#Me Too

Survivors of sexual assault and harassment saying “me too” is not new. They have been saying it for a long time, but something has now changed. More people are listening. You can think back to 2002 and the hundreds of young boys saying “me too” as the silence around priests abusing children finally broke. Hundreds of boys said “me too” in 2011, as Jerry Sandusky was brought to justice. In 2014 we heard “me too” from dozens of women that said they were drugged and assaulted by Bill Cosby. While #metoo was trending, we learned of the hundreds of young ...

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FARMERS UNION: AGITATE, ORGANIZE, EDUCATE AND COOPERATE

By Tom Giessel, NFU Historian Owen Franklin Dornblazer was the 11th person to join The Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America in 1902. He lived to the age of 94 and was active in organizational and membership work until the final few months of his life. At age 85, addressing the 1926 NFU convention, he said, “There was nothing for those who began it, only the future.” I believe that statement still rings true today. So, what about our future? Over the years, farmers and ranchers have struggled with tough times, but today’s free-fall of the rural ...

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End Child Poverty in Marathon County

We are excited to report that the campaign has passed 1500 signatories this week. More and more people are joining the movement to call on Wisconsin to adopt a goal of cutting child poverty in half, of reducing racial disparities, and committing to an annual evaluation of our progress.  Before we bring this demand to our elected leaders, we want to reach 10,000 signature s, so they know this is a serious campaign with broad support . Please encourage your friends to sign on: https://www.endchildpovertywi.org/endorse   End Child Poverty PPT Marathon County ...

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VOTE TUESDAY

VOTE TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2018 This is an important election. Your vote and voice are needed. Please vote. A new justice for the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be elected. You will also elect local officials on City Council, County Board as well as School Board. You will also vote on the Referendum of keeping or discarding the State Treasurer position.

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REMEMBER DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Fifty years ago on April 4, Dr. King lost his life by an assassin’s bullet. Dr. King was an American Baptist minister and social activist. He led the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968. He used the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience in his work for the poor and the forgotten people. In 1964 he was given the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968 a federal holiday was created to honor Dr. King. The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was placed in the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2011. He was honored in many good ways. However, his work is not done. His words ...

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HOMELESSNESS, part 1

In his opening statements to Mayor Robert Mielke and Wausau City Council members regarding homelessness, Joseph Volk stated: Marathon County and Wausau have a problem. Joseph Volk, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Homelessness, was one of the speakers at the Presentation: Spotlight on Homelessness in Marathon County, Thursday, February 15th. Mr. Volk highlighted many statistics regarding homelessness. (Additional information has been added by the author of this report.) *Homeless children in the school districts of Wausau and D.C. Everest has ...

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THE UNIVERSAL ECONOMY – UNIT II: FIAT MONEY

In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq. Since then the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Africa have cost trillions of dollars. The money appears out of nowhere. Virtually no legislators ask, “How are you going to pay for it?” In 2008 U.S. and world financial systems were on the verge of total collapse. Wall Street banks had been gambling in trillions of dollars of fraudulent loans and “exotic financial instruments” and the bets had gone bad. The banks were corrupt, but to avoid total financial devastation to America, we were told they had to be made whole ...

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SCHOOL REFERENDUM CONUNDRUM

“Clearly, voters continue to value a public education, even if our elected officials do not.” Scott Robert Shaw, “News Talk” WIZM (radio station in La Crosse) Bok's Law: If you think education is expensive—try ignorance. Derek Bok, president of Harvard University. Many school districts in Wisconsin are in financial trouble. To deal with the problem many are seeking property tax increases which require local voter approval. The number of these referendum votes are increasing across the state and many are passing. Voters apparently want their local schools ...

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JASON’S LAW—BIPARTISAN VA OPIOD PRESCRIBING REFORM

You should know the story of U.S. Marine veteran, Jason Simcakoski. Like too many of our veterans, Jason Simcakoski, went to the VA to get help, but instead got hooked on prescription drugs. Tragically, Jason Simcakoski died in 2014 from mixed drug toxicity while receiving care at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The Simcakoski family decided to turn their tragedy into hope for other military families. Working closely with Senator Baldwin, they crafted bipartisan legislation named in honor of Jason to reform the VA and stop the overprescribing of opiods at the ...

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SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

Gov. Walker signed into law his school safety plan. The plan gives $100 million to keep schools safe. The plan offers competitive grants to all school districts for security improvements to school building and staff training. His plan does not include any mention of gun safety. This plan offers a one-time, limited pot of money for building security. What does the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association think of this proposal? Here are recommendations from the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association. “Do not arm teachers. We believe more harm than good would come ...

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