What would you do if you couldn't flush the toilet? Or if you had to buy bottled water to cook, clean and stay hydrated? The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is shutting off water at thousands of Detroit residences each week even if their account debt was incurred by previous owners. Meanwhile, corporate accounts, with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid water bills, remain unpaid yet are still being served. And Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, has begun the process to privatize DWSD, the drinking water supply for roughly 4 million people in southeast Michigan. Privatizing the system could lead to higher rates and poorer service. In order for water to remain safe and affordable for all, we need to maintain public control of our water system and to enact a water affordability plan that keeps families connected to this critical resource.

Maryland is defined by its incredible scenic beauty and awesome natural heritage, from the Bay to our beautiful family farms, forests, and historic communities. But our treasured places and families are threatened by shale gas drilling (“fracking”), a destructive and dangerous practice that we must keep out of Maryland. Fracking next door in Pennsylvania has left a trail of ravaged forests, polluted streams, sickened families, and contaminated water supplies in its wake. And now big oil and gas companies like Halliburton and Exxonmobil are pressing to force Maryland to let them do the same thing here.

Thousands of innocent dogs/puppies and cats/kittens are senselessly euthanized every year due to overpopulation and overcrowded shelters in Georgia. Please help end this horrific epidemic by petitioning our state government to make it mandatory that all Georgia residents spay/neuter their pets.

Superintendent of Newark Public Schools has created a large scale plan without meaningful and credible engagement of the Newark community. Cami Anderson has lost the support of Newark residents including parents, students, the Newark Municipal Council, the Board of Education, Newark's mayor-elect, community organizations and 77 concerned Ministers and clergy. Poor planning, scandalous fiscal mis-management ($15,000-$60,000 or 80% salary increases to Cami's inner circle) and the destruction of community schools, demand that the One Newark Plan be halted.

Just recently the swan river fishing access popular to many floaters was closed due to complaints from nearby residents about parking, traffic, garbage, noise, etc. the lake county commissioner has closed it down and posted no trespassing signs. Although I do sympathize with the residents, this is a public spot. Instead of trying to sweep the problem under the rug, I'm asking the commissioner to address the problem head on and put in much needed additional parking. There is another petition going around to keep it closed. Last count they had 58 signatures. They are going for 100. My goal is 1000. My guess is this number will be reached very fast. What are you? A snowbird or a local. Please forward this to anyone you know that has enjoyed the luxury of this amazing place!

We never should have interfered in Iraq years ago. I believe the 3 tribes in Iraq should determine their own destiny. Too many Americans have already died there.

I attended Mysteryland USA and had the best time of my life. I love drum and bass and jungle as do many people across the globe. I talk to my friends and a lot of them say, "I would go, but I want more jungle," "more drum and bass." It doesn't hurt to ask! SO if you love dNb and jungle and want to have it highlighted next to house, bass music, hard style and big room, sign this petition

NBC has decided that "abortion" is a dirty word. Sources report that NBC is refusing to run ads for the critically acclaimed movie Obvious Child unless they edit out any mention of the word "abortion," even though that's what the entire movie is about—a woman's completely normal experience with abortion. Since when did "abortion" become one of the words you can't say in an ad? Especially when it seems like you can't make it through 30 minutes of prime time without seeing an ad for Viagra warning about erections lasting longer than four hours. This is outrageous—that's why we started a petition to tell NBC: "Abortion is not a dirty word. Stop censoring ads for the movie Obvious Child." Can you sign the petition and share it with your friends?

I would like you to expand and extend bus hours for the people of Watertown who do not drive but have to work. I am currently affected along with countless others who may not have a vehicle but have to work late hours, people who end up walking 2-3 miles due to a lack of bus route.

After watching the Paw Project I had no idea how senseless and cruel this procedure was. I feel this should be an easy ban because it is 100% wrong and the only remote benefit is saving your furniture and to a lesser degree is a source of income for vets. Facts about declawing: Declawing is amputation; it is not merely the removal of the claws. To declaw a cat, the veterinarian cuts off the last knuckles of a cat's paw – cutting through bone, tendons, skin and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint. Declaw surgery can be an extremely painful procedure with associated health risks and complications such as infection. Declaw surgery can produce permanent lameness, pain or arthritis. Declawing is the same mutilating procedure for house cats or big cats. There are effective alternatives to declawing Please help Pittsburgh to be the first city on the east coast to stop this cruel and pointless pet torture!

We , the American People want to stand and Defend all that have fought for our Freedoms ! These Americans (Our Soldiers) have given their blood , sweat and tears for All of Us and DESERVE everything that is due to them . They need to be RESPECTED ~ HONORED ~ LOVED ~ AND SALUTED !

Please help me to get the American Kennel Club (AKC) to do the honorable thing and remove their endorsed dog treats, which are made in China, from store shelves. PetCo & PetsMart have already agreed to remove & no longer carry or sell dog treats, that are made in China.  Let's urge the AKC to to do the same thing. By asking them live up to their mantra "We are not just champion dogs. We are the dogs' champion." Currently they are not being "the dogs' champion," because their endorsed treats are made & manufactured in the same Chinese plants that have sickened & killed over 1000+ dogs since 2007. I lost four very precious lives to their chicken jerky treats.  1) Bellehound's Sgt. Baroo 2U "Sargent" was only eight years old, when he died after having eaten dog treats that are/were endorsed by the AKC. He was a sweet, loving, red & white, Basenji, who loved to "baroo." He is also the dog who first alerted me to something being wrong. All four dogs showed similar symptoms, but his were the most severe. He became very sick, very thin, very quick, & could never seem to quench his thirst. I took him to my vet & his liver enzymes were off the charts.  He was in advanced, severe renal failure. He passed away in my arms, on December 6, 2011.  2) Bellehound's Creeping Violet, "Crackle" who was a tri-colored, flashy marked, feisty, but very sweet, Jack Russell Terrier. She was one of the best mousers I had ever had. She loved swimming, car rides & being my little, but very mighty, companion. She lost weight very quickly, became anemic, & also had the unquenchable thirst. True to her Terrier breeding, she hid her weakness, & illness well. She too was in an advanced stage of renal failure, by the time I realized she was sick. I lost her January 30, 3012. 3) Bellehound Rescued Me "Mimi" was a mischieviously, too smart for her own good, little tri-colored Basenji. She too loved to talk, & helped me to keep my other dogs in line. Her symptoms started out as diarrhea, vomiting, anemia (she & Sargent tested negative for hereditary anemia & Fanconi, some thing that is far too common in Basenjis). She was a fighter, she fought & lived the longest of any of my four dogs. How she managed to do that, I will never really comprehend. Other than that was her stubborn nature. She passed away in my arms August 5, 2013; three months shy of her 17th birthday. 4) Bellehound Scrawny Tawny Lion, JC "Bruiser" was my Service Dog. He was also the first for his breed with that job, not only in America, but the World. He was a very handsome, muscular, built, red, Thai Ridgeback Dog. He saved me from a rattlesnake in 2004. He received two Certificates of Honor from the AKC's Canine ACE Awards in 2005-2006 for that. In 2008 at eight & a half years of age, he made AKC history, by being the first Thai Ridgeback to earn a lure coursing title. In 2009 he was one of my Thai Ridgebacks, that was filmed for Animal Planet's, DOGS 101; Rare Breeds, episode.  In October of 2010 he was diagnosed with a severely damaged liver, & renal failure. He was placed on various medications, to help slow down the progression of his disease, & put him in remission. This was a year after I had quit feeding the chicken jerky treats (when Sargent, first became, deathly ill). Clearly the damage had already been done. Bruiser was my working partner for twelve & a half years, before he was forced, unwillingly into an early retirement. He had become so weak, & thin friends who hadn't seen him in a few months, couldn't even recognize him. October of 2013, I was told he was no longer in remission. I was devastated. I was told that my partner would die. There was nothing else my vet could do, & it would be just a matter of months, before his body would just shut down. I had to walk Bruiser to the Rainbow Bridge; even as sick as he was, he refused to give up his job, he could no longer walk, due to his progessed disease, he couldn't keep food or water down, due to the gastrointestinal upset, he had devoloped stomach cancer, three years after the treats were stopped. That's what no one gets, stopping the treats may put the dog in remission, but the poison in the treats has already caused organ failure & shut down. Bruiser fought the anesthetic, he weighed a mere 50lbs., but because of his love for me, to continue to be my working partner, he had to be double dosed. He was dosed for a 100lb dog, because the recommended dosage, wouldn't work. That is the type of partner I lost, on December 6, 2013, a day after his 13th Birthday. His death made me feel that this organization had stabbed us both in the back. I trusted the AKC, after all they have a Health Endowment section. Never in a million years did I think that they would sell anything, that would harm a dog. I sent the AKC several emails, begging for them to recall their product. They all went unanswered. I made comments on every one of their facebook pages, I was blocked from two of them. I called their Health Endowment Section, and after I asked why the AKC was selling treats made in China? I was told their office was not a part of the AKC; but they answer the phone "American Kennel Club, Health Endowment, how may I help you?" I was rudely brushed off. One of the facebook pages, before I was blocked told me (on a thread), "we don't make the treats, or own the company that makes them, we just endorse them." Endorsing treats that the FDA has known, was making dogs sick & killing them since 2007, is clearly not being any "dogs champion." The AKC also knew about it, as did Waggin Train, Canyon Creek (both owned by Purina), yet money seems far more important, than the lives of their customers. I am hoping that with your signature, we can get the AKC to follow in the same path, as PetCo & PetsMart, & pull their product, from store shelves. Before more innocent dogs are made sick & will eventually die, a very slow, painful, death. That is what I've had to watch, four of my dogs go through. The hardest & m...