Abolish the police? Defund the police? How can society function without law enforcement?  People are not angels and we don't live in a utopia. This may sound like a really crazy idea – especially if you are white and have not had to live with racial profiling and excessive use of force common to many minority neighborhoods. But sometimes it is better to start from scratch rather than try to fix what is hopelessly broken.   We have a 20-year-old car that is getting seriously rusty. A cheap cosmetic repair can make it look better but it won't eliminate the ...

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  How wonderful it is to see the sky on our many dark nights and to consider that each object in the sky is special in its own way.   For August, our special object is Jupiter, which commands the southern night sky as king! Jupiter is the brightest object in the south, just east of the teapot of Sagittarius.   Sagittarius is part of the zodiac and is an archer in legends. But a teapot shape is recognizable as part of Sagittarius and Jupiter is to its left.   Jupiter has many wonderful features:   Jupiter is huge. It is ...

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  (John Lewis left us his great legacy. He also gave us words to live by as we continue the march.)   “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”   “We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house—and through books, through information we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For ...

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  Partisan gerrymandering is one of the greatest detriments to truly having a democracy that works.   States are obligated to redraw electoral districts after every census. Population shifts over a decade make it logical to adjust lines so districts are evenly represented. In the past, self-serving politicians learned, through trial and error, how to manipulate the district maps in such ways that people of color would be disenfranchised.   Eventually, the courts ruled, that drawing district lines to disenfranchise people of color was unconstitut...

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  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported this month that the U.S. has a huge tax gap—tax revenues owed but unpaid. Recent Harvard University research estimates that 70 percent of the gap, approximately $266 billion a year, is due to the top 1 percent not paying what they owe. And that estimate might be low.   How did this happen? There has always been a gap, but the tax gap increased greatly since conservatives, including Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District Representative Sean Duffy, made cuts to the Internal Revenue Services’ ...

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  “War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” President John F. Kennedy   “Our troops are, of course, human and vulnerable and imperfect. We don’t help them when we put them on pedestals, give them flags to hold in the breeze, and salute them as icons of a feel-good brand of patriotism. Talk of warrior-heroes is worse than cheap: it enables our state of permanent war, elevates the Pentagon, ennobles the national security state, and silences dissent.” ...

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  On May 29 over 20,000 tons of fuel oil spilled into a pristine river in Arctic Siberia. A fuel storage tank built on what had been solid permafrost collapsed when for the first time the frozen footing beneath it thawed and settled. The damage to fragile Arctic waterways has been called catastrophic. Its impact will be felt for years. Since then, the toxic flow has reached the Arctic Ocean.   Across the far north, temperatures are soaring, outdoing traditional hot spots like Miami. When was the last time temperatures here in Central Wisconsin topped 100 ...

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  Perhaps, you have seen these purple yard signs throughout the Wausau area and in Marathon County. A poll done by the Marquette University Law School (NPR), January 16-20, 2019 found: “Seventy-two percent of voters say they prefer redistricting of legislative and congressional districts to be done by a nonpartisan commission, while 18% prefer redistricting be done by the legislature and governor. Majorities in each partisan group favor a nonpartisan commission for redistricting, with 63% of Republicans including leaners, 83% of Democrats including leaners, ...

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  One of the official duties of the Chinese emperor around the end of the first millennium was to explain to his people any unusual occurrences in the heavens. To this end, he employed astronomers to observe the sky. In 1054 A.D., these astronomers reported to Emperor Renzong (1010 – 1063 A.D.) the appearance of a “guest star” in the constellation we call Taurus the Bull. “Guest star” was their term for any bright object that suddenly appeared in the sky and then disappeared after a relatively short time. This “guest star” was a supernova, which is a ...

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  “...If changes are to come, there are things that must be done...”  From the song “Somewhere to Begin” by T.R. Richie   “...if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy....then it results in bad government and politics.” President Barack Obama   Responsible democratic government depends on citizen participation. This year we must elect competent leaders who care about people and the issues that actually matter to most people.   A few years ago, ...

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