Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.
 – James Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist

One year ago today, a small town in Tennessee experienced the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States when over 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge burst through a retaining wall and flooded 300 acres of land, including the Emory River that supplies fresh drinking water to the area. The estimated cost of cleanup, not including lawsuits, is over 1 billion dollars, and after a year, crews are still working.

If your loved one is killed in war, the United States President will send you a condolence letter. However, if your loved one dies by suicide while at war, then….the White House would prefer to save on postage and not say a single word to you.

It’s a remarkably cruel and insensitive policy, and it’s a policy that the Obama administration is allowing to continue. But they didn’t create it. According to CNN, this goes back to the days of the Clinton administration. Which means the Bush administration also upheld it. Why the blatant gesture of turning away from these families?

CNN recently investigated the suicide of Spc. Chancellor Keesling, who shot himself while serving in Iraq, and his family’s efforts to change the unofficial White House policy of not sending condolence letters to families of suicide victims. Stories like this bring the increasing problem of soldiers taking their lives, and the issues surrounding it, back to the public’s attention, when we otherwise might not have even realized its prevalence.

Suicide has become a severe problem in the armed forces. Chancellor Keesling is just one of a large number of armed forces personnel whose mental illness and struggle with depression was not recognized or addressed in time, ending with tragic results.

Killings of albinos in Burundi and Tanzania have caused as many as 10,000 people to go into hiding in East Africa, the Red Cross has reported. Violence against albinos has drastically increased in the last two years, due to a rise in witchcraft-related violence. The body parts of albinos are sought in some regions of Africa because it is believed they have magic powers. Witchdoctors will add the dismembered body parts to make good luck potions more effective. 

Before the killings, albinos already faced significant cultural segregation, as well as a major chance of developing skin cancer living in tropical Africa. Now this minority has become the target of severely senseless, inhumane, and deadly violence. Playing off the superstition prevalent in the region, witchdoctors act as middlemen, hiring organized gangs to murder people and retrieve their body parts. One they receive what is needed, they grind the organs into special potions to be consumed by their clients. This business is lucrative: A potion and can cost from $2,000-$3,000.

Back-to-school season, colder weather, and the holiday rush all mark back to the doctor for many prepared to get their annual flu shots. This year, a new viral infection known as H1N1, or swine flu, poses an even larger threat, particularly since June 11, 2009, when the World Health Organization declared it a level 6 (highest level) pandemic. In just a few short months, the H1N1 flu spread across 177 countries, resulting in over 209,000 confirmed infections and 2,185 deaths. Since that time, four manufacturers—(Australia’s) CSL Ltd., (Switzerland’s) Novaris, (France’s) Sanofi-Pasteur, and (The United States’) Medimmune—were licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as vaccination providers. Out of these, Medimmune is the only one that produces a nasal spray flu vaccination. “Right now, you need to become educated about vaccine, influenza, vaccine risks, and the public health laws in your state,” says Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center.

With a health pandemic the government updates the public on daily, and many frenzying for a vaccination to soothe all fears, how many are really taking the time to ask necessary and valuable questions concerning this fast-tracked cure? Is anyone concerned that there was not enough time to study and properly research all the implications and possible side effects of the vaccine before it was put into mass production?

Education is the fulcrum upon which societal advancement is possible. In many regions of the world, women are denied a full education based on cultural discrimination. Based on their history, the Taliban has proven to be particularly egregious in their treatment of women. In the heavily Taliban-influenced Swat Valley of Pakistan, the aggressive push to enforce Sharia law, or Islamic religious law, has been the cause of violence, destruction, and death. Along with other prohibitions, the enrollment of girls and women in schools is outlawed. Although the region is now under the control of the Pakistani Government, and females are allowed to receive an education, the continued Taliban insurgency has remained a major destabilizing factor. Women’s schools and students are frequently targets for terrorist violence.

Today, 46 million Americans do not have health insurance. That’s one in every six Americans. 22,000 Americans die every year from lack of insurance. 25% of Americans with insurance are denied care. 60% of bankruptcy claims in the United States are caused by health care bills that cannot be paid, and 80% of those bankruptcies happen to those people with insurance.

Despite the current dropout rates nationwide, efforts continue in earnest to quell the rising numbers in the hopes of reviving one of our country’s weakest links: the education system. Increasing the quality of reading and math in order to bridge the gap between the U.S. and other countries is one of many initiatives that President Obama addressed just seven weeks into office.

Since 1923, the original Yankee Stadium had been a staple of the Bronx skyline and nightlife. More memories were made here for some people than anywhere else in the world. To some fans, a ticket to a Yankees game was the best birthday present they could receive while other die-hard fans were sure to never miss a game, regardless of weather or prior engagements. The Babe, Joe D, Yogi, Thurmon Munson, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, and Reggie Jackson all played and starred there. Twenty-six World Series trophies have been carried through its doors and won on that field. There are few franchises or towns that are even able to think that they belong in the same breath with the Yankees and the Bronx when discussing history and team successes enjoyed. And yet, change is necessary and, ultimately, inevitable. Time has, indeed, marched on—that is, across the street.