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A group of Pennsylvanian citizens, known as the Independent Pennsylvanians, have been working for the past 15 years towards changing undemocratic and archaic state laws which grossly favor the Democratic and Republican parties over third party and independent candidates. Affiliated with the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, a New York City-based nonprofit, non-ideological think tank representing the independent political movement, Independent Pennsylvanians is currently focused on two

Credit: dvids / Flickr Despite the best efforts of the Department of Defense (DOD), the sexual assault crisis in the military continues, and now many mental health experts and former service members are saying that the very culture and laws of the military condone, and even encourage, military sexual trauma in the name of camaraderie and good order, and the problems are apparent from the very beginning. In order to meet combat needs, services lowered their standards to allow more convicted fel

Friday, June 14th 2013 was flag day, a day which tends to go uncelebrated, and about which most people know very little. This post will be a brief detour from my continuing series on the different facets of the Kiera Wilmot Bottle Bomb story. It looks long, and it is, but most of it is pictures.  As you look through the various images included here, I hope you will contrast the actual origins of the U.S. flag, as it was originally adopted by the Founding Fathers, and contrast that with the nic

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania held primary elections where voters could choose either a Democrat or Republican candidate who would then proceed to the November ballot in the state's municipal elections. Like 17 other states, Pennsylvania has a closed primary system, meaning that only voters registered with the Democratic or Republican parties are allowed to vote. This system prevents over 1 million voters, who have registered as independent or with a minor party, from voting in the primary. However,

(Credit: Gage Skidmore) We're not trying to turn IVN into the Rand Paul channel, but this comment about him from Rick Santorum in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal bears comment: "Rand Paul's brand doesn't line up with all of what our party stands for - on national security, social values, the economy and the role of government in society. His message won't ultimately lead us to be a more successful party." It sure sounds like Santorum is saying that the Republicans need to be the party of big go

On Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown’s appointment to California corrections secretary, Jeffrey Beard, was sworn in at the capitol. The appointment as head of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (CDCR) still needs to be confirmed by the California Senate. A little over a year into California’s realignment program, in which low-risk felons are being transferred to local corrections facilities and programs, the state is still facing significant budget constraints, prison ove

The Aviation Subcommittee held a hearing on Thursday, November 29. Acting Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, Charles Edwards, and Government Accountability Office Director of Homeland Security, Steve Lord, offered their findings regarding multiple TSA-related investigations and complaints. However, one glaring absence was clearly evident. The government-owned and operated Transportation Security Agency, or TSA, was not in attendance. In a release issued earlier this week,

Energy experts now say that the “Rebirth of the Rust Belt” may emancipate the United States from much of its oil dependency by the year 2020, with states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan on the front line. The International Energy Agency released a study that suggests the US will surpass Saudi Arabia’s title as the world’s largest oil producer in less than a decade, with a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which has put oil and natural gas output on a striking rise.

Since Obama won reelection a week ago, the White House website has been flooded with petitions from citizens in various states wanting their states to secede from the union.  It is important to note that these are not official petitions by the state governments but rather petitions started by individual citizens. The threat of secession is nothing new in the United States.  It seems that after any election, people want their states to secede so that they don't have to live under a leader they d

Credit: LA Times The only silver lining for the GOP that can be gleaned from the November 6 elections is that it retained control of the House of Representatives. Otherwise, the election results were devastating for the GOP, and while demographics was a primary reason Governor Romney lost to President Obama and Democrats increased their majority in the Senate, it was not the only reason. The loss, once again, revealed a split in the party which I mentioned in a prior column. A demographic anal