In December 2014 the Senate Intelligence Committee declassified its 500-page executive summary on the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques' by the CIA during the Bush administration. The report was an extensive look at numerous instances where the use of practices like rectal feeding, water boarding, and sleep deprivation were used, but produced no relevant or actionable intelligence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjzrvRKv6Ks

Jon Stewart is known for taking some of the biggest news stories in the media and making them funny, giving audiences an opportunity to hear about important things happening in the nation and world around them in an entertaining way. However, when it came to the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, Stewart had no jokes to write.

A new North Carolina law aiming to protect court officials' religious freedoms may create a stumbling block for not only same-sex couples wanting to marry, but all couples who want to get hitched.

Greg Valliere, the chief political strategist at the nonpartisan Potomac Research Group, believes that the new climate change encyclical is going to be the biggest news story of 2015, and a significant headache for the Republican Party.

normalizing diplomatic relations after 5 decades got people talking. As the talks evolved, the U.S. excluded the island from the list of states sponsoring terrorism, and everything currently points to an end to the trade embargo. But is it just a big symbolic act or a real opportunity for American businesses?

FairVote on June 12 released Government of the Few in the “Decided Dozen" -- Frozen Representation and the Distorted Demographics of Decisive Primary Elections.

On Wednesday night, a gunman opened fire at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people total were killed. The man identified as the primary suspect in the shooting, Daryl Roof, was taken into custody by police in Shelby, N.C. on Thursday. Witnesses say Roof stood up in the church and said he was there "to shoot black people."

A bipartisan panel released a set of recommendations Wednesday with the goal of overhauling presidential debates during the general election.

In December 2014, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by Congress to provide the budget and appropriations to sustain the Department of Defense. Tucked into the bill at the last minute – and without public debate – was a provision to hand thousands of acres of protected land in Arizona to an international mining company.

As an independent, I've often wondered why I chose to think outside of the box as opposed to following the seemingly obvious route of group-think.

I believe it has more to do with my upbringing which, when it came to politics, was never filtered. My parents taught me that there were principles one should personally have and that I should always follow my personal conscience.