Maggie BenZvi is a contributing editor for Coffee or Die. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree in human rights from Columbia University, and has worked for the ACLU as well as the International Rescue Commitee. She has also completed a summer journalism program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. In addition to her work at Coffee or Die, she’s a stay at home mom and, notably, does not drink coffee. Got a tip? Get in touch!
In the summer of 2021, Jamie Simic began experiencing tingling lips and limbs, brain fog so severe she could not put sentences together, and heart palpitations. Her weight plummeted from 128 to 98 pounds amid gastrointestinal problems. Doctors had no ...
The Marine Corps has granted religious exemptions for vaccination for the first time in at least seven years. While 351 Marines have been separated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, two out of 3,350 requests for religious accommodation have now been ...
How much fuel has leaked into the water that Navy families are drinking in Hawaii? A lawyer for military families stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam told Coffee or Die Magazine that the only tool anyone needs to find out is a ...
A two-star general waded into a Twitter confrontation this weekend that, within hours, led to a flood of 30 reports of a “non-commissioned officer sending inappropriate pictures” to women, according to the Minnesota National Guard. The account in ...
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt lost a legal battle to exempt the state's National Guard soldiers and Air National Guard airmen from the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Federal Judge Stephen Friot denied Oklahoma’s request for an injunction against ...
Directly in the center of Kinetic Ink Tattoo Co. is a wall decorated with small photographs of proud smiling faces. With a pang of sadness, I realized as I walked toward it that I recognized a few — Ranger buddies of a friend of ...
Following a slow start processing the thousands of religious exemption requests it received for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the Air Force has started moving through them at top speed — with very consistent results. The Air Force has processed ...
When Isaak Olson was 21, his longtime girlfriend gave birth to his child. The two had dated since high school in Los Angeles and planned to get married. There was one thing standing in their way — Olson was in his third year as a cadet at the US ...
Clicking “like” on the wrong Facebook post could now count as “extremist activity” with harsh impacts on military careers under new anti-extremism rules the Pentagon announced Monday, Dec. 20. At a Monday press conference, Pentagon press secretary ...
Unlike last weekend’s football game, Army just beat Navy — in the percentage of troops vaccinated against COVID-19 at the branch’s vaccine deadline. The Army announced Thursday, Dec. 16, that 98% of its active-duty force has received at least one ...
Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee will receive the Medal of Honor on Thursday, Dec. 16, for fighting off an attack on a forward operating base in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in August of 2013. The medal represents both an acknowledgment of Plumlee's extraordinary ...
The Air Force has discharged 27 airmen for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The airmen appear to be the first active-duty military members to lose their jobs under the service’s vaccine mandate, other than several dozen new recruits who were ...
The recently installed adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard told his troops on Thursday, Dec. 9, that they will have to get the COVID-19 vaccine eventually, despite the ongoing tug-of-war between the state’s governor and the ...
A lawyer suing on behalf of nearly three dozen Naval Special Warfare personnel — including 26 SEALs — said the Pentagon’s refusal to grant even one religious exemption to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate threw doubt on the department’s real ...
Last-minute changes made behind closed doors in Congress will alter the way the military investigates major crimes — including sexual assault — but authority over any courts-martial will still lie with commanders of those accused. Victim advocates ...
The military recorded more than one case of “extremism” every day for most of 2021, according to a new report, with the Air Force finding the most examples in its ranks, while the Army found the most that were serious enough to warrant criminal ...
The monthlong cold war over National Guard vaccinations heated up yesterday, as the state of Oklahoma filed suit against the Pentagon in an attempt to avoid the mandate that guardsmen receive a jab. On Thursday, Dec. 2, the state of Oklahoma and ...
As days and hours tick away without a final budget for the Pentagon, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is sounding an alarm that a key reform in how the military handles sexual assault is in danger of being stripped from the 2022 National Defense Authorization ...
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made clear for the second day in a row that he expects the Oklahoma National Guard to enforce the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates — and Tuesday, he put real money on the table. In a memo dated Nov. 30, Austin ...
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin denied Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s request to exempt the Oklahoma National Guard from the military’s coronavirus vaccine mandate — the latest salvo in a tense standoff. “To maintain a healthy and ready military ...
Fewer than 700 sailors out of the Navy’s nearly 350,000 members were unvaccinated at the service’s COVID-19 vaccination deadline Sunday, Nov. 28 — the best rate among any military service. According to Navy officials, almost every active-duty ...
Some small but welcome help may soon be on its way to improve outcomes in obstetric and maternal care among veterans. A recently passed bill will spend $15 million to improve coordination between VA hospitals and community facilities that provide ...
When Mohammad Jamil was a child growing up in Afghanistan, his father impressed upon him the importance of education. Jamil learned English at a young age, but he couldn’t have known that linguistic skill would lead to a whole new life in the United ...
Soldiers who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine will not be allowed to reenlist, retire, collect a bonus, put on a higher rank, accept awards, or have college classes paid for under a memo issued by Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth on Tuesday, Nov. ...
So far, the Pentagon is avoiding any showdown at the OK COVID Corral. A Department of Defense spokesman would not speculate Monday, Nov. 15, on possible Pentagon reaction to last Friday’s move by the governor of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma National ...
The governor of Oklahoma believes he can declare the state’s National Guard exempt from the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and he appears to have fired the Guard’s top general and installed a different one who agrees with him. On Thursday, ...
The military — and the Air Force in particular — is not living up to its promises in how it prosecutes sexual assault, a Pentagon report found. The Pentagon Office of the Inspector General released a report Wednesday that found glaring ...
For generations, American boys nearing their 18th birthday have known they would soon have to register for the Selective Service System, commonly called the military draft. Soon, girls may join them — but only if a current proposal makes it ...
Federal contractors, including those who work directly for the military, will have almost another full month to meet a vaccine mandate deadline, after President Joe Biden announced a new deadline on Thursday. All employees of companies with more than ...
The Air Force says 800 airmen have flatly refused the COVID-19 vaccine and now face administrative punishment. Just under 5,000 more have applied for a religious exemption, though the Air Force says none have so far been granted. Overall, 8,486 ...
