When confronted with the possibility of a serious third party or Independent challenge to the two-party system, the partisans of the Democratic and Republican parties can be found to rely on a handful of well-rehearsed talking points aimed at disarming any and all opposition to the status quo.

While nearly half of Californians do not personally identify with the Occupy movement, 58% agree with the underlying reasons for the protests, says the highly respected Field Poll in announcing survey results last week. If this were an election, the opposition would be stomped, as 58% is a landslide. Clearly, the Occupy protests are resonating with the general public, at least in California.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently released a report saying their proposed plan to put a tunnel underneath Diridon Station in San Jose is not possible. The soil is poor with high amounts of groundwater. Plus, a tunnel would require buying more property than an elevated system, and would thus cost substantially more. This means the only alternative is to build huge elevated tracks.

A Field Poll released on Thursday reveals that Californians are frustrated with the current political process and have a bleak outlook for the country's future- even with a presidential election approaching in 2012.

A coalition of U.S. beet and cane sugar producers are suing member companies of the Corn Refiners Association (CRA). Their amended complaint claims that the CRA is involved in a “conspiracy to deceive the public” by advertising High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) as “corn sugar”. Sugar farmers say HFCS manufacturers have spent over $50 million on misleading ads.

Pepper spray is far from the only stinging rebuke felt by students at UC-Davis and other UC campuses in recent weeks.  Regents of the UC system are currently considering tuition increases that could reach 16 percent, bringing the cost of an education from $12,000 to $22,000 per student by the 2015-16 academic year.  This fee is for tuition only, excluding room, board and other expenses such as books and special lab fees.

Over the past decade, California dairies, ranches and livestock farms have created 17,000 jobs for the state. A new report that analyzes federal data from 2000 to 2010 shows that the $289 billion a year animal agriculture industry has grown in California, buoying the state's position as one of the top farm economies in the nation.

Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission resumed work yesterday, a month after the Commission was thrown into disarray when Gov. Jan Brewer and State Senate Republicans launched a full frontal assault against the commission, temporarily removing its Chairwoman, Colleen Mathis, the lone Independent on the Commission.

The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment on Tuesday that would have stripped the pending defense spending bill of language that critics charge would allow the U.S. military to make arrests of American citizens on U.S. soil and detain them indefinitely without charges or trial.