Texas Republican legislators, and Gov. Rick Perry, are demanding state citizens show photo ID before they vote. This forces us to pay for the right to vote. Perry's shameless attack on the elderly, the poor and our disabled citizens, who can't afford to obtain ID, will cost them their right to vote.

Another example of corporations attacking our rights: This time, it is an attempt to squelch our ability to sue big corporations. The birth control pill Yasmin, or Yaz, has been shown to cause blood clots in blood vessels that can lead to death.1 According to recent studies, Yaz carries triple the risk over traditional birth control pills. 2 So what is the response of Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz? They are trying to prevent women from being able to sue for damages by changing the rules by which plaintiffs can pool their efforts to sue when there is a large number of claims of damages against a product. Cases like this are expensive to litigate, and unless working people can join together in what’s called “mass tort,” lawyers won’t be able to build a winnable case against corporations like Bayer with their untold billions of dollars in resources. There are already thousands of cases filed against Bayer, with many more to come. Bayer wants to change the rules, effectively separating the cases, requiring tens of thousands of individual trials in courts across the country. If Bayer wins, it will effectively end the possibility of a fair trial for women who are making claims that they were injured or killed by Yaz. And it will mean that other corporations will have a new way to avoid responsibility by manipulating our courts. 3 Tell Bayer to play fair. Sign our petition demanding that they stop their attempt to change the rules. 1 British Medical Journal http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7383/257.full 2 Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/22/idUS87382+22-Apr-2011+PRN20110422 3 While this is in Pennsylvania’s courts, this will have a national impact, since many of these cases are from out of state, and because it will embolden other big corporations to use this tactic.

Currently the Oneida County (WI) Board and its subcommittees meet during the daytime, sometimes as early as 9:30 a.m. and only on workdays. This not only severely restricts the opportunity for input but also limits or even eliminates the opportunity to hear directly from our elected leaders. Further, it limits opportunities for those who wish to run for County Board positions. Consequently the voice of the citizen is limited strictly to those available during daytime hours--those who happen to be retired, semi-retired, or who have flexible hours.

Over a three-year period ending in 2007, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, headed by self styled "Toughest Sheriff in America" Joe Arpaio“ ignored or inadequately investigated over 400 sex crimes, many including reported child molestation, with victims as young as two years old. In the small Arizona community of El Mirage alone, at least 50 - 75 sex abuse cases (including over 32 child molestation reports) were never resolved. Victims of abuse, especially vulnerable children, are entitled to the protection of local law enforcement and deserve to have their accusers brought to justice. It is unconscionable that Sheriff Arpaio has allowed such a gross miscarriage of justice to take place under his direction. Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio's watch, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has allowed hundreds of reported sexual abuse crimes, including dozens of alleged child molestations, to be mishandled, inadequately investigated, or outright ignored. Law enforcement officials are sworn to serve and protect the public and victims of abuse are entitled to justice under our legal system.

The Connecticut Supreme Court has called for the appointment of a "special master" to resolve the redistricting impasse for U.S. Congressional districts. Republicans want to gerrymander Bridgeport out of the 4th District (currently represented by Jim Himes) and lump it together with New Haven (currently represented by Rosa DeLauro). This politically motivated plan would quarantine southwestern Fairfield County into a non-competitive "safe" Republican district and silence the voices of Democratic and minority voters in cities like Norwalk, Stamford, and Danbury.

Due to budget issues, release time for Pam Thinesen to do sustainability work on campus has been cut. The college needs a coordinator in order to push along the campus community's movement toward sustainability and to help meet the goals of the President's Climate Commitment (http://presidentsclimatecommitment.org) Goal: 200 signatures

The United Nations needs to begin discussing the need for a worldwide species Ideology that will enable the populations of the earth to solve global issues that if not solved in time, could have a devastating effect on the future of our species, and even the future of our earth.

Evidently due to budget cuts, in the last few weeks, many disabled patients on Medi-Cal through Anthem Blue Cross have gone in to their pharmacies to refill their prescriptions for Cymbalta and other medications, only to be told, as I was, "I'm sorry, that is no longer covered under your insurance program." "Oh," I said, "so, we have to do a T.A.R. for that now?" "No," she replied, "they don't do those anymore. They just don't cover it." Then she shrugged, and looked at me like she'd just informed me they'd quit carrying Dentyne. This is what happened to me. I am 52, on Disability (which is monetarily only around $700 a month, but is supposed to pay all my medical expenses, and fails to do so) for Severe Chronic Migraines and Bipolar Depression. I have other serious medical conditions as well, but the two most important medications in fighting the issues for which I was actually put on disability *for*, Migranal (migraines) and Cymbalta (depression) both of which are unique formulations, are no longer covered under Anthem's new drug formulary. The problem is that Cymbalta is a drug you cannot simply stop cold. It MUST be stepped down from slowly, and ALL physicians know this. However, NO ONE from the State or from Anthem thought to give ANY physicians, psychiatrists, or PATIENTS advanced warning that they would be cutting them off of their LIFELINE medication. So most, if not all, will find out, at the time they *run out* of their current prescription that it is no longer covered, and will be caught *without* a safety net of another drug that works for them that they would have already been able to transition into SAFELY - had they at least been given the courtesy of a forewarning. Or, they will, like me, just be out of luck entirely, because nothing else works and/or there are contraindications to all the other drugs for their condition. Because of the thoughtless disregard of the State of California, and the NEGLIGENCE of ANTHEM BLUE CROSS, we can expect to see a *rash of suicides*, as people who are least able to cope with the emotional and physical blow of such disregard, as well as the uninformed and forced withdrawal from the only medication that works for them, are left with no option but to leave their pharmacy empty-handed, in shock. The truth is, this looks suspiciously like the state is in collusion with Anthem in attempting to reduce it's rolls of "undesirables" by nudging along quite a few suicides. I am attempting NOT to be among them.

Even though the news has captioning available, to be more accessible for the deaf who use sign language, an ASL interpreter could be shown in the bottom corner of the broadcasts. I first saw this (on the tv at the gym) while watching a news broadcast being aired in Puerto Rico. This would provide a more equal access to the news for those with American Sign Language as their primary language!

Although there is legislation pending to forbid employment agencies or employer from listing qualifications that include "currently employed" as a criteria for hiring, unemployment status is still an unprotected class under employment discrimination laws. Furthermore, employers are not required to disclose the reasons why a job applicant may be disqualified or rejected from consideration beyond the standardized form letter that usually states, "other applicants more qualified", "more closely fit our needs", "we were impressed by your work experience, however..." , in addition they do not provide results of pre-assessment or pre-questionnaires taken in the process of applying for employment, and many times lack a contact name, phone number or reply e-mail address to a recruiter or staff dept. if an applicant wishes to inquire or challenge the disqualification or rejection notification. We need legislators to force employers to provide these reasons in order for potential employees to have an opportunity to have knowledge on how they may need to improve themselves for the next opportunity and for employers to be more considerate of the time consumed by the applicant, and adopt a fairness policy applicable to the selection process. This mandate will help relieve the suspicion that an applicant is not being considered due to age, gender, race , disability ,etc. and/or other employment discrimination. If an employer doesn't agree to provide this information then they should be subject to punitive laws that are applicable to employment discrimination. Too many unemployed people are not getting a fair shake or reason and it's time they did.

Billions of tax dollars are spent on farm subsidies every year. While these subsidies may originally have helped small farmers, they are now helping huge factory farms and big business to poison the American population with toxic food like corn fed beef, polyunsaturated vegetable oils, high fructose corn syrup and corn, soy and wheat fillers. The economic and health consequences of this are huge. If we took the current funding for farm subsidies and re-directed this to subsidizing organic farming instead, this would help the environment and economy by supporting small, sustainable farming practices, and improve our national health by providing affordable access to healthy food to American families.

HB 4770 would prohibit providing health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of public employees and would take away health insurance coverage from LGBT families throughout the state. It's discriminatory and it's unconstitutional.