Wisconsin’s defense industry at risk if buyers shift billions in arms purchases to other Rust Belt states
Wisconsin’s defense industry faces economic uncertainty as neighboring states consider ways to attract shifting military contracts. Experts say Donald Trump’s foreign policy decisions have contributed to tighter budgets and strained international deals, leaving...
A grim projection: Exploring if Milwaukee’s cemeteries could handle mass casualties from a Second Civil War
America has long been a land of paradoxes. Celebrated for its diversity and freedoms, while haunted by unresolved tensions and deep social fissures. In recent years, a chorus of voices on the far-right fringe, including White Nationalists and provocateurs within...
Musk’s “Game of Capitalism” mirrors the exploitation that drove abused workers to embrace communism
Elon Musk’s manipulation of Dogecoin was no lighthearted prank. It was a deliberate exercise in extracting wealth from unsuspecting investors, echoing the same inhumane forces that ignited communism as a desperate reaction to unchecked capitalism. Musk’s constant...
Billionaire Villain: Musk grabs the spotlight in key race for control of Wisconsin Supreme Court
When Republicans are looking for a political bogeyman, they point to liberal megadonor George Soros. Democrats recently have been answering with a villain of their own: the fascist oligarch and close adviser to President Donald Trump, Elon Musk. Now, the...
How Trump and Musk are breaking the U.S. government so oligarchs can seize control of public institutions
The reelection of Donald Trump has emboldened a brazen strategy designed to undermine the federal government, hollow out its core functions, and ultimately transfer power into the hands of the ultra-wealthy. The campaign is not a misguided conspiracy theory, it is a...
Trump declares the U.S. is in a state of war by invoking a 1798 law granting him power for deportations
President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations...
Trump’s Arctic land grab: What Milwaukee’s role in a U.S. military invasion of Greenland would look like
The reelection of Donald Trump signaled an unmistakable pivot in global geopolitics, one that has seismic ramifications for the United States, the Arctic, and the world at large. In light of Trump’s historical interest in Greenland, it is not hard to imagine how his...
Brick and mortar Buddha: Why a giant statue became an interfaith hub and spiritual home for many
Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard. It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a decade ago under the...
Filmmakers and actors in the Asian diaspora expand their representation and more global exposure
Twenty years after he was a young, struggling actor in Toronto, Thomas Lo is now the one giving young Asian actors their big breaks. He just had to go to Hong Kong to do it. The Chinese Canadian has been the creative director of one of the island city’s biggest...
3.11 Revisited: A look back at Milwaukee Independent’s 2024 Fukushima series on its 14th anniversary
In April 2024, “Milwaukee Independent” published a series of in-depth interviews, photo essays, and investigative reports that examined the enduring aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima...
A Volunteer Spirit: Mayor Satoru Kirigaya shares lessons from life and business for being a leader
“Milwaukee Independent” sat down with the Mayor of Zushi, Satoru Kirigaya, in Kanagawa Prefecture on March 14, 2024. The meeting came during a special assignment that reported on the 13th anniversary of the 3.11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster....
Janet Boettner shares her love of traditional Japanese comfort food with Milwaukee one taste at a time
One of the unexpected methods that Milwaukee native Janet Boettner instinctively used to reflect on her experiences around the world was to measure the journey of her life in meals. They were the ones she ate at home with her family, practical and affordable. The ones...
