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Representative Gage Froerer is currently trying to convince the Utah Substance Abuse Advisory Council to treat Cannabidiol extracts as something other than a controlled substance in order for the beneficial cannabinoid to be imported into the state without those involved fearing incarceration. Congressman Froerer, the same lawmaker who pushed a ban on dangerous synthetic compounds, claims that transporting the extract to Utah may not require legislation. But if legislation is indeed needed, Fro

With Congress still unable to pass a budget deal and the debt ceiling deadline getting closer and closer, the congressional approval rating has dropped to 11 percent. As a result, commentators have already begun speculating how these dismal numbers might affect the 2014 midterm elections. Many believe it is too soon to tell, but overwhelmingly, the polarization and gerrymandering of these districts have reduced the competitiveness of congressional races to a new low. In many ways, this increas

Does the media convey information clearly, neutrally, accurately, or has it too often become something else, particularly sensationalist? Sadly, I'm finding it to be the latter. When a black high school honor student, Kiera Wilmot, was arrested for blowing up a bottle bomb, and misrepresented it as a science project, the media launched a blitz on her behalf.  The ACLU took up the cause as well. The reality is that while we have a very real problem with school to prison pipelines and an enormou

Reichstag in 1926 // Credit: German Federal Archives The Muslim Brotherhood are the bad guys. It’s a story that is now well-known. In 1932 the people of Germany were starving, gripped by hyperinflation, wracked with mass unemployment, crushed under the Great Depression, and crippled by punitive sanctions for a war that, arguably, they did not start. Their government was hapless and almost completely ineffective at remedying the situation. But someone had a plan to fix things: Adolf Hitler and

Source: California Environmental Protection Agency According to an August 2013 report by the California Environmental Protection Agency titled “Indicators of Climate Change in California,” regional climate change has profoundly impacted the state’s natural physical and biological systems. Annual average air temperatures in California have increased by approximately 1.5 degrees since 1895. As a result of an increasing presence of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous ox

Can legislation on technology ever reflect the fast-paced nature of the digital frontier? Credit: readwrite.com In a push toward increased privacy in the social media realm, Washington became the most recent state to enact a law banning employers from asking for the website or password of an employee's personal social media profile. "We're trying to assure people's privacy in this space, that we (have) vigilance and the ability to move on a moment's notice when people's privacy has been violat

Rule number one in effective communication is to establish the relevancy of the topic to the audience. Why should they care? How does it affect their quality of life? Truthful accounting might do just that. For one measure of the states’ quality of life, we turn to the recent work done by Ballotpedia, a “collaborative encyclopedia designed to connect people to politics.” The site focuses on providing a comprehensive and non-partisan analysis of numerous candidates and political efforts. The Lu

One-hundred and twelve legislative bodies have come and gone. We are now in the midst of our 113th Congress. And since our inception, only 27 of these assemblies have consisted of a sixty percent majority in both the House and the Senate; a partisan monopoly on government legislation that eventually became known as the filibuster proof majority. With a sixty percent lead in Congress, whichever party is in control would, theoretically, be impervious to roadblocks. But is an entire nation of peop

Egyptian citizens voting, many for the first time, in 2012 // Credit: Jonathan Rashad via Flickr It was 1864. The armies of the Confederacy were under heavy pressure. Having helped liberate Chattanooga, Union armies under William Tecumseh Sherman were now driving on Atlanta. Rebel armies under Joseph Johnston were blocking their way. The rebels were badly outnumbered and outgunned, but Joseph Johnston was a wily character. He understood that a rebel army would always pose a threat to the feder

President Obama signs healthcare reform in 2010 // Credit: Reid.senate.gov Can a state unilaterally suspend the operation of ObamaCare within its borders? Of course not. That measure would violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. We fought a Civil War over that question. What if two states banded together to suspend the operation of ObamaCare within their common territory? Can they do that? The answer remains the same. No. But let's try this. Let's have those two states - and others