Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Remember Your Promise!
Dear President Duda, Amongst personal circles, there exists a rather infamous photo of me from fourth grade. Huddled behind the other harcerze of my troop – as is the title given to Polish boy-scouts – I juxtapose each of their stern looks with a stupidly open-mouthed smile. Meanwhile, my uniform stretches uncomfortably around me. This is best visualized by the beret framing my face, my ears painfully bent outward.
Filip De MottPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp- First Place in Speak Up Challenge
The Arctic Isn't Yours To Lease
Dear President Donald Trump, I am writing you concerning the recent decisions your administration made involving the expedited move to lease out land in the areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve, and the waters of the Beaufort Sea to big oil and gas corporations. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower federally protected this land more than 50 years ago. Since then, there has been dispute between many federal offices and companies attempting to take control of the land to either protect it or unearth the oil which rests beneath it.
Austin G GrahamPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp Our World leader, The Earth.
Dear Humans and everyone else, You could be a flea, pig, Human, flower, moose, whale, combination or other. Regardless of what you are, we all share a deep connection. We all need to survive. Whether or not our minds agree with our body, survival instinct is in each and every creature. The reason why living things fight to the end is because of hope.
King Henry III and Simon De Montfort: The accidental forefathers of Parliament in English Legal Systems
Imagine this: Your name is King Henry III. The year is 1216 and, at the age of nine years old, you have just been coronated as King of England. You are the fourth successive king directly from the House of Plantagenet which would one day become the greatest, and bloodiest, dynasty to ever rule England.
Josh FirminPublished 4 years ago in The SwampLeading the Pack
I've read lots of articles and news clips over many years that deal with political leaders. They share all kinds of experiences and world travel throughout their lifetime. This particular group of people are the upper crust of the rest of humanity. I find that life on this planet has morphed into two groups of people, the ultra rich and the rest of us. The smaller, elite group will eventually live in their own gated communities while the rest of us scrounge for what ever we can find. Think I'm crazy? Let's look at three cases of what is going on right now.
Tina RengelPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp"Speak Up" for Anarchism
I consider "myself" a pretty staunch anarchist, and this is my simple answer. My letter to the "world's leaders" is kind of multi-faceted, you could say. On one hand I will address the "official" world leaders, AKA politicians/etc., but on the other hand in my eyes the true (potential) world leaders are the people, like in the book 1984, you could say the proletariat. Just the average Joes/Janes who normally go relatively unheard. The commoners, etc. They could be world leaders. In an anarchistic world everyone would basically be his or her own leader and "evil" would probably still exist in such a world so maybe new unfair power structures like those that exist today would spring up, conspiracies if you will.
Is Biden a Stand-In for His Vice- Presidential Nominee?
The Biden campaign experienced one of the greatest political comebacks in history. He lost the first three states in the Democratic primary contest and then won South Carolina and continued his momentum through Super Tuesday. Every Democrat except Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard dropped out and threw their support to Biden before the Super Tuesday vote. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Sanders and better for Biden.
Gregory AlanPublished 4 years ago in The SwampA Storm in a Yorkshire Teacup
This week, one of my all-time favourite brands, Yorkshire Tea, were the innnocent victims of the twitter mob. This arose when the newly-appointed Conservative party chancellor, Rishi Sunak, tweeted a photo of himself making a cup of Yorkshire Tea in celebration of his promotion.
Matty LongPublished 4 years ago in The SwampSave Our Ocean
In America today we have access to fairly clean tap water. It was relatively cheap in the past decade for us to have this clean drinking water. Although this can not be said for everyone on this planet and now, even us who are privileged are at risk of losing this precious resource. Water is not a natural reproductive resource and since I was a baby our access to fresh and clean water has relatively diminished. Treaties signed by world leaders to protect our fresh water from being polluted and over sourced for its fish has been broken and there are world leaders that have begun production for oil extraction in the small amount of freshwater we still have today. Water scarcity is the next Great Depression we will face unless we do something about our general oil use and trash programs in America and other leading countries.
Imani DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampDear Future President...
Dear Future President, Congratulations! You are about to become a permanent figure in American history. Children in elementary schools will memorize your name in catchy songs, and read summarized paragraphs about the impact you had on the world while in office. You’ve got four, maybe eight years to do as much good as you can for these kids, so that their futures can actually be as bright as the ones we promised them. Now I know you’re very busy, what with inauguration and your first hundred days and decorating the Oval Office and all, but bear with me while I describe to you the nation these kids deserve.
Suzie HicksPublished 4 years ago in The SwampClean Energy Toolkit Released
Racine, WI -- Local elected officials seeking to mitigate the impact of climate change on their communities have a new resource available. Wisconsin Conservation Voters, along with the Sierra Club and RENEW Wisconsin, have just released the “Wisconsin Clean Energy Toolkit: Developing a Clean Energy Plan for Your Community.” The workbook provides local elected officials with information and resources about ways to make their communities more sustainable.
John HeckenlivelyPublished 4 years ago in The SwampEnvironment is the future
Dear Prime Minister, The world works by having and spending money. You can’t spend money if there is no world to spend it in. Currently the UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of waste every year. Introducing environmental rules that businesses have to abide by could help reduce the amount of waste we produce as a country. Amazon send out ridiculous size boxes for the smallest of items, then the buyer throws the cardboard away. We like to think that people recycle but realistically a lot of people are lazy and just rip the cardboard up and place in bin bag. Make the companies take the boxes back and re use the boxes like we do with Ocado shopping bags. Alternatively encourage family’s to use the cardboard to build spaceships with kids or donate the cardboard to schools so they can use it for arts and crafts with the children. Forcing companies to use eco friendly materials will in long run help small businesses grow and stay in business. You can do this by making party companies sell metal straws, reusable plates and plastic cups that can be kept. This means business can have a brand of there own and charge a little more for there items, family’s don’t throw everything away at end of party and kids get something to keep. Then all businesses pay taxes that go to your government and the world becomes a eco friendly place. Everybody wins. These are small ideas compared to the bigger ideas that can change the world. Big companies should also get involved. Holiday booking companies such as Thomas cook rely on beautiful views, clean waters and fresh air to make sales. We also rely on tourism in our country to make money. London for example is a big tourist attraction you have London zoo, Buckingham palace and Houses of Parliament. People are put off going to London due to the air pollution and traffic. Animals are the last of there kind in zoos and we cant breed animals quick enough. This is heart breaking to the children and animal lovers. Animals should die naturally not because of human laziness. At what point do you say enough is enough. We wouldn’t like it if someone just knocked down our home, we wouldn’t stand for it. Animals cant protect themselves against the humans and cat express there feelings of upset at anger. Its not just about destroying there home its about littering and making there home untidy. You wouldn’t force humans to breed, lock them in a cage with a stranger and we defiantly wouldn’t let humans die out due to detrimental environmental effects. There are also many medical properties that plants have and scientific studies that are currently in progress. Eventually all this will stop because we would of killed the plants and animals. Have you ever been to see the northern lights? Do you want to see them? Do you want your children and grandchildren to see them? If you answered yes to any of theses questions then you need to act now. Light pollution will stop us seeing this fantastic view. As we speak we could be killing the cue to cancer and other none curable diseases. The pollution we produce today is not only killing the planet it’s making the people of today sick. 28,000-36,000 people die of air pollution a year in U.K. Thats already to many people. Don’t let it get out of hand before someone does something. If Britain set an example then maybe polluted places like China will follow suit. Children, adults, elderly, humans in general light up at the sight of baby animals, fierce animals, sights that take your breath away and places that take you away from all your problems and stresses. Don’t ruin this because we put it down to another day. Tomorrow is not guaranteed today is. Together we can change the world the world can’t change for us.
victoria hallPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp