The rest of the world could only watch in horror this week as members of the radical Islamist al-Shabaab militant group killed and wounded hundreds of people last weekend. The horrifying massacre brought forward ghosts past mass shootings and acts of terrorism, both of which Americans have had to witness in spades the last few…
For many Minnesotans, the acronym BWCA brings back memories of time spent reconnecting with nature in one of the United States’ most beautiful places. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is a wilderness area with restricted mining, logging, and motorized access and managed by the Superior National Forest, created in 1978. Avid campers, hikers, and adventurers…
The Republican dominated House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday which would cut roughly $39 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the coming decade. Representative and Majority Leader Eric Cantor who was the leading force behind the bill stated that, “[It was] wrong for working, middle-class people to pay [for SNAP],” citing…
At present, Congress has an approval rating of 14 percent. The truly concerning thing about this statistic is that it’s not that low because Americans disagree with the laws Congress is passing. They’re angry that Congress isn’t passing any laws at all. Americans are increasingly doubtful that Congress is a functional institution. The 112th Congress,…
It seems like so long ago that Hosni Mubarak’s regime finally toppled after months of protests. After a century of unrest in the Middle East, it seemed as though democracy was on the way in and dictators were on the way out. Now this sense of optimism seems to be fading into memory. All around…
My name is Siri Manning, and I am a senior Political Science major from Breckenridge, MN. My political beliefs have always been fairly fluid due to the fact that my dad, a pastor, has refused to go into detail about his ideas on politics my entire life in order to appear objective to his congregation….
It seems that President Obama has a chance to catch his breath. Capitalizing on Secretary of State John Kerry’s seemingly off the cuff hypothetical, Russian President Vladimir Putin and diplomat Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov pounced on the opportunity to resume negotiations in disarming Syria’s chemical weapons. Maybe, just maybe this diplomatic shift might help boost legitimacy…
My name is Nikolaj Hagen, I am a senior from Osakis, Minnesota and I am majoring in Political Science and Scandinavian Studies. My political beliefs are drawn from my background as a dual citizen of the U.S. and Denmark and heavily influenced by my parents. Growing up, my parents espoused the virtues of the Scandinavian…
Concordian debates, part I: Two student political bloggers debate American intervention in Syria See the opposing argument here. We are all fascinated by moments rich in irony, like when the builders of the Titanic promised that she was “unsinkable,” or when Brett Favre put on a Vikings jersey and ran out onto Lambeau Field to…
Concordian debates, part I: Two student political bloggers debate American intervention in Syria See the opposing argument here. As talk of a Syrian intervention increases, Americans seem increasingly exhausted, tired of war, tired of looking out for the world, tired of getting tangled in other states affairs, and tired of paying for it. The prospect…