5 thoughts on “It’s a new year open thread

  1. Read this interview with U.S. Rep Mark Pocan. I am damn glad he is my Congressman, and we upgraded in both the House and Senate with Baldwin replacing Kohl.

    “My takeaway from the election is that when we’re not afraid of who we are and who we’re fighting for, we do better. If we try to run to the center even more, you’re making no distinction about where your values are.”

    And here’s what Pocan says about (right-to) work-for-less.

    “The thing I’ve been talking to folks the most about is this right-to-work stuff.

    When you have this many attacks on workers, it has a cumulative effect and it’s going to be actually a worse business environment in Wisconsin. And I think that’s very dangerous….

    I think (unions and supporters of workers’ rights) should do everything they can to make people aware of what the real agenda is and how it’s bad for our economy and it’s bad for the image of Wisconsin.”

    If DPW officials talked like this, the GOP would be out of power real fast.

  2. At this time of the year, with the joy of Xmas at an end and the unknown and uncertainty at the beginning of a new year, I feel somewhat anxious or fearful. And so I turn to music to allay my feelings. My favorite, In the Bleak Midwinter, is based upon a poem by Cristina Rossetti in the 1800’s. I find the music plaintive but the lyrics redemptive.

  3. Streetcars are coming to Atlanta and I read elsewhere that Oklahoma City is also working on plans. Too bad if Wisconsin falls even further behind and blocks Milwaukee’s program.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/us/atlanta-hopes-streetcar-route-will-grow-into-a-traffic-fix.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A8%22%7D

    And here is an imperative read on a lack of military accountability and civilian connectedness leading to wasteful spending of our tax dollars, lost missions, and soldier deaths: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/12/the-tragedy-of-the-american-military/383516/

    Happy New Year!

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