Four years after his Panglossian crusade for hope and change was slugged by the realities of a dysfunctional Washington, President Obama emerged reinvigorated from an arduous campaign and delivered a second inaugural address that boldly staked a progressive agenda for his second term.

America has been fighting against the terrorist organization al-Qaida since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and in May 2011 Osama bin Laden, the former leader of al-Qaida, was killed by Navy SEALs while hiding in a fortress in Pakistan. Bin Laden’s predecessors, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and Abu Hafs al-Shariri were all killed by unmanned drone air strikes while in Pakistan.

Averting the sequestration that looms like an iceberg dead ahead of the United States’ ship of state should be Congress’ next priority.

Everybody’s favorite international non-conformist is at it again. Recently North Korea announced it is taking a more aggressive approach to foreign policy by continuing to test nuclear weapons and long range rockets as part of its action against “the sworn enemy of the Korean people.”

It has been almost two months since Texas teenager Emily Bauer became stable enough to come off of life support after suffering several seizures and strokes, allegedly caused by synthetic drugs. Bauer is now constrained to a wheelchair and has only recently regained the ability to swallow solid food.