News & Articles

Mother Nature always bats last

During the campaign of 2024, we were reminded by some candidates that there is more that we have in common with each other than what separates us. For instance, take the climate chaos that the world, even our immediate world, is experiencing. When these events affect us, or someone we know, it becomes very important in our daily lives. But even if the weather is not a threat to us, we tune in every day to see what the weather will bring. We pay attention to what the weather person tells us as we plan our daily, weekly, even monthly activities: the farmer who makes planting and harvesting timelines; the hunter who plans for hunting season; the fisherman who goes out on Lake Superior to fish; the vacationer who hopes for the best weather; local gardeners who keep track of early frost warnings and rainfall forecasts; and who can forget as children when we hoped for a huge snowfall that would cancel school! We all depend on our climate’s weather cycles to give us the best outcomes for our plans. 

In the past year, more and more climate catastrophes are being explained, in part, because of climate change. Even our trusted weather men and women on our local television stations are using the “climate change” phrase! We need to understand why weather patterns are changing, and what we might do to help deal with this reality. My advice is to search out responsible sources and organizations that are focused on this issue. Use the internet to find a wealth of well researched articles and responsible organizations. Find those that you trust to give you truthful information and ideas on how you can become involved, and then do something! In our area, there is a very active Citizens Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan group that keeps its members and our elected representatives informed of the latest ways to remediate, hopefully, the causes for our climate chaos. 

I do this because: “Mother Nature Always Bats Last.”
Charlotte Calhoun
Bayfield, Wisconsin

Another over-used scare tactic

As long as contemporary civilization has existed conservatives have claimed that Socialism is similar to Communism. However if you want to be picky, any time you buy a Snickers bar or a bottle of Coke, the companies which make them take your money and re-invest it, hoping to profit, from a “redistribution of your wealth?”

Webster’s Dictionary defines Socialism as “any of various Egalitarian economic and political theories, or movements advocating “collective (or) governmental ownership and administration of the means of production”
 Socialism is a subset of that general definition. So, in reality, when the right wing says Democrats are like Socialists, what they’re (implying) is that Democrats are “Communists.” But, as far as a bloody revolution to end capitalism – on Jan 6, 2021, the right-wing came closer to a Marxist revolution when they staged a violent insurrection hoping to end our Democratic Government.

A few accurate definitions;
“Modern Socialism was born in 19th-century Europe, it was subsequently shaped by, and adapted to, a whole range of societies.”
“Socialism” is about a change in the means of production—so that the people who do the work are the ones who make the decisions about what gets produced and how.—Sarah Jaffe”
Webster defines socialism this way “the goal of having Democratic Socialism is to achieve a more equal and just society;” i.e. that the economy is “run “democratically.”
Instead What the right-wing uses to create fear of Democrats are classic descriptions of Communism, in which no one owns private property and where the state completely controls the means of production.
However, In reality, there are no “radical left-wing Democrats.” The closest is Bernie Sanders, an aging Senator who champions ‘Democratic socialism’ and, selfishly wants everyone to have affordable health care.
Peter W. Johnson
Superior, Wisconsin