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Marijuana legalization activists gained considerable momentum this week. On Tuesday, the city of Portland, Maine, passed Question 1: 67 percent to 33 percent. The measure legalized possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults over 21 years of age. Likewise, Colorado passed Proposition AA Tuesday, which added a 15 percent wholesale tax and 10 percent sales tax on marijuana transactions. These two ballot measures follow a national poll by Gallup that found support for outright legalizat

Speaking on the Senate floor Monday, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) expressed confidence that a resolution to reopen the government ahead of Thursday's debt ceiling deadline would be reached. Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) agreed that both sides would reach a deal before the week's end to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Speaking on the floor, Senator Reid said he was, "very optimistic that we will reach an agreement that's reasonable in nat

Shutterstock // Credit: Chris DeRidder The fundamental exercise of government, passing a national budget, hangs in the balance as lawmakers in Washington score political points ahead of a potential government shutdown. The next fiscal year begins October 1, and without a budget agreement, federally-funded services and employees will be in jeopardy. A 230-189 vote on H.J.Res. 59 fell on partisan lines Friday, apart from two House Democrats who voted for the resolution and one Republican who vot

DavidPino Photography // Shutterstock.com With existing-home sales and prices surging, once-dour housing analysts now glow about the return of a linchpin for the economy and one of the most-watched barometers for the recovery. National Public Radio aired a newscast that positively beamed about the rebound in early August, trumpeting stats that home construction jumped more than 20 percent from a year ago. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales — completed trans

The partisan battles in North Carolina are extending their reach into the court system. Over the past year, the Republican controlled legislature, aided by a Republican governor, Pat McCrory, enacted a host of controversial legislation that banned gay marriage and put in place new abortion restrictions. Then last week, they passed new voting laws which MSNBC called "a truly abominable piece of anti-democratic legislation." The bill was purportedly to prevent fraud, although fraud has not been a

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

Credit: Wikimedia Commons The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Defense of Marriage Act (Windsor v. United States) and California's Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry) in the next few days. There is a good possibility the decision on these two cases will be reserved for last. The Washington Post offers an easy to follow graphic on the potential rulings and what the implications would be for each decision. It also provides status for marriage rights in each state. Check

According to recent research mapping sentiment on Twitter, Napa - located in the heart of California's Wine Country region - is home to the happiest tweeters in the nation. California as a whole, however, did not even rank in the top five in a measure of happiness on Twitter. Figure 1. Average word happiness for geotagged tweets in all US states collected during calendar year 2011, from PLoS ONE In Figure 1, the redder the state, the happier the tweets. Using geotagged tweets, researchers at t