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California State University-Fresno was awarded a $3 million, two-year contract by the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service to train U.S. marines and government officials how to promote agricultural self-sufficiency and food security in Afghanistan. The Agricultural Development for the Afghanistan Pre-deployment Training (ADAPT) program provides instruction on the main crop and livestock components that make up farming environments in Afghanistan and discusses ways to improve them, according to a

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it wants to broaden its regulatory powers over agriculture in the name of “sustainable development”. In response, agricultural leaders are pleading with Congress to protect farmers from the possibility of being regulated out of business. The EPA’s new policy approach is the product of a National Academies of Science (NAS) study, “Sustainability and the U.S. EPA” – conducted last year and published in August. The study suggests that the EPA should a

themodernhistory: Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois. (Image courtesy of http://www.lincoln-institute.org/)

The Arizona Meth Project is trying hard, and succeeding at, reducing first-time meth usage by young people "through public service messaging, public policy, and community outreach."  It does so primarily by using modern advertising techniques to create extremely hard-hitting 30 second TV ads with a core message of "Not Even Once." In an ad titled Just Once, three teenage girls are giggling, snorting meth for the first time in a bedroom. The voiceover from one girl says "I'll going to try meth j

Coordinated protests were held in cities around the world over the weekend as the Occupy Wall Street demonstration entered its second full month.   On Saturday, people gathered by the thousands and tens of thousands in cities from California to New York, to Europe and Asia in a day of coordinated protests and demonstrations held in solidarity with the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstration that began in downtown Manhattan just over a month ago. Thousands of protesters marched from the Occupy

California is so geographically huge with such a large population, that problems which are sometimes more evident elsewhere are also problems here too, even if they may not get as much attention. One such problem is methamphetamine usage. Meth usage is more prevalent in rural areas than cities. Abandoned buildings in remote areas can be used for meth labs, plus one of the main precursors for cooking meth is anhydrous ammonia, a common fertilizer often stored in large quantities in tanks. But of

In a little-noticed move in late August, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would award all of California's electoral votes in presidential elections to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, a solution that proponents say would make presidential elections more rational and fair. The bill is possible because the U.S. Constitution leaves the power of selecting electors for presidential elections to the individual states. Article II, Section 1 says: "The executive P

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to provide a huge boost to the progressive anti-Electoral College movement with his signature on AB 459, the National Popular Vote law. The highly controversial bill, passed by both the Assembly and the state Senate last Thursday would enroll California in an interstate agreement that obliges member states in presidential elections to give their electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes nationwide, regardless of the true tally of each state's electoral

A Democratic budget package approved by the state legislature last week has rekindled the nationwide debate over state regulation of internet-based retailers. The so-called “Amazon Tax” has made it to Governor Jerry Brown's desk and supporters of ABX1 28 say that his signature will “level the playing field” for brick-and-mortar retailers whose prices are undercut by online stores that do not charge for sales taxes. In order to meet the June 15th budget deadline, state lawmakers have passed a se

On  Saturday, hundreds of Independents from across the country gathered in  New York City for the CUIP’s National Conference of Independents  entitled, “Can Independents Reform America?” The  conference was organized by the Committee for a Unified Independent  Party, which is perhaps better known by its online portal at IndependentVoting.org.   Founded in 1994 by independent community organizers and third party  activists, the organization now has local affiliates and chapters in  over thirty s