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News & Features

Weird Load: Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters 50 Years On

By Mike Peters

July 1964. And 50 years ago a bus - a 1939 school bus, furnished with bunk beds, basic kitchen facilities and wired-up audio equipment - sets out from a house 15 miles from the Californian town of Palo Alto to journey across America. Painted in bright psychedelic colors with the destination sign of `Further` at the front and the words `Caution: Weird Load` at the rear, and carrying on board ten or so 60s` drop-outs from various walks of life, the bus makes its erratic way towards Route 60 and the road to New York. 

Cliven Bundy, Ronald Sterling, and Affirmative Action

By Imara Jones

The spectacle of racist rancher Cliven Bundy and racist NBA owner Donald Sterling underscore why minority political and economic rights cannot rest solely upon majority rule. America is changing but it’s not changing fast enough to do away with key protections, and that’s what the Court seemingly did not get.Before turning to the way in which the race-infused antics of rancher Cliven Bundy and Los Angeles Clippers chief Donald Sterling upended the Supreme Court’s rationale of a race-free America, it’s important to quickly review the action the Court took.

Who Are Nigeria’s Boko Haram?

By Andrew Lam

Those individuals who are identified with Boko Haram do not refer to themselves as Boko Haram. Boko Haram, in the local Hausa language, means something along the line of, “Western education is forbidden.” It’s a term applied to them by residents in the communities in which the movement arose in the early 2000s, in the northeast of Nigeria. They refer to themselves differently, as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad). 

What Americans Can Learn From Gabriel García Márquez About Immigration

By Raymond L. Williams

In France, García Márquez lived the experience of the impoverished immigrant, and in Venezuela he lived the life of the undocumented worker whom he attempted to defend with his writing. The presence of gallegos in the latter contributed to his identification with the workers, for some of his own relatives had originally come from Galicia. In Venezuela, then, García Márquez was acutely aware that the story of immigrant workers was indeed his own story. No doubt drawing on his own experience, he proclaimed Latina America to be “a land of second generations” 

Why Somali Immigrants Are Heading Back Home

By Ethan Nelson

Though the number of people returning is “impossible to quantify,” signals such as airlines flying daily to the capital of Mogadishu or “chatter in the community about returning” can’t be ignored, said Ryan Allen, principal researcher and assistant community and economic development professor. Humphrey research consultant Kadra Abdi said other research has looked at the financial side of people returning, but they wanted to focus on the social aspect.

Political Correctness Gone Amok

By Mark Goebel

Political correctness first took over America’s institutions of higher learning in the 1970s – then quickly captured the media and entertainment industries. Jobs can be lost, careers destroyed, reputations sullied for merely saying what the P.C. police deem unacceptable. The muzzle that political correctness has become doesn’t just affect those who are voicing sincere religious beliefs either. It has come to hinder what we say about almost everything .

Communities of Color Face Greater Exposure to Pollution

By Staff

Communities of color across the United States are exposed to disproportionately high rates of pollution, according to engineering and environmental researchers at the University of Minnesota (UM) released in time for Earth Week. Researchers looked at the variations in pollution exposure across race, income, education attainment and other categories, and found race to be the dominant determining factor.

Obama Vows Support for the Philippines But Won’t Counter China

By Kristine Angeli Sabillo

Asked if the US will defend the Philippines in case territorial disputes in the South China Sea escalate, Obama said, “Our goal is not to counter China; our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure that international rules and norms are respected, and that includes in the area of maritime disputes.” He said the US welcomes China’s “peaceful rise” amid its “constructive relationship” and “enormous trade” with the nation.