My name is Laura, and I'm a mom from Maine. Throughout my pregnancy, I was careful to eat a very healthy diet, get regular exercise, and protect my body and my baby from dangers like alcohol, cigarette smoke, and chemical cleaning products. But I had no idea that there were other dangers hiding in the foods we eat. After a completely normal pregnancy, my son was born with a birth defect called hypospadias with chordee – one of the most common among babies in the United States. At just eight months old, my son needed a three-and-a-half-hour surgery to dismantle and reconstruct his penis. I remember singing to him as an anesthesia mask was placed on his face, trying to help him be less afraid. It was a wrenching experience for all of us. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that chemicals called phthalates harm the growing brain and reproductive health, especially during pregnancy and early childhood. Phthalates interfere with testosterone and thyroid hormones, both critical to healthy development, and may lead to birth defects like the one my son had -- as well as learning disabilities. My son is happy and healthy now, but it was a difficult experience for him and my family. I’ll never know for sure what caused my son’s birth defect. I did not knowingly eat Kraft products during my pregnancy. Still, if I had known the possible harm from phthalates, I would have done my best to avoid phthalates while I was pregnant. But avoiding them is hard. Phthalates are used to soften plastics, and you can find them nearly everywhere: in shower curtains, furniture, cosmetics, and even the foods we eat. They get into our food -- and our bodies! -- by escaping during food processing from plastic tubing, conveyor belts, the plastic gloves food workers wear, even food packaging. Food is the number one source of exposure to these toxic chemicals in utero and during early childhood. And phthalate levels are particularly high in dairy products like cheese and ice cream. We’re calling on Kraft to be a leader in protecting kids and families by eliminating ANY and ALL phthalates in their food processing and products. Kraft is the biggest producer of cheese in the country -- if it changes, others will follow. Plus, Kraft recently eliminated artificial food dyes from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, so we know it listens to consumers’ voices -- now it’s time to finish the job and protect our kids!

Despite Costco's commitment to end the use of cruel gestation crates by 2017, a recent open rescue investigation into a Costco supplier revealed most mother pigs trapped in tiny gestation crates, unable to assist as their babies were slowly dying. Furthermore, activists found dying baby pigs piled up inside crowded farrowing crates, covered in blood and excrement, and up to 1/3 of them will die before even reaching slaughter. Shockingly, piglets whose mothers are mutilated by years of abuse are sometimes forced to drink their mother's blood in order to survive.

Installation of cell tower is dangerous and will have an impact on home values.

We have been homeowners and carried State Farm insurance for 18 years. Now we are being denied coverage for a leaking and rotted roof that has caused significant water and black toxic mold damage throughout our home. Not to mention, causing our family major health issues... to name a few in particular: Lymphoma cancer (my teenage daughter and several pets, through the years). My daughter was diagnosed at only 15 with Burkitt's Lymphoma, stage IV (which is linked to mono, EBV, mosquitoes, dampness, and mold). She is now infertile for the rest of her life, as the tumors consumed both her ovaries. My son, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (a form of Autism) at age 5, Scoliosis and Stenosis of the spine, and a fractured pelvis at only 14 due to weakened bones. We have all experienced (some currently are) depression and extreme weight loss. Millions of dollars in medical bills, loss of work, inability to work, memory loss, nerve loss, thyroid problems, insomnia, PTSD, Anxiety, psychological and suicidal tendencies, gall bladder & kidney/bladder infections, severe migraine headaches... The list goes on. I stopped smoking cigarettes in May 2016; smelled the mold about a week after. On June 7, 2016, I filed the first of 4 claims. Each time the adjusters came out, they found more damage. I was told by one that our roof has been this way since our home was built in 1994. Yet he refused to document it so I could give to my lawyer. We started looking for a temporary home, as the mold damage experts advised us it was "uninhabitable". My lawyer informed me (without a doubt) we have a case. I was told not to contact State Farm, don't communicate with them, don't sign anything. I wasn't contacted by my lawyer for over 5 weeks. We had to live in a tent in our front yard, in the sweltering 90°+ temps, for 11 long, hot weeks. My daughter was in remission for only 6 short months. Due to my negligence, I deposited 2 checks from State Farm (in fear of losing them in a tent) and was "terminated" (accepting payment means the work was to be completed and received for services rendered). We have contacted numerous lawyers, but nobody will help us. We have been paying costly (out-of-pocket) home repairs and travel expenses to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. We are now being threatened to lose everything we've worked so hard for due to possible total income AND medical coverage loss. Why do we pay for homeowners insurance if it doesn't cover what it should? Yes, I understand WV Homeowners Insurance doesn't cover mold damage. But if it's significant damage and rot caused by 22 years of continuous leaking? Who's to blame?

Donald J Trump has caused near irreparable damage, by his Tweets... The WORLD will be better off without the POTUS troublesome Tweets! Donald J. Trump's Tweets are Uninformed Rants, Vindictive, Malicious... and of NO social value.

NFL ownership is sending us a message.  Sign this petition to send one right back to them.

Selling my metadata to advertisers is like selling pictures of me to advertisers. They would be legally required to pay me for my image. Why are they allowed to sell my information without my consent? They should be forced to pay me to access that information. Don't sell us out, Congress!

Father of the Pride was an amazing show and has been gone for too long, and it must make a comeback!

The election of Donald Trump has in part been seen as a failure of the news media. There has never been a more critical time for Americans to learn the truth about his blatant conflicts of interest, his dangerous foreign policy, his willful ignorance about government, and the truth about his campaign's role in the Russian hacking of our election. I cannot fulfill my role as an informed citizen participating in making our government serve the people rather than the rich and the corporations without being informed about domestic and foreign policy. MSNBC is my primary source of being so informed.

I believe that a news publication that has previously not given advertising on their app should not allow lobbyist groups to advertise on their app.

Why is Twitter amplifying the tweets of hate groups? Twitter’s promoted tweets and trends have recently featured harmful content by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Profiting from hate and hate groups is unacceptable. FAIR isn’t just any hate group. It’s one of the worst of many bad ones founded by the white supremacist John Tanton. And through groups like FAIR, anti-immigrant white supremacists legitimize violence against our communities. FAIR is also one of the primary architects and cheerleaders of policies that have torn millions of immigrants away from their families and communities through deportation, imprisonment, and even death. In fact, Donald Trump has hired their former Executive Director, Julie Kirchner, to be an advisor to Customs and Border Protection. Sign and share this petition to tell Twitter to do the right thing. References: 1) https://rewire.news/article/2017/01/19/twitter-allows-hate-group-promote-anti-immigrant-agenda-day-inauguration/ 2) https://support.twitter.com/articles/20170425

Chicago Tribune's billionaire owners refuse to remove a crime victim's gruesome assault photo from its website nearly a decade after the incident. Today the graphic image is fixed at the top of page one when John's name is searched online, causing him harm every single day. The bloody photo, categorized by Google as "explicit," is the first thing any potential employer or colleague sees when John's name is Googled! This highly graphic photo is hurting John's professional life enormously, causing our entire family much distress. As of today, 107 other highly notable publications immediately took down assault photos and content upon request. Chicago Tribune is the ONLY publication that refuses to allow this victim the opportunity to heal, instead inflicting professional and emotional damage on John years after the tragedy. When several of John's family, friends, and even US Senators requested photo removal as an act of empathy for a crime victim, Tribune editors turned around and blamed the victim for the very image they had the power to remove. Tribune’s persistent refusal is a clear act of victim blaming and a flagrant disregard for a crime victim’s privacy and dignity. Crime victim experts agree that “secondary victimization” in the wake of a crime can result in exacerbating victim trauma and cause unnecessary additional harm. We would appreciate it so much if you could sign the following petition and share it widely. Tell Chicago Tribune CEO Justin Dearborn that he MUST stop harming a crime victim!