In modern American politics, the word “socialist” has lost a great deal of its true meaning, robbed of its shock value by frequent overuse and naïve misapplication. Many a conservative pundit has warned President Obama and the national Democratic leadership seek to steer the United States towards a socialistic, or even worse, Marxist state, far from anything the Founders envisioned when they penned the Constitution. Rightwing shock jocks, still waging the early 1990s “culture wars,” have railed against Obama and his allies in the House and Senate.

Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny--now there was some serious crazy. And nothing that Queeg does in the book, or the movie, says "crazy" quite like the hunt for the missing strawberries. After noticing that the ship's strawberry ration is a quart low, Queeg (played admirably by Humphrey Bogart in the 1954 movie) turns the ship upside down looking for them. When the kitchen mates admit to eating the strawberries, Queeg ignores them and forges ahead.

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"Fostering Entrepreneurship" is the motto of this year's TiEcon annual conference, which takes place this weekend in the heart of the Silicon Valley. In what's referred to as the World's Largest Conference for Entrepreneurs, TiEcon 2013 connects high powered tech experts with the world's youngest entrepreneurs.

The housing bubble burst when the house of cards built by reckless lending practices and an out of control derivative market came crashing down. The Federal Reserve drove interest rates down, while banks came up with creative financing methods to fund sub-prime mortgages that would otherwise not be safe investments. When it all crashed, the taxpayers picked up the bill, not the banks. 

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Photo Credit: Isaac Arjonilla, Daily Bruin

University of California President Mark Yudof has faced criticism during his tenure as leader of the prestigious 10-campus system. However, he explains there is more to his role than raising tuition and cutting services.

It's been nearly four years since a radical Muslim Army psychiatrist walked into a processing center on Ft. Hood, shouted "Allah Akbar," and opened fire. The shooter killed 13 people, including a pregnant woman, and wounded another 32.

In the years that followed, much attention has been paid to the gunman. However, after the initial media storm, little attention has been paid to the victims and their families, and this has caused many of them to file suit with the government, the shooter, and his Muslim leader.

Independent voters now account for approximately 40 percent of all voters in the United States. Following the national trend, California voters are increasingly leaving the two major parties, with almost 3.7 million voters now registered under "No Party Preference" in the state.