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The Papal visit to North America in late September is expected to bring with it a wave of not only spiritual change but social change as well. More than any other pope in history, Pope Francis has proved to be concerned with the way in which his power is able to affect the lives of people across a broad swathe of society. This leader, who has cast himself as more than a spiritual guide and more than a political figurehead, is poised to offer a challenge to millions to change the way that they think about social justice, the way that they think about others, and even the way that they see themselves within their own world. [More]

The images are searing and undeniably heart wrenching - three year old boy’s body washed up on a pristine beach. The boy could be sleeping, in that curled up limp way that toddlers are known to sleep wherever they find themselves exhausted. He doesn’t look to be gone, as if he might just wake up and rub his eyes at any moment, then scamper away to play. A police officer approaches, then scoops him up in the following image. [More]

The psychology of national elections is something that is long debated and often discussed, with every election cycle offering new developments for everyone to marvel at. With the presidential election cycle seeming to begin earlier and earlier every four years with cycles now starting roughly eighteen months before the final polling date, there is increasingly a larger and larger window for candidate exposure, leaving room for more candidates to join the playing field. And while campaigns are increasingly won or lost based on the amount of money that a candidate can spend on advertising, at the same time social media and media coverage make presidential campaigns far more unpredictable. [More]

According to the National Kidney Foundation, it is estimated that about 12 people die each day while waiting for a kidney transplant. In 2014 alone, about 4,270 patients died while waiting. The average wait time for a patient to receive a transplant is approximately 3.6 years which may vary depending on a number of variables such as health,compatibility, and availability of organs.These statistics are both alarming and discouraging for the patients as well as their families who are desperately praying for a miracle to happen every day. Perhaps their prayers have been heard and are finally being answered by the inception of the National Kidney Registry’s paired exchange program. [More]

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is Freedom of Speech. But when does that freedom collide with a person’s right to privacy in our country? As a country, we protect freedom of expression. But our forward moving, electronic society means that each person has a digital footprint. Take for example the silly things one does in high school being posted and coming up in a Google search twenty years later affecting ones job or life in a significant way. Should we have the right to remove information that we do not like or think is no longer relevant? Who decides if it is relevant? These are some of the questions currently being asked because of a recent petition filed in the United States by an advocacy group. [More]

The same day that Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo for more than a decade, passed away from a long growing tumor, there was a rainbow seen over the headquarters of the gaming giant’s headquarters in Kyoto. This symbol served as an appropriate tribute to the man who ushered in an age of cross cultural, cross national and cross age interaction with technology. Iwata had a vision of future with video games that made them accessible all kinds of people, especially those who had never felt comfortable with them before. [More]

Over the course of the last year, Bill Cosby has fallen hard from his place as a beloved figure in American culture to a disgraced man who is constantly at war for over his legacy. His status as the icon of family entertainment and solid values has been thrown completely into question with the sensational allegations against him, with dozens of women accusing Cosby of having drugged and then raped them. Recently there has been a release of deposition information from 2005 in which Cosby admits to having pursued the purchase of the now illicit drug quaaludes for the purposes of giving it to women in a sexual context. [More]

On Monday, Jeb Bush released his 2016 presidential campaign logo, right before his official announcement. The logo made waves on the internet as people critiqued the Republican candidate’s choice to use just his first name. Jeb Bush also finishes his logo with a prominent exclamation point. However, it is not as much the font, color, or exclamation point that makes Jeb’s logo interesting to people across the internet; it is what is missing from his logo. [More]

A popular celebrity publication, In Touch Weekly, exposed a family secret last week hidden for over a decade by the popular reality television family, the Duggars, who star in TLC’s long-running “19 Kids and Counting”. Josh Duggar, 27, eldest male member of a family known for their televised and strong Christian views, confirmed an uncovered police report from 2008 detailing his sexual molestation of multiple girls, a number that includes his own sisters. [More]

On April 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton made the long-awaited announcement that she’s entering the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Part of the public discourse around her candidacy is the issue of sexism; is Hillary being treated differently (worse) because she’s a woman. Or maybe there’s something more basic at work here. Something fundamental to all living things. It could be that homeostasis is the common denominator driving what can otherwise be viewed simplistically as bigoted behavior in politics. [More]