All of us are affected by whether or not we have the ability to create and maintain environmental regulations, whether we can create and maintain state and national laws and a democracy in general.

President Obama wants Fast Track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping trade deal that hundreds of corporate interests have been given special access to. If the President wants our support, he needs to tell us who is influencing the final deal. Tell President Obama -- we deserve an open and transparent process!

Escalating conflict in Yemen is making a dire humanitarian situation worse. We must do all we can to push for a permanent and immediate ceasefire. Before the current conflict, Yemen was already the poorest country in the Middle East. Over 10 million people were going hungry, including 1 million acutely malnourished children. This number has increased by nearly 2 million since the conflict began. [1] There was a moment of hope when an announcement came that airstrikes would stop but they have since resumed. Violence has damaged homes, schools and even hospitals. Over 400 civilians have lost their lives and over 150,000 people have been displaced. Food and diesel, which is needed to pump clean water, are increasingly in short supply and their prices are rising – putting these basic necessities out of reach for ordinary families. And at a time when people desperately need them, vital supplies can't enter the country. That could prove disastrous, because Yemen relies on imports for 90 per cent of its food. Escalating violence is making an already dire humanitarian situation much worse. The conflict must stop. It is critical that the US government pushes for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, so that vital humanitarian assistance can be delivered to people in Yemen. We must do all we can to prevent any further suffering to those who already desperately need help. References: 1. Oxfam, “Stop the violence in Yemen,” https://act.oxfam.org/international/yemen-crisis

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has just announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination for president. Welcoming him to the race, the Democratic National Committee wrote: “Having a wide range of progressive views in this race is good for the dialogue of our party and for our country. And Bernie Sanders is a progressive champion… We couldn't be more excited to hear him to say he's in.” Bernie has been a champion for peace and diplomacy. He was the first Senator to announce that he would skip Netanyahu’s anti-diplomacy speech to Congress. [1] Bernie’s influence is going to grow, now that he’s an announced candidate for President. And, he remains a United States Senator. We need Bernie’s help to remove an anti-peace provision of the trade bills currently before Congress. This provision would make it US policy to endorse Israeli settlements in the West Bank by saying that the US has to oppose European measures to restrict trade with these settlements. [2] This provision is opposed by J Street [3], Americans for Peace Now [4], and JVP [5]. Bernie’s against Fast Track for the TPP trade deal, which is the main thing that people are fighting about on the trade package. But that doesn’t mean he can’t use his influence to help us – other Democrats in Congress who oppose the current Fast Track proposal are using their influence to try to get the pro-settlement provision out of the trade package. Welcome Bernie to the race, and urge him to use his influence to help us remove the pro-settlement provision from the trade legislation, by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-09/bernie-sanders-is-skipping-netanyahu-s-speech-to-congress 2. http://forward.com/opinion/306743/congress-backs-israeli-rights-war-on-settlement-boycotts/ 3. http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-opposes-trade-bill-that-undermines-us-and-israeli-interests_1 4. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/240037-dear-congress-pro-israel-is-not-pro-settlements 5. https://twitter.com/naiman/status/591318386245775362

We are concerned that the majority in the US Congress are rushing headlong into a nuclear confrontation with Russia. We wish to avert a nuclear war with Russia.

By being afraid of terrorists entering the country, we are collectively responsible for the deaths of thousands of suffering peoples dying each day trying to flee to freedom. By not providing a safe harbor for them makes us just as horrible as the terrorists we are fighting. Let Homeland Security take care of the few who may try to infiltrate those poor people. This is a big country with a million resources. Let us remember we didn't want the Irish, the Jews, the Italians, the Cubans, etc., when they first got here and they have contributed to the economic, cultural and intellectual growth of our great country.

YEMEN-ANOTHER DISASTER FOR CIVILIANS The conflict in Yemen is a civil war that can only be resolved by political negotiations. Since the start of Saudi bombing, supported by the US, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced and hundreds have been killed. The United Nations, The European Union, Iran and Pakistan are calling for a diplomatic solution. Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen, killing and displacing innocent people and cutting off food supplies, water, and access to medicine. The United States is providing arms and bombs to Saudi Arabia. This must be stopped. Call President Obama at (202)456-1111. Tell him to: 1-Join with the UN, European Union and Pakistan to negotiate a political solution; 2-Call for an end to military intervention, and an arms embargo; 3-Assist with humanitarian help to the people of Yemen

Congress is now considering “fast track” trade authority for trade agreements. There are many reasons to oppose fast track. But Maryland Senator Ben Cardin and his allies have just added a new one. They are including in the Ryan-Hatch “fast track” trade bill a US negotiating objective to block European trade restrictions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. [1] This provision is opposed by J Street [2], Americans for Peace Now, [3], and JVP [4]. European efforts to uphold international law by limiting trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank are supported by Human Rights Watch. [5] Urge your Representative and Senators to vote NO on the Ryan-Hatch “fast track” trade bill by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/maryland-senator-ben-card_b_7118876.html 2. http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-opposes-roskamvargas-trade-bill-that-undermines-us-and-israeli-interests_1 3. http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=11643 4. https://twitter.com/naiman/status/591318386245775362 5. http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/18/dispatches-israeli-supreme-court-upholds-anti-boycott-law

President Obama promised during his 2008 campaign that he would call the massacre of Armenians by the Turkish government during World War I a genocide. Since taking office he has not followed through on this campaign promise. April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when 1.5 million Armenians were either brutally executed or forced marched into the desert and starved to death. As stated in April 22, 2015 Wall Street Journal, again President Obama will not use the term genocide when he commemorates this sad anniversary in order to appease the Turkish government. Full disclosure, I voted for Obama so this is not political for me. It is however political for him. Why should Turkey govern our moral standards? Standing up for crimes against humanity should never be a political decision. True leaders don't make popular decisions, they make morally correct decisions. By not speaking out, tragedies and crimes against humanity are repeated, as evidenced throughout history. When Hitler was preparing his Nazi leaders about his idea for the "final solution" for Jews he actually sited the Armenian genocide and told his team that the world never said or did anything then so why would they with what he planned? The Pope, Canada, France, EU and soon Germany have all spoken out and support the historical and fact based claim that there was an Armenian genocide. And today, Christians are being brutally murdered in the Middle East for beliefs alone, and again our President is silent. Its about time President Obama stands up not down to all these cowards, and speaks out! #Silence is acceptance.

UPDATE [4/27]: This language has been added to the trade bills by the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Now we are working to remove the language. === Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) is expected to introduce an amendment to a bill in the Senate Finance Committee that would demand that the Obama Administration pressure Europe not to enforce policies against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The amendment is expected to be similar to S. 619 [1] which Cardin introduced March 2. Similar legislation (HR 825) was introduced in the House on February 10. [2] Both bills target actions to “limit commercial relations” with “territories controlled by Israel.” By equating “Israeli settlements in the West Bank” with “Israel,” these bills are endorsing the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. These bills are trying to pressure the European Union (EU), which is currently negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States, to reverse course on the steps it has taken in recent years to oppose Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These include new guidelines preventing entities operating in Israeli-occupied territory from receiving EU funding and a recent push to label settlement products entering the EU. Urge your Senator and Representative to oppose this legislation by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s619 2. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr825

The Illinois House and Illinois Senate may vote by April 24 on HB4011 [1] and SB1761.[2] These bills attempt to legitimize the de-facto Israeli annexation of the West Bank by cutting off state contracts with companies that boycott Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Boycotting Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a means of protesting the Israeli occupation has wide political support in the US and internationally, including by Peace Now (Shalom Achshav) in Israel and Americans for Peace Now in the US [3], and the Presbyterian Church [4], and United Methodist Church [5] in the US. Any private Israeli entity that wants to receive funding from the European Union must demonstrate that it has no links to the West Bank. [6] Urge your Representative and Senator in the Illinois legislature to oppose HB4011 and SB1761 by signing our petition at MoveOn. References: 1. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=88&GA=99&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=4011&GAID=13 2. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1761&GAID=13&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=88517&SessionID=88 3. http://archive.peacenow.org/entries/apn_joins_peace_nows_call_for_boycotting_settlements 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/us/presbyterians-debating-israeli-occupation-vote-to-divest-holdings.html 5. http://umc-gbcs.org/resolutions/opposition-to-israeli-settlements-in-palestinian-land 6. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.536155

The Philippines was tagged "The Sick Man of Asia" and "Zaire of Asia." If independence was ever going to work for the Filipino people, it would have done so by now. It clearly has not. Rather, the millions of Filipinos are needlessly suffering because of corrupt politicians despite the country's massive natural resources.