8 O'Clock Buzz

Damita Brown talks with…

– Anthony Cooper, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Reentry Services from Nehemiah about prison reform, court reforms, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, banning the box and what it’s like returning to free society. More information at https://nehemiah.org/

– Christine Nobiss, Founder of Great Plains Action Society about indigenous rights, water rights, and the intersection of capitalism and the environment. More information at https://www.greatplainsaction.org/

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Ruth Bader Ginsberg Caricature by Donkey Hotey on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2jKe4Qb

Since 2016, the Washington Post has maintained a database of “false or misleading claims” — less euphemistically called lies — that President Trump has made during his presidency.  As of July 9 — apparently the Post’s fact-checkers have lost count since then — the paper reports Trump has uttered 20,055 falsehoods in 1,267 days, for a pace of 15 lies a day.  “But all Presidents lie,” say Trump supporters, “it’s just that the liberal media has it in for Trump and so you hear more about his lies.”  It may be true that all Presidents lie, but are all lies created equal?  Michael Blake is a professor of Philosophy, Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, and he has studied the theory and practice of lying.

The year was 2016. Election Day. Mychal Denzel Smith was asked to be a guest on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now to provide election night coverage. Originally, his plans were to give a lukewarm welcome to the incremental possibilities of a Hillary presidency whilst also remaining skeptical of maintaining the system. But a Trump presidency was beyond anything he had prepared for that night. Yet strangely, he also wasn’t shocked by the news. It actually made sense, a backlash to the Obama years and the historic preservation of white supremacy playing out in national politics. Smith came to the conclusion that Trump was inevitable because the American Dream had been pointing to this future the entire time. Smith explores this topic even further in his new book “Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream” released last week.

The changing learning scheme of Wisconsin Universities has created confusion for students to determine how, where, and when they can vote. The Student PIRGs and New Voters Project are working to educate and recruit student voters for the coming election. Jan Miyasaki talks with organizers Elliot Schochet and Johanna Hussein about their remote organizing methods and successes.

A 50-year anniversary is a BIG deal — and that’s just what Operation FreshStart is celebrating this year — 50 years of service to area youth, ages 16-24, to help give them direction and a path to success. Over 9000 youth have experienced the learning skills, work ethic, and personal charge teachings of Operation FreshStart. They will have 5-day virtual celebration of their successes with on-line lunch conferences starting this Friday, September 18th.

To protect Wisconsin waterways from agricultural runoff, PFAS and other “forever chemicals”, flooding, and other assaults has been the challenge of the River Alliance of Wisconsin. Executive Director Raj Shulka talks about the group’s efforts to strengthen rules, enforcement, and inter-county cooperation to protect Wisconsin’s waters. See their “Water Agenda” on their website.

Damita Brown talks with:

* Evan Hafenbreadl from Dane County Humane Society about Pets for Life and providing support to those in need caring for pets and their Pet Food Pantries.

* Tana Elias from Madison Public Library about the work the library is doing teaming up with the census and helping people be sure to be counted

* Award-winning documentary photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn about her work, opportunities for young artists, and her Visiting Artist Colloquium with UW-Madison Arts Department, 5-6:15PM on 9/16.

Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

Tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, are commonly paid a $2.13 federally mandated minimum wage and are expected to make more on tips — but because their paychecks show such a low wage, they are commonly denied unemployment compensation, according to Nikki Cole from One Fair Wage. Only 7 states have a “one fair minimum wage” for tipped service workers, and One Fair Wage is working to change that or get them compensation during the COVID-19 crisis.

One of the largest African mass burial grounds, the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda (Montgomery County), is under threat of being paved over by a self-storage company. This sacred ground is the final resting place for hundreds of unmarked and unnamed remains of those who died in the slave trade era in the U.S. The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition wants these grounds preserved and returned to the Macedonia Baptist Church.

Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith group which works on the debt, tax, transparency and trade policies that impact our lives, communities and world. Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, discusses two recent meetings, the Federal and Central Banks Retreat and a UN COVID-19 Relief meeting, with the potential of 400 million jobs being lost around the world and potential loss of decades of advancement in poor countries.