500 miles from the Chinese mainland, Chinese dredgers have nearly completed a string of man-made islands in the South China Sea. The islands, added to the Spratly Island archipelago, have rapidly expanded since March 2014, when they were first photographed … Read More
As it currently stands, California’s minimum wage is set at $10.00 per hour. In San Francisco, workers can expect to make a minimum of $12.25 per hour. However, by 2022, the California minimum wage is set to jump to $15.00 … Read More
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has revealed the enormous partisan tension lurking in our political system, and our politicized Supreme Court. Not hours after Scalia’s death, a fierce battle erupted between Democrats and Republicans over a seemingly … Read More
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Police Chief Greg Suhr announced police policy and procedural changes aiming to reduce police shootings by 80 percent. In addition to this tangible goal, the city’s police department hopes the changes will rebuild the … Read More
On November eight of this year, American voters will elect the 45th president of the United States. However, America’s two major political parties must first decide who they will nominate to be their party’s candidate. In order to win their party’s … Read More
On January 5, 2016, President Barack Obama unveiled his newest plan to curb gun violence and implement stricter gun control regulations. In a televised event in front of the families of some of those affected by gun violence, the President … Read More
Mayor–Ed Lee As anticipated, the incumbent Mayor Ed Lee was reelected on November 3rd. The clear front- runner from the start, Mayor Lee received 55% of the vote. The rest of the votes were distributed among his opponents Francisco Herrera, … Read More
Refugee Crisis by the Numbers 137,00 — the number of refugees the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates have travelled across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, from January 2015 to July 2015. 1,867 — the number of … Read More
Real estate mogul Donald Trump threw a tantrum last week after it was discovered he is actually an immigrant. When President Barack Obama demanded Trump release his birth certificate, Trump became visibly distressed, breaking into a nervous sweat. Trump insisted … Read More
In a recent landmark legislation signed by Indiana Governor Mike Pence, businesses and individuals in Indiana now have the right to deny service to gay people. SB-101, or the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” will allow businesses to use “religious freedom” as … Read More
Pope Francis, continuing with his trend of pushing boundaries in the Catholic community, announced in October 2014 to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that he believes in evolution, to a certain extent. Pope Francis, originally Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of … Read More
As of February 2, 2015, there are 22,334 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. There are 13,773 laboratory-confirmed cases and 8,921 deaths. On January 15, 2015, one year after the first Ebola cases surfaced in Guinea, the … Read More
In March 1971, Congress passed the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. In January 2015, fifteen youth on the San Francisco Youth Commission, a city-mandated body that advises the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, are seeking … Read More
A bomb went off outside the Colorado Springs chapter of the NAACP (NationalAssociation for the Advancement of Colored People) in mid-January. Nobody was harmed by the attempt, which detonated outside the doors of the NAACP building at 10:45 am, leaving the … Read More
It seems that politicians are getting younger and younger every day—at least, that’s the case in West Virginia (and an episode of Parks and Recreation). 18-year old Saira Blair, a freshman at West Virginia University, set precedents in elections last … Read More
The debate over assisted suicide has been re-sparked by terminally ill brain cancer patient Brittany Maynard, who died by prescribed lethal overdose. Maynard was given six months to live after being diagnosed. She chose to forego full brain radiation, which … Read More
The vitriolic campaigns between Republicans and Democrats (and some Independents) had gone on for months. November 4, 2014 was election day, the final day of voting for the midterm election. All of the 435 seats in the House and 36 … Read More
As each minute passed after 8 p.m. CST on Monday, November 24, 2014, the more than 200 protestors huddled in front of the Ferguson Police Department ignored the chilly evening temperature and waited in anticipation of St. Louis County Prosecutor … Read More
“Tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!” Prior to September 18, 2014, these words from the film Braveheart defined most people’s notions of Scottish sense of independence from England. Unfortunately for … Read More
Friday, October 24, 2014 “It’s impossible to look into a glass ball and say we’re going to have this many or that many [cases], but we anticipate the number of cases occurring per week by that time [December] to be … Read More
On October 13, police in Ferguson, Missouri, arrested at least 50 protesters from a 500-person gathering outside a Ferguson police station on charges of civil disobedience. These protestors were continuing the demonstrations that began over two months ago, after Michael … Read More
In Palestine on April 23, a step was made towards peace as Hamas and Fatah, the two political groups that govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively, signed an agreement in Gaza City paving the way towards a … Read More
On February 22, Mexican Marines and police stormed into the Aenida del Mar Condo tower in Mazatlan. There, they captured the world’s most wanted drug lord, Joaquín Guzmán (“El Chapo”), who had been lying in bed next to his beauty … Read More
San Francisco supervisors are currently proposing a ballot measure that would impose a tax on sugary beverages sold within the city. The measure, which would impose a two-penny per ounce fee on soda distributors, is expected to be considered by … Read More
The Obama administration is currently in a tricky situation regarding the prospective completion of the Keystone pipeline by TransCanada, an energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. Most of the pipeline already exists, linking Canadian tar sands in the province of … Read More
Smoke and fire lick the pavement of Independence Square in Kiev, an aptly named plaza, since the feet of Ukrainians have marched defiantly on its pavement for protests throughout history: the Orange Revolution, Ukraine Without Kuchma and, today, Euromaidan. Like … Read More
When you hear “Winter Olympics,” you probably think about snowboarding and ice-skating. However, you probably do not think about equal rights. Yet, that is what has dominated many news stories about the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Russia has … Read More
Japan, geographically separated from the rest of Asia by three seas, has politically distanced itself even further through the recent actions of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Abe was Japan’s Prime Minister from 2006 until his resignation less than a year … Read More
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, called “Madiba” in honor of his Xhosa clan name, certainly believed seemingly impossible things could be done. Madiba was denied the right to be an equal citizen, born in … Read More
Melissa Bachman, an avid huntress and television personality, posted a controversial photo on Twitter in early November. Some would call it shocking, horrifying, even; others would say it is just a part of life. The photo features Bachman and a … Read More
Title IX, the most widely known portion of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, bans discrimination based on sex in schools receiving federal aid. However, there are a number of popular colleges and universities around the country are currently facing … Read More
July 12, 2013 was Malala Day. Malala Day honors Malala Yousafzai, a sixteen-year-old Pakistani girl who works to bring education to underprivileged girls around the world. “Malala Day is not my day,” said Yousafzai in a speech before the … Read More
One month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Obama declared new gun-control legislation that would help prevent homicides such as the ones that happened in Newtown, Connecticut last year. However, in April of this year, the Senate … Read More
In hopes of reducing the stress placed on students and increasing enrollment rates in both the senior year of high school and higher education, the Ministry of Education in China has drafted an education reform plan. Included in drafts of … Read More
In an international community largely opposed to the current regime in Syria, Russia has become one of the few allies of the Bashar al-Assad regime. While Russian support for a regime that has used chemical weapons against its own citizens … Read More
The people of the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria for short) have seen decades of struggles, tension, and conflict. They have seen a dynastic series of Assads lead their small nation for over 40 years. They have seen peaceful protests against … Read More