News

WITH VIDEO: Residents reflect on what it means to be an American

Jul 03, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By ANN ZANIEWSKI
Of The Oakland Press

Nawal Jabiro endured untold suffering in her native Iraq, a country she remembers as being rife with violence and religious persecution.

She moved to the United States in 2001 and was granted asylum. Now living in Troy, the 67-year-old said she loves America.

“This country who helped me, I am grateful for,” she said, smiling.

What does it mean to be an American? People’s thoughts and opinions on what constitutes the American identity are as richly diverse as the country itself.
For Jabiro, the answer is easy: Being American means living freely, safely and in peace.

“I came to America and live here because I feel free,” she said.

‘Gaining even more’
Oxford resident Ruth Bota said her parents’ willingness to give up everything to move to the United States makes her appreciate the opportunities Americans have.
Bota’s father, Michael Sontag, came to the United States in 1929 to meet his biological father, who had immigrated years earlier.
“My dad had never seen his father, but he looked forward to meeting him and all of the opportunities he had heard that America offered,” Bota wrote.
“At 16 years old, most kids are thinking about adventures with their friends. My dad at 16 was on a boat by himself crossing the ocean. He left his mother, step-father, siblings and other family members in the small German village (where) he grew up in Romania for a one-way trip to America. He would never see this family again.”
Sontag arrived at Ellis Island and was put on a train headed to Detroit. He spoke only German, so a sign was pinned to his coat that said “Detroit.”
Bota’s father worked odd jobs before landing a brewery job that he kept for 35 years until the brewery closed. He “re-met” Bota’s mother (they knew each other in Romania) and was married to her for 49 years before he died in 1990.
“He was proud to be an American citizen. My parents never taught us their German language. My mother would say, “You are in America, speak English,” Bota said.
Bota said her mom and dad gave her and her brother every opportunity to succeed. She said knowing her parents’ stories makes her realize how important America was to them.
“They gave up a lot, but they felt they were gaining even more becoming Americans,” she said.
Another woman, named Kay, also can trace her roots to another country — and back by hundreds of years.
A former Rochester Hills resident who asked that her last name not be used, Kay said her ancestors were passengers on the Mayflower, the ship that carried a group of people who became known as Pilgrims from England to the New World in 1620.
She said her family has a precious Bible that was carried on the Mayflower. It is three inches thick and wrapped in dark, unpressed leather that varies in thickness, with pages so old they’re crispy, like potato chips.

For Kay, the book is more than just a family heirloom.
“This Bible has been brought forth through the generations to give us the teachings of Jesus Christ himself, and for no other reason did they (the Pilgrims) come to America but to find their own Christianity,” and have religious freedom, she said.
She said the Bible shows that the United States was founded on Christian principles, and that freedom is a gift from God.
“I want our country to know that this is the reason why we are here, and this is the reason God gave us this country,” she said. “God has given us this country, this freedom that we have.”
Kay said morals seem to be declining, with people becoming increasingly selfish and greedy — and turning away from God.
“When we have turned from God,” she said, “he will turn from our country.”

‘The way we used to be’
Scott Adcock is a smoker. Because of a statewide ban that took effect in May, he can no longer smoke in bars or restaurants.
The 58-year-old Pontiac resident said the smoking ban is just the latest in an increasing number of laws being adopted that are chipping away at Americans’ rights.
“To be an American is the way we used to be, without many laws and regulations, and without so many politicians lying,” he said. “It used to be (that) you could do a handshake on a deal. Now, you can’t.”
He said years ago, kids could be kids.
“If they got caught with a bottle of beer, they were sent home. Now, everybody goes to jail,” he said. “You got in a fight in school, parents got called in, everybody shook hands, and it never happened again. Nowadays, everybody goes to court.”
Adcock said grown adults should be able to decide what’s right and wrong for them, not micromanaging politicians.
He said the adoption in recent years of what he sees as unfair and unnecessary regulations makes him feel “overpowered — like all you can do is get mad.”
Adcock, who used to own a plumbing business and is now on disability, said he is also concerned about illegal immigrants living in the United States and taking jobs and resources away from legal citizens.
His grandparents came here from Germany and learned to speak English. He said people who live here now should also be able to speak the language.
“Why should we have to ‘press 1 for English?’” he said, referring to a common telephone prompt.
“Being an American to me means that you belong here, that you came here legally and that you know how to speak the English language,” he said.

‘God bless America’
On a recent warm June afternoon, Jabiro sat with four other people at a table in an office at Bethany Villa, an apartment community in Troy for seniors and people with disabilities. All of them emmigrated from the Middle East.
Jabiro’s eyes welled with tears when she talked about her mother, a 76-year-old housekeeper, being killed years ago by terrorists in Iraq. Her nephew also was killed there, in 2006.
Jabiro entered the United States as a visitor in 2001. She applied for and was granted asylum, and today carries in her heart a deep sense of gratitude.
“I pray for America every day, every morning, to help America to be strong. I love (Iraq), but America, I also love this country,” she said.
On the day of this interview, Jabiro was looking forward to taking the naturalization oath, after which she officially becomes a U.S. citizen. She was helping her husband, 80-year-old Manuoel, study for the citizenship test that must be taken before the oath.
“Wow!” Jabiro said about taking the oath. “I am very, very happy.”
Another Bethany Villa resident, Therese Khoury, was born in Jordan. She came to the United States as a young adult in 1961.
“I love America,” she said. “Free religion, free everything. You can do whatever you want. We are thankful we are here in this beautiful country.”
Every resident at the table was Catholic. They said they are especially grateful for the ability to practice their religion freely in this country, as Christians are persecuted in Iraq.

“Why did we come here? Peace,” said 80-year-old Sami Rahimo, who was an English teacher in Iraq for 30 years. Three of his six children also live in the United States.

Gladys Murphy, the social services coordinator at Bethany Villa, said the residents’ stories have given her a heightened appreciation of what it means to be an American.
“I don’t have to worry about someone coming in my home and telling me to leave,” she said. “I can go to church on Sunday, a church of my choice. “We take much of our freedoms for granted,” she said. “It’s brought home to me how precious they are.”

Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at (248) 745-4628 or ann.zaniewski@oakpress.com. Follow her on Twitter @OPCourtReporter.

More Articles

Families struggle with economy

Jul 03, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By KAREN WORKMAN
Of The Oakland Press
Now often being referred to as the “Great Recession,” today’s economy has left millions of people across the country facing challenges and hardships they’d never expected.
While some are beginning to put their struggles in the rearview mirror, others, such as Oakland County resident Nina, are still left to wonder what the future may hold.
“Right now, the despair is starting to creep in,” said Nina, choking back tears. “It’s a living hell.”
A year ago, Nina was earning an annual salary of $81,000 working for one of the automotive companies, traveling overseas with a $15,000 expense account and feeling good about the 24 years she’d spent working for the company. Her job was terminated, along with the jobs of several of coworkers, about a year ago.
“You go through a grieving process,” Nina said. “It takes a long time to just get your mind wrapped around what just happened and what to do next.”
A year later, she’s found part time work for $9.50 an hour, has gone through bankruptcy and expects to foreclose on her home by fall. She has no idea where she’ll live.
“Now I worry on a daily basis about how I am going to find a place to live that I can pay for, whether my 9-year-old car with 176,000 miles on it will get me to work and if Congress will let unemployment benefits expire over and over and over again since they can’t seem to figure out how to really make a change,” Nina wrote in an e-mail.

Middle-aged workers hardest hit
Nina, who asked that her last name not be used, describes the round of job terminations at her company as happening to a “slice right in the middle to people in their late 30s to 60.”
Now unemployed at age 49, Nina believes her age has played a huge role in why she — an experienced worker with a variety of skills — hasn’t landed a single job from the nearly 400 resumes she’s turned in since January.
In addition to sending in resumes, Nina has frequented many job fairs and been disappointed with what she finds at them.
“Everybody wants you to sell their insurance,” she said. “There’s so much phishing. If someone calls me or sends me an email twice from the same company to set up an interview, it’s a scam.”
While the scams abound, Nina said it’s been just as difficult dealing with real companies.
“I’ve had interviews but you just know, you know they’re not looking for a 50-year-old ex-automotive employee,” Nina said. “They’re looking for somebody who’s a 30-year-old, fresh out of college go-getter with a master’s degree.”
Nina was motivated to write a letter to the president and suggested that incentives be offered to companies who hire workers ages 50 and older who are equally qualified for a position.
“They can slap a five grand incentive on a car, why can’t they slap a five grand incentive on an age group?” Nina said. “There is no mistaking there is age discrimination in the termination and hiring practices today. Why can’t they turn it around?”
She added: “I think we’re kind of a silent group because for a long time, we lived on our severance pay. Now we’re on unemployment and the money is dwindling fast, and I think there’s going to be another wave of foreclosures and financial hardships coming.”
At 52, Jim Berkau of Madison Heights may be part of that next wave. His unemployment ran out in May, leaving him unable to make his mortgage payments.

‘I would rather be working’
Berkau worked as a licensed electrician for 25 years. For a long time, he did contract work at the automotive plants and paid union dues so he could be part of the UAW.
“All the Big Three started closing doors for the tradesman,” Berkau said. “I couldn’t afford to keep paying union dues and in 2000, I lost the house. I’ve been homeless not once, but twice.”
“I can’t even find work at McDonald’s,” he added. “I would rather be working.”
He’s cashed in annuities to keep himself afloat, but that money ran out. Berkau’s last unemployment check was given to him on May 13.
“She said to me, ‘You’re all out,’” Berkau said of the woman at the unemployment office. “I said, ‘I thought that’s why we were getting these emergency extensions, because there’s not any work out there.’ Her final word was, ‘Oh well.’”
While he’s not sure what the future will hold, he knows one thing for sure — he won’t be separated from his dogs, Shela and Jona.
“One is 9 and the other is going to be 11. They’re my best friends,” Berkau said.
In fact, when Berkau was homeless, he chose to sleep in his sister’s unheated pole barn through a frigid northern Michigan winter rather than give up his dogs.
“These guys are what keeps me my sanity. Nobody likes to be alone,” Berkau said. “I wouldn’t get rid of them.”
Through it all, Berkau said he’s a Christian man and he’ll keep attending church every Sunday.
“I don’t know,” what will happen, Berkau said. “I’m trusting in God that he’s going to make a way somewhere, open a door. I’ve done all I know how.”

‘It took a tremendous toll on us’
Linda and Jeff VandeVoort of Rochester Hills had twin toddlers and just found out another baby was on the way when Jeff, a contract worker at Chrysler, received a layoff notice in 2007.

Linda still had her job as a teacher, but adjusting to one income with a mortgage payment and their third child on the way was difficult. The couple knew they needed to get their adjustable rate mortgage modified, but Linda said that in 2007, there wasn’t a fraction of the help available that there is now.
“I felt like I was honest with our mortgage company, we were proactive. But when all was said and done, they basically told us ‘There’s nothing we can do to help you,’” Linda said. “In early 2008, we knew that we were going to lose the house. It was really hard.”
Jeff went through different programs designed to help displaced workers find jobs, but it was to no avail. Instead, he took a job working at Target.
“He’s been there for three years now, just trying to make ends meet,” Linda said.
By 2009, the couple realized they’d have to go through bankruptcy too.
“It was a really humbling experience because a bankruptcy, in my mind, was always for somebody who spent carelessly and didn’t pay their bills and for us, we worked really hard trying to make our ends meet. We felt it was the last option we had,” Linda said.
She added: “It took a tremendous toll on us financially and emotionally.”
In the worst of times, the couple had to turn to their church and other local groups for assistance with food and childcare.
“With my salary, we make too much money to get help that might be offered to other people — I didn’t qualify for WIC or food stamps or Headstart because I made too much money, even though we went through a foreclosure and bankruptcy,” Linda said.
The family found a rental in Rochester Hills and this fall, Jeff, who has a physics degree and a master’s degree, is going back to school to become a teacher.
“I am not going to be ashamed of what we went through. I feel I did what I was supposed to do,” Linda said.
She added: “It’s not about the finances. It’s not about living up to and keeping up with everyone else. I basically count my blessings and be thankful for what I do have, because there are people out there who have it worse.”

‘We had to become stronger’
Tamara Bauer and her husband, Macomb County residents who both now hold jobs in Oakland County, are lifelong friends who married, bought a home and planned to start a family.
Unfortunately, the young home buyers were persuaded to get an adjustable rate mortgage.
“Things were going really well, then in 2008, I lost my job and right around the same time, the mortgage readjusted and it just kept going up and up and up,” Tamara said.
At the time, the couple tried everything they could, even cashing in 401-K plans, to save their home. Making the matter more dire was some big news for the couple — Tamara was pregnant.
“We were willing to give everything we had to save our home, but we should’ve seen the writing on the wall. It was inevitable,” Tamara said.
With a newborn in tow and their home foreclosed on, Tamara and her husband moved in with his parents. But his mother was ill and their crying, crawling infant made it a difficult situation for all. So, Tamara and the baby moved in with her parents, but there wasn’t room for her husband to join them.
“It was probably one of the roughest days ever,” Tamara said of moving away from her husband. “I think it was very, very rough for him — he missed some of those most important days of her life, like when she took her first steps.”
The couple lived apart from each other for about two years but were finally able to move back in to a rental together in the beginning of June.
“We had to become stronger,” Tamara said. “We’re in this together.”
She said they’ve learned a lot about making good financial decisions and feels they’re better off for what they endured.
“Now, we’re very economical. We drive to work together, clip coupons and bring our lunches to work. We have one credit card with a $300 limit and we don’t use it,” Tamara said. “There will be no way we can go back to that other way of being. We’re perfectly aware of what can happen.”
William MacPhee, an 85-year-old Royal Oak resident and survivor of the Great Depression, said the financial struggles his family went through during the depression continue to have an impact on the way he lives life.
“I’m always looking for the cheapest deal I can get and there’s nothing I enjoy more than sitting down and paying bills, writing the checks and mailing them,” MacPhee said.
He also says he holds on to items so long as he sees value in them, like an old shirt.
“My wife says ‘That’s going out of style, why do you keep it?’ But if it’s comfortable and it looks OK, I keep it,” MacPhee said.
Tamara hopes the experience will help her teach her daughter about making good financial decisions as well.
“We’ve become better not only to each other, but to others too,” Tamara said. “Your life is more than things.”

Editor’s Note:
This is the last in a three-part series looking at how the economy has affected local residents.

PART ONE: Auto family reinvents itself is here.
PART TWO: Economy forces workers to reinvent themselves is here.
Contact staff writer Karen Workman at (248) 745-4643 or karen@oakpress.com. You can also find her on Facebook and @KarenWorkman on Twitter.

WITH VIDEO: Declaring a fun Fourth and planning the perfect holiday

Jul 03, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By SHAUN BYRON
Of The Oakland Press

Bob Piggott said he likes his Independence Day easy.
“It’s relaxing to stay home,” said Piggott, sitting at his kitchen table. “It’s simple. It’s easy. No stress of driving or having to go shopping.

“It’s just hanging out in the backyard, cooking burgers and dogs on the grill.
Families have a multitude of ways they are spending the Fourth of July, whether it’s up north at a cabin, on a lake or at home with a flaming grill.
For the Piggott family, July 4 means time spent in the pool and grilling with family and friends at their Waterford Township home.
“It’s just waking up, brushing your teeth and heading out to the pool,” Piggott said.
In previous years, the family would go up to Caseville. That was until they bought a pool, Piggott said.

“The salesman was joking around with me, saying ‘the pool was going to save us money, instead of going out of town in the summer, you’re going to stay home in the pool,’” he said. “Sure enough, we have.”
At the request of The Oakland Press, several other readers posted their plans for friends, family and fun on July 4.
Reader Tibby Engle wrote about attending a family reunion on Pensacola Beach in Florida.
“If the oil spill doesn’t spoil it, we will have over 100 cousins enjoying the fireworks on the Fourth (of July),” Engle said. “My son-in-law, Kevin Kroll, says if the beach is bad we will organize a group to help clean it up.”
Other readers, like Joe Ogg, said they are going to be enjoying local fireworks displays with family and friends.
Ogg, a Waterford Township resident, said he always takes in the fireworks over Elizabeth Lake.
“They have a huge beach there, it’s a good show and they have a lot of people,” he said, adding the beach is often sectioned off because of the crowds.
Growing up in a neighborhood off the lake, Ogg said there are four to six houses at the top of the street that turn it into a block party.
“If anyone went to school with us, that was the weekend you go to Elizabeth Lake,” he said. “It’s just the place to be.”

Contact staff writer Shaun Byron at (248) 745-4685 or shaun.byron@oakpress.com.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES: What are textbooks teaching students?

Jul 02, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By CAROL HOPKINS
Of The Oakland Press
On this day when Americans reflect back to the nation’s beginnings, many may discuss history from information they gleaned from their years in public school — from famous battles, legislation and progress to outlaws and leaders.

Readers who attended a recent Oakland Press town hall meeting wanted us to find out who writes history and in response, we asked readers if they believed school textbooks contain biased information. We tossed out the question online: “Have history books been changed to reflect a more politically correct view?”

There were as many different answers as there are citizens.

“Usually history books will be from one point of view, usually the victor,” wrote Aaron, and he then quoted Winston Churchill saying, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.”

John said, “There is no doubt that textbooks are inaccurate and written to reflect what people want children — and us as once being children — to believe. To say there is a conspiracy to do this would be an understatement. The most obvious example I saw in one of my son’s history textbooks was the chapter on unions. (One) chapter was way over the top, even declaring that unions had saved all Americans from becoming slaves and that unions were responsible for ‘almost every great achievement in America.’”

Where’s the Original commented, “My experience is that the bias is in omission. All sides of a subject are rarely provided, or explained well. There is little reference to original sources. All I am seeing is someone’s opinion of important subjects.”

In the Bloomfield Hills School District, for example, teachers and principals do an extensive evaluation and comparison of possible texts, reviewing three or more publishers if possible, according to the district.

They request their preference and submit the evaluation forms to the assistant superintendents for instruction. The forms and recommendations are taken to the Board Instruction Committee. The preferred text is made available for board member perusal. If approved by the Board Instruction Committee, a recommendation is made to the board for final approval and purchase.

In Birmingham schools, the district’s education council purchases textbooks on the recommendation of department heads and its instruction department.
Jerry D stated: “Just ask any child why the Civil War was fought. The vast majority will say slavery. But if you study true history, slavery had nothing to do with the start of the Civil War. I can go on with so many rewritten history topics. Take the challenge.”

JAS wrote, “In every era, from time immemorial, education of youth has, is and always will be perversely slanted to the left or the right (dependent upon who’s in authority) and the pendulum never stays in the middle! ”

jimmy4pat said, “As a retired teacher (43 years), I can honestly say most books of history, civics and politics were ‘scrubbed’ in the (Jimmy) Carter (and after) years. It is sinful and killing America. Bring back the books of pre-WW II and save America! God Bless!”

One recent textbook controversy occurred in May when the Texas School Board of Education approved changes to the state’s curriculum. The board’s decisions will set the standards for the history curriculum for about 4.8 million public school students in Texas in the next 10 years. Given the significant size of the Texas textbook market, observers wonder if the changes might influence the curriculum of other schools across the nation.

Local readers have strong opinions about even a Texas-style change.

David Pomeroy of Waterford Township wrote, “I heard a state school official in Texas opening his mouth (on radio a few months ago) and proving how few of his brain cells were fully empowered. He was talking about the rationale for state-level administrators to oversee the rewriting of textbooks as he claimed ‘the experts who wrote the current textbooks tend to tilt to the left.’

“If indeed there does exist some leftist tilt in textbooks in general because only experts write them, doesn’t it follow that what some would consider to be ‘left’ might really be educated, objective, erudite interpretation of scholastic material?

“Any decent textbook aspires to reveal the big picture and assist students in nurturing nimble and curious minds that will sooner or later deliver them to become their own arbiters of what is true, what is partially true, what is true but not fully true and so on.”

Mike Gould of Holly believes partisan politics and political correctness have “insidiously injected themselves into the textbooks, altering our children’s education. This was exacerbated by our president during his inaugural world tour, when he downplayed America’s exceptionalism, and instead, apologized for its being arrogant and dismissive.

“This poses one of the greatest threats to our liberty, and to America in that by subtly changing history, future generations won’t have the same understanding and appreciation of the inalienable rights enumerated by the Constitution. These aren’t footnotes in history written by old white men, but living documents that craft the very foundation of who we are as a nation.”

A Rochester teacher who called himself Another John has spotted an item in the textbook he uses.

“In talking about the way the Americans reacted to the rebellions in the Philippines in 1899, it states, ‘The United States forced Filipinos to live in designated zones, where poor sanitation, starvation and disease killed thousands.’ The book also states that approximately 200,000 people died due to this,” he said. “Lots of historians actually refer to this as the Filipino Genocide, and estimate that as many as 1.4 million people may have died as a result of the U.S. practices. I also think it’s interesting that the book uses ‘designated zones’ instead of concentration camps, which is essentially what they were.”

Patrick Turner from Commerce Township wrote, “Having just graduated from MSU with a degree in social studies secondary education, this is an issue I have dealt with at length personally and in my recent undergraduate studies.

“Yes, I do believe history textbooks have been written to reflect a certain political point of view. In my own teaching, I am constantly searching for sources outside of school-mandated textbooks in order to provide balanced and (relatively) accurate sources for historical events.

In referring to Texas’ new curriculum, Turner quoted a New York Times article that said “conservative policymakers have created new curriculum standards that stress the superiority of American capitalism, questions the founding fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and represents Republican political policies in a more positive light.”

“I won’t comment on whether or not their views are justified, but I ask whether or not it is fair to believe that slanting textbooks more right or left is something that will benefit our children’s education.

“Throughout history, there have been no ‘black and white’ issues, only shades of gray that must be critically analyzed. The rote spoon-feeding of ideals into students’ heads should have no place in the American education system.”

Tea Party movement finds conservative leadership lacking

Jul 02, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By CHARLES CRUMM
Of The Oakland Press

On Dec. 16, 1773, British colonists in America protested what they viewed as taxation without representation by dumping shiploads of tea from Britain into Boston Harbor — a historical event referred to now as the Boston Tea Party. Today’s tea party movement galvanized around the health care reform legislation in a debate that consumed much of last year and stretched into this year.

People who attended tea party events said the health care reforms limit personal freedom and contribute to soaring federal deficits. Rallies were held around the country and across Oakland County, attended by people who were basically mad as hell and not inclined to take it anymore.

That’s an anger that still exists and may well spill over into ballots cast in this year’s election.

But rather than tea, it could be incumbent officeholders of both parties who may be tossed overboard by supporters of the tea party movement.

In general, tea party web pages and supporters say they’re for constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets.

They tend to view taxation with their current representation as dimly as the original tea party protesters viewed taxation without representation.

And they hold members of both major political parties responsible for runaway deficits with the only difference being that a Democrat-controlled Congress has managed to outdo the profligate spending of an earlier Republican-dominated Congress.

A national telephone survey by Rasmussen Reports in late March found that 52 percent of those surveyed believe the tea party movement has a better understanding of issues facing America than Congress does, while 30 percent felt Congress has the better understanding.

“They’re all to blame,” says Gary Kubiak of the Rochester area and the Southeast Michigan 9.12 Project, one of the tea party groups in Oakland County. “The Republicans have been soft, too.

“The tea party is about limited government, responsibility and constitutional values,” said Kubiak. “Instead of government to the people, it’s people to the government. It’s gotten turned around.”

To change that, they’re encouraging involvement in civic affairs, including running for office, but have no intent on forming a third national party.

“We’re looking for constitutional conservative people,” he said. “We need somebody to stand up for their values and not worry about being re-elected every time an election comes up.”

That would be fine with Chuck VanPoperin of Keego Harbor, who has a “throw the bums out” slant on today’s current officeholders in both parties.
VanPoperin, a retired civil engineer, said he’s not active in the tea party movement but might be interested in attending a couple of rallies.

“I want to be a Republican, but I think they have totally sold out to big business,” he said. “And the Democrats are afraid to take on big business for some reason. I’m pretty shy about being political, but it’s time people spoke up. It’s a sad state of affairs and that’s why the tea party is becoming more vocal.

“Both the Democrats and Republicans are more interested in getting elected and getting big contributions than they are in passing reasonable laws,” he said. “We have a government that allows the regulators of industries to be captured by the regulatees so that what they’re supposed to regulate, they make (matters) worse.

“The banks are an example, the airlines are an example, the oil spill is an example,” he said. “We ought to throw the congressional bums out. We ought to throw the lobbyists out and their way of making political contributions.”

Out-of-control spending in Washington is often cited among tea party followers and those who sympathize with them.

“I know many people who belong to the tea party movement and know that they are intelligent, educated and they carefully study the important issues affecting us today,” said Marsha Baergen of Troy. “They are very concerned with the concentration of power in Washington and the horrendous debt and spending.

“I am very concerned that we send a lot of tax money to Washington for Congress to send to other states and for frivolous vote-buying programs to get themselves re-elected,” she said. “If we get any tax money back, it has tight strings attached. I think our country would be stronger if Washington were weaker.

“It is a sad day when a community like Troy has to send so much taxpayer money to Washington, and yet we cannot afford to keep our library, museum and nature center open,” she said.

For Steven Hendin of Waterford Township, the tea party movement, while not perfect, has become preferable to the current Republican Party.

Hendin, 41 and a married homeowner, is disabled and finishing his final classes of seminary. He’s the volunteer president of The Road to God Ministry, a Jewish evangelism-based ministry, and calls himself both a Jew and a Christian. “I am stubbornly proud of both,” he said.

“I would also proudly call myself a true fundamentalist, both religiously and politically,” Hendin wrote. “I must honestly tell you that though I have always been a Republican, for I have always been a moral-based voter, my views are changing quickly. The simple fact is that those who called themselves ‘conservatives’ are on a declining slope to become ‘liberals’ and those who view themselves as ‘liberals’ are on that same slope to that view I would call ‘New Age Politics.’ In other words, they are politically everything, simple political promises with no follow through.

“The tea party is far, and I do mean far, from what I would want from a political party, but at least it is truer to being conservative then the GOP has become,” Hendin said.

Contact staff writer Charles Crumm at 248-745-4649, charlie.crumm@oakpress.com or follow him on Twitter @crummc.

Some of the local tea party websites:
- North Oakland Tea Party Patriots — www.nocteaparty.com
- Tea Party Patriots of West Oakland — www.teapartypatriotsofwestoakland.ning.com
- Southeast Michigan 9.12 Project — www.semichigan912.org
- Michigan Tea Party Alliance — www.michiganteapartyalliance.com
- Metro Detroit Freedom Coalition — medefco.ning.com
- Give Me Liberty — www.givemeliberty.org
- Lakes Area Tea Party — www.lakesareateaparty.ning.com-
- Michigan Tea Party — teapartypatriots.org/Group/Michigan_Tea_Party
- Tea Party Patriots — teapartypatriots.org/State/Michigan
- Pontiac Tea Party — www.PontiacTeaParty.com

Business Briefing July 4, 2010

Jul 02, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

TROY
Walsh College offers free jobless workshop
Walsh College and Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services are offering “Take Charge” Project Management Fundamentals workshop, free for workers in transition. The workshop will be held 2:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning July 7, weekly for eight weeks, excluding July 28, ending on Sept. 1. Workshop space is limited and online registration is required.
The college is also offering Job Search Strategies workshop, an overview of resume writing, interviewing, LinkedIn, networking, and careers in business for the unemployed, 1-5 p.m. Wednesday, July 28 and Social Media for Job Seekers, 9:30-11 a.m. Tuesdays, Aug. 3, 10, and 17. Laptops are helpful for this workshop, but not required.
All workshops are free and open to anyone who is unemployed. They will be held at Walsh College Troy Campus, Room 199, 3838 Livernois Road in Troy. To register, visit www.walshcollege.edu/takecharge.

Forte Belanger: ‘Best Off-Site Caterer’
Forte Belanger, Michigan’s leading special event design and catering firm, has been named “Best Caterer in Michigan” by the readers of Michigan Meeting and Events Magazine as part of the magazine’s fifth annual “Best of the Industry” awards and has also been named a “Top Caterer” by local brides who voted on The Knot’s Detroit-area wedding website portal. This is the fourth time Forte Belanger has received the Michigan Meetings and Events Magazine honor, and the first time it has been voted a Top Caterer on The Knot. Forte Belanger was also recently named “Best Caterer” by the readers of Hour Detroit Magazine for the seventh consecutive year. For more information, visit www.fortebelanger.com.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS
Common Ground hires new director
Lenda Jackson of Lathrup Village has been appointed director of communications for Common Ground of Bloomfield Hills, a 24-hour crisis services agency dedicated to helping youths, adults and families in crisis. Prior to joining Common Ground, Jackson managed internal and external communications for General Motors Corp. and Michigan Consolidated Gas Company.

Experts to discuss Toronto stock
The Association for Corporate Growth, Detroit Chapter will host a meeting entitled “Looking North- Toronto Stock Exchange As a Source of Capital for Mid-Market Businesses,” 7-9 a.m., Tuesday, July 13 at Oakland Hills Country Club, 3951 Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills. A panel of experts will discuss the capabilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange, its competitive advantage and how U.S. based middle market companies can access North American capital through TSX. The cost of the program includes breakfast and is $25 for members and $45 for non members. There is registration, breakfast and networking from 7-8 a.m. followed by the presentation.

SOUTHFIELD
Content management program unveiled
ImageSoft iJustice Solution  connects courts, prosecutors and law enforcement. ImageSoft, Inc., which provides technology solutions to automate, streamline and improve workplace processes, announces the availability of ImageSoft iJustice, an enterprise content management and workflow solution to link key stakeholders, including judges, case workers, prosecutors, law enforcement, the court clerk and the public to improve productivity, foster collaboration and communication, and reduce costs. Powered by OnBase ECM, ImageSoft iJustice automates repetitive tasks, standardizes processes across multiple user locations and delivers instant access to files, facilitating quicker responses to requests for information from outside agencies.

BINGHAM FARMS
Dover Realty opens Ohio office
Dover Realty Advisors, LLC., among the Midwest’s premier multifamily real estate advisory companies, has opened a Cincinnati, Ohio office which will oversee the company’s Midwestern expansion into Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Dover Realty’s new office will focus on institutional asset and property management. Over the course of the past six months, Dover’s property management group has seen a 50 percent increase in revenue growth including the addition of 10 new multifamily properties and 2,200 additional units in metro Detroit. The company has also added 50 employees, bringing its current roster to more than 150 professionals. Dover’s property management group currently manages more than 6,500 units.

American cars surpass foreign rivals

Jul 02, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By JOE SZCZESNY
Of The Oakland Press

One of the constant refrains I’ve heard over the years from people connected to the domestic auto industry is they don’t understand why people across the U.S. have opted for “foreign” cars time and time again.
To them it’s obviously un-American and unpatriotic.
For more than 25 years or so, however, the buyers of models with the foreign nameplates could plausibly argue that that foreign cars were better than those built by General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler Group LLC.
I think the “foreign is better” argument was way overstated by a lot of the news media.
Not every car coming out of Europe and Asia was perfect and not every car made by the domestic manufacturers was a dud. In fact, I would argue American carmakers were way more creative — having invented forms such as the minivan, sport-utility vehicle and the basic crossover.
But the notion of foreign car superiority has persisted, fed by reputable surveys by Consumer Reports and J.D. Power & Associates.
The “Buy-American” campaigns, sponsored by unions such as the United Auto Workers in a bid to protect jobs, certainly had an economic logic to them, especially in a world where foreign automakers in Asia and Europe routinely benefited from support from their own governments.
The campaigns had a blunt, old-fashioned appeal, emphasizing a support for neighbors and community.
However, the logic and and old-fashioned appeal were easily trumped by another very appealing argument — the idea that as Americans we can buy whatever we want.
“Do what we want, buy what we want” is supported by the hippie movement, libertarians and followers of Ayn Rand — groups who also draw inspiration from deep-seated American myths about cowboys and frontiersman. In the face of such thinking, which had a substantial, though often underrated, appeal to the baby boomers who have shaped American culture in the past 40 years, the “Buy-American” campaigns really never had much of a chance outside of Michigan and Ohio. Self-interest, in its narrowest terms, is a powerful tool.
Employee discounts, which were extended to relatives, did help the “Buy-American” campaign around Detroit, because the discounts rested on some basic self-interest.
But while the self-interest and self-gratification emphasized by Rand and the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s are still very much with us, nothing lasts forever and change is inevitable.
Thus, after 25 years of trailing behind Asian brands, American carmakers have finally caught and surpassed their overseas rivals in initial quality and overall dependability.
For example, for the first time this year, the Ford brand has the highest initial quality among all non-luxury brands in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Initial Quality Study, putting it ahead of  Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai. Only luxury brands such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus finished ahead of Ford’s Blue Oval.
The Ford brand has now posted nine consecutive years of gains in the closely watched quality study, based on consumer evaluations after the first three months of new-vehicle ownership.
Some of Ford’s most popular nameplates — Focus, Taurus and Mustang — also earned top honors in their segments.
GM’s quality also has improved substantially in the past five years while the company has been under siege and equals that of its Asian rivals. Meanwhile, the top Asian brand, Toyota, has slipped and Chrysler’s new vehicles, such as the Ram and new Grand Cherokee, are as good or better than rival vehicles built by Asian or European carmakers.
Customers do pay attention and the notion of “Buy American” can once again appeal not only to potential customers’ patriotism but also their self interest.

Contact Joseph Szczesny at 248-745-4650 or joe.szczesny@oakpress.com.

Pontiac resident: ‘It’s terrible you have to live around this’

Jun 21, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By SHAUN BYRON

Of The Oakland Press

Siding was strewn about the ground, and weeds almost knee high were shooting up from the earth.
The siding had been pulled from an abandoned home sitting at the corner of Mary Day and Green Street in Pontiac’s south-side historic district.
On the north end, near the corner of Putnam and LeGrande avenues, sits the leftover remains of another abandoned home.

New UAW president challenges Toyota, Wall Street

Jun 18, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By JOSEPH SZCZESNY

Of The Oakland Press

Bob King took over leadership and quickly demonstrated a new style of leadership by directly challenging Toyota and leading a demonstration against Wall Street excesses outside Cobo Center.
“We’re not going to wait for (Employee Free Choice Act). We’re going to whatever is necessary to ensure that Toyota abandons its anti-union efforts,” King said in the opening act of his presidency with a fiery speech in which he vowed to return the union to its roots and renew the fight for “economic justice” for every American.
King also invoked the legendary Walter Reuther, who led the union for 24 years until his sudden death in 1970.
“We’re all in this together. We will fight for reform. But let us remember the UAW of the 1930s and 1940s didn’t wait on government legislation. The strike that changed the world the Flint sit-down strike was illegal,” said King, adding he’s already lined up the support of Teamsters President James Hoffa.
“The only reason they closed that plant (in Fremont, Calif.) was because it was a UAW plant. We’re going to pound on Toyota until they recognize the First Amendment right to come into the UAW, The first battleground is Fremont. When any employer takes an anti-union stances we’re going to show them that’s a bad business case because they’re going to make less than they did if they cooperated with the UAW,” King said.
King added one of his goals will be to put banners saying “Toyota put profits before people” outside of every Toyota dealership in the U.S.
If you’re not going to build Corollas in Fremont, it’s wrong to close that plant and open a brand new plant just to get lower wages and benefits,” said King, who added the union will reach out to every church and community group for the anti-Toyota campaign.
King also dismissed Toyota’s recent $50 million deal with Tesla to build electric cars in Fremont. “We know you’re not going to keep the plant open with 20,000 Tesla S roadsters. That plant needs more product,” he said.
“Sometimes people call us in labor idealists. I want to be known as an idealist. I want to be known as a dreamer. I want to be known as a visionary, We are not going to let those in power change our dreams,” King said.
King also said organizing Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia is the best way for the union to win back the concessions it has made in recent years. When an industry is completely organized, employers can’t divide workers by pitting one employers against another, he said.
“If you are serious about winning back the sacrifices they have made, and I know you are, winning the right to organize is No. 1 on our list of priorities,” King said.
King said the union also was putting together a strategy for the 2010 elections. “We all have disagreement with President Barack Obama. We have forgotten sometime to put that in context and talk about all the good things he’s done,” he said.
The Republican party is getting away with blaming President Barack Obama and the Democrats for the economic crisis. The truth is when George Bush entered the White House, he was handed a $127 billion surplus by Bill Clinton. When Obama took office, he was handed a trillion-dollar deficit.
“Don’t let any Republican get away with saying Democrats caused this crisis. No president has been as accessible to unions representing workers,” said King, adding Obama basically “saved” General Motors and Chrysler from disaster. The Republicans had no problem giving hundreds of millions of dollars to bankers.”

Family recalls memories of historic Pontiac home destroyed by fire

Jun 18, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By KAREN WORKMAN
Of The Oakland Press
A week after learning the Pontiac home their great-grandparents built in 1892 was destroyed by a fire, the large Morin family is grieving the loss and remembering the lives and memories they built there.
“By the time I went (there) at one o’clock on the day of the fire, it had already been bulldozed to a pile of rubble. The beauty of the house was unrecognizable,” wrote Catherine Deschaine, one of 12 siblings raised there. “I stood on the curved front walk I had traveled so many times and sobbed.”

The stately home at 151 Norton in Pontiac was a complete loss after a suspicious fire spread through the home early in the morning of June 10.
“It was a sad ending to a proud house,” said Jane Morin, 78, Catherine’s mother.
It was Jane’s grandparents, John McGaffey and Ellen Brennan McGaffey, who built the home in 1892.
John was a superintendent for Beaudette Buggy Works and the couple built the large, five-bedroom home with the intent of raising many children there.
“Big families were the thing then and they thought they’d have a big family, but they only had three,” said Jane, who now lives in Davisburg.
Jane would later fulfill her grandparents’ dream of a big family by raising her 12 children there.
Jane and her husband moved away from the home only for a short while when they first got married, but returned to live in an apartment on one side of the house and eventually moved into the main house.
Her mother and father, Marguerite McGaffey Levengood and Charles Levengood, were the second couple in the family to own the house.
“My mother was born there and she lived to be 991⁄2 and never moved,” Jane said.
Jane and her husband stayed in the home until about 1994, when Marguerite died, and then moved to a smaller home in Davisburg. Jane’s husband, A. David Morin, died in 2002.
The house belonged to one of Jane’s sons for a while and stayed in the family until 2005.
The home had been vacant recently and had a small fire last year, but the fire then caused only a small amount of damage to its upstairs.

The family has fond memories of the home’s large yard and the days when the Clinton River — which now runs underground through Pontiac — wound its way through their property.
“I lost more shoes to that creek that anything, and the kids were always losing baseballs in the creek,” Jane said.
Her favorite room in the home was the formal parlor.
“The parlor was where the piano was and where all the music was and where all our friends gathered,” Jane said. “My mother and dad were both quite musical, and my kids too. There’s always friends, family and food.”
The home also featured heavy oak doors and ornate woodwork.
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