POLITICAL DECISIONS

Jun 28 2025POLITICS

California's Tough Choices: Balancing the Budget on the Backs of Immigrants

California is in a tough spot. The state has a $12 billion hole in its budget. To fill it, Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers had to make some hard choices. One of the biggest changes? Rolling back healthcare for low-income immigrants without legal status. Starting in 2026, California will stop taking new patients for this program. And in 2027, some immigrants will...

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Jun 27 2025POLITICS

EU's Big Move: What's Next for Israel Relations?

The EU is stepping up its game on Israel. The Lithuanian president has called for action, saying the current situation is too dire to ignore. He wants the EU to come up with real options to address the crisis. This comes after a review, backed by 19 member countries, suggested Israel might be breaking the rules of their agreement with the EU. The review points out s...

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May 22 2025FINANCE

The Penny's Days Are Numbered: Why the U. S. Might Stop Making the Lowly Coin

The U. S. Mint has taken a significant step towards phasing out the penny. The final order of penny blanks has been placed, and once those are used up, production will cease. This decision is expected to save a substantial amount of money each year by reducing material costs. The penny has long been a contentious issue, with some arguing for its elimination due to hi...

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May 04 2025POLITICS

The New Eugenics: Health, Wealth, and the Strong Survive

The idea of eugenics, which started in the 1800s, has a dark history. It was about encouraging certain people to have kids and discouraging others. This idea has taken new forms over time, often in harmful ways. One of these is called soft eugenics. It's not about forced sterilizations or mass deaths. Instead, it's about letting nature take its course by reducing hea...

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May 01 2025ENVIRONMENT

Alabama's Hidden Health Crisis: The Fight for Clean Water

In the heart of Alabama, a serious health issue has been quietly affecting residents for over two decades. Lowndes County, where over 70 percent of the population is Black and the median income is around $35, 000, has been struggling with a lack of proper sanitation. This problem has led to a resurgence of hookworm, a parasite that was once thought to be eradicated i...

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Feb 02 2025POLITICS

Aid Uncertainty - What Happens Now?

In Uganda and South Sudan, millions rely on US aid for survival, education, and health. The Trump administration has suspended most of this aid. Children in Uganda have received free education, funded by the US. Though the idea is to prevent misuse of funds, this pause could have long lasting effects. People in South Sudan have lost their homes and livelihoods du...

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Sep 12 2024FINANCE

California's Proposition 4: A Borrowing Binge or Wise Investment?

California's Proposition 4 is set to borrow $10 billion to fund a plethora of environmental projects. But is this measure more about politics than sound policy? After this year's budget debacle, the state should be focusing on cutting debt, not increasing it. The measure's 100+ programs lack a sense of priorities or analysis of what would deliver the biggest bang fo...

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