Christopher Law

Christopher Varute Law is a young scholar from the University of California, Merced, who studied Psychology. He belongs to a Thai family and has lived most of his life in Southern California. At UC Merced, he was the Founder and President of Thai/Laos club. Law has been involved in Former Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign on multiple levels. Some of his policy interests are Gun Rights, Drug Policy and Vaccines. Chris considers himself a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.

 Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

A Global Nightmare

Christopher Law July 8, 2015

In recent news, President Barack Obama reported that he was… References and FootnotesPeter Baker, Helene Cooper, and Michael Gordon, "Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS," New York Times, June 11, 2015, accessed July 5, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/world/middleeast/iraq-isis-us-military-bases-martin-e-dempsey.html?_r=0 ↩"What Really Causes Terrorism? It's Not Your Freedom," Think by Numbers, January 17, 2012, accessed July 5, 2015, http://thinkbynumbers.org/terrorism/suicide-terrorism-statistics ↩"US Intervention Backfires in Congo," A Little Rebellion, August 11, 2009, accessed July 5, 2015, https://roberttaylor32.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/us-intervention-backfires-in-congo ↩Salma Abdelaziz, Sarah Sirgany, and Josh Levs, "'Mass Death Sentences' for 183 in Egypt," CNN, February 3, 2015, accessed July 6, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/02/world/egypt-court ↩Greenwald, Glenn. "Obama personally tells the Egyptian Dictator that U.S. will again send weapons (and cash) to his Regime,” The Intercept, March 31, 2015, accessed July 5, 2015, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/31/obama-lifts-freeze-weapons-transfer-egyptian-dictator ↩ "Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go," National Priorities Project, accessed July 5, 2015, https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/. ↩Eric Weiner, "Should America Be the World's Policeman?" NPR, February 20, 2008, accessed July 5, 2015, http://www.npr.org/2008/02/20/19180589/should-america-be-the-worlds-policeman. ↩John Stossel, "Policing the World," Reason.com, February 2, 2012, accessed July 5, 2015, http://reason.com/archives/2012/02/02/policing-the-world#comment. ↩"Benefits of Free Trade," Economics Help, accessed July 7, 2015, http://www.economicshelp.org/trade/benefits_free_trade ↩ Charles Rangel, "Free Trade With Cuba Now," Huffington Post, January 15, 2015, accessed January 6, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-charles-rangel/free-trade-with-cuba-now_b_6482078.html. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Corporate Cronyism

Christopher Law July 1, 2015

Democrat Presidential hopeful and Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, scorned the… References and FootnotesJeff Jacoby, "Bernie Sanders’ ‘deodorant’ Comment Ignores Realities of Economic Growth," Boston Globe, May 31, 2015, accessed June 28, 2015, https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/05/30/bernie-sanders-deodorant-comment-ignores-realities-economic-growth/2OfPVj77EsJlZiPSeH1kQN/story.html ↩"What Is Socialism?" accessed July 1, 2015, http://www.worldsocialism.org/english/what-socialism ↩“The Economic System of Corporatism," accessed June 28, 2015, http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/corporatism.htm ↩Elisabeth Parker, "10 Founding Fathers Quotes That Will Make Conservatives’ Heads Explode," Americans Against the Tea Party, July 4, 2014, accessed June 28, 2015, http://aattp.org/9-founding-fathers-quotes-that-will-make-conservatives-heads-explode ↩Connor Sheets, "'Monsanto Protection Act': 5 Terrifying Things To Know About The HR 933 Provision," International Business Times, March 1, 2013, accessed June 28, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/monsanto-protection-act-5-terrifying-things-know-about-hr-933-provision-1156079 ↩ Will Fantle, "Monsanto's GMO Policy Infecting All Levels of Government," Nation of Change, July 7, 2013, accessed June 28, 2015, http://www.nationofchange.org/monsanto-s-gmo-policy-infecting-all-levels-government-1373204831 ↩Jesse Solomon, "Top 10 Companies Lobbying Washington,” CNN Money, October 1, 2014, accessed June 28, 2015, http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/01/investing/companies-lobbying-10-biggest-spenders ↩Antony Davies and Ryan McCarl, “How Big Business Benefits from Regulation,” The Washington Times, March 12, 2013, accessed June 28, 2015, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/12/davies-and-mccarl-how-big-business-benefits-regula ↩ Thomas E. Woods, "Back on the Road to Serfdom," in Back on the Road to Serfdom: The Resurgence of Statism, Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2010. ↩ Haley Draznin, "NYC Loses Appeal to Ban Large Sugary Drinks," CNN, June 26, 2014, accessed July 1, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/justice/ny-sugary-drink-rulling ↩ Eric Reller, "NFIB Testifies on How Regulations Hurt Small Business," National Federation of Independent Business, September 30, 2013, accessed June 30, 2015. ↩Matt Cover, "CBO: Regulations, Taxes Can Hurt Small Businesses," CNS News, March 15, 2012, accessed June 30, 2015, http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cbo-regulations-taxes-can-hurt-small-businesses ↩"Small Business Trends Small Business, Big Impact," U.S. Small Business Administration, accessed July 1, 2015, https://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-trends-impact. ↩David Frum, "What Is the Conservative Solution to Corporatism?" National Post, December 30, 2011, accessed June 28, 2015, http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/david-frum-what-is-the-conservative-solution-to-corporatism ↩ David Kirkpatrick, "Congress Finds Ways to Avoid Lobbyist Limits," New York Times, February 11, 2007, accessed June 29, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/us/politics/11trips.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ↩David Kirkpatrick, "Congress Finds Ways to Avoid Lobbyist Limits," New York Times, February 11, 2007, accessed June 29, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/us/politics/11trips.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ↩Tom Hamburger, "Fossil-fuel Lobbyists, Bolstered by GOP Wins, Work to Curb Environmental Rules," Washington Post, December 7, 2014, accessed June 28, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fossil-fuel-lobbyists-bolstered-by-gop-wins-work-to-curb-environmental-rules/2014/12/07/3ef05bc0-79b9-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

The TSA Debacle

Christopher Law June 23, 2015

Within this past month, a security test revealed that several inspectors from… References and FootnotesGeorge Leef, "TSA Boondoggles: High Costs, Low Effectiveness, But It's Only Your Money," Forbes, October 9, 2014, accessed June 23, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2014/10/09/tsa-boondoggles-high-costs-low-effectiveness-but-its-only-your-money ↩John Pistole, "Pistole: Why We Need TSA's Security Measures," USA Today, November 23, 2010, accessed June 21, 2015, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-24-column24_ST2_N.htm ↩"History," Transportation Security Administration, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.tsa.gov/about-tsa/history ↩Tom Costello and M. Johnson, "TSA Chief Out After Agents Fail 95 Percent of Airport Breach Tests," NBC News, June 1, 2015, accessed June 21, 2015, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851 ↩ Jason Harrington, "Dear America, I Saw You Naked And Yes, We Were Laughing. Confessions of an Ex-TSA Agent,” Politico, January 30, 2014, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/tsa-screener-confession-102912.html#ixzz3dwtKRj94." ↩"TSA Screeners Fired In Groping Scandal Both In 20s, No Criminal Records," CBS Denver, April 20, 2015, accessed June 21, 2015, http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/04/20/tsa-screeners-fired-in-groping-scandal-both-in-20s-no-criminal-records ↩ John Shindler, "Let's Consider Alternatives to the Dysfunctional TSA," Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2015, accessed June 21, 2015, http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-schindler-tsa-20150605-story.html ↩"Logan Airport Racial Profiling Allegations: TSA Officers Complain Colleagues Are Targeting Minorities," Huffington Post, August 12, 2012, accessed June 21, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/12/logan-airport-racial-profiling_n_1769648.html. ↩Chris Edwards, "Privatizing the Transportation Security Administration," Policy Analysis, no. 742 (2013). ↩John Gage and John Mica, "Pro & Con: Should Airport Screening Be Conducted by Private Secur," February 21, 2011, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/pro-con-should-airport-screening-be-conducted-by-p/nQqsP ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Federal Corruption

Christopher Law June 17, 2015

Recently California has been experiencing minimum wage increases in cities like San Francisco and… References and Footnotes Gary Gibson, "Don’t Bother Raising The Minimum Wage,” The Dollar Vigilante, March 26, 2013, accessed June 11, 2015, https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2013/03/26/dont-bother-raising-the-minimum-wage.html ↩“Learn about How the Federal Reserve Was Started, What It Does, and Why It Matters Today," Federal Reserve History, accessed June 11, 2015, http://www.federalreservehistory.org/Purpose. ↩David Howden, “The Fed at One Hundred: A Critical View on the Federal Reserve System,” 2014. ↩Matthew O'Brien, "Why the Gold Standard Is the World's Worst Economic Idea, in 2 Charts," The Atlantic, August 26, 2012, accessed June 11, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/why-the-gold-standard-is-the-worlds-worst-economic-idea-in-2-charts/261552 ↩Josley Wales, "First Audit Results in the Federal Reserve’s Nearly 100 Year History Were Posted Today, They Are Startling!" Before It's News, September 1, 2012, accessed June 10, 2015, http://beforeitsnews.com/economy/2012/09/first-audit-in-the-federal-reserves-nearly-100-year-history-were-posted-today-the-results-are-startling-2449770.html ↩Ernie Patrikis, "No, Don’t ‘Audit the Fed.,’" The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2015, accessed June 11, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/ernie-patrikis-no-dont-audit-the-fed-1426633745 ↩ Ivan Pongracic, "The Great Depression According to Milton Friedman," The Freeman Foundation for Economic Education, September 1, 2007, accessed June 11, 2015, http://fee.org/freeman/detail/the-great-depression-according-to-milton-friedman ↩Lawrence White, "Federal Reserve Policy and the Housing Bubble," CATO Journal 29, no. 1 (2009): 115-25, accessed June 16, 2015, http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2009/1/cj29n1-9.pdf. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Crossing a Line: Creationism

Christopher Law June 10, 2015

What educators teach… References and FootnotesRichard Garner, "State Schools ‘an Open Door for Evangelical Groups to Push Creationism,’ Warns Study," The Independent, October 11, 2013 accessed June 9, 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/state-schools-an-open-door-for-evangelical-groups-to-push-creationism-warns-study-8872452.html. ↩Allen Clifto, "Texas Officials Renewing Their Push to Teach Creationism in Public Schools," Forward Progressives, September 15, 2013, accessed June 10, 2015, http://www.forwardprogressives.com/texas-officials-renewing-their-push-to-teach-creationism-in-public-schools ↩“Views on Evolution among the Public and Scientists,” NCSE, accessed June 7, 2015. ↩Chris Kirk, “Map: Publicly Funded Schools That Are Allowed to Teach Creationism," Slate, http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_public_schools_mapped_where_tax_money_supports_alternatives.html ↩Nick Wang, “Louisiana Science Education Act Repeal Fails, Keeping Door Open For Teaching Of Creationism," Huffington Post, May 2, 2013, accessed June 7, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/louisiana-science-education-act-repeal_n_3200819.html ↩“Epperson v. Arkansas,” accessed June 7, 2015, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1968/1968_7. ↩ “Bush: Schools Should Teach Intelligent Design,” NBC News, August 1, 2005, accessed June 7, 2015, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8792302/ns/politics/t/bush-schools-should-teach-intelligent-design/#.VXRj2c9Vikr. ↩Antonia Blumberg, “Bill Nye: Creationism Is ‘Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think,’” Huffington Post, December 13, 2014, accessed June 7, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/13/bill-nye-children-creationism_n_6317148.html ↩ "25 Famous Scientists Who Believed in God," Famous Scientists, accessed June 7, 2015. ↩Jack Wellman, "5 Crucial Reasons to Teach Creationism in Public Schools," Christian Crier, December 26, 2013, accessed June 7, 2015. ↩Alina Bradford, "What Is a Scientific Theory?" LiveScience, March 17, 2015, accessed June 7, 2015. ↩ Jeffrey Kluger, "Creationism in Schools—On the Taxpayer’s Dime," Time, March 24, 2014. ↩

Policy CornerVendettas of the Week

Police Transparency

Christopher Law June 3, 2015

Even though police… References and FootnotesJohn Vibes, "FBI Report: Americans Less Violent than Ever, Except for Police," The Free Thought Project, November 12, 2014, accessed May 27, 2015, http://thefreethoughtproject.com/prison-statistics/ ↩ Mark Thompson, "War Comes Home: The Militarization of U.S. Police Forces," Time, August 19, 2014, accessed May 27, 2015, http://time.com/3144818/ferguson-police-militarization-pictures/ ↩ Mark Alesia, "Overkill? Small Town Buys Armored SWAT Vehicle," USA Today, June 9, 2014, accessed May 27, 2015, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/09/police-military-surplus-purchase-debate/10221551/. ↩ John Whitehead, "Drones, Tanks, and Grenade Launchers: Coming Soon to a Police Department Near You," The Huffington Post, November 18, 2013, accessed May 27, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/police-military-equipment_b_4296948.html ↩ "Cleveland Police Department Agrees to Carry out Federal Reforms," BBC, May 26, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32887033. ↩ Randall Stross, "Wearing a Badge, and a Video Camera," The New York Times, April 6, 2013, accessed May 27, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-police-officers.html?_r=2&. ↩ Jessica Glenza, "Body Cameras for Police Officers? Not so Fast, says Researchers,” The Guardian, December 4, 2014, accessed May 31, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/04/body-cameras-police-eric-garner. ↩ Martin Kaste, "Police Departments Issuing Body Cameras Discover Drawbacks," NPR, January 20, 2015, accessed May 31, 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/01/22/379095338/how-police-body-camera-videos-are-perceived-can-be-complicated. ↩ “Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment,” accessed May 28, 2015. ↩