by Hanna Zelma Horányi A bit of context: On April 4, parliamentary elections were held in Hungary. Fidesz, the governing party won in a landslide. On the same day, there was also a referendum which was often regarded as homo- and transphobic. (I’m adding often because a. as far as the government is concerned, it…
Wild West Ethos
By Annika Lee found poem from Facebook comments on the 20 September 2021 New York Times article ‘Homeland Security investigates border patrol’s treatment of Haitian immigrants.’ Look closely it’s not the Wild West. Like master to slave God is a whip playing cowboys. So, big man, how would you stop the runner literally walking…
The AUKUS Élite
By Charlotte Vreden With the trilateral security pact between the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Australia finds itself in the noble company of an exclusive and elite clique of other cool nations, only to realize the harsh laws of popularity. Now, this could be a summary of what happened during the past weeks, but…
Nord Stream 2: Russia’s Leverage Over Europe?
By Charlotte Vreden A few days ago, the Russian pipelaying vessel ‘Fortuna’ welded the final pipe of the Nord Stream 2 project in the Baltic Sea. This project is highly debated among politicians in Europe and America. Nordic Stream 2 is a 10 € billion project of a new gas pipeline stretching from Russia to…
Some Thoughts on the Women’s Prize for Fiction
By Marije Huging In March, the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the UK’s most prestigious book award for women writers, for which the winner gets 30 000 pounds, was released. The drama that ensued earlier this month regarding the prize has something larger to say about literary prize culture, and it’s entering into…
The Bubble of Personalised News Feeds and the Politicisation of Facts
By Elise Renkema Twitter CEO Jack Dorsley recently announced that Twitter will be banning political ads on its platform. The ban is not only for individual candidates, but also for advertisements on politicised issues. In practice, this means that political candidates can still tweet, but that these tweets cannot be promoted through advertisements. This…
The PoLaw European Election Debate: A Successful Evening of Critical Thinking and Political Discussion
by Amélie Snijders On Thursday evening, the 25th of April, the political and law society of UCR (PoLaw) invited five candidates for the European elections to come and defend their party’s views. The debate was a mix of cultural values and freedoms with a critical but enthusiastic audience. The event was an impressive display of what student…
Do You Want to Earn Money for Participating in Democracy?
by Margje Camps I am not going to lie to you, this slogan sounds very appealing and more than a bit deceiving at the same time. Yet I must ensure you, this job advertisement could very well exist. In the last few weeks, a central theme in newspapers, television programmes, and on the internet has…
#Pelosiclap: White-clad Women and the Shutdown
By Jedidja van Boven A Polar Vortex bringing a cold so extreme that it has claimed 21 lives, the crumbling of the benchmark INF treaty on missiles with Russia, and new aspiring presidential candidates left and right… With all these dramatic headlines coming our way from the United States, it’s easy to brush over the…
The Brainless Soldier
By Amée Zoutberg Looking back on 2018, I feel that one of my greatest lessons learnt came about a month after receiving my UCR diploma. Which was great. Really. I painfully discovered that in three years of sacrifice and voluntary enslavement to the academic system (for that sweet, sweet 3.5 GPA), I had in no way…
Is Science Undemocratic?
by Andrea Undecimo A new truth has emerged: science is not democratic. This is at least what a famous Professor of Microbiology and Virology at the University of Milan, Roberto Burioni, has proposed in his book, published last year, whose title could be roughly translated as “The conspiracy of the ignorant: why science cannot be…
‘’Amoral and Idiotic’’: Republican Heroism or Strategic Ploy?
by Jedidja van Boven In the words of a former White House official: it’s open season on the president. A sudden op-ed letter, written by an anonymous senior administration official working for the Trump administration, was published by the New York Times last Wednesday in a frantic government-press clash that is “unprecedented’’, as stated by…
Zuma vs. Baxley: Are African politics more honest than US politics?
By Amée Zoutberg Disclaimer: This article is written from a non-scientific perspective, rather a literary/philosophical one. The point of this article is to demonstrate an idea, which should inspire debate and further thought on the topic. Some of the article’s assumptions and generalisations are based on case examples and the author’s encounters with experienced individuals….
Everything you need to know about the meeting between Trump and Xi
By Eric Zhang On 6 November, Donald Trump went on the first state visit to China of his presidency, and it is considered the most important stop in both strategic and economic terms in his visit to five Asian countries. Let us take a look at what the most pressing and pertinent topics were in…
The Politics of Passion – the Catalonian Referendum
By Eric Zhang This October has not been a peaceful month for Catalonia and Spain. On October 1st, Catalonia held a referendum as to whether it should become an independent country. The majority of the vote supported independence, but the turnout rate for this referendum was only 43%. The Spanish king addressed the nation two…
AFD – Whiff from the Brown Past or Fresh Wind in a Stale Closet?
In her article “Did We Get Used to Nazis (Again)?”, Rebecca Fobbe lambasts the success of the Alternative für Deutschland party (Alternative for Germany, AFD) in the recent German federal elections, which gained almost 13% of votes and thus became the third-largest party nationally. Following Rebeccas article, it would be easy to assume that the…
Flash #8: Floodings, Legs, and Triggers
After a well-deserved Spring Break, Tabula Rasa is back with your weekly coverage of news you might have missed being responsible students. Russian opposition leader in jail Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 15 days in jail following the Sunday protests against the corruption in the Russian government. The protests were sparked by a report…
Time to Party
If you have read any news article, sporadically scrolled through your Facebook feed or talked to anyone with an opinion, you have noted that the Dutch elections are nearing at an enormous pace. You might want to vote in these elections, or you are just generally interested and would like to be aware of what…
Tabula Rasa Spring I Print Edition: Diversity
At Tabula Rasa, we decided we wanted to do things just a tiny bit different this Spring semester. That’s why we’re releasing not one, but two full-blown print editions this semester! The first, themed ‘diversity’, will be released in just a few days, while the second is coming your way after the Spring break, featuring…
UCR Votes: An Experiment
Bringing Dutch Parliament Elections Closer to You The past year was a political hurricane, to say the least. England is now making concrete steps to leave the European Union, and we are being confronted with US President Trump’s shenanigans every day again. But buckle up everybody, there is much more to come! Germany, France and…