By: Tobiashus Swatherton // A Predominantly Harmful Measure // On December 6th, 2021, the Biden administration announced that it will stage a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The basis for the boycott is the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) human rights violations. America’s main concern is the genocide of the Uyghur people and […]
Category: Domestic Policy
The Day Democracy (Almost) Died
Saanika Raina // A Constitutional Coup Foiled // The January 6th riots were not a spontaneous act but the culmination of a multi-pronged coordinated insurrection aimed at preventing a peaceful transfer of government. The insurrection included dubious maneuvers to create an alternate slate of electors from states that Trump lost, a questionable legal strategy to […]
Cybersecurity Threat from Russian State-Sponsored Hackers
Alejandro Moro // The U.S. must invest more time and money into its cybersecurity. // In 2020, a group of Russian state-sponsored hackers orchestrated one of the most sophisticated and coordinated cyber warfare attacks on the United States. This was not their first attack: back in 2019, the same group compromised widely used computer software […]
The Pope Urges Vaccination
Nico Bers // Plea May Explain High Catholic Vaccination Rate // 85-year-old Pope Francis made his position on COVID-19 vaccination clear on January 10th: get the shot. Though this is the first direct papal call for urgency regarding vaccination, Pope Francis has subtly expressed his opinion on inoculation throughout the pandemic. The Pope even went […]
Fighting For Abortion
Chloe Taft // How the Texas Abortion Law Could Damage America’s Democracy // Every year, over 80 million women experience unwanted pregnancies. These pregnancies can have many negative repercussions, such as health risks, loss of autonomy, and newfound financial insecurity, and vary based on a woman’s socioeconomic status, health, and access to resources and support. […]
COP 26 Outcomes
Rohan Jayaraman // Was it enough? // The 26th annual ‘Conference of the Parties’ (COP) took place in Glasgow, Scotland from the 31st of October to the 12th of November in 2021. Since the drafting of the Paris Agreement, COP 21, this was the first meeting where countries set goals to reduce climate change. Over […]
The Aftermath of the Voting Rights Bill
Julia Shephard // Democrats should learn from their inability to pass key legislation // “Voting Rights Bill Dead” read a January 15th New York Times report after Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) declared her opposition to her party’s voting rights package. Although the legislation, which combined the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to […]
Manchin’s Rejection of Build Back Better
Shane McCauley // The senator’s actions endanger democracy and reveal a broken system // Senator Joe Manchin has recently faced backlash from Democrats for refusing to support President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act, effectively ending hope for its ultimate passage. The plan, which passed in the House of Representatives on November 19, 2021, included […]
Texas’s Troubling Abortion Law
Rahdin Salehian // Why the Texas Heartbeat Act is so problematic // Texas’s new anti-abortion law, the Texas Heartbeat Act, sparked well-deserved backlash throughout the country when it went into effect on September 1. The Texas Heartbeat Act gives women in the state only six weeks time to make the decision on whether or not […]
Biden’s Vaccine Mandates
Aparajita Srivastava // What stands between us and immunity? // In late December 2020 and early January 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden started the U.S. vaccination process by prioritizing front-line and healthcare workers. He then expanded vaccination coverage to those ages 65+ and with underlying health conditions. Finally, he ended with essential workers before opening […]