The Royal Bank of Scotland's economists warned investors last week to "sell everything" other than high quality bonds, citing Chinese instability and continued suppression of oil prices.

With January's huge slump in the stock markets, it's looking like there's the significant possibility of a long-term bear market.

On January 13, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) issued a letter to the Transportation Security Administration and lawmakers regarding the TSA’s recent decision to make airport body scans a mandatory procedure.

In recent years, few Supreme Court decisions have been as controversial – or as consequential – as the ruling in Citizens United v.

Voters have watched two more debates from the major parties and countless promises of what would make America great or how the individual candidate would tackle the problems facing America. In the final analysis, none of these promises really matter, as neither side's platform from the executive side could ever make it through such a sharply divided Congress as we have today.

Sure, the Republicans face as tough (possibly tougher) congressional map as the Democrats faced in 2014, but neither side is going to gain the all powerful ability to control Senate cloture.

Many voters are not satisfied with the two major-party candidates deemed as the front-runners in the 2016 presidential election. That is the finding of a poll conducted by IVN News, in which 73% of respondents said that when given the option of choosing Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Other, they want an alternative option over Clinton and Trump.

One of the most contentious moments during Thursday's Fox Business GOP Debate was the subject of Ted Cruz's birth. Donald Trump has mentioned a number of times over the past few weeks that the issue could not only be detrimental to Cruz's campaign, but the Republican Party's chances if Cruz receives the nomination.

I love Bernie Sanders, and I recognize the need for universal single payer health care. I love that Bernie is still pushing for it, because “Obamacare” is far too expensive. It does not reduce the costs of our health care system, and it does not achieve the goal of universal coverage, but we cannot go backward. We must move forward.

Unfortunately, Bernie’s plan has several flaws. The flaws are no doubt a result of the way our partisan government operates, but they should be highlighted nonetheless.

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln announced his intention to order the emancipation of all slaves in the states that did not end their rebellion by January 1, 1863.

So on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the famous and historical presidential proclamation and executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation and intended to free those slaves.

That alone did not free the slaves in areas still under rebellion. However, as more Confederate regions were controlled by the Union army, more slaves were emancipated with the help of the Proclamation.

The Illinois 8th congressional district, covering the western portions of Chicago, may become one of the more unique races in 2016.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the co-chairs of the Commission on Presidential Debates claim they are open to including an independent or third-party candidate in the general election debates. This is true, but only if the third candidate clears a near-impossible hurdle or a major movement emerges that pressures the commission to change the rules regarding candidate inclusion.

CPD co-chairs, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. and Michael McCurry, will appear on the PBS public affairs show, The Open Mind, on January 24 to discuss the issue.