The Home Defenders League, a Campaign for a Fair Settlement/Action for the Common Good partner, alerted us to an outrageous provision in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget. Here's the background. Last year JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion settlement (the largest ever between a corporation and a government) for helping to create the Great Recession and then stealing thousands of homes from struggling homeowners. $600 million of that goes to New York State and it’s supposed to be used for direct relief for homeowners. But not if Gov. Cuomo has his way. Instead of helping homeowners, the Governor wants to use that money to pay for a major cut to corporate taxes, including one called... the Bank Tax. That’s right. Gov. Cuomo wants to steal the settlement money from struggling homeowners and give it back to Wall Street criminals. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was able to use $136 million from a previous settlement to help thousands of families stave off foreclosure. We need the $600 million to alleviate the continuing pain from foreclosures and underwater mortgages. Adding to the outrage is the fact that Gov. Cuomo is stealing this money from New York's most vulnerable communities. Communities of color lost the most when Chase and other Wall Street bankers pushed us into the Great Recession – the median black household lost almost 84% of its household wealth in the recession. Latinos lost 66%, while white households lost some 34%. Now Gov. Cuomo wants to make sure the biggest losers stay the biggest losers. Because New York is one of the most populous states, if we let Gov. Cuomo get away with this, then Governors across the United States will think they can use this money for whatever they want, including paying off Wall Street criminals. We must stop this. Tell Gov. Cuomo: Don’t steal the Chase settlement money from struggling New York families and give it back to Wall Street criminals.

My son is incarcerated due to lack of evidence in this case. The Supreme Court has asked the judge on Jermaine's case to remand the case. the United States Supreme Court grants certiorari and reverses a decision of a state supreme court or a Federal appeals court, it may remand the case. Likewise, an appeals court may remand a case to a trial court. A remand may be a full remand, essentially ordering an entirely new trial; when an appellate court grants a full remand, the lower court's decision is "reversed and remanded." Judge Lieber has failed to abide by The Supreme Courts guidelines.

Alot of women including myself have suffered loss of infants due to hospitals not giving them oxygen and treatments to help them live longer. Hospitals let these poor innocent babies die even if they have a slight chance at living. My son was born breathing and moving and was left to die because the hospital had the option to not help him breathe even when i begged them too.

INVESTIGATE @EAGLESCOVERUP OF FEDERAL CASE HOLD @EAGLES @CHRISTINAWLURIE AND WEISS'S ACCOUNTABLE FOR BRIBING PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

Watch the video to see how you can help! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Pc8xtfqOI The Great Pacific Garbage patch is essentially an area of plastic and debris in the ocean between California and Hawaii. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre captures plastic and other debris. A gyre is a large system of rotating currents, essentially like a toilet. A common misconception about the garbage patch is that it is literally an island made of trash floating on the surface of the water. In reality, it is like a galaxy, made up of billions of tiny pieces of plastics that can be deep underwater or on the surface, spread out over many miles. Even though this giant garbage patch is not visible through satellite imagery, many tests have been done to determine it to be around twice the size of Texas, and growing. The volume of plastic debris has increased by 100 times over the past 40 years, according to a study from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The debris concentrated in this area causes a multitude of long and short-term problems, harming the marine life and releasing chemicals into the ocean. Many fish and other organisms mistake the colorful bits of plastic for food. Researchers estimate that fish living at intermediate ocean depths in that region ingest between 12,000 and 24,000 tons of plastic each year. Once ingested, the plastic travels through the food chain, harmfully affecting ocean birds and other large marine wildlife. The debris ingested causes starvation, choking, and other impairments. In the Great Pacific Ocean Gyre there is 6 times more plastic than plankton, which the main food for many ocean animals The trash we produce on land accounts for around 80 percent of debris found in the Garbage Patch. Around 65 percent of that is “consumer used plastics that has not been disposed of properly”. The rest comes from recreational boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships. Start taking steps to reduce ocean pollution TODAY!

As Founder of Katrina’s Dream (www.KatrinasDream.org), an organization established in memory of my mother-in-law, the Rev. Katrina Martha Van Alstyne Welles Swanson, one of the first women priests to be ordained in the Episcopal Church, I represent an organization deeply invested in this issue and focused on achieving true equality, critical to your constituency. Recently widowed and having to navigate society has brought home the obstacles placed by oppressive societal forces facing women in America. I have lost my home, business, and am starting over. I am one of the 70% of those 100 million living in poverty and much of that has to do simply with my gender. While women are Equal in every aspect we are not treated the same under the law. The only only right guaranteed women is the right to vote. I am hoping that you will not only sign this petition but you will show you support of my pilgrimage across America from San Francisco to Washington DC covering all 15 states that have not ratified the ERA,to promote the full inclusion of women in society and join me in spirit on our Facebook event page. https://www.facebook.com/events/370467279764897/ Thank you in advance. I look forward to your continued support and prayers. Love and Light in Christ, Helene

"I am unsympathetic about people trying to use this courtroom as some sort of place to make public statement about their problems." "So here’s the point. 'Environmental Necessity.' If there is somebody leaking oil on a piece of property and you race out in the yard, and you go in and you stop it, and they charge you with trespassing, I’d throw that case out in a heartbeat. That’s what I think of as 'Environmental Necessity.' I don’t think of coming in and chaining yourselves to somebody else’s construction equipment, in order to make sure that TV cameras come out and see you, for whatever purpose, is that type of thing I’m talking about. That doesn’t work. So no, I can’t allow that." -Judge William Collette's statements in court regarding MI CATS community defenders We need to show Judge William Collette and the jurors that the actions of MI CATS "felons" and the like are necessary and just the beginning.

Merck's business practices & lobbying priorities pit the global company against members of the Rahway community and all working class Americans. Merck's actions reduced corporate tax contributions by increasing the share of government expenses paid for by working people, homeowners and other segments of society. Merck is turning its back on the obligations of citizenship, from stashing $55 billion in profits overseas to skirt federal tax obligations to support America, to knocking down buildings at the Rahway plant -- which Merck called its global headquarters for a century -- to reduce by one-third local tax payments funding police, fire and sanitation services in the company's hometown. These actions may be legal, but they are morally wrong and we call for corrective action: 1) Take pride in being American; 2) Come back home to Rahway; 3) Pay your fair share in taxes!

Public education in New York State and across this land is being subjected to a movement that demands the acceptance of an arbitrary set of common core standards and the use of one-size-fit-all standardized tests. In spite of claims to the contrary, these standards and tests do not address the higher level cognitive processes of synthesizing and critically/creatively evaluating required for problem solving in today’s world. (Bloom et.al.) The products created by these higher level intellectual processes are unique to every individual; therefore, they are not measurable with a standardized test. Using the legislative process, decision makers responsible for this movement have deliberately prevented effective alternative assessment and evaluation strategies from being demonstrated in our public schools. There are examples of tested alternatives available that accurately measure higher level thinking such as The Constructive Assessment, Recordkeeping and Evaluation System (CARES) prepared and field tested by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education. The common core and an arbitrary version of standards must be challenged to enable our citizens to make intelligent judgments about the most effective strategies available for their schools, before any further damage by current versions of standardization is done to the lives of our young citizens. Alternative assessment and evaluation strategies must be allowed to demonstrate their superiority over the existing strategies of testing, testing and more testing. For further elaboration, access on-line: AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com, January 7, 2014, “Guest Commentary” by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education.

Last year JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion settlement for their actions that helped create the Great Recession and enabled them to steal thousands of homes from struggling homeowners. $600 million of that goes to New York State and it’s supposed to be used for direct relief for homeowners. But not if Gov. Cuomo has his way. Instead of helping homeowners, the Governor wants to use that money to pay for a major cut to corporate taxes, including something called The Bank Tax. That’s right. Gov. Cuomo wants to steal the settlement money from struggling homeowners and give it back to Wall Street criminals. The foreclosure and underwater crisis is still devastating our communities and the families and communities hardest hit are exactly the ones from which Gov. Cuomo proposes stealing. Recently, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was able to use $136 million from a previous settlement to help thousands of families stave off foreclosure. We need the $600 million to alleviate the continuing pain. This pain, which has affected almost every neighborhood, has not, however, been spread around evenly. Communities of color lost the most when Chase and other Wall Street bankers pushed us into the Great Recession – the median black household lost almost 84% of its household wealth in the recession. Latinos lost 66%, while white households lost some 34%. Now Gov. Cuomo wants to keep it that way. I know by now that nothing related to Wall Street and elected officials should shock me. But the pure callousness behind this proposal caught me off guard. And if we let Gov. Cuomo get away with this, then Governors across the United States will think they can use this money for their pet projects or to pay off Wall Street criminals too. We can’t let that happen. Tell Gov. Cuomo: Don’t steal the Chase settlement money from struggling New York families and give it back to Wall Street criminals.

The great news is that Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley said the Pennsylvania Voter ID bill is unconstitutional. He ruled that the law is "invalid and unconstitutional on its face as the provision and issuance of compliant identification does not comport with liberal access and unreasonably burdens the right to vote. “Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal.” Now the bad news. It is still possible for the law to be appealed. PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane defended the Voter ID law before Commonwealth Court. She may appeal the ruling to PA's Supreme Court. If she does appeal, the Voter ID law may be reinstated. Tell Attorney General Kane that we agree with Judge McGinley. Voter ID is “invalid and unconstitutional on its face.” Do not appeal Voter ID to the Supreme Court.

As a local resident that would be directly affected, I believe this location is not the best choice and that there are several land options in West Dundee that would be better suited for development. The density and architectural design of this project is not suited for West Dundee nor the neighboring community. We have serious concerns about how this overcrowd the current school system. We understand that more household brings more businesses, which is needed. But a focus on townhouses or single family homes with less density would be much better suited for West Dundee. This would fit the future of our small town and also accomplish a higher revenue of tax dollars.