To all my friends in Windsor-Essex County and others who are interested for competitive or other reasons in W-EC and all of south western Ontario for that matter, I pass on the following article written by Daniel Howes at the Detroit Free Press.
"Don't expect a quick fix in Mich."
To view this article on The Detroit News Web site, go to:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611100325
Daniel is one of the best automotive writers in the nation and I find his take on the local situation in Michigan, which he writes about quite often, very insightful. He recently wrote this article about the state of the economy in Michigan following the Democrats win on Tuesday. As I read the article I was substituting in my mind the words .... Windsor-Essex County for the words 'State of Michigan' .... or the words ... 'University of Windsor' for the words 'State of Michigan'... or the words ... 'Eddie Francis' for the words Governor Granholm ...
I found these new words fit extremely well. Read this article and substitute your own local words into the sentences be they the local political situation, your local politic candidate, the local economy, a local company you are involved with or a local Institution be it a hospital or a high school, College or University. What Daniel is saying makes a lot of sense if we impose the same line of thought on our own situation in Windsor.
He tells us there are "no quick fixes" .. "likely to get much worse before it gets better" .. "efforts to resist aren't going to work" ... "we're not going to be able to build a wall around us" ... "were not built to play in an environment that prizes flexibility, speed, innovation and constant change" .... "too many people would rather stop change than manage it" ... " the dubious distinction of the nation's highest unemployment rate" ... "ill-prepared" ... "one of the least competitive" ... "culture of expectation and entitlement" ... "What's more valuable -- innovation or time served?" ..."demonization" ... "a crude Midwest xenophobia" ... "expectations that Washington (ie: Ottawa) will ride to our rescue" ... "what's ailing (substitute your own local situation) has far more to do with the products (services) they sell, the business model that created them and how those products (services) are perceived by consumers than ... Government programs" .... " turn ... culture and communities towards the future and away from the past, and a lot more things fall into the right places" ... " the fall out of a lot of this re-structuring hasn't occurred yet" ....
"BUT IT WILL" I repeat ... "BUT IT WILL".
These words describe Windsor-Essex County very well and indeed describe many of the local organizations and businesses and unions in the local area very well. I can tell you definitively that the Windsor Star would never publish an article like this. The local reporter that would attempt to write such an article would be shown the door. Witness the Star's political picks for the upcoming municipal election. The Windsor Star missed the biggest question that any politician should be obliged to answer ... "Are you better off today than you were when you elected these people three years ago". There is absolutely no debate on this issue ... the answer is unequivocally NO. So how they can endorse incumbents is beyond me. But then I just re-read Daniel Howes column about the Windsor-Essex County culture and I do understand why the Star backs the politicians that they do. The Windsor Star is part of this culture.
My rant for the day.
"Don't expect a quick fix in Mich."
To view this article on The Detroit News Web site, go to:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611100325
Daniel is one of the best automotive writers in the nation and I find his take on the local situation in Michigan, which he writes about quite often, very insightful. He recently wrote this article about the state of the economy in Michigan following the Democrats win on Tuesday. As I read the article I was substituting in my mind the words .... Windsor-Essex County for the words 'State of Michigan' .... or the words ... 'University of Windsor' for the words 'State of Michigan'... or the words ... 'Eddie Francis' for the words Governor Granholm ...
I found these new words fit extremely well. Read this article and substitute your own local words into the sentences be they the local political situation, your local politic candidate, the local economy, a local company you are involved with or a local Institution be it a hospital or a high school, College or University. What Daniel is saying makes a lot of sense if we impose the same line of thought on our own situation in Windsor.
He tells us there are "no quick fixes" .. "likely to get much worse before it gets better" .. "efforts to resist aren't going to work" ... "we're not going to be able to build a wall around us" ... "were not built to play in an environment that prizes flexibility, speed, innovation and constant change" .... "too many people would rather stop change than manage it" ... " the dubious distinction of the nation's highest unemployment rate" ... "ill-prepared" ... "one of the least competitive" ... "culture of expectation and entitlement" ... "What's more valuable -- innovation or time served?" ..."demonization" ... "a crude Midwest xenophobia" ... "expectations that Washington (ie: Ottawa) will ride to our rescue" ... "what's ailing (substitute your own local situation) has far more to do with the products (services) they sell, the business model that created them and how those products (services) are perceived by consumers than ... Government programs" .... " turn ... culture and communities towards the future and away from the past, and a lot more things fall into the right places" ... " the fall out of a lot of this re-structuring hasn't occurred yet" ....
"BUT IT WILL" I repeat ... "BUT IT WILL".
These words describe Windsor-Essex County very well and indeed describe many of the local organizations and businesses and unions in the local area very well. I can tell you definitively that the Windsor Star would never publish an article like this. The local reporter that would attempt to write such an article would be shown the door. Witness the Star's political picks for the upcoming municipal election. The Windsor Star missed the biggest question that any politician should be obliged to answer ... "Are you better off today than you were when you elected these people three years ago". There is absolutely no debate on this issue ... the answer is unequivocally NO. So how they can endorse incumbents is beyond me. But then I just re-read Daniel Howes column about the Windsor-Essex County culture and I do understand why the Star backs the politicians that they do. The Windsor Star is part of this culture.
My rant for the day.
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