Editor and contributing author for IVN. B.A. in Government from Claremont McKenna College. Born and raised in San Diego. Registered Independent who leans libertarian on most issues.
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326 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, passing last year's record of 317. 56 more troops were killed in August, while President Obama and General Petraeus continue to warn of higher casualty counts over the next several months. Also in August, the
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Despite flowery speeches, discussions of "transition", and 50,000 "non-combat" troops remaining, America is still losing men and women and spending tens of billions of dollars in Iraq. And as violence escalates once again, and a new government remains elusive nearly six months after parliamentary elections,
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Liberal Democrat Barney Frank and Libertarian-leaning Republican Ron Paul are uniting to take on a budget behemoth: military spending. According to a Huffington Post article, which cited Frank's recently sanctioned bipartisan commission report, the Department of Defense currently takes up about 56% of federal discretionary spending, with lawmakers
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Bizarre weather events are presenting scientists and lay people alike with the opportunity to put different global warming and climate change models to the test this year. Here's a brief, but relevant list of recent phenomena that could serve as independent tests for assessing the validity of competing
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Since 2001, Republicans and Democrats have added nearly $8 trillion of new debt. Bush added almost $5 trillion, and Obama's already contributed nearly $3 trillion of additional debt just 19 months into his presidency. Bush, a Republican Congress (for 6 years), and a Democratic Congress (for 2 years)
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Republican Congressman Ron Paul is pointing to a recently released study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) as more evidence that rising "collateral damage", specifically in Afghanistan, fuels anti-American violence. In the study, it was calculated that each time U.S. or NATO forces kill Afghan
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Based on a phone survey of 400,000 individuals, the CDC is warning that "obesity has become a major problem, both for individuals and for the health care system." In 2000, not a single state had an obesity rate of 30% or greater. In 2007, 3 states hit
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By September 1, President Obama pledges to have only 50,000 "non-combat" troops stationed in Iraq to assist with security oversight. Currently, about 65,000 U.S. troops remain. Some are worried, however, that the nation may devolve into another round of civil war once the partial withdrawal
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Eclipsing last month's record, 63 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan with another day remaining in July. Over 1,200 American soldiers have died since the onset of the war in 2001, and the cost of the war has now risen above $286 billion. In Pakistan,
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According to The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Rep. Ron Paul are introducing debate on the House floor this week to address America's increasing military intervention in Pakistan. Under President Obama, the CIA has launched a record number of Drone strikes targeting suspected militants in Afghan
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In a trend that continues to accelerate, chickens are going mainstream in suburban and urban backyards across the nation. Citizens are challenging local zoning ordinances, pro-chicken citizens' groups are forming, hatcheries are booming, chicken-inspired small businesses are on the rise, and the local food movement is picking up steam.
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Very few economists, Wall St analysts, government officials, and cable television pundits predicted the Great Recession. At the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke missed it. The Wall St consensus missed it. The Bush administration missed it. Obama and his team missed it. The so-called experts on CNN, Fox