Every day we face numerous decisions. Some seem automatic like getting out of bed, turning on the radio, or checking our phones. Then there are those big life decisions: choosing a View partner or not, children or not, career paths. But when it comes to end-of-life decisions, many of us avoid drawing up a will, documenting burial or cremation preference, determining which (if any) life-support measures should be performed. These are really tough ones, but even tougher would be grappling with the

Two natural occurrences have caught the nation’s attention recently: the Great North American Solar Eclipse and hurricanes. The eclipse was the first of its kind since 1918, and Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were powerful storms causing serious devastation. Why are these events similar? Scientists predicted both. For decades scientists knew when the eclipse was going to happen and its trajectory -- decades! Scientists also can predict hurricanes months in advance and their trajectories days in

At various times in my life, I have wondered if I might ever be guilty of "schadenfreude" -- finding pleasure in another person's discomfort. It would take a heartbreaking setback of my own to prove to myself that I would not. Just minutes before leaving for what I expected would be my final opportunity to view a total solar eclipse, the back window of my car shattered into hundreds of pieces while I was loading supplies for the trip. Decades ago, I had been thwarted in my attempt to witness

With more than a dozen people on couch and floor – a decimated collection of snacks left alone on the table – it begins: two modern-day gladiators beating the crap out of each other on live television after months of orchestrated “smack-talk.” The fight did not disappoint. The pre-fight videos (MacGregor all bravado and style, and Mayweather doing it all for his Grandma) made for highly scripted melodramatic TV. Then came the Corona girls: women in bikinis advertising said beer and holding cards

The Civil War is a part of American history. We do need to remember it, but it is how we remember it that’s important. The horrible truth is, the war was fought to perpetuate human slavery. Over the years it has been said the war was fought for nobler reasons, like states’ rights. The simple truth is that the issue of states’ rights referred to the fact that northern states would not return escaped slaves to their southern owners. The Mississippi Declaration of Secession clearly states: “Our

Every campsite in the Boundary Waters Wilderness between Minnesota and Canada comes equipped with a fire grate, a pit toilet, a tent site … and a snapping turtle. These ancient creatures, some a hundred years old weighing 75 pounds, haunt the campsites, waiting for a stringer of fish to float in. As a fisherman myself, I feel a kinship. Many times I’ve crouched on the greenstone shore, fileting my catch, listening to the nasal breath of a hungry snapper mere feet away. I love to see these old

I still remember the Wausau East High School homecoming parade in the fall of 1981. It was my senior year and I was standing along 7 th St. in front of the high school, and across the street from Immanuel Lutheran Church. Wausau East’s 1,000 students reflected Wausau, Wisconsin: a place where what passed for ethnic or religious diversity was whether one was of either Polish or German ancestry, and whether one was either Catholic or Lutheran. I could count the number of Jewish students on one

Americans like to think of themselves as exceptional. In fact, the concept and phrase “American exceptionalism” is a thing. But when it comes to dealing with Confederate statues and monuments, we could learn a thing or two from the Europeans -- especially the Central and Eastern Europeans who lived under communism for 40-plus years in the wake of the Second World War. I know, because I was there; I lived in Warsaw, Poland, while writing my dissertation. By the time I showed up in the early 1990s

I am disturbed by the increasing reports of young people who get hooked on opioid drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, every day more than 90 Americans die from overdosing. What’s going on, we wonder? In the late 1990s, health care providers were told opioid pain relievers were non-addictive, thus over-prescribed them. Unused bottles in our bathroom closets are temptations. People are looking for another drug high. But I believe that underlying any reason is the loss of hope

Republicans win elections largely because they beat the pants off Democrats on branding and sloganeering. Have you heard the latest Democratic slogan? Yeah, me either. Branding doesn’t need to be flashy, but it does need to be memorable; and personally, I’d like it to be accurate. That’s why my nomination for the Democrats is “Competent Leadership,” along with its direct corollary, “Positive Progress.” Not exciting, but simple and historically kinda accurate. Democrats love governing, and they