During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump became the first major nominee to refuse to release his tax returns in 40 years. If Trump thought he could dodge releasing his tax returns forever, he was wrong, and we’re going to prove that. We won’t stop until we get the full transparency we deserve from the highest office in the land. He works for us now, after all. That’s why thousands of Americans are marching on April 15th in Washington, D.C. with taxmarch.org

Jamaica Plain has more green space than any other Boston neighborhood, and close to 900 households with dogs, and yet there are currently no city or state-managed dog parks or off-leash dog runs in the area. Self-managed attempts to create dog parks within dense residential areas such as Minton Stable Gardens and most recently at Beecher St. have failed, largely due to abutter complaints. This leaves dog owners with few options to exercise their dogs. By contrast, nearby Brookline currently administers the Green Dog program, which offers a number of recreation options for dog owners. The City of Boston overall lags behind the national trend for the creation of large numbers of dog parks (“Off-leash dog parks are growing faster than any other type of park in America's largest cities” according to The Trust for Public Land). The presence of owners regularly walking their dogs helps keep communities safe, and revitalize areas that would otherwise receive little foot traffic. Creating legal dog parks is a win-win for owners and non-owners alike. [Organizer Updates: -Excuse locational dyslexia above - of course I meant Southwest Corridor, but that part of the petition is no longer editable. -The petition targets listed above are provisional. The hope is to deliver the petition in person to all local influencers in early September. - Word has it that Councilor O'Malley's office is monitoring the petition and reading your comments. Please consider including a message to share your personal perspective when you sign. - According to local resident reports, the Angell Memorial dog park is closed indefinitely as of the last day or two, leaving us with exactly 0 dog exercise options.]

In previous articles, The Blade has described unauthorized immigrants as “illegal immigrants,” which is legally inaccurate. To be undocumented is a civil offense, not a criminal one. Describing someone as illegal is on par with describing someone accused of a crime as a criminal before a trial even takes place. I myself was an undocumented immigrant for 14 years. A daughter of an engineer and a teacher, my parents came to the United States in search of a better life. In 2013, the Associated Press, whose influential stylebook is held in high regards, dropped the word “illegal” as a label for people. Many news organizations have followed suit since. As a prominent news source in the Toledo area, we call on The Blade to drop the phrase “illegal immigrant” and avoid further politicizing an already contentious issue. Like most American cities, Toledo was built by immigrants and has a rich multi-ethnic history that could not have existed without them. While some immigrants are lawfully present, and some are undocumented, none are illegal. Toledo Blade: Drop the word "illegal!"

The Washington Post claims that Hillary Clinton won't be able to fulfill her promise to increase domestic infrastructure spending, because House Republicans will insist on cuts elsewhere to pay for it. [1] But that would only be the end of the story if we assumed - as the Washington Post apparently does - that the bloated Pentagon budget is sacrosanct. Not every House Republican votes in lock-step with the Pentagon. Forty House Republicans - many of them members of the House Liberty Caucus - voted with the overwhelming majority of House Democrats to stop the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. [2] Urge Democrats and Republicans in Washington to put cuts to the bloated Pentagon budget on the table to pay for domestic infrastructure spending by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/08/11/daily-202-hillary-clinton-s-agenda-would-flounder-in-congress-here-are-seven-reasons-why/57abd94bcd249a2fe363ba11/ 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html

Last Sunday, in an op-ed in the New York Times, environmental leader Bill McKibben shared the haunting experience of being hunted by the fossil fuel companies he's made himself an enemy of. A group of fossil fuel giants, in their effort to discredit McKibben and the movement he is part of, have sent trackers to follow up around his everyday life—snapping photographs, documenting his every move, and invading his privacy. Their goal is to embarrass him publicly—but also, likely, to send a warning to other activists what they can expect if they dare to stand up to the fossil fuel industry. As McKibben noted in his article, it's not as harrowing as the activists who have been killed in other countries for defending the environment. But this behavior by the fossil fuel companies is above the pale. The executives of these companies need to call off their attack dogs, respect the rights of a citizen to both have political beliefs and a private life, and stop using such tactics to intimidate and silence their critics.

Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) finally publicized the decision that they will not reclassify marijuana. It remains a Schedule I drug alongside heroine and LSD. This restriction also remains in place for medical marijuana use.[1] Already, 42 states allow the use of marijuana in some medical instances. The cultural consensus has shifted and more and more Americans don't consider marijuana as a social threat. The DEA has taken a step backwards in rejecting to loosen restrictions on the federal level and refusing to accept that there is ample evidence for marijuana to be used in medical instances. [2] Besides medical usage, however, one of the most catastrophic impacts of the classification of marijuana has been the leeway it gives to law enforcement and the justice system to incarcerate individuals. In 2014 alone, over 700,000 individuals were arrested on marijuana law violations. 88% of those arrests were for possession alone. [3] Research also shows that there is significant racial bias in marijuana arrests—with Black communities more likely to be targeted for arrests despite equal usage within Black and white communities. States also waste over $3.6 billion dollars in enforcing marijuana laws. [4] It's time for Congress to heed medicine, science, and the growing national consensus to put the breaks on the failed war on drugs and move to decriminalize marijuana now. Sources: 1. "U.S. affirms its prohibition on medical marijuana," The Washington Post, August 11, 2016 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/10/u-s-affirms-its-prohibition-on-medical-marijuana/ 2. "DEA Rejects Attempt To Loosen Federal Restrictions On Marijuana," NPR, August 10, 2016 http://www.npr.org/2016/08/10/489509471/dea-rejects-attempt-to-loosen-federal-restrictions-on-marijuana 3. "Drug War Statistics," Drug Policy Alliance, accessed August 11, 2016 http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics 4. "Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers," ACLU, accessed August 11, 2016 https://www.aclu.org/gallery/marijuana-arrests-numbers

President Obama is still pushing for a vote on the corporate power-grabbing Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in a "lame duck" session of Congress after the election. If Obama gets his way, the presidential election wouldn't count - the TPP would be approved before the next president takes office. As Michigan Rep. John Conyers recently wrote in The Hill, "even those lawmakers and officials who support the deal should recognize that lame duck consideration of such a highly controversial deal would create a crisis of legitimacy in American politics." [1] Six House Republicans who like Rodney Davis voted for "Fast Track" authority to negotiate the TPP last year recently urged President Obama not to push for a lame duck vote on the TPP. They wrote: "A 'lame duck' Congress should not vote on an agreement of this consequence – it would be an end-run around the American people immediately following an election." [2] Urge Rodney Davis to join these House Republicans in publicly opposing a lame duck vote on the TPP by signing our petition. References: 1. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/290791-lame-duck-tpp-vote-could-be-disastrous-for-dems-and 2. https://candicemiller.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/miller-trott-urge-president-against-forcing-lame-duck-tpp-vote

John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, says Clinton "opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop." [1] But Obama is still pushing for a vote on the corporate power grabbing Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in a "lame duck" session of Congress after the election. If Obama gets his way, the TPP would be passed before Hillary Clinton could take office. As Michigan Rep. John Conyers recently wrote in The Hill, "even those lawmakers and officials who support the deal should recognize that lame duck consideration of such a highly controversial deal would create a crisis of legitimacy in American politics." [2] Urge Senate Democrats to press Hillary Clinton to advocate against a lame duck vote on the TPP by signing our petition. References: 1. http://thehill.com/policy/finance/289369-podesta-says-mcauliffe-wrong-about-clinton-and-tpp 2. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/290791-lame-duck-tpp-vote-could-be-disastrous-for-dems-and

Facebook just took away one of the most important tools we have to help hold police accountable – social media. Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook, at the request of police, deactivated the social media accounts of Korryn Gaines, a 23-year old Black woman shot to death by Baltimore County police last Monday. She was broadcasting the standoff on Facebook that led to police shooting her 5-year-old son and killing her. Social media and shareable videos have been crucial not just for raising awareness about the injustices Black folks like Korryn and her son face every day from police, but in allowing us to control our own stories and narratives. Without access to social media, the police control the narrative. And when police control that narrative we’re always portrayed as people who deserved to die. This is a dangerous precedent. To keep our message from getting out, police are going to keep taking our social media out. Demand Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stop censoring users at the request of the police.

I am concerned that Hillary Clinton will be assassinated by someone inspired by Donald Trump's call to use violence against her. The threat should be taken seriously not simply "investigated" and dismissed by the Secret Service. Donald Trump should not be allowed to incite violence.

We the undersigned petition to the US Secret Service to arrest and incarcerate Donald J. Trump for advocating assassination of his Democratic opponent. His language, though veiled, is clear enough to rational Americans that he is advocating that someone commit assassination. Signed, John L. Casey, Whitehouse Station, NJ

Last week, Korryn Gaines was shot and killed in Baltimore County, Md., home after police arrived at her house to arrest her on traffic charges. Her 5-year-old son, who was in the home with her, was also shot. During the seven-hour standoff with police, Korryn continuously uploaded videos to Facebook and Instagram so that she could communicate with friends, family, and the public about what has happening to her and her child. But after police requested that Facebook, which also owns the media network Instagram, remove the videos, Korynn's account was deactivated and all her previous videos and posts were removed. Because anyone can document and expose police violence by uploading a video, social media has become one of the most powerful tools we have to fight police violence. Body cameras often fail, so video taken from eyewitnesses and victims is sometimes the only available record of what happened. This isn't the first time Facebook has censored victims—and as our country grapples with issues of systemic racism and police violence, silencing and censoring the communities impacted directly is a dangerous regression.