People

The Faux Martyrdom of Canada’s Lisa LaFlamme

The termination of Canadian television anchor Lisa LaFlamme’s contract has generated outrage in Canada and the U.S. because of speculation she was fired for allowing her hair to go gray. More likely, the network decision to terminate LaFlamme was driven by budgetary considerations.

Despite the uproar, LaFlamme has refused to comment, which is despicable for a journalist.

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The Passing of My Uncle Jerry

My Uncle Jerry, known to metro Detroit and Cleveland residents as Specs Howard, died early Saturday. He was among the last living legendary rock & roll DJs from the early 60s and he had an outsized influence on me. That he lived until 96 and survived polio, prostate cancer and melanoma underscored the power of his positive thinking and a lifetime of ignoring dire medical prognoses.

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James Butler & Ford’s $1.7 Billion Legal Reckoning

Meet James Butler, the lead plaintiff counsel responsible for the landmark $1.7 billion product liability award a Georgia jury last week issued against Ford Motor Co. Butler shared some pointed comments about Ford after the company defiantly issued a statement saying the verdict wasn’t “supported by the evidence” and that it planned to appeal.

Companies that choose to do legal battle with Butler do so at their own risk. Butler has secured eight verdicts in excess of $100 million, four of them records at the time they were awarded.

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Senator Stabenow’s Startling EV Admission

In an interview with the New York Times, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow indicated that she doesn’t fully understand the EV subsidy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act she voted to support. That’s understandable because the legislation is deftly written so that Ford, GM, and other automakers can circumvent the spirit and intent of the bill’s U.S. battery sourcing requirements.

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Celebrating America’s Unsung Heroes

Heroism is often demonstrated in unlikely places by unknown people whose efforts will never be publicly known or appreciated. I’m moved by the confidential informant who prevented Iran’s planned assassination of former Trump aide John Bolton and the Federal Reserve economist who couldn’t be strong armed by China.

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Stephen M. Ross: Michigan’s NFL Disgrace

A primer on billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, the hypocrisy of University of Michigan’s business school alumni, and why Democracy Dies Near Midnight in the Great Lakes State.

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Kyrsten Sinema: Wall St.’s Guardian Angel

“Until the average American realizes that capitalism damages her livelihood while augmenting the livelihoods of the wealthy, the Almighty Dollar will continue to rule.”

Does this sentiment seem consistent with a Democratic Senator who singlehandedly protected super wealthy private equity partners and investment money managers from losing a tax loophole that saves them tens of millions of dollars in taxes?

Allow me to introduce you to Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, easily among the most enigmatic persons ever elected to Congress, and the Senator of choice for more than 50 billionaires, only one of whom lives in the Grand Canyon State.

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Gavin Newsom’s White Male Privilege

Joke’s on you if you think the Green New Deal is solely about saving the environment. It’s increasingly about putting more green in the hands of the 1 percent at the expense of the middle and working class.

Gavin Newsom, California’s multimillionaire governor, is doing his part to protect the super-rich from getting hit with a tax that would fund his ambitious environmental goals. Here’s some insight on the guy who thinks he’d make a great president.

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How to Mercilessly Punish U.S. Airlines

Americans were once famed for a “rugged individualism” so fierce it sparked a revolution. The defiant spirit has diminished over the centuries, but hopefully there are still Americans with some fight in them.

In the tradition of the Massachusetts colonists responsible for the “Boston Tea Party” protesting taxation tyranny, here’s how to oppose the tyranny of the U.S. airline cartel and make Delta, United, and American feel some real financial pain while lining your pockets with extra cash.

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Dr. Mary Bowden vs. The Establishment

Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, the maligned ENT doc who refused to be bullied into abandoning a Covid treatment protocol she insists was responsible for keeping some 4,000 patients out of the hospital, filed a defamation lawsuit this week against Houston Medical, one of the most powerful institutions in Texas. At stake is not only Bowden’s reputation, but that of America’s medical establishment.

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