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Each year as we approach the end (or beginning) of Daylight Saving Time (DST -- Daylight Saving in the United States is the correct term, not Daylight Savings as it is usually mistakenly called), there seems to be a political debate as to the usefulness of such a scheme. Some encourage year-round DST, while others advocate totally departing from the system. Looking to the wisdom and humor of Benjamin Franklin gives us a unique insight to his thoughts on saving daylight. Paris, 1784 Franklin'

Editor's note: The initial published draft of this article said Western Sky Financial was owned by members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. It has come to our attention that this is inaccurate. The article has been corrected and IVN apologizes for the misrepresentation. Just when you thought it was okay to admit you like the Washington Redskins again, it's now becoming common knowledge that American Indian tribes are knee deep in payday loan centers. Let's get something straight here, the pl

Proposition 48 affects the building of tribal casinos and Vegas-style gaming on non-tribal land by North Fork Rancheria of Mono people and the Wiyot tribe. The proposition would allow the North Fork to build a casino in Madera County and share revenue with the Wiyot tribe. Proposition 48, or AB 277, was originally a tribal-state compact between the North Fork and Wiyot tribes that California ratified in March 2013. Under California’s state constitution, enacted legislation can be brought before

I made it clear that America is not – and will never be – at war with Islam  -- Barack Obama, 2009 In the last article, I discussed the religious landscape of the early republic, and that the Founders wanted to leave us a framework that we could use to avoid making religion an issue for contention. It didn't take long before the Founders had to face the first big test of this principle, and it would not come from within the United States, but from the Islamic leaders of the Barbary Coast. Fro

The Associated Press reports that the Supreme Court on Monday rejected to hear the appeals of 5 states in an effort to keep their bans on same-sex marriage. Marriage rights will immediately be extended to gay and lesbian couples in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition to ending the delay on marriages in these states, according to the AP report, same-sex couples in 6 other states may be allowed to get married soon as well after federal courts struck down marriage bans in

According to Gallup, 42 percent of Americans self-identify as independent from either major party. But when it comes to our primary elections, the independent/unaffiliated/nonpartisan voter can be completely locked out of primaries, forced to choose a party in order to vote in a primary election, or live in a state where one party has an open primary and the other has a closed primary, even though their tax dollars subsidize both elections.Chances are, when the general election rolls around, vot

In the study of history we ask the question, what are the catalysts? In other words, the motivators that make events happen? Depending on the topic and the framing one puts it in, many times the question is not what made something occur, but what prohibited it from doing so. Agriculture has typically been a fundamental factor in world history in answering both those questions -- events that came about and those that had the potential, but failed. Despite America’s unprecedented urbanization in

In almost every political argument, there comes a point where it devolves into a common theme: "If you'd just read the Federalist Papers, you'd agree with my position..." I've heard this dozens of times, but what I haven't heard is someone directing attention to the collection of works known as the Antifederalist writings. The Antifederalist writings are an assortment of works that were used as a rebuttal or debate against the formal body of works known as the Federalist Papers. Many of the Ant

I often ask myself: “Is America becoming a Third World country?” I’ve traveled all over the world and seen the ins and outs of developed and undeveloped nations, observing economic and political structures that work and many that don’t. And what I too often see in the Third World is that fair and equal treatment under the law often goes amiss. And it’s what’s lying beneath the surface in American politics — the nefarious deals made between corporations and the politicians that are supposed to k

One of the fundamental laws of psephology (the study of elections) is Duverger’s Law. This “law” affirms that in single-member districts, where the winner is whoever wins the most votes (plurality voting), the system will produce two major parties. The presence of third parties naturally encourages strategic voting, in which a voter will not choose his or her favorite candidate in order to avoid a “worse” outcome, such as the victory of his or her least preferred candidate. Though this law has