In a recent Texas case, 16-year-old Ethan Couch avoided jail time for a drunk-driving crash that killed four people and seriously injured two others by claiming the "affluenza" defense--that because he was raised in a wealthy family, he wasn't responsible for his actions. Allowing wealth to buy freedom from legal consequences is outrageous! Luckily, we have a chance to put a stop to this "affluenza" defense in California, once and for all. Assemblymember Mike Gatto (CA AD 43) has stepped up and introduced a bill, AB 1508, that would prevent anyone from using this defense in our state. Now we need to make sure that every Assemblymember throughout the state supports AB 1508, to guarantee a fair legal system for everyone. Sign the petition to ask your Assemblymember to support AB 1508.

This petition is meant to stop the onslaught of winter weather and to BRING on SPRING!!

In addition, Amanda Conner’s interpretation of Power Girl represents a demographic much needed in an industry that gets a bad rap as simply a “boys’ club”. Power Girl is in a class of her own as a female character with her own title and with a female artist having top billing. If you look at the Absolute Editions currently out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Comics_Absolute_Edition), only three series have women as the title character: Danger Girl, Death, & Promethea. Not even Wonder Woman, one of DC’s “Big Three” superheroes, has an Absolute edition. How depressing is that? You can search for the “needles” of female creators in the “hay stack” of male dominated credits, but I already did that for you. Of all the Absolute Editions the highest billed female creator is Lynn Varley, who is the colorist for Absolute Dark Knight and Absolute Ronin. Another colorist, Laura Martin, comes in close second working on Absolute Planetary vol. 1& 2. With top billing usually going to the writer and artist, you will sadly find title page credits lacking female creators. Jill Thompson provided art for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman “The Parliament of Rooks” & “Brief Lives”, collected in Absolute Sandman vol. 2 & 3, yet her name is buried in a list with other artists. Absolute Death, another Neil Gaiman book, features art by Caitlin R. Kiernan, and much like Thompson, Kiernan is only listed as one of many artists. Rebecca Buchman, inker on a portion of Bruce Wayne: The Road Home is also barely visible in a list of creators in Absolute Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn.) In terms of female editors, there are none who hold top billing by themselves in your Absolute Editions: Kristy Quinn shares co-editing credit with Scott Dunbier in Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 2, Karen Berger co-edited with Schott Nybakken on Absolute V for Vendetta, and Barbara Kesel shares an editing credit with Len Wein for Absolute Watchmen. The Absolute Editions are supposed to be the cream of the crop in terms of DC comics and they are sorely missing female title characters and creators. You would think by the current lineup that there are no female creators or characters that have a fanbase. An Absolute Edition of Amanda Conner’s Power Girl would send a message: that Amanda Conner is a top notch creator and artist, that there are female creators in the industry, and that leading publishers take them seriously and are interested in their talents and fandom. Power Girl can lead the way with introducing more readers to not only a strong female character, but a strong female artist and creator. But don’t do simply as an appeasement to female creators and fans. Do it because Power Girl is the cream of the DC comics crop and because many fans like me want an Absolute Edition Power Girl on coffee tables.

Univisión y Estrella TV dicen ser televisoras que buscan entretener a las familias hispanas, en su gran parte Mexicanas. Además dicen estar comprometidas con el bienestar comunitario y para muestra lanzan sinfín de campañas para mejorar el estilo de vida de las familias de habla hispana en los Estados Unidos. Este mes ambas televisoras incluyeron en su programación a la hija de uno de los criminales mas buscados en México, no conforme con darle promoción a su insulsa carrera de cantante, le dieron la oportunidad de hablar en una entrevista y hacerse ver como una victima de la violencia generada por su padre y la organización que lidera. Las familias de habla hispana en los Estados Unidos estamos cansadas de la glorificación de la violencia y el nepotismo a los criminales porque amasan cantidades de dinero deslumbran televisoras y medios de comunicación en ambos lados de la frontera. ¡alto a la glorificación de los criminales!

We believe starting to charge plastic bags will dramatically reduce single-use plastic and paper bags in New York City by forcing shoppers to think twice about whether they need a bag and encourage reducing, reusing plastic bags. As the largest city in the United States, New York is taking too slow and too long to adopt legislation restricting the use of bags.

This petition is started to help secure a public indoor play area with a local location for parents or caregivers of young children. While Duvall has done an outstanding job securing public outdoor opportunities for young children to play, those options are extremely limited during bad weather-related months. Gross motor play has been determined to help children grow physically and cognitively and is a vital and important part of a child's development. In addition, Duvall's younger populations is growing by leaps and bounds. We thank you for your consideration., and please sign this petition if you would like to support our cause.

Ten special ed kids tried out for the talent show and not one of them were put through to perform. They said they were close, but didn't have enough talent and didn't want to embarrass them.

Genetically engineered foods are untested, unlabeled and potentially unsafe. Already, more than 60 countries around the world use labels to inform their citizens if their food has been genetically modified in a laboratory. It's time that we share that basic right. If the same companies can label foods containing GMOs in Russia, China and South Africa, surely they can label food here in Massachusetts as well. Tell your state legislators to support GMO labeling today!

On January 9, Freedom Industries, a largely unregulated chemical-storage company for Big Coal, spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Elk River and poisoned the water for 300,000 people. One month in, Governor Tomblin of West Virginia still has his head in the sand -- and just last week, a second spill happened at Freedom Industries. This situation is spiraling of control.

Even though Angelica is the mother of three U.S. citizens and has called Texas home for 14 years, she's just days away from being deported. She needs your help staying with her family! When this hard-working mom was racially-profiled and falsely accused of shoplifting, police arrested her and then turned her over to immigration officials because she had no ID. Since then she’s been forced to wear an ankle bracelet and check in weekly with immigration officials. Now they want to deport her! Angelica is a loving mother of 3 young U.S. citizens, ages 4, 6, and 7. She's a part of her local church and is a good member of her community. If ICE officials go through with her deportation, Angelica’s daughters and community will be devastated! Angelica would likely qualify for the path to citizenship in the Senate immigration bill and President Obama's Administration shouldn't be pushing hardworking, taxpaying aspiring Americans like Angelica for Speaker John Boehner's inaction. In fact, because President Obama supports the Senate's bill, he shouldn't be deporting immigrants like Angelica at all. Please help Angelica by asking ICE officials to grant her a stay of removal and let her return home to her family where she belongs. They need you to act right now!

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has inspired progressives nationwide. So it was very disappointing that de Blasio recently told the right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee that “City Hall will always be open to AIPAC…when you need me to stand by you in Washington or anywhere, I will answer the call and I will answer it happily, because that’s my job.” As The Nation noted in a recent editorial [1], AIPAC has prevented a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict; it has been working to provoke US war with Iran. Now, just when the Obama Administration has been making progress with diplomacy, AIPAC has been pressing Congress for new sanctions on Iran to kill that progress, which could set us on the path to another disastrous Middle East war. But the recent collapse of AIPAC’s effort to undermine diplomacy with Iran shows that the world has changed. It’s time for Mayor de Blasio to change his assumptions. J Street was established to back politicians who genuinely support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. J Street supports the recent accord between the U.S. and Iran and opposed the new sanctions AIPAC was pushing. Jewish Voice for Peace has shown Americans that AIPAC doesn’t speak for American Jews. Americans for Peace Now has led efforts to oppose Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are an existential threat to the two-state solution. Mayor de Blasio has a unique opportunity to help bury the idea that politicians must bow down to AIPAC by meeting with J Street. By publicly welcoming groups that promote genuine peace in the Middle East, his foreign policy would be far more consistent with the progressive policies he promotes at home. Urge Mayor de Blasio to represent progressives who want peace by meeting with J Street and other groups that are working to promote genuine peace in the Middle East. Reference: 1. “Bill de Blasio Is Wrong to Pander to AIPAC,” Editorial, The Nation, January 29, 2014, http://www.thenation.com/article/178132/bill-de-blasio-wrong-pander-aipac

Prediction for 2014: the next flash point in the global fight against the fossil fuel industry will take place on the quiet shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia-based Dominion Resources wants to build a massive export facility in Cove Point, MD that would pipe fracked gas from Pennsylvania, supercool and liquefy it, and ship it halfway across the globe to be burned. The dangerous consequences of this fossil fuel export scheme? Increased climate-disrupting pollution, a whole lot more fracking, and a big threat to one of our national treasures. Act now to stop this project! That’s why Earthjustice is part of a coalition of state, regional and national environmental groups that have joined together with Maryland nurses, watermen, and local business owners to fight this project. Our coalition is turning out hundreds of people to town hall meetings and persuading elected officials to oppose and raise questions about the project. But one voice has been missing from the conversation: Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Gov. O’Malley is positioning himself as a national leader on climate change and environmental issues, and also has reported ambitions for higher office. He needs to know that people all over the country are watching how he handles the Cove Point export project.