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Ruminations On A Happy New Year
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” Tom Bodett, author and NPR personality.
“Christmas is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate a religious holiday than with a month of frenzied consumerism.” Calvin, a cartoon character from Calvin and Hobbs
“Happy New Year” is one of the meaningless Hallmark platitudes of the season. You hear the greeting from friends and strangers. It is in the shopping mall Christmas music tape loop. The cards you ...
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST RACKET
“think of today’s federal government as a multi-division racket controlled by the highest bidders. The Wall Street division is run out of the Treasury. The Health Industry division is run out of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Big Oil and Coal division is run out of the Departments of Energy and Interior. And the Foreign Policy division is run out of the White House, Pentagon and CIA.
Each division uses public power for private gain through insider dealing, greased by corporate campaign contributions and lobbying outlays.”
– Professor ...
QUOTATIONS THAT FIT
“But there is a far deeper problem with the framing of these concerns. The critical problem is not “global inaction” over mass atrocities. It is the opposite: intense western – chiefly US – support for, and complicity in, such atrocities.”
“The US is not helpless in the unfolding genocide. It is actively facilitating it. In fact, Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing would be impossible without not just US collusion but active participation.”
“It’s intense US and UK support for atrocities so long as they bolster their global power.”
Jona...
Headline News
It is not a revelation that quality journalism is on the decline. Online “news” feeds are full of gossip, speculation, fake news and inaccurate crap. We are misinformed by the 24/7 mainstream and social media. So, staying informed can be a challenge.
In this article I share news stories that recently caught my attention. These may seem insignificant, but they illustrate larger issues.
I begin with a story from National Public Radio. Even this reputable news source can be misleading with incomplete reporting. The story was about Venezuela, their dire economic ...
Voices for Palestine
In this time of, again, great turmoil in the Middle East, we look to those who have the knowledge and the wisdom to share with us so that we too may begin to try to make sense of the recent violence and loss of life in southern Israel and Gaza. We were so fortunate to present an informed discussion at UU Wausau this month.
Dr. Edgar Francis shared with our audience the historical perspective on the Middle East. For those of us trying to learn more and understand that history, Dr. Francis has taught Middle Eastern History at UWSP for sixteen years, including ...
Questions to Ask Yourself on Gaza
“What does Israel, or the world community, expect? How can you trap 2.3 million people in Gaza, half of whom are unemployed, in one of the most densely populated spots on the planet for 16 years; reduce the lives of its residents, half of whom are children, to a subsistence level; deprive them of basic medical supplies, food, water, and electricity; use attack aircraft, artillery, mechanized units, missiles, naval guns, and infantry units to randomly slaughter unarmed civilians and not expect a violent response?” Chris Hedges, journalist (“What Does Israel Expect?” ...
PROTECT THE PORKIES, STOP THE CHOPPERWOOD MINE!
Protect The Porkies will hold their first Virtual Townhall, to be held on Saturday, December 9th, at 12pm CST. You can find the Zoom information below. There will be a 15-20 minute presentation giving an overview of the current state of affairs of the Copperwood Mine and our resistance campaign, followed by a question/comment/discussion period.
The meeting will be open to the public, so feel free to pass along word to anyone who might be interested.
Here is the petition, please sign:
https://click.e.change.org/f/a/U77twvV8xln0_TloZI9wFg~~/AAN...
UU Social Justice Israel and Palestine
UU Social Justice
UU Wausau
504 Grant Street, Wausau
Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 6 PM
Israel and Palestine
In this time of great turmoil in the Middle East, do you feel as though you are not getting the whole story, maybe not even the correct story at all? We hope you can join us for this evening of deep conversation with our presenters Carolyn Michalski, Claudette Harring, and Professor Edgar Francis. Our voices in support of Palestine are important. The recent violence and tragic loss of life in southern Israel and Gaza is truly unprecedented. We mourn ...
Women for Women December
Women for Women
Thursday, December 7 at 6 PM
Women for Women’s goal is to help citizens better understand the issues impacting our communities and to help voters make the best decisions when going to the polls next spring.
Our presenter for the Women for Women event on Thursday, December 7 will be Tara Glodowski, Executive Director of The Community Partners Program.
We all have so much to learn about the offerings of the new Community Partners Campus: the many programs it supports, the people it serves, the needs and the funding issues for all the ...
WHITE HATS
Never look at history. It can confuse a person with the facts. Life is prettier without history. We wear white hats, they wear black. We’re good, they’re bad. Simple. Let it go.
I thought long and hard before assembling this article. There is a fine line between constructive and counterproductive criticism, and I lack certainty about its location. But given the ongoing mass murders being committed in Gaza with American support, and the absolute and unethical failure of western print and broadcast media to present anything resembling the truth, whether in Gaza, or ...