Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Boycotts Over Bigots?
So we all know the story of the two men arrested in Starbucks. If you don't know, there were two black guys who were waiting at Starbucks for their friends. They hadn't ordered their drinks yet because they wanted their friends to show up before they ordered. The trouble started when one of the men asked where the restroom was. The manager told the guy that since he didn't pay for anything he couldn't use the restroom. Somehow the cops got involved and the guys got arrested for trespassing. The manager that called the cops was fired. When part of the 911 tapes got released, the employee was heard saying that there were guys there that refused to leave or buy something. In my opinion, they could have waited out in the car.
By Lena Bailey6 years ago in The Swamp
9/11 Terrorists Attack
With the anniversary coming up I figured it would be a good time to tell you about the events of that day. I also wanted to talk about the events leading up to it and the aftermath. I also want to say that I mean no disrespect to the family of the victims or the victims themselves, I just believe people need to remember what happened that day.
By Lena Bailey6 years ago in The Swamp
Liberal Democracy
There is a slogan of the American Civil Liberties Union: "Dissent is Democratic." I find myself in awe of this quote. In the United States, dissent is supposed to mean something; it is important. Americans think that they have a voice that acts in their interest. Of course they do. We live in a liberal democracy. Of course, nobody thinks about what exactly that means. What is a liberal democracy?
By Ellen Howell6 years ago in The Swamp
Reason First: Did Delawarean Naithan Grzybowski Deserve to Die?
To be gunned down in Wilmington, Delaware ought to not be a regular occurrence. But it is. 18-year-old Naithan Grzybowski fell due to, as of this writing, an unknown assailant’s rounds. The city, which earned the grisly moniker “Murder Town USA” by Newsweek in 2014, continues to see acts of start of force, by way of the gun. The teenager received bullets in his blue car, and later died on the pavement adjacent to the road. Does this require tighter gun laws? Should there be a ban on firearms for citizens? Not even close.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in The Swamp
Take the Plastic-Free Challenge
Plastics in our environment have been trending quite frequently in social media, as well as online lately. I have been seeing the damage that plastics have done, and it hurts me deeply how the planet is suffering, and how it is affecting every single one of us, in one form or another.
By Heidi Zator6 years ago in The Swamp
Reason First: High for Thought
It would be cute if it were not so pernicious. The tales in the news of cocaine washing ashore following Hurricane Dorian and New York state decriminalizing marijuana would be kind of funny. It’s adorable not to think that the two substances cannot be completely legalized. Whether it’s an ounce or a hundred kilograms of either substance, the fact should remain that individuals ought to have every right to produce and consume drugs.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in The Swamp
Reason First: Who's Right About Property Rights?
The usage of body cameras on police officers is like putting a bandage on top of a bandage of a bullet wound. It is in no way mending a major problem but it sounds nice on news clips and in print. One problem that exists with the body cam is that they do not address the root of the problem of the start of physical force. That would be property rights. High on the ladder among individual rights, the rights of the citizens should be protected by the police. No amount of body cameras will cease the amount of deaths by firearms. In Wilmington, Delaware, the police gunned down 35-year-old Ricardo Hylton for allegedly firing a weapon. The two officers who struck Hylton have been placed on administrative leave. Why? The story doesn’t need body cams. The story requires an objective view of the facts.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in The Swamp
How to Make the World a Better Place
Most of us are too busy working to think of making the world a better place. Then again people who have more money than I do, like Ashton Kutcher, are busy rescuing human trafficking victims. Now, how does one person change the world? It could be as easy as signing up to be a reading tutor. You see, I’ve always wanted to do something more productive with my life besides knowing the pen is mightier than the sword. I don’t go to protests for one, because I do not want an arrest record following me around every time I apply for a job. The thing is that I need more energy to volunteer my time with. I would like more energy anyway, from sleeping the whole night if that becomes possible. I’m caught up with my knee injury from nine years of yoga down the toilet in one second of a bad move on the part of my left foot. I injured myself and that was the last day anybody saw me at the gym for a very long time. I’m not sure if yoga can make the world a better place, but it does calm me down, and has a similar effect on everybody who has ever taken a yoga class before.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in The Swamp
Colonel Allensworth's Dream of a Black Utopia
My father’s parents settled in Allensworth, California as near as I can confirm around the 1940s. Granny Annie as we called her had a little white house with an outhouse in the back. The summer of 1960 we began our Tradition of visiting her every other Sunday. I dreaded these visits, because Granny did not have a TV, and there was nothing to do out there except count the tumbleweeds. I resigned myself to this Journey as long as we got home in time to see The Wonderful World of Disney, which came on TV at 7 PM.
By PAT CHANEY6 years ago in The Swamp
