After more than 16 years, the United States Supreme Court has overturned the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)! Denying committed couples the right to marry is unacceptable -- end of story. So as we celebrate this historic ruling in favor of basic civil rights, I hope you will also join me in calling on the Hawaii state legislature to pass marriage equality.

We request that Steve Bullock appoint a special prosecutor who will impanel a grand jury to investigate the death of Hellgate Senor Chance Geery.

The man credited to have been the first settler of the Chicago region has NO STREET named after him nor any noticeable statue. This is a discredit to both du Sable himself and Chicago's Black population, and is a general disservice to its populace in entirety.

The Supreme Court determined that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is seriously outdated. Tell the House of Representatives to fix the problem now.

The development of state-owned properties in our neighborhood has occurred without the concomitant replacement of the lost parking spaces it has caused for residents. Rather than relax the restrictions on or increase the area where the affected residents are permitted to park, some parking agents in the Denver Public Works office have begun to ticket residents, even though those residents hold valid Resident Parking Permits. This practice has to stop. In an area where there is a serious dearth of parking, the permitted zone for resident parking must be enlarged.

Currently, controversial Voter ID Laws are being moved through Texas Legislature that will now require residents of Texas to have a voter ID at hand to vote within the state of Texas. Despite the Justice Department's disagreement and block of this modern day poll tax, Attorney General Greg Abbott is still pushing through to have this law passed and implemented as soon as possible. In my personal opinion, I believe it would only be fair for this Voter ID Law to be passed if the Government, or the state of Texas, would provide Voter IDs' for everyone or make them cheaper. A person shouldn't be limited to vote based on their economic incapability.

I'm $80,000 in debt just because I wanted to get an education. Nationwide, students are over one trillion dollars in debt. With education only affordable to a small number of people, the American dream will die due to needless debt.

Hundreds of thousands of service sector employees (teachers, firefighters and police) are affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which radically reduces Social Security pensions if the individual also receives a public pension. It operates on the premise that the total amount received would represent a "windfall." The most recent constitutional challenge to the WEP (Rudykoff vs. Apfel, 1999) was overturned on the basis that the WEP met its intention (to prevent a windfall) and also that social welfare law does not have to meet the same standards as other law, citing precedence. Many individuals (due to the WEP) receive amounts from their public pensions and Social Security that put them under poverty level. In my case, after 39 years of paying Social Security taxes, I received credit towards my Social Security pension for only 15 of those years.

This week, Texas' legislature attempted to ramrod sweeping abortion restrictions through a special session. Hundreds of protestors packed into the Texas State House Capitol. But the legislature first insulted, then ignored them, calling their testimony "repetitive." Senator Wendy Davis wouldn't stand for it: "The leadership may not want to listen to TX women, but they will have to listen to me. I intend to filibuster this bill." And filibuster she did - without food or drink, without even being allowed to lean on anything, for 11 hours. She shared women's real stories of their experiences with abortion and spoke of the profound impact SB-5 would have on their lives, including closing 35 of the state's abortion clinics. Finally, after 11 hours, she was forced to stop on trumped-up claims of rule violations. But her actions had caused a groundswell of support that could not be silenced. In the early hours of the morning, it became clear that SB-5 had failed. Senator Davis, you are a hero.

I am sick and tired of our financial systems robbing and cheating us while nothing gets done about it! Are we really powerless? Are the people of the United States of America truly voiceless in this matter? We cannot sit back and do nothing as our elected officials have done. We have to try to change this, or the majority of us will continue to suffer while the wealthiest continue to amass greater and greater fortunes at our expense. We WILL become the new serfs of this age if we fail to act! There is, believe it or not, a silver bullet that can solve this problem if we can just persevere. There is no choice but to publicly finance the campaigns of our elected officials. Let’s take the power the banks and corporations have over our government back! If you want to do one small - yet powerful - thing, sign this petition to change our Constitution, and pass it on to others who want to stop this downward spiral. Estoy harto de que nuestros sistemas financieros nos están robando y engañando mientras nada se está haciendo al respecto! ¿Somos realmente impotentes? ¿Las personas de los Estados Unidos realmente no tienen voz en este asunto? No podemos quedarnos con los brazos cruzados y no hacer nada como nuestros funcionarios electos han hecho. Tenemos que intentar cambiar esto, o la mayoría de nosotros seguirá sufriendo mientras los más ricos siguen acumulando fortunas más y más a nuestra costa. ¡Nos convertiremos en los nuevos siervos de esta época si no actuamos!

I walk up and down Gardner Street frequently, but I often have to walk in the street, because sections of the northeast side of the sidewalk are a jumble of loose and torn-up bricks. This sidewalk had to be repaired in 2004, 2009, 2010, and again (this month) in 2013. It's time for a permanent fix for this sidewalk: a reconstruction that doesn't fall apart every few years, that makes the sidewalk usable by all, and that is appropriate to the architectural styles of the neighborhood.

The United States Supreme Court has announced their decision in Shelby County v Holder, a critical case in the fight for voting rights. At issue in the case was the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act (Section 5) which requires states with a history of discrimination to get approval from the federal government before enacting new voting laws. The court in its decision did not directly address Section 5, the preclearance provision, but instead strikes down Section 4, the coverage formula, thereby placing the responsibility on Congress to create a new formula. This means the country will be effectively without the preclearance provision until they do. This is a devastating blow for voting rights. Within hours, the Texas Attorney General announced that the discriminatory photo voter id law was effective immediately. Congress must act immediately to develop a new coverage formula and protect the right to vote! More info at http://www.empowerthevotetx.org/Shelby_County_v_Holder.html Also, like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerTheVoteTexas - and follow us on Twitter - @EmpowerTheVote