In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of long-term unemployment claims changed minimally from the previous few months. Long-term unemployment has been holding steady at around five million people, or forty percent of total unemployed persons.

Overlooking the San Diego harbor, tonight marked the first night of the California Women Lead's Women's Empowerment Conference, a three-day conference bringing women from throughout the state of California together to give them the skills and tools necessary to empower, engage, and elect. This year, because the conference is located in San Diego, the Independent Voter Network has the opportunity to attend.

Senator Rand Paul (KY), introduced a bill Wednesday to cut off all Washington foreign aid to Pakistan, Libya, and Egypt until certain conditions are met.

This November, Gary Johnson will appear on the ballot in forty-seven states as the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. Oklahoma will not be among those states. Last week, the Oklahoma Supreme Court denied Gary Johnson ballot access under the Americans Elect Party.

Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, visited the University of Maryland as a guest lecturer for the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies Thursday. He spoke on a number of issues, including the mainstream media, elections, the Middle East, and presidential candidates.

Women's Rights Continues to be a Wedge Issue

The figures on the government campaign known as the War on Drugs indicate that the prohibition efforts have been a failure. The government has spent over $1 trillion to prevent illegal drug use and distribution, but the statistics show that ten percent of the American population use an illegal substance of some kind and use among minors is up from a decade ago.

On Wednesday evening at the University of San Diego the two candidates in the San Diego Mayoral race focused on the quality of life of the San Diegans.