Independents and the political establishment are keeping a close eye on what is happening in Kansas this year. Greg Orman, a successful business leader and entrepreneur, is running as an independent for governor of Kansas in one of the highest profile independent gubernatorial races in the country.

As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we generally start to become more discerning on how we view the world and the problems we face. Many of us who seek to make the world a better place try to look at the problems, analyze them, and do what we can to correct them.

However, because there are so many different problems facing us, this approach often overwhelms us and can instill a sense of hopelessness in our ability to create positive change.

 "I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset."

- Langston Hughes

In February, I traveled from New York City, where I live, to New Orleans to attend the Unrig the System Summit, a gathering of over 1,500 people from all 50 states, focused on how to reform our dysfunctional political system.

Nicole Capretz is the founder of the Climate Action Campaign. She was the primary author of the City of San Diego's groundbreaking, legally binding clean energy Climate Action Plan adopted in late 2015. An environmental attorney for more than 20 years, Capretz has acted as a climate justice policy advisor for local governments and the nonprofit sector and she has played a pivotal role in helping other cities adopt their clean energy climate plans, and she is a prominent advocate for Community Choice Energy in southern California.

Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy ordered Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap to implement ranked choice voting for the June primary elections Wednesday, not long after Dunlap reportedly told lawmakers he had no intention of doing so.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered to shoot Donald Trump into outer space back in 2015 after a stinging Trump tweet. Last week a barrage of Amazon aimed twitter missives arrived in the world’s inbox courtesy of the White House. No one knows where Bezos wants the President to go now. We can only guess.

Amazon stock dipped to $1,377 at the kickoff of renewed barbs on Thursday. It was not helped by a broader tech sell-off compounded by China trade war fears. Analysts yelled, "It's Trump and Amazon and China!"

The track record for winning an election as an independent is far from good. However, Neal Simon of Maryland hopes to strengthen those numbers come November. We sat down with the U.S. Senate candidate to discuss how he plans to win, the issues he would tackle if elected, and how he would impact the people of Maryland. Check out the full interview below.

FWM: Tell us a little bit about the day you decided to run for a U.S. Senate seat.

Just when you think the House IT scandal out of a former DNC Chair's congressional office couldn't possibly get more unreal, it does. It's the story of Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz's corrupt IT aides that just keeps getting more unreal month after month for over a year now.

And with each new revelation, the mainstream media, the ever servile sycophants of the partisan political system, seem even more determined to sweep the story under the rug.

Not only is Jeb Bush the son of one former US president and the brother of another, as Florida governor he established a reputation as a hands-on activist and innovator, particularly in education policy. Indeed, he helped to establish and lead the education policy and advocacy group, Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd).

I seek and thrive on hope. But currently, I see chaos throughout our society, at every level. This leaves me feeling anxious and fearful. Have you felt this as well? Or are you more optimistic?

Recently, I’ve started to ask myself -- what if there is a larger pattern or story that we have yet to see?

My belief that we are in a time of chaos is based on these assumptions: