Author: Mitchell A. Sobieski

Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden on April 2 and declared “Liberation Day,” unveiling a sweeping set of unilateral tariffs that triggered immediate economic aftershocks across global markets. While the Trump regime frames the policy as a patriotic assertion of sovereignty, early indicators suggest a destabilizing move with characteristics of economic coercion and broad civilian fallout, a combination that some analysts argue resembles the hallmarks of “economic terrorism.” The tariffs, enacted by executive order, apply a flat 10% duty on all imports to the United States, with higher rates targeting key trading partners beginning later in April. The...

Artificial intelligence has exposed a pervasive failure in its handling of racial representation. Its default settings systematically obscure or distort the depiction of people of color, and repeated attempts to correct those errors have yielded negligible progress. “Milwaukee Independent” has direct experience with how AI image generation repeatedly prioritizes Eurocentric features, ignores explicit prompts for diversity, and clings to biased datasets that make accurate representation of historical figures all but impossible. Such an institutional failure with technology endangers public understanding of vital cultural narratives and undermines trust in any creative product derived from such a flawed technology. For an...

Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, has long served as a lightning rod for political battles in the state Capitol. From heated debates over crime rates to disputes about tax revenues and resource allocation, the city often becomes the scapegoat for a wide range of problems that state leaders attribute to urban mismanagement. Meanwhile, policymakers from rural areas campaign on promises to rein in Milwaukee’s influence, painting the city as a hotbed of dysfunction that drains resources from other parts of the state. This approach has stoked a growing sense of division between urban and rural constituencies, even though...

Progressive cities across the country are testing the limits of local power by instituting policies that directly challenge conservative state legislatures. From minimum wage ordinances to rent control measures to bold climate initiatives, these municipalities are turning into laboratories for left-leaning governance. But as these efforts gain momentum, state governments are rushing to impose top-down bans, blocking local authority through a wave of “preemption” laws. The result is a contentious struggle that pits big-city innovation against state-level resistance, offering a glimpse into the future of American politics. Milwaukee stands as a prime example. City leaders have sought to address...