http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/Andrew Heller's outlook and commentsenFri, 20 Nov 2009 04:20:43 PSTMovable Type Enterprise 4.29-advance http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/noAndrew Heller's outlook and commentsahellerhttp://feedburner.google.comhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/TmtaVxL681g/if_we_speak_up_things_may_chan.htmlAndy's Journal columnsCome Heller high water...Andrew Heller | Flint JournalFri, 20 Nov 2009 04:20:43 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3956870 ]]>Come Heller high water…In yesterday’s column, I was a bit gloomy about Michigan’s future. (If you missed it, shame on you. Go read it. Right now. Shoo.) Today, let’s flip the coin and give you a reason for optimism.      Tuesday I attended a panel discussion titled “Michigan’s Defining Moment” hosted by the Center for Michigan, a think-and-do tank formed by former newspaper publisher Phil Power, who is fed up with state lawmakers putting party first, the state’s well-being second.       The panel – which contained notables from the left, right and center, but no legislators – was an attempt to find common ground between the left and the right, no easy thing in dichotomized America these days.       Despite the odds, they seemed to find some. And that’s the good news. Though they differed on the details, the panelists – from MSU economist Charles Ballard to the Michigan Municipal League’s Sharon Parks to Doug Rothwell, CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan – seemed to agree on broad themes, including that: A) Michigan is at a crisis point; B) Michigan’s tax structure is seriously outdated, and; C) State lawmakers better get over themselves and do something fast before the entire...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/if_we_speak_up_things_may_chan.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/KUL-lW01k2c/are_you_ready_for_the_new_norm.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalThu, 19 Nov 2009 04:51:58 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3952660 ]]>That new normal – which can be crudely defined as “make less, have less, expect less”- is itself driving people out.http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/are_you_ready_for_the_new_norm.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/-5iSBgZNX9w/the_heller_poll_was_newsweek_b.htmlThe Heller PollAndrew Heller | Flint JournalWed, 18 Nov 2009 17:50:39 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3949238 ]]>Sarah Palin is mad (OK, probably fake mad) at Newsweek magazine for running a photo of her in running shorts. The shot was real. But it was taken at another time for another magazine for another purpose. Newsweek used it in along with a headline that said, "How do you solve a problem like Sarah?" with the subhead "She's bad news for the GOP, and for everybody else, too." So it's no surprise Palin's miffed. She called the use of the photo "out of context" and "sexist." Do you agree? Take this week's Heller Poll. Was Newsweek being "sexist" in using an out of context photo of Sarah Palin?(opinion)...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/the_heller_poll_was_newsweek_b.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/VbpyjME0CiA/whoo_whoo_goes_the_engineer_wa.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalSun, 15 Nov 2009 05:37:57 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3940781 ]]>(Warren) Buffett may have been joking (about buying a railroad because he didn't get a train set as a child), but we often reveal ourselves in our jokes. And, personally, I like the idea that one of the richest guys ever is like the rest of us in that much of what he is today was formed in his youth, for better or for worse.http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/whoo_whoo_goes_the_engineer_wa.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/b-fjEHrSdl8/was_the_mall_chaos_was_caused.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalFri, 13 Nov 2009 04:10:19 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3931743 ]]>Come Heller high water ... I’m not making fun of Genesee Valley Center for ending a hip-hop concert early because the crowd was getting out of hand. Safety is safety, after all. But I am making fun of mall officials for releasing a statement saying it was “excess heat” that caused the cancellation and not rowdyism. C’mon. You’d think they could come up with a more creative dodge than that.  Mass agitation brought on by too many people eating those giant pretzels with the boulders of salt on them?  A dust-up between youthful concert-goers and senior citizen mall walkers?  Too much sample perfume in the air?  Not sure I’m ready for the Christmas songs I’m starting to hear in stores. Then again, my brain is typically two months behind the current date, which is why I’m always saying dumb things like, “I can’t believe summer’s over already” and “I can’t believe it’s National Talk Like a Pirate Day again already” and so on.  The New York Times says Blackwater executives paid a million dollars in bribes to Iraqi officials after Blackwater employees killed 17 civilians. I’m with you. I’m shocked – shocked, I tell you - that anything could go...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/was_the_mall_chaos_was_caused.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/0cnbe4xZ4fs/ban_bad_owners_fix_pit_bull_pr.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalWed, 11 Nov 2009 14:08:25 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3925196 ]]>Flint doesn’t need a pit bull ban, as some have suggested. It needs a ban on dog owners who think it’s “cool” to own a tough breed, especially around kids, or who mistreat their dogs to the point that they turn violent.That said, I am not here to defend pit bulls. Frankly, I don’t trust pits and don’t think they have any business in most neighborhoods, and in a moment I’ll tell you why.But first, a nod to accuracy.  Breeders and pit lovers will tell you that what most people call “pit bulls” are actually members of distinct breeds, including the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or mixes thereof.That said, most of us figure pit bulls are a ‘know ‘em when you ‘em’ proposition. They are, simply put, “those” dogs. The dogs with the big heads, huge jaws and rippling muscles. The kind that occupies seemingly every other cage at the Humane Society. The kind that the Michael Vicks of the world love to put in a ring. The kind that attacked and nearly killed a little Flint girl last month before two boys pried it off.People seemed shocked by that story, which is...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/ban_bad_owners_fix_pit_bull_pr.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/_V2NPNSziKg/the_heller_poll_are_things_get.htmlThe Heller PollAndrew Heller | Flint JournalMon, 09 Nov 2009 18:29:57 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3920047 ]]> Are things getter better or are they getting worse?(opinion) If you follow the news, you know how crazy things are right now. The stock market is over 10,000, and yet the unemployment rate is over 10 percent. What's that mean, that stocks will now go even higher because so many people are home with nothing to do but play the stock market? I dunno. But I'm confused as heck. Which is where you come in: Are things getting better or worse? You tell me, in this week's Heller Poll....http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/the_heller_poll_are_things_get.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/m0ltpnowxqs/dear_aliens_please_dont_judge.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalMon, 09 Nov 2009 04:47:36 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3915076 ]]>“Newsweek” magazine had a chart in it recently that worries me. It should probably worry you, too, unless you’re not concerned about the end of humanity as we know it. If that’s the case then go back to watching “Deal or No Deal” and forget I mentioned it. Just don’t be surprised when the planet is atomized, OK?Anyhow, the chart was a photo of the earth from space over which an artist had placed radiating concentric circles, above which were the names of TV shows from the past 70 years.I was personally not aware of this fact, but apparently once a TV show is broadcast, the signal keeps right on going into outer space forever and ever.The earliest televised baseball game and the first ever televised presidential address by FDR, for instance, have already traveled 400 trillion miles. “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza” and “The Untouchables” are something like 60 light years out, “Seinfeld” is 30 light years out, and so forth.“If there are sentient beings out there,” Newsweek said, “here’s what they’re watching.”And that’s what concerns me.I have no problem with aliens watching the first televised baseball game, or any baseball game. I think they would like baseball and see...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/dear_aliens_please_dont_judge.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/79cc9DyZyqA/matt_stafford_has_it_backward.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalFri, 06 Nov 2009 04:07:56 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3894137 ]]>Come Heller high water... My first reaction to the story Tuesday that Flint had taken the first step toward making “Chevy in the Hole” a park was, "Whoa, hold on, you can’t put a park in the middle of a drag strip! Barbecue smoke and tire smoke simply do NOT mix.”  Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, this isn't The Don's Flint anymore." So I guess drag strips in the middle of a residential neighborhood are out and innovative, green ideas that fit with the nature of the community are in. Who knew?  Yes, I will admit I was an early skeptic of the park idea, but then who could blame me? We'd just been through five years of one wing-nutty idea after another. Why shouldn't I have thought that turning a massive brownfield into green-space was fantasy?   Personally, I'd call this the first concrete move on the part of the Walling administration. I'm relieved. Walling had seemed so inert since taking office that I was beginning to think all this youthful energy stuff was mere hype. But then, maybe I mistake quiet for inert. Again, who could blame me? We had leadership by bullhorn for so long.   Since the...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/matt_stafford_has_it_backward.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/GEbxi5J-ZAo/regular_people_trump_corporate.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalWed, 04 Nov 2009 04:18:26 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3877236 ]]>Today, I’m going to juxtapose paragraphs from four articles I just read to see if they somehow combine to make a statement about what’s wrong – and what’s right – with America today. The first article is about the ironically named Citizens Bank, which was so badly run it needed to take $300 million in federal stimulus money and yet still paid former CEO Bill Hartman $7.4 million in retirement benefits. The second is about 14 people who won the lottery but still go to work every day because their restaurant, the Island Grill in the economically depressed Upper Peninsula village of Newberry, is important to them, other employees and their town. The third is about Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, who is trying to wring more concessions out of workers, even as the company rebounds and Mulally rakes in riches. The fourth article is about Bethany Jaworski, a Swartz Creek police officer who did something remarkable. Article one: “In an interview this summer with The Flint Journal, Hartman said he had earned his retirement benefit. ‘(It) is not an excessive amount,’ he said. Article two: “The (lottery) winnings turned into a mini-stimulus package for the entire area, as...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/regular_people_trump_corporate.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/OCQySDo6Bug/its_no_drag_strip_but_mulch_pa.htmlAndy's Random Blog Thoughts -- Enter at your own riskAndrew Heller | Flint JournalTue, 03 Nov 2009 17:29:28 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3874405 ]]>The Flint Journal | Jean JohnsonMayor Dayne Walling and his son Bennett, 8, watch as the first load of leaves is dumped at Chevy in the Hole site today, the first step in reclaiming the brownfield redevelopment area as a city park.My first reaction to the story Tuesday that the city of Flint took the first concrete steps toward making Chevy in the Hole a park was, "Won't a park interfere with the races on the drag strip?"Then I remembered, "Oh, yeah, this isn't The Don's Flint anymore."So I guess drag strips in the middle of a residential neighborhood  are out and innovative ideas that fit with the nature of the community are in. Who knew?Personally, I'd call this the first solid move on the part of the Walling administration so far. I'm relieved. Walling had been so quiet and inert, I was beginning to think nothing was ever going to happen.Yes, I will admit I was an early skeptic of the park idea, but then who could blame me? We'd just been through five years of one wing-nutty idea after another. Why shouldn't I have thought that turning a massive brownfield into a park was fantasy.I'll also admit that...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/its_no_drag_strip_but_mulch_pa.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/paXjniYxebo/play_a_really_small_violin_for.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalTue, 03 Nov 2009 04:55:09 PSTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3866087 ]]>I was in New York City recently and noticed there was a line out the door at the welfare office.That’s not unusual in these hard times. What was unusual, however, was that everyone in line seemed to be extremely well dressed – Armani suits, silk ties, wingtips. An additional oddity -- to a man they had their pants pockets hanging out, like the guy in the Monopoly game. So I walked over to see what was going on.“What’s going on?” sputtered the first man I spoke to. “Don’t you follow the news?  The government is out to get us – all of us here in this line.”I looked, and sure enough, the line was like a perp walk of the richest business execs in America, including the heads of AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, General Motors, Chrysler and the rest of the companies that borrowed billions from the government.I immediately knew why the man was upset. Last week, Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Treasury Department’s “pay czar,” whacked the salaries of the 175 top executives at the seven companies the government now holds a controlling interest in. Some salaries were cut 90 percent.The New York Times said Feinberg’s goal was to...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/11/play_a_really_small_violin_for.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/_q9QodlD7EU/genesee_county_has_a_virus_all.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalFri, 30 Oct 2009 04:22:19 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3845886 ]]>Come Heller high water... Forget the swine flu, the most frightening pandemic racing through the Flint area is recall fever. The local strain, throwthebumsoutitis, was dormant the past year after sweeping across Genesee County in years prior. But now it’s back, worse than ever, this time popping up in Clayton and Flushing townships. As usual, it’ll have to run its course until people get it out of their systems, but it’s getting to be time for us find a long-term cure. What that is, I don’t know – maybe an outbreak of patience and respect for differing views.Yeah, right, that’ll happen.Seriously, this isn’t good for anybody, and this is me saying that. No one gets madder than me at the inefficiency, sloth and torpor of many office-holders. But, c’mon, things have gotten so bad that good people will stop running for office because they don’t want the hassle of constantly fighting off recalls. The way we’re going we ought to recall elections at the same time as the general election, just to save time.  Flint wants a new city seal. The current one features a skyline, an old-fashioned car and a Flint arrowhead. Maybe I’m punitive, but given GM’s evaporation...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/genesee_county_has_a_virus_all.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/1v8b4stTpU4/hellers_annual_halloween_colum.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalThu, 29 Oct 2009 04:39:34 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3838351 ]]>My, my, what frightening costumes this year. Let’s see we have a mummy, a bloody hobo and a scary, scary Ninja. But you there in the back, what are you supposed to be with Kleenex and little bugs pinned all over you?” http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/hellers_annual_halloween_colum.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/dI_9e1JVEP8/the_heller_poll_do_pit_bulls_b.htmlThe Heller PollAndrew Heller | Flint JournalMon, 26 Oct 2009 17:05:16 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3825951 ]]> The Heller Poll: Do pit bulls belong in polite society?(surveys) Two Flint boys saved a little girl's life by wrestling a pit bull off her. The dog had the 3-year-old's head clamped in its mouth. Some will say it's an isolated incident. Could have involved any breed. But is that true? According to dogbites.com, there were 23 fatal dog attacks in the U.S. last year -- 15 of them were caused by pits, despite pits comprising just 2-9 percent of the dog population. Again, some will say, "Well, it's how they're raised." I'm sure there's some truth to that. But my only personal experience with a a pit says different. My brother-in-law had one. Real nice dog named Jessie. I used to wrestle with him. He was raised right, always treated nicely, and he was fine for years. Then in the course of a year he bit two people. Anecdotal and therefore useless? Possibly. But I do worry about the proliferation of attack dogs in society, especially around kids. Do you? And if so, should pits be banned? Take today's poll and share your reasons why or why not....http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/the_heller_poll_do_pit_bulls_b.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/otVTaRihnrA/and_now_for_another_brilliant.htmlAndy's Journal columns20546722216000117385Andrew Heller | Flint JournalSun, 25 Oct 2009 06:05:48 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3820124 ]]>Puppies are always fine. I think his first month with us can be summed up neatly by this statement, which Marcia made to me yesterday, “The puppy pooped a stick.”http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/and_now_for_another_brilliant.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/jXX-uT1wQZ4/its_time_for_instant_replay_in.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalThu, 22 Oct 2009 17:42:00 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3806757 ]]>Come Heller high water… If this year’s baseball playoffs don’t prove the need for instant replay, nothing will. Horrible calls all over the place. You agree? Personally, I think Major League Baseball should get rid of home plate umpires, too, or at least take away the balls and strikes part of their job. Technology is simply better at making those calls than the human eye. Why not use it? Remember how the Tigers wouldn’t pitch Justin Verlander on three days’ rest in order to make the playoffs because it was too big a risk? Well, the New York Yankees pitched their ace, C.C. Sabathia, in game four of the ALCS three days after he pitched game one. Sabathia said, “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” That sound you hear is we Tigers fans thumping our heads against a wall. Why doesn’t Dave Dombrowski get hit with any of these questions? The IMA Recreation Foundation is honoring John Matonich, president and CEO of Rowe Professional Services , with a Yooper-themed roast next week. Good for John. It’s always nice to see a former Yooper succeed. But the IMA folks better do more than just make jokes. When a...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/its_time_for_instant_replay_in.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/nqsR0yHLTp4/teens_dont_get_it_so_adults_ha.htmlAndy's Journal columnsAndrew Heller | Flint JournalWed, 21 Oct 2009 18:25:54 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3801667 ]]>I dutifully took my 10-year-old through a haunted house last weekend.It did nothing for me. They never do. That’s the price of being an adult. You lose the ability to fear things that can’t possibly be real. Vibrating guy strapped to fake electric chair? Yawn. Chainsaw-wielding maniac? Cliché alert! Crazed nuns? Please. Been there, seen that. Next? That’s not to say I wasn’t scared witless last weekend. I was. I was reading my favorite newspaper’s website and came across this hair-raising headline: “Teens finding new uses for parents’ prescription pills with ‘pharm parties.’” The story beneath it was even scarier: “Teens often plan pharm parties well ahead of time, stockpiling prescription drugs raided from the family medicine cabinet. When they get to the party, all the drugs are thrown in a bowl, called ‘trail mix.’ The pills sometimes are consumed by the handful and often washed down with alcohol. The goal is to gobble up as many different types of prescription medicines as possible. Typically, teens don’t even know what they’re taking.” Yes, yes, I know. Teens experiment. It’s what they do. But is it me or do the risks get dumber and more dangerous with each generation? I mean,...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/teens_dont_get_it_so_adults_ha.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/wRr7vynlx6U/flintexpatscom_remains_the_bes.htmlAndy's Random Blog Thoughts -- Enter at your own riskAndrew Heller | Flint JournalWed, 21 Oct 2009 18:17:49 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3801654 ]]>As you know if you follow this blog, flintexpats.com is my favorite blog for news/views about Flint. Run passionately and creatively by expat Gordon Young, who now lives in San Francisco, the blog does a damn fine job of covering Flint's future and it's past.This week, I particularly liked Gordon's awesome interactive map of what's going on inside Flint's various auto plants. I, for one, didn't know we had that many plants left.Take a look. (Apologies to Gordon for running his website logo. Gordon, I hope you don't mind!) ...http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/flintexpatscom_remains_the_bes.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aheller/~3/PmiJxQQXYa8/the_heller_poll_should_guns_be.htmlThe Heller PollAndrew Heller | Flint JournalMon, 19 Oct 2009 17:38:57 PDTtag:blog.mlive.com,2009:/flintjournal/aheller//1580.3791748 ]]> Should guns be allowed on Michigan college campuses?(survey) Today a Michigan House committee will hold a hearing on whether to pass law preventing colleges from barring guns from campus. You know where I stand on this: No way. Do you know how stressful drop/add day can be? Have you ever waited 73 hours in the registrar's office? How about the prof who gives you a D? Yeah. This is a great idea. But then I'm a certified non-gun nut. You may have other views, which is why I created today's Heller Poll. Register your vote and let us know why you leaned the way you did....http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/2009/10/the_heller_poll_should_guns_be.htmlnonadult