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WE HAVE A BILLION DOLLAR DECISION TO MAKE
It is clear that Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) is nearing the end of its useful life. On May 3, 2019, the Legislative Audit Bureau reported that many believe its antiquated design is not conducive to the efficient operation of a modern prison. The report said also said that, among Wisconsin’s prisons, GBCI is the best candidate for closure. The Allouez Village Board voted unanimously for the distribution of a petition supporting the decommissioning of GBCI. After 121 years, GBCI is nearing the end of its useful life.
That means that Wisconsin’s ...
TEN TALKING POINTS TO END GERRYMANDERING IN WISCONSIN
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is playing a key role in the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, including writing up a handy toolkit for activists. Here’s an excerpt:
The Founders of our country fought the War of Independence over fair representation. Gerrymandering deprives Wisconsinites of fair representation.
The health of our democracy depends on the integrity and fairness of our election system. The more rigged the system is, the more cynical and apathetic the citizenry will become.
Wisconsinites believe in fair play. Wisconsi...
FIXING RETIREMENT
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it." George Carlin, comedian
Being able to retire with dignity and financial independence was once an anticipated and expected reward for a lifetime of work. But for many people this dream is not going to come true. Many people will not have enough to retire comfortably. Some people will not be able to retire at all. This decline in secure, adequate income for older persons will affect us all. It will have a negative impact on states, like Wisconsin and Minnesota, which have ...
MORAL LEADERSHIP
What do Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus, Apostle Paul and Pierre Teilhard have in common? They all maintained that love is the highest value of life.
Martin L. King wrote, “What is the highest good of life? It is love. He or she who love is a participant in the being of God.” (Christian Century, June 1957).
Gandhi wrote, “Truth and nonviolence are, to me, faces of the same coin. The law of love will work, just as the law of gravitation will work, whether we accept it or not.” (All Saints by Robert Ellsberg, p. 53.)
Jesus ...
ANDROMEDA IN THE NOVEMBER SKY
Astronomers estimate that the presently observable universe contains about one hundred billion galaxies. These are very large groups of stars (see the 10/07/19 article by James Lewis) held together by gravity. They exist in difference shapes and can be spiral, elliptical, lenticular, or irregular.
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and its nearest full-size neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are both spiral galaxies. We used to think that the Andromeda galaxy was two to three times as large as our galaxy, but recent (2018) radio astronomy data shows that they are ...
PHARMACEUTICALS AS A PUBLIC UTILITY UNIT III: PRIVATE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY – HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
“Following the lead of pharma-friendly Rep. Richard Neal, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee this week crushed several progressive amendments to a House drug pricing bill that would have expanded the number of medicines covered by the legislation and extended lower costs to the nation's tens of millions of uninsured.
The Intercept reported Wednesday that Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, warned his Democratic colleagues against offering any amendments to the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3) during the ...
FAIR MAPS FOR WISCONSIN SUMMIT
Marshfield will be the host of a statewide summit on nonpartisan redistricting on Nov. 9, 2019. Leading national speakers will be addressing the summit, as well as Wisconsin movement leaders and activists. The Fair Maps for Wisconsin Summit will run from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Hotel Marshfield, and is sponsored by Common Cause Wisconsin, the Fair Elections Project, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, The Madison Institute, Oregon Area Progressives, Our Wisconsin Revolution, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Wisconsin Farmers' Union and Wisconsin United to Amend....
KILLING THE MESSENGER
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mathew 5:10
In a recent article I wrote about the legislation in Wisconsin to increase penalties for environmental protesters convicted of trespass or damage to property. These laws are intended to harass and discourage public protests of “critical infrastructure.” Dissidents, reformers, and activists have always been denigrated as criminals, dangerous radicals, terrorists, or Communists. Criticism of the government (or business) is ...
PUBLIC BANKING UNIT IV: THE BANK OF NORTH DAKOTA PAST
North Dakota State University Archives
By 1915 the farmers and workers of North Dakota had had enough. As the cover of the November, 1916 Nonpartisan Leader above indicates, they were done being run over by corrupt politicians, predatory bankers, the railroad cartel, grain speculators and privately held grain elevators. They were done losing their farms, their homes, and their hope. Led by a charismatic flax farmer, Arthur C. Townley, who himself was facing foreclosure to the Minneapolis branches of the Wall Street banks, they took matters into their own hands. ...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: LOOKING AT OUR POTUS
A short time ago, my cousin from New Zealand wrote, “Nearly every day there is a cartoon in our paper which says something uncomplimentary about Trump.”
I, too, for a long time have been much concerned about our president who leaves destruction in his wake in whatever he does. I have no words of comfort to share with my disappointed cousin.
Consider a short list of destructive acts carried out, without Congressional input, but with his executive orders:
He has pulled our nation out of the Paris Climate Agreements. We have lost our position as a ...