The California Coastal Commission recently decided that San Diego SeaWorld must halt the breeding of all captive orcas. But SeaWorld says it wants to continue breeding orcas in captivity and will challenge the commission's ruling. Tell SeaWorld to accept the CCC's decision and end their orca breeding program once and for all.

My mom hates James Bond. She will not listen to unimpeachable arguments like "James Bond is good" and "mom come on" and "mom seriously?? JAMES BOND!!!" Even my dad's frame-by-frame description of the cool as hell motorcycle part at the beginning of Skyfall did not soften my mom's James Bond-hating heart. We need your help. Please sign your name to help make my mom like James Bond before it's too late. God bless.

James Greer, an unarmed, brown, 46-year-old grandfather, was pulled over by Hayward, California police and administered a field sobriety test in May, 2014. Because of a medical condition, his 380-pound weight, and his apparent drug intoxication, Greer could not comply with the officers’ orders to place his hands behind his back and to lie on the ground. A struggle ensued, Greer was tased three times, and he was put in a straightjacket-like full-body restraint. Then he died. Even though Hayward PD sends out many news advisories for subjects ranging from missing persons to homicides, they never disclosed this death publicly, nor was it independently investigated by the District Attorney’s office. The Sheriff/Coroner ruled Greer’s death an accident, with the cause listed as “PCP intoxication associated with physical exertion,” even though there is ample evidence that chest or neck compression during constraint, especially during an encounter with police, often leads to a condition known as Excited Delirium Syndrome, which leads to a few hundred deaths each year in North America. An expert in the field stated, “People literally exhaust themselves to death.” A spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney’s office said they review officer-involved deaths only when they are from gunshots, per an agreement they have with county police chiefs, and would only review a restraint-related death if requested by law enforcement. We call for a full, public airing of these policies by the agencies named, including policy revisions as necessary to provide safety and justice for all people, as well as satisfying the public’s right to know how their law enforcement agencies are handling dangerous interactions with the public, and to know the results of police-involved-death investigations. In the post-Ferguson world we now live in, pre-Ferguson policies are not sufficient, and best practices call for forums in which public input is sought with regard to the policies.

Rather than cut the last of our large canopy trees in Los Osos, we citizens urge they be saved for the microclimate they provide and be included in the Ann Calhoun Memorial Monarch Butterfly Preserve at Sweet Springs, Monarch Grove and on the Powell Property in Los Osos next to Los Osos Middle School! On Facebook: Save Sweet Springs Trees Contact: [email protected]

The result of the dark stores rulings reduces the stores' taxable value by 50% or more. This takes away local control of funding. Key services to citizens are being severely impacted: libraries, fire protection, search and rescue, sheriff/police services, roads, veterans, recreational, public transit, schools and seniors. Upper Peninsula lawmakers have been working on this problem since 2011-12, but previous legislation never got out of committee. Our communities are suffering and we need to convince committee members to support all Michigan communities through solid tax legislation and updated Tax Tribunal policies.

Sun Valley Floral Group wants to cut forest adjacent to the Wild and Scenic Trinity River in an effort to expand Chemical intensive flower production. Families with children, fish and wildlife will all be impacted by these actions. This timber harvest and expansion should be stopped!

My petition is about the need to take the church arsons outside of Ferguson, MO seriously and investigate them as hate crimes. Although I don't live in Missouri, as a humanist and a Jew, I feel that we are all responsible for making the world a better place and that hate crimes always need to be investigated with rigor.

Everyday in Ohio, police officers are violating municipal “user participation agreements” with the Ohio Highway Patrol to spy on the state's citizens. They're driving behind motorists who've committed no crimes and using the Law Enforcement Access Data System (LEADS) computer to investigate their license plates. They're investigating the mayors, council members, safety directors and police chiefs who oversee them, and they're investigating members of these officials' families. They're investigating journalists and police critics, all in violation of state and federal laws. The LEADS computers are owned by the state under the supervision of the Ohio Highway Patrol. Governor Kasich appoints the Ohio Highway Patrol superintendent. The primary use of the LEADS database under Ohio law is the protection of the officer on the street, and use should be “maximized” for “officer safety,” pursuant to 4501:2-20-03(B)(1)(d) of the Ohio Administrative Code. Police in Ohio, however, are regularly abusing the computers every day and using them to make money for themselves and spy on other Ohioans. Thousands of Ohio women have complained that police officers who want to flirt with them use the computers to learn their names and addresses. Reports show they've even used them to gather information about people they don't like. The majority of LEADS use in Ohio has nothing to do with “officer safety” when police drive behind motorists whom they have no “reasonable or articulated suspicion” have committed a crime. In many instances small time city police are illegally accessing LEADS databases to help their mayors and council raise money. They're also violating the state's new anti-texting law by driving at high rates of speed on state highways with one hand while they type in license plate numbers with the other. Under 737.11 of the Ohio Revised Code, police have no other authority but to obey the same laws as every other Ohio citizen. There are no special exemptions in Ohio laws that allows police to violate their oaths of office. Ohio's LEADS database is also tied into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) managed by the FBI, and police in Ohio are violating federal privacy protection laws with their spying. It's no different than NSA spying on American citizens when federal employees illegally recorded their cellular phone communications. More specifically, under Title 28 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations, Section 20.1, the U.S. Congress added the protection of "individual privacy" as a mandate to the nation's police departments and law enforcement officers when they access the LEADS / NCIC databases. In cities like Akron, Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Canton, Youngstown and Warren, police are targeting minorities and low-income citizens in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. This is a violation of their constitutional rights because it causes them to bear the burden of separate and unequal enforcement under the law. NCIC regulations clearly require “probable cause” for another offense to be determined before the federal database is accessed, and every law enforcement agency in Ohio is supposed to follow the mandates of the NCIC manual. Governor Kasich can end the practice by ordering the Superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol to issue an order that on the streets, police are only authorized to use the LEADS database “after” they have already initiated a traffic stop to write a citation, and before they approach the vehicle for officer safety. Governor Kasich can order the Superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol to stop police departments from using automatic license plate readers that they're connecting, illegally, to the LEADS/NCIC databases. The bottom line is that Governor Kasich has the authority, without going to the General Assembly of Ohio, to right a wrong that is being done everyday by police officers who are spying on American citizens in violation of federal and state laws regarding the use of LEADS and NCIC databases. All he has to do is tell the Superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol to end the practice, investigate the abusers and cause them to be prosecuted. Governor Kasich can also direct the Superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol to give every citizen the authority to ask for the information that's being stored on them without their knowledge, just to see what police have added to the LEADS database about them.

Privatizing is a union-busting, job destroying. and service destroying CUTBACK. We need to support our AFSCME brothers and sisters and stop privatization at RCC in the bud.

During the inaugural season in 2009, the Seattle Sounders FC front office said that the Sounders FC organization would be a team that is exemplified by "democracy in sports". However, the recent decision by the Sounders FC organization not to renew Ross Fletcher's contract for the sake of "change" goes entirely against this idea, especially when the vast majority of fans did not request this change to occur. Ross Fletcher has been a well known, well loved voice of the Seattle Sounders for the past 4 years now. He brings energy, flair, humor, passion, and love to every word he speaks on air!!! Sports teams around the world have their long-established and beloved voices that fans look forward to hearing week after week. The Sounders FC organization should stick behind Ross Fletcher and allow him the opportunity to be that voice for our team for years to come!!!

The House Select Committee on Benghazi interrogated Hillary Clinton for 11 hours the other day. They learned nothing. Now they're planning a new Committee on Planned Parenthood. How much more of our money are they going to waste? Benghazi was a tragedy, but they didn't spend any time trying to prevent the next tragedy -- just trying to score more political points. You know what would be a good use of our taxpayer dollars instead? Hearings on Umpqua, Sandy Hook, Charleston and all the mass shootings. References: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/10/23/house-benghazi-committee-fails-reveal-anything-new/fqU72ce9Dt0BsafJm44drN/story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/10/23/boehners-next-select-committee-focusing-on-planned-parenthood-to-be-led-by-marsha-blackburn/

Serious, realistic negotiations with Iran produced a political agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that thwarted the Republican push for war. Now, while most Republican presidential candidates and Hillary Clinton have called for escalating the war in Syria by imposing a “no fly zone,” [1] fifty-five House Democrats, led by Rep. Jim Himes, have called for international talks to end the war, including Russia and Iran. [2] While we work to end the war through diplomacy, helping refugees will cost less money and better protect human life than military escalation. [3] Urge President Obama and Congress to push to end the war through realistic diplomacy with Russia and Iran and do more to help refugees in the meantime by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/us/politics/gop-candidates-leading-charge-in-call-for-syrian-no-fly-zone.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/world/syria-exposes-split-between-obama-and-clinton.html; http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/19/us/elections/presidential-candidates-on-syria-no-fly-zone.html 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/rep-jim-himes--54-house-d_b_8222622.html 3. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/syrian-refugees-resettlement-us/411178/