This Monday, June 28 was the 96thanniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was an event that led to one of the most devastating and pointless wars in human history, the fall of three of Europe’s great imperial dynasties, the Russian Revolution and three quarters [...]
The Red Line that IS Syria
I remember when the internal strife in Syria first began back in the spring of 2011. Like most people, I considered it to be a continuation of the events that began in Tunisia and made their way through Egypt; another Middle East dictator swiftly ousted at the hands of the “Arab spring.” Yet two years [...]
Weaponry Before Welfare
In early summer, a small, heavily militarized country invaded its southern neighbor. The local conflict soon grew regional as other nations allied with both original participants began to support their respective friends, thereby making escalation a serious concern. Three years later, over 1 million people had died as a result of the disastrous war, yet [...]
Four Major Lies About Obamacare Taxes
There is an popular opinion piece on FoxNews.com right now by John Kartch of Americans for Tax Reform called “Five Major Obamacare Taxes that will hit your wallet in 2013.” Shockingly, it is very misleading on nearly every issue it discusses.
What is Obamacare?
There is a reason that presidents have been fighting for a better health care system for 100 years. In 2010, over 50 million Americans went about their daily lives with no health insurance. If they got sick, odds are they went bankrupt and you had to foot the bill. Insurance companies could look at an application of a newborn infant, born with a defect, and deny the child coverage. A man who had diligently paid for his own health insurance for his entire life, could get cancer, and the insurance company could drop him. Insurance companies would set annual or lifetime dollar limits on needed care, leaving patients who thought they had coverage with massive medical bills and no hope.
Producers and Roasters Seek Fair Trade Beyond Certification
Whether or not to allow plantations into the fair trade model is not the only debate raging within the specialty coffee industry. Another, and more wide-reaching debate, is whether certification schemes benefit producers, or if they are in fact barriers to trade. While millions of small-scale coffee producers have benefited from certification systems like Fair [...]
Books about Modernity and Liaisons With Technology, Social Interactions, and the Mind
It is a reasonable assumption that many readers of the Conducive Chronicle or students around the world enrolled in some type of college social science class featuring elements of post modernism are familiar with the concept of modernity. Modernity has been both categorically and lexically challenging to define since the term is immensely expansive. Subsequently, [...]
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Environment
Day 12: Making The Vegan Movement Mainstream
For twelve days now, I’ve made a conscious effort to steer clear of eating animal products as part of my two-week vegan challenge. A recent UN study revealed that industrialized agriculture is a key player in climate change and resource depletion. It suggested a world-wide diet shift away from meat and dairy products is essential for alleviating our species’ growing environmental footprint.
Literature, Media & Entertainment
Cold Mountain: A Review of Winter’s Bone
Almost six months—and two seasons—after it won the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury prize, Winter’s Bone has been tossed into theaters, where its reception has ranged from frosty to feverish. That’s not surprising. By now, even art-house aficionados might be wary of Sundance’s predilection for dour independent dramas that are almost impossible to warm up [...]
Environment
The Butterfly Beltway Project
Butterflies add delicate beauty to any garden, especially so the monarch with its brightly colored, stained glass window wings. Attracting these wonderful creatures to your garden simply involves offering butterflies a rotating array of colorful annual and perennial flowers that supply these delicate beauties with nectar all season long. Who doesn’t smile at the sight of butterflies dancing joyfully from [...]
LGBT
South African LGBT Hate Crimes
Imagine living every day of your life in fear, afraid to venture into public places because you do not know if and when you could become the next victim of a hate crime solely because of your sexual orientation. Every 26 seconds, a woman is raped in South Africa. As this disturbing trend becomes more [...]
Creating Solutions
USSF 2010: Detroit is Alive and Kicking
Anyone who claims Detroit is done either hasn’t been here or is flat out lying. This city is coming back with the help of a large crew of dedicated activists, and it’s the perfect example of the hope and work that the 2nd U.S. Social Forum (USSF) wants to show and grow. The Forum is [...]
Culture & History
Sensitive Material: The Green Zone
As the War in Iraq rages on in the Middle East, directors continue to flex their political muscles by portraying soldiers during American affairs. As director Paul Greengrass reunites with Matt Damon, in another action thriller collaboration, to create the film The Green Zone, he presents unintentional question to the American public: when will it [...]
Current Events, Politics & Economy
General Stanley McChrystal: On the Road
How did Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings gain such inside access to General McChrystal and his inner circle?
Blame it on a road trip.
Gender & Feminism
Can We Talk? A Review of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Did you hear the one about the traveling septuagenarian comedienne? Fans of comic Joan Rivers may want to stand up and applaud Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work as a labor of love. The less moved will have to work harder to find the punch lines—other than Rivers herself.
Literature, Media & Entertainment
Doctor Who: Rewatching The End of the World
As the latest season of Doctor Who, airing on Saturdays at 9:00 PM EST on BBC America, winds down, I’ve been revisiting the first season of its new incarnation. This 2005 season is available to watch online via Netflix Instant Watch. The second episode of Doctor Who, “The End of the World,” serves as [...]
Education & Family
Babies, the Movie
The movie Babies has been lauded for its ‘cuteness factor.’ Audiences tuning in–or out– for this reason may miss two key messages of the film: the unnecessary push to over-parent promulgated by Western culture, and the universality of human experience. Director Thomas Balmés chronicles the development of four babies around the globe, enticing viewers to coo, [...]
Creating Solutions
Veganism and Positive Change: Day 8 Without Animal Products
In my upcoming posts, I’ll be exploring that vision for the future, and I invite you to do the same. If you have positive ideas and visions about how the future could change if we all backed away from animal products (for whatever reasons, be they moral, political or environmental), I invite you to share them. Let’s brainstorm. Let’s get excited about the possibilities.
Education & Family
American Comics: the Way it Was-Part III
Comic artists are the coal miners of the industry: working insanely long hours and creating the raw material that the rest of the industry is built on, but not always sharing an equal part in the wealth it produces.
Culture & History
Facebook Will Get You Fired: The Heartache and Humor of Social Networking
Last Thursday, twenty-four-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates mascot, Andrew Kurtz, lost his job due to an overly critical statement posted on his Facebook page. The baseball team was on the heels of an eleven game losing streak when Kurtz used his Facebook account to reveal his discontent with the team’s management.
Literature, Media & Entertainment
Rewatching the Ninth Doctor: Rose
Doctor Who is a British science fiction TV show that first aired in 1963, featuring an enigmatic alien adventurer known only as “The Doctor,” who travels through time and space encountering various friends and foes and helping those in trouble. He travels — generally with at least one human companion — in the TARDIS, an [...]
Education & Family
Left Behind Parents
Father’s Day is a holiday that celebrates the bond between child and parent. For most of us, that bond is considered to be sacrosanct, and even if a mother and father separate, no one expects one of them to give up their rights and responsibilities to their child. That’s not the case in every [...]
Creating Solutions
5 Days Without Animal Products – Some Reader Advice
I’ve received some amazing comments full of advice from vegans. I want to share some of these hints and insights with you, because they have been so helpful.
Creating Solutions
Going Vegan: Day 4
I’m discovering that there are two ways to execute a vegan diet: You can either eat only those foods that are prepared vegan-ready, or you can learn to make meals for yourself by reworking ingredients, experimenting with recipes and learning about the food you’re preparing. Personally, I like the second option.
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