Marijuana prohibition causes more problems than it solves, and ruins thousands more lives than it supposedly tries to save. Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans' consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for members of Congress to acknowledge this reality. It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to untaxed criminal enterprises and it is time for lawmakers to impose common-sense regulations governing cannabis' personal use by adults and licensing its production. A pragmatic regulatory framework that allows for limited, licensed production, sale, and taxation of cannabis to adults -- but restricts use among young people -- best reduces the risks associated with its use or abuse. I encourage you to support legislation to regulate marijuana, not criminalize it. Therefore, I urge you to support this issue.

Port of Olympia has been taking shipments of a material called "proppants." These materials are used in the fracking industry of North Dakota (Bakken) oil shale. The hydro-fracking industry of North Dakota is implicated in harms: social destabilization, and serious environmental pollution has occurred. Economic gains, jobs and domestic petroleum production have resulted in a boom that will eventually end in a bust. Support for the hydraulic-fracking extreme extraction industry conflicts with building a level playing field for renewable energy to compete. For the good of all people, we need urgent transition away from fossil fuels. For health, we need sensible policies. We believe the Port of Olympia can do better than to engage in the fracking business.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change. Just as no legitimate news publications would ever again print "opinion" pieces that deny the harmful health consequences of smoking and second hand smoke, nor should they ever again print opinion pieces that deny the impact of human generated climate change. It's time for the national conversation about climate change to focus on moving forward in our race to lower greenhouse gas emissions, not ping pong back and forth, as if there were no sense of urgency to our expanding set of consequences and dilemmas.

This representative does not promote the "General Welfare" of his constituents but rather spends taxpayer dollars traveling the nation to promote Fox news misinformation agenda.

A new report shows direct ties between hardwood flooring giant Lumber Liquidators, organized crime, and the illegal logging of the habitat of the last 450 Siberian Tigers. This shameless disregard for the last few remaining members of the species in pursuit of cheap flooring is not only disgusting, it's illegal under American law and has prompted a federal investigation. Lumber Liquidators needs to immediately and irrevocably take action to improve due diligence and bring itself into compliance with the Lacey Act. It must eliminate forest illegality, destruction and human rights violations from its supply chain. Lumber Liquidators must cut supply chain ties with Xingjia, the supplier which is the source of this illegal hardwood, and adopt and implement a comprehensive procurement policy that ensures the company will never again be involved in destroying old growth and endangered forests, abuse of human rights and run away climate change.

As Ameren customers, we acknowledge that our energy use has an acute impact on that environment, and that Missouri residents living closest to Ameren’s coal plants bear the greatest burden of that impact and that Ameren is in the business of making money for its investors and executives. But Ameren is doing this at the expense of the health and well-being of local residents. Ameren relies almost entirely on dirty, out-of-state coal to generate electricity, poisoning our air and water in Jefferson County in the process. Currently, Ameren is able to pollute almost limitlessly. Ameren’s plants lack pollution controls for dangerous sulfur dioxide, a pollutant that contributes to severe respiratory illnesses. Ameren is just starting to monitor groundwater at its existing coal ash pond at Rush Island, and has not yet produced any data. Although Ameren’s own documents concede that coal ash is already sitting in the groundwater at the existing ash pond, Ameren has no plans to clean that up before building a new landfill directly above the ash pond. Now, Ameren is trying to rush through proposals to build a new landfill for coal ash without informing or protecting our communities.

I have hit a wall of unfair financial calculations that has literally bankrupted me and has also kept me from receiving any aid that would be afforded to someone who earns what I do after Child support is deducted. For most Fathers or non custodial parents, the child support payments are automatically deducted from our paychecks and sent onto the MN Child Support Collection Agency. I am a contractor and working for a company. My Child support (56%) is taken out, leaving me a monthly paycheck of $1580. This does not have taxes taken out. After my home payment (which is on a home savers loan at 2% interest) and $175 to the bankruptcy trustee, I have $10 to purchase: gas, groceries, electric, trash pickup, heat, car insurance …etc. This does not include the taxes I have not been able to pay all year. I am not writing about the unfair family law rulings that disregard a fathers right to exist. The financial calculations I am referencing is the ones used for “in forma pauperis”, obtaining legal aid, Minnesota Energy Assistance Program. These guidelines put a single Father at a 3 month total gross income of $5,673 or below to receive assistance. This does not allow for the funds the Father does not even see in his paycheck. If I was a single person without children making $1580 per month, I would qualify. The child support is taken out before anything else. Before it is even mailed to the employees. I am not even talking taxes which would be the same for Fathers and single men. Fathers are penalized and support that would be afforded to the custodial mothers since the child support is not included in their income and placing them at a much lower rate, is denied the non-custodial parent. I owe over 2 months electric, all of this year’s taxes, now braces for 2 of my children. I need help and fairness. Fathers are forced into a continual spiral of worse case scenarios. I have to represent myself in court and am a legal punching bag. Bias in family law is very real, representing yourself means you shouldn’t even show up. The order will read whatever the opposing council writes down. My child support should show that. My ex makes as much as I do before the $1650 in child support she receives. ( tax free). For roughly $4700 per month. Deductions at the end of the year, only part of that is taxed. But yet, with the children she qualified for free legal aid, in forma paupris…etc I am told, I make too much money with a monthly paycheck that reaches me of $1580 before taxes on $3200 per month. Simply, Child Support should be deducted from a Father’s income if it is automatically deducted. Even if it is not automatically deducted, the amount would still be owed and collected. Please help the Fathers get a fair chance to have representation, pay their electric bills and ultimately have a life with their children. Thank you

The people of Collingwood Bay have built their culture and livelihoods around the primary forest and pristine marine environment that surrounds their community in Papua New Guinea. Now their way of life and ancestral lands are under attack by palm oil giant KLK, which has already landed a barge with palm oil seeds and security personnel in Collingwood Bay. HSBC is a principal bank to KLK, and has the power to stop this entire land grab in its tracks. Please demand HSBC take immediate action to halt KLK's theft of the Collingwood Bay community's land.

Not only am I a regular facebook user, I am also a page administrator. I run several pages and since facebook has decided that memes, joke, and pictures of your favorite animals are "low quality" content mine and everyone else's pages have been strangled on their reach. Facebook wants me, and all page owners, to PAY for the fans that have ALREADY LIKED our pages to see our posts. It's not chunk change either. They want us to pay 30-400 dollars a DAY so a few thousand people see ONE post. How often have you read a meme or a joke or saw an adorable kitten picture on facebook and it has brightened your day? If you don't want that to disappear forever then you need to SPEAK UP NOW and tell facebook that you WON'T be pushed around!

Illinois mental health patients and professionals face serious trouble due to cuts in funding for mental health care. Since 2009, Mental Health lines are down about $20 million total. From 2009-2011 the number for Mental Health was cut $108 million, however Illinois has restored funding to Mental Health  but still down 20 million from FY 09. Illinois ranked third among states with the highest cuts, totaling $113.7 million.  Petition By: State Representative La Shawn K Ford- Member of the Illinois House of Representatives Appropriations-Human Services Committee. http://www.dhs.state.il.us/onenetlibrary/27897/documents/mental%20health/marysmith/strategicplan/mentalhealthservicesfiveyearstrategicplan2013.pdf

Communities living near contaminated sites have the right to know what’s in their food and water. For nearly a decade, Georgia communities near the Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex, one of the most toxic facilities in the country, have gone without robust information about contaminants in their food and water due to lack of funding for environmental testing in Georgia.

Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the family featured on the hit TV show Duck Dynasty, just went on a racist and anti-gay tirade comparing homosexuality to bestiality and saying that African Americans were "godly" and "happy" during segregation. A&E Network, which produces Duck Dynasty, responded by putting Phil Robertson on indefinite hiatus, but now they're coming under attack from the religious right. Already Sarah Palin, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and the National Organization for Marriage are claiming that he's being unfairly persecuted for his religious beliefs. Sadly, this is becoming a huge media story dominated by anti-gay conservatives, and A&E is being accused of being anti-Christian -- when the reality is that most Christians and most viewers are appalled by Robertson's hateful rhetoric. Everyone is entitled to freedom of speech--but not everyone is entitled to a TV show as a platform. It's up to viewers like us to raise our voices and express our outrage when TV stations--like A&E--provide a venue for people with hateful speech.