Petition Tag - basic

After 10 Years in prison, Saeed Masouri is denied his basic rights!

Dr. Saeed Masouri is a political prisoner sentenced to life in prison, and although he has spent many years in Rajai prison, he is not being allowed to exercise his right to a temporary release.

Dr. Masouri was convicted of association with a political organization, and he was initially sentenced to death, but later his sentencing was reduced to life in prison. In spite of being in prison for the past 10 years, he has not been allowed to exercise his basic right as a prisoner to use the temporary release program.

The family members of Dr. Masouri announced that they had pleaded with Tehran’s General Prosecutor, Mr. Dolatabadi, last month; however, the prosecutor claimed that he is not familiar with the particular case and he postponed the response to their pleas until a later date.

The mother of the political prisoner told Harana that her son was arrested as he entered the country in 2000, but the Intelligence Ministry confirmed Dr. Masouri’s detention in April of 2001. Dr. Masouri was charged with waging war and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in 2002. The same sentencing was confirmed by the appeals court.

Dr. Masouri is currently being held in Hall 10 of section 4 inside Rajai Prison in the city of Karaj. Previously, he spent some time in Ahvaz and Evin Prisons. Two years before being transferred to Rajai Prison, Dr. Masouri also spent some time in section 209 in solitary confinement inside Evin Prison.

Following the reduction in Dr Masouri’s sentencing from death to life in prison, he was transferred to Rajai Prison.

Source: Harana

!پس از ده سال حبس، سعید ماسوری همچنان محروم از حقوق اولیه
دکتر سعید ماسوری زندانی سیاسی محبوس در زندان رجایی شهر که به حبس ابد محکوم شده است با تحمل یک سوم حبس خود همچنان از حق مرخصی برخوردار نیست.
وی که به اتهام ارتباط و همکاری با یک سازمان سیاسی ابتدا به اعدام و سپس به ابد محکوم شده است با گذشت ده سال تا کنون از داشتن مرخصی که به عنوان حقوق اولیه زندانی در قانون تعریف شده است برخوردار نبوده است.
خانواده این زندانی اعلام داشت ماه گذشته برای موافقت مسئولین با مرخصی وی به دادستانی تهران مراجعه نموده است ولی دادستان تهران آقای دولت آبادی به دلیل اینکه از وضعیت پرونده این زندانی اطلاعی نداشته است پاسخ به درخواست ایشان را به آینده موکل کرد.
مادر این زندانی سیاسی به هرانا میگوید فرزندش در دی ماه سال ۷۹ هنگام ورود به کشور بازداشت شده است ولی وزارت اطلاعات در اردیبهشت ماه سال ۸۰ دستگیری فرزندشان را به آنها اطلاع داده است وی در سال ۸۱ از سوی دادگاه انقلاب به اتهام محاربه به اعدام محکوم شد و ۳ ماه بعد در دادگاه تجدید نظر حکمشان مجددا تائید شده است.
آقای ماسوری که هم اکنون در سالن ۱۰بند ۴ زندان رجایی شهر کرج بسر می برد و پیشتر در زندانهای اهواز و اوین نیز تحمل حبس نموده است وی به مدت ۲ سال پیش از انتقال به رجایی شهر در سلول های انفرادی بند ۲۰۹ و همچنین عمومی همین بند نگهداری شده است و با تقلیل حکمش از اعدام به ابد به زندان رجایی شهر منتقل شده است.
منبع: هرانا

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Leading Swedish newspapers namely The Dagens Nyheter newspaper and Expressen tabloid on Wednesday March 10, 2010 published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) with the body of a dog by a caricaturist who was the target of an assassination plot by Muslims arrested in Ireland. They defended the fact that it's freedom of expression.

It is also purposed that amendment in the constitution of Swedish Government is also going to take effect from 1st Jan. 2011 clearly stating in the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression that agencies and other public bodies are prohibited to take action against anyone exercising their freedom of the press or freedom of expression. It is also proposed that there be a penal provision for more serious violations of this prohibition. Equivalent rules are to apply to local government enterprises.

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An open appeal to the President of India, the Prime Minister, the Health Ministry, the Medical Council of India and all those concerned with the health of Indians.

Many Indians including our President are suddenly concerned with rural India’s health. They have already started formulating projects to flush young doctors out of cities and flood rural India with them. Medical Council of India is steps ahead by planning to open new Medical Colleges to mass-produce rural doctors. An article published in The Hindu daily, dated 5.11.09 and a Public Interest Petition filed in Delhi High Court by the author Dr. Meenakshi Gautham, triggered this outbreak http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/11/05/stories/2009110554760800.htm

It is unfortunate to note that some self-proclaimed ‘Think Tanks’ and philanthropists having ‘Godfathers’ in the Eastern Bloc countries are very unhappy with the achievements of India during the last sixty years. Now India could produce professionals like doctors and engineers acceptable for the whole world. The ulterior motive of these Intellectual Terrorists (see last para in petition) is to reduce India to the level of the Eastern Bloc countries and they have taken the whole of India for a ride with compassion and benevolence ending in a write-up and a Public Interest Petition! Instead of being proud of our achievements this group wants to drive us back to the 15th century! All those concerned should be on guard. Before going into the mentioned article, a brief history will help normal people to have a better idea on the subject.

117 AD

In 117 AD legal councillors of the Emperor Hadrian headed by Salvius Julianus, an African by birth, categorised people into four to give different punishments for the same crime — Roman Citizens with voting right to get away for murder by just admonishment, Romans without voting rights to get away by paying fine, free men (former slaves) to undergo varying terms of imprisonment and the slaves to be hanged till death.

500 AD

Persian King of 5th century AD, at the height of his glory declared — ‘without army no King; without revenue no army; without taxes no revenue; without agriculture no taxes; and without a just Government no agriculture.’
Agriculture is the foundation of civilization. Mesopotamia, one of the cradles of civilization disintegrated when farmers were not cared for by the conquerors. Importance of our farmers is not realised by the wise authors or governments yet.

1700 AD

Elihu Yale, the British Governor of Madras amassed wealth in India, even by murdering to steal. When he was to return home with the loot, he came to know he would be arrested in UK. Therefore, he changed his destination to America.

Planning to have a College in New Haven, Connecticut, Sir Jeremiah Dummer, the colonial agent wrote to Yale who had just arrived there with a fortune from India — “… business of noble men is to spread religion and learning among mankind...” (Kelley 24).

Yale agreed to help and the trustees thanked him by renaming the college as ‘Yale College’. Overnight, the criminal became a great philanthropist in USA. Many Presidents and Senators including Bush Sr. and Jr., John Kerry, etc., are products of the famous Yale University.

1850 AD

Prof. Louis Agassiz of Harvard University’s Lawrence Scientific School postulated that God created different ethnic humans. Anglo-Saxon whites are the superior and Negroes the lowest. Anybody who tried even to educate Negroes are to be considered criminals.

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What’s Wrong With The Felony Murder Rule- Common Sense:

1. It is fundamentally unfair and in violation of basic principles of individual criminal culpability to hold one felon liable for the unseen and unagreed-to results of another felon’s action.

2. The felony murder rule operates as a matter of law upon proof of the intent to commit a felony to relieve the prosecution of its burden of proving intent to kill, which is a necessary element of murder.

3. The intention to commit a felony does not equal the intention to kill, nor is the intention to commit a felony, by itself, sufficient to establish a charge of murder.

4. The felony murder rule violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of due process, more specifically, equal protection of the law, because no defense is allowed on the charge of first-degree murder, only the underlying felony.

5. The purpose of creating degrees of murder is to punish with increased severity the more culpable forms of murder, but an accidental or unknown killing during the commission or attempted commission of a felony is punished more severely than all other murder charges with exception to first degree murder.

6. The felony murder rule erodes the relation between criminal liability and moral culpability in that it punishes all homicides in the commission, or attempted commission, of the proscribed felonies, whether intentional, unintentional, or accidental, without proving the relation between the homicide and the perpetrator’s state of mind.

7. Holding one or many criminally liable for the bad results of an act which differs greatly from the intended results is based on a concept of culpability which is totally at odds with the general principles of jurisprudence.

8. The basic rule of culpability is further violated when felony murder is categorized as first-degree murder because all other first-degree murders (carrying equal punishment) require a showing of premeditation, deliberation, and willfulness, while felony murder only requires a showing of intent to do the underlying felony.

9. While the felony murder rule survives in California, and other states, the numerous modifications and restrictions of it by some states courts and legislatures throughout the United States reflect dissatisfaction with the basic harshness and injustice of the doctrine and call into question its continued existence.

10. The felony murder rule can be used by prosecutors in a manner so as to cause grossly disproportionate sentencing, depending on the circumstances of each individual case.

11. The felony murder rule is unconstitutional because the presumption of innocence is thrown out. The prosecutor must only prove intent to commit the original felony; once done, first degree murder attaches to the underlying felony even though intent, (mens rea,) to commit murder does not have to be proved.

12. The felony murder rule is unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment: cruel and unusual punishment, grossly disproportionate sentencing to the crime(s) actually committed.

13. The felony murder rule bears no rational relationship or equity in its two penalties, with the penalties of other California murder laws, including, at times, the charge of first-degree murder.

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For the past nine years since Sky Cable had included Arirang TV in its roster of cable channels in 1999, Philippine viewers have been enjoying and learning about the Korean culture through the variety of shows they offer.

Since 2006, Sky Cable had removed Arirang TV from its channel listing offered in their basic Sky Silver Plan available at PhP 680.00 , and moved it to the premium Platinum Plan offered at PhP 2020.00. Because of this, Philippine Arirang TV viewers are left with no option but to upgrade their plans to a more expensive one should they want to continue watching Arirang TV.

Arirang TV is the only Korean TV station with a multi-lingual format, with Korean shows translated or subtitled in different languages (Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Bahasa, Spanish, Vietnamese and English).

By signing this petition, you are supporting the cause of the Philippine Arirang TV viewers in their endeavor to bring Arirang TV back to the channel listing of Sky Cable's basic Sky Silver Plan so that everyone can enjoy the viewing pleasures - both entertaining and informative- of Arirang TV in a much affordble cost.

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Recently within the past six months there has been increased occupancy and turn-over of residents of the mobile home park at Helen and 2nd Streets.

This has resulted in a dramatic increase in socializing and loitering on the perimeter of the property and on the street during the day and through the late evening hours and the consumption of alcohol and drugs by minors.

There has also been a dramatic increase in automobile and motorcycle traffic and speeding, as well as dumping of furniture and debris on the empty lot across 2nd street.

We propose a community beautification of the properties by requiring:

1) Property owner of the mobile home park to build a fence barrier around the perimeter of the park;

2) Property owner of the empty lot to provide continued clean up and waste removal as required by the Clean Tahoe Program;

3) Neighborhood residents to provide basic landscaping along the perimeter of both properties including planting of trees, shrubs and flowers, and

4) City of Lake Tahoe to install speed bumps on Helen Avenue and 2nd Street.

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Attention:

I. We all in this room, as free thinking adults, though diverse in age and circumstance, have at least one thing in common: the ability to choose. But as children our choices were made for us. We depended on and trusted our parents to make the right choices and to provide us with the most basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter, security and most of all love and affection. But some children don’t have parents that are capable of making appropriate choices and who don’t provide those basic necessities, and as a result, might live in poverty.

II. Poverty indirectly, and sometimes directly, influences depression, crime, neglect and abuse: emotional, physical and/or sexual.

BODY:

Need:
I. Every day children are born into this world. Unfortunately, these babies don’t choose to be born. Sometimes they are brought into this world by irresponsible parents, drug addicted parents, teen parents and sometimes, mentally incapable parents.

II. Domestic violence: A mother physically expressing frustration on a child, or a child witnessing his father beat his mother; this is all under the domestic violence umbrella. Reported on the California Department of Justice web site (3), there were a total of 48,000 calls related to domestic violence made to 911 in Los Angeles County in 2004.

III. Children in Los Angeles County and all over the United States face a number of unthinkable issues because of incompetent parenting. On the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s & Family Services web site (2) Fact Sheet of 2005, of all child related emergency care, a staggering 28 % were due to child neglect. Second on that list was physical abuse at 19%.

IV. Sometimes children are born unwanted. According to child abandonment facts in California found on ‘Welcome to California’, California’s Official Governmental website (4), as of October 2006, Updated November 7th, 162 newborns were surrendered in California under the “Safe Haven law”. This law allows the parent to legally surrender custody of a child, within three days of birth, without fear of prosecution. Yet another 139 newborns were found alive after illegal abandonment.

V. Abandonment and rejection go hand in hand. According to the DCFS in 2005, 21,248 children were living in out-of-home placement; in other words- Foster care. Some of the lucky ones were living in relative homes. Every year a larger percentage of children are placed in their grandparents because incompetent parenting, in 2005 it was roughly 45%. But how about the unreported cases. I am an example of an unreported case.

VI. According to the Unites States Census Bureau (1) population estimate of 2005, there where 2,732,000 children (-18) living in Los Angels County alone and of those, 484,000 lived below poverty level. (As an example of what was defined as ‘poverty’, a mother and child with a max income of $13,000 was considered impoverished in that 2005 Census.)

VII. According to the Committee for economic Development (5), children are becoming an ever smaller proportion of the American population. They warn that unless preventative ‘investments’ are made in early childhood; our future labor force will be disproportionately poor, uneducated and untrained. This is evident and can be seen on the California Department of Education website (6). It charts 23,760 teens in Los Angeles County to have dropped out of high school.

Satisfaction:

I. The problem exists in that our society believes that children are the property of their biological parents who have full custody until that child is damaged by abuse or neglect. Once a child is ‘damaged‘, that is when the child is protected under child abuse and neglect laws and warrants an intervention by Social Services. Only then will a child be ward of the state and placed in an alternative home or foster care.

II. The problem lies in that we’re are trying to solve and combat massive established problems rather then preventing them. But what kind of ‘Investments’ must be made?
A. Free of abuse and oppression.
B. Access to equal opportunities to develop their life’s potential.
C. Develop affectionate attachments to their parents and other family members.
D. Biological puberty must not be a mark for parental maturity.

III. A large percentage of biological parents are in the best position to represent the interest of their children and provide the best possible for them. But we need to move beyond that and stop viewing our children as property. Parenthood is a privilege, not a right.

IV. We need to hold parents accountable for being competent parents rather then forcing children to bare incompetence until they show signs of damage. Parental licensing will validate parental rights and refocus public policy in supporting competent parenting. Responsibility will fall on a parent to demonstrate competence in parenting rather then the state proving unfitness after damage to a child occurs (this is how it is now). Because the parent will be responsible for the rearing of their children, there will be little government intervention.

Visualization:

I. Parental licensing will not distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parenting or attempt to change parenting styles. It will only exclude those obviously unqualified. It is not a birth control measure.

II. Establishing procedures for parental licensing will entail little more administrative structure then those involving, marriage licensing or birth registration. One might make a comparison to obtaining a drivers license.

III. The criteria for obtaining a parental license would be a basic credentialing process that must be obtained by each parent for each child.
a. Parent must be able to be responsible for one’s own life before being able to care for another. The varied age should be about 18 years with completion if a high school education or equivalent .Provisional licenses are available for those under 18.
b. To pledge to care for and nurture the child and refrain from abuse and neglect. If broken, license will be revoked, fine or punishment.
c. Basic knowledge of child rearing.

IV. Parenting licenses will stimulate the development of family life education, and the mass impact would likely discourage premature pregnancy and marriage because it will reinforce the gravity of child rearing responsibilities.

V. There are many ways of prediction parental competence through evaluations as it is with adoption today.

VI. If the state required all parents to become licensed before or upon the birth of a child, child abuse and neglect could be avoided.

VII. What are some objections to licensing?
a. Restrict individual freedoms: child abuse and neglect are not freedoms. We all have the right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment.
b. Tool for racism: Children and neglect/abuse prevention is the issue, not racism. There will be set criteria, rules and regulations to follow. Anyone wanting to discriminate will not be able to.
c. Lessen governmental aid for needy families: according to ‘The Third Branch’, a news letter of the federal courts cost of incarceration per inmate estimates to be about $46,000 annually. Compare that to the $13000 poverty threshold of a mother and child scenario in my intro. If less money were spent on incarnating adults that are so because of abuse and neglect in their childhood, more money will be available for public assistance, well fare and even social security.

Action:

I. Every day children are abuse neglected, abandoned and rejected. This is currently perpetuated by the way our children and family services are set up. We need to make a change in our views about parent hood and steep up to take responsibility for our actions. Laws, ideologies and values must be changed about child rights. They are not property, but our future.

II. We must petition to change our California legislator. California is a trend setter, and all other states will follow if these changes are made. Soon all of California will be in accordance to these new laws.

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How can we ensure private universities are held to high standards?

We can borrow the model from the corporate sector. Just as all companies are required by law to publish annual reports providing details of their assets, liabilities, profits and losses, the profiles of the board of directors and the management and various other financial information, every educational institution (whether public or private) should publish an annual report with details of the infrastructure and facilities available, profiles of the trustees and the administrators, the academic qualifications and experience of the staff, the courses offered, the number of students, the results of the examinations, the amount of funds available to the university and the sources of funding etc.

In addition, every educational institution must get itself rated by an independent rating agency like CRISIL, ICRA or CARE and publicly announce its rating to prospective students to enable the students to choose the institution they want to enroll in.

At one stroke, this will bring in transparency and ensure that every educational institution, whether public or private, is accountable not only to those students who are studying in the institution, but to prospective students and the public at large as well.

Public announcements of the financial and educational records of the institutions as well as their ratings by independent rating agencies will generate healthy competition between the various private institutions and will also put pressure on the Government funded institutions to work towards all-round improvement.

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Remoderation of East Coast Producer.

Whereas, East Coast Producer was demoderated on Dyckerville.

Whereas, said demoderation violates the basic freedoms and rights of mankind.

Whereas, ECP is ordained by God himself and destined as Dyckerville moderator.

Therefore, the signatories to this petition demand an immediate elevation of ECP to the position of Super Moderator.

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Feb 8, 2005

People who do not have digital cable cannot watch degrassi unless they get an antenna and they should air it on a regular cable channel.

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Petition to the Stamp Advisory Committee from the citizens of the Texas And the USA for the issuance of a Postage Stamp of Col. Juan N. Seguin in Honor of his contribution to Texas And its History. Col. Seguin fought to see all Texans free and Independent.

Congressman Gene Green of the 29th Congressional District of the United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC, has introduced legislation requesting that the United States Postal Service [USPS] recognize Col. Juan Nepomuceno Seguin with the issuance of a postage stamp in his honor. As requested by Angel and Linda Seguin Garcia in 1998, Col. Juan N. Seguin strongly believed in the freedoms that we enjoy today. He was fair-minded, just, and fought for basic human rights for all people despite risk of imprisonment or death. He was one of the key leaders in the Texas War for Independence.

As territorial governor of Texas from July 1834 to February 1835, he protested the dismantling of the Mexican Republic by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and was the first to sound the alarm in response to these tryrannical actions. He renounced Gen. Santa Anna's overturning of the Republican Constitution of 1834 which had granted all citizens and subjects of Mexico their basic human rights.

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Arthritis: Many Victims, Not Enough Funding

It's the disease Americans are most likely to get, but advocates say more money is needed for research

By John Reinan
HealthScoutNews Reporter

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SATURDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthScoutNews) -- As the baby boom generation ages, its members may be thinking about their vulnerability to such illnesses as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
But the odds are good they haven't given much thought to the disease they're most likely to get: arthritis.

Arthritis currently afflicts 43 million Americans, and that number is projected to rise to 60 million over the next 20 years.

"It is a serious problem that is not taken seriously," says Dr. John Klippel, medical director of the Arthritis Foundation.

"A very high percentage of Americans will get arthritis," he says. "Arthritis is becoming one of the more common medical conditions in this country. We've known for a long time that it is the leading cause of disability.

"But I think the general impression for most people is that arthritis simply means aches and pains. And they think of it as something that only affects old people," Klippel says.

Although it's true that the majority of arthritis sufferers are older adults, some forms of the disease -- such as lupus -- strike younger people most often. And more children have juvenile arthritis than have juvenile diabetes.

Arthritis comes in many forms, but the most common is osteoarthritis. That's the variety that attacks cartilage and bones around joints in the body, and it accounts for about half of all arthritis cases.

In osteoarthritis sufferers, the cartilage in their joints becomes damaged and disappears over time. The bone under the cartilage becomes stiff and hard, and there may be growths (called bone spurs) around the margins of the joint.

Scientists still aren't completely certain what causes osteoarthritis, although they have identified some risk factors.

"We know that injury to the joint is a factor," Klippel says. "People in their teens and 20s who injure a knee playing sports, for example, are at a very high risk of getting osteoarthritis."

Aging is another risk factor. Something happens during the aging process that speeds up the destruction of cartilage.

"It is not just the wearing out of cartilage," Klippel says. "It's not like a tire going bald. For reasons we don't understand, the cartilage becomes damaged."

As with so many chronic diseases, obesity also plays a role.

"People who are overweight are at increased risk for developing osteoarthritis, particularly of the knees," Klippel says. "People in their 20s and 30s and 40s should understand that this is just another reason to pay attention to your weight."

Klippel and others at the foundation are hoping to raise public awareness of arthritis and get more government money for research. Despite the high numbers of Americans with arthritis, the Arthritis Foundation operates with far less money than similar organizations devoted to other diseases.

"The American Cancer Society's budget is about $800 million a year. Ours is about $130 million," says Tino Mantella, chief executive officer of the Arthritis Foundation. "The level of support we get from the government is low relative to other diseases."

Mantella hopes to raise money from the private sector as well, pointing out that arthritis costs the nation $80 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity.

"We need to convince business and industry that, with the right resources, over time it's going to cost them a lot less to support research than it will cost them from days missed at work and medical expenses from insurance," he says.

Treatment for arthritis starts with basic over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) and ibuprofen (found in Motrin and Aleve).

For more severe cases, cortisone injections into the joints can be helpful, and the Food and Drug Administration recently approved an artificial joint fluid for use in the knee.

Recent years have seen a surge in advertisements for the supplements glucosamine and chondroitin. Klippel says glucosamine has proven to be effective in relieving arthritis pain, although he says more study is needed to determine the effectiveness of chondroitin.

And as a last resort, patients can opt for knee or hip replacement surgery.

"These have become very common operations," Klippel says. "And they can really restore a person's life. These surgeries are very effective and quite safe."

But the most important step in dealing with arthritis, Klippel says, is the most basic one.

"It's people taking control -- being responsible for your arthritis and not letting it take over your life," he says. "When one is confronted with arthritis, you do have some choices.

"But you have to determine that you're going to do something about it, and not just have the attitude that going to the doctor is a waste of time and you're just going to have to live with it," he adds.

What to Do: Are you at risk for arthritis? Take this online quiz. And find out more about the use of dietary supplements from the Arthritis Foundation.

Copyright © 2002 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 1/12/2002

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Please support HB31, the bill that supports the future of our community and our students' education. "HB31 increases state funding of basic and per pupil entitlements 4/7% or $66.7 million over the biennium." (MEA Bulletin, Vol. 7, Issue 7 2/23/01) Show that we care about the future of Montanans!!! Education needs a lap dog, too!

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