Stuff YOU Should Know
New Cycle of Russian Hacking Begins With the 2018 midterm elections less than 100 days away, many people have started wondering about the possibility of another Russian hacking attempt. Now there is new evidence to prove that this is indeed a threat. Claire McCaskill, a Democratic senator from Missouri, is up for reelection this fall. […]
Trump Picks Kavanaugh for High Court Vacancy
Earlier this month, Election Central brought you the story of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, btw takes a look at Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s pick to replace him. Who Is Brett Kavanaugh? Judge Brett Kavanaugh was born in 1965 in Washington, D.C. He attended Yale Law School and later was […]
AFTER THE FACT: Tereza Lee
Have you ever heard of the DREAM Act? Short for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, DREAM would give undocumented children who were brought to the United States a route to legal permanent residence in the U.S. In other words, the DREAM Act would make it so that someone brought to the […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Hawaiian Volcano Still Going Strong Mt. Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has been erupting on Hawaii’s Big Island since May 3. Devastation is widespread: homes have been engulfed by flames, roads have split open, power lines are down, and vegetation has been destroyed. Tourism–the island’s number-one industry–has fallen by almost 50 percent. […]
Senate Passes Tax Reform Bill
Early last Saturday morning, Senate Republicans passed a sweeping tax reform bill that will affect nearly every American. Here, btw takes a look at the story of how the bill passed, as well as some of the possible positive and negative outcomes. What Happened? The Senate tax reform bill, which was nearly 500 pages long, […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Mugabe Resigns New developments have occurred in Zimbabwe’s military coup since btw brought you the story last week of longtime president Robert Mugabe’s arrest. Last Tuesday, after his party introduced a motion of impeachment against him, Mr. Mugabe finally resigned. Mugabe has served as president of Zimbabwe since the country achieved independence in 1980. That […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Federal Funding to Puerto Rico Ends Puerto Rico is home to 3.4 million American citizens. Nearly two months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, many Puerto Ricans still do not have reliable access to food, water, electricity, or health services. And now, federal disaster relief funding from the United States–never sufficient in the first place–has […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Clothing of Calamity You clean out your closet and find bags of old clothes you don’t want anymore. What should you do with them? Maybe it would be a good idea to send them to Africa for people in need? Think again. What you see as a charitable gesture might actually be doing more harm […]
“Skinny Repeal” Senate Failure
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story describes the failed effort of the Senate’s “skinny repeal” health care plan. The latest version of the Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA (the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare) was nicknamed the “skinny repeal” bill. This version looked much the […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
John McCain Diagnosed with Cancer Senator John McCain has recently been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of cancer that forms in the tissue of the brain and spinal cord. Last Friday, McCain underwent surgery to remove a blood clot at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. During surgery, doctors confirmed the presence of […]