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THE POLITICS OF RESENTMENT
Growing up during the 50’s and 60’s in a small community in far northern Wisconsin, I was considered a “country hick.” Within this tightly-knit community, we parceled ourselves out by the church we attended, the jobs our parents held, whether we were farmers or business owners. Some community members were considered “high toned.” This term was applied to people who wore nicer clothes and drove a nicer car than most, worked “in town” rather than farmed or did manual labor.
The people “in town” were known as “city slickers” because we felt they ...
WHERE ARE THE CHARTER SCHOOL RECORDS?
National Charter School Week was the first week in May. There are thousands of charter schools in USA. Charter schools are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a special conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
On December 23, 2015, the Dept. of Education issued a statement called “A Commitment to Transparency: Learning More about the Charter School Program.” The Center for Media and Democracy requested records for closed or never-opened charter schools.
The US Department of Education reported that it had funded more than 2600 charter schools that were operational ...
EVENTS OF INTEREST – MARCH
Learn what's going on in your community, and find events and locations around the area. Updated monthly with event information at your fingertips.
25 Years of Bombing Iraq
Sunday, January 17 marked 25 years of bombing people in Iraq. It should be obvious that bombing is not effective and is not the answer. It does not solve problems and it does not keep anyone “safe.” A quarter-century later war continues.
Bombing began in 1991 with the first Gulf War. It continued with a decade of a no fly zone. Then came the 2nd Gulf War from 2003 to 2011. The U.S. today is bombing Iraq and Syria in a vain effort to defeat ISIS.
At the same time we’ve created millions of refugees, sent billions of dollars in weapons to the region, and ...
POWRS IS WORKING FOR YOU
After incredible support for my Save the Wisconsin Retirement System petition, I decided to join POWRS (Protect Our Wisconsin Retirement Security), a committed group of retired activists from all across Wisconsin. We monitor proposed legislation and speak out in opposition to changes that will weaken what we believe is the finest retirement system in the U.S. We communicate via email and freeconferencecall.com in bimonthly telephone conversations on Mondays at 9:30 a.m.
We also meet occasionally in person at a centrally located site. We are currently seeking ...
AT INCOURAGE, KNOWING BETTER MEANS DOING BETTER
We all have that picture in our head … 4th of July fireworks, parades, picnics, and the resulting mess left after these events that blows in the wind or drops into the river for turtles, ducks, or fish to consume and suffer. They leave bags upon bags of garbage, at least the stuff that made it into the overflowing garbage cans.
That was the unplanned scene from Incourage Community Foundation’s first community picnic in 2012. We had planned for up to 500 people and 1,000 showed up! We struggled to keep up with the overflowing garbage cans and recycling containers. ...
Flag Day – June 14
“The Ragged Old Flag,” by Johnny Cash, speaks of the flag and all she’s been through as a symbol of our nation. The lyrics remind us of our history.
“You see, we got a little hole in the flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
and it got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
writing “Say Can You See”
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham and Jackson
tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo
beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on through.
She got cut by a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she ...
Wisconsin’s Outstanding Women
Please enjoy this presentation:
The Wisconsin Outstanding Women PDF
Lenten Thoughts
During this time of year, 2,100,000,000 Christians think about the life, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as they have over the last 2000 years. It is echoed in many cultures and in as many languages. What is the essence, the heart, the main point of His sacrifice as the Christian religion teaches about during Lent? What are the most important things? Christ was asked this by a scribe as written in Mark 12:30-31 who gave this insight:
30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and ...
The Community of Man
We seem at a pivotal point in history - a time of moment, of decision making. This was eloquently captured by Aldo Leopold in his classic “A Sand County Almanac,” when he wrote of human paradox: “man the conqueror versus man the biotic citizen; science the sharpener of his sword versus science the search-light on his universe; land the slave and servant versus land the collective organism.”
Leopold was speaking of our vision of ourselves: egocentric users in a game of “survival of the fittest” and “every man for himself,” or responsible members of a ...
