opinion

Opinion pieces from the left, right, and everyone in between.

Opinion | Why Black Biraciality Makes People Uncomfortable
I recently published an article titled “The Double Marginalization of Black Biracial People.” In it, I argue that Black biracial individuals - those with one Black parent and one white parent who are socially identified as Black - face two forms of marginalization: anti-Black racism and monoracism. (Monoracism refers to a specific type of oppression that affects mixed-race individuals.)
By Clare Xanthos2 months ago in The Swamp
Putin Dispatches Naval Vessels.
Vlad "The Invader" Putin (taken from Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes) has officially stepped into the situation between America and Venezuela on the high seas. It seems the capture of Nicolas Maduro, who is now facing trial in New York, crossed a red line for Russia. Maduro and Putin are close allies, and Maduro's successor, Delcy Rodriguez, will be just as close with her Russian counterpart.
By Nicholas Bishop2 months ago in The Swamp
A Continued Sentiment
Now, the headline at the forefront of the minds of the entire world is George Floyd. Say His Name. George Floyd. I was hoping that by this time in my life I would be able to add racism to the list of endings that I am happy to see coming over the horizon, but I cannot. There are so many names and so many hashtags that I cannot count them, and these are only the ones we know of and the ones caught on camera. I cannot even see ten steps ahead of me through the blur caused by the tears in my eyes.
By Cheri2 months ago in The Swamp
Air India Pilot Removed From Plane Under Influence of Alcohol; Canada Seeks Investigation. AI-Generated.
An Air India pilot was removed from duty after allegedly reporting for work under the influence of alcohol, triggering serious safety concerns and prompting Canadian authorities to seek a formal investigation. The incident, which occurred before an international flight, has drawn attention to airline safety protocols, pilot accountability, and the responsibilities of aviation regulators across borders.
By Ayesha Lashari2 months ago in The Swamp
The Night a Song Brought Me Back to Myself
I didn’t watch the special for the spectacle. I watched because I needed to hear the song again. Not the version from the movie trailer or the TikTok clip. The one that lived in my bones—the one I’d hummed under my breath during chemo, during layoffs, during the long winter after my divorce. The song that said: It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to fall. It’s okay to rise anyway.
By KAMRAN AHMAD2 months ago in The Swamp
Changing the Rules Mid-Game: Why NYC’s New Housing Strategy Might Backfire
Imagine you are playing a long, intense board game with your friends — something like Monopoly or Settlers of Catan. Everyone has spent hours playing by the rules. You’ve invested your “money,” you’ve made trades, and you’ve built your “houses” based on the rulebook you all agreed on at the start.
By Cher Che2 months ago in The Swamp
The Day the Stadium Felt Like Church
I wasn’t born into fandom. I was adopted into it. At ten years old, I didn’t understand offside rules or midfield rotations. I only knew that every Sunday, my grandfather would take my hand, walk me three blocks to the edge of the stadium, and sit with me on a cracked concrete step—just outside the gates, where the roar of the crowd bled into the street like a hymn.
By KAMRAN AHMAD2 months ago in The Swamp
Lists and Prisoners: A Routine Exchange Between Pakistan and India. AI-Generated.
A New Year's Day Exchange On January 1st, as many nations marked the start of a new year, Pakistan and India conducted a pair of long-standing diplomatic exchanges. These were not festive celebrations, but procedural acts rooted in bilateral agreements. The two neighboring countries, through their respective foreign ministries, shared lists of their nuclear installations and facilities. Separately, they also exchanged lists of civilian prisoners currently held in each other's jails. These actions, while seemingly technical, are a small part of the fragile diplomatic framework that exists between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
By Saad 2 months ago in The Swamp
The San Francisco Blackout Was Not a Market Failure. It Was the Inevitable Result of a “Frankenstein” Utility.
I spent the last week of 2025 sitting in my apartment in the Sunset district, watching the fog roll in and the temperature drop, while my refrigerator became a graveyard for a $200 grocery run. While the rest of the country was celebrating, San Francisco was plunged into a 72-hour darkness that felt less like a modern metropolis and more like a decaying relic.
By Cher Che2 months ago in The Swamp
Ashes in the Alps: The Crans-Montana Fire and the Questions That Remain. AI-Generated.
The Silence Before the Dawn In the early hours of a late winter morning, the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana was quiet. The kind of deep quiet that falls over alpine towns after the last chairlift has stopped and the last fondue pot has been cleared away. At the 1800 Resort & Spa, a hotel known for its traditional wooden chalet style, guests were asleep. Then, just after 5:00 AM, that silence was shattered. What began as a small spark erupted into one of the deadliest hotel fires in modern Swiss history.
By Saad 2 months ago in The Swamp
Zohran Mamdani and a New Chapter in New York City Politics. AI-Generated.
Introduction On January 1, 2026, New York City entered a new phase of political leadership with the swearing-in of Zohran Mamdani as mayor. His rise to office quickly became a major topic across national and international media, including CNN, and his name began trending on Google shortly after the ceremony. While social media amplified the moment, it also generated confusion, speculation, and misleading claims about his role and background.
By Saad 2 months ago in The Swamp
How 2025 Changed the World
When historians eventually look back on 2025, they probably won’t treat it like 1914, 1939, or 2001. There was no single assassination, no mushroom cloud, no defining attack that instantly rewired the global system. Instead, 2025 belongs to a quieter but more consequential category of years — moments when the rules changed so thoroughly that the world before and after barely resemble one another.
By Lawrence Lease2 months ago in The Swamp