Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
The Poverty Trap
As of 2013, in Ontario there were a total of 460,100 people on Ontario Works. Of this, 64 percent were adults, with 27 percent being single adults. There were also 427,100 recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Ontario may be one of the worst provinces for their social assistance and policies. Welfare creates an everlasting trap for all recipients, keeping their recipients below the poverty line, and trapping them there with their policies. Not only are rates far lower than in previous reports, but they are also much too low for this wage alone to support a family/person. Rates of adults using food banks has increased dramatically because of the inflation and increases in everyday costs. The poverty gap has increased by about 200 percenrt since 1993, leaving many recipients living on incomes 60 percent below the poverty line in Ontario.
By Rion Marks8 years ago in The Swamp
The Hour Glass
As the sands of time flow downward the sea of change continues to ebb. It ebbs not with grace but with a velocity of a coming tsunami. The world that I once knew when I was young is unrecognizable now. Back at a time when memories were made has kept my compass almost on the straight and narrow. I lived through times of hardships and woe, experienced joy and adulation and through it all never have I seen what our world has come to today. Sure, there are scientific breakthroughs and technological marvels that have made an impact but, yet the world keeps shifting toward a more ominous outcome. Our world is more convoluted, complex and dangerous now.
By Dr. Williams8 years ago in The Swamp
The Link Between Starvation Wages and High Crime
I belong to a Facebook group whose members, according to the group's name, are there to improve the city where we all reside. Recently, someone posted a poll asking members to vote on the causes of our current spike in criminal activity. Here are the top three responses:
By Angie Still8 years ago in The Swamp
Guide to American Political Parties
Politics. It’s what makes America… America. Even if you're not crazy about politics, or perhaps hate the topic, you hear it almost everywhere you go. It’s one of the main conversation topics that almost always end up becoming an argument, because everyone has a different view on how the country should be. But not everyone is right and not everyone is wrong — that is where politics come in.
By Jacqueline Hanikeh8 years ago in The Swamp
Getting Over It: Brexit & The Mythmaking Saboteurs
Much of the last 2 years in politics has been unpredictable and surprising. Brexit has started the UK on a radical journey that looks to be messy, bumpy, and hard to forecast. But there are a few things we can be relatively sure of. The kind of Brexit we get very much depends on how debates are settled in the UK. Brexit produces the need for a vast number of debates because it will effect every pocket of governance, business and the economy. Sweeping changes with far reaching repercussions are to be introduced; touching on the border arrangements in Northern Ireland, regional funding, devolved powers, regulatory environments and the bodies that maintain them, post-Brexit trade policy, immigration systems & policies and thousands of laws and regulations.
By Dan Dutchison8 years ago in The Swamp
What Does "GOP" Stand for in American Politics?
In this era of Trump and a modern American schism, age old ideals are beginning to fade, alongside the conditions of how we have adopted our freedom. It seems that, in this day and age, we are not only attacked, but vilified for a number of our own personal ideals and opinions. That's not what this country was built upon. Sometimes I wonder, knowingly so, if George Washington was correct when he had denounced the condition of party politics in his 1796 farewell address:
By Donald Gray8 years ago in The Swamp
History of the Democratic Party
In the US, you have political perspectives — you're either a Republican or a Democrat. And if you’re a Democrat, you should know exactly why you’re part of the party. Not only do you believe that citizens of the country have the right to say and suggest actions that the country should do, but believe that everyone is born equal — meaning no one is looked down upon for being themselves. Everyone who’s living in this country is seen to have the same opportunities as the person next to them.
By George Nekilan8 years ago in The Swamp
Trudeau's Deficit: Another Case of Chicken Little Syndrome
If you're Canadian like me and have been paying any attention to the #cdnpoli tag on Twitter, or to the news, or to opinion pieces in newspapers, two things are being considered a big deal right now: Morneau's "oh right I have a company but I'm already rich and who cares" gaffe, and the whole thing with Trudeau's budget deficit.
By Grizzly Matthews8 years ago in The Swamp
"We Don’t Care About Your Sexuality But We Care About The Crime" — The Media Missteps Regarding Kevin Spacey
Look at Daily Mail, The New York Times, or even The Hill and you'll see a theme as far as Kevin Spacey is concerned. "Spacey comes out as gay amid allegations of advance on teen boy," says the headline on The Hill.
By Christina St-Jean8 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Donald, You're Wrecking My Relationships
Dear Donald, I would like to congratulate you on accomplishing a feat I never thought humanly possible. Though you never actually met me, and though you never actually interacted with any of the people around me, you've managed to wreak a huge amount of my relationships with others.
By Ossiana Tepfenhart8 years ago in The Swamp
The Mass Shootings
This world is becoming a sad state of affairs. I just don’t seem to understand what is going on, especially with all of the recent mass shootings that have taken place of late. The most recent took place on a Sunday night in Las Vegas, and quite a number of people have died. One of the people killed was a young girl that started working for the sports team the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. Other teams felt the effect the first week of the NHL season where there were moments of silence, even for one broadcaster who died in an unrelated manner. Every time this comes up, people want change in the ways guns are managed, but before I get into that argument, let's talk about our past history for a bit.
By Jared Rimer8 years ago in The Swamp
