Besides handing out monetary incentives, voter engagement groups have tried almost every tactic to increase turnout on Election Day. In Philadelphia, that will change on November 3. The Philadelphia Citizen is offering $10,000 to one random voter who casts a ballot in the upcoming mayoral race.

A good share of politics-related content from the mainstream media (i.e., mass media outlets that convey content shaped by dominant thinking, influences, and activities) deals with predicting the future. Politicians, pundits, commentators, and experts -- both real and self-professed -- are an endless fountain of confident predictions about what political policies will make America and the American people safe, strong, and prosperous.

Congress will not vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until 2016, but in the meantime, presidential candidates have taken positions on the massive free trade deal.

On Tuesday, former Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Webb ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for president, while also leaving the door open for an independent run. Webb, a former Republican whose views are more conservative than many Democrats, never found momentum as a Democratic presidential candidate.

We've all heard metaphors about sending people to jail. “Don't drop the soap." “Big Bubba will like your purty mouth.” Many people find these metaphors humorous. This is odd, for it seems like those people do not find sexual assault to be cruel or unusual punishment.

If you are a political guru, you might want to watch An Unreasonable Man. The film covers the rise and fall of America’s most vociferous and successful consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, during his run for president in 2000.

The crux of the film is fairly simple: Despite decades of service and activism, Nader will forever be known as the man who helped elect George W. Bush in 2000. (If you were angered by the Bush administration, just replace “known” with “universally despised” in that last sentence.)

A few years ago, the CIA declassified a WWII field manual that was used to teach insurgents (or sympathetic citizens) of Germany-held areas to conduct simple sabotage, thereby hindering the enemy's war effort.

While some of the suggestions bordered on juvenile and hokey (such as sand in government vehicle's gas tanks), others were well-thought-out and based in either technological or psychological warfare against the Nazi regime.

It is no secret that the two major parties in the U.S have actively worked to rig the election system for their own benefit and so they can drown out any independent voices. I was reminded of this fact earlier this year when the Florida legislature was unable to come up with a new district map after the previous one was found to be illegal.

CNBC will host the third presidential debate on October 28, titled, "The Republican Presidential Debate: Your Money, Your Vote." Three debates in, the host and venue may have changed, but the faces on the stage will not. CNBC revealed Wednesday that 10 candidates met the 3 percent polling threshold (2.5% or higher, actually) to appear on the main stage, meaning that none of the top-tier candidates still running were eliminated.