Byron McNutt - Vilas County News-Review
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  • Will election mollify chaotic 2020?

    WHO WON’T BE relieved when this general election cycle is over? The year 2020 has been one for the history books. We all need some closure as our bitterly divided country braces for the Nov. 3 election. It’s critical for the survival of democracy that we trust the results.
    If 2020 has taught us anything, it is
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  • A class divided, lessons learned

    GOD CREATED ONE race: the human race. Humans created racism. Because of that, celebrated educator Jane Elliott concluded that racism can be fixed. She has spent more than 50 years adapting the now famous “blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.”
    As a school teacher in the small town of
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  • No surprise; an election in crisis

    WE MUST TAKE all measures possible to ensure the integrity of our elections. Nov. 3 has been called one of the most important presidential elections in our nation’s recent history.
    What a shame it would be if
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  • Jim Lehrer’s ‘Rules of Journalism’

    THIS WEEK, OCT. 4-10, is National Newspaper Week and it’s being celebrated for the 80th time. Famed journalist Jim Lehrer died earlier this year, Jan. 23, at the age of 85. Following are a select few of the rules Lehrer thought were important:
    • Cover, write and present every story with
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  • Over time, the tides rise and fall

    WINDS CHANGE, TIDES rise and fall, political fortunes have a lot to do with momentum. You can be on top one day and on the bottom the next. In just a few weeks, an estimated 150 million Americans will vote in the most important national election in history. Some will vote in-person, some via absentee ballot and others by
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  • A battle for peace, harmony, wisdom

    THIS STORY IS a popular legend of unknown origin often attributed to the Cherokee people. The story, “Two Wolves,” is used to explain the inner conflicts we have between our good and bad thoughts.
    One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a
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  • Gloomy news causes stress disorder

    MAYBE IT’S TIME for us to step back from all the news that gives us fits. Do we really need news from social media sources every hour of every day? Do we need messages and alerts arriving on our computers and phones every minute?
    To let tomorrow’s worries overwhelm today’s joys is
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  • Let’s all meet in the town square

    ARE YOU AFRAID voting problems in November will create chaos and be a disaster for our confidence in democracy? Questions have been raised by leaders of both major parties, and the potential for fraud and logistical problems is a legitimate concern.
    First, we should
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  • Core values undergoing challenges

    THE CIVIL EXCHANGE of ideas is under attack. Opinions are met with hostility and resistance. Divisive issues confound us. Frustrated people are intent on maximum disruption. These are crazy times.
    It’s hard to believe a majority of people, whether
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  • ‘Lady Luck’ doesn’t make you successful

    THE LATE PIANIST and actor Oscar Levant once said “Happiness isn’t something you experience; it is something you remember.” But what is real happiness? In just a few minutes, I’ll share with you a story that uses coffee as an analogy to tell you the simplicity of life.
    But first, Frayda Levin, a
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  • Wimpy’s character ahead of his time

    BACK IN 1932, J. Wellington Wimpy of Popeye fame made the now famous offer “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today.” Wimpy was slightly ahead of his time.
    If Mr. Wimpy was to make that offer today, it might be “I’ll
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  • The journey, not the destination

    WHAT IF YOU could see into the future and preview your life for the next five years? Would you really want to know what’s going to happen to you and your family in advance?
    Before you say yes, ask yourself if
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  • What is wrong with skinny people?

    I HAD AN interesting discussion with a young friend the other day as we observed a steady flow of people walking past our table at the local diner. That reminded me of an old essay tucked away in my files.
    A majority of the people were
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  • America, a pivotal moment in time

    THERE WAS A time not too long ago when Americans looked at themselves and the nation they had built with immense pride. Ask people all around the world where they would choose to live and a big majority would say America. No doubt about it.
    What happened? Look around and a big segment of the population is demanding that
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  • Is protesting our national pastime?

    LET’S SAY YOU are the human resource manager for a company and you are tasked with hiring several hundred, maybe even several thousand, new teammates to help build a growing organization. You can offer an excellent compensation package and the current workforce seems to love
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  • Gadgets that changed the world

    PEOPLE ALL AROUND the world and all nationalities are united in their fascination with gadgets. We’re always looking for the next labor-saving widget, gizmo or doodad. A gadget is a small mechanical or electric device or tool, especially an ingenious or novel one with a practical use.
    What would you consider the No. 1 gadget that
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  • When will the senseless acts stop?

    SUPPOSE CONGRESS WANTED to seize the moment and make real progress on police reform. No one should think federal reform will end all police abuses. In an act of bipartisan failure, Republican and Democrat leaders have decided to kick the can down the road for political purposes.
    The Democrats call their bill the
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  • America, a land of many paradoxes

    INDEPENDENCE DAY, COMMONLY known as the Fourth of July, commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress July 4, 1776. That was 244 years ago, this Saturday.
    This weekend reminds us that
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  • What happened to the simple things?

    WHAT WILL TOMORROW be like? Today’s innovators and dreamers think there is nothing we can’t do. There are no insurmountable obstacles. We just have to be creative and figure out a way to do the impossible.
    Today, we’re waiting breathlessly for
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  • They don’t accept that it can’t be done

    FOR THOUSANDS OF years, history has documented remarkable feats of building and manufacturing genius by engineers and architects. Ancient civilizations built memorials to empires. They knew no boundaries. They built mega structures and fortresses.
    We are constantly asking “How
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  • Some DNA tests uncover revelations

    MILLIONS OF PEOPLE have succumbed to the temptation to submit swabs to AncestryDNA®, 23andMe or MyHeritage™ expecting to discover a distant connection to royalty or celebrity. Some just wanted to fill in a few holes in their family’s tree.
    But what if the kit results reveal secrets that affect not just your own family, but
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  • We lack faith, doubt competence

    VOLTAIRE WARNED US in 1764 when he said “In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.”
    We will be heading to the polls in about five months to
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  • Outlook: Be optimistic, but realistic

    DURING THESE PERPLEXING times, we have to wonder where our moral compass is. While tens of millions of people have stepped up when the country has needed them, there also have been millions of people who have succumbed to the temptation to game the system. Who can turn down
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  • Thoughts on Memorial Day, graduates

    AS TENS OF millions of Americans prepare to commemorate another Memorial Day this weekend, it struck me that very few of them have any idea what it truly means to go to war.
    Most people know nothing of the separation, loss or
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  • No guidelines for what comes next

    THERE IS SOMETHING deeply wrong in America when successful entrepreneurs have to apologize for creating new companies that employ thousands of people. The imperfect need becomes the enemy of the good.
    What we are learning during this crisis tells us
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  • Can we navigate this perfect storm?

    WITH FOOD SHELVES stocked at millions of locations, how is the ability to put food on the family table something tens of millions of Americans struggle with on a daily basis? Clearly, it is not a supply problem.
    I’ve been thinking a lot about the topics of
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  • Every problem sparks an opportunity

    AS AMERICA DEBATES a return to work, we need to balance the benefits of restarting the economy too soon with precarious concerns about public health. Which is worse: disease or economic devastation.
    In these stressful times, it is comforting to realize that
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  • Many aliens earn citizenship rights

    PARAPHRASING A PASSAGE from Martin Luther King Jr. “I am coming to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society are making a much better use of time than the people of good will and I fear that we should have regret, not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people, but for the appalling silence from
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  • Unique times require tough choices

    THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has now affected more than 180 countries worldwide. It has been like taking a sledgehammer to the economy. Some economists wonder if we are prepared for a temporary collapse of economies. For the near term, it’s like the world is on fire. It could take time to recover.
    Opening the economy back up must be
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  • Unsung heroes merit our gratitude

    “IT IS NOT the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again because
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  • Be proud of being called square

    SQUARE; IT’S ANOTHER of those good old words that has gone the way of love, modesty and patriotism. Why is it something to be snickered over or outright laughed at?
    Some of our readers will
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  • The sun will shine after the storm

    AS WE CONFRONT the deadly COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, there is an overall sense of fear and panic. It is truly a historic time in our lives. It also is a time for unity. We must come together to defeat this health crisis.
    In these trying times, we
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  • Are unbiased judges even possible?

    WHY IS IT some people believe the only fair court is a liberal court? They seem to say it is impossible to have a fair court when the judges are perceived to be conservative. Aren’t courts supposed to be balanced and represent all people?
    The appointment of federal judges has come to be viewed as
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  • Debt crisis still doesn’t scare us

    BOOMING ECONOMIES USUALLY help annual federal deficits shrink, but instead, the Donald Trump administration and Congress have overseen a huge increase in deficits plus a significant hike in the federal debt load, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
    During this election year, this should be
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  • New-era social media needs guardrails

    SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, senior U.S. intelligence officials repeated a warning that Russia wants to sow discord in the American electorate to benefit the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The officials admitted they had no solid proof, but they were certain it is happening.
    At the same time, it was reported in the national media that
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  • Good sports are very hard to find

    SPORTSMANSHIP IS NOT an element of fair play confined to contemporary sports. In recent years, being a good sport has been missing in everything we do. We accept nothing less than outright victory.
    Sportsmanship matters because without it, sports and human interaction are
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  • Emanuel has warning for Democrats

    RAHM EMANUEL SAID “For the life of me, I cannot understand why our Democrat presidential candidates are failing to heed the lessons from 2018 and ’19 victories.”
    Emanuel is a former mayor of
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  • You may have cabin fever when...

    IT MAY BE a little early for cabin fever; that disease of the “home all day” type that is alleviated only a little bit by the knowledge that the second wave of seed catalog mailings should begin anytime now.
    But just in case it sets in, here are
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  • One teacher’s strategy to save souls

    WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT the facts about mass shootings in America are undeniable. Glennon Doyle has listened to experts in many fields struggle to come up with ways to identify potential school shooters in the future. She has taken the issue a step further. She wants to find ways to help those 
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  • Put down that phone; can we talk?

    IT WAS NOT too long ago when reasonable people could agree to disagree without it turning hostile. That was a time when people talked face to face. A recent survey discovered that 69% of respondents blame social media and the internet for the current state of divisiveness.
    Technology has made it possible to
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  • For sure, I’ll always accept cash

    DO YOU REALIZE that many of our fellow citizens rarely, if ever, have a need to go into a bank or post office anymore? It’s a sign of the changing times that is confounding the generations; just one of the reasons there are divisions among the population.
    I read an article recently that said
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  • How should NCAA players get paid?

    BACK IN OCTOBER, THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) voted unanimously to permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.
    As usual, the devil is in the details. Allowing amateur athletes to be paid has been
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  • It’s time for New Year’s resolutions

    HERE IS AN inspirational quote from Ralph Emerson for the new year. “What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within us out into the world, miracles happen.”
    Did you make any resolutions for 2020? Many people
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  • Little things can pay big rewards

    AS YOU MAKE YOUR resolutions for the new year, keep in mind optimists, on average, live longer than pessimists, according to a study published recently by the Mayo Clinic.
    The research suggested optimism can
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  • A spirit that creeps into our hearts

    WHAT DO YOU THINK when someone asks “Do you believe in Santa Claus?” 
    That reminds me of the essay written by the late Sam Campbell and sent to me by Doris Goldsworthy of Three Lakes more than a decade ago.
    Campbell was a
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  • Try these stress management tips

    IT’S THE HOLIDAY SEASON. Along with the joy and anticipation comes a considerable amount of stress and depression for many people. We just don’t have the time and money to do everything we want to do.
    A former colleague of mine was at a seminar about 15 years ago, when the lecturer explained stress management by 
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  • Fact: Life is full of agony, tragedy

    PREDICTING RARE EVENTS, be it a plane crash, tsunami, suicide or senseless mass shooting with any degree of reliability is simply not possible, according to James Fox, a professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University.
    Take a few minutes and make a list of
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  • Will we be vilified for fossil fuel use?

    DO YOU WORRY THAT your descendants will some day accuse you and your parents (ancestors) of committing crimes against humanity because you shamelessly used fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal with reckless abandon?
    By descendants, I mean your children, their children and their children. I’m talking about your future family members just 25 to
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  • Giving thanks for the little things

    AS WE PAUSE THIS week to celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s remember that dreams of the future shouldn’t diminish appreciation for the present. If all you do is concentrate on what you want, you won’t enjoy today. Don’t be jealous of others; what they do or have has no bearing on you.
    If our leaders hold on to the American values of decency, tolerance and gratefulness, it will
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  • Second verse, same as the first

    WHEN HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi said “It’s time for politicians to put the country before their party’s interests,” we are left to wonder if she is preaching to the Republicans, her fellow Democrats or the partisan liberal media. There’s hypocrisy on all sides.
    It’s
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  • Jurists’ robes are black, not red or blue

    A HIGHLY RESPECTED PANEL of federal judges met at William and Mary Law School in mid-September to bemoan a partisan political environment that wants to put them on teams or partisan lineups. The panel rejects characterizations as partisan.
    In November 2018, Chief Justice John Roberts said
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