Thursday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: rich

Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 07:35:55 AM EST

Good morning. Today is the Day Before Leap Day. But it's still February, which means it's still winter here in Michigan. So grab yourself a hot mug of something to drink and take a look at today's cup-o-links. 

Kwame and the Text Messages Ad Nauseum

• Freep: Video: Mayor Kilpatrick schemed to conceal texts. “A Wayne County judge today released the last remaining sealed documents, showing how Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his city-paid lawyers schemed to conceal incriminating text messages that could result in perjury charges against him and Christine Beatty.”
• Detroit News: Laura Berman: 'Solution' included payoff, secrecy. “The defense lawyer described the settlement as a ‘global solution.’ In computerese, global solutions are technical programming changes that work across computer systems. In Detroit's unfolding mini-Watergate, the global solution was a quasi-legal fix that was corrupt at its core, a deal with a big payday to one side and a promise of secrecy to the other.”

Judicial Reform

• Freep: Cate McClure: Minimize the politics in selecting justice. McClure makes the case for implementing a method for selecting our state’s judges that would take away the partisanship that drenches the current method.
• LSJ: Dan Pero: 'Reform' groups want voters out of the loop. “An assortment of lobbyists declared last week ‘judicial reform’ week in Lansing. Their goal was to gain support for public financing of state Supreme Court elections.”
  In case you forgot, Dan Pero “is a former member of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission and is president of the Lansing-based American Justice Partnership, a group launched by the National Association of Manufacturers to advocate for legal reform at the state level.” Yes, the same NAM whose President is...former Governor John Engler. And no less than John Engler himself declared “Lobbying Gives Voice to Manufacturers in Washington.” So I guess lobbyists are okay as long as they’re Pero’s lobbyists.

The Merger of Northwest and Delta

• Livingston Daily Press & Argus: Phil Power: Airline merger could boost region. Phil makes the case for the merger of Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
• Detroit News: Pilots stuck on choice to arbitrate. “The ongoing effort by pilots for Delta and Northwest airlines to merge their seniority lists is hung up, at least in part, on whether an arbitrator should eventually be brought in to resolve the issue, sources with knowledge of the pilot talks said Wednesday.”

Education

• Michigan Messenger: 'Laramie Project' playwright: Kalamazoo student performers 'courageous.' “’Bravo!’ said playwright Moisés Kaufman about the controversial production at Kalamazoo Central High School of his play The Laramie Project. ‘How beautiful that they are having the most courageous conversation. They have inherited the words of a community in mourning. A community struggling with the question how did we raise these children here? That is a courageous question.’ On a tight schedule, Kaufman spent several hours in Kalamazoo Saturday afternoon.”
• LSJ: U.S. veteran, Iraqi share their stories with students. “Patricia McCann served in and around Baghdad as a specialist in the Illinois Air National Guard from 2003 to 2004. She said her experience clearly convinced her the war was a mistake. Raed Jarrar is a 30-year-old Iraqi political analyst, born and raised in Baghdad, who now, with McCann, tours the United States, encouraging people to oppose the war.”
• ars technica: Misperceptions meet state of the art in evolution research. “As an employee of the National Center for Science Education, Nick Matzke was involved with everything from situations that never made the press to coaching the lawyers in the Dover trial, which gained international attention. One thing that apparently became clear is that, due to the highly technical material and a flood of misinformation on the topic, the public (and even many scientists) simply don't know what the current state of knowledge is when it comes from evolution.”

• AP: Gov. Granholm: Bad roads, bridges could be good for new jobs. Moving up $150 million in projects to replace or repair more roads and bridges this summer should add 2,100 construction and engineering jobs in Michigan, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday. The 34 projects sprinkled around the state originally were set for 2009 or later, but were moved up as part of the governor's economic stimulus project.
• YAF Watch: YAF's New Co-Chairs, in their own words. Just when you thought things might improve with Kyle Bristowsteping down as President of MSU's YAF chapter, think again.
• The Grand Rapids Press: Danger on Lake Michigan ice, piers. “Glistening on a sunny winter day, the 300-foot ice pack off Holland State Park is almost enchanting to adventurers.” It can be dangerous taking a walk out on the ice. Be sure to check out the accompanying picture and slide show.
• The Muskegon Chronicle: Forestalling foreclosure. “The NIC, which ordinarily helps people find and purchase homes, offers a free foreclosure prevention service that often keeps families from losing their homes.” It’s that latter service that is in heavy demand these days.
• Livingston Daily Press & Argus: Immigrant gets second chance. “Fnu "Joe" Yonathan is getting another chance. The 29-year-old Brighton man, a native of Indonesia, learned this week he has until April 24, 2009, to reapply for asylum.”
  

As always, if I missed anything, please feel free to add it to the comments.