Ralph Katz

page last edited 6/2/09, still under construction

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Publications

Interview in Washtenaw Jewish News, October 2008 (pp 6-7): http://www.washtenawjewishnews.org/PDFs/WJN_Oct-08.pdf

February 2, 2008: My tugboat links page got picked up by the professionals: http://www.tugboatlife.com/News-display/Tugboat-News/Page-4.html

 "Go ahead, let Wal-Mart run state government** -

letter in The Ann Arbor News, Friday, October 12, 2007

"In Michigan, raising taxes has always meant political death. A few of us still remember the last state shutdown in 1959, on the heels of a recession, and watching Gov. John Swainson on TV say how he hated to raise taxes but needed to do it. We dumped him for George Romney, who was fortunate to have his predecessor try and put the state government on a good economic footing. Gov. Swainson finished his career as a judge.

The late-night budget agreement caught a lot of people by surprise, judging by the prepaid ads that ran on the radio all the following day, larded with venom and mistruth. The political vultures were definitely circling, but they didn’t quite find carrion.

Michigan voters ignore the internals of our state government. We don’t know whether we are getting a good deal for our roads (I believe we are not), whether government officials are cutting sweet deals with businesses (this is sure a good question), or whether government departments are responsive to the public (I believe thy are). On the contrary, we place little stock in whether our governor is honest, whether our streets have potholes, or our schools need their brickwork repaired.

All we seem to care about is low cost. If presented with the option to outsource our state government services to Wal-Mart, I think there would be a lot of takers.

So, wave good-bye to the Granholms, wish them well, and hope our next Michigan Governor isn’t much, much worse."

letter in The Ann Arbor News, Sunday May 6, 2005:

http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1178543406233230.xml&coll=2

"This letter is to anyone inclined to characterize our police officers as greedy for having the most overtime last year, as reported in Monday's Ann Arbor News.

The Police Department's workload isn't going down, but the number of officers drops every year, and the AAPD is still in the same "temporary" quarters it first occupied in the the mid-1960's.

Yes some officers did well financially last year, but the community certainly got something in return. I can't remember an unsolved major crime in the last few years - that effort had to come from somewhere.

We just lost an excellent Police Chief, one who wanted to spend the rest of his career here, because he couldn't stop his budget from being slashed. It should be clear that sooner or later AAPD budget cuts will foster an increase in unsolved crimes.

Overtime is offered when there is an un-met need. Ask your City Council members if fully funding more officers might reduce our need for Police overtime."

Consumer Reports, May 2007, p.59 "Selling It"

I am the "Michigan reader" in the piece "An overdose of pill bottles", regarding the confusing array of strengths, doses, bottle sizes, and costs of Glucosamine/Chondroitin at CVS. The spreadsheet is mine, with their prices plugged in. I am quoted but not identified: "The only plausible intent for this mind-boggling variety is to dumbfound the customer."

American Radio Relay League (web-zine) "Two Honest Hams", 9/1/1998:

http://ftp.arrl.org/news/features/1998/0901/2/?nc=1

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