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Credit: austin.ynn.com Austin Energy, an energy company owned by the City of Austin that serves the residents of Austin and surrounding areas, is about to receive a $500,000 grant for the Central Texas Fuel Independence Project from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to support alternative energy initiatives. The purpose of the project is to not only help implement alternative energy, mainly electricity, as an alternative to oil, but also to fund training and education for consumers and busines

Photo: David Kamm, NSRDEC On December 4, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt their version of the National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA)  for 2013, which included an amendment to extend abortion coverage for servicewomen who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Currently, the only time an active duty servicewoman can have an abortion under the Department of Defense's healthcare coverage, called Tricare, is if her life is in danger. The House's version of the NDAA does not includ

Photo: UNFCCC Discussions about climate change in the United Nations have been going on for 20 years, without much success. The fact that negotiators failed to deliver even the minimum requirements of the Doha summit this year is another example of the incapacity of the world nations to address an issue of which the consequences are more and more tangible. The Doha Summit was set to close Friday, but discussions drew out into Saturday and resulted in the adoption of a hurried series of texts,

Credit: Gage Skidmore Amid the Republicans' electoral defeats of 2012, there have been many arm-chair prescriptions made for the party. Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer recommended Republicans adopt amnesty while nominating Marco Rubio for president and nearly every word uttered by Senator-elect Ted Cruz of Texas is magnified as those of a potential presidential candidate even before he has taken office. In a round of recent interviews, former US ambassador to China and former Utah gov

Eric (left) and Dennis (right) O'Connor (no relation). Brewing beer typically starts out in a small kitchen with a close friend or family member, and is ultimately a trial and error process. All equipment has to be sterile, for any slight impurities can ruin a whole batch. Though startup breweries have been flourishing throughout San Diego, The South and North Park areas seem to have been lacking  a true "neighborhood" brewery. Located in North Park, Thorn Street Brewery held a "soft opening" o

http://www.sanquentinblog.com/ The United States imprisons more of its own citizens than any other country in the world including China, who has a population four times the size. Five percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the total prison population is located in the States -- a population that has grown by 700 percent since commencing the war on drugs, forty years ago. Prison sentences are longer, less effective, and therefore more costly than in most countries, with many states

(Credit: Washington Times) Barely a few weeks after the conclusion of the 2012 presidential election, there is already much speculation about the 2016 elections. Kentucky US Senator Rand Paul has indicated some interest and former Florida governor Jeb Bush's name has been floated, most notably by his son. Just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad announced his interest in eliminating one of the first events of the presidential election season: The Ames Straw Poll. He

Photo: U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs On October 4, a small group of American veterans went to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington, D.C., to talk to officials there about veteran suicides, veteran homelessness, veteran joblessness, and other veteran struggles. No one from the department would talk to them then. Even the contingent of Homeland Security guards blocking the door on October 4 wouldn’t explain to the veterans why they couldn’t come in. So, they stayed on

source: Economics and Statistics Administration // Department of Commerce After being defeated in September, The STEM Jobs Act, is poised to make a return to the House floor. Sponsor Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced the original, H.R. 6429, and the bill failed to win a 2/3 majority to pass under suspended rules voting. STEM refers to U.S. graduates with science, technology, engineering, and math degrees. These are known as the ‘hard’ sciences. A Georgetown University Report from last year foun

Credit: Synthetic Genomics, Inc. Algae growing in closed bioreactors in SGI/Exxon Mobil greenhouse John Craig Venter, CEO of Synthetic Genomics announced earlier this month, consumers must continue to wait for an alternative energy source to fossil fuels until the federal government establishes an effective carbon policy. Since Synthetic Genomics opened on Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla in 2005, it has been pioneering genomic science to unlock the potential of microbial and plant resources to