in Criminal Justice
If you were to ask Taser International, the company would tell you its weapons can "protect life," and that "good aim isn't required" to shoot them. Tell that to Jaesun Ingles, who died after being tased by the Chicago police -- or any of the other 400 victims of tasing. Tasers are a lethal weapon, and cities like Chicago need to treat them as such.
in Human Trafficking
In central Georgia, the fight against human trafficking has moved from a ground battle to one in the sky -- on billboards to be precise. One local organization is fighting back against the ads for massage parlors and spa services by buying out billboard ad space and featuring hotline numbers for people to report human trafficking.
in Gay Rights
New statistics released by UNAIDS this week show that HIV rates among gay men around the world continue to rise. Why? One reason is the fact that repressive laws surrounding homosexuality continue to exist in 85 countries around the globe, sending queer folks underground. For UNAIDS Chief Michel Sidibe, that fact is more than a little appalling.
in Social Entrepreneurship
Across the developing world, the cost of higher education is often prohibitively high. What's more, access to loans is almost nonexistent. But building on the success of Kiva, a new platform is offering people everywhere the chance to offer microloans to students from Mongolia to Peru. After all, one of the only clear paths out of poverty is education.
in Poverty in America
The isolated, impoverished villages of western Alaska are in the spotlight this week as mushers from across the globe zoom toward the finish of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But it will take more than cute huskies zipping through snow drifts to keep attention on the 200+ Alaskan villages that still lack adequate employment, health care and education.
in Criminal Justice
Prison rape is endemic across the U.S., yet it's still treated as something of a joke. In fact, over eight months after a federal commission recommended a preventative change in prison practices, the Justice Department is still dragging its feet. Tell the Obama administration that sexual abuse anywhere is unacceptable -- and that together, we can end it.
in Human Rights
Even dictators appreciate the shiny veneer of perceived electoral legitimacy, though their rigged polls and repressive policies leave the rest of us wondering just who they think they're fooling. Nowhere is this more evident than in the campaigns of Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.
in Education
Texas newspapers began covering it a few weeks ago but now it is making headlines nationwide: conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education have been busy writing and passing amendments that will significantly change the content of K-12 textbooks to reflect their right-wing bias. Minorities? Out. Women? Out. Separation of church and state? Out.