President Obama, who ended a pay freeze for federal workers last January, is acting to give civilian and military employees another 1 percent increase effective January 1, 2015. As expected, labor unions are complaining it's not enough.


Always ready to shift the blame to others, President Obama responded to criticism of his "no strategy" stance on ISIS threats by saying, "The world's always been messy. We're just noticing now in part because of social media. Second reason people are feeling anxious is that if you watch the nightly news, it feels like the world is falling apart."


U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, held in a Mexican jail since last March after he took a wrong turn and mistakenly crossed the border, appears to be no closer to being released despite a petition with more than 100,000 signatures sent to the president. The White House has finally responded to the petition  with a statement that the State Department is providing "extensive consular assistance."