World News

World Wide Web: Lil Wayne is innocent

Law is mind without reason. I’ll return.
For the next eight to 12 months, that will be the last tweet on Lil Wayne’s Twitter account. The rapper was sent to the slammer a couple weeks ago after he “got stopped by a lady cop” who found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol in his tour bus.…

Obama unveils plan to bolster education system

With an educational system failing to meet the needs of students and teachers alike, the Obama administration has decided that new legislation is essential.  This much anticipated domestic policy would replace the current No Child Left Behind Law which was enacted during the presidency of George W. Bush. The current eight-year-old policy has fallen under…

U.S. and Russia continue nuclear talks

Perhaps one of the most storied issues in American political history continued with a new chapter this past weekend. President Barack Obama and Russian Pres. Dmitri Medvedev of Russia spoke about taking steps toward a disarmament agreement between the two nuclear-weapon powerhouses that would decrease both arsenals by about 25 percent.
The talks stem from…

With votes cast, Iraqis await results

With 325 seats in the Iraqi Parliament up for election, approximately 59 to 62 percent of eligible citizens turned out to vote. This figure, although notably less than the 75 percent of people who voted in 2005, represents those who cast their votes despite several violent attacks or threats, including one that claimed the lives…

World Wide Web: We are all jelly doughnuts

To show solidarity with West Germany against the Soviet threat during the Cold War, the United States declared that “We are all Berliners” (or jelly doughnuts, depending on your translation of President Kennedy’s German). To show solidarity with the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the French declared that “We are all Americans.” …

Senator steps down, slams ways of Congress

Democrats are in shock after Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh announced last Monday that he would not seek re-election for a third term in office. The centrist Democrat is not retiring because of a lack of popularity. In fact, he had won his prior two elections with over 60 percent of the vote and was poised…

Obama meets with Dalai Lama

President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama on Feb. 18. The decision to meet with the Dalai Lama further aggravated American tensions with China, which is already upset over a $6 billion U.S. arms deal with Taiwan.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, is viewed by China as a dangerous figure who…

BBC host admits to taking part in suicide

Ray Gosling, a documentary maker for the BBC, made a chilling confession during a narration for a documentary about death and dying. Gosling drifted away from the script and said, “I killed someone once.” That person was Gosling’s terminally ill partner who was dying of HIV/AIDS.
Gosling revealed that he asked the doctor to leave…

Hariri vows to support Hezbollah

After years of turmoil, the tension between Israel and Lebanon has once again heightened with the announcement by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that his government will support Hezbollah – a Lebanese political organization which both Israel and the United States consider a terrorist group –  should violence transpire. 
This declaration came days before the…

World Wide Web: Cold War II?

After two decades of global supremacy, the United States’ role as the world’s only superpower is about to be challenged. China – with a nuclear arsenal, the world’s largest standing army and the second largest economy – has the potential to create the same type of bipolar power structure that existed between the Soviet Union…

Compromise proving elusive for ‘jobs’ bill

With unemployment at the high percentage rate of 9.7 percent, Democrats and Republicans alike have made job creation the top priority on Capitol Hill. Yet there still remains severe disagreements between the parties as to how to best address this ever growing problem. This split between the two parties became even more evident this past…

Pentagon to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

For almost 17 years, the military has adhered to a policy called “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the prevention of openly gay and lesbian service members in the armed forces. However, if President Barack Obama and the Pentagon have their way, this doctrine will no longer be in use. 
This past Tuesday, high ranking officials…

Iran moving in the wrong direction

Iran has begun enriching uranium to 20 percent – the level considered to be “highly enriched” and the threshold for setting off a nuclear reaction. Iranian Press-TV reported that the country formally informed the United Nations nuclear-watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, of its intentions on Monday.
This announcement comes on the heels of the…

World Wide Web: Some modest proposals

What do you get when you combine homosexuality and Catholicism? A good halftime show.
So the LGBTQ community and its supporters at John Carroll University want the administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Policy to include sexual orientation. This addition would ensure that the University doesn’t base its employment practices – including hiring, firing, promotion and treatment…

World Wide Web: Haiti: drowning in kindness

Haiti is drowning in a flood of foreign aid. Despite receiving almost $1.5 billion since 1990 from the United States alone, 80 percent of Haitians still live below the poverty line, less than a third have formal jobs, and its government is one of the most corrupt in the world. Clearly, foreign aid has failed…

Yemen: a country on the brink

Yemen, a Middle Eastern nation bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia, is perhaps one of the oldest civilizations still in existence today.  However, with its long existence comes a history of turmoil and strife that has led to present day ramifications.
The northern and southern regions formed the Republic of Yemen in 1990 following the fall…

Obama delivers State of the Union

President Barack Obama’s first year in office was composed of both high and lows, and on Jan. 27, he officially kicked off the second year of his presidency with hopes of attaining greater prosperity. 
Speaking to a nationally televised joint session of Congress, Obama used his first State of the Union Address to reassure the…

A divided Supreme Court rules against restricting campaign contributions

In an effort to extend the First Amendment right of freedom of speech to business organizations, the Supreme Court decided against the government’s ability to restrict a corporation’s campaign contributions for elections. 
While many in support of this decision view it as a rightful extension of freedom of speech that had been denied for decades,…

World Wide Web: Better days for democracy

Democracy has seen better days. According to Freedom House, an organization that publishes an annual report on the state of global political rights and civil liberties, global declines outweighed gains in freedom in 2009 for the fourth year in a row.
Its report listed declines in freedom for 40 countries, representing the longest continuous period…

In upset victory, Brown wins Massachusetts seat

Several weeks ago, Republican Senatorial candidate Scott Brown was a little known Massachusetts state senator facing an uphill battle in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. 
However, with his stunning victory on Jan. 18, Brown has burst onto the national political scene. The impact of his election victory extends beyond the borders of Massachusetts, as Brown has…

Moderate Democrats pose obstacle for passing health insurance reform

As the health care debate continues to intensify in the Senate, it has become evident that bipartisan support is highly unlikely.
Therefore, the Democratic leadership is focusing on keeping the Democratic caucus united in order to reach the crucial number of 60 votes needed for passage.
This pursuit of 60 votes will undoubtedly be a…

Obama orders 30,000 extra troops for Afghan war

President Barack Obama greeted cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., where he announced his plan to immediately send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. While most of the troops will be sent to southern and eastern Afghanistan, where violence is at its highest level since the beginning of the war, Obama also said that they would begin removing forces in 2011.

World Wide Web: I want letters

So my past couple columns have been pretty critical of the Catholic Church. I accused it of sexual discrimination, homophobia, strong-arming society, and blackmailing Congress. I also called it misogynic, elitist, bigoted, ignorant, stubborn, unsympathetic, disconnected and bullheaded. And since we received no letters to the editor from anyone trying to counter my arguments, I’m…

Touring Asia, Obama has town hall in China

President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall style event with Chinese youths at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 16. Obama spoke extensively about the importance of the freedom of speech and of the free flow of information.

South Korean troops on high alert after naval clash with North Korea

South Korean conservative activists shout slogans during a rally denouncing North Korea’s military in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 11, 2009. South Korea’s troops went on high alert after a brief naval confrontation with North Korea.