A look at the 2013 Cadillac Xts

Your Drugs, My Neighborhood.

A few weeks ago, the neighborhood I live in while at school in Grand Rapids was barricaded in the middle of the night by police who were raiding a suspected drug house a few doors down the street from my roommates and me. The police, in their heavy body armor and riot gear, surrounded the house and announced their intentions by loudspeaker to those inside.

The commotion woke my roommates and likely many other residents of our neighborhood both young and old. One of my roommates tried to call me during the event but couldn’t manage to wake me up while I slept comfortably in my Plymouth home.

Indy Cars Powered by Plymouth

I had the pleasure last weekend of attending the Chevrolet Belle Isle Grand Prix on its namesake island in Detroit. Despite the delays due to deteriorating track surface the race was very entertaining and a great event for the City of Detroit and our region. The huge crowds and abundance of advertising showed that our auto industry is well on its way to a full recovery.

These types of things make me proud of our region and our core industry. Events like the Indy Car races on Belle Isle show that our people and our core industry are capable of bouncing back despite what naysayers from around the country and even in our own back yard may say. 

Campaign finance issues.

Super PACs promise to play a big role in this election cycle after proving their strength in the Republican presidential primary elections earlier in the year. With the regular primary season gaining steam it will be interesting to see if lower level politicians such as senators, representatives and those in state and local races will be as beholden to their monied backers as the presidential primary candidates.

We’re running this (country/state/city).

“In a democracy people will always get the government they deserve.”

This quote by some French man back in the day has always been true of representative government but is especially true today. The picking of competent politicians and the oversight of those who are already in power, rests with us and us alone.

Udder politics: chocolate milk the official drink of freedom

Some health advocates say that chocolate milk is bad for us. They say the brown dairy beverage has too much sugar and fat to be as healthy as regular milk or other tasty drinks. These so-called experts forget that chocolate milk is the drink of choice for freedom-loving people everywhere. Anyone who comes down against chocolate milk is therefore directly aligning themselves against freedom, liberty and indeed basic human rights

A look inside Acura’s new entry level sedan at 5:07

Gun control’s role in Trayvon Martin case.

There are myriad aspects I could focus on about the death of Trayvon Martin: subtle racism in our society, inconsistent law enforcement across the country or the role of neighborhood watches would all be suitable topics, but I cannot talk about all of them due to space constraints. The part of the Trayvon Martin saga that has me most fired up is the prevalence of handguns in our society today and their involvement in major crimes.

Freeways, safe at almost any speed.

Unlimited speeds on sections of the German Autobahn may seem like a form of population control to some, but to me high-speed highways really do make sense.

Today, most states have a limit of 70 miles per hour on freeways and turnpikes. A limit that is too slow for today’s cars, which are much safer and more efficient than cars from back in the day. Slow speed limits on major freeways, like I-96 between Detroit and Grand Rapids, encourage motorists to distract themselves with things like texting eating while driving because the act of driving doesn’t demand enough attention from them.

KONY 2012: helping countries that help themselves

Between you, me, and whoever else reads this – the whole “KONY 2012” thing seems silly. If my name were Rambo or Chuck Norris, I’d already be in Uganda and have won the war there outright, and without needing to be prompted by Facebook. Surely, the human rights violations taking place in Uganda at the hand of one Mr. Kony are terrible. Forcing children to fight in a rag-tag army represents a robbery of their innocence, their future and their lives.