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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

Credit: Wikimedia Commons The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Monday that law enforcement officers can take DNA swabs without a warrant for serious offenses. Most 5-4 decisions fall on ideological lines, but not this one. Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia “switched sides.” Breyer joined the conservative bloc to make up the majority and Scalia joined the traditionally liberal justices. The high court ruled that there is no difference between taking fingerprints and obtaini

Credit: Wikimedia Commons The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Monday that law enforcement officers can take DNA swabs without a warrant for serious offenses. Most 5-4 decisions fall on ideological lines, but not this one. Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia “switched sides.” Breyer joined the conservative bloc to make up the majority and Scalia joined the traditionally liberal justices. The high court ruled that there is no difference between taking fingerprints and obtaini

Late Tuesday, president Barack Obama announced 10 appointees to undertake the Commission on Election Administration. The commission includes both Republican and Democratic operatives, as well as academics and business professionals. From the release: “The right to vote is one of the most essential rights provided by the Constitution.  As I said in my State of the Union Address, when any American, no matter where they live or what their party, is denied that right simply because too many obstacl

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) recently released a report, "Managing California's Water: From Crisis to Conflict." The report overviews the major issues facing California water supply, safety, environmental impacts, as well as regulatory and management issues. With continued water demands from residents and business interests, water in California continues to be an issue. In fact, the PPIC report labels the last 40 years of water management in the state as the "era of conflict

Credit: livethedesertlife.com Creating an entire new menu is a tough task for any restaurant. One would think that all pizza restaurants follow the same initial format in constructing a suitable menu. Pizza, italian hoagies and grinders, salads, breadsticks, beer, and maybe even a cheesesteak are what typically come to mind. San Diego-based pizza chain Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and Grill has expanded from "humble" beginnings in 1989 La Jolla to eighteen locations throughout Nevada and California

Credit: AZflyfishing.com Today, the United States and Mexico will sign a landmark treaty on freshwater resources in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada, along with the Mexican States of Baja California and Sonora, have approved the treaty that will distribute freshwater from the Colorado River. The Colorado River supplies freshwater for seven states and Northern Mexico according to allocations made in the Colorado Riv

Increasingly frustrated over the use of filibusters in the 112th Congress, some senators are pushing to initiate filibuster reform before the new year. In particular, Democrats have been advocating for the changes after increasing gridlock in Congress due to stalled legislation from filibusters put forth by Republicans. Currently, senators do not need to actually stand on the chamber floor to initiate a filibuster, continue debate, and thus block legislation. senators are allowed to make a req

Since Obama won reelection a week ago, the White House website has been flooded with petitions from citizens in various states wanting their states to secede from the union.  It is important to note that these are not official petitions by the state governments but rather petitions started by individual citizens. The threat of secession is nothing new in the United States.  It seems that after any election, people want their states to secede so that they don't have to live under a leader they d