Articles by Steven Gilchrist

Later this year in June, the 60 th anniversary of the signing of the law that established the Interstate Highway System will take place.   President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 on June 29, 1956.   The legislation authorized the construction of a 41,000 mile network of interstate highways that would cover the entire country.   The interstate highway system was intended to: eliminate traffic congestion, make coast-to-coast transportation more efficient, and simplify the ability for residents to leave large cities in the case of an atomic attack. President Eisenhower had an interest in establishing an interconnected national highway system after his experience traveling across the country as an Army Lieutenant during a 1919 military convoy.   Secondly, when Eisenhower was a General during World War II he saw the importance of having an efficient interconnected road system when he traveled the German Autobahn highway network. Currently, th

In May 2015, the landlocked central African nation of Burundi experienced a coup.   Godefroid Niyombare led the coup against Burundi’s president Pierre Nkurunziza.   Nkurunziza, 51, was a former rebel leader during the civil war in Burundi.   From 1993 – 2005, Burundi endured a civil war between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis.   The Burundian civil war was part of the same conflict that caused the Rwandan genocide in 1994.   During the 12 year civil war over 300,000 people died.   In October 1993, Hutu President Melchoir Ndadaye – Burundi’s first democratically elected president, was assassinated.   The assassination sparked nationwide violence between Hutus and Tutsis.    Protesters railed against Nkurunziza in April 2015 after he announced his re-election bid for a third term as president.   Nkurunziza’s forces were able to suppress the coup attempt.   Nkurunziza has been president of Burundi since 2005. Burundi is listed as the 2 nd poorest country in the world.   Acco