Advoken's Blog
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For the first time since Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale in Wisconsin in the 1984 Presidential election, the state went red. How could that happen? It’s simple arithmetic: lack of voter turnout. Hillary Clinton could have easily won the Badger State if those voters who could be expected to favor her had turned out. She…
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This election campaign focused tightly on one candidate’s apparent sexual adventures and the other candidate’s emails. How important are both of these issues to the future welfare of our nation, and for that matter, the world? Think about it. Donald Trump’s apparently boorish, sexist behavior certainly makes him a distasteful person, but would it make…
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Quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the playing of the national anthem at a San Francisco 49ers game has caused a broad national debate. Kaepernick performed his act before thousands of fans and millions on television to bring attention to a particular cause — the ongoing killings of black citizens by police officers throughout…
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Some supporters of Bernie Sanders walked out of the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia when the Vermont senator announced his endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Many of those said they’d sit out the November election and not even vote, cast their ballots for Donald Trump or vote for a third party candidate. Their actions could possibly…
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Memorial Day – 2016 Clam Lake WI – We awoke this morning with blue, nearly cloudless skies, a warm sun working to take off the chill of the night in the forest. Peering through the trees from our cabin, the water below is as blue as the sky it reflects. Earlier, the lake had been…
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Perhaps no date stands out more in my long life than August 6, 1945. It was two days before my 16th birthday and it had been a warm summer day. I had biked home, carrying my ragtag golf clubs on my back after playing 27 holes of golf. It was six o’clock and my parents…
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This year, for the first time in 24 years, Wisconsin voters find themselves in the spotlight as the nation watches the presidential primaries of both parties. Many pundits say Tuesday’s primary may be a change-making primary election. Until the 1980s, the Wisconsin primary was always one of the first in the country, being held in…
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It’s doubtful anyone will be reading this column. Who wants to be told they need to pay higher taxes, especially in mid-March, as income tax season is upon us? Yet, buried in the news of this ludicrous Presidential election campaign is the troubling realization that our country is falling apart — literally. The DC Metro…
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(Following is an executive summary of a paper presented by Ken Germanson on Oct. 24 at the North American Labor History Conference in Detroit. The full document is available here.) It was tragically ironic: the year 2011 marked the 100th Anniversary of the passage in Wisconsin of pioneering, progressive, pro-worker legislation; it also became the…
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It’s with a somewhat heavy heart that we’ll be enjoying the camaraderie of our brother and sister union members at Milwaukee’s Laborfest on the lakefront this year. As has been the case in recent Labor Day celebrations, it’s expected the marchers in the Annual Labor Day parade will be fewer in number and the crowd…
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