Public safety is critical to economic, social, and civil stability. As the country faces crippling deficits, independent voters are looking for solutions that combine fiscal discipline with high quality public service. During severe economic downturns, some services must be cut out of necessity, even while crime rises and disasters strike. As a result, creativity, quality, and citizen vigilance must make-up for a decrease in funding public safety services and payrolls.
Last December, when several provisions of the Patriot Act were set to expire, Congress instead extended the sunset clause to the end of February. With this extension, as with any extension, one would assume that further debate was their primary motive. As with previous extensions of the Act, serious debate addressing public grievances was never undertaken.
Obama pledged to shut down Guantanamo Bay by the end of his first year as President. One year later, Guantanamo Bay is still open and may remain so for an indefinite period of time. Legal logistics and a strong, conservative backlash have hampered efforts to close down the US military base located in communist Cuba.
In response to overwhelming public opposition to its livestock tracing policies, the USDA announced last week that it is revising the standards for its National Animal Identification System. In a surprising yet welcome move, a federal agency is abandoning a blanket policy approach on a heavily lobbied issue and all because of grassroots action.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a San Francisco based non-profit international digital rights advocacy organization. They are veterans in the fight for internet privacy. The list of their lawsuits is astonishing, and includes Jewel v. NSA.
Do you think California has reached the point where it’s not only OK to turn a blind eye to drug use, but drug use should be legalized? It’s come to that point: marijuana may soon be considered legal in California.
Given California’s ongoing border crisis and swift descent toward systemic failure, it is only natural that a number of unique and, in some cases, truly odd ideas will surface as desperation begins to set in. Moreover, such odd ideas are especially likely to come from politicians who hanker after a salvageable legacy.
Since the Christmas day bombing, it’s been popular to trash Obama for his administration’s failure to thwart the attack; a failure of intelligence. Just a little flash-back, here are some responses from Bush administration officials to the attack on 9/11:
An open carry revolution is underway in the United States, and Californians are participating in the act of exercising their constitutional rights. In fact, the second amendment of the Bill of Rights states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
As the President addressed in his speech last Wednesday, some scary terms have been thrown around lately. One of which is “death camps.” Rarely have such topics from Phantom Planet managed to make their way into a presidential address.
Attorney General Brown makes it clear in his Amicus Brief that California supports the NRA petitioners in their recent Supreme Court Case vs. the City of Chicago.
