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[Update 8:18 PM PST] IVN.us announces Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term. [Update 8:17 PM PST] CNN projects President Barack Obama will win re-election by taking the state of Ohio. [Update 8:15 PM PST] With the projection of Oregon going to Obama, statistically speaking it is very unlikely Romney will be able to pull off a victory because one more state will put the president over the top. CNN also projects Missouri to be carried by Mitt Romney. -- [Update 8:10 PM PST] Th

Bal Harbour, Florida is a small village of just 2,574 people, with a police force compromised of 27 officers. Yet, one not so small thing about Bal Harbour is the amount of money the police department seizes through civil asset forfeiture. In fact, the Justice Department is actually investigating this practice by the village’s police. The Miami Herald reported that federal “agents have frozen millions that Bal Harbour helped confiscate under a program that allows police to seize the riches of c

(Chris O'Meara/AP Photo|Steven Senne/AP Photo) As turmoil in the Middle East grows, the presidential race focuses on foreign policy, with candidates trying to give voters an idea of the global landscape's trajectory over the next few years. The presidential election has become less linear and the candidates are being forced to flex their foreign policy muscles.  Though analysts agree the economy is the central issue of this campaign, the emerging foreign policy debate has opened a refreshing ne

Credit: US Government There seems to be little consensus on the future outcome of Thursday’s one-and-only vice presidential debate. The Ryan and Biden face off appears to have no player with a clear advantage and, thus far, each competitor has remained very amicable to the other. One thing that is agreed upon is that the current vice president must remain firm on challenging Ryan to substantiate all his remarks, something that Obama failed to do in his first debate with Romney. Biden has over

Credit: politicsplus.org In 2012, at least fifty bona fide independent candidates have run for the US House and Senate.  About twenty of those candidates have already withdrawn or been defeated. If half a dozen of the remaining contenders are elected, it would be a remarkable cap to an already extraordinary year for political independents. Incumbent Bernie Sanders will likely win the Vermont Senate seat, and former Governor Angus King appears to be ahead in the Maine Senate race. Reliable poll

Credit: commons.wikimedia.org None of the officials involved in Vermont’s first taser death can explain why it’s almost three months since a Vermont State trooper tasered Macadam Mason, a 39-year-old epileptic artist who died almost immediately, and there’s still no completed autopsy report. The same officials in two states, Vermont and New Hampshire, also failed to reveal last June that Taser International, the taser manufacturer, almost immediately intervened in the investigation, submitting

The Vermont Progressive Party primary for governor resulted in no candidate. This, according to party officials, is exactly the desired result and went as planned. The winner immediately declined the nomination as a protest. But this may not hold. The Vermont Progressive Party bills itself as the most successful third party in the country. It has has held seats continuously in the Vermont legislature since 1991 and the mayor's office in Burlington for thirty years. In the August 28 primaries,

Credit: bartonchronicle.com Roger Pion, the self-employed Vermont farmer who drove a 20,000-pound tractor over seven police cars in early August, was released August 30 after four weeks in jail. When asked by a Fox 44 news reporter if he had any regrets, the taciturn Pion said, “No.” Pion (pronounced PEE-on) has become something of an Internet folk hero since he used his father’s tractor to crush five Orleans Sheriff’s cruisers, an unmarked car, as a van. News of his release on the Fox 44 Face

Credit: bpdvt.org Apparent police violence at a protest at the New England Governor’s and Eastern Canadian Premier’s Conference on July 29 in Burlington, VT provoked weeks of complaint. An 83-page “Preliminary After Action Report” from police argues the officers involved “showed exceptional professionalism under adverse, complex, and rapidly evolving circumstances.” The Burlington Police Dept. released the report late on Friday, August 24, resulting in scant initial news coverage. Despite its

The 2012 Republican Party platform was formalized today at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL. In it, the GOP takes a firm stance against instituting a national popular vote scheme. From the official platform document: We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College. We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose “national popular vote” would be a mortal threat to our federal system an