Many Japanese schools don’t hire janitors or custodians in the traditional American role, and much of the school cleaning is done by the children themselves. One of the traditions of Japanese education is that students do o-soji (cleaning). It’s one of the few things non-Japanese tend to know about Japanese schools. Unfortunately, many of us tend to get…
Read moreHundreds of divers just set the world record for the largest underwater cleanup
A group of 633 divers entered the waters of Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier in Florida on Saturday, setting a new Guinness World record for the largest underwater cleanup as they jumped in to retrieve waste from the ocean. While the official weight of the waste they collected has yet to be confirmed, the divers reportedly…
Read moreHere’s a 1918 role model for Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ successor as White House press secretary.
Stephanie Grisham, communications director for Melania Trump, will replace Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary. Sanders’ controversial tenure will end June 30. Critics claim Sanders rejected the public service aspect of her position by misinforming the public and refusing to renounce the president’s “enemy of the people” label of the press. Sanders…
Read moreDaughter inspires mom to create devilshly clever solution to a messy room.
When you’re a kid, you hate hearing your parents nag. “Clean your room! Do your homework! Take out the trash!” But parents hate having to nag just as much. Alice Velásquez from Indiana couldn’t stand having to tell her daughter to clean her room, so she took the nuclear option. She packed everything in her room into…
Read morePrince William says he’d ‘fully support’ any of his kids if they are gay
Many LGBTQ youths become homeless because they were kicked out of their homes by parents who don’t support their sexuality. But Prince William’s children won’t have to go through that experience, and it’s not just because they’re massively wealthy. Prince William said he would be “absolutely fine by me” if one of his three kids was…
Read moreThe death of Rashan Charles: Why I challenge the official story
One Saturday two summers ago, in the early hours, a young black man called Rashan Charles died on the floor of a Hackney convenience store. The police claimed that Rashan had been “taken ill” after “trying to swallow an object” and that a police officer “intervened and sought to prevent the man from harming himself”….
Read moreA Florida woman turned her abusive husband’s guns into the police. She was thrown into jail for armed burglary
The most dangerous person in a woman’s life is her significant other. In a study of female homicide victims between 2003 and 2014, the Centers for Disease Control found that 55% of female homicide victims were domestic violence. Of these murders, over half were carried out with a gun. Even if domestic abusers never pull the…
Read moreEuropean countries should face legal consequences for ‘criminalising’ migrant solidarity, says new report
European institutions must consider legal action against member states that incorrectly ‘criminalise’ citizens and volunteers for helping migrants, according to a new EU-funded study published today. A recent openDemocracy investigation found that hundreds of Europeans have been targeted by authorities for providing food, shelter, transportation or other support to migrants without legal papers. Today’s study,…
Read moreResearch, relationships and reciprocity in Northern Uganda
Researchers working on armed conflict and political violence grapple with many challenges over the course of their fieldwork. Among them are questions of ethics, power and representation, which must be carefully considered if researchers are going to mitigate the effects of enduring systems of power and privilege on their collection and dissemination of information. They…
Read moreIndia: a general election, emerging model of power, and populist resistance
Political observers loosely speak of authoritarianism, populism, etc., as if these are ideologies and not concrete political practices, ideologically opposed to democracy. This commentary reflecting on the recently concluded Indian general elections, particularly in West Bengal, throws light on some of these concrete political situations and practices through which a particular form of power emerges…
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