Because the next steak or pork chop you buy at the grocery store could be from Mexico and beyond, but you’ll never know it. On Friday, Congress repealed the country-of-origin-labeling rule (COOL) on beef and pork...”

Free Former Birmingham Mayor Larry P. Langford!

To help with getting my son free !!!!

Cruelty towards street animals in the Bodrum peninsula must be stopped and perpetrators must be brought to justice for their crimes. We cannot sit by any longer and allow this carnage to continue. Looking at all these lovely dogs murdered in Yalikavak a couple of days ago is heartwrenching and was totally unnecessary. They never did anything but ask for love and attention

Over the past two years, the server has declined in population. Shops in the /mall have gone inactive or in some cases sit empty, towns go inactive and fall far behind in debt (such as a few towns in the 2012-2014 map which fell as much as 100,000 dei in debt), and new players only stick around for a few days before leaving the server - most of them never come back. Long-time players and veterans of the server have widely noticed this downfall - mostly because the focus nowadays is on minigames servers, some of which have opened servers with the Towny plugin, which has more features than Kingdoms 2 minus the /t warp's, and that is what the little kids (most of the new players to Minecraft) mostly like to go to, when compared to the beta days where it was mostly building cities and towns. I, and some of the active players on the server, have proposed some initiatives in an attempt to bring players back and revitalize the server: expanding the amount of vote sites we actively vote on, fixing the inactivity and constant out-of-stock issues in /mall by evicting inactive shop owners and putting their shops on the auction block, increasing the shop auction frequency to once a month and automating the process, and a three-tier shop size system to allow merchants with Vendor rank to have a mall shop, and to complete the third tier of the class system, with almost all currently unplaceable blocks allowed in the craftsmen third tier with free placing of the 1st and 2nd tier rank blocks, nobility salary tripled and possibly moderator range logblock in the third tier of nobility class, and the biggest mall shops in a three-tier mall shop size system and the most auctions at once for the third tier of the merchant class. The first step in improving the server is to expose the server to more voting sites other than the current two: Minestatus and Mcserverstatus. Most of the other servers that I've seen that are popular are on multiple voting sites, with some servers being on as much as 10 voting sites! Some of these servers also have perks such as "crates" where you get rewards from "opening" them in a certain place, usage of WorldEdit in creative for a certain amount of time, and more for voting on all of their voting sites in one single day. These servers are popular and have more than 100 people on them on any single day. By putting ImDeity Kingdoms on more voting sites, and implementing a system for rewards for voting on ALL of the sites in one single day, it would be the first step in the revitalizing of the server. The second step to the server's improvement would be to overhaul the mall shop system by implementing a three-tier approach to shop sizes and an automated script to kickstart shop auctions once a month and evict inactive shop owners (preferrably 30 days inactive shop owners). The automated script would, on a per day basis, check the time the shop owners were last online, and if it exceeds 30 days, they would lose their shop, and the contents of the shop would be Worldedited out. Existing shop owners who do not want to run a shop anymore can also type in a command to put their shop up for auction. These empty shops would then be auctioned on the shop auctions page on the portal, which would occur once a month, to newer and active players to give them a chance to participate in the economy and supplying the nobility and craftsmen with key materials such as stone, wood, flora, and tools to help them build their towns and creations on the main world. To improve accessibility to shops for Vendors, and to give merchants on the future highest tier (the Tycoon rank of the Merchant class) a considerably bigger shop than the current mall shops, a three-tier shop size system would be proposed. The first tier (renovations to /mall purple and /mall blue) would be for those merchants with the Vendor Rank and would be 5x5x3 in size, totalling 75 cubic meters of shop space. There would be 20 of these stalls in each of the two mall areas assigned for first tier shops. The 2nd tier would comprise of 12 5x5x6 shops - these shops will hold merchants of the Financier rank. /mall green and /mall red would be assigned the 2nd tier shops, and the only modification needed to the shops there would be to raise the stall ceilings up 1 block. The third tier of the mall shop size system would be for merchants of the Tycoon rank, and they would have the biggest shops, which are 10x10x6 in size. There would be six of these shops in two new mall areas, which would be /mall orange and /mall yellow. The third and final step in improving the server would be to complete the class system by completing and releasing the third tier of each class: Architect for Craftsmen, Duke for Nobility, and Tycoon for Merchant. The third tier Craftsmen class, the Architects, would be able to place, for a hefty price, currently unplaceable blocks and items, most notably sticky pistons and lava, and place blocks granted to the Laborer and Artisan classes for free. Artisan class would be modified so that placing Laborer rank blocks would be 50% off their current placing price and possibly a dei reward for great constructions, which would make a comeback. The dei reward for great constructions for Architects would be double the Artisan's reward. The nobility class can be improved by implementing the third tier, Dukes. Dukes would get 3x the nobility salary of Lords, paid 6 times a day compared to four, and would get range logblock ability similar to what moderators have. Counts would have their nobility salary doubled and paid 5 times a day in the new system, and Lord's salary would remain unchanged. Merchants would get a third tier added to their class ranks, the Tycoon rank. The Tycoon rank can be able to run five auctions simultaneously, sell up to four horses at any given time, and get the biggest shops in the new three-tier shop size system. Financiers would mostly remain unchanged, while Vendors would get the additional benefit...

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S., but there are laws in place that prevents the island from declaring bankruptcy. There are also some outdated laws that limit the ability of the island to trade and allow foreign cargo ships into its ports. These laws need to be removed to allow the island to thrive. The island also lacks representation in Congress and the House of Representatives. The U.S. collects tax from the island, so it is only right that they receive the same rights as rest of the U.S. citizens

Today, yet another Black child's life was rendered disposable, not by a grand jury of his peers, because he was only 12 years old. His peers are not even old enough to serve on a jury. Murdered by law enforcement. His only crime was being a 12 yr old Black male child in a poor neighborhood. Those two factors alone robbed him of his youth, robbed him of protection, robbed him of any benefit of the doubt. And then Prosecutor McGinty robbed him and his family of all due process under the law. If we are a nation of laws, then those laws should apply equally to all citizens. If we are a nation of compassion, then that compassion should not be determined by the color of one's skin. If we are a nation of justice, then that justice must be available to everyone. Even when filmed, the killing of a black child is rendered justifiable. Even in an open carry state, the killing of a black child carrying a pellet gun is rendered justifiable. Even in a playground with no sign of threat, the killing of a black child is rendered justifiable. Within 2 seconds of their arrival, it is acceptable that a 12 year old is dead. We demand a thorough investigation into the killing of Tamir Rice. We demand equal protection of black children, both under the law and, when necessary, from those hired to enforce the law.

Big corporations and their five best friends on the Supreme Court have teamed up to take away your ability to seek justice for yourself and your family, fight corporate abuse of consumers and workers, and join with others to pursue equal justice under law. The issue is forced arbitration and, whether you know it or not, you have already been victimized. Buried in everyday agreements for products, services, and jobs is fine print saying when you are harmed, you can’t go before an impartial jury or judge. Instead, these forced arbitration clauses send you to a decision-maker picked by the company that wronged you. Not surprisingly, one study found that arbitrators rule for companies over consumers 94 percent of the time. And you’re stuck with their decision because there’s no appeal. It’s a rigged system that helps companies evade responsibility for violating anti-discrimination, consumer protection, and public health laws. There is a bill in Congress called the Arbitration Fairness Act that will end the insidious practice of corporations forcing consumers and workers against their will to surrender their ability to seek justice in the courts. Sign the petition to let your representatives know that rigging the system to protect corporations from the consequences of their bad behavior must stop!

Community Housing Partnership believes that people who are in supportive housing have the right to jobs, housing, and a better future. Obtaining a higher education is a pathway out of poverty for many. Yet current IRS regulations are a barrier to full-time study if you live in Supportive Housing.

THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THIS ACTION IS CLOSED However, you can still sign this petition to express your support for this issue. It only took a few sentences on page 1,865 of the massive 2016 budget bill to repeal a decades-old ban on domestic crude oil export. This move will lead to more drilling, more climate-disrupting emissions, and more reckless transport of oil. The oil industry has set its sights on the Pacific Northwest as a gateway for transporting more and more crude oil, and we’re fighting its plans on several fronts at once. Tesoro-Savage’s unprecedented and reckless proposal for an oil terminal in Vancouver, WA has drawn broad opposition, with Columbia River Tribes, a local longshoremen’s union, firefighters, business leaders, health professionals, climate activists, neighborhood associations, faith leaders, the City of Portland, the City of Vancouver itself, and a clear majority of local voters already speaking against it. By itself, Tesoro-Savage’s proposed facility would ship over 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day—almost half as much as the Keystone XL Pipeline. This “pipeline on rails” would bring four or more mile-long trains carrying explosive crude oil across western states, through Spokane, along the Columbia River, and into Vancouver every day. We must stop it. When these oil trains derail, they can spill, explode and ignite. We’ve already seen these devastating accidents across North America. When oil tankers crash and spill, fish and wildlife die, the harm lasts for decades, tribal economies and cultures suffer, and local river and fishing jobs are lost. Let’s work together to make sure this doesn’t happen. Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council just released its draft environmental review. Comment now to make sure this project—the largest oil-by-rail terminal proposed in North America—is rejected.

Early Saturday morning, Chicago police were called to respond to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex. Police shot through an unopened door and killed Ms. Bettie Jones -- who died from a gunshot wound to the neck [1]. Officers then turned their weapons onto a young man suffering from mental illness holding a baseball bat, 19-year-old Quintonio Legrier. The officer's identity has not been released and he has been placed on administrative duties for 30 days. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced that the murder will be investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority. But this is not enough. From Rekia Boyd to Laqun McDonald, the violence perpetuated at the hands of the Chicago Police Department continues to claim the lives of Black women and men living in Chicago, and that violence continues to go unchecked by city leaders and officials. The Chicago police were called in order to help with a domestic disturbance. However, instead of providing help to those in need, Chicago police exercised excessive violence and claimed two more Black lives. Recent cases and released videos show a culture of excessive force and a 'shoot first and cover it up' culture within Chicago's police department. They are killing people, mostly Black people whether or not those people cooperate. The state's attorney and mayor's offices seem determined to assist officers that abuse and murder the very citizens they are sworn to protect and serve. We are demanding more than a full and transparent investigation into the murders of Bettie Jones and Quintonio Legrier. We are demanding authentic justice. The entire Chicago Police Department needs to be changed, from the racist, unjust policies to the people who enforce them. Bettie Jones was a member of Action Now and we will not rest until she gets justice. References "Chicago Cop Shoots Dead Teen, 55-Year-Old Woman" The Huffington Post, 12-26-2015 http://huff.to/1JBYAAh

The state of Michigan has been taking over cities that become to a "state of emergency" financially for years. The newly-elected city of Flint mayor Karen Weaver requested a declaration of a state of emergency in Flint, a status that if granted would empower city officials to help secure mutual aid and tap into critical, additional resources and assistance from local, state, and federal agencies. We need your help.