This is an issue near and dear to my heart, and there are lots of good points in this article. There are also lots of unsupported conclusions though, and the author ignores the fact that our trade relationship is, overall, wildly successful for both parties.

Perhaps the reason Windsor isn't doing well compared to 1999 is that the Loonie is no longer a joke and Detroit built casinos of its own. In which smoking is allowed. And our own state, particularly the SE region, is falling apart and so we have less to spend and we consciously choose to spend it here.

There are perfectly good reasons for enhanced security that can and will help both nations in the long run.

Quoted: Strict new border policies are turning Canada into a foreign country. Is this any way to treat our neighbors?

Calvin Prof. Doug Howard cited in an article about supposed Muslim-terrorists-turned-Christians out on the public speaking tour. They spoke at the AFA yesterday and at Calvin in November.

Quoted: Mr. Howard said his doubts about their authenticity grew after stories like the Golan Heights saga as well as something on Mr. Saleem’s Web site along the lines that he was descended from the grand wazir of Islam. “The grand wazir of Islam is a nonsensical term,” Mr. Howard said.

"The Iron Ladies" has been widely celebrated since its release at the Denver Film Fest in November. It's showing at the UICA on Tuesday at 7pm. Here's a clip.

Quoted: Iron Ladies focuses on the new president of Liberia, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, and the group of women she appointed to key positions as the country transitions from civil war to democratic government.

Oh great. This just happened to my friends upstairs. If anyone notices me shrinking away from water in the future, drive a steak through my heart asap.

Quoted: In fact, Ingham County leads the entire state for positive cases, which means the community could be at risk. "The one that we're really concerned with is if they wake up, and it's in a bedroom," Barry-Eaton District Health Department's Steve Tackitt explains. "So they have no idea if they've been bitten or not, because, a bat bite, they have very small teeth."

Quoted: On the edge of downtown Detroit, just east of the Chrysler Freeway and not far from Detroit's still-troubled neighborhoods, lies Lafayette Park, one of the nation's most beautiful -- and most obscure -- residential developments.

I'm looking forward to watching the champ continue his run tonight.

Quoted: That's good company for a fighter who hadn't even headlined his own PPV card until two years ago, when he faced Arturo Gatti, and was not a big ticket seller anywhere outside of his hometown in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Third Coast beer drama. Hopefully it will end well for Bell's and Chicago beer lovers. BTW, stop by the Hop Leaf (mentioned in the story) if you're ever in Andersonville.

Quoted: (Crain’s) — A year after pulling its beers from Chicago taps and liquor stores, Bell’s Brewery Inc. is making plans for a return.

Quoted: “We know we’re going to get sued, so we’re just sticking our toes in the water with a couple of people who are willing to get in the water with us,” Mr. Bell says.

Hmm...maybe schools should be paying for more than these guys' educations. Big Ten football = Big $$.

Quoted: Super Bowl XL in Detroit was a landmark economic event in 2006, but how big is the Big Ten? A study released Monday shows Big Ten football will pump $177 million into the state economy this fall, more than triple the impact of the Super Bowl.

I saw this story on BBC and didn't realize that MSU was involved in the discovery. Maybe the law college can work Dr. Crippen into its "Innocents" display of inmates exonerated by DNA evidence.

Quoted: Loaded with enough sordid details and twists to eventually fuel more than 40 books and several movies, this London case is second only to Jack the Ripper in its sensational notoriety.