It is critical for the people to speak up and let Congress know that we will hold them accountable!

Imagine that you were in charge of designing your city’s parking for people with disabilities permit program. You’re doing this because you care about the plight of physically or mentally handicapped people and empathize with the challenges they face each and every day of their lives: you’re proud to do something that will make their lives just a little bit easier. In the interest of streamlining the experience – and because you have faith in the honesty and integrity of people – you decide not to require permit applicants to furnish actual proof that they have a disability let alone one that would actually benefit from a shorter distance to a destination: you trust that applicants need the wheelchair they’re sitting in or truly are on the Autism Spectrum. You’re not naïve enough to think that there won’t be less scrupulous people who take advantage of your kindness and generosity, but at the same time you recognize that the bad apples make up only a small percentage of all the applicants and what you’re doing helps makes the lives of so many people better even if just a little bit. Now imagine that a news outlet catches wind of a particular set of scammers who not only gloat about how they gamed the system but also do it with a distasteful amount of pride. Naturally readers are upset at the reckless abandon with which these jerks cheated their way to a parking permit. Beyond the need to handle the public relations issue, you want to find a way to discourage people from abusing these privileges. So how do you go about doing this? One way would be to strip away the benefits: if there isn’t much of an advantage to have the permit, then it won’t be worth the scammers’ while to go through all the subterfuge to obtain one. The flip side of this approach is that the exponentially larger population of people for whom this permit makes a real difference is also affected, and they’re the people you were trying to help in the first place. The more logical strategy is to be more ardent in vetting the people who are applying for the permit. It’s not beyond the realm of reason to request that people who want to participate in the program make a tiny amount of effort to provide documentation of their very real need for such accommodations. Disney Parks & Resorts recently announced that, in response to the justified criticism and outrage from their loyal fans who read a New York Post report earlier in the year that “wealthy Manhattan moms” hired a disabled guide from Dream Tours Florida at a rate of $130 per hour in order to be able to use Walt Disney World’s Guest Assistance Card to bypass the lines for attractions, they would cancel the GAC program effective October 9 in favor of a new Disabled Assistance System that will work much like the current Fastpass program that all park guests are entitled to use. This is the same approach used in the first option from my hypothetical scenario. Disney is stripping away the benefits of the program so that those with more money than morals have no incentive to pay a handicapped person to pretend to be their friend and those who have no qualms about renting a wheelchair to appear to be physically challenged gain no time saving advantages in exchange for having to sit in that chair all day long. At first glance, this seems like a great solution to resolve the issue at hand. Indeed, many people who have endured the often excruciatingly long lines at Walt Disney World and Disneyland applauded this as a fair compromise that levels the playing field as it were for non-handicapped people. “Why should people who are disabled get to experience more attractions than the rest of us?” they ask. “Everyone should get to go on the same number of rides!” they declare. The thing is that the Guest Assistance Card is not – and has never been – about allowing those who are physically or mentally disabled to cram a vacation’s worth of fun into a single day at a Disney park. The reason that many of these guests need the program in the first place is because they are unable to move as fast as, stand for as long a time as or tolerate as much waiting in line as a typical person. While a more able bodied guest could probably enjoy the park for a good eight or nine hours – if not from opening to closing – a person who needs the GAC program likely is not going to have the stamina or capacity to do that: very often the time savings is key to being able to experience as much as a person who isn’t handicapped. My son Alexander is a 6-year-old boy on the Autism Spectrum. He has a condition known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, which in his case includes a severe cognitive impairment that almost guarantees that beyond never being able to learn things as effectively as most other children Alexander will assuredly never be able to understand why he cannot get on the giant plastic representation of his favorite flying elephant right away, why he has to return in an hour when said elephant is right there in front of him, what an hour even is, and why when he does return he still needs to wait in line some more. Furthermore, his coping mechanism for sensory overload of sights and sounds (in this case not just from the park itself but from other guests as well) is very often an exasperated meltdown that involves some combination of screaming, kicking, running, rolling on the floor, and lashing out, but don’t mistake this for the actions of a spoiled child. With the Disabled Assistance System, we likely would only be able to enjoy a small handful of rides and shows at Walt Disney World in a day. Alexander doesn’t have the endurance to be able to last a full day in that sort of environment, and we unfortunately wouldn’t have the option to stand in other lines to enjoy additional attractions while waiting for a reserved time slot like people who can utilize the Fastpass system do. The playing field certainly wouldn’t be level for us or almost any other family...

It is important that a school community be a democracy. As a school we accepted the move to the William J Gaynor building, but we never could have predicted the current situation. Even putting aside things like weapons (the vast majority of students at the other schools would never carry a gun to a fight, but it only takes one), the general attitudes between TBLS Discipuli and the students of the Lyons and Green Schools are far from ideal. There has been inappropriate touching and even cat-calls. We are ALL uncomfortable with this situation. And we want change.

My child and a host of family members attends Trenton Central High Main .Our children's well-being should be our top priority ,and this school has been in need of repairs for far to long.

Our environment, community and security is at risk when it comes to Tugboat Companies that escort Cargo Ships and Fuel Oil Barges within the busy Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach California. Some Tugboat companies choose to severely reduce crewing levels on Tugboats to only a 2 person crew while escorting Cargo Ships and transporting Barges loaded with thousands of gallons of fuel oil used to fuel ships for their next leg of their voyage. While performing these complex tasks, some companies choose to operate with only 1 Captain onboard the tugboat by his or herself to navigate our busy harbors, while the Deckhand boards the Fuel Oil Barge to serve lookout duties and provide the Captain valuable information about any impeding traffic or other hazards while navigating inside our busy harbors. This practice of leaving the Captain on the Tugboat alone is a recipe for disaster. A engineer or equivalent should always remain on Tugboat during these operations, thus reducing the risk of a environmental hazard and danger to the crew members. Please tell these companies to stop endangering our community, environment and port security, and put safety first instead of profit.

Shirley Skinner is a soon to be 80 year old inmate in Illinois. Her only crime is protecting her granddaughter and great granddaughter from a hostile intruder who happened to be in a custody battle with her granddaughter. The local sherrif originally treated this as self defense but other local people got involved and Shirley was charged with murder. Even though a wonderful group of students and their professor from DePaul University have been working for more than two years to get this case reviewed, we have all been unsuccessful. We are now petitioning Governor Quinn for clemency so Shirley can spend the last years of her life with her family. However, this case has become so political we fear the petition will not be successful unless there are hundreds and perhaps even thousands of people who are willing to work with us in getting Shirley heard. Please see Facebook: Save Nanny - for additional information.

The elected officials trying to overturn a lawfully passed piece of legislation that was upheld by the Supreme Court, and the States who are refusing and/or attempting to interfere with the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act, are guilty of violating federal laws. First, they are guilty of rebellion or insurrection against the laws of the United States. Second, they are guilty of conspiring to hinder or delay the execution of a law of the U.S. By violating these law, which I've copied below, they can be fined, jailed, and forbidden to hold public office. What I want to know is why they are allowed to continue their efforts that can harm the financial standing of this country and cause harm to so many Americans? Current through Pub. L. 113-31. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.) Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. Current through Pub. L. 113-31. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.) If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

Fracking is inherently dangerous. Negative effects of fracking that have been proven in other states include everything from water contamination, air pollution, methane release contributing to Global Warming, decimated national forest lands, residents and livestock getting sick, wildlife deaths, earthquakes, radioactive waste, truck accidents and rural lifestyles being degraded. The IL Dept. of Natural Resources is formulating rules for fracking at this time, they will be published soon. We, the concerned residents of Illinois, request public hearings on this dangerous extraction method so that our concerns will be heard by our state government and acted upon before fracking is allowed to harm our environment or our neighbors.

The proposal to base F-35 jet fighters at Burlington International Airport will have a devastating impact on the surrounding communities and the people who live in them, as is documented in the Air Force's own Environmental Impact Statement. Being the airport's owner and landlord, the City of Burlington has a legal and moral responsibility to prevent this harm. On Monday, October 28th, the Burlington City Council will vote on a binding resolution to bar the basing of the F-35 at BIA. This is our best chance to stop the basing and protect our communities. Please sign the petition urging city councilors to support the resolution. And if you live in Burlington, please contact your ward representative today! http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil/City-Councilors/ More info, including on Monday's Burlington City Council meeting: http://www.stopthef35.com/calltoaction/

My family, and especially my 12 year old son, eats a lot of pasta. We often choose Barilla Pasta because of the wide variety available at our local grocery store. No more. Today Barilla Pasta President Guido Barilla made it clear how he felt about families like mine by saying that he'd never show gay families in advertisements for Barilla. He said that gays could eat another pasta if they didn't like his message. I'm taking him up on that and so should you. Sign the petition to tell Guido Barilla that you stand with gay families and won't buy Barilla.

These laws tie the hands of prosecutors and judges around the country and they disproportionately impact people of color. In fact, as Sen. Paul correctly stated recently, "the majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white, but three-fourths of all people in prison for drug offenses are African American or Latino." To address these extreme punishments, costing millions of taxpayer dollars as well as being unjust, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, which reforms the mandatory minimum laws and provides judges with more discretion in sentencing.

As one of the Moms for Labeling who supports Yes on 522 and labeling genetically engineered food in Washington State, when we found out Monsanto and the other giant corporations trying to hide what’s in our food were also hiding donors and skirting our state laws, we decided to challenge them. But now Monsanto and their corporate allies are suing our small group of Moms, because they don’t want to reveal their donors, or what’s in our food. Please stand with our small group of moms and urge the state’s campaign finance watchdog, the Public Disclosure Commission, to act now and enforce our laws before the campaign is over, so voters will have the information they need about the food they feed their families.