The idea of HOME is sacred. We can all appreciate the value of our own place to lay ourselves down and have a little peace as we rest and prepare to greet the day and the world outside. Many among us don’t have this special restorative place, in fact, there are an estimated 1,500 people without a safe place to rest in the City of Santa Cruz, and another 1,500 people in the county. We, the undersigned believe there is a way to provide this to everyone—A Santa Cruz Sanctuary Camp, a designated area where people can rest, keep their things, build community, and find the support they need to rebuild their lives. Well meaning citizens have assumed the local services would provide what these folks need, but over the past years we’ve seen that despite the many day services provided, 95% of homeless folks still fend for themselves out in the cold dark night as they sleep out in the open. Emergency shelter space can be a 2 month wait and many report that they are never admitted at all. Maximum bed space is enough for only 5% of the homeless population. Consequently, most of our homeless population sleep out in the open, in bushes, in doorways, and in the woods in violation of the city ordinance which bans sleeping after 11 pm. This illegal camping exposes homeless people to inclement weather, violence and theft from others in the homeless community, harassment from vigilante groups, and scorn from the rest of the citizenry. Often the desperation one feels when sleeping out in the open exacerbates other existing conditions like mental illness and drug abuse. It is nearly impossible for someone who has become homeless to rebuild their life when forced to sleep in a bush and carry the last vestiges of their life in a backpack on their back. Besides the toll homelessness takes on the individuals who are forced to fend for themselves, local homeless experts have admitted that the amount of money spent on homeless is unquantifiable. The range of “services” provided is very large and includes emergency medical/ambulance, law enforcement/jail/courts, mental health etc, and the amount spent on these annually can easily climb into the tens of millions. That doesn’t include the several million dollars spent on actual homeless services. The amount is staggering when we realize how few people are actually served. Sanctuary Camps provide safe and grounding spaces for individuals to address substance abuse, mental illness, and emotional problems. People could learn about services available to them, and have support around taking medication or staying sober. Besides offering assistance to the county’s homeless population, a Sanctuary Camp would improve the city overall, reducing general vagrancy in residential, business and tourist areas, decreasing crime and police calls for homeless issues, and setting aside natural areas as places for recreation, not homeless encampments. Examples all over the country demonstrate that with Sanctuary Camps communities are safer and cleaner, and homeless people are better able to move up and out of homelessness. Santa Cruz Sanctuary Camp proposes the establishment of a pilot camp of between 25 - 50 residents to demonstrate its effectiveness over the winter. This will require a 1 acre piece of land on city, county, private or church property. Additionally the camp will request a garbage dumpster emptied weekly. The camp will use 1 porta-potty per 20 persons. A list of rules will be enforced 24 hours a day at the gate staffed in rotating shifts by a Responsible Person and a Support Person with the support of an external Steering Committee. The camp will be bound by an Art Wall and and Entrance Portal. The camp will have good relations with local authorities, the media and the community at large. We, the undersigned, encourage our city and county elected officials to allow the creation of a Sanctuary Camp and to form a partnership by allowing use of a small parcel of land and a dumpster service contract. This camp will cost very little, but will do so much.

With a record setting disapproval rate, politicians are still planning to take a summer break. I'm calling for all American's, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals to ban together and take back our country. Let's work together and put pressure on each and every one of our elected representatives to get them back to work and solve our country's problems. Each party keeps blaming the other and nothing is getting done and they feel entitled to take a break and keep earning money. Which we pay. Our politicians need to skip their vacation and get back to work or resign from office and admit they are incompetent. Our government should represent the people and not the vested interests of corporations and lobbyists. Let's make our government accountable or turn their paychecks in and go home.

After asking several times for handicapped parking in front of my home, Wyalusing removed on street parking except for church and carnival functions leaving me without a place to park since my property is the only one without alternative parking. Their action has devalued the property because it is landlocked as well as making me a shut-in, unable to get to food, doctors, mail and other necessities.

During their final hours in Raleigh, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a foolish bill requiring those applying for public assistance to pass a drug test before they can become eligible for assistance. This unconstitutional idea has been tried in other states, but it has always been stopped by court order. A group of civil rights organizations sent a letter to the Governor outlining the problems with the bill and asking him to veto it. We are asking him to do the same, but we think the Governor should hear from you. HB 392 should be vetoed because it creates unnecessary hurdles for North Carolinians in need of public assistance. It imposes additional requirements on the Work First Program, which provides temporary support for families as they work toward self-sufficiency, and on Food and Nutrition Services, which helps low-income households buy adequate food. As state employees told legislators at legislative hearings regarding this bill, these programs already use a system of interviews and drug screenings to efficiently screen applicants who may be at risk of drug or alcohol addiction. Research shows the differences in the proportion of public assistance and non-public assistance recipients using illegal drugs are statistically insignificant. A more thorough consideration of HB 392 would have revealed that Florida, before its own drug testing law was declared unconstitutional, found that the rate of drug use among these populations is lower than in the general population. The bill is grasping at a problem that simply does not exist in the population of North Carolinians impacted by this legislation.

Tell Panera Bread to stop hiding under the false pretense of claiming to be "healthy" when indeed they are not! Panera Bread needs to take action, remove GMO ingredients from their foods and move forward with full disclosure.

Safeway, Starbucks and Target have something in common: They’re all dues-paying members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), a group that is determined to deny you the right to know if your food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Last year, the GMA spent $2 million to help defeat California’s Prop 37, a citizens’ initiative that would have required mandatory labeling of GMOs in food products in California. (In all, GMA and its members contributed about half of the $46 million spent to defeat Prop 37). Now the GMA is at it again, pouring money into the campaign to defeat a similar initiative, I-522, in Washington State. By supporting the GMA, Safeway, Starbucks and Target are working to defeat your right to know. The battle in Washington State will have a huge impact on consumer rights. If I-522 passes, food manufacturers will likely reformulate their products, rather than label them. And if they reformulate their products in Washington State, they’ll likely reformulate them for all states – just as they’ve reformulated them in Europe and other countries that have GMO labeling laws. If we want the same right that consumers in 64 other countries have, we must demand that right. We must win in Washington State in November. We can start by making it clear to Safeway, Starbucks and Target that we won’t support their companies or their products, until they support our right to know and pressure the GMA to do the same.

Daylight Savings Time (DST) disrupts everyone's schedules, and, in turn, their lives. This has a negative impact on people's health and other vital aspects which constitute their happiness. Leave time alone; it does a fine job all by itself and does not need our help!

Lost in the story of Detroit's bankruptcy (the biggest municipal bankruptcy in history) were all the bankrupted dreams of the communities of color targeted for predatory home loans. Detroit had the highest foreclosure rate in the country at the peak of the housing crisis, and years later, homeowners like Rubbie McCoy, a single mother of four, are still dealing with the stress and fear of losing their home. Rubbie was the victim of predatory and discriminatory lending that devastated Black and Latino borrowers especially. And it wasn't just wrong--it was illegal. Now Rubbie is finally getting her day in court - as a plaintiff in an ACLU-backed lawsuit, by challenging Morgan Stanley for its instrumental role in racially discriminatory lending practices. But that's just the tip of the iceberg in Wall Street's role in discriminatory lending, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. What we need now is for the Department of Justice to do its part to stand up for all the Rubbies out there and finally hold all the big banks accountable for financing illegal and discriminatory lending practices. Sign the petition today urging Attorney General Eric Holder to take Wall Street banks to court for violating the Fair Housing Act.

We believe in choice and feel that should extend to letting us choose if we want to receive email from the "MoveOn family of organizations". We do not want to be automatically subscribed just because we sign a petition. Nor do we believe that people who only support certain issues or who are overwhelmed by email should have to go through the process of unsubscribing every time they sign a petition. This discourages participation in MoveOn Petition Campaigns.

Performers under the age of 18 regularly perform in licensed establishments around Pennsylvania. From the Irish Dance Schools on St. Patrick's Day, to local musicians, to National Acts such as Taylor Swift; all have performed in licensed establishments and were enjoyed by those in attendance. Most of these acts had chaperones that ensure proper behavior during the performance. Enforcement of this section of the law is hurting the development of these young performers which may reduce their chances of succeeding in the entertainment business later in life. Quite frankly, if their presence in the establishment is legal, what is the harm in allowing them to perform?

We need as many Signatures and Character letters from you . To help a Young Black Scholar Athlete Battle Opponents on the court and not in the courtroom . Saving Our Youth should be our top priority, and the Accidentally reckless homicide against brother should be dropped so Eric Trigg jr. Can Continue his bright College path. We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. " Franklin D Roosevelt"

Asking Deseret Book to drop Glenn Beck