New Law To Delay Tax Refunds In 2017

For many people across the country, especially those on a tight budget, tax return season means tax refunds. Some look forward to putting their refunds towards paying off debt, while others use the money for rent or paying bills and other expenses. Unfortunately, many taxpayers can expect a delay in their refunds this year, thanks


Market Corrections: Oil and Dating

The concept of supply and demand is fundamental to the study of economics, but it’s also a useful tool for understanding many other things that go on in the world. Everybody’s selling something, and everybody’s buying something else. It doesn’t have to be goods or services. It can be ideas, for example, or affection.  Supply


Oakland Warehouse Fire Seeing First Lawsuits

Earlier this month, a warehouse fire consumed an artist-collective building dubbed the “Ghost Ship” during a music performance and party. Tragically, 36 people lost their lives in what many are calling an accident. Some blame the fire on too many people crammed into a small space already riddled with building-code violations. For others, however, calling


Keeping Lead Out Of Cosmetic Products

As if women didn’t have enough on their plates, now they have to be wary about lead levels in their cosmetic products, particularly their lipsticks, eyeshadows, blush, and body lotions. Recently, the FDA released a draft of new guidelines to help regulate lead levels in cosmetic products, with lipstick being the big one. Wait a


Fear Over Salmonella Contamination Results In Recalls

Over the last couple of weeks, there have been recalls on a wide assortment of food products for fear of salmonella contamination. The source of the contamination? Powdered milk products from Valley Milk Products LLC in Strasburg, VA. So far recalls have been issued for everything from macaroni and cheese and frozen cream puffs, to


Updated Civil Rights Bill Reexamines Unsolved Cases

With President-Elect Trump’s inauguration only weeks away, President Obama is still hard at work signing valuable civil rights legislation, such as his latest, the “Emmett Till Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016.” Does the legislation sound familiar? It should, considering it’s merely an expansion of a civil rights bill passed by the House in


Power of People to Protect People

Protecting the People – Safety and Happiness
The Declaration of Independence gave the American people the powers to protect our “safety and happiness”. In this piece, we look at the power of people to protect people.


Milk By Any Other Name

The dairy industry has been having a rough time of late. Milk prices have dropped 40% since 2014, causing a bit of a panic among dairy farmers. Meanwhile, sales of dairy alternatives such as soymilk have been soaring. As a result, there’s a bipartisan effort to address the definition of the word “milk,” as if


Gov’t small enough to fit in your [NSFW]

Conservatives (especially their Libertarian umbrella-mates) have been telling us for years that they are pro-freedom and favor small government. Government should be big enough to protect us via the police and military, but small enough to allow for people to make decisions about how to live their own lives. You know, you should be able


Winter Preparedness, Pt. 2: Home and Car

Yesterday we tackled warm clothing and safe boots, but thorough winter preparedness includes places where you spend a lot of time, including your home and automobile. Preparedness is about knowledge as much as it is about having the proper equipment. Remembering some common sense directives can be the difference between getting to your destination safely