Oh no! There’s only 2 days left in 2015! How are you going to fit in all those things you promised yourself you’d do this year? Not to mention, your time is running out on that Olive Garden unlimited breadstick card you got as a joke at the beginning of the year. It’s time to seize the opportunities left to you in 2015! Squeeze the last drops out of this year before it’s too late.
The day after exhibition is always a 24 hour sigh of relief. This year, eat away your last bit of project anxiety with a batch of warm cookies. Get out the flour, sugar, and butter; warm up the oven; and start the oddly therapeutic task of measuring and combining in exact proportions.
Also, this day falls exactly a week before Christmas, so if that’s your thing, start stocking (!) up for the 25th! for the novice: chocolate chip cookies (ed. note: try adding chopped pecans!) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/ challenge option: gingerbread http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies-101-recipe.html After four years of the conflict, the Middle East remains divided between four different sides, and the Syrian people are at the center of it. To be able to understand it accurately, we must go back to March of 2011 when the Arab Spring demonstrators peacefully protested on the streets of Syria for their dictator to resign. The first shots that were fired were by Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Subsequent to his retaliatory attacks, violent rebels in Syria joined together to create the Free Syrian Army, turning the uprising into a civil war. In order to make it more difficult for nation states to back the rebels, Assad aided the Free Syrian Army in joining the rebels which created a new branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria. During the same time as Al-Qaeda formed, the Kurds took up arms against Assad in Northern Syria. Assad’s most vital ally, Iran, intervened on his behalf by sending troops and military personnel to take the fight to the rebel groups. Other Middle Eastern countries began sending resources in the form of money and weapons to the rebels through Turkey and Jordan. As a response, Iran sent Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia group, to fight alongside Assad, who later used chemical weapons on civilians resulting in over seventeen-thousand casualties. By 2013, the Middle-East was divided between Sunni powers aiding the rebels, and Shia powers allied with Assad. In an effort to ease the conflict, the United States attempted to negotiate with Arab Gulf states to stop funding and equipping extremist rebel groups. When the United States's requests went ignored, the CIA began training Syrian rebels to fight Assad. With help from the United States, the most extreme fighters from Al-Qaeda were able to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria after a disagreement with Al-Qaeda leaders. ISIS, now Al-Qaeda’s sworn enemy, traveled across Syria, seizing territory and galvanizing Syrians and the rest of the world. As a form of retaliation, Turkey began bombing ISIS and the Kurds, who were simultaneously taking the fight to ISIS. This conflict goes to show that there fails to be a likeminded force, and that there is no end in sight to the civil war in Syria or the casualties that continue to occur. In the center of the conflict are Syrian refugees, fighting for their lives. Although many, including President Obama, believe that we should house refugees seeking asylum, are we endangering the lives of the American people by doing so? After the recent Paris attacks and the mass-shooting in San Bernardino, countries have limited the number of refugees they are accepting in fear that they are a part of ISIS or other jihadist groups. On the contrary, not a single Paris attacker or San Bernardino shooter has been a Syrian refugee. Many politicians claim that Syrian refugees do not make an effort to assimilate themselves into the counties they are seeking refuge in. Although that may be true in some cases, it is not true for all Syrian refugees. Some analysts argue that the attacks were done by extremists so they would be able to continue galvanizing Syrians without countries like the U.S. accepting asylum seekers. But, not all Muslims are terrorists and extremists groups are indirectly making Islamophobia more of an issue. During this civil war, we have to remind ourselves of Lady Liberty’s values, the same values this nation was founded on: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door! As a nation, we must remember that we are all immigrants of the United States of America; and as an international community, we must recognize that we are all immigrants of the world. Written by: Leily Rezvani
![]() Despite the plethora of candidates vying for the White House, some likely voters, particularly those on the left-side of the spectrum, may find their views and ideas underrepresented. But before they become completely discouraged from participating in the elections, perhaps they should consider a candidate that most TV networks have never even heard of: Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Stein is a self-described “organizer, physician, and pioneering environmental health advocate” from Massachusetts. Even though Dr. Stein unsuccessfully ran for President in 2012, and was arrested for disorderly conduct after demanding to be allowed in the Denver Obama-Romney debate, she is back for another round. She announced that she would be running for President in June on the independent news program, Democracy Now!, and since then has been working hard to earn recognition, which included a statement on the tragic San Bernardino shooting and a stop on PBS: “Fifty percent of Americans now do not identify as either Democrat or Republican,” Stein said, “So by restricting the debates to this very narrow spectrum, largely of big candidates who are promoted by big money...you have eliminated the voices, the opinions, and the urgent concerns: health care, jobs, wages, housing, a debate about the military conquest of the world and the credible crisis, student debt, Black Lives Matter. All of these issues that are of burning concern to everyday Americans are out from the get-go.” A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Stein has had a long track-record as a warrior for clean energy and campaign finance reform, and has a similarly leftist plan for America. Her campaign website states her intent to transition to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, set a $15 federal minimum wage, and end police brutality and institutional racism. Perhaps the most revolutionary and detailed aspect of her plan is her ambition to protect the planet, which includes the end of destructive energy extraction, like fracking, and a ban GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe. No other candidate has specifically expressed ideas of this magnitude before. These environmental objectives do appear to be well-within Stein’s wheelhouse: she was featured as an environmental health expert on programs such as Today and 20/20, published two acclaimed reports about the environment’s effect on health (“In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development” and “Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging”), and testified as an expert before several government panels, including a panel debating a controversial Massachusetts prohibition of the construction of a toxic trash incinerator. Though some may draw parallels between Stein and the socialist Democrat Bernie Sanders, Stein wants to establish one key difference between herself and the Vermont Senator: the fact that her promises are not empty. “I wish that [Sanders] had run outside the Democratic Party,” Stein said during her Democracy Now! announcement. “There are many similarities, obviously, between his vision and my vision. The difference is that I’m running in a party that also supports that vision, so when our campaign comes to an end, that vision will not die. It will not be absorbed back into a party that is essentially hostile to that vision and which has basically disappeared similar very principled, wonderful reform efforts within the Democratic Party that have basically allowed the party to keep marching to the right.” The Green Party does seem to be ecstatic about Stein’s candidacy. There are currently only six “Greens” that hold office, and most of them are low-level city councilmembers. The Green Party, founded in 1984, strongly believes in “Ten Key Values,” based on the “Four Pillars” of the Green Party in Germany. The values include ecological wisdom, feminism and gender equality, social justice and equal opportunity, and future focus and sustainability. As Stein’s plan exemplifies all ten tenants, it seems that she is one of few authentic candidates. However, it is important to consider Stein’s political record, which is not as strong as her environmental legacy: in addition to her previous Presidential campaign, Stein has run for three offices (Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, State Representative in 2004, and Secretary of State in Massachusetts in 2006) and failed miserably each time. In the 2012 race, she was only on ballots in 37 states, and the number is not likely to skyrocket. In spite of this, many Democrats may still be wary of this liberal third-partier: many have cited previous Green Party candidate Ralph Nader as the reason that Democratic nominee Al Gore lost the 2000 election. However, in the 2000 race, Nader appeared on ballots in 43 states, a considerable difference; as it is unlikely that Stein will reach that number, the ultimate Democratic nominee should not feel threatened. Even though it is unlikely that she we will see a Green in the White House after this upcoming election, Stein is the most credible Green Party candidate this country has ever seen, and may be a realistic alternative for those that do not feel that candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are sincere in their policies. Written by: Jenna Welsh
|
Archives
December 2018
Categories
All
|