Culture
America the Beautiful
The same short-sighted, profit-centered thinking that opposed creating the National Parks hinders creating the “good change” we need today.
Some thoughts on the role journalism plays in society
Unity is more than just a good idea; it is vital. That isn’t to say that we must unite to create false equivalencies and accept fiction as though it were fact. We must restore faith in an objective truth, one of the tenets of good journalism.
Abusing religious freedom
Freedom from religion is just as important to liberty as “prohibiting the free exercise” of any sect.
Expectations of the U.S. presidency on this Presidents’ Day
All good Americans need to look at our leaders more critically, asking if we would want this person as our boss, as our public relations person, as the mouthpiece of our nation.
Happiness, simplicity, and other worthy pursuits
The other morning, while watching snow gently falling, outlining the lampposts and trees, I felt peace. More than that, I felt happy. Soon after, I found myself asking, “why can’t others find happiness in these simple things?” Of course other people do, but maybe not enough.
Will, my significant other, has said to me, “sometimes I feel like asking people, ‘have you ever turned around to watch the sunrise?’”
It is a question that should be asked of people who resort to violence. Surely there must be some deep unhappiness that leads people to act as they ...
The common foe; the common solution
We are done being divided by the elites. We are done being distracted into hating one another. This is both a challenge and a hope.
My family, my wife and I, our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren over the age of 18, probably canceled one another’s presidential votes this past election. Some voted for Biden, some for Trump. These are all intelligent people, they all have formal education beyond high school, and they all have the same concerns. They want a better life and a brighter future for themselves and their families. When Bernie Sanders, who to my ...
A Year Round Christmas Story
Each and every day newspapers and news broadcasts run articles and stories about the results of high school sporting events and which teams won and who were the stars. This is well and good. Athletics provide a wonderful avenue for growth and expression for many students. But there are other things going on in our public schools that perhaps could use more attention.
A few days before Christmas my wife and I attended our granddaughter’s D.C. Everest Junior High Christmas concert. Of course, we have been attending her concerts since she was a first grader and as ...
Hate in America
Driving around the Northland you can see the confederate flag displayed on vehicles. Do you ever wonder what motivates a person to display this symbol of racism and hate? This isn't the Deep South. Wisconsin and Minnesota men fought proudly for the Union, and we have a very small minority community. Why would anyone want, or feel the need, to publicly display this hateful southern symbol?
The confederate battle flag IS a symbol of hate. It is not merely an expression of pride in their “southern heritage,” as the apologists claim. Magnolia blossoms, mint juleps, and ...
Implicit Bias
Implicit Bias is a term we hear a lot of these days. What is it? Why does it matter? What can we do about it?
Andrea Huggenvik, executive director of YWCA, Wausau, spoke at a recent AAUW (American Association of University Women) meeting.
She told us that a bias is an unconscious attribution of qualities belonging to a group. Without thinking, we react a certain way that has been pre-set in our brain. It would come under the category “we’ve always done it this way.”
Implicit bias happens when our learned associations don’t match our values or knowledge. We ...
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
I'm not a Republican, but I have a pretty good memory, am no fan of mice, and I'm fat. In fact, not just fat; obese. I am almost always the only fat person sitting at a conference table in a room full of people talking about health, and more specifically, the topic of obesity, exercise and nutrition, or as the people around me like to say, “chronic disease prevention.”
What is even more awkward is that I suffer from many chronic diseases. Most of them have little to do with my size, but it is not as though I can just start telling everyone, “it’s not what you ...