Maryland State Senator Joan Carter Conway and Delegate Benjamin Kramer have introduced companion bills that threaten freedom of speech and academic freedom in Maryland. These bills are opposed by the American Association of University Professors (1) and the ACLU of Maryland. (2) These bills would, by threat of a reduction in funding, prohibit public universities from reimbursing faculty participation in professional organizations that adopt resolutions that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel for its policies toward the Palestinians. Some Maryland legislators disagree with BDS and want to punish academic associations that have declared support for it. Regardless of how one feels about BDS, it’s the First Amendment right of academics to support or oppose such resolutions, and it’s their First Amendment right to participate in professional associations that support such resolutions. (3) Hearings on the bill have been scheduled for March 5th in the Senate and March 6th in the House. (4) Urge Maryland legislators and Governor Martin O'Malley to oppose Senate Bill 647 and House Bill 998 by signing our petition. References: 1. “AAUP Opposes Anti-Boycott Legislation,” http://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-opposes-anti-boycott-legislation 2. “Who We Are,” Keep Free Speech in the Free State, http://www.freespeechfreestate.org/who_we_are 3. “Maryland bills would stifle academic freedom,” Melani McAlister, Baltimore Sun, February 12, 2014, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-academic-freedom-20140212,0,7489561.story 4. “Hearings,” Keep Free Speech in the Free State, http://www.freespeechfreestate.org/hearings

Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes is the kind of leader we read about in history books. Since February 17th, Jaime had been leading a hunger strike from deep inside an Arizona detention facility. His Dad and five other families were participating outside the dentition center. They were protesting the unjust deportations tearing families apart -- families like Jaime's. Jaime's older brother was deported to Mexico and killed upon return. Almost a year ago, Jaime was arrested for a DUI. But rather than getting the maximum 10 day jail sentence, America's well-funded deportation machine turned Jaime's misdemeanor into an unjust 10 month detention. And it get's worse! Jaime has an appeal pending on his case in the 9th Circuit, but on the night of February 25th, Jaime was deported without notice to his attorney or to his family as punishment for hunger striking while in detention. It is illegal to use deportation as a punishment for exercising one's civil rights -- Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes shouldn't have been punished for exercising his! He must be brought back to the US and allowed to continue his appeal and see his immigration case through. Please sign and share widely!

Decaying vegetation (biomass) puts many times more carbon dioxide into the air than all of human activity. If we adapt coal-fired power stations to pyrolyze (heat without oxygen) biomass, we can economically REDUCE the amount or carbon dioxide in the air (rather than merely slow down the increase). Also see: www.awesomelibrary.org/Climate_Change_Balance.html

In a split decision the court ruled that even when a person who is the subject of a law enforcement investigation has refused to have his home searched by police, the Supreme Court determined that, if law enforcement officers simply ask another person who happens to live at the same address while the investigatory target is in custody, the law enforcement agents can now accept that third party’s consent and not have to seek a judge’s order to conduct a search. This ruling will allow for unreasonable searches and seizures and our communities are already being terrorized by dirty cops who hide behind the law. We believe in the least, if entry is authorized by another party residing in the home, the only area's that should be subjected to search, should logically be only the private room of the person who agree's to allow a search without a warrant. Also, the search should be video taped to ensure the boundaries of the search are confined to only the private area of the person who consented to such search. Please sign to ask the courts to re-review, reconsider and/or overturn this ruling. Pass along the petition by sharing with all email contacts and on all social networks.

Did you know that there might be over 20 fracking wells already operating in Illinois? Even though the IL Dept. of Natural Resources has not even published their final rules on fracking yet -- so much for the Frackers, the Governor and the IDNR playing by the rules here in Illinois! There has been a report of the 2nd well being approved by Gov Quinn in Clay County, and we have reports of up to 20 others already being drilled in White County. Gov. Quinn and many IL lawmakers are chomping at the bit to FRACK ILLINOIS! Please sign and pass this petition in support of the "Green Dozen" fracking bills in the IL General Assembly this spring.

We just learned that Priceline.com is one of the growing number of huge, multinational corporations that pay nothing in income tax. While you and I paid our share, they literally did not pay a single penny. Their tax-dodging move of choice? They deduct executive bonuses from their taxable income ... meaning their executives get huge pay-days while the public gets nothing. Good thing we already have a Priceline "negotiator" to help stop this -- Mr. William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk, and the star of Priceline.com's commercials. Join us and ask Mr. Shatner to tell Priceline.com to stop dodging their taxes, and join our effort to make sure big corporations pay their fair share.

TRiO is important to those it impacts directly and indirectly. This petition is for everyone who realizes how much TRiO means to the success of students in Washington State.

There are many grandparents out there who have been denied the right to see their grandchildren and all because of divorce or death of the grandparents child. We feel that this is uncalled for the grandchildren should have the freedom to know his or her grandparents and have them in their lives. This not only hurts the grandparent but it can cause lasting damage to the child if the said grandparents have been in their lives for a long time. It can make the child feel abandoned by the grandparents. I have friends very dear to me be denied access to their granddaughters since the death of their son and it is so tragic. Not only are they dealing with death of a son but they are also dealing with the fact they cannot be in the granddaughters lives. We must stop this, this isn't good for the child involved nor is it good for the grandparents. Giving the parents the right to choose is unthinkable, we are just going back to the fact that the parent rules the decision, which is pointless. We need to set new guidelines that prevent this from happening. There are good honest grandparents out there that want to add their wisdom and love in their grandchild's life.

I was really unhappy sitting through the House Finance Committee where three restaurant owners were allowed to make wildly unsubstantiated claims, and were repeatedly brought back to testify. When the chair declined to move the bill, and didn't set a date to bring it back up, I was disappointed and frustrated.

If you have been a victim or know anyone who has been a victim of a foreclosure fraud by anyone of the big banks or anyone of their sub-servicing companies . It's time for everyone to ban together to put a END to this type of fraudulent behavior ASAP in the State of New Jersey and around the Country . If you are being mistreated by your mortgage servicer you can file a complaint against them online with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau @ http://www.consumerfinance.gov/guidance Or call : (202) 435-7700 & 1-(855)-411-2372 They really want to hear from you .

El año pasado , mi hermana, Teresa Moreira, se encontró luchando por su vida en el hospital debido a un ataque de lupus. Fue hospitalizada por cerca de tres meses. Durante este tiempo caótico, dejo de hacer un pago por la cuota de su membresía. Desde que había sido hospitalizada , no había cargado nada a su tarjeta, y por lo tanto no tenía un saldo pendiente . American Express le informó a las agencias de crédito sin antes fijarse en su historial ni tratar de contactar a alguien para ver cual era el problema. En un momento en el que ella debía centrarse en su recuperación, ella ha tenido que lidiar con llamadas de teléfono a American Express , llamadas telefónicas a las agencias de crédito sin poder lograr la correccion de este error. Me parece que American Express podria reconocer de inmediato su error y tener la capacidad de corregir esta situación. Después de todo , hay registros médicos copiosas que acreditan su situación. Como esto lr psso a mi hermana, estoy seguro de que le pasa a muchos otros clientes leales a American Express los cuales nunca dejan de hacer sus pagos mensuales. Por favor firmen esta petición para instar a American Express a cambiar sus políticas de información de crédito en caso de enfermedad grave para los buenos clientes leales. Ellos deben recompensar y no castigar la lealtad.

New York State Alternate Assessment for Students with Severe Disabilities (NYSAA) has, since its inception, failed to support students with severe disabilities in approaching their individualized educational goals, and has always been an inaccurate reflection of how our schools provide meaningful, functional education for students with severe disabilities. This year, in connection with the increased pressure for schools to align with the Common Core Curriculum, NYSAA has made a number of changes to the assessment and administration process. These changes have resulted in an assessment that is even less functional, and often downright inappropriate, offensive, and even discriminatory against students who have severe disabilities. The assessment is incredibly labor-intensive, and takes as much as 80% of classtime and preparation time between the months of October and February. As a teacher of students with severe disabilities, I have witnessed first-hand the continued, and increased marginalization of this community due to this inappropriate assessment. I urge you to listen to our teachers and families, and focus the attention of our state and national leaders on this issue. The goal of this petition is to raise awareness about this issue on a local, state, and national level, and to bring a discussion to the state and national levels about how we can begin to plan systemic change. This petition does not offer a singular solution or alternative to this assessment program, but rather suggests that it is time for us to recognize the inappropriateness and ineffectiveness of this program, and to demand discussion about how it will be changed. New York State is not alone is dealing with these issues, which vary from state to state, and are the product of a trend resulting from increased focus on a nationally aligned Core Curriculum and increased pressure on states to assess teacher effectiveness. It is the view of the creator of this petition that assessment of students with severe disabilities should be aligned with Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals, and changes should be made in the way we evaluate the IEP process, and provide quality controls to ensure quality IEPs which are currently not in place. Furthermore, teacher effectiveness should be assessed based on how well teachers create functional goals and adaptations that provide meaningful opportunities to access general curricular areas, as well as compensatory skills areas that are essential for these students. In order to make systemic change, we must first recognize a systemic problem, and then bring our consensus to the state and national levels for a real discussion.