Secretary Hagel: People who live on Georgia’s coast have protected the North American Right Whale for many years. NOAA has designated our waters as critical habitat for this rarest of whales, for it is here that they birth their calves. A dozen environmental agencies tried to stop the Navy from building a submarine warfare training range here that will produce a barrage of sound and traffic that should not be allowed in the Right Whale’s nursery, where it targets the most vulnerable animals. They failed. Only you can stop the Navy’s use of deadly sonar and underwater explosives in training programs over the next 5 years. Nobody else has the power to make these changes. You do. Please use your power to force the Navy to use satellite technology, extremely accurate but harmless to marine mammals. Make them use the “Listening Buoy” system of whale detection instead of positioning a sailor on top of a ship, looking for whales. By the time a whale is spotted by visual detection, it’s too late to prevent vessel strike, much less the excruciating sound of sonar, which travels 900 miles underwater and causes cetaceans to bleed from their brains and often, to beach themselves. Over the next five years, in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico, our Navy will kill thousands of whales and dolphins and destroy the hearing of five million others. Secretary Hagel, a deaf whale cannot navigate, care for its young, evade predators, or find food . A deaf whale is a dead whale. In the case of the North American Right Whale, there are only 350 whales left. The naval warfare range, built to last 20 years, will cause their extinction. It won’t take long. Mitigating the carnage will not compromise our national security. There are many alternatives--- underwater drones, satellites, smart buoys, and simulation techniques-- that can be used in training our naval personnel to maintain their place as the best in the world. In fact, to be the best, our Navy must use the new techniques, because 20-year-old sonar technology cannot detect the new enemy subs coated with sonar-repelling paint. Modern technology can reduce the toll without compromising national security. The staggering numbers of dead and dying marine mammals predicted by our Navy cannot be allowed to stand. These inhumane actions, used not in war, but in routine training for war, must stop. We are better than that. Whales have been on this earth for 50 million years. They are not our enemy. There is no compelling need for them to suffer impairment to their most vital functions. There is not need for them to die slow, painful deaths. There is no need for whole species to go extinct. You, and only you have the power to compel the Navy to change its course. President Obama appointed you in part because you, as a combat soldier, understand what our troops must face in defending America. In this, you are unique. Please use your understanding to direct our Navy to chart a humane course when dealing with other creatures that have as much right to live as we do.

The SCDOT Highway Safety Office has identified the intersection of West Carolina Ave., West Home Ave., and 14th Street, as one of the most dangerous in the state, having an especially high rate of dangerous right-angle (T-bone) wrecks. They've proposed constructing a roundabout there, which would be funded primarily through federal money already set aside for traffic safety. Roundabouts are proven to reduce fatal crashes by 89 percent. It’s the only solution with available funding. Some believe a traffic light would help, but that wouldn't prevent right-angle accidents. Others are concerned about construction or property rights. Those concerns pale in comparison to the ultimate issue: safety. The roundabout will allow for more efficient traffic flow and create an impressive entrance to our beautiful town while also reducing deadly accidents there. Please put safety first and support the construction of Hartsville’s roundabout.

Somebody has to.

Over the past several decades, the old and laughably inaccurate "facts" surrounding Christopher Columbus have gradually given way to historical truth. Many Americans now have a keen awareness of the motives and methods he employed, in the name of Spain, to dehumanize and violate the innocent. His greed-driven campaign to leverage genocide into wealth was the keystone to the entire Atlantic Slave Trade, indirectly resulting in the slaughter of millions of diverse African and Native American peoples, followed by their enslavement and cultural marginalization. He was personally and directly responsible for atrocities that would horrify any modern war-crimes tribunal. His actions were so vile that they inspired Bartolomé de las Casas to renounce his own wealth, adopt a position of service to humanity, and take up arms against the evils which would soon dominate the gestalt of global imperialism for the next five-hundred years. We find Columbus to be a disgraceful figure, unfit to represent who we claim to be, as a nation. Retaining such an association makes us fools on the world stage, and worse, lowers us as liars to ourselves, our children, and our ancestors. We could use a new role model, someone worthy of our focus and celebration. Someone like Bartolomé de las Casas. Please don't make us explain to future generations why we continue to laud a monster like Columbus, while we willingly ignore a hero like Bartolomé. Casting aside the triumph and compassion of our history cheapens it beyond measure. We should be proud to Americans, not ashamed of it, but keeping some two-bit biggot up on a federal pedestal certainly does not help. Let us change this. Please.

When we are 18 we are legally adults. We are able to vote and be in the military. I'm starting this petition because I believe that adults should be treated as such.

Support the “Simple Possession of Small Quantities of Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment Act” Washington, DC has the country’s highest arrest rate for marijuana possession – over twice the rate of the second highest New York City. There is also an extreme racial disparity in DC’s marijuana arrests. A recent ACLU report found that African Americans were 8 times more likely to be arrested for pot possession in DC than white people – even though numerous studies show both groups use the drug at similar rates. Decriminalizing marijuana is about decriminalizing Black and Brown people in our communities! We, the undersigned, call on members of the DC City Council and Mayor Vincent Gray to support the Simple Possession of Small Quantities of Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment Act.

Because I'm bored.

It doesn't have to be this hot.

Many teens and young adults in the city of Salina, Kansas would like to have a Hot Topic closer to their homes. At this time the closest Hot Topic is more than an hour away. This keeps many people from being able to shop there. It would be great if we could shop at our favorite store in our hometown.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) accused President Obama of giving aid to Al Qaeda, which she said is proof that we are living in the "End Times." Congressional Republicans have no shortage of extreme, bigoted and paranoid members in their ranks, but Rep. Bachmann sits on the House Intelligence Committee. Rep. Bachmann has shown time and time again that her lack of judgment and lack of attachment to the real world should preclude her from being in a position where she deals with classified information and is responsible for keeping Americans safe from threats.

This year the MCPS transportation department made massive changes to bus routes and staff in order to save money. Bus drivers are expected to carry 3 times the amount of stundents they previously carried and expected to make it across town in a a third of the time. The buses are extremely overcrowded and children forced to sit 3 sometimes 4 to a seat and many children have suffered minor injuries from falling during bus turns. Although MANY parents and students have complained no changes or adjustments have been made to ensure the safety of the children. Please help us make a change and restore the old bus times,schedules, routes, bus drivers and put the safety of the children FIRST.

Mansfield, MA Animal Control Officer Jeff Collins is killing pit bulls due to his personal bias and discrimination, along with numerous cats and other breeds of dogs. PLEASE HELP US MAKE THIS STOP!!! This man doesn't deserve this job, nor to be judge jury and executioner in behavior based euthanasia when he self admittedly doesn't understand nor is aptly educated in canine behavior. Animals are dying! WE DEMAND CHANGE! Rocco the blue nosed pit bull was killed in December 2012, Carmella the pit bull in August 2013, and now Oscar the pit bull in October 2013, with other's in between and more in danger! No animal is safe in this town until he has been removed!