Civil Unrest: Yesterday and Today
It has been more than two weeks since the shooting of an unarmed African American teenager sparked protests and riots throughout a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. But the debate that has begun after this this event is not likely to come to a resolution any time soon. As the United States Justice Department and […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
More on Amazon Vs. Hachette In the last edition of Stuff You Should Know, btw brought you news of a dispute between the online retailer Amazon.com and book publisher Hachette. In a follow-up, Amazon, who had said very little in initial reports, have now spoken up. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Senior […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
New Star Wars Cast Announced It’s been thirty-seven years since the original Star Wars movie exploded into multiplexes everywhere. The franchise has managed to thrill its first fans and pick up several million more with its five subsequent sequels and prequels. Last month, Disney and Lucasfilm (the producers of the series) made public news about […]
Pranks a Lot!
Have you ever pulled off a really good practical joke or totally fallen for a flat-out hoax? What is it about a prank that is so satisfying to the prankster and catches the prankee off guard nearly every time? With a designated day marked for such shenanigans you’d think we’d be less gullible and more […]
YOU DECIDE: The Comcast Merger
Should Comcast be Allowed to Merge with Time Warner Communications? Does your family have cable in your home? How about Internet access? If so, the recent announcement that the country’s number one communications company Comcast has acquired the second-latest communications company Time Warner Cable might affect what you see (and how much you pay). Comcast […]
UPDATED!! Debt Ceiling Squabble
Last night, the president and Congress overcame their disagreements to end the government shutdown and avoid the possible debt ceiling (also called the debt limit) crisis. Today was the deadline announced by the United States Treasury that the government would have lost its ability to borrow money, relying only on incoming taxes for revenue. The […]
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U.S. and Japan Partner on Security Last month, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera. Together these leaders worked out ways to align on security measures that better protect both countries against threats from North Korea and […]
Shutdown Showdown
For the first time in seventeen years, the U.S. government is in the midst of a shutdown. This means that a number of federally-funded programs and services have been suspended and its workers “furloughed.” Furloughted workers are not allowed to work or get paid until the shutdown has been resolved and the continuing resolution that […]
YOU DECIDE: Should College Athletes Be Paid?
If you’ve ever watched a March Madness basketball game or a college football Bowl game, you know that college sports are big business. This is causing some to ask whether it’s time to start paying college athletes who are, after all, largely responsible for the wins and losses. Others believe this action will cause more problems […]
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It’s a Panda! On August 23, Mei Xiang, a giant panda at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., gave birth to a female cub. DNA testing showed that the father panda was Tian Tain, a male panda at the National Zoo. (The testing was needed because the zoo staff also attempted to mate Mei Xiang with […]