VICTORY! Governor Brown has now signed SB 27, the bill to force Dark Money non-profits to reveal their secret funders in California elections! Senator Cannella ended up voting for the final version of SB 27, one of three Republican Senators to do so. His vote was crucial to its passage. Thank you, Senator Cannella! And thanks also to all of you who asked him to vote "Yes". As California Clean Money Campaign President Trent Lange said afterwards in the Sacramento Bee: “Governor Brown’s signature of SB 27 marks a turning point in the fight to reveal secret funders of political campaigns. It starts to shed light on dark money in California and serves as an example for the entire nation." Your petitions and calls worked! SB 27 became law after more than 40,000 people like you signed petitions. More than a thousand people applied extra pressure by calling their legislator. SB 27 was a great coalition effort in which the California Clean Money Action Fund worked with not only the bill author Senator Lou Correa, the sponsor FPPC, and our CA campaign finance friends at California Common Cause, California Forward, and the League of Women Voters of California; but also with national organizations like Public Citizen, CREDO Mobile, Courage Campaign, Progressives United, Represent.Us, causes.com, MoveOn.org, Money Out Voters In Coalition, MapLight, Label GMOs: California's Grassroots, Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California, Moms Across America, and others. Thanks to everybody who signed and helped us achieve this historic victory! PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PETITION and we'll tell you how you can help pass other crucial bills to end the dominance of Big Money in politics, like SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act and SB 1272, the Overturn Citizens United Act. -- Your friends at the California Clean Money Campaign (www.CAdisclose.org)

Por que en mi País hay mucha Inseguridad y el Narcotráfico a sido apoyado por la Clase Política y se había estado avanzando con el problema de Michoacán, pero con la detención De Hipólito Mora Líder de Las Autodefensas nos esta mandando señales que Nuestro País seguirá en las mismas, con Diputados, Senadores, Gobernadores, Presidentes Municipales, puestos al Antojo por los Narcotraficantes de cualquiera de los Carteles que operan en México y que en este momento sea el elegido del Gobierno. Siempre tendrás el Apoyo del Pueblo y los esfuerzos que realizamos todos juntando firmas y presionando en las redes Sociales, nos dan la Razón de que Unidos podemos Lograr el País que nos Merecemos los Mexicanos. Decretaron tu Libertad esta Noche te tendremos de vuelta con el Movimiento de las Autodefensas. y pronto también tendremos al Compañero Enrique Hernández Saucedo, líder de las autodefensas en Yurécuaro ; detenido injustamente y torturado impunemente por los ministeriales.

The Pavilion in Union Square Park should be used /have programs for the children, youth and seniors of the community and NOT for a restaurant. Time is of the essence, Mayor de Blasio has to act and say NO to the restaurant now.

It’s as if Republicans haven’t learned one thing. Last year Rep. Mike Coffman voted with his party to deport DREAMers. He kept saying he supported immigration reform, but that was his only vote. Yesterday, Coffman just doubled down. He voted again to gut deferred action programs for DREAMers and military families. The so-called ENFORCE Act would do away with the programs that protect immigrants from deportation and would block President Obama from using his executive authority to fill the vacuum left by Republicans' own inaction. House Republicans like Mike Coffman had a real chance to build on the immigration principles they introduced just a few weeks ago. It was a step in the right direction. But instead, they claim they can't move forward on reform because they don't trust the President to enforce the law. This is the same president who has deported nearly 2 million immigrants. So instead of advancing reform for DREAMers and their loved ones, Rep. Coffman and House Republicans have chosen to double-down and blame their inaction on Obama. We're tired of the double-talk. Tell Mike Coffman he can’t have it both ways – either he supports immigration reform or he wants to deport DREAMers. Which one is it?

The Farm Bill passed last month cut the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, the new name for food stamps) . Gov. Christie could stave off these cuts and at the same time generate $54 in federal funds and $93 in economic activity for every dollar invested, all while preventing an estimated 160,000 vulnerable households from suffering a loss in benefits. Given these facts, the decision should be a no-brainer. For more details, go to: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/03/12/op-ed-avoiding-food-stamp-cuts-for-up-to-160-000-households/

To combat terrorism or crime, we are forgetting the precarious nature of our rights. The fourth amendment is perhaps the most important of them as it protects us against the power of the state to intrude into our private lives. It is entirely too easy for the state to intrude without cause into the private lives of the public through drones and other means. The end does not justify the means.

I teach science at Khepera Charter School. We are a small charter, committed to serving our students and community with an African-centered curriculum and through the ideal of community involvement. But it’s been 16 months since the teachers of Khepera began bargaining our second contract with the board of trustees at our school. Sixteen months! The first one-year contract served our neighborhood charter school well. It gave teachers a voice in what happens in our classrooms and our school. It offered us the ability to advocate for our students without fear of reprisal or being fired. It allowed us to teach creatively, to go “off script,” to report problems and try to solve them, to collaborate. Usually a second contract is no big deal. In such a small, idealistic community, a second contract often involves some tweaks and refinements, and maybe a small salary increase. The goal is always a better school environment for everyone. That’s why negotiations are called “good faith bargaining.” It happens every day in schools and school districts all around the country. But constant unnecessary delays are becoming a pattern at Khepera. Before signing our first agreement in 2011, the board of trustees fought our 28-person staff for 18 bitter and tumultuous months. It cost them time and money that should have been spent on our students. We can see the damage—and, more important, our students can feel it. Teacher turnover is a toxic factor for students and schools, including Khepera. Consistency is particularly crucial to our school and mission; our students come to school for continuity and reassurance along with great academics. My colleagues and I are devoted to our students, our school and our mission. But half of the teaching staff at Khepera has left since June. These educators lost hope, and took their experience and aspirations elsewhere. Our students can’t afford to lose more good teachers. Let’s end the stalemate. Help us to settle a fair contract now—one that is good for students and fair to teachers. In solidarity, Kim ‘Mama Omotayo’ Johnson Science Teacher Khepera Charter School

Lack of jurisdictional and political cooperation (federal, state, regional, local) prevents implementation of moderate-cost high-yield remediations of land disturbances of all kinds in the primary drainages to Clear Lake. Local economic stringencies and short-term strategies are insufficient to provide long-term investment in natural resource protection, and low-level marketing programs short-change the value of our source water production services. Our County government is helpless to transcend the multi-jurisdictional stalemates; we need professional support to develop practical projects for community stewardship as the basis for ecosystem husbandry. We need our Watershed Protection District to be supported by strong community leaders, Congress, the Governor, and all Friends of Clear Lake, California.

More and more children have trouble focusing in school and are prone to stress, hectic schedules, and obligations at a young age. Creating a world of healthy, more peaceful, and well adjusted children should be our top priority so kids can accomplish whatever their goals are! Healthy minds and bodies go hand in hand!

We the residents of Newark are seeking relief and assistance from the United States Department of Justice, the Office of United States Attorney General, Eric Holder and the Office of State of New Jersey Attorney General, John Hoffman to oversee the critical Mayoral election in the City of Newark, NJ on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. We seek this relief because of all the voter fraud and other illegal activity that have been proven in the past from the Essex County Office of Superintendent of Elections. We ask that your agencies help protect voters rights to a fair process so we will not be disenfranchised. Therefore, we are requesting immediate relief on this matter.

VICTORY! Governor Brown has now signed SB 27, the bill to force Dark Money non-profits to reveal their secret funders in California elections! Senator Vidak ended up voting for the final version of SB 27, one of three Republican Senators to do so. His vote was crucial to its passage. Thank you, Senator Vidak! And thanks also to all of you who asked him to vote "Yes". As California Clean Money Campaign President Trent Lange said afterwards in the Sacramento Bee: “Governor Brown’s signature of SB 27 marks a turning point in the fight to reveal secret funders of political campaigns. It starts to shed light on dark money in California and serves as an example for the entire nation." Your petitions and calls worked! SB 27 became law after more than 40,000 people like you signed petitions. More than a thousand people applied extra pressure by calling their legislator. SB 27 was a great coalition effort in which the California Clean Money Action Fund worked with not only the bill author Senator Lou Correa, the sponsor FPPC, and our CA campaign finance friends at California Common Cause, California Forward, and the League of Women Voters of California; but also with national organizations like Public Citizen, CREDO Mobile, Courage Campaign, Progressives United, Represent.Us, causes.com, MoveOn.org, Money Out Voters In Coalition, MapLight, Label GMOs: California's Grassroots, Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California, Moms Across America, and others. Thanks to everybody who signed and helped us achieve this historic victory! PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PETITION and we'll tell you how you can help pass other crucial bills to end the dominance of Big Money in politics, like SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act and SB 1272, the Overturn Citizens United Act. -- Your friends at the California Clean Money Campaign (www.CAdisclose.org)

Since the disastrous Citizens United ruling, billionaires and other special interests are funneling record amounts of money through secretive non-profits, trying to buy our elections. Federal prosecutors even say that a foreign tycoon exploited loopholes to try to rig the outcome. This kind of dangerous secrecy must stop. S.B. 27 will make sure billionaires, foreign tycoons, and other special interests can't hide behind Dark Money non-profits. It requires any group spending $50,000 in California elections to reveal exactly who gave the money. It's a key step before passage of the California DISCLOSE Act (S.B. 52). Senator Anderson voted “No” on S.B. 27 the first time around. It's now been significantly amended --and received bipartisan support in the Assembly-- so urge him to vote “Yes” now! The vote could be any day.