News & Features

The group of U.S. representatives wants the president to sign an executive order to ban federal contractors from asking if potential job seekers have been convicted of crimes. The “box” in question is one that appears on federal hiring applications, asking job seekers if they have a criminal record. As part of an effort to reduce mass incarceration, many around the country have rallied for local governments and workplaces to “ban the box” from their hiring forms.

Suffice it to say, there have been no hysterical screeches branding them thugs, gangsters, animals, and vermin. There have been no indignant and furious calls from the press, citizenry, and elected officials for a swift, harsh, and massive crackdown, sweeps, and toss the book demands at them. The kind that we instantly hear leap from their mouths, drum the airwaves with, and pen angry editorials on when its young blacks on the hot seat.

Much of Seymour Hersh’s extensive London Review of Books exposé of the attack that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 merely reiterates what common sense had argued all along. Pakistani intelligence could not have been unaware that Osama bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad. Pakistani intelligence could not have been kept entirely in the dark about the plot to kill Osama bin Laden.

Nearly 17 million Americans have gained health insurance since key provisions of the Affordable Care Act were implemented in 2013, according to a study by nonprofit research organization RAND Corp. The report, released Wednesday, May 6, in the journal Health Affairs, found that from September 2013 to February 2013, 22.8 million individuals signed up for coverage, while 5.9 million lost coverage, resulting in a net gain of 16.9 million. 

Forty years have passed since the Vietnam War ended, and a parade was staged in Ho Chi Minh City, formally Saigon, to commemorate that date. Yet despite the fanfare debates rage on both sides of the Pacific as to who really won and who lost that war. While the hammer and sickle and Uncle Ho’s image may still adorn T-shirts it sells to foreign tourists, Vietnam’s heart throbs for all things American, especially Apple. 

Inevitably those whose power was constrained by these new rules gradually figured out ways to use them and at least partially reassert control.  As a result it is nearly impossible to make a credible Senate race in most states without a big bankroll, arguably returning control to those who selected Senators under the old system.  The initiative process, which spread to other states, has also been distorted by those with money who focus on parochial concerns while obliquely attempting to elect their candidates.  

Since opening the doors of its current location in April of 2003, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has offered longform improvisational and sketch comedy classes and a packed, 7-night schedule of cheap and edgy performances to a varied audience. Perhaps because the cost of entry is so low, or perhaps because of the artistic and collaborative nature of UCB improv itself, the theater exudes a noticeably low-key, friendly vibe that imbues the entire experience; it feels comfortable, like hanging out with a roomful of friends you’ve never met. 

The 81 percent is up from 79 percent in an April 2013 survey. The survey also found 15 percent of the homes were demolished and are now empty lots, while 4 percent are only gutted or in a state of derelict. The 2 percent increase in rebuilt homes matches a similar rise of two percent from 2010 to 2013. Among the trends of rebuilding, the survey found a 6 “percent increase from 2009 to 2010 and the 9 percent rise from 2008 to 2009.