https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSdAS5eJfNs

On Thursday, October 9, 2014, the University of California-Berkeley hosted the third California secretary of state debate. The night promised to be an enlightening chapter for the highly contested position.

State Senator Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley) and Pete Peterson (R) are vying for the attention of the state’s unaffiliated voters while attempting to distinguish themselves as candidates. One series of questions specifically from KQED’s John Myers would put tension at a boil.

The Affordable Care Act, or what proponents and opponents refer to as Obamacare, President Obama’s signature achievement, has long been unpopular with Republicans. Now, independents seem to be unhappy with the law as well. A recent CNN poll suggests that only 7 percent of independents would keep the law as is.

The above image is the actual beginning to an email sent out by the Republican Party on Thursday, October 9, with the subject line, "IF we don't win..." It hasn't been photoshopped or manipulated in any way. This is exactly the message that both major parties try to sell to voters before any major election: if you vote for the opposing party, the apocalypse is nigh.

I made it clear that America is not – and will never be – at war with Islam  -- Barack Obama, 2009

In the last article, I discussed the religious landscape of the early republic, and that the Founders wanted to leave us a framework that we could use to avoid making religion an issue for contention.

A new report released late last month by Disabled American Veterans (DAV) indicates that female veterans feel left out of programs aimed at aiding veterans of recent conflicts. More women than ever before have served or are currently serving, nearly twice as many as in 1980, yet the report finds that many of the VA's services lag behind in serving female veterans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSdAS5eJfNs

In the June 3 nonpartisan, top-two open primary, Californians chose Democrat Alex Padilla (30.2%) and Republican Pete Peterson (29.7%) to advance to the general election in the race for secretary of state. From a glance, both candidates look similar with platforms based on increasing voter participation (only 25.17% during the primary) and increasing transparency in the electoral process.

But, this highly competitive statewide race is attracting widespread attention.

In an age where over 90 percent of elections are determined in the primary, it's a rare occurrence for candidates to focus on voters who are not affiliated with a political party during the general election.

The 2014 midterm elections are less than a month away and the GOP is poised to seize a majority in the Senate, though that would require winning some close races. Some are expected to come down to just a proportionally small amount of votes. RealClearPolitics rates 10 Senate races as “toss-ups” and 7 of them involve Democratic incumbents. 

Yes, I really did do that -- used "founders" and "religion" in the same sentence. It seems in the current political landscape that this is a mistake that dooms one to attacks and character assassination from the left and right -- both sides seem very eager to "fight it out" on this issue.

Nonprofits have been in the news lately, and it isn’t necessarily because of the good they’re doing.