THE GIFT OUTRIGHT
(Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963, read this poem at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.)
The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ...
PANDEMIC BLUES
"I'm asking you to look at the data — the real data, not just something you see on Facebook — and realize that the science is real and that wearing a mask will not only protect the gains we've made, but also help your family members and friends stay healthy." Phil Scott, Republican Governor of Vermont
“What the coronavirus has revealed is the power of America’s cult of selfishness. And this cult is killing us.” Paul Krugman
I worry about my grandchildren's futures. Their world will be very different in many ways. This won't just ...
CAN YOU CHANGE SOMEONE’S MIND?
In this holiday season we will gather with family and friends, probably by zoom or phone. How do you keep your conversations from disputes and hard feelings?
Amanda Abrams wrote a helpful article in YES. (YES, December 2020) She tells of people who were firmly convinced of one political persuasion and came to realize another view.
What brings about deep changes?
Researchers tell us not to look to facts. “People think they think like scientists, but they really think a lot like attorneys,” say Pete Ditto, a professor of psychol...
NEWS FROM NORTH CENTRAL CO-OP OF CITIZEN ACTION
Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s Executive Director, Dr. Robert Kraig, Climate & Equity Director Rafael Smith, and North Central Co-op Organizer Joel Lewis met with Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg on Wednesday, December 9th. We all joined what Katie calls the World Peace Tour, and Organizer Joel Lewis learned that it’s hard to take a screenshot while giving a peace sign.
He also learned that no matter who you’re meeting with, a double peace sign photobomb is not out of the question! The meeting was to discuss the lay of the land in Wausau, in ...
FEND FOR YOURSELF UNLESS REPUBLICANS DO THEIR JOBS
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our lives significantly, killing nearly 4,000 Wisconsinites, devastating our economy and leaving us in a hard place to recover. After more than 230 days since the State Legislature met, Governor Tony Evers stepped up, once again, to provide relief for Wisconsin families.
On November 17th, Governor Tony Evers released a COVID-19 legislative relief package. Governor Evers’ plan dedicates $466 million to COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, vaccination distribution and support for hospitals. The relief package ...
AULD LANG SYNE
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne
Should ...
COMING TOGETHER
We have become human high-tension wires stripped of our protective insulation. We crackle and arc with fear and anger all because the illusions of stability, like the assured continuity of our majority rule democracy, in a changing world are popping around us like soap bubbles.
We blew them off the front porch when we were kids, safely tucked under the warm comforter of our childhood naivete. We watched them trail off on the breeze hoping they would float high and away and last forever. Like our illusions, pop they did but with soapy water we ...
WORDS FOR WAUSAU EVENT COMMEMORATING 100 YEARS OF WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE
Sheku Sk^n^ko.ka/Hello, Are you in the Peace.
Yaw^ko Thank you to Dorthy Miller for inviting me to speak and to Carolyn Michaski who helped me decide on a topic.
Haudenosaunee People – Longhouse People refers to five, later six, Indigenous Nations who shared a matrilineal culture and a language group and came together as a powerful representative democracy here on Anowalko Owe.no.te/Turtle Island/North America, before the discovery and colonization of the continent. The Haudenosaunee or Longhouse People is the name we call ourselve...
QUESTIONS FOR THE MALL PROJECT
Among all this recent excitement generated by proposals to redesign the Mall I need to ask: "While making Wausau a hot spot for young urban professionals to drop a planter for a few years, what is the mechanism by which a significant proportion of our rooted citizens will benefit from the millions spent on these projects with our tax dollars?"
I asked this question of the Council last year while heaps of accolades were being made over the success of Riverlife. Only one member of the Council appeared to understand the paltry extent to which such ...
ATTACKS ON THE WISCONSIN VOTING SYSTEM
President Trump is criticizing Wisconsin’s voting laws which were put in place by the GOP.
“The state’s voting laws and procedures were overhauled repeatedly during eight years of GOP control of state government.” These changes began in 2011 after the Walker Administration and the Republicans gained total control of the state.
The Republicans repeatedly declared the changes were made to “improve voting integrity and ensure the public had confidence in it.”
“Republicans dissolved the body that oversees ...