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GAMBLING WITH CHILDREN
“The U.S. attempt to return children to the classroom this fall has turned into a slow-motion train wreck...” Anne Flaherty, ABC News
Parents, teachers, and medical experts are worried about sending children back to school. People are worried about the consequences of opening schools for in-person classes while Covid-19 cases continue to climb and people increasingly refuse to follow recommended protective measures. In the rush to get back to “normal” and open up the economy, are we gambling with the safety of our children?
Contrary ...
WHAT IS A LIVING WAGE
What constitutes a living wage? The answer to that question will vary based on numerous factors including geographic region, number of dependents, and other circumstances. Will setting the federal minimum wage at $15 per hour ensure that every full-time worker has enough income to make ends meet?
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) states that a $15 minimum wage would lift some families out of poverty while leaving some individuals without jobs. The $15 hourly wage represents a current median income level for many regions across the nation, which is ...
STAND WITH BLACK WOMEN
(This speech is printed with permission from the author. Kayley gave this talk at the Women’s Event at the 400 Block of Wausau on August 15, 2020.)
My name is Kayley McColley. I am 20 years old. I am a nursing student at Northcentral Technical College and I work as a behavioral health technician at North Central Health Care. I am honored to be here today and have the opportunity to share this historic moment with you all. It calls for celebration, but for myself, this commemoration also produces feelings of sadness. This is because, for Black women, ...
SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT COVID-19
Over eleven hundred deaths from Covid-19 have happened in Wisconsin. This is more than terrible! This number represents a huge loss to all the families who have lost parents, children, relatives and friends. Each person’s life touches dozens of others.
We need to know more than the numbers. We need to know why this disease is so dangerous and horrid for us and the whole world.
Surprisingly, Astronomy Magazine (September 2020) supplies answers in an article by Dr. Jeff Hester, astrophysicist. Hester writes in his article, “Learning the Hard ...
OBJECTS IN THE SKY
"Between 1914 and 1916, Gustav Holst composed his orchestral suite “The Planets”. He had been introduced to astrology by Clifford Bax while on holiday in Majorca in 1913 and held astrology to be his “pet vice”. His work “The Planets” represented the seven known planets of the time. These were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Earth, which had no astrological significance, was excluded, as was Pluto, which had not yet been discovered.
The sixth movement of “The Planets” was “Saturn”, subtitled “The Bringer of Old ...
REMEMBER THE PAST – WORK FOR THE FUTURE
“I was eight when the bomb dropped. My older sister was 12. She left early that morning to work...and never came home.”
“I too was affected by the radiation and vomited profusely after the bomb attack.
My hair fell out, my gums bled, and I was too ill to attend school.”
“The war was caused by the selfish misdeeds of adults. Many children fell victim because of it. Alas, this is still the case today.” Emiko Okada, a Hiroshima survivor.*
I remember my fifth grade teacher reading to the class from John Hersey's book ...
WOMEN CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF VOTING
I walked to the 400 Block of downtown Wausau for the Celebration of White Women Voting for the past 100 years. People came in costumes from 100 years ago. People wore masks to deal with the current virus. Red, white and blue sashes added color to the white gowns worn by the “suffragists.”
Katie Rosenberg, mayor of Wausau, talked about her great-grandmother writing letters to help women achieve the right to vote. Katie stands on the shoulders of the women before her, who paved the way for women’s right to participate in government.
...
NO COUNTRY FOR LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
Take a moment and think about your favorite school teacher. Most of us had at least one great teacher. That person is likely to have embodied a superhero quality at a time in our lives when we were extremely vulnerable.
Many of us decided to go into teaching because that favorite teacher was someone we wanted to emulate. Wouldn’t that teacher deserve safe working conditions? Don’t you?
For too long, workers in various fields have been asked to accept risks of bodily harm as part of the job. This seemed reasonable for roofers and ...
BUILDING NEW TRADITIONS
"Tradition! Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as a fiddler on the roof! …Because of our traditions everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” From the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Traditions can be good and useful for people. As the famous song from the musical suggests, traditions provide stability for society. Some traditions bring enjoyment and festiveness into our lives. But traditions can also become cages that imprison the mind, restrict people's options, and blind us to needed changes. The ...
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH ADORNS OUR TIME
Do you know what your ceiling looks like on sleepless nights? I’m betting you do. Wide-eyed for hours. Anxious. Numb. Searching. Clawing for resolution to another real-life nightmare.
I’m not talking small stuff here. Not the latest skirmish at work. Not some science project needing attention. But you knew that. You’re already going where you keep your private stock of worries.
My private stock? Well, I’ll share three. For a teenager, a mom who wouldn’t be making it through seven years of radical surgeries, radiation, and ...