NATIONAL -- There is no doubt that there are some IVN readers who support some form of proportional representation, often seen as a voting scheme that maximizes representation and makes every vote count.

But the real question is, what would be the avenue to implement proportional representation nationwide? What are the roadblocks and potential legal challenges?

To answer these questions, we have to examine the history of how we got to our current two-party voting system.

ALABAMA -- While Alabama officials adamantly oppose a federal court's decision to strike down the state's ban on gay marriage, LGBT groups are celebrating victory in the Heart of Dixie.

reported Monday that North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has called for full combat readiness so that North Korea's military is prepared for any form of war, specifically with the United States.

MISSOURI -- Missouri State Representative Keith English recently cut ties with the Democratic Party to become the Show Me State’s only independent legislator. In line with the state’s nickname (which describes the character of Missourians, who are not gullible), he wants to see more transparency in both state and federal politics.

NORTH CAROLINA -- Not more than a few weeks into the new Congress, one independent member of the GOP is already facing the likelihood of a primary challenger.

Last week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul signaled his intention to bring back up one of his father's failed pet legislative issues: auditing the Federal Reserve System (the Fed).

Paul may attach the latest version of his Audit the Fed legislation to the next debt ceiling increase, which may be before Congress as early as March.

Redistricting has been a contentious process since the early 1800s, when Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill that reshaped electoral districts in Massachusetts to benefit the Democratic-Republicans. This manipulation of the redistricting process was nicknamed a Gerry-Mander, partially after Governor Gerry, and partially after the shape of one of the Boston districts, which resembled a salamander.

Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton may have been the leaders of the free world and leaders of the Democratic Party, but both administrations would have floundered without the efforts of the less prominent, but no less powerful political adviser, John Podesta. Serving in both administrations, no other non-officeholder has influenced his party in the modern era as much as this Democratic "go-to guy."

Wikipedia lists 54 separate government watchdog organizations. Most of these groups were formed over the last few decades, some as offshoots of the activism of Ralph Nader in the 1960s and 70s. Others came into being as the Internet took hold as a research tool and communications medium.