controversies

It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.

The Keystone XL
On January 20th, President Biden signed an executive order on "protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis." This executive order essentially halted the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have run from Canada to Nebraska. You can read the executive order here.
By cd ybarra6 years ago in The Swamp
Propaganda Truth Fiction Or Out And Out Lies
With the COVID-19 flu running ramped around the world; you have to ask yourself why there are so many non-believers. Is Coronavirus even true? My question is, do people have to fall over dead beside you for you to believe it’s real? Or ... not!
By Dave Wettlaufer6 years ago in The Swamp
On The Minimum Wage
In a tweet, John Thune, Senate Minority Whip and Senior Senator of South Dakota describes how, in the 1970s, he began working bussing tables at a local restaurant for $1/hour. He slowly moved up to earning $6/hour as a cook in the same establishment which he describes as “the big league” "for a kid like him." As pointed out by many critics, these wages, with inflation, would be akin to $23/hour in 2021. In his example, Mr. Thune’s top pay was marginally more than twice that of the minimum wage of the time, which stood at $2.90 in 1979. It is clear from the senator’s story that the restaurant he dedicated himself to in his early work life had the margin of profit and the decency to pay him in a manner that respected his efforts and the value of his labor.
By J.D. Rose6 years ago in The Swamp
I Asked Quora About Ending Systematic Racism And This is What Happened
I try to keep an open-mind. I try to educate myself as much as possible. I also try to put myself in the shoes of other people.
By SWS6 years ago in The Swamp
We're Over Coronavirus
My 94-year-old mother can't get the vaccine. At least a dozen residents at her facility have become infected and around half died. The facility she lives in was working in good faith to get on-site vaccination for their residents, but they couldn't get it done. It turns out that an "Active Living Facility" isn't prioritized like a "Nursing Home" or an "Assisted Living Facility," notwithstanding that a large number of septuagenarians and octagenarians that live there receive living assistance. My mom is now on the county waiting list.
By Brian E. Wish6 years ago in The Swamp
3 Events That Drastically Changed British Politics (which aren’t in London)
Peter Street, Free Trade Hall, Manchester: The Peterloo Massacre of 1819 On 16th August 1819 at St Peter’s Field, around 18 people were killed and a further 650 suffered from significant injuries during what is now known as the Peterloo Massacre. The crowd that had gathered is estimated to have contained between 50,000 – 80,000 peaceful protestors who were demanding reform and better representation in parliament. The event was first dubbed the Peterloo Massacre by the newspaper, Manchester Observer, who made the ironic comparison with the Battle of Waterloo that had occurred four years previously.
By Outrageous Optimism 6 years ago in The Swamp
The essential guide to Police Misconduct and Civil Rights
Due to the necessity of Police officer’s demanding jobs, they are given a lot of powers that ordinary citizens are not. This is both for the protection of the officer as well as the general public. To protect the rights of citizens, the constitution places certain limits on the extent of police powers to make sure they don’t go too far while enforcing the law. However, as any civil rights attorney in Los Angeles knows, sometimes police officers take matters into their own hands, and go too far violating the rights of citizens. When such incidents occur, the citizen or victim in question can invoke a set of federal and state laws called Civil Rights Laws, that protect civilians from government abuse and police misconduct. The Civil Rights framework allows injured parties to enforce their rights and receive compensation for their damages.
By Kirakosian Law6 years ago in The Swamp
Why are conspiracy theories so common
Why are “conspiracy theories” so common? Why do conspiracy theories have so many believers? Throughout human history there has always been the idea that some sinister group are manipulating the whole population, for their own ends. In some ways history shows that human religious leaders did conspire to control the general population, this was in the periods of time when literacy was rare and so those who controlled what was written, what was recorded and what was read out to the majority of the people; did control and manipulate the rest of us.
By Peter Rose6 years ago in The Swamp
Yes, Cancel Culture DOES Exist
Can there be any more scary of a phrase than "Cancel culture doesn't exist, it's just people being held accountable." The amount of damage, destruction, abuse, harassment, discrimination, and death that can come from the idea of "just holding people accountable" is endless.
By Chris Hearn6 years ago in The Swamp
When Facebook Unfriended Australia
Okay, Facebook didn't totally unfriend Australia, but it has taken action to prevent Australian news groups from sharing information on Facebook. It has also blocked news posts from international Facebook news pages being viewed by Australian users. In the move, other pages were inadvertently stripped of information - these included Government departments and some politicians. Services have now been restored to groups including DFES - the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. DFES is one of the agencies responsible for alerting Australian's to bush-fires and other emergencies including flooding and cyclone alerts.
By Nan Arana Hewitt6 years ago in The Swamp
NEVER AGAIN
In 1921, Oklahoma had a racially, socially, and politically tense atmosphere. Many servicemen had returned following the end of the First World War in 1918, and the American Civil War was still in living memory, even though it had ended in 1865. Civil rights for African Americans were lacking, and the Ku Klux Klan was resurgent (primarily through the wildly popular 1915 film The Birth of a Nation), a film portrays African Americans (many of whom are played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women. The film presents the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a heroic force necessary to preserve American values and a white supremacist social order.
By Erik DeSean Barrett6 years ago in The Swamp
The COVID Vaccine was NOT "Rushed"
You may have heard it from a friend or family member on social media: “I’m going to wait and let them test the vaccine on other people. I’m no guinea pig.”
By Barbara A Force6 years ago in The Swamp