Author: PartiallyBlue

MADISON, Wis. — State Rep. John Townsend of Fond Du Lac said he is “cautiously optimistic” that talks between Mercury Marine management, union representatives and now the state will lead to a compromise. Details on the package are not being released because Wisconsin is in competition with Oklahoma, said department…

The 2010 census will shift the political center of the US a little farther west. The result will likely be more of an emphasis on topics that are of importance to them. Water rights, English and Spanish language usage, migrant workers, illegal immigrants,  use of National Parks by ranchers and farmers, and ecology stewardship will…

David Sirota writes: While the First Amendment doesn’t ensure credibility or significance, it is supposed to guarantee freedom from fear — a freedom that is now under siege. Citing the Second Amendment and the increasingly maniacal rhetoric of conservative media firebrands, a small handful of violence-threatening protesters aims to make…

I simply cannot believe the number of moms in Chetek who have white teeth nor the number of people in Cameron with flat bellies. And I cannot begin to tell you about the dens of iniquity that surround me with the most beautiful women I have ever seen (scantily dressed) and online waiting to…

House Rep. Obey, state Rep. Hubler, and state Sen. Jauch were to participate in the announcement of stimulus money coming to Rice Lake this past  Thursday but I don’t have confirmation that they came. Main Street, Haugen, and Pioneer Avenues reconstruction will all come under the $3.5 million stimulus grant and work is to begin in…

The proposed consolidation of the Chetek and Weyerhauser school districts is continuing to move forward almost unopposed. One would think that bussing kids 20 miles to another school district would have more of an outcry. The Weyerhauser parents view Chetek as a viable alternative to the expenses of maintaining their own school…

The Utne Reader has an interesting article in its 25th Anniversary Edition regarding Jonathan Haidt, a  University of Virginia scholar, who is trying to move beyond the red state/blue state clichés. He would like  both liberals and conservatives to  see past the demonization of each other and develop an understanding of the multiple moral compasses that…

(Update: two of BB’s readers gently direct me to facts that I did not know. After reading the post below, be sure to read Ordinary Jill’s and Laurie G’s comments to become more informed than I was when I wrote this post.-Thanks, PB.) Another trend is developing in government: choosing which laws they will…

I have a colleague steeped in conservative ideology and religious beliefs. Yesterday he told me that the difference between us was that I believed it was moral for the government to tax you for  somebody else’s healthcare and he did not. He said that it is immoral to take his money by  taxation…

I was told quite firmly that there is no healthcare problem in America today. Any person, at any time, can go into any emergency room for healthcare treatment and receive it. The real issue is not  the absence of healthcare in America but the ability to pay for the healthcare we…