College campuses are notorious hot beds for first amendment violations. Western Piedmont Community College, nestled in Morganton, North Carolina, joined the ranks of would-be free speech censors when administrative officials rewrote a student group advertisement for a Christmas tree sale, replacing "Christmas" with "holiday."  “We cannot market your trees in association solely with a Christian event," the college told the student group who intended to sell Christmas trees to raise money for charity.

The Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative certainly seems to think so.  The Blaze reported a lesson plan for World History and Social Studies that uses the Boston Tea Party as an example of terrorist activity.

Facing the looming fiscal cliff yet again, entitlement spending must be on the table. Democrats freely accuse their Republican counterparts of having their sacred cows in the form of defense spending and tax cuts on the "wealthy," while balking at anything resembling cuts to entitlement spending.  If only the Obama of today agreed with the Obama of 2009 who said, "you don't raise taxes in the middle of a recession...

North Dakota touts the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the union.

The EPA recently rejected the requests of nine Governors who were seeking exemption from the ethanol mandate. States that requested a waiver were Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Utah, Wyoming, North Carolina, New Mexico and Georgia.As the Houston Chronicle reported:

Second only to Texas, North Dakota recently secured its spot as America's second largest oil producer. North Dakota's energy boom is a direct result of fracking the Bakken formation.  This post is the first of two parts that explore how fracking has affected North Dakota. Before we get to the economic impact of the North Dakota energy boom, we'll take a look at the basic mechanics behind it all.The Bakken Formation

Thursday, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology issued a letter to Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator, concerning an alias email account. The letter referenced a report published by the Daily Caller, November 12. 

Wal-Mart workers nationwide are planning to walk-out on the largest shopping day of the year - Black Friday.  Reasons for the strike are unclear, but CNN Money reports, "Wal-Mart workers have been battling with management over pay, benefits and their ability to speak up, experts say." 

Business owners nationwide are making preparations for the upcoming Obamacare regulatory tsunami. Citing cumbersome regulations and costs, entrepreneurs are being forced to make very difficult decisions. The stories are becoming all too common. In order to keep their businesses afloat, companies are laying off workers, reducing their hours and in some cases, closing locations. 

Last week TSA (Transportation Security Administration) screeners voted to ratify a collective bargaining agreement, creating America's newest union.  According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, the vote was a landslide; 17,326 to 1,774 members voted to ratify the agreement. According the TSA press release, the agreement will begin December 9 and remain in effect for three years.