Come Heller high water…
- I don’t agree with Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on much (much defined as nothing) but I do appreciate his continued pursuit of those responsible for the Flint water crisis. I just hope he doesn’t spare anybody because of their status or title.
Two former emergency managers were charged this week with various offenses. But did a Free Press story just suggest things could get a whole lot worse for them? It said: “Lead poisoning remains front and center in the Flint drinking water investigation, but documents related to the criminal charges Attorney General Bill Schuette brought Tuesday show his investigation continues to examine links between the switching of water sources and a dozen Flint-area deaths associated with Legionnaires’ disease. Schuette who at one point in Tuesday’s news conference said that emergency managers’ “fixation” with costs and balance sheets had been at the expense of ‘public health and safety,’ said at another point in the news conference mentioned that the fixation had ‘cost lives.’”- What’s frustrating to people in and around Flint is the outside world has moved on. They think the problem is fixed because problems are usually fixed in America and they saw the coverage about all the money and aid pouring into Flint. But the truth is Flint – two and a half years later – is still drinking water out of bottles and still waiting for pipes to be replaced. That’s Third World stuff, right here in America. Too bad we can’t charge politicians with first degree slowness. The jails would be jammed.
- A lot of people disagreed with my column last week naming Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” the worst Christmas tune ever. They said “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” “Feliz Navidad” and the barking dogs songs are worse. Granted, those are awful. But they are unintentionally awful. “Wonderful Christmastime” is intentionally awful and vapid. Intentional vapidity is an attempt to damage through cuteness, an unforgivable sin for a former Beatle.
- Every December, people get their shorts in a bunch over someone or some group they think doesn’t belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This year it’s Journey. They’re not “rock” enough for some, apparently. But that’s not Journey’s fault. The problem with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is they call it the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but no one can accurately define what rock and roll is. To eliminate all the arguing, they ought to call it the Pop Music Hall of Fame. But if they did that, nobody would want to be in it.
- Wait, Yes? They just inducted the band Yes? Urgh. I say no to Yes.
- Readers also got mad about my Top 5 list of Christmas movies. “How could you leave off [fill in the blank]?” Listen, there’s only one movie I’d add to my Top 5 if I could and that would be “Christmas Vacation,” but that would make my Top 5 a Top 6 and no one does Top 6 lists, so …
- I’ve crossed the Mackinac Bridge a million times and never realized they didn’t take credit cards. I only know it now because I saw a story about how they’re still months away from allowing card payments. Fine by me. I’m a cash guy, anyway. I think credit cards are slower and riskier.
- My gym is open on Christmas. I find that odd but not sure why.
- Donald Trump is reportedly mad at his staff for not signing any big acts to perform at his inauguration. Maybe they should try Los Lobos.
- “This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.” – Andy’s favorite Buddy the Elf quote from “Elf.”
But let’s wait to see how high up the food chain Schuette goes. Will he have the cahunas to reach up into the governor’s office? Will he burn Snyder to serve his own political ambition of being Snyder’s successor?
He may if it suits his own plans to be governor.
Come on Andy’s gym give your employees Christmas off. Andy’s fellow gym members, if you need to work out that bad that you have to go to the gym on Christmas Day, go shovel someones sidewalk and driveway. They’ll love you for it.
There is a great definition of Rock & Roll. Let me see whether I can remember:
“Rock & Roll is any music south of Pete Seger, and north of Hank Williams, east of Gene Autry, and west of Miles Davis.”
(Something like that.) This appeared at the beginning of a very good book about Rock & Roll. I cannot find the book, and cannot remember the author. I will try to look him up.
And may I suggest, add one more, in all caps ANGRY voice: CITY HALL HAS GOT TO LOSE THE NAME “FAST START” FOR REPLACING PIPES. It’s insult to injury. It took Lansing 12 years to upgrade their pipes and should have made the news for one city who knows how to take care of its people.
Amen to that. They should have called that Fast Talk.
Yes..this past week Lansing celebrated the last hook up. Radical… plan ahead for needed improvements
Congrats Lansing.
Yes to relentless positive responsibility.
Yes to Jingle Bell barking dogs — how could anyone not love that?
Absolutely No to Journey (except for the song Oh Sherrie that husband sings to me when I’m mad at him, trying to make me laugh.)
Yes to Andy’s word magic about vapidity and first degree slowness.
Ooo, word magic. I like that. I like your turn of Snyder’s phrase relentless positivity, which has always annoyed me. Positivity in and of itself is as useless as relentless negativity. It’s action that counts.
Why can’t have a top 6 or 7 list? I thought you not a conformist. I could be mistaken though.
Why should we just stay a a top 5, 10, or 20 list. It could be very interesting.
As to why a lot of bands will not sign up to perform at president elect Donald Trumps inauguration, the reason is simple. Some of them we hoping that hilliary would win, being that they were and still are her supporters
As for some others, they have been threatened by liberal whining liberals who voted for hilliary. They implied and really meant that they would boycott and protest at any of their concerts. I was reading the Deseret News today.
There are a lot of spoiled snowflakes demanding that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (MTC)
not to perform at the inauguration. The attitude of the LDS Church so far is that the choir will perform at the inauguration. If the Hilliary had won and had asked the MTC to perform
at her inauguration ,the MTC would do so.
Like I have said before liberals are the most bigoted, intolerant and anti free speech crowd in this nation.
Andrew,
One other thing that I have come across in my reading of various articles by conservative sites. A lot of liberals are who are all for gun control are now starting to go through the process of getting a gun for home protection.
Yup, the same useful idiots that think that guns are only for hunting are now arming themselves with handguns, rifles and shotguns.
Must be to protect themselves from all the liberal snowflakes that like to riot.
A cartoon that I saw had Santa and some elves going over his flight on Christmas Eve. Santa commented that he could not find the new addresses of the liberals that said they would leave the USA if Trump was elected. None of liberals who said that they would move have done so yet.