Family & Community


Fifty Five Earth Days Later

2025 marks the fifty fifth Earth Day.  The local chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby and our NAOMI friends invite you to celebrate another Beloved Community Earth Day in Wausau at Westview Terrace Park (1501 Bissell St) at 10 AM on Saturday, April 26th.   Wisconsin and Earth Day go back a long way together.  Truth be told, without Wisconsin Earth Day might not even exist.  Horrified by a disastrous oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, our own Senator Gaylord Nelson conceived and set in motion the gears that made Earth Day 1970 a phenomenon to be ...

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WE’RE THE GUARDRAILS NOW

  We're the We're the Guardrails Now Tune:  We Shall Not Be Moved Lyrics:  Sheila Plotkin, Raging Grannies of Madison & Dane County     CHORUS: Pay attention, we're the guardrails now. Did we mention, we're the guardrails now? We have the pow'r to rescue our democracy. We are the guardrails now.   Find a community, in numbers we are strong Act in your neighborhood, bring your friends along We have the pow'r to rescue our democracy. We are the guardrails now.   Write to your legislators, let them ...

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INDIVISIBLE Hands Off Rally April 5

  Northcentral Wisconsin INDIVISIBLE Fights back! Saturday, April 5 at noon Rib Mountain Drive (sidewalk between Michael’s Crafts and Hobby Lobby) Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. We are fighting back! They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now. 🚨 On Saturday, April 5th, we're taking to the streets to fight back with a clear message: Hands off! 🚨 This mass ...

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Earth Day 2025


Vaccinations: Who Needs Them?

According to the most recent information available on the CDC.gov website, “As of March 27, 2025, a total of 483 confirmed measles cases were reported by 20 jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington”.  Who should be concerned, and why?   First, Trump and Musk are eliminating jobs in the CDC and the NIH at alarming rates. These people have 20 twenty years or more of ...

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Changing Hearts and Minds

Hi Friends, I  attended this very workshop held by Planned Parenthood in January. I walked away with a renewed sense of optimism! The presentation we will have is a little shorter version, but impactful just the same. We have such a wonderful opportunity to learn how to hold those difficult conversations. We will learn about oursleves and others, how not to make assumptions, how to be better at showing empathy and really listening to the other person. Think about what you want to say and what you want to stay away from saying. Find that one-on-one opportunity and ...

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Indinawemaaganidog – We are ALL Related

Many Native American tribes have a word meaning "We are ALL related".  For the Ojibwe people that word is Indinawemaaganidog.  It represents a concept foreign to English speakers in its all-encompassing inclusivity.  Not only are all people part of a single family, but so is all of life on this fine planet, including rocks and mountains, rivers and lakes.  Knowingly, living in a world full of family is rich with implications.  We respect family, we honor and love our family.  We are grateful for gifts given, wanting to give something in return.  Most importantly, ...

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U.S. IMMIGRATION

Under the U.S.Immigration and Nationality Act (USINA) of 1980 a refugee is a [person] who, generally, has experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Individuals who met this definition were considered for refugee status. That definition also applied to those who were already in the United States. Since the passage of the Refugee Act the United States has admitted more than 3.1 million refugees.   Prior to USINA refugee admissions ...

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Genocide in Duluth

Authors note: As I was finishing this article the news of a tentative ceasefire in Gaza was announced. This is good news, but there is no indication this agreement will result in peace in the region. The root causes of the conflict are not being addressed. The blockade of Gaza is not being lifted. Hamas remains in place. Israel's attitudes toward Palestinians remain unchanged. The U.S. support for Israel remains unconditional and likely to get worse with the new administration. Therefore, the message of this article remains relevant. “If the U.S. and Israel can spin ...

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DACA PROGRAM

The DACA program is in grave peril and Congress must act before the end of the year to create permanent protections for the hundreds of thousands of people who were brought to this country as children, making it the only place they have ever called home.  DACA recipients are our health care providers, teachers, and care workers. They hold essential jobs that strengthen our communities. Ending DACA could leave labor market sectors already experiencing shortages in even worse conditions.  Moreover, without permanent protections, families will be separated, which is ...

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