Another bill that would try to limit voting

If we can all get our minds off the NFL and Deflatio for a moment, there’s a real problem to deal with.

It’s called Senate Bill 13, is sponsored by state Republican Senator Marty Knollenberg and if successful, would eliminate straight ticket voting in Michigan.

Straight ticket voting allows a voter to vote, with one check mark, for an entire party. If you vote straight ticket, you are saying you want all the members of Party X to win the offices they’re running for.

Republicans dislike straight ticket voting because it makes for easy voting. If you are a Democrat, one check mark lets you vote for all Democrats on the ballot. And if you live in Detroit, racism creeps into this bill.

Some state Republicans have long held that black people, particularly Detroit residents, are too stupid to read a ballot, hence the attractiveness of voting straight ticket.

Senator Knollenberg, the bill’s sponsor, says that’s a lie. Knollenberg says he’s sponsoring the bill because he believes people should know who they’re voting for, and not be able to cast a ballot that elects people just because they’re in a certain party.

Knollenberg represents state Senate District 13, which is 84 percent white.

Remember, these are the same Republicans who want to force you to have state identification of some sort, such as a driver’s license, to vote. Many people in Detroit don’t own cars because the insurance rates are so high, and therefore don’t have a driver’s license.

I say we should do everything possible to get a good voter turnout in any election. There’s nothing wrong with straight ticket voting. With politics as polarized as they are today, it isn’t likely a person will split his or her ticket very often anyway.

Voting a straight ticket has been a hot issue in other states, too. There are only 12 states in America that allow straight ticket voting. Georgia stands out as an example. That state abolished straight ticket voting in 1994. Some Democrats in Georgia are rethinking their position on that one, since the number of African American voters has dropped off, and the number of Democrats voted into office has dropped off, since straight ticket voting ceased.

Michigan, if straight ticket voting stays alive, would be in dubious company. Deep red states such as Kentucky, Iowa, Texas and Utah have kept straight ticket voting.

Knollenberg’s bill is just another transparent attempt to keep some people from voting, period. Low voter turnout is usually indicative of a Republican win around Detroit. Don’t let it happen. You can call Knollenberg at his office, 517-373-2523, and let him know what you think of Senate Bill 13.

Ad sucks, but product is cool

Woof.

A good idea with terrible marketing showed up on my Facebook page as an uninvited sponsored advertisement.

The product is called Voyce. On Facebook, the ad made it appear that Voyce was a collar you put on your dog in order to get to know your dog better. The collar transmits, via WIFI, your dog’s vital signs to your computer. From there, the ad said you’d get a better idea of your dog’s moods, such as whether the dog was happy or sad.

Pshaw, I thought. This sounded to me like a gadget for people who are tone deaf when it comes to dogs and probably other animals, too. Kind of a gadget for the instinct-deprived among us.

My immediate thought on reading the ad was that people who need a computer to tell them what mood their dog is in probably shouldn’t have a dog. Worse – those who would buy such a gadget probably aren’t spending enough time with their dog and are looking to Voyce to be their quality time substitute.

But when I punched Voyce into Google, I changed my mind.

Facebook ad aside, Voyce (

www.mydogsvoyce.com) is a clever, if costly, idea that was one of the darlings of the just-ended Consumer Electronics Show. This is a case where the product’s marketing is doing the product a disservice.

According to the website, putting a waterproof Voyce collar on your dog will, among other things, collect data on your puppy’s activity and rest levels, calories burned, heart rate and respiratory rate. Who needs all this information? Dog owners probably do, if they want to pay $299 for the collar and another $15/month for updates.

What good does all this data do? It could predict a heart attack, for one thing. You can download the data, store it and compare last week’s results with current results. Over time, you could actually learn something that even those with the best animal instincts can’t know.

(Voyce isn’t the only such device out there. There’s PetPace, Cleo, Whistle and Tagg, all at varying costs and all operating with the same idea. You can check them out on Google.)

If you’re looking for a way to justify the cost of Voyce or any of its aforementioned competitors, try this: The price of the collar alone is probably close to the cost of a visit to the veterinarian. Data printout in hand, you might be able to avoid the exorbitant costs of a vet running tests. I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent enough money with our local vet to build a new wing on his office.

If I were in charge of  i4C Innovations, the company behind Voyce, I’d think about bringing the price down and make it up in volume. I’d also lose the company that wrote the ad on Facebook. Other than that, this is a product very much worth considering.

Philip and his wife, Suzy, have two dogs and two cats, all rescue animals. Pictured: Stella, who is about to jump on Bella.

Things you ought to know by now

 

With the best intentions:

 

• Somewhere along the line, people stopped listening to their elders. That’s a mistake. Chances are they’ve already been through what you have yet to go through, and they’re happy to tell you if you’ll just accord them the courtesy of listening.

• Patience is a learned skill and the mark of a well-operating mind. Exploding in someone’s face tells everyone everything they need to know about you.
   
• Giving someone the benefit of the doubt is another idea that’s gone by the boards. These days, it’s fashionable to be quick to blame, as if assigning blame ever solved everything. Giving someone the benefit of the doubt shows you’re willing to take a risk. You can always retract your extension of good will later if it didn’t work out.
   
• If you are the recipient of an angry email, regardless of the topic, don’t answer it immediately. Think. In one of my corporate jobs I reported to a former monk who got out of the business because he wanted to start a family. He was a smart man. One of the things he taught us, regarding email, was to “sit on it for 24 hours.” You’ll come off sounding wiser, more measured and patient.
   
• In business, during a skirmish, never fire the first shot. However, don’t just sit there and take it, either. Defend yourself strongly, in a clean, above board, beyond reproach way. Once your opponent knows you’re not going to take it, he or she will back off.
   
• It is not chauvinistic to hold the door for someone, regardless of gender. It is polite.
   
• A friend of mine put it this way: “Don’t spend so much time looking in the rear view mirror. What’s done is done. Instead, notice how small the rear view mirror is in respect to the windshield. Stay focused on what’s coming up and you’ll have a better chance of getting it right.”
   
• Another friend, a Vietnam veteran, told me that you have to make your own luck. Don’t be afraid to improvise, innovate and generally step out of line if you think you’re being led down the wrong path.
   
• Learn to like yourself. That’s how you build confidence.
   
• Don’t abuse your friends on Facebook by using them for personal gain. Facebook wasn’t meant to play into the hands of the narcissist, yet I’m seeing a lot of it lately. Friends are just that – don’t forget it.
   
• Learn to be an active listener. If you can accurately repeat what someone just told you, it demonstrates you’re actually paying attention.
   
• And finally, don’t tell yourself “no.” Let someone else do that for you.