301 results for author: Phil Anderson
Water is life
“A society’s fate lies in its own hands and depends substantially on its own choices.” —Jared Diamond, in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
“We have a responsibility to develop sustainable environmental policies that ensure our precious natural resources will be around for future generations. Businesses, homeowners, and municipalities all rely on groundwater resources to thrive in daily life.” —Wisconsin Representative Cory Mason
Water is life. This is not a radical, liberal, or whacko environmentalist notion. It is not a partisan issue. It is a simple fact.
So why do Republicans in Wisconsin oppose efforts to ...
Build it and they will use it
The New York Times reported that in 1958, U.S. military leaders had plans to use nuclear weapons against China. Daniel Ellsberg (who leaked the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War in 1971) recently posted online a secret document showing Pentagon leaders were willing to use nuclear weapons to stop China from attacking the Republic of China on Taiwan.
Hands up don’t shoot
All people deserve, and should receive, respect and proper treatment by police. This is not a radical concept. Police simply need to act professionally and in accordance with democratic principles and existing law.
Counting all the costs of war
On Memorial Day we remember the veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in our many wars. We should mourn the fallen. We should mourn because they did not die for their country.
Waste not…
I was just a low level “grunt,” but I saw and participated in a lot of waste. So when I write about waste in the military budget it is not based on political opinion or cherry picking the numbers.
Digging Holes and Thinking Outside the Pipe
As a nation we have dug ourselves into many holes. We may have thought we were digging foundations for progress, jobs, and economic growth.
Nuclear weapons are now illegal
Most of the world agrees with these two former national leaders on opposite sides of the Cold War. On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons became international law. Nuclear weapons are now illegal. Nations who possess, threaten to use, or use these weapons of mass destruction will be outlaws. This is a big step toward abolishing them altogether.
Moving Forward in Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, the chauvinistic, conservative – and I would add racist – voice of the Republican legislature is obstructing just about everything good for people. A number of “clearly common sense” actions are being blocked or ignored by political leadership who – as Jimmy Carter once said about Republicans – “are men of narrow vision, who are afraid of the future.”
Moving forward on voting
Since Biden won the presidential election, Republicans have been waging a coordinated, unpatriotic war on democracy and voting rights. In Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson and Rep. Tim Tiffany continue to repeat the blatant lies about “election fraud” and Biden stealing the election. GOP legislators in Wisconsin, and across the nation, are pushing bills to make voting more difficult.
Black history in Wisconsin
The writing of the the state constitution involves Black suffrage. In 1846, a first draft of the constitution allowed black men to vote. This draft was not adopted. The successful 1848 State Constitution explicitly barred Black men from voting while it allowed all white men, even immigrants who were not citizens, to vote. After statehood, three referendums were held on suffrage for Black men (1849, 1857, and 1865). All were defeated. Citizenship was defined as being white and male.