Despite a small

victory last week, service members and veterans groups are once again crying foul. As the U.S. Department of Defense tries to cut even more money from an already tight budget, members' pay and benefits are on the chopping block, something that critics say is taking the easy way out instead of looking for better ways to trim the fat out of the budget.

By now, many people have seen this Wal-Mart commercial narrated by "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe. The backlash on Rowe has been huge on social media and he has since been making the media rounds to defend the ad -- not Wal-Mart, but the ad.

If television viewers tuned in to CNN on Thursday, February 20, besides not getting much in terms of actual news, they may have noticed a Piers Morgan promo which aired almost every commercial break about the interview Morgan will have with Rowe.

One week after announcing my entry into the Massachusetts race for U.S. Senate, many people have asked where I stand on the issues followed by a list of the usual suspects that are important to them. As a politician, I could simply respond with the usual soundbite policies, but I am not just a politician.

Businesses can breath a sigh of relief, at least for now -- the famed "employer mandate" of the Affordable Care Act has been

put off for another year.

While Obamacare requires companies with 50 or more full-time employees to provide those employees with health insurance, the Obama administration has decided to put this requirement off until 2015. As with previous delays, Republicans are using this as an opportunity to attack the law.

Desmond Thorsson is joining the ranks of a unique, if undistinguished, corps of American politics: the journalist turned politician.

In his former life as "Desmond Crisis," Thorsson was an independent radio and television personality. He hosted programs on USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy), and an AM radio network produced by the original broadcast division of CNET Networks (now a brand of CBS Interactive). Today, he is running for California’s 12th Congressional District (currently held by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi) as an independent

Video embedded from BenSwann.com

When many people hear industrial hemp, the first thing that may come to mind in marijuana. After all, there is a close association between the two, but perhaps not as close as one might think. In fact, the biggest thing that ties hemp and marijuana together is they are both members of the plant genus, Cannabis. It's the old SAT logic question: all marijuana varieties are Cannabis plants, but not all Cannabis plants are marijuana.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer is claiming that numerous state colleges and universities are poised to plant crops of industrial hemp now that President Obama has signed the new Farm Bill into law. The Farm Bill, which cleared Congress on February 4, permits pilot hemp-growing programs in states that have laws allowing its cultivation.

“What I have done is reached out to the universities that have expressed to me in wanting to do research on industrial hemp. We’re going to proceed and try to license as many farmers as we possibly can,” Comer avowed.