Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

We’re just finishing up our fourth full year of producing YSDA. Readership has grown steadily since we began and so, this year, we exceeded all three previous years for traffic on the site. It’s not spectacular growth and we have not gone viral, but it’s steady progress — which is appropriate enough for a siteContinue reading “Most Read Blogs of ’24”

The state of Wisconsin has a nice problem. It has a $4 billion surplus and next year the governor and legislature will have to figure out what to do with it. Republicans want to give most of it back, more or less in proportion to how it was paid in, which means the wealthier youContinue reading “The Best Way to Use $4 Billion”

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Clark Griswold who said: “If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am right now.”  A) He realized he hadn’t brought a saw out to the tree farm. B) His in-laws announced they wereContinue reading “The Q&Q For 12/21/24”

Let’s ignore the top of the ticket for now (you’re welcome) and focus on the biggest winners in state and local politics this past year. Here they are in order of the biggest winners first.  The Madison school board. The biggest winners were the folks in charge of running Madison public schools. In April, twoContinue reading “The Winners in ’24 State & Local Politics”

The root of the problem is that there are too damn many guns floating around in this society and it’s too damn easy for anybody to get one. But, let’s face it, we’re not going to do anything about that anytime soon. In the wake of the tragedy at Madison’s Abundant Life School, Speaker RobinContinue reading “Some Progress On School Shootings”

I hesitate to write about the school shooting at Abundant Life school on Madison’s Eastside because I don’t have any special insights or anything new to share. Here are a few things that should be obvious to any observer. Madison’s first responders performed very well. Madison police were on the scene within minutes and theyContinue reading “Abundant Life”

Wisconsin’s Democratic Party leader Ben Wikler appears to have a good chance to become the next national Democratic Party Committee chair. He’s gotten rave reviews in a lot of influential places, including the opinion pages of the New York Times.  If it pans out, this would be good. Wikler is highly regarded, even by RepublicanContinue reading “Wikler a Good Choice for DNC, But Not Enough”

Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione are both young men in their 20’s. Both saw what they considered to be danger and injustice. Both acted. The similarities end there. Penny is the former Marine who intervened when a mentally unstable homeless man, Jordan Neely, threatened commuters on a New York subway car. He placed Neely inContinue reading “Young Men and the Internet”

One of the many great divides in our society is between those of us who have a high degree of trust for experts and those who reflexively reject them as either wrong or corrupt or maybe both. I tend to be in the former group. For the most part, I’m inclined to trust people whoContinue reading “Faith in Experts”

For four years I just couldn’t understand what it was that so many people disliked about Joe Biden. In his closing weeks in office, Biden has made me see the light. Let me be clear. Compared to what’s coming, I wish Biden would remain as President for another four years. And I really wish thatContinue reading “Good Riddance, Joe Biden”