Unemployment assistance isn’t a handout. It's a lifeline for people in tough economic times. We've been hearing a lot recently about how Congress allowed extended unemployment insurance to expire in the middle of the Holiday season, which cut off 60,000 people here in Massachusetts and 1.3 million around the country. While Congress (especially the House) might be callous to those struggling in our slowly recovering economy, you'd think that Massachusetts state lawmakers would be more sympathetic. But over the last few weeks, corporate lobbyists have been pressuring Massachusetts state lawmakers to cut state unemployment benefits, sneaking it into a bill to raise the minimum wage. The scary thing is that it might be working. We've got to get the message to legislators: Now is not the time to cut unemployment benefits. There is no need to make concessions to these lobbyists -- raising the minimum wage is already on ballot for the fall.

The Place Pick all is the only exotic wager that did not require the player to select the winner. The Rolling Doubles allowed players to focus on only two races in a multi- race wager starting whenever the player chose.

Marriage equality should be granted to all loving couples. Denying marriage equality to these couples will have immediate effects how they file their taxes, how they obtain healthcare and the future of their families.

Individuals licensed to carry a concealed pistol by Michigan or another state are prohibited from carrying a concealed pistol or a portable device that uses electo-muscular disruption technology on certain premises. Criminals know this, and they target these areas, knowing that law-abiding people in or around these areas will not be able to defend themselves accordingly. These areas are also coined, "Criminal Empowerment Zones".

The problem in New Bedford is not the quality of teaching, it is poverty, high needs, and a lack of adequate support. An over-emphasis on test scores only makes things worse. We need to teach, and to value, the whole child. According to statistics available through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in New Bedford 73 percent of students come from families with low income, 78 percent of students are considered “high needs” (as compared to 47% statewide), and 21 percent do not have English as their first language. Despite these challenges, expenditure for the schools dropped by $3 million between 2011 and 2012, and per pupil spending is below the state average. Indeed, in the 2012-2013 school year at least 100 educator positions were lost to cuts, almost half of those at New Bedford High School. Firing half the teachers at New Bedford High School will not improve education or help students. Turnaround plans are notoriously used to break contractual obligations, introduce unqualified new faculty from fast-track programs such as Teach for America, feed distrust and disrespect, and open the door for public education to be dominated by private interests. This is not how we create strong community schools that value the whole child. If you care about student well-being and achievement, you should fight for economic justice, give teachers resources that they need, recognize and celebrate the critical work teachers do that is not measured by a test score, and make room for teachers, parents and community to share and grow knowledge in a spirit of trust, commitment, and goodwill.

The National Football League is one of the most profitable enterprises in the world. However, it is regularly subsidized by state and local governments to build and upgrade facilities, its lucrative TV deals are exempt from antitrust laws, and, worst of all, the NFL enjoys nonprofit status. You read that right: The NFL enjoys nonprofit status. At a time when austerity measures have forced across-the-board cuts that have slowed our economy, cost us jobs, and threaten even deeper cuts to come, it’s time to stop the public giveaways to the world’s most profitable sports association. Sign the petition to revoke the NFL’s nonprofit status. NOTE: This petition was originally addressed to the IRS, but it has come to our attention that only an Act of Congress can revoke the NFL's tax-exempt status. It has therefore been changed to petition Congress.

Need Emergency Unemployment Benefits!

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, often debilitating diseases that can seriously impact patients' quality of life, and IBD affects 1.4 million Americans. IBD can also be very difficult to treat. There are few medication options, and those medications can cause side effects from headaches and hair loss to dangerously low white and red blood cell counts, liver toxicity, lymphoma, and even death. Even on these potent drugs, many patients can't achieve remission. Fecal microbial transplant (FMT) is a treatment option with very few side effects, and numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in treating IBD. Unfortunately, the FDA recently classified fecal matter as a drug and a biologic agent. Now IBD patients can only get FMT through clinical trials, which most patients don't have access to. IBD patients need access to FMT, a safe and effective treatment that could drastically improve many lives. Please urge the FDA to allow IBD patients access to FMT.

So far I have been talking in third person. To put a face to the problem I am providing the readers of two true-to-life stories. My name is Gonzalo Duran. I expect to graduate on May 2014 from Fordham University. I am the CEO of Devil Dog USA Incorporated; and an advocate for the Bronx and Veteran community. Two years ago, my current status was not as appealing as my beginning introduction was. After a great successful 8 years of service in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and 1 tour of deployment within Iraq, I was discharged honorably and left the Military. As soon as I got back to the great state of New York, I was immediately faced with unemployment, homelessness, legal issues, and the inability to seek higher education without medical benefits from the VA. I attempted to enroll and comply with the programs set by the VA and by New York State but I could not qualify. I sought as much help as I could from the civilian sector but they did very little to nothing to help me in my situation. I had to find a balance of VA and VSO’s assistance and suffer with decisions between losses and gains – unfortunately, it was more on the side of losses rather than gains. The odd part to this is that I had a full knowledge of all the programs and the transitional process but could not prosper. It took me a full solid year to situate myself and another year to bring me back to the caliber I am at now. With God’s grace, a lot of trial and error, I decided to dedicate my time to serving my fellow Veterans and I have chosen to use what I have learned to help other Veterans to avoid the hard transitional period I went through. To illustrate for you, from a personal perspective one aspect of what I mean by ‘hard transitional period’ I will give you a specific issue I had. When I first came back home to the Bronx, I could not find an apartment and it would still be a few months before my educational benefits would go into effect. I tried to apply for unemployment but again, I was going to have to wait a few months, and I then applied for VA disability and was told I would have to wait 2 years. I then went back home to live with my mother for two months. I then got a suit from the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs (MOVA), went into a broker’s office with a lump sum of money in-hand which came from my last paycheck from the USMC and from my old church with a ‘I don’t take no for an answer’ attitude. I was very lucky to finally have found good solid citizens who just wanted a good tenant. This is how I was able to build a foundation to start my new life even with so many obstacles in front of me. What I failed to learn was that my case was a one-in-a- million. Since that time of my life, I have found countless Veterans who have faced the same hurdles that I was faced with but for much longer periods of time. I have devoted much of my time to helping those individuals I have come across but I was faced with a dilemma that everyone and everything was against me. Recently, I met Yegor Zubarev, in one of my classes. He always seems positive and very energetic. He approached me after class once he saw one of my Facebook post. We discussed my projects and what my organization was all about. After speaking, we left with a sense of mutual respect and foresight of future collaboration. A few weeks went by and we began talking on how Zubarev could help within the organization since we are expanding. During a brief conversation, certain signs I read made me ask him a few questions I would to a friend/client. Zubarev told me his story of how he came to this country from Russia and joined the USMC to better himself. How he excelled in the service and became a citizen for it. Then he discussed the horrible effects of his honorable discharge. He took all the steps that he was informed of for transitioning but the cracks in the issues above caused him to end up at his present status. Zubarev is currently a Fordham University student with ambitions of Law School; he is currently living in a shelter and facing many obstacles. This is similar to a situation I faced two years ago myself. Seeking education and getting treatment but facing homelessness, unemployment and the problems that follow. Since that night I have devoted my time to pull him through this tragic event in his life. He has selflessly given his time to helping others before him, by helping me and now, I will show him what his efforts will bear. I saw a quality in him that I see in myself and other great figures. We have a willingness to persevere through hardship. Not for self-preservation but rather in a unified effort of brotherhood for ones’ peers. Why are there problems like these? Because I need the people to help me deal with the elected officials who are required to help in this venture. They promise assistance but once I make it back to my study to situate myself and begin the process. I either get buried in bureaucratic paperwork (or “red tape”) that will not go anywhere or I am told that there’s nothing they can do. This is the worst part because the banquet, forum (or lecture) where I met with them was dedicated to the exact thing I was asking for assistance with. I am demanding an audience so I could take the opportunity to discuss the problems with them and maybe find a way to close the cracks on the system. Monetary means and support is all we need to venture out and our main goal is to help the countless Veterans who are out there. If we were to fail, we would at least have done better than our counterparts or what the above parties have done so far. If however we succeed, we will set a higher standard and a model to emulate for other organizations- for profit or non-profit, and we will be there to continue to help and support the Veterans. To make this clear, this article is dedicated to those that are suffering because of the system and its flaws. These flaws ca...

Myself along with thousands of residents in my community have been seriously affected by the lack of public notification of Maryland State and County DOT sponsored public hearings (presentation, Q&A session etc ...) regarding a major highway which will ruin our community and destroy hundreds of acres of critical wildlife habitat.

Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey, has been using his position as head of one of the most respected companies in America to promote anti-Obamacare lies and deter people from signing up for life-saving health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Fight back against this kind of confusing misinformation and tell John Mackey stop misleading Americans. Statements like these confuse people about the law and scare them away from signing up for the coverage they desperately need.

1.) http://christiannews.net/2014/01/07/satanists-unveil-design-for-proposed-homage-to-satan-near-ten-commandments-monument/ 2.) http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/sympathy-the-devil-ok-city