Guest, Author at Milwaukee Independent

Wuhan Coronavirus started far from Milwaukee but global links have brought the infectious risk home

Posted by Guest | Jan 28, 2020 |

The Chinese government has quarantined Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people, and has restricted travel for more than 51 million citizens to and from 20 other cities, including Beijing, to contain the coronavirus that has sickened thousands and killed several dozens. The order came during China’s Lunar New Year celebrations, a time when people – the equivalent of the entire population of America – were on the move. The rapidly expanding outbreak has overwhelmed the Chinese hospitals and fueled fears of a global pandemic. Health officials estimate that 100,000 people could be infected with the new coronavirus...

Milwaukee Tool to expand Wisconsin footprint with investment in Menomonee Falls campus

Posted by Guest | Jan 16, 2020 |

Governor Tony Evers, together with senior leaders of Milwaukee Tool, local government officials, and regional economic development officials, recently announced that the company would be expanding its footprint in southeastern Wisconsin with a new campus in Menomonee Falls. Milwaukee Tool’s investment will lead to the creation of 870 new jobs by 2025. Milwaukee Tool expects to invest over $100 million to construct and outfit the Menomonee Falls campus, which will complement the company’s current Global Headquarters campus in Brookfield. Milwaukee Tool will also invest $7.5 million to expand its Imperial Blades subsidiary in Sun Prairie. “Our state is extremely...

George Carlin on War: How bombing brown people became a growth industry

Posted by Guest | Jan 14, 2020 |

“In a sane and just society, the architects of the nearly 17-year-old war in Iraq, which is still ongoing and has left an estimated half-million people dead, would face war crimes charges and those who cheered them on would be thoroughly discredited.” — Jessica Schulberg, HuffPost Amid swirling tensions between President Donald Trump, Iran, and the potential for a new war in the Middle East, a historic clip resurfaced on social media of comedian George Carlin, bemoaning the pattern of American militarism in which the United States, often with the help of a conspiring media and a lazy public,...

Indifference to Puerto Rican suffering after natural disasters exposes the inhumanity of America’s soul

Posted by Guest | Jan 11, 2020 |

As Puerto Rico dealt with the fallout from a series of devastating earthquakes in recent days, the Trump administration continued to block the release of $18 billion in disaster aid to the island, more than two years after the money was appropriated by Congress. Two years after hurricanes annihilated the island, it was hit by a devastating 6.4-magnitude earthquake on January 7, followed by a series of aftershocks. Puerto Rico is not a ‘Sh*thole’ country, but an unincorporated territory of the United States. Its population are American citizens. Yet yet its recovery has been sabotaged by blatantly racist policies...

“OK Boomer” is not the N-word of ageism outside of the “Snowflake” vernacular

Posted by Guest | Dec 2, 2019 |

“‘Boomer’ is the n-word of ageism. Being hip and flip does not make bigotry ok, nor is a derisive epithet acceptable because it is now.” – A tweet by conservative radio show host Bob Lonsberry Snowflake: As a term is used extensively as a putdown for someone, originally on the political left, who is easily offended or felt they needed a “safe space” away from the harsh realities of the world. With similar over-reactions from the political right, it has morphed into a general putdown for anyone that complains about any subject. What exactly does OK boomer mean? OK boomer...

Steve Michaels: Family history and the unexpected discovery of a genealogy link to the Mayflower

Posted by Guest | Nov 28, 2019 |

The digitalization of historical records and easy access to new DNA technologies has helped fuel the hunger for many families to trace their genealogy. For Steve Michaels, it was a family obligation but also inspired by a natural curiosity. As a city of immigrants, Milwauke has a unique foundation story but one not unlike the nation itself. With the current perception of a homogeneous identity, many people easily forget that America is a nation of immigrants. Memories of those ancestors usually ended with grandparents, who felt the pressure to assimilate into the early 20th Century culture and leave the...