Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Opinion: Body-shaming, hypocrisy and Sriracha sauce

May 30, 2016

Like any good writer in the 21st century, the controversial topics I address are inspired directly from what I see on social media. Based on that alone, this week I was forced to decide between three things: whether Hillary Clinton’s lying habits are worse than Donald Trump’s, those one-minute cooking videos that always end with that one dude making sex noises to the image of food — “oh ye-AH!” — or some asshole at the gym again.

OPINION | COLUMNS

My weekend safari in Paynes Prairie: a look into venture capitalism

May 25, 2016

“The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet — it's yours.” Ann Coulter

OPINION | COLUMNS

Memorial Day: actually remembering history

May 25, 2016

Thank you, Mr. Trump.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Darts & Laurels: May 25, 2016

May 25, 2016

It’s that time of year, dear readers: The days are getting hotter, the sun’s growing brighter, the list of your friends on wild summer vacations is getting longer and longer. Don’t worry: You may be shaping up for exams now that Summer A is halfway over, but this Summer here in Gainesville is still fire. Traffic is super light, the lines to the clubs are nearly non-existent and there are fewer people around to clog up your Wi-Fi when you’re on an all-night gaming spree. Most of all, you’re in for a treat: our senseless ramblings, our assessment of life’s deepest concerns, our latest segment of…

Thousands of people gather at the Paris casino in Las Vegas for the Nevada State Democratic Convention on Saturday, May 14, 2016. They are picking delegates to send to the national convention in July. (AP Photo/Michelle Rindels)

OPINION | EDITORIALS

What happens in Nevada... But seriously, what happened?

May 23, 2016

By now, most of you have probably heard about what happened at Nevada’s state Democratic caucus on May 14. Violence, chair throwing, verbal harassment, a California senator fearing for her life: At least, this is what happened according to many Democratic officials and major media.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Restroom arguments are nothing more than illogical fear, transphobia

May 23, 2016

It was last summer when I was first confronted with the infamous controversial beast that is the unisex restroom. I was interning at an environmental research firm in the heart of Jerusalem, the holiest city on earth. The Jerusalem Municipality is the formal institution that governs the city, and, because Jerusalem houses both the people and holy sites of the three major Abrahamic religions, holy men and women serve in the local government in a variety of ways.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Hillary Clinton is going to face a tough election

May 23, 2016

As the election season is shifting gears into the general, with the two presumptive nominees beginning to attack each other, there is still a glaring lack of policy or anything resembling it. Last week was plagued with attack ads from both candidates in regard to each other’s history with women. It reminds me of the Mark Twain quote, “Never argue with a fool, onlookers won’t be able to tell the difference.” One of the candidates is a master of making politicians look like fools.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The influence of corporate industry undermines our new dietary guidelines

May 23, 2016

Worried about money in politics? Here’s the perfect case study.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Be aware, bicylists: Pedestrians need space, too

May 18, 2016

People have a lot to be aware of on a monthly basis. The lists of May go on to include older Americans, healthy vision and ultraviolet light. However, the most perplexing phenomenon to dedicate an entire month isn’t about a disease or demographic: May is National Bike Month.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Darts & Laurels: May 19, 2016

May 18, 2016

Hear ye, hear ye, dear readers. We’re already nearing the end of our second week this semester. How does time pass so quickly? Are we to learn that the Earth is rotating on its axis at faster rates? Is the very fabric of spacetime in jeopardy as the possibility of a Mein Drumpf presidency becomes evermore plausible? No matter: We invite you to take solace and pleasure in our latest segment of…

OPINION | COLUMNS

Guest Column: The realest interview, A millennial's guide

May 18, 2016

Seeking:

OPINION | EDITORIALS

The Democratic National Convention: evidence of oligarchy

By Alligator Editorial Staff | May 16, 2016

We know this election cycle’s been hanging over your heads for what seems like forever, though probably still not as long as it’s been since you’ve returned your grandma’s voicemails. (Give her a call back, for heaven’s sake!) In so many ways, though, we’re just getting started. The general election is steadily approaching, and for weeks, all we’ve been hearing about is the need for party unity.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The time has come for the Democratic Party to unite behind Hillary Clinton

May 16, 2016

While the Republicans’ voters have decided to nominate a bigoted, xenophobic and self-centered human being, the Democrats are ready to continue moving forward on President Obama’s progressive legacy. With the prospect of a President Trump becoming more and more real, the Democratic party needs to unite more than ever, and fast.

OPINION | COLUMNS

You cannot blame the establishment for everything

May 16, 2016

It is impossible to listen to the candidates of this election cycle without hearing mention of the “establishment,” a sort of shady organization within politics that prevents the goodwill of the people from being heard or legislation from being passed, and anyone who isn’t part of the establishment, it can be assumed, is not longed for the political world because they speak the truth on a certain issue the establishment does not want to let out.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Take a minute and breathe before you #BernieOrBust

May 16, 2016

I am an avid Bernie Sanders supporter. This is a fact you could deduce from simply spending five minutes on any social media platform of mine. When the Vermont senator came to UF in March, my friend and I were in line to see him speak before his motorcade was even in town. With the Democratic nomination getting closer and closer each day, we’ve seen a rise in niche-voter movements like the #BernieOrBust ideology. My response to this movement is simple: If you’re feeling the Bern, it’s probably not in your best interest to bust.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Technology and big change in Africa

May 11, 2016

If asked to explain what they think it is like to live in Africa, most Americans would probably formulate a perception drastically different from the unapparent reality. As a result of either minimally skimming through the “Africa” section in newspapers or forgetting about the continent altogether, many Americans would draw from their high school history classes to describe today’s Africa. This only becomes a problem when it seems it is more than just average Americans using information from decades ago, because although the possible solutions to benefit Africa have changed, policies have not.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Gentrification and “tiny houses”: big problems

May 11, 2016

I used to abhor the expression “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” If there’s a Hell, we’re probably living in it already, and why fault people for their good intentions?

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels: Thursday May 12, 2016

May 11, 2016

One of the challenges for us in assigning current events with a dart or a laurel is the fact that there is just so much to talk about. Economies across the globe may be in recession, but we never seem to run short on our supply of ridiculousness. Experts are saying its market value is at an all-time high. So, with all of the ups and downs in recent world news, we’d like to bring you a more international segment: “Dartos y Laurel-schteinem?” We digress.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Trump needs to unite the Republican Party to secure the general election

May 9, 2016

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has a huge electoral problem looming on the horizon, and it seems he and many of his supporters either do not want to acknowledge it or would rather dismiss it as a non-issue. The problem is Trump does not seem to do well with a diverse general election constituency.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Hello, world

May 9, 2016

Hi, everybody. My name is Zachary Lee. I’ll be one of your columnists this Summer. You can find my column here in the Alligator every Tuesday. This being my first official column (you may recognize me from some politically-charged guest columns in past semesters or some crappy satirical pieces two years ago), I feel like I should introduce myself to you. I am majoring in philosophy and minoring in sustainability studies. I like peanut butter, my roommate’s dog and the satisfying crunch of walking on dead leaves. I don’t like the beach, adult men who wear Ed Hardy clothing products or Smirnoff Ice.