The news website, The Island Now, published an editorial recently that is worth reading. It challenges the way many people view voter suppression in the US.

The focus in most media outlets are perceived efforts in Republican state legislatures to suppress the votes of Democrats, as if the problem is just one-sided. But it isn't. Voter suppression, and the attempt to silence people who refuse to have a (D) or (R) next to their name is something both parties do.

Gallup released a report Wednesday that said the American people's overall negative perception of the government and our elected officials will only get worse if lawmakers and the president cannot prevent a government shutdown.

Here are some quick stats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj4xL-mTE2Y

Huge news from tech giant Apple. The company has announced it will be contributing $350 billion into the US economy over the next five years, combining both new investments and its existing spending with domestic companies for supply and manufacturing.

UPDATE, January 16, 2018: The Local Options Bill now has a number—HB 2746—and 15 co-sponsors in the Washington legislature.

It's rural v. urban. farmland v. concrete jungle. and, yes, red v. blue.

The latest headline grabbing effort to divvy up the Golden State comes from the founders of the state of New California. With the reading of their own version of the Declaration of Independence, the group announced they want to remain in the United States, just leave California.

Need some money? Why not ask the internet? Crowdfunding, a concept that could not exist without now-popular platforms like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo, has replaced traditional fundraising by allowing donors to contribute just by clicking a button.

In America’s free-market economy, it’s an innovative way for those with ideas to bring projects that might otherwise go unnoticed to market.

It was probably only a matter of time before one of the very most politically relevant– and therefore most controversial – individuals of our day would run for a seat in Congress.

Chelsea Manning made history when in 2010, as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, she accessed 750,000 Department of Defense documents, and leaked them to journalists at the WikiLeaks organization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTzo13G_rnk

US Sens. Rand Paul, Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, and others are on the filibuster and are forcing the Senate to get 60 votes to limit debate on a FISA extension that Paul and Wyden promised they would filibuster last week after it passed the House.

One of the most influential individuals to set foot in this country was overshadowed yesterday. MLK Day was just another day of nonsense in the media; you can probably guess the hot topic.

Trump, Trump, and hey, why don’t we throw in a little more Trump to mix things up a bit?

With the new year, begins a new legislative session. Legislators have the opportunity to use this time to introduce bills to empower voters in their state. Ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to expand as new bills have been introduced in the Missouri, Virginia, Indiana and Utah legislatures.