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Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson

living in Saginaw, MI
   
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TOTAL VIEWS: 21,708|PUBLISHED CONTENT: 108|FAVORITED BY: 38|CONTENT PRODUCER SINCE: 08/16/2007

Mike Thompson is a retired newspaper reporter who is hoping that Associated Content can serve as a vehicle not only for us to exchange views, but to take action for social justice. He's concerned about those who are in need and those who are oppressed.

Education/Experience: Delta College associate's degree in journalism

Interests: Politics, poverty issues, social justice, sports, writing for AC

Motto: Don't agonize. Organize. (not original)

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Showing Results 1 - 108 of 108
To hire a publicist on a local level, consider college free-lance students rather than expensive pros, and think of what you creatively can do yourself.
Medical advances during the past half-century are adding to the lifespans of many people born with cystic fibrosis.
Billiards is a top sport for providing access to people with disabilities.
Do you remember going on a field trip and the teacher said, "Do not touch anything, keep your hands to yourself?" More than 300 children's museums nationwide have an opposite outlook. They are interac...
Barack Obama, like Jesse Jackson in the past, is held to account for the words of his fellow African Americans. Why isn't a similar connection placed on white candidates? The answer is that a racial d...
For the top beaches in the United States, keep the northern regions in mind during the summer months. You can always head south, but the north also has its treasures.
Critics say Barack Obama's speeches are short on substance regarding social justice and other issues, but his web site of barackobama.com/issues is chock full of his statements, agree or disagree.
In Michigan government, petitions for statewide public referendums are becoming more prevalant. A pair of efforts based in Saginaw would drastically alter state government, but organizes need hundreds...
An estimated 64,000 Americans are seeking transplants of kidneys and other vital organs. One of these patients says speaking up early is crucial.
Jamie Y. Marable, whose AC library is a pleasure to visit and read, has added another crown jewel to her interview library: My wife. I'm in there too.
The Boston Celtics motored past the Detroit Pistons for the best regular record not only in the NBA East, but in the league as a whole. At this stage of the playoffs, however, the 'Stones have more po...
Football fans still are discussing the past weekend's NFL draft, but few know that history was made 57 drafts ago.
Longtime NBA fans will remember Game 5 of the NBA East Finals: Bird steals Isiah's inbounds pass and feeds Dennis Johnson for the buzzer-beating game winner. More happened than that.
No divorces. No sex unless you want to make a baby. And your Baptist aunt and uncle can't go to heaven, only limbo. Those are Catholic rules, but people who call themselves 'Catholic' follow few or no...
Leaders of the Democratic National Committee declared in 2007 that Michigan's presidential primary vote would not count, because state party broke the schedule by moving ahead to January '08. Candidat...
Forty years have passed since Dr. King was slain, but his leadership remains.
Is Barack Obama a "dangerous" candidate for America's future. Decide for yourself.
What color do you think Mexican rice should be? Red? Wrong! A golden hue is the best.
What do you do when you are in a group, and one of the members expressed open and vocal bias?
A newspaper reporter cannot always be colorblind. Here's an example.
Before you may choose to read this, first please check "Day 7: Race Relations in America."
Before reading this piece, please read "Day 7: Race Relations in America"
Coupons are good, of course ..... except when the regular price is lower!
Some AC producers seem to have unlimited capacity. Others, like myself, get lazy. Here's a way out.
Members of Single Purpose, a Christian singles group, keep more busy than many married couples.
Before Christmas, concern arose for toys that could cause child lead poisoning. An older home or apartment also is a threat.
How much must one steal for it to be a mortal sin instead of a venial sin? Five dollars, our Catholic nun tells us.
It seems everyone focuses on the campaign for president, but local politics usually is where the action is.
Yes, we can wear thermal gloves and moon boots and snowmobile suits. But it's still too damned cold!
Read the scoop of the 21st century here on Associated Content!
Why are the political polls proven wrong so often? One reason is undercounts of ethnic minorities.
A photograph of Barack Obama, in the Kenyan Muslim garb of his father, is making a big stir. Why?
Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. This leads to Saddam Hussein jokes. But what about our longtime friend, Jordan's King Hussein?
This isn't the Twilight Zone, but sometimes it seems like it.
Free at last? In 2008, what's your answer to Dr. King's question?
The Detroit Tigers in 2003 had a low payroll and lost 119 games. This year, with the big bucks, they just might win 119.
I'm a Democrat, regrettably sometimes, and so the Republicans can mend their own gated fences. But the GOP's latest set-to is simply too much!
From Negro History Week established in 1926, we now have Black History Month and a Martin Luther King Holiday. Here's the background.
This article may help explain why Hillary Clinton is dominating the Hispanic vote, such as 66 percent in California on Super Tuesday.
This is an opus that I wrote to our City of Saginaw leaders on the verge of a key vote that will decide how to spend federal urban aid.
Readers should learn to appreciate pro basketball at least as much (or more) than pro football. In the Detroit Pistons, they will see a deep-rooted version of the New York Giants.
How to feed yourself without having to watch Rachael Ray
It's hard to tell whether the car will start or not if you can't get inside. Why can't you get inside? All the doors are frozen shut.
This time, the ongoing diary goes back 30 years, long before the King Holiday and when Black History Month was barely recognized.
The U.S. Congress this week barely fell short of overriding President Bush's veto of medical coverage for 10 million children -- and this crucial story barely raised a news media peep.
Michigan's state governments would undergo dramatic changes under a pair of petition drives that a Saginaw father-son attorney team will launch.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known not just for his oratory, but for moving people to take action. This is a personal story of an experience that I always remember on the national holiday in his nam...
Because of my uncommonly mixed life in family and often in work, hopefully and humbly this diary may promote Greater Understanding. Feel free to catch up also on the first 3 days.
Holiday shopping is over, but lead in toys (and homes) remains a vital issue. One community's long-term actions offers a model for others.
Big-spending Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney needed a boost after losing in Iowa and New Hampshire. His good fortune was that his home state of Michigan, where his father George was gove...
Mike Huckabee visited near the heart of Michigan's economic gloom to continue his emergence as a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination.
Yours truly already submitted "Tax Breaks for the Non-Rich," but this version contains more details. It's a shame that millions of families in need miss out on federal tax credits. Also consult www.cb...
Tuesday's Clinton-Obama result raises a race-related question: Are there people who literally change their minds (and their ballots) even AFTER they step into the voting booth?
The author is not preaching about what may be "politically correct" in race relations. He is promoting a process of understanding that begins with his own shortcomings.
Here's the story of a leading AC Producer who goes ice fishing.
Low-middle income families -- not just low-low income -- qualify for federal tax credits for earned income, child-rearing and child day care. Here's the scoop.
In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois wrote that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line." What can we say of 2008? This begins one man's diary.
Why is the senator from Illinois described as "inexperienced," when he has served more time in office than many of his opponents?
Did you know a family of four can have an income of more than $500 per week, and still qualify for federal surplus food. If a senior citizen is in the household, the limit rises beyond $600 per week.
Back around November, we published some children's letters to Santa that were funny in the spirit of Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby: "Kids Say the Darndest Things." Enjoy the holiday, everyone!
Football? As a kid during the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was as big a fan as anyone. Then I started to see the sport's brutal downside, and I won't be watching over the holidays.
A strong and solid neighborhood association can begin with a simple conversation among two or three residents. From there, the second step is a community meeting. Next comes action!
If you support a higher minimum wage, are you seeking "economic justice" or are you caught up in "class warfare?" When viewing Iraq, do we see "civilian casualties" or "collateral damage?" The word ga...
People have started talking about the People's Media Awards, and with a whopping $10,000 on the table (we're being fecitious), why not? Not to rain on the parade, but awards can be overrated.
So you aren't really into poetry? Neither am I, or at least never have I been, but some artists on AC are causing me to try to learn. Question: Should they have to explain their poems to dummies like ...
My parents were actually quite attractive. Dad had orange hair like in the Archie comics, but a sort of Jimmy Stewart attraction. Mom was a 4-foot-11 bombshell with rich black curls and the sweetest s...
Bipartisan leaders in Michigan last year asked why "prosperous, virtually lily-white" Iowa and New Hampshire should have so much influence in nominating presidential candidates. Their effort to join t...
It's 2007. Many of my white peers are good and fair people, but still too many carry prejudices and hurl slurs. If only they could encounter what I have encountered, to hear the songs I have heard.
If you wish to follow Oprah's recommendation and read Ken Follett's 943-page "Pillars of the Earth," you may first wish to check out a Saginaw, Michigan professor's 243-page review of the author's car...
After the post-World War II baby boom, three of four families had children in public schools. Now it's one of four. For those who haven't been there in a while, here is a day in the life.
No team in pro sports is nicknamed "Nappy Headed Ho's," but Washington's football team has a racist nickname and Cleveland's baseball team has a stereotyped cartoon logo.
Tom Joyner's fans know that he goes beyond yuck-yuck and gets involved in serious issues, such as the Jena 6. His book gives him an avenue for an in-depth display of his views.
All of us have driven down a street, seeing castoff furniture and appliances on the curbside. My friend in Saginaw figured out how to recycle these items in a unique ministry.
In their letters to Santa, some children warn the jovial big guy to watch out for their pets. Others don't want St. Nick to get stuck in the chimney or fall into a fire. Saginaw's samplings could be f...
Your screen is blank, and your mind is blank too. If it hasn't ever happened to you, then you are among the few and the fortunate. So we may as well have a little fun with it. -- Mike
Some people who have Alzheimer's or dementia still can make connections to music. A mid-Michigan woman knows how to bring out their best, especially during the holidays.
Bellringer Ted Kolhagen embodies a Salvation Army history that we all should appreciate. Please read this writeup on Mr. Kolhagen, but also please do some Salvation Army "Google" research.
No governor during the past 70 years signed off on more executions than George W. Bush -- and he was only Texas governor for six years. But he has sympathy for our Thanksgiving fowl.
Agnes Johnson was retired but learned she did not want to face boredom. She became a volunteer activist for senior citizens and their families.
Is the United States on a course for up to 28 years with either a Bush or a Clinton in office? Hillary's backers should take an objective view of her misdeeds.
For those who struggle with the Great Question in life, "Jesus for the Non-Religious" offers a different and controversial outlook on Christ's message and meaning.
Hispanic Americans recently surpassed African Americans to become the largest ethnic minority in the United States, and alliances from the 1960s are breaking down.
For readers who responded to my brief article on Jesse Jackson's Saginaw visit, this is a more in-depth report on one of America's emerging concerns.
The rate of mortgage foreclosures is skyrocketing. In a visit to Saginaw, Michigan, Jesse Jackson offered specific facts and helped to explore solutions.
In the old days, children visiting a museum were told, "Don't Touch." Today's facilities, in contrast, take a hands-on interactive approach.
Back in the old days, Dr. Spock wrote a definitive book on parenting. The computer age now is in full gear, and an update is needed.
Baseball is not supposed to be fast-paced like other sports, but television keeps trying to make it that way.
This is a look at Barack Obama in the eyes of a reporter who covered him from 2003 and 2006, and then researched his earlier life.
The author attends a neighborhood anti-crime meeting in which a White elder says juvenile street criminals (mostly Black) "should be hung by nooses."
The United States is spending $110,000,000,000 per year for the Iraq War, but apparently $6,000,000,000 per year for children's health care is too much.
Hybrid vehicles gain superior gas mileage, keep the air cleaner and protect the ozone, but they account for only 1.5 percent of U.S. vehicle sales.
In communities across the nation, neighborhood organizers literally go door-to-door to seek action for issues such as improved housing and better schools.
When you watch little children at a swimming pool, some are fearful of even the most shallow water. A newfangled "spray park" settles that problem.
Many African Americans say they have smoldered for all their lives in a "criminal injustice" system. Emotions are coming to the surface in Jena, Louisiana.
Ever since Ronald Reagan became president with his anti-tax platform, it seems honest discussion of paying the freight is political death.
Think about it: Do you know a relative or friend who has been in a deer/car crash? They are more common than you may think.
Somehow, former President Ronald Reagan's diaries during the 1980s are not published until now. I'm expressing my view; readers can form their own.
The story of a Pennsylvania coal mine fire reads like a gripping novel, but it's all true.
America's big towns aren't the only ones that suffer with old, abandoned houses. Saginaw is an example of medium or smaller cities that face similar troubles.
Can you name five words that are spelled exactly the same in Spanish as in English? To find them, you will have to read to the end of this article.
Communitywide effort is needed to keep criminals and firebugs in check during the Halloween season. Detroit created a model during the '80s that remains in place. A key is to start now, not in late Oc...
Many study groups, and many journalists themselves, have decried local TV's emphasis on "it leads if it bleeds." This story shows a personal impact.
Baseball was the most popular sport among African Americans going back to the 19th century and beyond World War II, but declining interest started two generations ago.
As football season arrives, fans are returning to stadiums and TV sets in droves. But what is the special appeal? A game takes 210 minutes and the ball is in play for less than 10 of them.
America is more aware of assaults against women than during past generations, but awareness grows slowly.
No team is nicknamed "Nappy Headed Hos," but Washington's pro football squad has a racial slur for a nickname and Cleveland's baseball squad has a stereotyped cartoon for a logo.
Our best men's basketball stars are known by their first names: LeBron, Kobe, Dwayne. Meet Deanna -- Deanna "Tweety" Nolan -- and her friends from the WNBA.
Poverty often seems to be a same old, same old story. It grinds upon people and families, but the media finds little to report. This needs to change.