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Chinese Government: Help save Two Endangered Species by fast tracking a National Park in Changbaishan Mountains

The World's Largest Cat, the Siberian Tiger, and the World's Rarest Cat, the Amur Leopard, live in the proposed Park's area.

Two endangered species of big cat, The Siberian Tiger and the Amur Leopard, live in the Changbaishan Mountains. Within the mountain range there has been a proposed National Park in order to protect two of the most vulnerable species in the world.

The Siberian Tiger is the largest of the big cats, ranging is size from 396lbs to 660lbs. In some ways the Siberian Tiger is a success story, in the 1940's there were estimated to be less than 40 left on the planet. Over the subsequent years, through protections of habitat like those proposed here, there are now an estimated 540 individuals. This makes the Siberian Tiger the largest unfragmented tiger population in the world.

Things for the Amur Leopard, on the other hand, have not gone so well. Estimated to only have 57 left in the wild, the Amur Leopard is the most rare cat in the world. The protection of their habitat in the Changbaishan Mountains in necessary in order for them to rebound like the Siberian Tiger did over the last few decades.

The sooner in which this section of mountains is protected, the better chance these rare and endangered cats have at avoiding extinction.

Please join me in calling on the Chinese Government to fast track the National Park in the Changbaishan Mountains, in order to save two big cats from extinction.

South Pacific Nations: Enter into a Regional Protection Pact to save the Hawksbill Turtle from Extinction

National conservation measures are not sufficient to protect the Hawksbill Sea Turtle populations nested in the Pacific.

In June, researchers tagged ten turtles located in the Solomons' Arnavnon Islands, the South Pacific's largest rookery of Hawksbill Turtles. So far, two of the turtles have been killed by poachers while the eight remaining turtles had to travel more than 1200 miles to the Great Barrier Reef in order to survive.

The Nature Conservancy's Melanesia Program Director, Richard Hamilton said, 

“It really just highlights the difficulties in managing these highly migratory [species]... these turtles are migrating out of the Solomons... passing through Papua New Guinea... then dropping down into Australia. So it really does highlight the need to have some sort of regional agreements and regional management measures which aren't just site based for these species."

Current site based protections can only go so far in protecting these Hawksbill Turtles from extinction. With the large distances the turtles travel, the entire region needs to work together to insure that these Critically Endangered Species do not become extinct.

With less than 30,000 left in the wild, We are calling on the Countries of the South Pacific to enter into regional agreements for the protection of the Hawksbill Turtle

Mylan: Lower the immoral price of the EpiPen

EpiPen is a lifesaving treatment to be used in severe cases of allergic shock

The rise is spectacular. Between 2007 and 2016, the price of EpiPen, a popular treatment used to urgently address allergic shock, from $100 to more than $600.

The EpiPen is used in case of severe allergies, especially for children, and enjoys a near monopoly in the US.

The manufacturer of the EpiPen, Mylan, has even had the American Medical Association (AMA) call on the laboratory to lower its rates:

"The AMA has long called for the industry pharmaceutical remain reasonable on the price of drugs, and, with lives at stake, we call the manufacturer to do all it can to limit these exorbitant costs."

The unbelievable amount of greed shown by Mylan should not be stood for. The exploitation of the possible death of another Human Being should not be the basis of any business.

That is why I am asking you to join me in calling for Mylan to lower the cost of the EpiPen; so that all who may need it, can afford it.

Save Elephants from Extinction

The authorization of the sale of Ivory is contributing to the extinction of the African Elephant.

Prior to European colonization, scientists believe that Africa may have held as many as 20 million elephants; by 1979 only 1.3 million.

Today just 352,271 elephant remain.

Over the last two decades researches have been taking part in the Great Elephant Census, an unprecedented inventory of the savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) and her cousin, the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis).

They found that between 2007 and 2014 that the population of elephants had fallen 30%.

Coveted for its ivory tusks, elephant remains a favorite target of poachers. Despite the 1989 ban on the international trade of ivory, in 2008, the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Endangered Fauna and Flora has endorsed the sale of a stock of 108 tons of ivory originating in Southern Africa to China.

The authorization of the sale of ivory only contributes to the demise of the largest land animal.

Please join me in calling on the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Endangered Fauna and Flora to never authorize the sale of Ivory again.

End Wildlife Trafficking Now!

The world is dealing with an unprecedented spike in illegal wildlife trade, threatening to overturn decades of conservation gains.

Ivory estimated to weigh more than 23 metric tons—a figure that represents 2,500 elephants—was seized in the 13 largest seizures of illegal ivory in 2011. Poaching threatens the last of our wild tigers that number around 3,890.

Wildlife crime is a big business. Run by dangerous international networks, wildlife and animal parts are trafficked much like illegal drugs and arms. By its very nature, it is almost impossible to obtain reliable figures for the value of illegal wildlife trade. Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimate that it runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some examples of illegal wildlife trade are well known, such as poaching of elephants for ivory and tigers for their skins and bones. However, countless other species are similarly overexploited, from marine turtles to timber trees. Not all wildlife trade is illegal. Wild plants and animals from tens of thousands of species are caught or harvested from the wild and then sold legitimately as food, pets, ornamental plants, leather, tourist ornaments and medicine. Wildlife trade escalates into a crisis when an increasing proportion is illegal and unsustainable—directly threatening the survival of many species in the wild.

Stamping out wildlife crime is a priority because it’s the largest direct threat to the future of many of the world’s most threatened species. It is second only to habitat destruction in overall threats against species survival.

Arkansas: Remove Judge Milas Hale III from the bench for running an Illegal Debtors Prison

The ACLU of Arkansas recently filed a suit against Sherwood's "Hot Checks" division for being a debtors prison.

In 2009 Lee Robertson was undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. He couldn’t work.

"Robertson started off owing a few stores about $200. Six years and seven arrests later, in a closed courtroom in Sherwood District Court in Arkansas, Judge Milas “Butch” Hale sentenced the cancer patient to 90 days in jail. His crime? Owing the court $3,054.51."

But once you begin digging into the details the story only gets worse,

"Between the time of his charges and his latest jailing, Robertson had been sentenced to a stretch in jail over outstanding fines. Sherwood police officers came to his door, demanding money and threatening arrest. A private probation company, ProTrac, also charged Robertson $35 per month on top of the payments to the court, burying him further in debt.  

He’s not alone. Nikki Petree, 40, was charged for bouncing a single check for $28.93, according to the lawsuit. She has been arrested in connection with that charge on at least seven occasions, and been jailed for more than 25 days. She’s paid at least $640 to the city."

Judge Hale effectively runs his court as a debtors prison. He takes people that are impoverished, unable to pay a few hundred dollars that they owe, and straps them with thousands of dollars of court fees.

If they are unable to pay, which seems unlikely since they were unable to pay a much lower total previously, he then jails them and sends them on probation with a private company that charges them, putting them further in debt.

This is an immoral action against the citizens of this country, We demand that the state of Arkansas remove Judge Hale from the bench and revoke his license to practice law for running an Unconstitutional Debtors Prison.

Florida: Psychological Trauma suffered on the job is still a work injury and should be covered by Workers Comp

Gerry Realin helped pull 49 bodies out of Pulse nightclub June 12. That night has haunted him and made him unable to work.

After the worst mass shooting in US history Police officer Gerry Realin rushed in to help the surviving victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. A lone gunman had opened fire on the Orlando gay bar June 12, killing 49 people, Realin helped remove bodies from the club.

His wife has stated, “When he got home, 2:30 the next morning, he came in very quiet … looked at both of our kids, then went in the shower and just lost it… And he didn't stop crying. The next day, it was on and off. And it's just been really hard.”

“The man that left my house that morning did not come back to me that night,” Jessica Realin said. “He’s still not back.”

Although Realin returned to work two weeks after attack, he struggled to recover, taking frequent days off. The patrolman drained his vacation time and sick days before being placed on paid leave, but he isn’t sure how long that will last.  

Under Florida law, those who experience psychological trauma on the job are not entitled to paid days off or to have their medical bills reimbursed by their employer.

Because of this, he has had his workers compensation claim denied by the state, leaving him in a precarious situation, with the Realin’s having to begin relying to donations to cover the cost of his care and time off.

Officer Realin suffered trauma while on the Job, he walked into the worst mass shooting in US History to help people and walked out of work needing medical attention and the state of Florida is abandoning him.

This is just a snapshot of a larger problem, psychological issues are medical issues and should be covered by workers compensation plans.

So, we are calling on the State of Florida to change workers compensation laws to include psychological trauma.

France: Promote Religious Freedom, overturn the bans on veil's, burka's and burkini's

The debate on Burkini in France and its prohibition in towns are the illustration of a profound misunderstanding of the Muslim community in France

By criminalizing the veil in 2003, the burka in 2010 and now the Burkini the Government of France has attacked religious freedom and endangered the International Community. With these laws and their misuse, governments give the impression of not tackling the ultra-radical minority but rather to aim at the silent, peaceful majority of the Muslim community in France. As police begin harassing Muslim Women for what they are wearing, even forcing some women to remove their clothing in public, it only follows that the “real” radicals will begin to say:

"Look, even if you try to reconcile faith and modernity, France does not leave you in peace."

This leads to an increase in radicalization, since Muslims begin to be unable to practice their religion in public. The above picture is already being used in ISIL propaganda, which means that the banning of religious garments is only leading to more radicalization, thereby putting all of us in greater danger.

But as we look at pictures of a Muslim Mother be forced to remove her bathing suit in public by four armed police officers in front of her daughter, let’s just remember how the burkini was born. This garment was not created in an Arab or Muslim country but in Australia in 2003 and was designed primarily as a "snub" to the Salafists who wanted to ban the public space, and even the beach, to women Muslim.

For the Salafis and the ultra-Orthodox, the burkini should be banned as too "fashionable", too tight, etc. It is a symbol of modernity they abhor.  Women who choose to wear the burkini in France are rather modernists and progressives. They are practicing their religion while rejecting the oppression of the Ultra-Orthodox Muslim groups.  

Because of this, we are calling on France to promote Religious Freedom by overturning the bans on veils, burka’s and bukini’s.

Petition: Stop The North Dakota Pipeline From Being Built In Native Americans Sacred Lands!

Last week, the federal government gave final approval to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will run for 1,172 miles to transport crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken oilfields to Patoka, Illinois.

Hundreds of protesters, primarily Lakota and Dakota from Native American reservations within a several-hundred-mile radius, convened against police over the weekend at the edge of the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota to voice their anger

The pipeline would travel through lands sacred to the Lakota people, and cross under the Missouri, Mississippi, and Big Sioux rivers.

A possible spill, which can occur with pipelines, would mean contaminating farmland and drinking water for millions.

After a series of tense interactions with North Dakota state police on Monday, the protesters succeeded in temporarily halting the beginning stages of construction.

We need your help to make sure this doesn't happen!

Include the Top Four Candidates in all Presidential Debates

The Commission on Presidential Debates maintains rules that insure only the two major candidates can be in the Presidential Debates

In order to have free and fair elections we need to allow as many options as possible to the public. By maintaining a system that only allows candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties to be featured in the Presidential Debates with any regularity, the Commission on Presidential Debates is thwarting democracy.

The requirements should be based around a minimum number of candidates, not solely a minimum amount of support. Currently, one must have 15% of the population's support in order to be included a Presidential Debate. This leads to parties that do well with the public, but not overwhelmingly so, to not be able to get the exposure needed, through the debates, to be included.

By having the Top Four Candidates all debate, we can give a voice to more Americans, giving ideals that exist outside the two parties some air time and give them a chance to gain real support.

Turkey: Release all 62 children being held in a Turkish prisons!

A few weeks ago Turkey was in the middle of military takeover. It failed. Now 62 children are in jail as "coup plotters" without a fair trial and without knowing what was happening.

It was a Friday afternoon in the middle of Turkey's long summer holiday, but Emre, a 15-year-old boy studying at Istanbul's oldest military high school, was sitting in a classroom to resit an exam he had failed.

Hours later, chaos unfolded in the city's streets when a rogue group of officers and generals attempted to stage a coup. Tanks rolled over the Bosphorus Bridge and low-flying jets roared over the streets.

Emre's mother was worried; earlier in the day, she had received a call from the school informing her that her son had been invited to a "cocktail party" after his exam. She had heard nothing since.

At 4am, finally, her phone rang. "Mum," said her son, "bad things are happening. They took away my phone. They made us wear uniforms and gave us empty guns. They told us to guard the school."

Emre mentioned that their commanders had fled the school before he hung up. He was arrested shortly afterwards, along with 61 of his fellow students at Kuleli Military High School.

We need to stop this. Please sign this petition calling for the release of all 62 children without punishment.