On Tolerance
Tolerance is essential to our society. But intolerance is increasing in our country. People are increasing divided over religion, politics, ethnicity, race, sexuality and, it seems, just about everything. With the celebration of Juneteenth it seems appropriate to revisit this important topic. This article was originally written in 2017 but is, unfortunately, still relevant.
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” President John F. Kennedy
“Tolerance is giving to every other ...
THANK YOU TO WI PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK AND FAIR MAPS
FROM OUR PARTNERS AT WI PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK
Public Education is the Life Blood of Every Community
Here’s what you can do right now:
Sign our petitionto become a budget ambassador yourself and show lawmakers — and Team Public—that you’re on the side of kids, whatever it takes. en.wisconsinnetwork.org/budgetamb
Contact your lawmakersand ask them to take the bold actions necessary to fix the proposed package on the table and instead pass a budget that closes the gaps and meets kids’ needs. Find your lawmakers here or call 800-362-9472 for ...
Democracy Can Quell Fake Conspiracy Theories
We live in an uncertain era. Uncertainty breeds a quest for security, a sense of control and meaning in life. That makes all of us marks for people on the make looking for someone to con. The media and internet are filled with all sorts of messages that play to specific vulnerabilities of certain groups of people. There is money to be made and power to be garnered. One of the main techniques is to spawn fake conspiracy theories. How can we tell when we are being subjected to a conspiracy theory? Is it possible to tell what is a real conspiracy and what is a fake ...
Abandonment and the Gerrymandering of Resentment
Anyone who’s paid attention knows that Wisconsin is a tightly gerrymandered state. The geopolitical scrabble of electoral districts enables the Republican Party to hold large majorities in both the Assembly and the Senate. Those majorities come from districts far more rural than urban. They’re also rather working class in cultural disposition.
There is a racial element in these gerrymandered districts—black and urban versus white and rural—but the racial thing is less endemic racist than it is a polarized absence of cultural interaction. The race thing is real, ...
Wisconsin Leaders Call on the EPA to Implement the Strongest Possible Safeguards to Cut Climate Pollution from Power Plants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 17, 2023
Contact: Laura Lane, WHPCAcomms@gmail, (608) 215-0112
Wisconsin Leaders Call on the EPA to Implement the Strongest Possible Safeguards to Cut Climate Pollution from Power Plants
Oak Creek, WI – Wisconsin leaders from the health, climate, and environmental sectors- including Healthy Climate Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin, and Action for the Climate Emergency-gathered today at Haas Park, near the Elm Road and South Oak Creek power plants, in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's historic ...
JUST MONEY TWO
We are currently witnessing the final (now annual) arguments between members of congress and whoever is President, over the “debt ceiling.” As always, there is wringing of hands and the endless alarms about “mortgaging our grandchildren” regarding the “unsustainable” national debt. “Government spending needs to be cut” (except, of course, the military/industrial/congressional complex – unanimous bi-partisan support there). So, as always, the items on the chopping block are, unlike endless military spending, the things that actually defend average, working ...
Citizen Sleuthing
Yes, Greenlight Metals, we are watching you. We are watching VERY closely. We saw on May 4 where the DNR has given you “conditional” approval for Greenlight metals to undertake drilling at the Bend Deposit in Taylor County. The Bend Deposit is located about 20 miles northwest of the city of Medford. The area itself is quite remote with the drilling area on a very small piece of upland, less than a quarter mile from the north branch of the Yellow River. Ground water is being monitored at several spots by the University of Wisconsin and is found to ...
Refugees in Search for the Promised Land
Saturday afternoon, the first one this month, we sat in Whitewater hall and listened to some of Central Wisconsin's latest arrivals speak about their personal journeys. Refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nicaragua, each happy to be here, safe, and feeling welcome, they all agreed. Missing terribly, and worried about loved ones left behind was another thought held in common. Stories of violence, and threats of violence, too, sewed their stories together. A couple of the men, one an Afghan, another from a refugee camp in Tanzania had ...
Science
What is science? Science has become a segregated branch of knowledge practiced by those who apply its methods in a systematic way. In reality, we all practice science. It is our method of learning through trial and error. We see a problem, devise a way to solve it, and try various techniques to come to a successful solution. The universe was created by bringing order to the chaos that proceeded it. That order is understandable by humans who have developed critical faculties to pose questions, propose answers and test results. People who are specialized in this ...
Tolerance of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
“Tolerance, n., willingness to accept behavior and beliefs that are different than your own although you may not agree or approve of them.” Cambridge Online Dictionary
Republican attacks on LGBTQ and transgender people are increasingly ridiculous. The flap over transgenders playing sports is an example. Transgender people are 0.39% of Wisconsin's population. All people have varying ability to compete in sports regardless of gender. Clearly this is not a problem, nor does it need legislative attention. If anything it needs legislation affirming equal rights and the ...