UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, has resigned after a failed attempt to gain Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s acceptance of his peace plan. The UN is in currently involved in discussions with the Arab league to appoint a successor. Whoever follows Mr. Annan will have a tough order to fill, as the  former UN secretary general and Noble Peace prize winner quit only after immense frustration from the country’s escalating civil war.

Western Growers, a powerful trade association representing the interests of California and Arizona specialty crop farmers, recently endorsed Mitt Romney for president, saying he subscribes to the right kind of immigration reform.

Gore Vidal was a prolific writer and critic of American society. He passed away on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012.

A one-time candidate for Senate, one of his most memorable quotes was on the topic of the two main modern political parties:

A Senate cybersecurity bill failed to pass today as the result of a Republican filibuster, falling just eight votes shy of the 60 needed to advance to a final vote.

As IVN has reported, the cybersecurity bill is a major priority for the Obama administration, prompting a recent Wall Street Journal editorial by the President himself.

As a French living in the U.S., I have faced many stereotypes and have had to deny most of them. Stereotypes can be offensive, weird, very true, funny, or plain stupid. In any case, they are a part of any experience abroad, so we better get used to it. Overall, I think that stereotypes are interesting, as they force us to reflect on the way we are seen by the rest of the world, for better or for worse. Thus, I will be posting regularly on the topic from various angles.

Concerns over potential invasion of privacy has lawmakers from both parties railing against certain campaign behavior they say is going "too far". As Politico originally reports, House members have sent a letter to both the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee concerning tactics used by political trackers.

As part of our effort to report on social media trends, tools, and technology, we will be periodically recognizing politicians, candidates, and political organizations who are utilizing social media in effective and creative ways. Mayor Cory Booker uses a wide array of social media covering the essentials like Facebook and Twitter in a big way, but widens his outreach by using other sites such as Quora, Flickr, Instagram and Youtube. 

RJ Harris may not be a high profile name outside of "constitutional conservative" circles, but his comments blasting Chick-fil-a supporters as anti-Christian as today's version of the 1960's segregationists could bring some attention to his bid in Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District.

From his campaign website:

President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against Iran's energy and photochemical sectors this week. The sanctions also isolate Iran from two banks, China's Bank of Kunlun and Iraq's Elaf Islamic Bank.