A Never Ending Tale? Partisan Politics in the US Congress
Congress is currently more partisan and polarized than any other time since the Reconstruction. Over the past three decades there has been an eruption of partisan politics that has increased the division between both parties in the House and the Senate. Sean Theriault, a political scientist at the University of Texas, developed polarization scores that […]
Arbitration: How Corporations Get Around the Legal System
Have you ever waived your right to a trial before a judge and jury by signing a contract? Of course not, right? Wrong. In fact, if you have ever signed a cell phone agreement with AT&T, Verizon, or any other cell phone provider, you have done just that, and signed your way into something called […]
Pollution, Prevention, Protection: Throwing Your Money Down the Right Drain
Thirty years ago, an unprecedented number of children in Woburn, a community just north of Boston, were diagnosed with leukemia. This unfortunate incident sparked an environmental revolution of sorts, highlighted in the film A Civil Action. Although decades have passed in the cleanup through efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the site has yet […]
Debt Ceiling Panic: Unnecessary Instability or Crucial Wake-up Call?
During last summer, the economy was teetering on the edge of collapse due in part to the question of whether or not the debt ceiling, a ninety-year-old government policy, would be raised before the United States hit its limit. The main theory propping up the continued use of the debt ceiling has been the belief […]
The Role of “Hacktivism” in Modern Politics
Throughout history, political lobbying generally has been done in-person, using lobbyists and strategic monetary donations to facilitate their goals. With the growth of the Internet however, new means of political activism have arisen. The most prominent of these is the “hacktivist” movement, consisting of those with both the technical skill and willpower to bring about […]
Massachusetts Fishery Management Plans: A Public Field Hearing
This article is written in reaction to the author’s attendance of the October 3rd, 2011 public field hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to review Massachusetts Fishery Management Plans. It can be easy to forget in our modern metropolitan world, the long history of the New England fisherman. The ground-fish industry […]
Generational “Crunch”: The Plight of the Millennial Generation
Have you applied to so many job postings your head is spinning? So have 4 million other youth and recent graduates across the nation looking for work.[i] With the worst job market in 70 years, jobless numbers for youth have taken an unsettling dive, and thanks to what some misanthropes dub the “Terrible Recovery”, those […]
A Passing Opportunity for Moral High Ground
October 26, 2010 marked the ten-year anniversary of the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UN SCR1325) yet the United States had not taken any substantial action to promote the text domestically or internationally. The resolution encompasses several massive issues concerning women in the peacemaking process in a brief, three-page document. It states […]
Occupy Boston: Is This What Democracy Looks Like?
“We are the 99%. And so are you!” “Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like!” Across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, protesters hold signs and recite chants denouncing Wall Street tycoons and the American political ruling class. Many call for an end to the war in […]
Death Row: Trusting a Broken System
On March 9, 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation effectively abolishing the death penalty in the state of Illinois, making it the 16th state without the death penalty.[i] The next day, on March 10, 2011, Johnnie Ray Baston was executed in Ohio for aggravated murder. He is the 9th person to be put to death […]