Government


BOOK BANNING AND OTHER CENSORSHIP

No one should be dictating what you can and cannot read. It appears this is becoming a trend in our nation. We need you to help stop it in its tracks. We do not need a rating system either. If you are old enough to go to the library yourself, you’re old enough to pick out books. In the world we live in, the library is the one safe place where children can get solid factual materials. Take a moment to watch the video at the bottom of this article by Donna Jo Napoli, “What Children (and Everyone else) Need to Read.”  Please come to the Wausau library on Monday, August ...

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LACKING THE WISDOM OF JFK

"Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy — or of a collective death-wish for the world." – John F. Kennedy   The slaughter of an estimated 3 million people in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the U.S. war on Vietnam was based on lies. The bombing of Yugoslavia under Clinton was based on lies. The incineration of hundreds of thousands in Iraq under W. Bush ...

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Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

“The likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe is greater today than during the cold war, and the public is completely unaware of the danger.” Former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry “American leaders have declared that nuclear weapons will remain the cornerstone of US national security indefinitely. In truth...nuclear weapons are the sole military source of our national insecurity. We, and the whole world, would be much safer if nuclear weapons were abolished.” Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (Ret.)   Nuclear Weapons did not go away ...

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JUST MONEY SIX

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, banks and corporations will grow to deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” – Thomas Jefferson What Jefferson warned about two centuries ago, has come to pass. People seem unable to comprehend that money doesn’t exist in nature and somebody has to create money OUT OF THIN AIR. This ...

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Friends for Peace

Following is a special opportunity to participate in a UN Committee discussion regarding the settlement policies on the Palestinian population.  Do take time to read the following information and join the Zoom meeting if you can.   We also hope you can join us for the event at the Marathon County Library on Tuesday, July 25 at 6 pm for a presentation and discussion by our honored guests, Karen and Tom Getman who have devoted their lives to advocacy for peace in Palestine and Israel.   This UN event will be livestreamed as outlined below.  ...

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JUST MONEY FIVE

The following 1-minute video shows former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Alan Greenspan, educating former Congressman, Paul Ryan, about Social Security solvency. I’ve used it before, but Greenspan’s words are relevant to recent congressional budgetary arguments. Ryan begins by asking Greenspan to agree that Social Security benefits would be more secure if a percentage of retiree contributions were invested in personal retirement accounts (Wall Street Individual Retirement Accounts – IRA’s) rather than the government run Social Security system. Greensp...

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Wisconsin Budget Woes

“I see a gun constantly aimed at our feet, wondering when our next self-inflicted wound will occur...” Kirk Bangstad, small business owner and political activist. Mr. Bangstad was talking about education funding in the state budget but his comments apply to the rest of the budget and the budget process itself. Too often the important, long term investments needed by the state and the people of Wisconsin are lost in the political wrangling and ideological power struggles. Governor Evers and the Republican controlled legislature are busy maneuvering to achieve ...

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A Special Primer on Peace Initiatives Between Israel and Palestine

Please Join Our Peace Dialogue Group For A Special Primer on Peace Initiatives Between Israel and Palestine   Tuesday, July 25 6 to 7 pm Marathon County Library Meeting Room   Featured Speakers:  Karen and Tom Getman, Lifelong Activists and Humanitarians from Washington, DC   We are honored to have Karen and Tom Getman visiting Wausau this July.  Tom was the Director of World Vision for 25 years. Tom and Karen have lived and worked in South Africa, Palestine, Israel and Geneva, Switzerland supporting social justice and humanitarian ...

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The Jefferson Project: Thomas Jefferson’s Death Day and a Fourth of July Remembrance

Back in the mid-1980s, an outfit called Anvil Press published a book of mine. Its title was—still is—Nature’s Unruly Mob: Farming and the Crisis in Rural Culture. The topic (or its urgency) hasn’t gone away. Anvil Press printed the book as a special issue of its occasional quarterly magazine, North Country Anvil. The magazine was full of larger-issue farm news and analysis, and it made the Anvil shop a hub and gathering spot for farm activists—all this in southeastern Minnesota, in a village called Millville, nestled below limestone bluffs, through which the ...

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Profiles in Patriotism

In my writing I have frequently questioned the false narratives and harmful beliefs fostered by politicians and the media on our patriotic holidays. Why is patriotism considered the highest virtue? Why is military service always portrayed as the ultimate in patriotism? Why are other public servants who sacrifice for others not honored as patriots? Why is constructive criticism of our country branded as unpatriotic? Why isn't patriotic fervor used to mobilize people for good change instead of wars? Historian Howard Zinn taught us that “dissent is the highest form of ...

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