Supervisor Peter Burgelis vows to continue fight for LGBTQ+ equality after suffering from violent assault
County Supervisor Peter Burgelis was subjected to a violent assault on June 12 in an unprovoked incident that occurred at Mayfair Mall. While details surrounding the assault are still being investigated by law enforcement, it was confirmed that Supervisor Burgelis...
The Pentagon Papers: How Daniel Ellsberg’s courage has inspired whistleblowers since the Vietnam War
By Christian Appy, Professor of History, UMass Amherst The history-making whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, who by leaking the Pentagon Papers revealed longtime government doubts and deceit about the Vietnam War and inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard...
Polluting streams of news: Why our democracy is unlikely to survive Fox’s mendacious propaganda
Recovering from three years of pandemic, our middle class staggered by 42 years of Reagan’s neoliberalism, rejecting the efforts of Republican neofascists in the mold of Trump, America appears poised on the edge of an egalitarian renaissance. America and much of the...
Efforts to guide federal research of AI unveiled by White House with emphasis on collaboration
The White House announced efforts to guide federally backed research on artificial intelligence in late May, as the Biden administration looked to get a firmer grip on understanding the risks and opportunities of the rapidly evolving technology. Among the moves...
Neo-Luddites: When society grapples with how to ensure future technologies do more good than harm
By Andrew Maynard, Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions, Arizona State University The term “Luddite” emerged in early 1800s England. At the time there was a thriving textile industry that depended on manual knitting frames and a skilled workforce to create...
Reflections on Flag Day: The rising wave of lowering the flag to half-staff in Wisconsin
After years of effort, a Waubeka, Wisconsin school teacher successfully lobbied for the 1916 creation of the annual observance of National Flag Day. Every year since on June 14th the United States commemorates its flag as an emblem of the country, a standard for...
Epistemic Humility: What the wisdom of Socrates can teach a polarized America about knowing nothing
By J. W. Traphagan, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, The University of Texas at Austin; and John J. Kaag, Professor of Philosophy, UMass Lowell A common complaint in America today is that politics and even society as a whole are broken. Critics point out...
Gun Safe Summer: Legislators join Attorney General to urge action over removed provisions for gun safety
Wisconsin’s Democratic lawmakers reintroduced a series of state gun control measures on June 12 aimed at expanding background checks, implementing a red flag law, and providing tax exemptions for gun safes. The bills were previously introduced but removed from...
Convict 9653: The 1920 presidential candidate who campaigned from a federal penitentiary
By Thomas Doherty, Professor of American Studies, Brandeis University On April 4, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump on 34 felony charges related to alleged crimes...
Milwaukee’s claim still pending that Census Bureau missed thousands of residents in 2020 headcount
Some of the largest U.S. cities challenging their 2020 census numbers are not getting the results they hoped for from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Milwaukee, for example, the city claims that thousands of residents in communities of color were overlooked. Some successes...
Habitat for Humanity launches ambitious goal to help more Milwaukee families become first-time homebuyers
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity broke ground on June 6 for an ambitious new goal to help twice as many families become first-time homebuyers by 2028. Last year, the nonprofit homeownership organization built 20 new homes, in addition to providing affordable home...
First Amendment protections: Why a federal judge found Tennessee’s anti-drag law Unconstitutional
By Mark Satta, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wayne State University The drag shows will go on. At least for now. On June 2, 2023, Judge Thomas Parker, a Trump-appointed federal district court judge in western Tennessee, ruled that Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment...
