Politics
Moderate/Extremist? Left/Right
Words, and their meanings, matter. Words are not vessels that can be filled with whatever meaning one wants. Kung Fu-tzu, who lived 500 years before Christ, said that before a debate begins, the participants should participate in “rectification of terms.” What he meant was that the participants in the debate should agree on the definitions of the key words to be used. After rectification of terms, many points of dispute disappear. In the US today, we need a rectification of terms, especially in politics and media news. Opposing sides use the same words in disputation, ...
Tiffany’s Foreign Policy Foolishness
“... when confronted by small men doing big and stupid things, we need to resist with all the wit and creativity we can muster...” Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author
“Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.” John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873), an influential British political and economic thinker.
It would be impolite for me to suggest that Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, being extremely conservative, might fit J.S. Mills famous maxim. It would not be inappropriate, however, to point ...
‘Coordination’ meetings in Northern Wisconsin
‘Coordination’ meetings in Northern Wisconsin – Land & Water Conservation being targeted
A Texas-based group called the American Stewards of Liberty (https://americanstewards.us/about/ is orchestrating an effort to influence northern Wisconsin politicians to adopt their agenda. Those politicians are in-turn exerting their influence on local units of government (Town, Village, & County Boards) and promoting the Texas-based group’s agenda. This group is against land and water conservation. Instead, they advocate for natural resource exploitation. They ...
THE MURDER FOR MONEY DEPARTMENT
“Let the workers in these plants get the same wages -- all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers -- yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders -- everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches! Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and majors pay half of their monthly $30 wage to their families and ...
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST RACKET
“think of today’s federal government as a multi-division racket controlled by the highest bidders. The Wall Street division is run out of the Treasury. The Health Industry division is run out of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Big Oil and Coal division is run out of the Departments of Energy and Interior. And the Foreign Policy division is run out of the White House, Pentagon and CIA.
Each division uses public power for private gain through insider dealing, greased by corporate campaign contributions and lobbying outlays.”
– Professor ...
QUOTATIONS THAT FIT
“But there is a far deeper problem with the framing of these concerns. The critical problem is not “global inaction” over mass atrocities. It is the opposite: intense western – chiefly US – support for, and complicity in, such atrocities.”
“The US is not helpless in the unfolding genocide. It is actively facilitating it. In fact, Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing would be impossible without not just US collusion but active participation.”
“It’s intense US and UK support for atrocities so long as they bolster their global power.”
Jona...
Voices for Palestine
In this time of, again, great turmoil in the Middle East, we look to those who have the knowledge and the wisdom to share with us so that we too may begin to try to make sense of the recent violence and loss of life in southern Israel and Gaza. We were so fortunate to present an informed discussion at UU Wausau this month.
Dr. Edgar Francis shared with our audience the historical perspective on the Middle East. For those of us trying to learn more and understand that history, Dr. Francis has taught Middle Eastern History at UWSP for sixteen years, including ...
Questions to Ask Yourself on Gaza
“What does Israel, or the world community, expect? How can you trap 2.3 million people in Gaza, half of whom are unemployed, in one of the most densely populated spots on the planet for 16 years; reduce the lives of its residents, half of whom are children, to a subsistence level; deprive them of basic medical supplies, food, water, and electricity; use attack aircraft, artillery, mechanized units, missiles, naval guns, and infantry units to randomly slaughter unarmed civilians and not expect a violent response?” Chris Hedges, journalist (“What Does Israel Expect?” ...
Immigration: Reality vs Demagoguery
A recent news headline from National Public Radio reads, “Despite efforts of 3 U.S. administrations, migrant families keep crossing the border.” Migration from Mexico and Central America has increased over the past several years. In contrast to the past, this increase in migrants is being fueled by families. In August alone about 91,000 family groups were detained at the border.
Clearly efforts to seal the border to prevent, deter, or otherwise frighten immigrants away are not working. Yet, as the NPR headline indicates, for decades we have continued the same, ...