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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

Credit: California Forward Online voter registration is a concept that has only recently been made available to U.S. citizens. At the moment, most states don't have a system set up for it. However, that could change in the near future, if current trends are any indication. Unfortunately, there are a few issues that currently keep it from being used nationwide.For starters, when President Obama was first elected in 2008, only two states -- Washington and Arizona -- had online voter registration

Desk in California Senate // Credit: Wallentine via Shutterstock.com Following a series of votes Wednesday and earlier this week, Senate bills 2, 3, 27, and 52 are on their way out of the California Senate and into the Assembly. Each measure would amend the Political Reform Act of 1974 in different ways. Support for SB 52, also called the "DISCLOSE Act" -- not to be confused with Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Chuck Schumer's (D-New York) efforts at the national level --  has followed a con

US Treasury Building // credit: mike_s_etc via Flickr In the midst of partisan jockeying for a moral high ground surrounding the IRS debacle, neither side of the aisle, nor the media has gotten wind of the underlying issue. Each side has been busy formulating a narrative that serves their narrow, short-term interests. The press has been quick to hype the issue to Watergate proportions. Despite the immediate agencies involved, there has been very little to substantiate claims espousing the kind

It's been nearly four years since a radical Muslim Army psychiatrist walked into a processing center on Ft. Hood, shouted "Allah Akbar," and opened fire. The shooter killed 13 people, including a pregnant woman, and wounded another 32. In the years that followed, much attention has been paid to the gunman. However, after the initial media storm, little attention has been paid to the victims and their families, and this has caused many of them to file suit with the government, the shooter, and h

http://www.opencurrency.com/ Last week, the Colorado Senate voted in favor of an important election reform bill, making the state the latest example of a nationwide trend to expand voting access. In 2011 and 2012, a number of state legislatures passed laws implementing new restrictions on voter access, including requiring voter IDs, shortening early voting periods, or making it harder to register to vote. These initiatives, often led by Republican-controlled legislatures, were more or less suc

California District 19 Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson / PHOTO: Sen. Jackson's Facebook A proposed California initiative would lower the voter preregistration age to 15. Under the bill put forward by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-CA), 15-year-olds could preregister when they get their learner's permit at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Pre-registrants would remain ineligible to vote until they turn 18. "I see this as an opportunity to encourage teens to make sure they register to vote," Jac

http://youtu.be/smEqnnklfYs It has been 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to let freedom ring across the nation. August 28, 1963 will be remembered as a turning point in the 20th century civil rights movement when Dr. King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. As we look back and pay our respects to a great leader in United States history, it's just as important to see how this dream has come to fruition in the present day. To celebrate M