Category Archives: Bad government

Michael Johnson: He had his chance

By Joel Thurtell Michael Johnson thinks 29 years in Michigan prisons is long enough. His family and lawyers claim he’s reformed. He says the family of the girl he tried to rape and then drowned has forgiven him. He wants … Continue reading

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Greenspan and Krugman agree — so what?

Sure our banks should be nationalized. Not temporarily, but for all time. See my take on fixing U.S. banks… and my new blog, www.howtostopabankrun.com

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The buzz on Jewel, John and Mon

By Joel Thurtell The buzz in the barbershop last week was all Monica and Jewel. From reading the newspapers, you might think Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers was as good as behind bars. And that Wayne County Commissioner Jewel … Continue reading

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Off guard: Prosecution by newspaper

By Joel Thurtell Motives are important, even in the newspaper business. And in newspapers, business is a prime motive, though often unspoken. There’s that glass wall between business and editorial, right? Advertising people don’t talk to editors and vice versa. … Continue reading

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Going Postal — My First FOIA

By Joel Thurtell Sixteen minutes past seven. In the evening. Mail’s still not here. Our neighbors are disgruntled at being on the tail end of this motorized postal route. By two minutes after eight, it had arrived. I think I … Continue reading

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The new deep pockets

By Joel Thurtell Time was when government officials would whine that citizens’ lawsuits were busting their budgets, that litigants were aiming at the perceived money-lined deep pockets of governments. Now it’s the governments, strapped for cash in a lousy economy … Continue reading

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Rod the Bad

By Joel Thurtell Wish I could pronounce his name, but gotta hand it to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The guv found a way to make Democrats and the U.S. Senate look like jerks. Instead of resigning his office, as nearly … Continue reading

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Diary of Caroline Kennedy

Dear Diary, What a rotten, you know, day. So glad, like, it’s over. Spent an awful, sort of, just an excruciating hour talking to those know-nothings from the New York Times. Who said the Times was, like, an elite newspaper? … Continue reading

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Off guard: The Free Press and the leakers

By Joel Thurtell Several weeks ago, I began writing an essay about the case of former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino, who’s suing my former paper, the Detroit Free Press, to force Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Ashenfelter to name the … Continue reading

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The Conyers entitlement: Public servants = private lackeys

By Joel Thurtell Now the taxpayers of Detroit have to pay $90,000 to say adios to a city worker fired by Monica Conyers because the staffer was about to blab that the Mon was making her do personal chores on … Continue reading

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