Author Archives: hro50ta1

Isabella Swan — ‘The Deep Roots’

Posted on April 14, 2014 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell How often would I get a chance to write about a female historian who made a case based on evidence that slaves lived and worked in her Michigan community? Score one for women’s history. Score another for … Continue reading →

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Tomatoes & Eggs: A hole in my story

Posted on April 9, 2014 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Back in 2005, while writing suburban features for the Detroit Free Press, I combined my historical training with my journalism profession and filed a story that merged colonial history with the story of Michigan’s oldest continuously working, … Continue reading →

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CABs, me and The NY Times

Posted on February 8, 2013 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If you get a mention in The New York Times, be grateful. Even if it’s baloney. Remember what P.T. Barnum said about not caring what the papers said about him as long as they spelled his name … Continue reading →

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Electric history

Posted on September 23, 2012 by hro50ta1

  Electric History: Detection and Measurement of Human Behavior Through Quantifiable Historical Records By Joel Thurtell Ever hear of an “electric historiscope”? Nor had I until I began thinking about history in a new way. “Electric historiscope” is my offbeat … Continue reading →

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A gender-sensitive surname transmission system among Tarascan Indians in colonial Mexico

Posted on September 11, 2012 by hro50ta1

Readers of joelontheroad my be surprised to learn that during the same time that I’ve been publishing blog articles about abuses in school finance in Michigan 19 years ago and in California right now, I’ve also been conducting research into … Continue reading →

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How to stop a bank run — again

Posted on September 11, 2012 by hro50ta1

This is the story that knocked my blog offline in fall 2008. There were bank runs back then, and the idea that one person would defy convention and two presidents seemed quite novel. Here, for fun, is that story: By … Continue reading →

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JOTR makes The Times

Posted on September 2, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell About the time somebody hacked joelontheroad on August 17, New York Times business columnist Floyd Norris wrote about Capital Appreciation Bonds in California. Why, he even credited me, in kind of a backhanded way, with being first … Continue reading →

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Thank you, Jack!

Posted on August 29, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I’ve been very slow to acknowledge these kind words from Metro Times columnist Jack Lessenberry on June 20, 2012: The bridge to somewhere: You just had to be happy last week when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper … Continue reading →

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Michigan CABs and the ‘Big Graphic’

Posted on August 27, 2012 by hro50ta1

MICHIGAN SCHOOLS LOAD THE FUTURE WITH DEBT By Joel Thurtell April 5, 1993 was doomsday for Capital Appreciation Bonds in Michigan. On that day, the Detroit Free Press exposed the horrendously bad deal almost 100 Michigan school districts had dished … Continue reading →

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Dayton & CABs

Posted on August 27, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Thanks to Kevin Dayton for his latest post on California CABs. What Michigan did by banning CABs in 1994 is relevant to what’s been happening in California with school CAB debt since at least 2000. A Detroit … Continue reading →

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