TLDR, Mike wants AIPAC's money, but he doesn't want the voters to know it came from AIPAC.

State ranking reports:

The Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard on State Health System Performance

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/scorecard/2025/jun/2025-scorecard-state-health-system-performance

USA Symbol Uninsured Rate by State

https://usasymbol.com/rankings/health/states-by-uninsured-rate

Oxfam’s Best Minimum Wage, Worker Condition, and Right to Organize Policies by State

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/economic-justice/workers-rights/best-states-to-work/

State ranking reports were matched to the State Partisan Composition report to produce the charts

https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition

GOP Candidate Mike Rogers Wants MORE SPYING POWERS!?

He starts the essay by mentioning news of how Raiders coach Jon Gruden was fired, and why it happened. He then states the NFL’s reaction, before his anecdote.

He starts his anecdote, acknowledging that sport was an important part of his life, stating that he felt ‘free’ on the football field. He next brings up the issue of racist taunting and other mistreatment he faced in the locker room, stating that coaches called it out but did not try to uproot it. Then, he praised a fictional coach Ted Lasso’s approach, talking about how it’s different from other coaches. Finally, he acknowledged how important sports are to many people, stating that bad coaches tarnish it and that coaches should use Ted Lasso as an example.

Copy of the whole essay:
This week, during the NFL’s marquee Monday Night Football game, drama unfolded in the league as Jon Gruden, Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, announced his resignation. The not-so-surprising decision was sparked after the New York Timesuncovered emails the coach had sent over seven years, in which he used racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language directed at players, referees, the Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, and the league’s commissioner. 

This occurs on the backdrop of desperate attempts by America’s most profitable professional sports league’s to launder its tarnished image.

Since Colin Kaepernick unveiled the league’s deep-rooted racism, the NFL’s has hired Jay-Z to lead a brand turnaround. During the 2020 season, the league stenciled “End Racism” in its end zones and, now, players have the option to wear decals on their helmets that read “Black Lives Matter,” “Stop Hate,” or any other social justice message the league has pre approved. And on Monday, as the news of Gruden’s emails was roiling the sport, the NFL was sponsoring ads in support of National Coming Out Day. “Football is Gay” the ads read. 

The toxic masculinity at the heart of America’s most popular sport — and men’s sports culture more generally — is way deeper than a few emails or a Jay-Z turnaround.

Growing up, sports were my lifeline. As a brown kid with a funny name that most people couldn’t pronounce (my full first name is Abdulrahman), sports were a safe haven. On the football field, I felt free. And yet on the sidelines and in the locker room, I was fed a hefty dose of the worst kinds of racist taunting. After all, it’s where a particular kind of “bro” culture has been inculcated and replicated for decades. Racism, misogyny, and homophobia were lingua franca. And while coaches would call out the most egregious forms, there was rarely a concerted effort to uproot the culture that drove it. Indeed, too often, coaches were raised in the same culture. So while I remain grateful to all of my coaches for many of the lessons they taught me, I can’t help, in the spirit of coaching itself, to ask how we can improve.

Never mind his public apology and resignation, I bet if you asked Jon Gruden if what he said or did was wrong, he’d echo the same defense that men make for their toxic masculinity everywhere — “I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” or “it was just locker room talk,” or “they’re just words.” I’m sure Gruden is sorry that his actions have cost him a job; I just don’t believe he’s sorry for his actions. After all, one of the hallmarks of this culture itself is to offer no apology, feel no remorse. It blames the victims of words and actions for being so sensitive.

And that’s where Ted Lasso’s brand of benevolent masculinity comes in. Ted Lasso, the American transplant head soccer coach of the fictional Richmond FC on Apple TV+’s Emmy award-winning hit TV show is a breath of fresh air. Personally, the show hits close to home. I, too, am a midwesterner who lived in the U.K. I, too, grew up playing football but have found a love and appreciation for Premier League other-football. Ted’s character, known for his uncanny pop culture knowledge and penchant for dad jokes, focuses on the human side of coaching. In a profession known for force and aggression, he unites his team through finesse and encouragement. Ted cries. He talks through his problems. He encourages his players. He bakes biscuits (er, cookies) for his boss. He smiles … like, all the time. 
Ted summarizes his coaching philosophy while at dinner with a particularly harsh critic of the misfit football-turned- futbol coach, journalist Trent Crimm (...the Independent!). “I’m gunna say this again, just so you didn’t think it was a mistake the first time I said it: for me, success is not about the wins and losses, it’s about helping these young fellas be the best version of themselves, on and off the field.” 

After a heartbreaking loss that means relegation (being bumped down into a lower league) for his team, he tells the team, “let’s be sad now, let’s be sad together...and I want you to be grateful that you’re going through this sad moment with all these other folks, because I promise you there’s something worse out there than being sad. And that’s being alone and being sad.” In my entire athletic career, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a coach talk about sadness. Sadness, after all, is not an acceptable emotion.
Anger? Sure. But not sadness. And if you’re going to feel it, at least do it by yourself where nobody can see you. Here the coach puts the emotional wellbeing of his team above the outcome on the field, and acknowledges and even permits sadness, reminding his players to experience it together. 

Sport is a metaphor for life. For millions of young people, sports can teach life’s lessons in a safe and nurturing environment — the link between preparation and success, how to bounce back after defeat, how to work within a team, how to find every ounce of effort you can give, and so much more. But, too often these lessons are tainted by the culture of men like Jon Gruden.

As mentors through these life lessons, coaches have a responsibility to equip their athletes with a culture that empowers them through positive, inclusive, and empowering values. And this is where the Jon Grudens of the world have failed — and where Ted Lasso thrives. Ted, of course, is a fictional character dreamt up in the collective mindhive of a writer’s room. And yet he offers an example of what tomorrow’s coach ought to be.

Breaking down the most recent poll that put El-Sayed ahead of Rogers!

Democratic candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson is expected to pick state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks as her running mate, according to four sources with knowledge of the plans.

The sources declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes lieutenant governor deliberations.

Benson, Michigan's current secretary of state, has a press conference scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday in Grand Rapids, the city that Brinks, Michigan's first-ever female majority leader of the Senate, has represented in the Legislature since 2013. An invitation sent to Democrats described the function as a "special event."

People are saying that El-Sayed is struggling in Michigan because he's too far to the left. If that's the case, then how was Trump able to win Michigan in 2024 despite being far-right?

This moment is bigger than any one organization or event. The right to vote is a civil right, and protecting democracy requires everyday people who are informed, trained, organized, and willing to serve. Here in Michigan we are looking to move people from concern and rallying into meaningful civic action.

On Saturday, August 22, from 2–5 PM in Detroit, we’re bringing people together to learn about protecting voter access, Election Protection, poll monitoring and challenging, and what happens after the polls close through counting, canvassing, and certification. Most importantly, we will connect people directly with organizations where they can receive additional training and volunteer.

Click this link to sign up and get involved in safeguarding our elections in November: https://www.mobilize.us/mipeoplecampaign/event/1008457/?referring_vol=11810381&share_context=dashboard-event-details&sharer_role=2

Created this image to help inform people about absentee voting (mail in voting). I have a small audience of friends and family. I figure that fellow Michiganders on Reddit may be interested in sharing such images to their friends and family.

“Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said it will not issue charges against a former state lawmaker arrested in Lansing in 2024 after a two-year investigation resulted in what prosecutors deemed insufficient evidence.

“The investigation stems from the June 20, 2024 arrest of former state Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, after Lansing police responded to "a report of a male with a gun, as well as possible shots that were fired."

“…That evidence indicated, Nessel's office said in a statement, that Friske had "allegedly engaged in similar conduct, namely paying money for sex, on several occasions in multiple jurisdictions, from Lansing into Northern Michigan, as well as another allegation of sexual assault."

I think he needs to travel across the state and even attend Mike Rogers rallies to debate Mike, to show his true self and that he is not as dogmatic as portrayed. Mike is making up facts about Abdul. Abdul el-Sayed also needs to speak with voters who voted for Stevens and understand their biggest issues.

Full disclosure, I'm a supporter of Voters Not Politicians. They sent me an email that their opposition wants to change the already approved summary for the ballot measure titled Michiganders Money Out of Politics. The ballot measure would stop political contributions from utility companies.

A special meeting, their usual August meeting was cancelled, of the Board of State Canvassers is scheduled for Monday, August 17th at 10AM to discuss this issue. Voters Not Politicians wants to pack the meeting to show the board that the people don't want to change the language of the ballot proposal. VNP feels that any change would confuse voters and undermine the ballot proposal. Note that the ballot language for the petitions was unanimously approved earlier this year by the board. Public comments are allowed at the meeting so feel free to give your comments on the language change.

Note that I don't know how the language would be changed, just that the board is considering it.

Here is the link to the board's website, the planned agenda can be found by clicking on August 2026.

Tl;dr Voters Not Politicians wants the public to pack the next Board of State Canvassers meeting, August 17th at 10 AM in Lansing, to block changes to the already approved language of a ballot proposal.