Sergeant Curtin will be promoted to Lieutenant any time now. It is standard protocol within LAPD to be transferred when promoted. Sergeant Curtin is instrumental to the Venice community and losing her will have a negative impact on the community and the progress made within LAPD in the Pacific Division.

I pay for health insurance , as do most Americans . Congress get's FREE insurance (at my expense) yet want's to take insurance away from many who were previously unable to get insurance.

FCC Chairman Wheeler has announced that the FCC will preserve a free and open Internet by classifying it as a utility. This will keep the World Wide Web free from corporate manipulation and protect access for all. In response, Senator Sasse has started a petition to end net neutrality. Sasse has received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from telecommunications companies and internet service providers. Now they want something from him: bringing an end to net neutrality so they can charge users more for what they use. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? 1. A free and open internet is the single greatest technology of our time, and control should not be at the mercy of corporations. 2. A free and open internet stimulates ISP competition. 3. A free and open internet helps prevent unfair pricing practices. 4. A free and open internet promotes innovation. 5. A free and open internet promotes the spread of ideas. 6. A free and open internet drives entrepreneurship. 7. A free and open internet protects free speech. Classifying the internet as a utility will promote competition and prevent telecommunication companies from monopolizing the market against start ups and entrepreneurs. For more information: http://www.theopeninter.net

To voice the objection of many, many parishioners of the Catholic churches whose names have been changed.

Just when we thought anti-immigrant rhetoric couldn’t get any uglier or inflammatory, in steps Republican Governor Paul LePage of Maine. During a speech this week, Gov. LePage claimed that though he’s “compassionate about illegal aliens,” their presence in Maine could lead to an “uptick of hepatitis C, HIV and tuberculosis.” Are you kidding me? Who says that? Gov. LePage made his claims during a prepared speech at his annual State of the State address. His remarks weren’t just fact-free, they were reckless. It’s just the latest example of Republican leaders blaming immigrants for everything from an Ebola scare, to measles (even though, according to ThinkProgress, immigrants from Central America are vaccinated at higher rates than native-born Americans). Immigrants are a part of Maine’s fabric. This state is home to almost 50,000 immigrants, and they and their families contribute tens of millions of dollars in taxes to the state’s economy every year. They deserve to be welcomed to Maine, not vilified by elected officials like Gov. LePage. Tell Governor Paul LePage: Shame on you for making up inflammatory rhetoric to attack Maine’s immigrants!

I'm doing this to raise awareness that our government is NOT going to send the money promised to FIX THE VA. The 10 billion dollars will not go to the Veteran's but will be used for other areas. Remember, VETERANS DIED BECAUSE OF LACK FUNDS TO ADD STAFFING OR THE CHOICE TO SEE A PROVIDER CLOSER TO THEM. The whole 10 billion dollars should go, (AS PROMISED) to the veterans. Please just take 60 SECONDS to help me, veterans and for those who are currently serving.

There is a pervasive pattern of racially abusive policing and profiling in Berkeley, as well as many other forms of racial inequality. On December 6, a peaceful gathering protesting police abuses nationwide was teargassed, pepper-sprayed, shot with projectiles, and beaten with batons. Mayor Bates and the City Council majority continue to put off addressing these long-term issues in a meaningful way and have postponed consideration of Councilmember Arreguin's proposals twice in the last month. The next City Council meeting is February 10, and we want Mayor Bates to know it's time for real action. All of us in the Bay Area need to come together to address these issues, since any of us could be negatively impacted by the police in a nearby city, or even in our own city because of the mutual aid agreements between cities. Berkeley has a reputation for being progressive -- we need to be leaders on these issues, rather than falling further and further behind. Read below for more background and specific actions we want to see taken. Together our voices are powerful. We can make a difference if we stand up and speak out on these issues of racial justice and freedom of speech. The 2013 NAACP report drew a clear picture of racial discrimination and disparities in Berkeley, making specific and actionable recommendations, yet Mayor Bates has not acted. Encouraging minority youth to become police officers, supporting a federal ban on profiling, and holding regional meetings on these issues may be positive steps but they are far from sufficient. We want real action HERE and NOW in Berkeley. 1. Conduct a Police Review Commission investigation into the actions of the police on December 6, when peaceful protesters – including reporters and the elderly -- were teargassed, beaten with batons, pepper-sprayed, and struck with projectiles. 2. Support the national demands put out by Ferguson Action. 3. Freeze now, and then abolish, the use of teargas, projectiles, and over-the-head baton strikes in crowd management and ban military weaponry and equipment in the Berkeley Police Department, and require that mutual aid agencies meet Berkeley’s standards of conduct. 4. Ban physical assaults on members of the media. 5. Create a broad community process to address the pattern of profiling and racially abusive policing in Berkeley as well as inequities in housing, employment, education, and health faced by African-Americans. 6. Ban undercover officers from covering their faces, and enforce the ban on uniformed officers covering their badges. 7. Strengthen the Police Review Commission to the full extent allowed by state law. 8. Press for independent prosecutors to investigate and prosecute crimes by police. 9. Enforce the implementation, at long last, of the Fair and Impartial Policing policy including demographic data collection, and make the first round of data public, with an analysis by race, by August 1. 10. Review recommendations in People's Investigation of In-Custody Death of Kayla Moore, including extension of mental health services to replace police as first responders in mental health crises.

Last weekend another train carrying crude oil derailed in South Philadelphia, within a mile of thousands of homes. Just like last year, when a train derailed off the tracks in Philly and dangled over I-76, the city’s residents got lucky and there was no significant damage and no one was hurt. The National Safety Review Board has recommended these highly explosive oil trains avoid highly populated areas and rolling by schools, hospitals, and playgrounds. Unfortunately, these trains are filled with Bakken crude oil, a highly combustible substance, and they have a lengthy track record of horrendous accidents and near misses. Just this week, an oil train crashed in West Virginia with the explosion sending flames shooting 300 feet in the air and requiring the evacuation of thousands of people. A disaster in Quebec in 2013 cost 47 people their lives. Throughout Pennsylvania and across the nation, there have been dozens of oil train accidents and close calls in the last few years. This disaster is a clear reminder that we need to get off oil. In the meantime though, we should ban these oil trains from traveling through our cities, before it is too late.

Pennsylvanians from all walks of life and all political affiliations called on Tom Wolf to protect our parks and forests from fracking if elected. He heard their voices and has undone ex-Gov. Corbett's attacks on our precious wild lands, reinstating a moratorium against the further leasing of park and forestlands for fracking. That means everywhere from Ricketts Glen to Ohiopyle to hundreds of thousands of acres of state forests are now off limits to gas drilling. Unfortunately, Governor Wolf’s action is already being attacked by the drilling industry. The Marcellus Shale Coalition called it "deeply misguided and purely political". They may not like the decision—but this is how democracy works. Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians called for these protections and now the Governor is taking action. That’s why he needs to know how much the people of Pennsylvania appreciate him standing up for our state parks and forests and the beginning of his term.

Portland was recently recognized by the White House as a climate leader. The proposed Pembina propane terminal would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions, making a mockery of Portland's climate action plan while leaving neighbors vulnerable to an explosion during a predicted major earthquake. Before the next hearing on June 4, 2015, from 3:00-7:00 pm at Portland City Hall, let Portland Mayor Charlie Hales know: "The rest of the world needs Portland to lead by example and say 'No!' to Pembina and other fossil fuel infrastructure."

When I was in kindergarten, I remember going outside for recess and seeing all of the electric wirings being held up by crosses, interrupting the sky, and I thought they were ugly. I wasn't aware of how accurate that was, because I assumed my opinion didn't matter, because I was a child. And no one else was saying anything about it, and my parents used it. I went to go play with the other children, and eventually all of the technology was called "normal". Well, it's not normal, Mr. President. It limits our ability to think for ourselves, because we are so focused on what goes on within the box, that we forget about what's outside of it, until it's all gone. For all of my teenage years, I was busy worrying about my appearance, my weight, my skill, my voice, and my intelligence because of what I saw within the box. It changed my idea of what it meant to be happy. I thought to be happy, I had to be like the people on the TV in every way, and I wanted to be. Now my happiness, and freethinking were taken away. I stopped practicing what I loved to do, because I wasn't as great as the people on TV were. I started worshipping celebrities, because I saw them as above myself. I started paying for their albums and dressing like them and eating like them! And talking about them! I had lost who I was. It wasn't until I got extremely sad about comparing myself to others, that I started smoking weed. Then I realized I was really great at things as long as I gave those things my full attention, and weed helped me do so. I decided to get another role model. I started listening to Capital Steez and Pro Era, until my eye was drawn away from the box back to nature. I saw a bee searching frantically for a flower to land on, until his buzz died down and he fell on the black pavement to his death. I noticed the lack of bees, flowers, animals, plants, water, trees. I noticed the birds posted on top of the crosses holding up the electrical wires. I noticed how long I had been distracted. I noticed all the people filing in and out of buildings, wearing sunglasses and suits, still distracted. It's not right. Everything is violated. Everything is distracted. Everything is destroyed. Everything is unhappy. I don't want money, I don't want a house, I don't want a nice dress, I don't want a cheeseburger, I don't want a bed, I don't want shoes. I just want to be free, happy, and be able to live my life, not as a slave to the institution. Not a slave to the capital. I have my mind. I want everyone else to have theirs back. -Sienna Arcala-Anderson, 18

Last summer, following Deming PRIDE's annual pageant, a group of LGBTQ customers entered their local Denny's looking to celebrate another successful pageant. But, "they sat for more than 45 minutes without being offered drinks, given menus, or provided service of any kind." Supported by the ACLU and New Mexicans across the state, those customers have filed discrimination complaints. It's unacceptable (and illegal) for corporations to refuse service on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity. Denny's should be serving up hot cakes not slurs.