One of the most prevalent theories in creating safer neighborhoods is the “broken windows theory” which suggests that cleaner and nicer looking neighborhoods deter crime. It’s a notion that’s been integrated into modern policing, but promoting responsible behavior is something the whole community needs to take part in. Healthy communities require vigilance and civic pride. These four tips for promoting safer neighborhoods draw deeply from the broken windows policy.… [Read more]
Top 4 Degrees to Help You Build a Career in Politics and Government
Building a career in politics and government can be a very noble aim. Our country needs knowledgeable, skilled people who are willing to compromise and have the best interests of the nation and the people at heart. Here are the top four degrees to prepare you for the life of a public servant.
1. Political Science
Perhaps an obvious answer, but a political science degree continues to be a great choice for students wanting to be involved in government.… [Read more]
Water Worries: What’s Being Done to Help Residents in Flint, MI?
More than two years have passed since the water contamination problems in Flint, Michigan, first came to light. From neurotoxins to high lead levels, this drinking water issue will surely become a mandatory topic of research for college students who are pursuing a masters of in emergency management or even an environmental law degree.
With thousands of children exposed to dangerous lead levels, the Flint water crisis has been cited of an example of how poor city management can lead to a series of catastrophic failures.… [Read more]
Why Prison Overcrowding is Still a Problem and What’s Being Done
When a person is sentenced in court, there is a possibility they will go to prison, and many prisons in the country today are overcrowded. A government study showed that between 2006 and 2011, overcrowding affected all security levels in prisons. Inmates sleep on the floor, there isn’t enough food, and there aren’t enough guards to protect those who are incarcerated.… [Read more]
Why Voting Still Matters and Who’s Producing the Best Turnout
One of the more common excuses for not heading to the polls on Election Day is “my vote doesn’t count”. Many see voting as a waste of time that has no impact on anything that happens in terms of policy. And the large amounts of money flowing into campaigns these days does little to dissuade citizens of this notion.… [Read more]
Testing Overload: What’s Happening to America’s Public Schools?
You remember the stress all too well. You can almost recreate the sense of dread you felt as you studied well into the night, and still feel the jitters of sitting in that hard wooden desk waiting for your teacher to hand you several sheets of paper filled with question after question. And now your child has to suffer through the same experience.… [Read more]
How is Immigration Reform Affecting the Polls?
Immigration reform has been a hot topic in the year leading up to the 2016 presidential elections. Every major presidential candidate has made explicit remarks regarding their stance on the issue of immigration and naturalization within the United States. Some have supported more openness in immigration policies, while others have appealed to the masses for a need to reduce immigration and make it more difficult to reach to US.… [Read more]
Bread Behind Bars: What’s Changing on Prison Menus?
Prisoners may be having more of an opportunity to eat healthier, thanks to a recent boom in prison gardens and a fight for better mental and physical health within the legal system. The initial idea of hardened criminals living it up on fresh fruits and vegetables may be uncomfortable, but keep in mind that one of the biggest populations of current prisoners are nonviolent prisoners arrested on drug charges.… [Read more]
Second Amendment: What are Your Real Rights?
In very recent history, an individual’s right to bear arms has become a hot topic of debate. The Second Amendment is commonly quoted in order to argue the individual’s rights, but when the Second Amendment was first conceptualized this individualistic rights approach was far from the contemporary interpretation. Originally the meaning behind the highly debated phrase was interpreted to apply strictly to those involved in militia service especially after the rebellion.… [Read more]
Government Agencies that Keep Us Safe from Cybercrime
Cybercrime is one of the biggest threats in our country today, notes the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition to having a negative impact on consumer safety, cybercrime can hurt our economic prosperity.
Fortunately, a variety of government agencies are working hard to make sure to protect us from cybercrime. From local law enforcement to national organizations, steps are in place to protect us from online scammers.… [Read more]
Gambling as a Backup to States’ Budget
It seems in the aftermath of the recent economic crash a lot of states having begun reversing their policies on gambling in order to combat their budget constraints and expand the amount of money they pull in from taxation.
Online gambling and slot machines in lottery halls are common sight across the UK and other European countries, in fact you can visit a website like paypal-casinos.co and within minutes you’ll be playing a slot game.… [Read more]
Do we really need a government?
I wondered about political feelings and attitudes during my recent break. On the right, we have the radical way of thinking being pushed (and mostly financed) by corporations and many wealthy people whose goals are not what their followers believe. Corporations and other moneyed interests will tell you “No”, they believe the government must be small and stay away from businesses.… [Read more]
Are Small Arms Really the Antidote to a Tyrannical Government?
Gun ownership is the only thing that stands between us innocent citizens and a government with the potential to turn tyrannical at any moment—or so the gun lobby would have you believe.
As the argument usually goes, the citizenry needs access to semi-automatic and automatic weapons in order to protect itself if the government decides to violently subjugate its own people.… [Read more]
Tyranny in the Private Sphere
The large, tyrannical state has always been one of the greatest threats to freedom and liberty. And even in our current age, unchecked government power continues to stifle human progress and expression, not only abroad but in the United States as well. For, in even in our country, the state, both at the federal and local level, still punishes its citizens for indulging in the “wrong” types of narcotics—it still denies equal rights to those of a different sexual orientation, it still retains the unchecked, lethal authority of one person, the executive, to sentence death upon any citizen the president deems a “terrorist.”
Yet, although the illiberal actions of the state still need to be combated government is not the only source of tyranny—it is not the only enemy of freedom.… [Read more]
Occupy, But Read Too
Work: it’s what we do to eat. It’s where we meet most of the people we know when we first move to a new place. It’s where we spend most of our hours awake, and sometimes sleep there when we’re tired and nod off behind the computer. We are the one country that people from other nations think that, “lives to work.”
What happened to that? … [Read more]
What To Get Your GOP Crush For Valentine’s Day
So it’s Valentine’s Day, and even though you totally decided last week that you LOURVEE [GOP primary candidate] and totally want to go steady with him, you just were too busy and forgot to get the Valentine’s chocolates/card/Super PAC you meant to. Now all you can imagine is him sitting at home alone chugging caviar-covered Haagen Daaz (or whatever rich people eat), sobbing bitterly and ruminating on those sad, sad Elementary years when Joanie McAmerica would pass them by for the older, cooler candidates.… [Read more]
The Hubris of Heterosexuality
It’s amazing what people think they can say to you.
“I mean, I don’t accept your lifestyle, but we can still be cool.”
Whatchu mean you don’t accept my lifestyle, but “we” can still be cool? Who the fuck do you think you are?
I’ve pretty much had it with benevolent acceptance of willful ignorance. If cats are on stupid shit, I feel compelled to not only be intolerant of it, but also to call it out when I see it.… [Read more]