#JeSuisCharlie: The Legacy of the Twitter Movement, 5 Years Later
On the morning of January 7, 2015, the editorial meeting of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was well underway in Paris when two masked gunmen armed with AK-47s forced their way into the publication’s offices and opened fire, leaving twelve dead. This would signify the beginning of a three-day siege of terrorist attacks on the French capital, one of the worst security crises in the nation’s … Continue reading #JeSuisCharlie: The Legacy of the Twitter Movement, 5 Years Later
Wild, Wonderful, and Vulnerable: How Climate Change is Ravaging Appalachia
I’ve endured, I’ve endured. How long can one endure? -Ola Belle Reed Rolling blankets of green, lush, and wild for miles. Climbing up cliffs and new worlds open as ears gently pop with the high altitude. A drive through the heart of Appalachian country in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia reveals rich wildlife, biodiversity, and culture. While many may equate Appalachia with … Continue reading Wild, Wonderful, and Vulnerable: How Climate Change is Ravaging Appalachia
The Battleground in the Bathroom: the Controversy over Transgender Bathroom Rights
In recent years, the right of transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their preferred sex has become more acknowledged than ever before. This controversy was brought along with the revision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include the Equality Act, which protects sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the addition of this protection to the Act failed to pass the House of Representatives. … Continue reading The Battleground in the Bathroom: the Controversy over Transgender Bathroom Rights
Food Apartheid: How Hunger Became Political
If you were asked to define your relationship with food, what would you say? What words come to mind, and does a relationship even exist? For younger people, food is most often viewed as a commodity. On college campuses, fast food chains dominate our dining halls, satisfying those cravings for pizza, hamburgers, and all the foods kids are told to avoid growing up. Many public … Continue reading Food Apartheid: How Hunger Became Political
Free Palestine
Brutal depictions of violence in Palestine have shocked the entire world. Videos of Palestinians being arrested, beaten, expelled from their homes at gunpoint, tear gassed out of a mosque during Ramadan, and bombed have gone viral on the internet. For many, this is the first time the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is front and present in their minds’ eye. More than ever, international support for Palestinians and … Continue reading Free Palestine
Consumerism—not Capitalism—is the culprit for American Poverty
Photo by Pepi Stojanovski As of 2019, more than 10.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty rate—that’s more than 32 million Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau statistics. However, this statistic does not tell the full story of poverty in America. Here is one that does: 40% of Americans cannot afford to pay an unforeseen expense of $400. The poverty rate ignores … Continue reading Consumerism—not Capitalism—is the culprit for American Poverty
One Size Does Not Fit All: The $15 Minimum Wage
Restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, sports stadiums, and more. All of these have two things in common: Americans frequently patron them for entertainment and food service, and they all rely on a low-skilled, low-paid workforce in order to remain profitable. And in turn, these businesses provide goods, services, and jobs to the population. Most of this workforce earns an amount either equal to or near the … Continue reading One Size Does Not Fit All: The $15 Minimum Wage
Time for a Brown New Deal
Political Weeds of the Polarized Green New Deal must be Pulled for Alternative Policy if Post-COVID American Infrastructure will Succeed Photo: The MAC Farms biodigestion energy facility in central Kentucky, 2018. Samuel Kessler. In early May 2019, I was walking through puddles in the streets between Senator McConnell’s office in the Russell building to another meeting in the Senate Dirksen Building. To make matters worse, … Continue reading Time for a Brown New Deal
Kentucky’s Rural Hospital Problem
One and a half million dollars. This is how much money—annually— my hometown hospital in rural Kentucky has lost since 2012. With less than a week’s worth of operating cash on hand at any given time, the small rural hospital has been struggling to make ends meet for years now. This is not the only rural hospital in Kentucky with this problem; there have been … Continue reading Kentucky’s Rural Hospital Problem
McConnell’s Long Game and the Fight for the Supreme Court
“Winners make policy and losers go home,” declares Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in his memoir, The Long Game. This quote gives insight into the formulation of McConnell’s political strategy focused on advancing the conservative agenda. The strategy entails making strong decisions – even when unpopular – to benefit election outcomes and the future of conservative policy. With the passing of liberal Supreme Court … Continue reading McConnell’s Long Game and the Fight for the Supreme Court
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