Right Wing Think Tanks Are Who Is Really Behind Bias Reporting On College Campuses

Free speech on college campuses is being stifled, however the push to limit free speech was not started by some woke left wing mob. Oh no. It was started by a right wing organization that calls itself Students For Academic Freedom, which is a bit of a misnomer because their key goal is to strip academic freedom from faculty they disagree with. This stifling of free speech did not start all that recently; it can be traced back to the early aughts. I was attending graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2005 when I first became aware of this ...

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God Isn’t a Republican and Republicans Are Not Godly

“And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah. This is what the Lord Almighty said,  'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner, or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”  Zechariah 7:8-10 It is unfathomable to me that fundamentalist Christians so ardently support the Republican party. Few Republican politicians exhibit any of the “fruits of the spirit” that supposedly identify true Christians. Nor does the Republican agenda reflect any Christian teachings. Both ...

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Protect Voting by Mail

Wisconsinites, wherever we live and no matter our physical abilities or disabilities, should have the freedom to vote. But by banning ballot drop boxes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has made it more difficult for people in rural and urban areas from voting by absentee ballot. And it tried to deny persons with physical disabilities from getting assistance in the delivery of their absentee ballots, but federal law still requires such assistance. What’s more, a Republican-dominated committee of the Legislature said it didn’t want clerks to be able to fix the ...

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MARATHON COUNTY COMMITTEES’ MINING MEETING

I attended the joint meeting of Marathon County’s Environmental Resources and Metallic Mining Committees’ meeting at the Marathon County Courthouse, as a landowner and taxpayer in Marathon County.  I was there to witness citizen’s concerns regarding the Canadian company, GreenLight Metals, Inc. and the mining company’s presentation who has applied for a permit for a metallic mining exploration at the Easton Reef Deposit. It was shocking to witness the lack of respect and treatment of our fellow citizens as they spoke to the committee of their concerns.  Only 2 ...

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His Inner Search

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, an exodus from the cities brought hundreds of new settlers to the Arkansas Ozarks. Their personal stories are testaments to an awakening shared by many of the Baby Boom generation, personal and communal. This interview is one of 32 personal stories gathered in 1999-2000, and published in Aquarian Revolution: Back to the Land. I didn’t like the way I was treated as a kid. I was beaten regularly. I don’t think I’ve cried since I was seven years old, because if I cried, they would beat me with a leather strap until I stopped ...

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The Fine Art of Green Washing

I am writing to express my thoughts and concerns about the presentation by Green Light Metals on Tuesday, August 2, at the Environmental Resources Committee of Marathon County. I felt several Marathon County Board members asked some very good questions. Their questions, however, did not receive adequate answers. Green Light Metals should not be trusted. Their board of directors is made up of the last mining company, Aquila. Just because they have a shack in Medford, does not make them a Wisconsin based company either. This is a Canadian company. When the mining ...

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Mandela Mash: Using Beer to Break Through the Political Noise

  By now, if you live in Wisconsin, I’m hoping you’ve seen our new beer called “Mandela Mash.” We publicized it with a lot of fanfare last Friday, and it’s shipping to stores early next week. Here’s the tongue-in-cheek ad we posted: "You’ve waited 12 years for this, but you just didn’t know what the flavor was gonna be. Nothing has tasted quite right up until now Sometimes it tasted dumb, sometimes it tasted crazy, sometimes it tasted seditious. But now? It tastes JUST RIGHT! Introducing Mandela Mash: A Legit Lager. This ...

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Look Up and Act Collectively

“...humanity needs stories that highlight the many absurdities that arise from collectively knowing what’s coming while collectively failing to act...We also need stories that show humanity responding rationally to the crisis...” Peter Kalmus, climate scientist and author   Mr. Kalmus was writing in the Guardian magazine about the movie “Don't Look Up.” He says the movie (about a comet strike) is really a story about climate change and our ignoring  the warnings and danger to humanity. The same could be said for many critical problems we face.   ...

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Confidence in Elections

I worked the polls on the August 9th Primary. I have confidence in Wisconsin’s nonpartisan election administration, led by the Wisconsin Election Commission. There is truly a pool of knowledge at each polling place. Each of Wisconsin’s 1,852 municipalities has a clerk who has been trained to administer elections. Some municipalities are large enough to have deputy clerks, who are also trained. Each polling place has multiple election workers, who must also be trained. These clerks and poll workers are our friends and neighbors who step up to help with a vital ...

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Foxy Guitar

Warren McKenney, custom guitar builder, pictured on left,  presented his hand crafted guitar named "FOXY" to MaKena Johnson-Haroldson, on right, of Lake Villa, Illinois. MaKena held the winning raffle ticket for the guitar at the 2nd Annual Water Celebration, July 23rd, held by The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River, Inc. on Stephenson Island in Marinette, Wisconsin. MaKena, only 15 years old, plays guitar, piano, clarinet, ukulele, and has been accepted to the Chicago Academy for the Arts. Warren McKenney also gifted MaKena with a hand-made case, ...

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