Janessa Schilmoeller

Janessa Schilmoeller is a Mint Press correspondent and staff writer based in Southern Africa. Janessa has worked with intercultural education programs for several years and focuses on topics of international relations, social change and human rights. She has previously lived in Jordan and has traveled to various countries in the Middle East. Janessa is currently reporting from Southern Africa where she coordinates study abroad programs focused on nation building, liberation theology and decolonizing the mind while reporting on social and political issues in the region. Follow her on Twitter at @jschilmo

Obama’s budget plan offers $800 M to new Arab Democracies

  (MintPress)—In his annual budget meeting with Congress, President Barack Obama expressed his desire to establish an $800 million support fund for democracies emerging from the Arab Spring. The President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 included a total of $51.6 billion in funding for the State Department and foreign assistance, just 1% of the […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
A Kuwaiti woman casts her vote at a polling station in Salwa, Kuwait City on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Officials said 400,296 Kuwaitis are registered to vote in the first parliamentary election since May 2009. The more than 280 candidates include 23 women, including re-election bids by four lawmakers who were the first women in the assembly. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)

  (MintPress)—In his annual budget meeting with Congress, President Barack Obama expressed his desire to establish an $800 million support fund for democracies emerging from the Arab Spring. The President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 included a total of $51.6 billion in funding for the State Department and foreign assistance, just

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New Study Reveals Deeper Questions about Income and Race in the Achievement Gap

(MintPress)— Despite the narrowing achievement gap between white and black students in the United States, the disparities between students from high- and low- income families are on the rise. A recent study by Sean F. Reardon of Stanford University shows that the income achievement gap is 30 to 40 percent wider among children born in 2001 […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
The Early Childhood Education Program was created to help lower the achievement gap. (Photo by Casey West)

(MintPress)— Despite the narrowing achievement gap between white and black students in the United States, the disparities between students from high- and low- income families are on the rise. A recent study by Sean F. Reardon of Stanford University shows that the income achievement gap is 30 to 40 percent wider among children born in 2001 than

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Lawmakers Criticize Attempts to Pass Fair Child Labor Laws to Protect Farmworkers

  (MintPress)– The US House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade held a hearing in early February to address regulations pertaining to the safety of youth employees in agriculture. The hearing was held in response to child labor regulation changes proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL) last fall. The Fair Labor Standards […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Senator Paul McKinley Photo by Gage Skidmore

  (MintPress)-- The US House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade held a hearing in early February to address regulations pertaining to the safety of youth employees in agriculture. The hearing was held in response to child labor regulation changes proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL) last fall. The Fair Labor

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Congressional Bill Brings U.S. One Step Closer to Civillian Drone Use

  (MintPress)— Congress passed a bill this week requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop a process for streamlining civilian drone use within the next four years. With lowered restrictions on domestic use, as many as 15,000 drones may be in service in the U.S. by 2018. The FAA Reauthorization Act, awaiting signature by President […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Drone Photo by Marion Doss

  (MintPress)— Congress passed a bill this week requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop a process for streamlining civilian drone use within the next four years. With lowered restrictions on domestic use, as many as 15,000 drones may be in service in the U.S. by 2018. The FAA Reauthorization Act, awaiting signature by

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Syrian bloodshed reflects power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia

This is Part II of an in-depth series on Syria: For Part I refer to Saudi-Backed Insurgents at Core of Syrian Uprising (MintPress)— As dictatorships fall throughout the region, Saudi Arabia and Iran have wasted no time ensuring the new Arab regimes sympathize with their own goals. It is safe to say that regional involvement […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Syrian rebels walk in an alley in Idlib, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012. (AP Photo)

This is Part II of an in-depth series on Syria: For Part I refer to Saudi-Backed Insurgents at Core of Syrian Uprising (MintPress)— As dictatorships fall throughout the region, Saudi Arabia and Iran have wasted no time ensuring the new Arab regimes sympathize with their own goals. It is safe to say that regional involvement in Syria has little to

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Economic Sanctions Harm Iranian People, Not Regime

    (MintPress)— A Gallup poll released on Tuesday highlights increased hardships among Iranians facing harsher international economic sanctions. 48 percent of Iranians reported instances over the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food or provide adequate shelter for themselves or their families. 65 percent of Iranians believe economic sanctions […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Iran Photo by Ivan Mlinaric

    (MintPress)— A Gallup poll released on Tuesday highlights increased hardships among Iranians facing harsher international economic sanctions. 48 percent of Iranians reported instances over the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food or provide adequate shelter for themselves or their families. 65 percent

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Decades of Environmental injustice: Wyoming Indian Reservation faces high cancer rates

  (MintPress)— The Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming faces alarming rates of cancer and possible health issues related to hazardous material deposits resulting from severe environmental injustices in two separate cities due to both natural gas “fracking” and mismanaged uranium mill tailings near groundwater. In some areas of the Wind River Indian Reservation, which spans […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Power plants like this one on a Navajo reservation in Arizona are wreaking havoc on the environment (Photo by Alex E. Proimos)

  (MintPress)— The Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming faces alarming rates of cancer and possible health issues related to hazardous material deposits resulting from severe environmental injustices in two separate cities due to both natural gas “fracking” and mismanaged uranium mill tailings near groundwater. In some areas of the Wind

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