We live in crazy times. Far-right agitators—from white-nationalist leader Richard Spencer to recent pariah Milo Yiannopoulos—have sparked renewed interest in what types of speech are protected. Some on the left find themselves wanting to ban, stifle, or prohibit certain types of speech, especially speech they feel has been weaponized for use against historically disempowered communities. […]

Three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, political science associate professor Jack Turner was teaching a class on feminist political theory when a visibly upset student raised her hand and asked to be excused. When the student explained she’d seen two neo-Nazi recruitment flyers outside of Raitt Hall, Turner suggested the class go check them out. […]

Efforts to repeal an unpopular statewide dance tax have become a battle about statutory language. The dance community dubbed a 1970 state law “the dance tax” though it collects retail sales tax on amusement, recreation and physical fitness services. Included in this spectrum of services are venues that provide “the opportunity to dance.” This wording is […]

Blaming the survivor of a sexual assault leads to revictimization. TOO often, insensitive comments are made about a rape survivor’s experience. Somebody might question whether the attack happened, or ridicule or otherwise bully the victim. Such was the case of Rehtaeh Parsons of Nova Scotia ; Audrie Pott of Saratoga, Calif., and the 16-year-old Steubenville, […]

The Seattle City Council on Monday gave a limited way forward to the city’s medical-marijuana dispensaries, which face an uncertain future with the advent of statewide recreational marijuana sales. The City Council gave the medical dispensaries and growers until January 2015 to apply for a state license to do business in compliance with Washington’s new […]

“I am a product of war and my family is a product of the killing fields,” said Phatry Derek Pan, referring to the sites where thousands of Cambodians were massacred. Pan was born in a refugee camp in Thailand shortly after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian political group that ruled the country […]

President Obama is on his way to Burma (aka Myanmar) on Monday for a six hour visit that will be the first by any sitting US president in history. According to Reuters, in advance of the visit the Burmese government plans to release some 452 prisoners, some of them political prisoners who will be granted amnesty […]

A group of about 50 activists gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on Tuesday night. From the sidewalk outside the prison’s gates, the demonstrators—wives, children, partners, and strangers—rallied in support of those inside. About 415 detainees at NWDC, mostly undocumented immigrants picked up by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), had stopped eating to […]

Walking into the Inscape Arts and Cultural Center didn’t feel quite like I thought it would. The building looks more like a school or a train station than the former home of United States Immigrant Station and Assay Office. But that’s exactly what it is. This past Sunday, Dec. 7, Inscape opened “Voices of the Immigration Station: […]

Last Sunday, Burmese citizens flooded voting centers to participate in the country’s first democratic election in years. In a landslide victory, the National League for Democracy, helmed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claimed an absolute majority of parliamentary seats. Election officials confirmed the results Friday morning. Although the military in Burma, also known as […]