“Most Americans reject the beliefs of QAnon - yet seventeen percent believe in it. Most members of the government have openly denounced such forms of extremism, although a few politicians in the Republican Party seem to embrace them, most notably Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of GA-14 - the leading face of QAnon in the American government.”
Read More“The military coup d’etat on February 1st comes after a sordid decade of politics in Myanmar. Tens of thousands of people protested in Myanmar last week after the military staged a coup on the pretense of an ignored fraudulent election. Protesters wore the colors of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party and used symbols such as the three-finger salute, from The Hunger Games, marching against the military takeover over the government.”
Read More“Ultimately, the reopening of schools will likely be left to the local school systems as it seems unlikely Cooper will sign the bill currently in the General Assembly unless he and Republicans can come to an agreement on flexibility. Furthermore, schools will be less inclined to reopen as long as teachers are not being vaccinated. Governor Cooper has a tough decision to make, but he faces significant and conflicting pressure from massive constituencies: parents, students, and teachers.”
Read More““Former President Trump’s second impeachment trial will begin February 9, 2021, despite the challenges from Trump’s legal team that holding a trial is unconstitutional. The constitutionality of holding an impeachment trial after a president leaves office is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, nor does it have any exact historical precedents.”
Read More““The previous round of sanctions for Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 are still being felt, with some estimates putting the impact of these prior sanctions at 6% of the entire Russian economy. With the current reality of a COVID-induced economic recession, the Russian government finds itself in a precarious position where they must balance the risk of releasing Nalvany and allowing him to organize protests, versus the economic consequences and metaphorical martyrdom of sending him to serve out his prison sentence.”
Read More“The insurrection attempt & attack on the Capitol by right-wing extremists on January 6th had wide-reaching political impact, such as the (second) impeachment of Donald Trump and widening the divide between our political parties. A longer term consequence in North Carolina, especially for the GOP, is the trend of local corporations and businesspeople reconsidering their donations to politicians who may be perceived as encouraging the violence on January 6th or obstructing democracy by voting against the results of the 2020 election.”
Read More“By allowing wealthier individuals the opportunity to travel to remote locations for vaccine accessibility, medical care providers set a poor precedent. When privileged individuals are going to disenfranchised communities and “jumping the line” for the COVID-19 vaccine, taking away supplies from community members, what bigger display of privilege could governments possibly condone? The pandemic has already significantly widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor, and vaccine tourism highlights yet another clear disparity between the elite and poor populations of the world. Without any clear regulation about vaccine tourism – from federal or state governments – accessibility to vaccines will become yet another gross inequity the pandemic has unveiled.”
Read More“COVID-19 cases are especially prevalent in prisons due to the large numbers of people in close proximity to each other. In order to slow the spread in these facilities, the Department of Public Safety recommended some inmates should finish their sentence outside of prison. In just the first few months following this recommendation, over 200 inmates were scheduled to be released before their time. However, this attempt at mitigating the number of people infected has actually had the opposite effect.”
Read More“The controversy over the minimum wage, and the broader COVID relief bill, present the first major challenge of Biden’s presidency. As the negotiations progress, we may gain key insight into President Biden’s approach to governing. By working with Republicans, he can prove his commitment to uniting the country, but he must decide if that is worth temporarily abandoning his campaign promise of a $15 minimum wage.”
Read More“GameStock’s rapid ascension in stock price over the past two weeks will have far-reaching implications: it has shown that Wall Street can no longer ignore retail investors, it has shone a light on some of the illicit practices of hedges funds which contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, but perhaps most significantly—it has gotten people interested in the stock market. Even though the GME fad will eventually fade away, this event has created a new informed generation which will view the stock market as a viable way to make money, and that will likely contribute to a further democratization of the market.”
Read More“Many Democrats think Republicans have historically abused the filibuster to force their minority views on the entire country but, in recent years, the filibuster has been used by Democrats to block funding for Trump’s border wall, to protect unemployment benefits, and to stop Republicans from restricting abortion access. Abolishing the filibuster could allow Democrats to get things done while they are in power, but without a filibuster, the next time Republicans have the Senate majority Democrats will not have as immediate and effective a measure to prevent them from restricting voting access and eliminating reproductive rights.”
Read More“events in the Netherlands over the past week which, in response to stricter regulations and the implementation of a curfew, saw thousands take to the streets to protest, resulting in substantial damage, from smashed windows and fireworks to the burning of a COVID-19 testing center. The riots were in protest to the implementation of a curfew and harsher regulations across the country, which went into effect last Saturday, the day the riots began. According to a statement released by the Dutch government on January 20th, the new regulations were in response to concerns about new variants of the virus, stating, “The government is gravely concerned about the UK variant of COVID-19, which is even more infectious than the virus we are familiar with in the Netherlands. There are also other variants of the virus that are sparking concern,” adding that “New measures are needed in order to get these new variants under control.”
Read More“The Campaign for Accountability, a non-profit and non-partisan watchdog group that holds public figures accountable, has filed an ethics complaint against Madison Cawthorn (R-NC 11). Cawthorn is one of three Republicans the Campaign for Accountability is alleging incited the violent attack on the Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021. The organization is also arguing that Cawthorn broke a federal regulation and local law that prevented him from bringing his firearm into the building.”
Read More“No longer the president, but still a formidable political force, the Republican Party will likely be reckoning with Trump’s influence for years to come.”
Read More“Throughout Trump’s presidency, the media repeatedly faced backlash from conservatives and Trump supporters due to their alleged bias and vendetta against President Trump. However, now that Trump is no longer president and does not have his platform, the media will need to find another method to attract viewers. This might prove to be difficult for some outlets considering they have spent the last four years focusing on Trump and his Administration in more or less wall to wall coverage.“
Read More“Given the starkly contrasting governing styles between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, it should not come as a surprise that American foreign policy is being reworked under the new administration. After relations with allies such as France and Germany were stained under the Trump Administration, several nations’ leaders now welcome the Biden Administration with open arms and have begun talks immediately”
Read More“Prior to opening the polls there were multiple acts of violence leaving 40 individuals dead and others wounded. The government took multiple measures to limit the media’s presence and opposition candidates were harassed by authorities. Museveni won the election with 58% of the vote while Wine had 34% of the votes according to the results.”
Read More“In one of his final acts as Secretary of State, Pompeo formally accused Beijing of genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group. The Biden Administration inherits a myriad of foreign policy goals related to China and sees unique opportunities for bipartisan and multilateral action.”
Read More“Biden’s ambitious COVID stimulus package faces many obstacles in Washington and it may take longer than President Biden would want for Americans to get the coronavirus relief so many desperately need.”
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