On Sunday, September 11 2011 NFL teams across the United States commemorated the 10th anniversary of the New York and Washington DC terror attacks. Yet the name of former NFL player-turned-soldier Pat Tillman was only mentioned before the game at his home field in Arizona. The absence of Tillman’s name during memorial activities that swept [...]
It is now harder than ever to obtain a U.S. passport. Since September 11th ordering a passport now costs $135 (before September 11th it cost $25.) Along with providing their Social Security number, the State Department has proposed a new “Biographical Questionnaire” that if approved would have to be completed to receive a passport. Sample [...]
Since Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) has been conducting a study on the causes and consequences of prison rape. In June of 2009, the NPREC released its findings from the 6-year research program. The Justice Department has been slow to act and as [...]
Less than one year after the worst oil mishap in U.S. history, BP began running televised commercials featuring cheerful Gulf of Mexico fishermen as if the 185 million gallons of oil from the BP oil spill of 2010 was just a tiny drop in a big ocean that was quickly cleaned up. The commercials painted [...]
In June, President Obama told a meeting of delegates of the American Nurses Association that “Nurses are the beating heart of our healthcare system.” Unfortunately, when it comes to working conditions and cuts, nurses across the country have more and more become the bleeding heart of our healthcare system. In early October, a snapshot of [...]
As the end of the year is looming near, same-sex couples are finding it difficult to complete state and federal tax returns. While the couples have benefited from taxes in a state level, their unions are not recognized on the federal level. Couples must pay federal taxes on “employer-sponsored benefits provided to a partner.” Nine [...]
For the past 6 months, President Obama has been planning on extending the Bush/Cheney tax cuts for the super-rich, continuing the President’s support for Republican economic policies and the financial elite. The President has tried different methods in order to get his new extension taken care of before the New Year; when taxes would have [...]
Over the years the Japanese have been going on annual dolphin hunts. The Japanese have issued over 23,000 dolphin hunting permits each year. This is giving permission to hunters to kill thousands of dolphins in the six month period from September to March. The way these dolphins are being killed is brutal and inhumane. The [...]
South Asian countries face a catastrophic impacts from global climate change. At a UN Summit in Sept 2010, several people stressed the importance of the UN taking charge on the issue of a climate change in South Asian countries. These nations and other less developed countries with high poverty rates, poor economic infrastructure, and health [...]
The biggest human rights scandal in years is developing in Colombia. The largest mass grave unearthed in Colombia was discovered by accident last year just outside a Colombian Army base in La Macarena, a rural municipality located in the Department of Meta just south of Bogota. The grave was discovered when children drank from a [...]
