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(05/03/16 9:58pm)
By Roman Orsini
Has anyone ever told you to trust your gut? To many, this advice can sound like whimsical nonsense with no basis in science or reason. If we were to put all of our trust in what our gut has to say, it seems as though we would be busier consuming food than making rational choices. Yet a growing body of research suggests that our gut instincts deserve some real attention as we navigate through the critical decisions and actions life requires.
Try to imagine instances in your life during which you felt an indescribable feeling that something was about to go wrong. Was there a voice inside telling you to act (or not act), even though your conscious self saw no urgent need?
Maybe you’re at a party on a Friday night when you get such a feeling. You abruptly decide to call it an early night, only to find out later that shortly after you left, the police arrived to break up the festivities.
Conversely, have you ever had a nagging feeling that you should go out on a Friday night, even though you’re dead tired from a busy week? So you drag yourself out to a party, or spend time with a group you are less acquainted with, and end up meeting a lovely romantic interest?
Maybe you randomly think about someone you know, but haven’t seen in awhile, only to encounter that person unexpectedly a few days later. Maybe you meet someone for the first time and they seem kind, but afterwards, you feel physical stress and a certain unease when you reflect on the encounter.
These are all instances of your gut trying to tell you something of which your brain is unaware. In the field of psychology, the gut feeling may be referred to as intuition, or the potential to perceive truth and gain knowledge about your environment without applying direct inference or reasoning. Simply put, intuition is what we didn’t know we knew.
Although the field of psychology remains unsure of how to classify the intuitive process and no concrete definitions exist for it, the College’s psychology Department Chair and Professor Jeanine Vivona has some ideas.
“Intuition is not something that is disconnected from a person’s meaning-making mind,” Vivona said. “Instead, what gives intuition its unique feeling, similar to déjà vu, perhaps, is that we don’t know why we have this intuition about something. We don’t know where the gut feeling or hunch or intuition comes from. So the processes underlying intuition are those that involve other kinds of thinking, as well as emotional processes.”
Some researchers suggest that gut feelings are compilations of one’s life experiences assembled unconsciously, but readily available to draw on in real-life situations.
“(Intuition is) this unconscious-conscious learned experience center that you can draw on from your years of being alive,” said Melody Wilding, a human behavior professor at Hunter College, according to ballastpoint.com, a business advice Website. “It holds insights that aren’t immediately available to your conscious mind right now, but they’re all things that you’ve learned and felt. In the moment, we might not be readily able to access specific information, but our gut has it at the ready.”
Some people may think of themselves as naturally intuitive or logical thinkers, as if their thought processes must be on opposite sides of a spectrum. But in reality, we all possess intuition. What varies between people is the degree to which we are willing to listen and follow our intuitive side.
Wherever it may pop up, we should all strive to at least consider our intuition so we may allow the fullest range of our faculties to guide our actions. Given the mysterious nature of intuition, gut feelings may unsettle us because we are hesitant to follow behaviors we can’t explain. However, we should all learn to trust ourselves and our instincts — or at the very least until cognitive science can explain our gut feelings more precisely.
Students share opinions around campus
Should people "trust their gut?"
“It tends to be right... If you have a bad feeling about something, you should probably not do it.”
“Yeah... Usually your first thought is your best thought.”
(03/22/16 8:20pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Thirty members of the College’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, attended the Sigma Tau Delta 2016 International Convention in Minneapolis, Minn., from Wednesday, March 2, to Saturday, March 5. The event hosted 612 students from 189 colleges around the country who presented their original works and participated in roundtable discussions.
This annual conference centered around the theme “Finding Home,” something the written works and activities intended to reflect. This year’s theme was chosen by the College’s own Diane Steinberg and Felicia Steele, assistant professors of English and co-chairs of the conference. English Department Chair Glenn Steinberg and Associate Professor of English Emily Meixner also attended the conference in support of the College’s chapter.
The conference hosted two main guest speakers, chosen by Steinberg, who have authored books relevant to the theme. The first speaker was author Charles Baxter, whose novel, “The Soul Thief,” was a recommended reading for those who attended the conference. Baxter spoke to the theme of finding home by saying that through literature, one develops the ability to empathize and feel connected to people he otherwise considers strangers, Steele said.
The second speaker was Kao Kalia Yang, whose work, “The Latehomecomer,” recounted the resettlement of her people, the Hmong — a southern Chinese minority persecuted for aiding the U.S. during the Vietnam War — as political refugees in the U.S.
The conference also provided students with a platform to network with one another through professional development workshops. Students gained a further understanding of the job opportunities associated with the English major, all while appreciating each other’s work.
“Students could really get a sense of the range of careers that are accessible to them,” outside of more conventional professions one typically expects to find English majors, like editing and teaching roles, Steele said.
Students were exposed to professionals who applied their English education toward more diverse fields such as nonprofit work, research and development and writing for developmental agencies, according to Steele.
Several students from the College were recognized at the conference for their work. Senior English major Andrew Ryan won third place for the Diversity Award for his critical writing. Senior English and marketing double major Julia Woolever won first place in the Critical Essay category for British or World Literature.
“Winning was especially gratifying because last year my submission wasn’t even accepted. Going from one extreme to the other was totally unexpected for me, and I’m thrilled that I was able to do so,” Woolever said. “I couldn’t have done it without the help of the English Department here at TCNJ.”
In addition, junior English and secondary education dual major Samantha Miller and junior English and secondary education dual major Caitlin Mannion won second and third place for the English Education and Pedagogy awards, respectively.
The conference also awarded students with leadership positions. Miller was elected to a student advisor position and will sit on the Sigma Tau Delta Board of Directors for two years. Junior English and secondary education dual major Jenna Burke became an associate student representative for the chapters in the eastern region of the U.S.
“The profile of the College... amongst active Sigma Tau Delta chapters is very high… We have managed to create a very high reputation for ourselves at the convention,” Steinberg said.
(02/23/16 8:53pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Associate Justice to the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia, 79, died at a ranch in west Texas on Saturday, Feb. 13. Scalia spent the weekend hunting, until his host, John Poindexter, a wealthy Texan business man, found him dead in his bed that morning, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Without seeing his body and without ordering an autopsy, a local county judge, Cinderella Guevara, declared Scalia died from natural causes, according to the Washington Post.
While the lack of definite proof of Scalia’s death, otherwise known as declaration in absentia, was permissible under Texas law and the family did not want an autopsy performed, conspiracy theories quickly arose that Scalia was potentially murdered, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court during the Reagan administration in 1986 and was the first Italian-American to hold the position. He served until his passing and had a say in outcomes of numerous hearings by the Supreme Court.
Scalia is recognized as a constitutional originalist, applying a strict interpretation of America’s founding documents, based on original context, to derive their legal intent, the Washington Post reported. To the delight of his admirers and ire of his detractors, Scalia was among the most consistently conservative justices to ever hold the position.
As such, several conservative radio hosts and groups began calling for a murder investigation in the wake of Scalia’s death, fearing assassination had removed a prominent conservative justice in order to fill the vacancy with a left-leaning one, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Such fears were stoked following statements by Poindexter, who originally told the San Antonio Express-News that he found Scalia with the pillow over his head.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump harped on this statement to suggest foul-play in Scalia’s passing, Poindexter quickly specified his original comments to CBS, saying the pillow was between Scalia’s head and the backboard of the bed.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Scalia was in poor health prior to his passing. He was deemed too fragile to undergo shoulder surgery and had high blood pressure. His family has also accepted the conclusions of the local judge.
Still, the conspiracies surrounding Scalia’s death among select conservative circles pervades into the process of choosing his successor. Republicans in Congress reject any move by President Barack Obama to appoint a new justice in his last year in office, having already appointed justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Although recent historical precedent exists for Obama to do so, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has insisted that the next justice should be appointed by the next president, whom McConnell presumes will be a Republican, according to CNN.
Obama has stated that he intends to nominate a successor in his last year, according to ABC News.
The interplay between presidential and judicial politics will see the Republican-controlled. Congress looking to delay, or simply decline to vote on any nominees from President Obama.
Scalia’s funeral was held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Feb. 20, before thousands of onlookers, according to the Washington Post.
In a perceived furtherance of the partisanship surrounding Scalia’s replacement, Obama received flak for not being in attendance.
(02/16/16 9:03pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
In a monetary policy report to Congress on Thursday, Feb. 11, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen imparted a more cautionary tone than she had in some of her previous meetings, outlining several factors opposed to continued economic growth.
Since the central bank raised interest rates in December 2015, its first such move since 2006, equity markets around the world have been rattled by losses. According to CNN, over a trillion dollars was lost in the U.S. stock market by Sunday, Jan. 17, due to a series of sell-offs that have persisted into February. Just as Yellen delivered her testimony, precipitous falls in stocks sent international investors scrambling to purchase gold bullion in record numbers, according to the Telegraph, as a bulwark against any global financial crisis.
The main sources of difficulty, Yellen cited, arise from weak foreign trade and volatile equity markets, stemming from China in particular. Yellen signaled that economic expansion in the United States may be subject to downturns internationally, given the increased interdependence of global financial markets and trade.
The slump in oil and commodity prices has depressed growth in many developing countries, lessening the demand for U.S. exports, according to Bloomberg. The rebounded strength of the dollar, relative to other currencies, has also made American goods less competitive for international trade, reducing net exports.
For these factors, the U.S. gross domestic product only grew at a rate of 0.75 percent last quarter. Financial markets are also experiencing greater dealings in higher-risk assets to investors demanding higher returns, given the uncertain environment.
CNBC reported that analysts from Citigroup, a large investment bank, warned that the global economy was on a death spiral due to a stronger dollar, reduced international trade and weaker growth in China and developing countries — many of the same causes Yellen described.
Indeed, a crisis of confidence within the banking sector has been a major impediment to a more boisterous, nonfinancial, economic growth in the years since the last crisis. It took almost a decade of loose monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and other central banks aimed at expanding credit to support greater investment and a ultimately recovery. While short-term rallies in stocks have, until recently, been a mainstay of the Fed’s credit expansion, little can be demonstrated in terms of real economic growth.
By nearly all measures, the years since the financial crisis represent the worst economic recovery after a recession, compared to the last eight recessions since 1960, according to CNBC. Domestic commercial banks have kept a combined two trillion dollars dormant by purchasing safe assets, such as U.S. bonds, instead of engaging in lending or investment, according to Bloomberg.
Foreign banks have also been less keen on lending, instead shoring up their reserves with government bonds. Governments are increasingly responding with negative interest rate bonds, which make the buyer pay a rate just to lend his money with the government. Central banks in Europe and Japan have begun to apply negative interest rates to their shorter-term bonds, the idea being to disincentivize banks from hoarding their cash by charging them instead of paying them interest.
Many perceive such a move as a sign of desperation by central bankers, who have used up their available tools to improve conditions. Yellen, however, when asked about the possibility of negative interest rates in the U.S., said, “it is something we will look at,” according to the New York Times.
(12/02/15 7:45pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
On Monday, Nov. 23, Pfizer and Allergan, two large pharmaceutical companies, agreed to a merger which stands to create the world’s largest drug company by market value at $300 billion, according to the Economist.
The value of the resultant corporation will exceed the stock market value of Johnson & Johnson, the current largest drug and medical device producer, according to Forbes.
The merger will see Pfizer purchase Allergan for $160 billion. By completing the merger, Pfizer looks to expand its market capitalization and cut operating costs by broadening the scale of its services while reducing its tax burden considerably.
Pfizer is a heavyweight within the pharmaceutical industry — one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to the Economist. The company is based out of New York City and has been listed in the Dow Jones Industrial average among the largest publicly traded U.S. corporations for over a decade.
Allergan has been based out of Dublin, Ireland, since 1950. The company is most noted for its invention of Botox, a chemical compound which affects nerve tissues, used for both cosmetic and medical purposes, BBC reported.
Perhaps the most significant consequence of the merger will be to effectively end the American corporate “citizenship” of Pfizer, as it becomes one with the Irish company, Allergan, the New York Times reported.
Upon the merger’s completion, Pfizer will move its headquarters from New York to Dublin and, consequently, will no longer be subject to America’s corporate tax rate, at roughly 40 percent. In the past, Pfizer has publicly railed against America’s corporate taxation and how such high rates hinder the ability of U.S. corporations to compete globally, according to the New York Times.
Ireland, by contrast, has a corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent, according to Forbes, which saves its corporations much of their profits and lends to greater competitiveness, especially in the global market of scale.
The trend of American corporations moving operations abroad to dodge tax obligations has been well established in recent years and has been identified as a major issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, CNN reported.
In fact, just before Pfizer sought the merger with Allergan, the company was looking to acquire British drug company, AstraZeneca, presumably to take advantage of Britain’s low corporate tax rate, according to CNN.
Corporate mergers are becoming increasingly prevalent, as well, as companies look to combine their operations to increase their scale and reduce costs by relocating to countries with more favorable tax policies.
This month has also seen the announcement of a new merger for the beer industry between AB InBev and SABMiller, the makers of Budweiser and Miller, respectively, according to BBC.
(09/16/15 6:12pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
As the stock market opened on Monday, Aug. 24, a global series of sell-offs sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a composite index for the 30 largest U.S. corporations, tumbling down over 1,000 points.
The Dow recouped some of its losses, yet closed 588 points in the red — the eighth worst day in its history, Marketwatch reported. Other key indexes like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, fell by 3.2 and 3.5 percent, respectively, their biggest losses since 2011, according to Marketwatch.
European markets also witnessed their worst day of trading since 2011, reported the The Guardian. Britain’s FTSE 100, which indexes its largest companies, lost almost £74 billion in value, according to The Guardian.
Market calamities in China, and the government’s recent devaluation of the Chinese Yuan, are seen as the main catalyst for losses internationally.
According to The Guardian, since the initial plunge, markets have been particularly volatile, with stocks rallying briefly, only to drop again at the start of September.
Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis in 2008, the Federal Reserve began a program called quantitative easing, whereby the central bank purchases treasuries from the federal government, and mortgage-backed securities from insolvent banks, reported Business Insider.
The aim of these continual, monthly purchases is to keep interest rates artificially low, and shore up the banking system with injections of credit from which it can lend, according to Business Insider.
Interest rates reflect the cost of borrowing for households, firms, as well as the government. By lowering or raising rates, the Federal Reserve can steer the economy towards credit booms or contractions, as it monitors overall employment and price levels.
Since the 2008 crisis, the Federal Reserve has expanded the creation of new credit in the hopes that economic activity will increase with trivial results, reported Business Insider.
According to Business Insider, investor speculation that the Federal Reserve would raise its rates this month, in part, has led to the downturn in stocks.
The International Monetary Fund, (IMF), recently warned the Federal Reserve to postpone its interest rate hike until inflation and wage inflation had risen. The IMF said a rate hike, “could result in significant market volatility and financial stability consequences that go well beyond U.S. borders,” reported The Guardian.
A crisis of confidence in the Fed’s monetary policy, and the massive outgrowth of debt it has helped to create, stand to fundamentally rattle the economy in the near future.
(04/16/15 8:58pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Russian hackers breached a White House computer system on Wednesday, April 8, CNN reported. The breach is considered among the most sophisticated attacks launched against government systems by the FBI and other agencies investigating it. Months prior to the breach, the hackers had infiltrated the State Department and used its systems as a platform to reach the White House.
According to CNN, “the intrusion was routed through computers around the world, as hackers often do to hide their tracks, but investigators found tell-tale codes and other markers that they believe point to hackers working for the Russian government.”
The hackers gained access to an unclassified system, which revealed non-public documents pertaining to President Obama’s schedule. Although the attack didn’t reap any classified information, such as details of the president’s day and real time whereabouts — both of which are considered sensitive information and sought by foreign intelligence agencies — like Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Cyber warfare is understood as the use of computers to disrupt or destroy information systems, networks or infrastructure. The breach of State Department and White House computers did not destroy their infrastructure, but may also represent a lesser cyber attack in the form of an intrusion onto a sensitive government network.
In 2012, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned the Senate Armed Services Committee about the threat posed by cyber attacks from abroad.
“I’m very concerned at the potential (of attacks) to be able to cripple our power grid, to be able to cripple our government systems, to be able to cripple our financial systems,” Panetta said.
The recent advent of cyberspace technology and its weaponization by nations and non-state actors has proliferated evenly in recent years, leaving the United States without its usual strategic advantage or institutional framework for understanding this new frontier.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with Fox News, “In every domain ... we generally enjoy a significant military advantage, but we have peer competitors in cyber.” Russia and China are perceived as the most significant rivals to U.S. cyber capability.
With a more level playing field in such capabilities, the U.S. cannot deter sophisticated cyber attacks from other nations with the same overwhelming power it demonstrates in conventional warfare. Furthermore, the U.S. military remains undecided about its “rules of engagement,” with regard to cyber attacks. Questions such as, at what level of damage does a cyber attack be considered an overt act of war, is unclear, according to the Washington Post.
(04/10/15 3:54am)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Nigeria held its presidential election on Saturday, March 28. As the most populous democracy in Africa, this was among the largest election to have taken place on the continent to date, according to CNN. The opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, was elected by 2.5 million votes, replacing incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan.
Nigeria is divided politically and culturally between its Muslim north and Christian south. According to BBC, the country has a political tradition of alternating presidential power between northern and southern presidents — a means to balance the ethnic rivalries that have troubled Nigeria since its nationhood. Jonathan, a Christian president since 2010, was the first leader to peacefully concede his power to Buhari, a Muslim.
According to the Independent, the election was originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14, but was delayed due to the ongoing threat by Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group, with links to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al Qaeda.
Boko Haram, whose name loosely translates to “western education is sinful,” was a key issue in the election and a major source of instability in the region. According to the Economist, Boko Haram took up an insurgency against the Nigerian government in 2009. Last year, the Islamic militants took control of large swathes of territory in the northeast. The group is also active in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
The group provoked international outrage last year for its abduction of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who have yet to be recovered. More recently, Boko Haram publicly declared its solidarity with ISIS, even adopting the ISIS flag as its own, according to Al-Arabiya. At a meeting of the U.N. this January, President Jonathan said Boko Haram has killed roughly 13,000 people since the insurgency began.
Nigerians fault their government’s inability to defend the country against these terrorists. President Buhari, who previously ran Nigeria as a military dictator in the 1980s, was largely elected to defeat Boko Haram.
According to the Root, “Nigerian voters placed their bets on the former army junta commander with battlefield experience rather than the disappointing lifelong politician, (Jonathan), who still didn’t bring those kidnapped schoolgirls back.”
Following his election, Buhari said, “Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror.”
Widespread corruption also continues to plague Nigeria, as a product of the country’s vast oil wealth and kleptocratic governance. Oil revenues that are intended to fund public services are often siphoned into the hands of governing officials. It remains to be seen how Buhari’s government will deal with corruption, though he has recognized the issue, according to CBS.
(04/01/15 11:18pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
In Yemen, a rebel insurgency called the Houthis took over the capital, Sana’a, after a coup’ d’etat which began last September. Having ousted the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has since fled to Saudi Arabia, the Houthis solidified political control in Yemen on Friday, Feb. 6, according to BBC. The crisis has prompted a recent military intervention by neighboring Gulf countries to reverse the coup.
The Houthi rebels are part of a Shia sect called the Zaydi, which comprises 30 percent of Yemen’s population, according to Fox News. The group began its uprising in 2004 and has already fought a series of skirmishes with the Yemeni government. Since the Arab Spring uprisings spread to Yemen in 2011, the group controlled territory in the northwest region of the country. The Houthis are not supported by all Zaydis and are now further at odds with Yemen’s majority-Sunni population.
According to RT, Saudi Arabia, while leading a coalition of eight other Arab states and Pakistan, began a bombing campaign against the Houthis on Wednesday, March 25. The operation, ironically named “Decisive Storm,” has been aimed at Houthi positions in Sana’a and is intended to twart the rebels’ advance in the hopes of reinstating the deposed government of Hadi.
The coalition contains members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, (GCC): Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC is also joined by Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan.
Hadi, speaking at a recent Arab League Summit in Egypt, called the Houthis “stooges of Iran,” according to BBC.
The conflict has been described by correspondents as a “proxy war” between Sunni Arab nations and Shia Iran, according to BBC. As a Shia militia, the Houthis are supported by the Iranian government, whom the Gulf States fear is working to destabilize the region and bring its influence to their backyard.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are already considered to be regional rivals: The two support opposing sides in the Syrian Civil War and have been at considerable odds over Iran’s nuclear development in recent years. The latest crisis in Yemen has pitted them against each other again. It remains unclear just how far either side is willing to expand the conflict, yet according to NBC, Saudi Arabia has recently mobilized 150,000 troops near its border with Yemen.
As the situation in Sana’a began to deteriorate last month, the United States evacuated its diplomatic staff and military personnel from Yemen on Wednesday, Feb. 11, according to TheBlaze. Although the U.S. is not playing an active military role in response to the crisis, it’s providing intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition.
(03/23/15 7:33pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before Congress about the ongoing U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran on Tuesday, March 3. Netanyahu warned of Iranian aggression and that the deal being negotiated could still empower Iran to build nuclear weapons in the future, according to his speech.
The speech follows a political spat between Netanyahu, bolstered by the Republican leadership in Congress, and the Obama administration over the issue.
In this year’s State of the Union Address, President Obama said he would veto any new sanctions on Iran, as they could prevent a deal from being reached before the Tuesday, March 31 deadline. The administration insists that the deal being negotiated would prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) rebuffed the negotiations and invited Netanyahu to speak last month without consulting Obama, according to the Huffington Post.
Netanyahu’s divergence of opinion with the administration has seemingly injected the American-Israeli relationship with domestic, partisan politics. According to CNN, 50 Democratic House members and eight senators did not attend the speech, as they found it “an affront to the president.”
Despite the politicization of his appearance, Netanyahu maintained that such a stir was never his motive. The day before at an AIPAC Policy Conference, Netanyahu said, “Israel has always been a bipartisan issue.”
Netanyahu warned of the threat posed to Israel, the region and the world by the marriage of nuclear weapons to the radical ideology of Iran’s regime. He described Iran’s revolutionary founders as zealots, whose aim is to export jihad and revolution. Iranian support for terrorist and revolutionary groups extends the country’s influence while destabilizing the region.
“Iran’s goons in Gaza, its lackeys in Lebanon, its revolutionary guards on the Golan Heights are clutching Israel with three tentacles of terror,” Netanyahu said.
Iran supports the Assad regime in Syria and the Houthi rebels that recently toppled the Yemeni government, according to the Washington Post.
If the regime were to possess nuclear weapons, Netanyahu likened the scenario to another World War II for the Jewish people and the world.
Netanyahu said that the current deal would only delay the inevitable, paving the way for Iran to suddenly “break out” and sprint for enough enriched uranium to produce bombs in a short time.
Instead of reaching the “bad deal,” as he called it, Netanyahu would demand that all restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear program and economy remain in place until Iran reverses it’s behavior. He insisted that Iran must stop its aggression against its neighbors, supporting terrorism and threatening Israel.
To ramp up pressure on the regime, especially in a time of lower prices for Iranian gas, increased aggression should be responded with increased sanctions.
Following Netanyahu's speech, Obama was unmoved.
"The Prime Minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives (to the current negotiations),” Obama said.
With no deal, Obama said Iran would continue to develop a weapon without the ability of the U.S. to oversee its actions.
(03/04/15 10:49pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
The Turkish military sent a convoy into northern Syria to retrieve a thirteenth-century tomb at risk of being besieged by Islamic State militants on Saturday, Feb. 21. The tomb contained the body of Suleyman Shah, a key figure in Turkish history, who died in 1236 C.E. According to the Atlantic, Shah was a tribal leader and the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
The tomb is the only Turkish enclave located outside of its borders. The 1921 Treaty of Ankara — between Turkey and France — designated the area as Turkish territory and gave Turkey the right to station troops there, according to BBC.
The tomb was originally located 50 miles further south in Syria until the construction of the Tabqa Dam in 1973 threatened to flood the site. According to the Guardian, Turkey subsequently moved the tomb to its current location 20 miles into Syria. The Syrian government has not recognized the new location as Turkish territory, however. One of its ministers described the rescue operation as an “act of war” against Syria.
“We didn’t get permission from anyone,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “The decision was taken, and the order was given, by the Turkish government.”
According to the New York Times, the Turkish government informed Syria of its intentions prior to launching the operation, but did not wait for approval. The operation involved 572 soldiers, a convoy of 39 tanks and 57 armored vehicles.
The convoy entered Syria through the Kurdish border town of Kobani, recently a major battleground between Kurdish fighters, backed by American air power, and ISIS. Although Kurdish fighters recently expelled ISIS from the town, Syria’s border with Turkey remains porous for rebel fighters and refugees alike, as it is beyond the ability of the Syrian military to secure.
The convoy was able to slip into Syria and recover the tomb, along with the 40 Turkish soldiers guarding it, without engaging any ISIS fighters. Following the removal of the tomb and its relics, the mausoleum containing them was destroyed so it may not fall into ISIS hands.
The tomb has been temporarily relocated to Turkey property and will be transferred to a new site in Syria, even closer to the Turkish border, according to Reuters.
Turkey, a member of the NATO alliance with the United States, has been accused by its Kurdish population of colluding with ISIS and rendering support to militant groups bent on the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
The Kurds, now concluding a 30 year civil war with Turkey, point to Turkey’s refusal to defend them against ISIS attacks and the fact that ISIS fighters have not engaged Turkish forces in the area, according to the Guardian.
Turkey’s lax border security throughout much of the conflict in Syria has also given foreign jihadist fighters a passageway into the area, heightening tensions between regional forces in an already heated atmosphere.
(02/26/15 8:45pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
In Alabama, a challenge from the federal government to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is underway. In some counties, gay couples have already wed amidst the clash between state and federal judges.
According to NBC, on Friday, Jan. 23, a federal judge in Mobile, Ala. declared the ban on gay marriage unconstitutional and struck down its prohibitions.
Roy Moore, the chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, subsequently instructed local judges to deny gay couples’ marriage licenses, rejecting the federal court ruling. Most local judges complied with Moore’s order.
According to Reuters, in 42 of Alabama’s 67 counties, courts are still upholding the marriage ban while others began to subscribe to the federal court’s guidance on the issue. Beginning on Monday, Feb. 9, gay couples in some of Alabama’s counties were granted marriage licenses for the first time.
“There’s nothing in the U.S. Constitution that authorizes the Supreme Court … to misinterpret the word marriage to include something outside that,” Moore said.
He rejected the power of the government to “redefine marriage” against the traditional state view.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether or not states can ban gay marriage. The deliberation is ongoing, and a decision is due by the end of June.
Currently, the legality of same-sex marriage resembles an uneven patchwork, in which states set their own standards. In Alabama, the law has become even more ambiguous as it varies from county to county. According to CNN, same-sex marriage is legal in 37 states. In recent years, the federal government has acted to strike down bans within the remaining states.
A Supreme Court decision could potentially clarify the legality of same sex marriage or lead to greater fragmentation in states which insist on preserving their restrictions.
(02/20/15 6:39pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Lawmakers in Britain’s House of Commons voted in favor of an in vitro fertilization procedure which uses the DNA of three parents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, according to CNN.
The law would be the first of its kind to allow for “three-parent” babies. The measure needs the support of the upper House of Lords before the practice could become law.
The procedure combines the DNA of two parents with the mitochondrial cells of a third party. The mitochondria are often referred to as the “powerhouse” of the cell — responsible for creating the energy cells use. These organelles also contain small amounts of DNA – their abnormalities are linked to a number of human diseases, CNN reported.
According to CNN, one in 6,500 babies born in the United Kingdom will develop a mitochondrial disorder, which may lead to heart and liver disease, blindness or respiratory problems.
The in vitro procedure in question allows doctors to swap out unhealthy mitochondria from the mother, preventing the child from inheriting faulty mitochondrial DNA, which would lead to health difficulties.
In the procedure, the nucleus of the mother’s egg cell is extracted and placed into the egg cell of a donor. The donor’s cell nucleus is removed to carry the mother’s genes, but the donor’s mitochondrial cells remain with the mother’s nucleus. The father’s sperm cell then fertilizes the resulting hybrid egg cell, according to BBC.
In 2000, Alana Saarinen was one of a handful of children conceived by this method before it was banned in the United States. Ninety-nine percent of Alana’s genes are inherited from her parents, while the remaining one percent is from the mitochondrial DNA of her donor, CNN reported.
Despite the success of Alana’s birth and continued health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the procedure in 2001 for ethical and safety concerns, according to BBC.
In the U.K., debate over the ethics of the procedure is ongoing. Religious groups in particular oppose the procedure, as it requires the donor’s embryonic cell to be destroyed.
“We believe that the law should not be changed until there has been further scientific study and informed debate into the ethics, safety and efficacy of mitochondrial replacement therapy,” said Rev. Dr. Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England’s advisor for medical issues told CNN.
Others find the method an affront to nature, in which humans are increasingly “playing God” by determining the genetic makeup of children.
(02/18/15 7:39pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud died during treatment for pneumonia on Friday, Jan. 23. The 90-year-old led the Saudi monarchy since the death of his half brother, King Fahd, in 2005. Abdullah’s half brother, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is to succeed him as King, according to Aljazeera.
King Abdullah controlled the top oil producing country in the world, amassing a fortune of $21 billion, according to Forbes. He is credited with diversifying the oil dependent economy by opening the country to foreign investment projects. Moreover, Abdullah modernized the educational system – orienting toward maths and sciences – against the wishes of religious conservatives.
The Saudi royal family came to power under its first king, Ibn Saud, who founded the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Prior to the Kingdom’s founding, the Arabian peninsula was home to various tribes, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Saud led a military campaign to unite the tribes and end Ottoman control. He fathered 45 sons, creating a succession of leadership up to the present day.
After the discovery of vast oil reserves in Saudi Arabia in the late 1930s, the Kingdom would begin to wield greater leverage in international politics. Saudi Arabia has long enjoyed a key strategic relationship with the United States, underpinned by the need to secure its store of oil.
In 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait, the U.S. launched the Gulf War to protect Saudi Arabia from an Iraqi takeover. Today, Saudi Arabia remains a close U.S. partner in counterterrorism and regional security.
The Kingdom is one of the largest customers for the American and British arms trade. According to the New York Times, in 2011 alone, the U.S. sold Saudi Arabia $33.4 billion in weapons systems. The tremendous sales were based on fears of Iranian nuclear development.
Saudi Arabia receives much international rebuke for its human rights record and treatment of women. Human rights groups like Freedom House and Amnesty International continually rank the authoritarian government as among the worst abusers of rights.
The government routinely breaks up peaceful protests with force and arrests dissidents. A State Department report released in 2013 describes systemic use of torture and arbitrary killings by authorities. According to BBC, a Saudi blogger named Raif Badawi was recently sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for posts criticizing Islam.
The Kingdom is based on the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam – an orthodox teaching that requires women to have a male guardian in public. Laws also forbid women from driving and working alongside men, according to CBS.
(01/29/15 6:54pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
President Obama delivered the 2015 State of the Union Address before the newly Republican-led Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The main thrust of the address centered on proposals aimed at improving America’s economy. Obama also spoke to the threat of Islamic State terrorism in the Middle East and Russia’s meddling in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.
Obama described 2014 as a breakthrough year for the U.S. in which increased energy production and reduced unemployment had contributed to a return of economic normalcy.
In keeping with positive economic trends, Obama’s initiatives target middle-class families in particular. Raising the minimum wage and providing childcare, funded by closing tax loopholes, which benefit the wealthy, are part of what Obama called, “middle-class economics.”
Middle-class economics, “means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change,” Obama said, along with building the most competitive economy to attract growth. Obama also introduced plans to guarantee workers seven days of paid sick leave, expand the availability of the Internet and a project to improve America’s infrastructure.
The President spoke of the 21st century economy and the premium it places on knowledgeable workers with greater skills. He pointed to increasing rates of college graduation as a positive trend. Yet, as this new economy demands more college graduates, many students are priced out of higher education or take on debt to afford it. Obama plans to provide two years of free community college — to help the 40 percent of students who enroll in them — while reducing the burden of existing student debt for college graduates.
On the nation’s foreign policy, Obama said we are most influential when we combine our diplomatic and military power and build coalitions to resolve disputes. He pointed to Russia’s increasing diplomatic isolation and economic decline as a testament to this power, applied to curb Russia’s ambitions in Ukraine. In East Asia, coalitions have also been formed to uphold trade law and settle maritime disputes between neighbors.
In Syria, the U.S. is supporting moderate rebel groups and coordinating with other Arab governments in the fight against the Assad government. Terrorist networks like ISIS are continuing to be dismantled and degraded. Obama said he will ask Congress for a formal resolution to wage war on the ISIS, as well.
Obama advocated for continued negotiations with Iran to prevent that country from developing nuclear weapons — averting another costly war in the region. Any new sanctions on Iran would be vetoed, as they might derail the ongoing talks, making a diplomatic solution less viable.
“That’s how America leads, not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve,” Obama said.
For the last two years of the his presidency, Obama will face resistance from a Republican dominated Congress, largely opposed to his agenda. Many of his domestic policies, in particular, may never be fully realized.
(12/02/14 2:09am)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
According to the New York Times, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned his post under pressure from President Obama due to disagreements he had with the administration while running the Department of Defense on Monday, Nov. 24. Hagel was narrowly confirmed by the Senate last February, and his departure comes after a Republican surge in this year’s midterm elections.
A highly decorated Vietnam veteran, private sector manager and Republican senator from Nebraska, Hagel was largely chosen by the administration to manage an array of budget cuts and policy changes the DOD would face. Yet a series of international crises during his tenure, particularly the rise of the Islamic State, produced sharp disagreements with Obama, culminating in Hagel’s removal.
The discord became public in October when White House officials leaked the fact that Hagel had written a memo to National Security Advisor Susan Rice in which he denounced the administration’s policy on Syria, according to the Washington Post. Prior to the memo, Obama appointed General John Allen as his envoy responsible for forming a coalition to combat ISIS, circumventing Hagel’s position as defense secretary.
Political considerations by Obama to alter his national security team, in response to the now Republican-led Congress, also factored into Hagel’s removal. Republicans have become increasingly critical of the administration’s handling of the Syrian War and ISIS and are demanding more aggressive measures to counter them. Hagel’s managerial talents would prove insufficient for dealing with escalating conflicts abroad, particularly in a way that satisfies a more hawkish Congress.
An anonymous administration official, quoted by the New York Times, described Obama’s calculation by saying, “(the President is) too close to Susan Rice, and John Kerry (Secretary of State) is in the middle of Iran negotiations … So he went for the low-hanging fruit.”
Hagel was never fully embraced by Obama’s national security team and was often silent during its meetings. Because of his conflicting view on the role of the military in dealing with Syria, Obama often preferred to consult with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey instead, according to the New York Times.
Hagel’s resignation will usher in the fourth defense secretary for the administration, though it is unknown who will succeed him. The decision was made, in part to reduce conflict with Congress, yet is still receiving some rebuke.
“When the president goes through three secretaries, he should ask, ‘Is it them, or is it me?’” Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) said.
(12/01/14 10:01pm)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, a space probe launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully landed on Comet 67P after a 10-year mission to study it’s makeup. The Rosetta probe is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and has travelled four billion miles to do so, according to the New York Times.
Rosetta was launched in 2004 from French Guyana. The solar-powered probe travelled past Jupiter and the asteroid belt before it lost contact with the sun and began to hibernate in 2011. After 31 months, operators in Darmstadt, Germany reactivated Rosetta. According to the ESA, the probe began orbiting Comet 67P in September and is now three times Earth’s distance from the sun.
The probe was named after the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph, which dates back to 200 B.C. The stone contained writing in ancient Egyptian and Greek and was key to understanding those languages after it was discovered in 1799. Today, the Rosetta probe travels through space with a microdisc containing an archive of languages.
Comet 67P was discovered in 1969 by two Russian scientists, Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko, after whom it was named. The comet is two-and-a-half miles wide and has an irregular shape. Located just outside of Jupiter’s gravitational reach, 67P makes an orbit around the sun every six-and-a-half years. The Rosetta probe will continue its orbit into next year and record changes in the comet as it approaches the sun.
The landing craft to make contact, named Philae, attached to the soft surface of the comet with harpoons, according to NASA. On Friday, Nov. 14, after taking samples and recording data, Philae’s solar cells lost power amidst the dark surface of the comet. Scientists hope to revive the lander next year, as the comet comes closest to the sun.
According to the ESA, comets “are the oldest, most primitive bodies in the Solar System, preserving the earliest record of material from the nebula out of which our Sun and planets were formed.”
The purpose of the mission is to learn more about the makeup and origins of comets. Scientists hope to examine samples of 67P’s surface to determine what elements they contain. It has been theorized that comet impacts during Earth’s formation brought water and life supporting elements. The Rosetta mission may offer a glimpse into the role of comets during the formation of the solar system, as well as life on Earth.
(11/11/14 3:32am)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Last week, the U.S. midterm elections resulted in Republican control of the Senate for the first time since 2006. In this election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 36 Senate seats, 36 governorships and their state legislatures were up for vote, according to CNN.
In the Senate race, Republicans have taken Senate seats from Democrats in North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, West Virginia, Arkansas, Montana and South Dakota while expanding their hold on the House. The election was predicted to be close yet, in reality, swept a large infusion of Republicans into Congress at the state level, according to CNN.
Eighteen-year-old Saira Blair (WV-R) was elected to the West Virginia Legislature. Blair is the youngest person to be elected to a state office after running her campaign from her dorm room, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The election cost a record $3.7 billion between advertisements and donations for candidates. This figure was the highest ever for a midterm election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY-R) has become the Senate majority leader after winning a close election, replacing former majority leader Sen. Harry Reid (NV-D). In a speech, McConnell spoke of Americans being frustrated with Washington’s dysfunction. Indeed, America’s approval of Congress stands at a record low of 12 percent, according to the Huffington Post.
“(The Senate) basically doesn’t do anything. We don’t even vote,” McConnell said in his speech.
The state of the economy was the largest issue in these elections. According to the Pew Research Center, 48 percent of Americans felt improving their job situation was a top priority in their voting choice. Healthcare and the federal deficit were among other top issues.
Elsewhere, the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, has been a decisive issue in U.S. politics since the law was passed in 2010. House Speaker John Boehner (OH-R) and McConnell have vowed to repeal the act within the last two years of Obama’s presidency, having already voted unsuccessfully to repeal it numerous times already. The Republican leadership, however, maintains job growth as a top priority, according to Politico.
The election follows low approval ratings for President Obama and dissatisfaction with his policies. Following the election, Obama blamed the efforts of himself and his White House team for failing to persuade the American people, according to the New York Times.
“The American people overwhelmingly believe that this town doesn’t work well,” Obama said in a statement. “As president, they rightly hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly. I’m the guy who is elected by everybody.”
(10/28/14 3:06am)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
Hong Kong has been beset by protests since pro-democracy activists took to the streets last month. Demonstrators in the Chinese-controlled city number over 100,000, and their movement has been dubbed “The Umbrella Revolution.” Protesters are demanding that Hong Kong residents may vote for any chief executive they choose, without prior approval from Beijing.
On Sunday, Aug. 31, a Chinese election plan for Hong Kong was announced, calling for potential candidates to be vetted by “a committee stacked with party supporters,”according to the Economist. The plan ensures that Hong Kong will only be run by those loyal to the Communist Party. Hong Kong’s current leader, C.Y. Leung, supports the Beijing plan and has come under fire by the protesters as a result.
Leung attempted to stall the protests by opening talks with the activists, but to no avail. The protesters, mostly from local universities and schools, have modeled their activities from the Occupy Wall Street movement, camping out along main streets. Some have threatened to occupy government offices, according to Reuters.
The large-scale demonstrations have made it impossible for authorities to fully break them up. Police use of tear gas on protesters has only broadened sympathies for the Umbrella Revolution and increased its ranks. Hong Kong’s press is also free to report should a violent crackdown take place. For these reasons, authorities are wary of the use of force in containing the movement.
A number of celebrities, including American saxophone player Kenny G (of great popularity in China), arrived in Hong Kong to show support for the demonstrators. Following their appearances, however, Chinese officials ordered the state-run media to omit any mention of the celebrities, according to CNN.
In 1997, Great Britain ceded control of Hong Kong to China under condition that it be granted greater autonomy. The “One Country, Two Systems” policy was set to ensure Hong Kong have its own legal and financial systems, independent of mainland China. The city maintains a free press, the right to protest and independent courts.
This duality in governance has generated conflict between Hong Kong’s residents and the Chinese government in the past. In 2003, protesters forced Beijing to back off tough security laws, and in 2012, they opposed new education laws, according to the Economist.
Under the current leadership of Xi Jinping, China is unwilling to grant Hong Kong any Western-style democracy, despite the city’s unique status, as this could potentially undermine government authority in the country at large.
(10/07/14 12:30am)
By Roman Orsini
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the first case of the Ebola virus in the United States. The disease originated in West Africa last December and has killed over 2,000 people in Liberia alone, according to the CDC.
Thomas Duncan, a Liberian man, flew into Dallas, T.X. unknowingly carrying the disease. Before his trip, Duncan didn’t yet show symptoms of Ebola and was permitted to fly. Duncan was with family when he became ill and visited the emergency room on Thursday, Sept. 25, according to the Associated Press. As of Saturday, Oct. 4, Duncan is reported to be in critical condition at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. His family is living in quarantine because of the contact with Duncan.
Ebola is a rare but deadly disease, which was discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in Congo. According to CNN, it kills 90 percent of those infected or 60 percent of those who receive early treatment. The symptoms of Ebola do not appear immediately, and it is not immediately contagious, either. When those infected experience fever and vomiting, the virus can be spread by bodily fluids. The disease kills in roughly 10 days after one suffers from blood hemorrhaging according to CNN.
The possibility of a national Ebola outbreak seems remote, as the U.S. has greater medical infrastructure than poor West African nations.
“We need to get the information out because there is a lot of fear. Our healthcare infrastructure in the United States is well-equipped to stop Ebola in its tracks,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.
While any national case of the virus will be contained, the government will help to counter Ebola at the source in Africa. The Pentagon has begun to construct medical labs and clinics in Liberia. Up to 4,000 troops could be sent to the region to assist in containing the disease, according to Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.
In a speech, President Obama laid out the administration’s goals for dealing with Ebola.
“Number one: to control the outbreak. Number two: to address the ripple effects of local economies and communities to prevent a truly massive humanitarian disaster. Number three: to coordinate a broader global response. And number four: to urgently build up a public health system in these countries for the future — not just in West Africa but in countries that don’t have a lot of resources generally,” Obama said.