Shady Shenanigans: Montana’s Shameless Jungle Primary Scheme

In the lead-up to last year’s elections, many political strategists and pundits predicted Republican wins across the country, based on the trend in U.S. politics wherein the president’s party performs poorly in midterm elections. The GOP sought to fragment the existing trifecta consisting of a Democratic House, Senate, and White House in an effort to stall President Biden’s legislative agenda—and to an extent, they were successful. Republicans gained control of the House after four years of Democratic control.

NationBrandon ChuJuly 23, 2023montana, primaries, politics, democrats, Republican, Senate, brandon chuComment

Better Dead Than Read: Moms for Liberty and Book Banning in America

When overenthusiastic patriots get into online scraps and start comparing countries like PTA moms comparing kids, the mark they often point to at the top of America’s report card is free expression. Since its founding, the United States has maintained a vigorous discourse around the topic of free expression, with many decades of oft-controversial First Amendment jurisprudence under its belt. A 2015 Pew Research study found that Americans are the most supportive in the world of free expression (in theory); however, the United States receives a perennially middling score in each year’s World Press Freedom Index—this year, it ranked 45th.

NationRJ PrakerJuly 19, 2023censorship, Schools, book banning, rj praker, conservativesComment

Understanding and Solving the Climate Crisis Together

From the mechanical pencils we write with to the energy we use to power our homes, every facet of human civilization impacts our natural world significantly. Since the 20th century, humans have consumed more resources per year than civilizations have for centuries. Environmentally, humans are cutting down entire forests, polluting oceans with plastics, and drilling oil out of the ground. The consequences include rising sea levels, abrupt changes in weather patterns, more intense ‘natural’ disasters, and mass extinction of thousands of animal species.

NationSriya ChinnamJuly 15, 2023Sriya Chinnam, Climate Change, climate crisisComment

The Pentagon Leaks: How a Discord Mod Threatened US National Security

There has been another massive leak of classified government documents, and this time it's from a junior officer in the Massachusetts Air National Guard. At 21 years old, Jack Douglas Teixeira has single-handedly become the center of a vast Pentagon data leak that has cost the United States significant damage to its national security and international reputation. Teixeira was a cyber transport systems specialist and was given Top Secret clearance as well as sensitive compartmentalized access, otherwise known as SCI, to highly classified documents. Some of these documents were released on the social messaging platform Discord, where they would eventually spread around the world.

NationAlecia PerezJuly 11, 2023pentagon, cybersecurity, discord, national security, Ukraine, alecia perezComment

Life in Suffering: How Christianity Continues to Thrive Amidst Global Persecution

In India, a Christian family was beaten and harassed by their neighbors and the Hindu nationalist group RSS. Ritesh, his wife Vanya, and their children became Christian in 2016. Despite their cautious and secretive practice of the faith, they could not avoid the omnipresent eyes of their Hindu village. Following intimidation and coercion by a group deployed by the RSS, the family was brought before Hindu leaders. They were interrogated, beaten, and later arrested.

GlobeJonathan SunkariJuly 7, 2023jonathan sunkari, Christianity, Christians, india, iraq, china, discriminationComment

California Is Not as Progressive as We Like to Think We Are: A Housing Perspective

Skyrocketing housing prices, exorbitant monthly rents, and tent cities popping up throughout California cities. We’ve all heard the statistics - California is in a severe housing crisis. In response to this, our leaders have set aggressive housing production goals, with Governor Newsom notably promising to develop a whopping 3.5 million new homes by 2025. Yet we are continually disappointed. In the four years since Newsom took office, less than half a million homes have been built within the state.

StateCynthia WeberJuly 3, 2023Cynthia Weber, Housing, California, newsom, Gavin Newsom, NIMBYismComment

France’s Islamophobia: From French Football Leagues to Women in Sports

France is no stranger to laws and acts that can be seen as anti-Islamic by the public. This year has proved no different for French organizations. With a French soccer league ban on stoppage in a professional match during Ramadan, morals for French organizations and the government are once again taken into question.

GlobeMia RomeroJune 29, 2023Mia Romero, sports, France, islamophobiaComment

California’s Ability to Fight for Abortion Rights may be Shrinking

Following the leak of the draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in May 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that, “California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.” The decision, officially released later that year in June, overturned the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade and removed federal protection of abortion services in the United States. This decision turned abortion rights over to the states, which has resulted in 13 states banning abortion.

StateJack JacobsJune 25, 2023Jack Jacobs, abortion, California, dobbs, abortion access, Gavin NewsomComment

The Impact of White Evangelical Conservatism and Anti-Trans Legislation on Black Trans Women

The introduction of anti-trans bills are on the rise in state legislatures across America right now. This year alone, there have been 528 anti-trans bills proposed in nearly all 50 states, which is a devastating record for the United States that is only increasing as the year goes on. This extreme increase in anti-trans legislation at the state level is a result of the damage the Trump administration was able to cause in its four years of holding power.

NationBreeAnna VirruetaJune 21, 2023Transgender Rights, Conservatism, anti-trans legislation, breeanna virruetaComment

America’s Victims: How Intervention led to Breaches in our National Security

The mainstream narrative that we are sold by the media about migration into the United States is simple: the poor come to this country to escape the plights of their home countries and follow the American dream to become rich and prosperous. While this idea sounds star-spangled awesome, there is a dark side to why people have moved to the US in the past century. While there are clear and present dangers to people in lower-income countries, such as natural disasters, the main culprit is social immobility. In the United States, there is a vague belief that anyone can be anything: The American Dream.

Monetary Mayhem: the Consequence of Discretion

The President of the United States is not the most powerful man in America. The leaders of the House and Senate, whose whips may set the leviathan Federal government barreling in whichever direction they please, do not top the rank. The nine Justices of the Supreme Court, a half dozen of whom can permanently alter the very meaning of the Constitution, are far from the most commanding figures in Washington. Rather, the true heart of American power lies not on Capitol Hill, but two miles westward, nestled between the Vietnam War Memorial and a Dunkin’ Donuts.

NationDimitri ZlatevJune 13, 2023Federal Reserve, Federal government, Dimitri Zlatev, economy, economicsComment

The Policy Failure of Criminalizing Homelessness

The proposed California Senate Bill 31 would make living on streets, sidewalks, or public property 1000 feet from schools, daycare centers, parks, or libraries a misdemeanor. In New York City, the administration has begun heavily enforcing rules that prevent people from using the subway system to sleep at night. At the beginning of 2023, a Missouri law went into effect, banning people from sleeping on state-owned land, like under bridges. St. Petersburg, Florida has a combination of ordinances that prevent people from lying and sleeping on sidewalks, as well as banning the unpermitted placement of “any object that is used as the functional equivalent of a table.”

NationBenjamin ShihJune 9, 2023benjamin shih, homeless, policy, California SenateComment

Story Hour, Transphobia, and Legislation: How Drag Queens Became Demonized

The trope of the creepy crossdresser is nothing new. From serial killers in movies to flashers in the park to weird neighbors on Disney channel shows- growing up it was everywhere, and now it’s back. And this time, drag is being dragged through the mud.
The most recent wave of anti-drag sentiment has been driven by talk shows, protests, and most importantly an influx in anti-drag legislation. Alongside a greater trend of anti-trans bills, Tennessee recently passed one of its harshest anti-drag bills yet, criminalizing participation in “adult cabaret performances” in public spaces or in the presence of children. This bill lumps drag performers with exotic dancers and strippers, labeling these performances as shows with “prurient interest.”

NationEmogene KarasJune 5, 2023Emogene Karas, Transphobia, Transgender Rights, drag queens, DragComment

Unions In America Are Under Attack: Here’s Why That Matters

Unions are one of the most important parts of our workforce today and they are under attack. Union membership has been steadily decreasing since the 1980s, but why? There are many answers to that question but the most obvious and the most relevant answer is corporate union busting and the deregulation that allows it. Corporations and their political lackeys put up a big fight, but are unions worth the effort?

Totally and completely.

NationJaren HendersonJune 1, 2023Jaren Henderson, unions, United States, AmazonComment

Attacks on Abortion

A Texas federal judge has invalidated the FDA ruling on mifepristone. Mifepristone is a common medical abortion drug used widely throughout the United States. This controversial decision has sparked a national, and now international conversation about the importance of protecting abortion.

The US judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs who argued that mifepristone was incorrectly advertised as a drug marketed to address serious illnesses and providing therapeutic effects to those with hormonal impairments. The judge further explained that when the FDA originally approved the drug as a safe and effective method to conduct medical abortions it was due to political pressure.

NationDanielle JacobsMay 28, 2023Danielle Jacobs, abortion, CourtsComment

The Struggle Between Secularism and Majoritarian Politics over India's Personal Legal System

In recent years, the government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attracted criticism from internal and international actors alike for its majoritarian policies. These include the repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution providing autonomy to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir along with the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAA expands the provision of citizenship for refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh exclusively to non-Muslim minorities, while the implementation of the NRC in the state of Assam may disproportionately target Muslim citizens through its efforts to identify and deport illegal immigrants. Clearly, at least from the perspective of Western media outlets like the New York Times, the Bharatiya Janata Party has engaged in an assault on the secular principles of the Republic of India.

Changing the Finish Line: Ending the Practice of Holding Back Successful People of Color

For the LSU Tigers, Louisiana State University’s women’s basketball team, April 2nd should have been a truly triumphant day. It was the day they won the NCAA national championship, wowing spectators and making history. A record-breaking event, the match saw the majority-Black team score the most points ever in a women’s championship game as well as the most points scored at halftime, accomplishments that secured them their first ever championship victory.

The excitement quickly soured, however, when First Lady Jill Biden, who had been attending the game, invited the Iowa Hawkeyes, the runners-up, to the White House to celebrate alongside the Tigers. LSU’s star forward, Angel Reese, was quick to call this “a joke.”

Nation, FeaturedAdithi SumitranMay 20, 2023POC, LSU Tigers, basketball, Jill Biden, Mississippi, Hawkeyes, Adithi Sumitran', Adithi SumitranComment

Tragedy and Temblors: Relief Efforts in Turkey and Syria

The morning of February 6th was peaceful. The twilight sky was still dark, but stars were slowly becoming less visible. Residents were waking up little by little to get ready for work and start their day. But at around six o’clock in the morning, the ground shook and everyone who was sleeping in northern Syria and southern Turkey were awoken by an massive earthquake that would record a 7.8 on the Richter Scale. It would be felt in Lebanon, Israel and even parts of Iran. Around 60 aftershocks would occur with the biggest one having a magnitude of 7.5 following the initial quake.

Is Egypt willing to save itself?

Less eggs, less meat, and more chicken feet. While at first glance this may sound like a bizarre nursery rhyme for some, Egyptians know all too well that this is what state-run media in Egypt considers a good alternative to the crippling inflation that has become impossible for anyone in the country to ignore. When speaking to Egyptians today, it is clear that many are starting to lose patience with the consistently ailing economic situation. “We legitimately don’t know where the country is headed.

Powering the Future: Nuclear Power and America’s Energy Independence

Three Mile Island. Fukushima. Chernobyl. The three worst nuclear disasters in human history, and yet they barely account for a few hundred deaths, as opposed to millions of deaths caused by the fossil fuel industry. Nuclear energy has a stigma of being inherently bad for the environment, toxifying whole cities, and spreading radioactive material. That is exactly what fossil fuels do, yet the lobbying efforts against nuclear power center the danger of nuclear power and brush off the harmful impacts of fossil fuels to scare the public against clean energy.