to “selling out” or turning themselves into a completely different and subservient person.  Thus, changing themselves seems both unhealthy and unwarranted. But all healthy people change as they mature. The person most spouses need their partner to be when they’re in their twenties is considerably different from the person they need their spouse to be in their thirties, forties, and fifties.  The truth is that it’s when people don’t change that they find themselves trapped in unhealthy marriages.  For a marriage to thrive, both spouses, over time, need to become six different people.

The 6 Husbands Every Wife Should Have (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 7, 2012) is written by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Steven Craig and provides men and women with a roadmap for how to be the mate their spouse needs.  It outlines each of the six different spouses mature partners become as they transition through the years and provides guidelines for how successful couples change their needs and expectations, modify their communication, transform their identities, change their activities and interests, and produce new ways of achieving intimacy through the years.

Dr. Craig’s 6 stages of marriage are:

·       Getting Started – evaluating your partner’s ability to perform maturely in a relationship and careful self-exploration.

·       Young Married Couple – re-examining core beliefs and long standing behavioral patterns.  Putting needs of relationship above individual needs.

·       Then Comes Baby – keeping up with changing needs of spouse and life together.  Attributes of past no longer needed or desirable.

·       Family Ties – coming into your own individual and resolving personal issues that have changed from being “your” problem to “our” problem.

·       Empty Nest – making the relationship the priority.

·       Golden Years – needing dependability, reliability and constancy, yet husband and wife are more self-focused than any other stage.

Dr. Steven Craig is located right here in Michigan.

Check out his website HERE for more information

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano’s political operatives pressured Ficano appointees to buy and sell tickets to his fund-raisers and spend their free time working for a campaign machine that has raised more than $600,000 from county employees since 2003, a dozen former appointees said.

The pressure, they said, felt like a shakedown by Team Ficano — which is how the campaign organization refers to itself.

A Free Press investigation found evidence supporting the claims in interviews, lawsuit settlements, e-mails, internal campaign documents and campaign donor records.

Experts said such tactics may raise legal issues. Federal law bars elected officials from leading public employees to believe they could suffer financial harm if they don’t contribute, although prosecution is rare.

Ficano used his appointees and other at-will employees, who can be fired without cause, to build Michigan’s largest political machine controlled by an elected official.

Ficano declined to answer specific questions about this report, but on Friday, he told Free Press columnist Tom Walsh:

“I don’t apologize for working hard for Democrats. We follow all campaign laws.”

Yet two former Ficano employees sued the county, claiming they were fired because they refused to give Team Ficano the cash or time it demanded. The county settled both suits but wouldn’t disclose the terms.

Other county executives’ appointees don’t fund nearly as much of their war chests

Former appointee Ernest Johnson, who retired last April, said he was willing to help Ficano but didn’t want to help other candidates Ficano backed.

“That’s crossing the line,” Johnson said. “That’s building a dynasty.”

Team Ficano benefits from the executive having more at-will employees — 187 in 2011 and 168 today — than any elected official in Michigan.

Ficano’s campaign committees have raised nearly $5.4 million since he was first elected in 2002. His Republican opponent in 2010 spent less than $1,000.

Read more of what’s brewing in the Ficano administration in the Detroit Free Press

The study, from the Michigan State University’s law school, says statistics show that between 1990 and 2010 in North Carolina, prosecutors in capital murder trials were far more likely to peremptorily dismiss black potential jurors than other jurors. This study is at the heart of convicted murderer Marcus Reymond Robinson’s effort to get his death sentence commuted to life in prison without parole for the 1991 robbery and murder of Erik Tornblom.

It is illegal to dismiss a potential juror because of his race. Robinson’s lawyers contend it happened regardless. The Racial Justice Act of 2009 permits death-row inmates to use statistics to try to prove their cases.

Robinson’s claim is the first in the state to get this far in the court system. He is black; Tornblom was white. Robinson’s jury was made up of nine whites, two blacks and an American Indian.

Emotion absent from first week of Racial Justice Act hearing in Fayetteville

The statistics expert is retired professor George Woodworth of the University of Iowa. He has conducted other studies on race in the criminal justice system, the causes of antisocial behavior and on medical issues.

Woodworth, testifying on behalf of Robinson, said he briefly advised Michigan State researcher Barbara O’Brien when she asked for his thoughts on how to evaluate her data. O’Brien testified Monday and Tuesday about her study.

Follow Paul Woolverton’s daily documentation of the trial in the Fay Observer