The Local Community Radio Act has sailed through a House subcommittee and passed unanimously at the full committee level. Translation: Congress is super close to passing a bill that would put hundreds of new independent radio stations on the air. But they won’t pass it if we don’t bring the noise. So we need your help, now more than ever. I can give many reasons we need more local, Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations. What are yours?

What’s Your #1 Reason For Needing More Local Radio? Maybe you hate commercial radio’s repetitive, top 40 playlists. Maybe you crave more information on local political campaigns and issues. Or maybe you’re just ready to become the media. I’ve got my own list of reasons, which you can see in this video. Tell Congress your reasons, too.

Tell Congress Why You Need Local Radio

Your representative needs a little prompting every now and then. So let’s flood their in-boxes with reasons for passing the LPFM bill now. Add your voice. Bring the noise.

A perfect storm is gathering to end the prohibition against marijuana in the United States . Economic, generational, and technological forces have combined with new views from the public and powerful opinion makers to create an unprecedented climate for the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana.

Storm clouds are brewing from all segments of society to upend the “reefer madness” fear and misconceptions that have dictated U.S. drug policy for decades. The upheaval begins with the economy, but doesn’t end there. As Bob Dylan noted long ago, "You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Here’s a review of the pressures bearing down on the prohibitionists.

It’s the economy, stupid

With the country in an economic meltdown similar to the Great Depression, an increasing number of citizens are questioning the cost of the drug war. Billions of dollars have been spent on law enforcement and imprisonment since 1970. (1) More than 20 million citizens have been arrested for cannabis-related charges, including 90 per cent for possession. Marijuana-related arrests continue at the alarming rate of more than 900,000 a year.

Let me begin by saying that I don't have any desire to be arrested. I am a pediatrician with 3 teenagers and a husband who would prefer that I do not spend time in jail. I have never actually spent the night in jail and I imagine it’s not very pleasant. To be honest, I am a bit frightened. But, I expect that these are normal feelings and I am dedicated to act despite my reservations because there comes a time when our conscience dictates that we act. That time is now (or "way past now" as doctors and patients whom I've met in my travels have told me).

In short, I am going to be arrested because I believe that it is my professional responsibility to advocate on behalf of those patients who are suffering and because it is clear that traditional advocacy tools are not working. The phrase that runs continuously through my mind is "To be silent is to be complicit." I cannot be complicit in the face of an industry that profits at the cost of human lives and in the face of an administration and Congress that are too dysfunctional to stop this practice.

Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Palestinian-American journalist and former Al-Jazeera producer. He also taught Mass Communication at Australia's Curtin University of Technology, is a frequent speaker, a regular media guest, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle, a leading resource for information on Israel/Palestine and much more.

He's also written numerous articles, commentaries, short stories, and authored several books, including "The Second Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle," and his latest and topic of this introductory review, "My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story."

Baroud knows his subject well, having been born and raised in a Gaza refugee camp where he saw Israeli soldiers regularly oppress, harass, humiliate, and attack young Palestinians like himself in an attempt to crush their spirit and break their will to resist, to no avail no matter how hard they tried.