Brief #35 – Elections and Politics
By Roarke Cullenbine
With the leak of the Justice Alito’s draft opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the court’s clear disregard for respecting prior precedent sets aside any concerns for the institution’s legitimacy. The real issue, of course, is the loss of the right to have bodily autonomy.
Brief #31 – Elections and Politics
By Erika Shannon
There have been many changes on our nation’s home front since the January 6th insurrection in the U.S. Capitol; and some of these changes are being made to ensure that events like that will never occur again, on either side. Chairperson Bennie Thompson and his US House Select Committee panel have been investigating the events that transpired on January 6th with one mission in mind: preserve the democratic process. There have been endless subpoenas, documents submitted, and interviews, so what is still to come in this lengthy process?
Of course, there are the matters of getting people to cooperate who have been unwilling to do so. This includes people like former president Donald Trump and his closest cohorts, such as Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows. Earlier this month, Bannon was hit with a federal indictment and charged with two counts of contempt of Congress. This came after he refused to provide testimony or documents to the January 6th Select Committee. His defiance is seen as extreme due to the fact that he was not willing to even appear before investigators under subpoena, even if to assert other alleged privileges. It is seen as a move that may prompt others to follow suit and do their best to derail the investigation.
Brief #138 – Health and Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
Elizabeth Holmes, founder, and CEO of Theranos was on top of the world a decade ago. After just two semesters at Stanford, the dropout partnered with Ramesh Balwani (her BF) to develop a ground-breaking medical device that could run hundreds of medical tests on a tiny amount of blood obtained with a pinprick. She aspired to be the next Steve Jobs and emulated him in every respect.
Brief #130 – Foreign Policy
By Erin Mayer
Southern Haiti is still recovering from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in August. The disaster left over 2,200 deaths, 12,000 injuries and decimated over 53,000 homes in it’s wake. For an island nation still reeling from disasters of the past, how is the United States lending a hand today?
Brief #129 – Foreign Policy
By Adrian Cole
The Brits, the French, and the Germans have all left, and as of August 31, the Americans have wrapped up their airlift operation and departed as well.
What happened?
Brief #125 – Foreign Policy
By Erin Mayer
The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti has rocked an island already rife with violence and turmoil. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield was forced to flee the island early after gunfire erupted at Moïse’s funeral. How the island fares after this ongoing turmoil is still unclear and the U.S. has vowed to not assist.
Brief #60 – Technology
By Henry Lenard
Even as space commerce soars to new heights, it appears the world continues to gird itself for the inevitability of warfare in the heavens. At the official opening of the new UK Space Command on July 30, two top British military officers directly criticized China and Russia for their “reckless” behavior in space, such as using weapons to destroy satellites. That activity has left a trail of dangerous space debris in Earth’s orbit.
The two commanders also left open the possibility that the UK could develop its own weapons to defend assets in space for the first time.
Brief #59 – Technology
By Henry Lenard
The successful space tourism flights of Richard Branson aboard his Virgin Galactic craft and Jeff Bezos on his Blue Origin rocket have drawn new attention to what is happening in the skies above us. It also has many asking the question who has oversight of commercial ventures in space.
Brief #55 – Technology
By Henry Lenard
In public remarks last week President Biden implied that China’s main intelligence service had a role in the cyberattack on Microsoft’s email software earlier this year. Biden’s remarks underscored China’s decades long history of economic espionage.
Brief #54 – Technology
By Henry Lenard
In response to the so-called ‘War on Science’ by the previous presidential administration of Donald Trump, Rep. Paul Tomko (D-NY) has reintroduced the Scientific Integrity Act. The bill currently has 169 co-sponsors.