Stuff YOU Should Know
A New Name for Rhode Island Did you know that the real name of Rhode Island isn’t just . . . Rhode Island? It’s actually “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” For the past several decades, residents have pushed to have the second part of the state’s name removed, due to its historical […]
Congressional Republicans and Democrats Present Plans for Police Reform
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis began a wave of protests that have swept the nation for the past month. Public outrage over instances of police violence and racial inequality have led many activists and legislators to call for police reform. But Republicans and Democrats differ on what that reform should look like. Here, btw takes […]
YOU DECIDE: Controversial Monuments
You may remember the 2017 tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, when an anti-racism protestor was killed by a white supremacist. That incident began over the city’s attempt to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Afterwards, the country began to debate the role of controversial historical monuments in our public spaces. Hundreds of statues, […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Puerto Rico Post-Maria Last week, Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria. Roofs were swept away and roads destroyed. The death toll currently stands at 16, but is likely to rise because many remote provinces haven’t been able to submit casualty reports yet. A week after the disaster, 60 percent of the island still has […]
YOU DECIDE: The NFL Anthem Protests
Should NFL Players Be Allowed to Protest the National Anthem? Last August, Colin Kaepernick–then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers–remained seated during the national anthem performance that precedes each National Football League game. Later in the season, Kaepernick began to kneel silently during the anthem. When asked about his actions, Kaepernick explained that he […]
Latest Developments in the Trump Jr. Meeting
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story describes what has been reveals in the most recent days about the Donald Trump, Jr. meetings with Russian representatives last summer. In June 2016, Trump, Jr. received an email from Rob Goldstone, one of President Trump’s former Russian business partners. In this email Goldstone […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Sessions Faces New Questions About Russia On Wednesday, the day after President Trump’s successful speech to Congress, the Trump administration faced yet another setback: The Washington Post revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had met twice with a Russian official during the 2016 presidential campaign. Last month, Michael Flynn resigned from his post as National […]
Transgender Bathroom Rights Rollback
This week, over on the Election Central Web site we examine President Trump’s recent efforts to revert former president Barack Obama’s protection of transgender access to bathrooms. Last Wednesday, in the latest development in the so-called “bathroom debate,” President Trump rolled back protections for transgender students that allowed them to use whichever bathroom corresponds to their […]
California County Fights Trump's Order
On January 25, President Trump issued a statement that cities and counties refusing to comply with his controversial immigration order would be denied federal funding. There are roughly 400 such “sanctuary cities” around the country, all of which have repeatedly refused to question or detain immigrants in compliance with Trump’s immigration policy. Now, Santa Clara […]
Flynn Resigns as National Security Advisor
This week, over on the Election Central Web site we examine the controversy surrounding Michael Flynn’s resignation as President Trump’s national security advisor. On February 13, Michael Flynn resigned from his post as national security adviser, a position he held for less than a month. (He was sworn in on January 22; no Senate confirmation […]