Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
An Open Letter to the Canadian Government
Dear Canadian Government: I was texting with my sister-in-law yesterday. She is a kind and wonderful person, a retired school librarian who spent a good part of her career serving the needs of students at an inner-city school. We live about an hour and a half drive from one another, and checking in isn’t uncommon. What is uncommon, however, was the subject matter of our texts. Overnight, we found ourselves in an entirely new world; Ontario, where we live, just declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19.
Heather DownPublished 4 years ago in The SwampIt's Time to Tell Trump and His Supporters They're Full of Shit
Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden caused a bit of an uproar when he told an auto worker he was "full of shit" during a campaign stop in Detroit on March 10th. While many on the right (and some on the left) thought he should have restrained himself, I -- not being the biggest Biden fan in the country -- felt immense relief that someone was finally saying what needed to be said.
Cecil AdkinsPublished 4 years ago in The SwampPresident Trump visit to India last month
President Trump arrived in India for his first official visit "Namaste Trump" to the world’s largest democracy, kicking off a whirlwind 36-hour tour on Monday emerged from Air Force One to an embrace from Modi while traditional folk music from Gujarat state -- complete with blowing conch shells and persistent drumming -- began echoing. Women with rainbow flower strands stacked atop their headdresses danced to the rhythm.
Abdul Majeed MohammedPublished 4 years ago in The SwampBlack Women Prosecutors Under Seige Across The Country
Baltimore City’s State Attorney Marilyn Mosby traveled to St. Louis recently and joined fellow top black female prosecutors from around the country to speak out against the racially charged attacks they all have experienced while in office.
HERBERT DYERPublished 4 years ago in The SwampWhy Ottawa's Homelessness Crisis requires immediate attention and intervention
Pictured above is Jenny. For safety reasons, she chose not to show her face. After Jenny’s partner passed away in April, she and her 2-year-old son were given 48 hours to vacate their home. Her son now lives hours away while she spends her days sitting on the cold pavement of a street corner that she knows is protected by street cameras. Her nights are spent at a homeless shelter.
Samah SaciPublished 4 years ago in The SwampIt Has Begun
...Of the end. What's a man to do? It is almost inconceivable for a military campaign to be successful without peace of mind. Also, it is infeasible for a fighting force to have peace of mind without a relatively firm confidence that the home front is secure and being carefully watched over.
Nefarious DarriusPublished 4 years ago in The SwampActivist-Turned-Politician Behind Connecticut’s Failed Anti-Zoo Law Exposed
There is no arguing that a little bill known as “CT-5341”, which was aimed at banning the keeping of cetaceans in zoological facilities in the state of Connecticut, died attempting to make it onto the state’s Environmental Committee’s Agenda. While the bill did get the usual praise from various animal rights groups and extremists like any new proposed anti-zoo law would it got more opposition from concerned scientists and zoo professionals who called it out for having the potential to slow down any conservation efforts that require access to resident animals living in zoological settings.
Jenna DeedyPublished 4 years ago in The SwampOhio Judge Defies Governor, Orders Election to go Forward
In Ohio, a Franklin County judge has ordered the March 17 Primary Election to be held despite the governor’s call to postpone it in the face of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the country, including Ohio.
HERBERT DYERPublished 4 years ago in The SwampAlbert Camus' 'The Plague' Versus COVID-19
Dear Vocal Readers, Oh, what an absolutely mad time we live in. As the Corona Virus brings more and more victims into its clutches we have seen normal life crumble around us. Many students, including myself, are no longer allowed to go to school and are instead opting to do classes online. Stores are closing early and some have had to take breaks simply to have enough time to restock shelves. But it's at a time like this that I'm reminded of my favorite novel.
Indians under President donald Trump in America
The racist’s calling card is ignorance: he cannot discriminate (if that is the right word) between nationalities and religions, between Indians and Saudis and Egyptians, Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs. One of the first hate crimes to take place in the days following 9/11 was the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas-station owner in Mesa, Arizona. The killer probably thought that Sodhi, with his turban and beard, was Muslim; he had told his friends that he was “going to go out and shoot some towelheads.”
Abdul Majeed MohammedPublished 4 years ago in The SwampForced expatriates from India due to economic inequality and with no proper wealth distribution system lead to migration to America
Overseas Indians, officially known as Non-resident Indians (NRI/NRIs) or Persons of Indian Origin (PIO/PIOs), are people of Indian birth, descent or origin who live outside the Republic of India. According to a Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 31 million NRIs and PIOs residing outside India as of December 2018.According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs based on migrants overseas with India as the country of citizenship at birth, in 2019 Indians comprised world's largest migrant diaspora populations in the world with over 17.5 million (6.4% of global migrants or 0.4% of India's population) Indians out of total 272 million migrants worldwide, this excludes the second or more generation PIO living in other nations.
Abdul Majeed MohammedPublished 4 years ago in The SwampRevisiting the Fiddle: Reexamining the legacy of Nero
Recently I found myself sitting in a cafe near Galway's Eyre Square, drinking a latte that tasted vaguely of paper, and scrolling through my phone. For the first twenty minutes of this experience, the only thing of note was that the latte was not served in a paper cup and thus had no right to be paper-flavored. Yet my attention was directed away from this by an ad on my Instagram; one for this very platform. Specifically a contest on this platform concerning unpopular opinions. This intrigued me for two reasons. Firstly, the contest promised a cash prize, and I need money to continue buying disappointing coffee in Irish cafes. Secondly, I have been harboring an unpopular opinion of my own for some time. An opinion that goes against a sizable portion of agreed-upon public imagination of ancient Rome, so I would say a pretty unpopular one.