Simultaneous with the nationwide battle against the Coronavirus pandemic, the widespread marches and riots against racial oppression, and the heated campaigning for an upcoming presidential election, California is facing an unprecedented wildfire season that won’t seem to end. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,100 wildfires that have burned 3.7 million […]
Tag: President Trump
The Modern American Colony: Puerto Rico
“TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.” The three-word political slogan at the forefront of the American Revolution and the foundation of our “democratic-republic.” Although the history of “taxation without representation” seems ancient and distant, for Puerto Ricans, it’s a political reality. Many Americans are unaware or confused about what Puerto Rico is in relation to the United States. […]
Wanted: Young, White, and Angry
My friend was killed by a neo-nazi. It’s a strange thing to type out, but it’s true. Even stranger, though, are the details: killed by a former classmate of ours. He picked my friend up in his car, drove to a local park, and then stabbed him. This is a boy who was once my […]
Will California Experience Corporate Inversion? Crippling California Tax Revenue
Do you live in a state rated to have the highest overall income tax rates? Do you live in a state rated to be the most indebted state in the US? Do you live in a state soon to have the highest corporate tax rate of any state in the US? If you live in California, it could […]
The United States… And Territories: America’s Paradise Lost
On October 13, one news headline stood out among the rest: “Trump says he spoke to U.S. Virgin Islands’ ‘president’ — which is him.” “Must’ve been a one-sided conversation,” one Twitter user noted. The Daily Show put out a video of Trump shaking hands with his “genetic replica.” This hilarity momentarily puts a spotlight on […]
The Danger of Land-Based Nuclear Weapons
“I am become death destroyer of worlds” said J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Hindu scripture The Bhagavad Gita, as he watched the first nuclear weapon explode before his eyes. Since then, the US nuclear arsenal has changed dramatically to confront evolving adversaries, but our overreliance on land-based missiles may make Oppenheimer’s apocalyptic rhetoric a reality. […]
Fear and Loathing in the Balkans
On January 14, 18 years since the end of the Kosovo War and six days before the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump in the United States, a train left Belgrade, Serbia, bound for the city of Mitrovica. Mitrovica lies in either northern Kosovo or southern Serbia, depending on who you ask, and that train […]
Capitol Hill or Silicon Valley? Big Tech’s Growing Influence in Political Arena
Since its inception as the the hub of innovation, Silicon Valley has primarily been known as a bastion of promising startups, cutting-edge technology, and endless wealth. Lesser known, however, is the influence companies and their respective CEOs wield in the field of politics. Uber has both revolutionized the driving world, given the taxi industry steep […]
Stuck in Limbo: Asylum Seekers in Nauru Unsure of Their Fate Under President Trump
Nauru, the world’s smallest republic which lies about 1800 miles off the coast of Australia, has recently been in the spotlight because of President Donald Trump’s and Australian Prime Minister’s Malcolm Turnbull’s well-publicized phone call. The week after Trump issued his executive order, which banned travel by non-citizens from 7 Muslim majority countries and all […]
Trump on Immigration – A Preview of the New Administration
Keeping with his campaign promise to restrict immigration from the Arab world, President Trump on January 27th began his program of “extreme vetting” with an executive order barring the acceptance of new refugees and restricting all travel to the United States by citizens of several Middle Eastern countries. The order quickly drew widespread criticism, with […]