Author: YES!

The sharp contours of our political landscape are such that we daily, even hourly, find ourselves set off by some passing comment, tweet, or news account and sent spiraling down into the valley of contempt for them, those who incredulously choose to live on the other side of the political divide. The forces driving these divisions are considerable, and their venom has spread into even the most mundane aspects of our lives — from where we will no longer shop and eat out to who we refuse to ride an elevator with. These hyper-political times are making us sick....

As she travels around Georgia to promote fair redistricting, Djemanesh Aneteneh has heard many tales of how partisan lawmakers create voting maps designed to take away the political voice of communities of color. She is not surprised. “Gerrymandering has always happened in the U.S., and both parties have always done it and will always do it,” said Aneteneh, a redistricting coordinator with Fair Count. “In the South, generally gerrymandering has hurt and continues to hurt communities of color.” Gerrymandering also tends to make many races uncompetitive. As a result of the last round of gerrymandering in Georgia in 2011,...

Milwaukee’s proposed 25-story Ascent tower sounds like a conventional housing project. Scheduled to open in September 2022, It offers 250+ apartments with beautiful views of downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan. But one thing sets it apart from other housing towers in the United States, it is supposed to be the world’s tallest timber tower. Why timber? Firms working on timber construction believe that compared to typical construction materials like steel and concrete, timber is easier and cheaper to use, and more durable in the long run. The best part: It could benefit the environment. “Mass timber construction [a method...

With obvious links between anti-war movements against U.S. militarism and Black Lives Matter activism against police brutality, many are suggesting that it is time for activists to join forces. When U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar decried Israel’s 11-day aerial bombardment of Gaza in May and declared that “Palestinians deserve protection,” Florida’s Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio responded by saying that Israeli violence and U.S. support for it were justified because Israelis “live in a very tough neighborhood.” Rubio did not invent that phrase or its use in describing Israel’s place in the region where it sits. In 2016, 82 hawkish...

Forty years ago the CDC reported the first cases of what would come to be known as AIDS among five previously healthy gay men. I was a teenager at that time, coming to grips with my sexual orientation. When I moved to San Francisco as a 23-year-old gay man, AIDS was a full-blown epidemic. With no treatment, vaccine, or cure in sight, the awakening of my sexuality came with a death sentence. While sex, sexuality, illness, death, and dying are not typical topics of conversation among young people, it was all my friends and I talked about. It wasn’t...