According to the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), the VA spent nearly $872 million on treatment related to military sexual trauma in 2010 (the last year in which complete data is available). However, these are not the only costs associated with MST; there is a human cost as well.

Most people have heard about the old practice of the canary in the coal mine. Before humans went down in a new mine, a canary in a cage would be lowered down with rope and raised back up. If the canary was alive then there was sufficient oxygen for the miners. If the canary was dead—it was not safe.

The "Internet of Things" is the concept that all devices are connected to each other and the user by the Internet. This means, for example, that a refrigerator might be able to tell the consumer on the way to the grocery store that he or she needs to buy more eggs.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSI) came about in 2009 when the National Governors Association pursued development of new educational expectations. The NGA collaborated with the Council of Chief State School Officers and released CCSI in 2010. The hope is to create a more modern and competitive education model for the US.

There are currently 45 states opting into the standards, with a few proposing legislation to remove itself from it.

The recent IRS scandal and the revelation that tea party affiliated groups had been targeted by IRS has revived suspicions that the IRS is being used for political purposes. However, when looking at more details into the practices of the IRS, it appears the reasons behind the profiling are more complex than one would think.

The Public Policy Institute of California's latest Speaker Series installment comprised a panel of prominent voices in California's campaign finance environment. The panel included Ann Ravel from the Fair Political Practices Commission, Allan Zaremberg, president for the California Chamber of Commerce, and was moderated by Scott Shafer, reporter for KQED's California Report.

In a recent discussion about privacy and metadata, a good friend of mine—who is also a judge and is in the habit of issuing search warrants—highly recommended that I read my cell phone user agreement carefully. I did, and this is what it said:

We may provide Personal Information to non-AT&T companies or other third parties for purposes such as: