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The Explosion of La Coubre

Back in the day on March 4th, 1960, the French steamboat, La Coubre exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The 4,310-ton vessel had been carrying Belgian grenades and munitions. As it was being unloaded at the port, the first blast killed numerous dock workers sending people into panic. Half an hour later, …

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In 2008 the US Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in Washington DC, in favor of citizens’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms outside of the military. Gun control advocates anticipated a barrage of challenges to similar laws in various other states following the ruling. Now, a handgun ban in Chicago nearly identical to the DC law, has …

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Marking International Women’s Day this year in Southern California, the women of Mujeres de Maiz, an inter-generational group of Chicana/Latina artists, will hold their annual arts and cultural festival. Originally founded by local artists and activists, Felicia Montes and Claudia Mercado, Mujeres de Maiz began as a one-night exhibit and performance event but due to its popularity …

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Proposed budget cuts announced by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa threaten the viability of the city’s library system. Seventy-two branches have already closed operating hours on Friday mornings as a cost-saving measure and a new round of layoffs could affect services further. Los Angeles faces a budget gap of 700 million dollars over the next sixteen months. In …

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The Enrollment Act of 1863

Back in the day on, March 3rd, 1863, the Enrollment Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. The legislation put in place the first wartime draft in the history of the United States. With the Civil War raging on, the Enrollment Act called on the registration of all males ages 25-40 including …

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President Barack Obama hosted Republican and Democratic lawmakers at Blair House on Thursday for a health care summit. The seven-hour televised discussion attempted to reconcile differences between the two major parties on proposed health care legislation. Republicans verbalized a willingness to work with Democrats in introducing reforms aimed at insuring those with pre-existing conditions. They nevertheless repeated …

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A few days ahead of the February jobs report, Vice President Joe Biden is touting Obama’s stimulus package which he claims will create between 100,000 and 200,000 jobs a month by this summer. What is usually not discussed is the quality of jobs created and whether they actually sustain American livelihoods. For many Americans, making ends meet has …

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Racial tensions continue to rise on the campus of UC San Diego after a noose was found hanging from a bookshelf of one of the school’s main libraries on Thursday. A female student came forward and claimed responsibility for the act that prompted demonstrations the following day, culminating in a student takeover of the Chancellor’s office for several …

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Claudette Colvin

Back in the day on, March 2nd, 1955, a fifteen-year old African-American girl refused to give up her seat to a white person on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Claudette Colvin had been making her way home from school when she acted in defiance nine months before civil rights icon Rosa Parks had undertaken the very same …

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An Afghan flag fluttered symbolically over the small town of Marja in Southern Afghanistan on Thursday, signifying that the rural area is now officially out of the Taliban’s hands and under the control of the central government. On February 12th, 15,000 international troops, including 11,000 troops from the U.S. and Afghanistan, were deployed to Marja to fight the few hundred …

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