Shine a Light

Trump finally recognizes crisis in Gaza but does nothing.

Back in November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war against Palestinians. Yet it took televised images of skeletal children to finally convince Donald Trump that people in Gaza were, in fact, starving.

Humanitarian organizations have the expertise and resources to help, but they’re being denied access. The Israeli government blocks nearly all aid, claiming it would be seized by Hamas. Instead, the U.S. and Israel established the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a poorly managed effort with only four aid distribution points—nowhere near enough to meet the desperate need. Tragically, these locations have often become deadly targets, turning hope into horror.

While other Western democracies have spoken out against this man-made humanitarian catastrophe, only one country has the leverage to compel Israel to allow real aid in: the United States. Aside from Trump publicly contradicting Netanyahu’s false claims about the absence of starvation, the U.S. has yet to apply meaningful pressure to end the blockade.

So far, it’s been all talk—no action.

Markus Fasel (former humanitarian worker)

Another Blow to Veterans who Need Support

The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee and Wisconsin State Assembly just voted to cut funding for veterans’ support. As a result, Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls and VHRP in Green Bay will close in two months. These facilities have helped struggling veterans find housing and employment since 2007 and 1994, respectively.

This comes less than a week after Van Orden’s bill—offering little real help to financially strained veterans—passed nationally.

Why are Republicans at every level suddenly abandoning the veterans who served our nation selflessly?

It’s hard to argue these cuts are about “fiscal responsibility” when their “big beautiful bill” will add trillions to the debt while handing tax cuts to the wealthiest individuals and corporations already doing extraordinarily well. It appears they are determined to cut anything that supports people in need simply because it “smells like socialism.”

A call to the Joint Finance Committee members—Representatives Born, Kurtz, Zimmerman, Rodriguez, Dallman, Hurd, and Senators Testin, Marklein, Quinn, Wimberger, Stafsholt, and Bradley—might persuade them not to leave our veterans out in the rain.

Stand up for our veterans!

Lisa Jones

Why We Need Immigrants. 

By: Pat

In a June Gallop poll, 4 in 5 Americans said Immigration is a “good thing”. How can we amplify this and shine a light on all the ways that Immigrants are good for America? 

Statistics can be helpful, but perhaps telling a story about how immigrants can help us is perhaps even more powerful. 

My mother always feared going into a nursing home. Her simple reason: in nursing homes, you couldn’t go to the bathroom when you needed to. You had to push a button and sometimes wait as long as 20 minutes (!) for help to come.

But when she was in her mid-90s and could no longer care for herself, she was placed in a nursing home near my sister in a Denver suburb. The home had a reputation for being the best in the area. There were plenty of workers and a long waiting list—for both patients and staff. The reason? Many of the aides were immigrants. Some spoke little or no English and were assigned to the hearing-impaired wing, where my mom was placed. When I first heard this, I was furious. My mother was very deaf, but I felt she still needed caregivers who could communicate with her.

I flew out to Denver to see what I could do. But the head of the home was on vacation, and I was told to come back in two weeks—which wasn’t possible. So I stayed to enjoy my time with Mom—and to observe.

One day, I was surprised. After we returned from an outing, I was pushing Mom’s wheelchair down the hall to her room when Sabitri, one of the non-English-speaking aides from Nepal, approached us, gave a big smile, and gently took the wheelchair from me, saying only, “Mary mine.” She seemed proud of it.

When we got to Mom’s room, Sabitri first took her to the bathroom. Then she prepared her for a nap, gazing up at her with a big smile while kneeling to remove Mom’s shoes. Their only communication was smiles, which soon evolved into mutual giggles. No words were exchanged. My mother hadn’t requested the bathroom or a nap—but Sabitri knew exactly what she wanted and needed, and I could see my mother loved her.

I realized I was witnessing the language of love.

A recent AARP article on our elder care crisis quoted a resident who said she had to wait two hours for bathroom help. The article listed many other essential services patients aren’t receiving—because of low wages (due to Medicaid) and the resulting worker shortage.

Wisconsin has seen an unprecedented number of long-term care facilities shutter in recent years. And with Baby Boomers aging, it’s predicted to get much worse.

Meanwhile, we turn away people from cultures that often value their elders more than we do. And our leaders continue to tell the lie that they’ll take our jobs.

But what if we looked at immigrants through a lens of opportunity, not fear? Health care workers? Agricultural workers? Child care workers (who might even teach our kids a second language)? Some of my own Mayo Clinic doctors came from China, India, and Jordan. I am grateful to them all.

These people are not burdens.

They’re our saviors.

Is Rep. Tom Tiffany Truly Concerned About a Healthy Environment for His Constituents?

By: Sue

On July 7, 2025, Rep. Tom Tiffany sent a letter to the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. complaining:
“Our constituents have been limited in their ability to go outside and safely breathe due to dangerous air quality the [Canadian] wildfire smoke has created.”

This raises a question: is he genuinely concerned about environmental health, or just looking for someone else to blame?

Just four days earlier, on July 3, Tiffany voted in favor of the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill”—legislation widely criticized for being deeply harmful to the environment. Among its provisions:

• It allows oil and gas companies to fast-track large, polluting projects by paying a fee to bypass environmental reviews and silence community input.
• It promotes expanded fossil fuel development—the primary driver of climate change—while actively undermining clean energy initiatives and pollution reduction efforts.

Patrick Drupp, director of climate policy at the Sierra Club, called it “the most anti-environment bill in history.”

The contradiction is striking. On one hand, Tiffany decries poor air quality caused by wildfires—exacerbated by climate change. On the other, he supports legislation that worsens the very problem he claims to care about.

Instead of deflecting responsibility to Canada, perhaps Rep. Tiffany should use his position to support policies that truly protect the health and environment of his Western Wisconsin constituents.