Since ISIS declared the establishment of its caliphate just over a year ago on June 29, 2014, it has seen its territory grow and shrink. According to one estimate, ISIS has lost a quarter of the territory it once controlled in Iraq. While it still controls key cities like Mosul and Ramadi, it has also seen battlefield defeats since its rapid expansion last summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQgV9eqQ2Tw

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- “Open Data” is a hot topic in the Capitol, and as legislative deadlines approach, it’s worth updating on where the issue stands, and what to keep in mind as the state considers a path forward.

As a new election cycle picks up speed, I have little hope that the main contenders for the White House will veer much from prescribed party lines, leaving us, once again, trapped in an increasingly unproductive partisan agenda.

A few may run as independents, promoting new ideas that are promptly dismissed as off-range and unrealistic. In the end, we will inaugurate a Democrat or Republican and the race for the White House will begin all over again.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday that the Republican Party of Ohio spent nearly $600,000 to disqualify Libertarian candidate Charlie Earl from the 2014 governor's race.

The GOP previously disclosed that they spent nearly $300,000 to disqualify Earl, but by March the bill nearly doubled to $592,000.

The article states:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D89se8YNfss

So, I used to watch The Daily Show every day. It was smart, funny, insightful, revealing, and it reflected the obvious inconsistencies and hypocrisies of conservative America that made me so mad. It felt so good seeing Jon Stewart “stick it” to Fox News. However, sometime early last year it all started to lose its juice for me. It stopped being so entertaining and satisfying and I started to wonder why.

Appearing on C-SPAN's Washington Journal on Tuesday morning, James K.

With the Looking to the Founders series running its natural course, it seemed appropriate to move to the next stage of American History. Not that there was a lack of material, but a realization that the 2016 presidential election is going to be an all out brawl over the concept of federalism.

It’s tough to imagine a scenario in which both U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are nominated by their respective parties in the 2016 presidential race. But in a hypothetical world where Sanders and Paul are both nominated, there would be significant overlap in their supporters, just as there is with their platforms.

Late in June, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, held another of his social media town hall events, in which he fielded questions from Facebook users who follow his page. During the event, questioners held the general's feet to the fire on a number of topics, some clearly demonstrating that they have grown tired of the elitist culture and corruption that has permeated the Joint Chiefs of Staff for years.

Florida's Supreme Court struck down much of the state's congressional districting map on July 9, ordering the redrawing of what it termed "constitutionally invalid" districts in 2 of the 27 districts (requiring a change to 8 congressional districts). Each district represents about 710,000 voters, making this one of the most significant court case