The U.S. government, through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), has unjustly tried to evict me and my son from my home of 15 years. Having been hurt on the job, I became re-employed but the bank would not accept payments or modify the FHA-backed loan. Through the FHA/HUD mortgage program, the Secretary of HUD has not only allowed thousands of unjust foreclosures across the country, but Secretary Castro continues to encourage banks to profit off the suffering of our communities by peddling massive bank bailouts for foreclosures (FHA is planning to write a check to MidFirst Bank for over 240% of the original value of the loan for my family home.) Together we can stop the foreclosures! Take a stand for community land! -Elizabeth McGriff

I have been working on fighting against the devastation caused by the existence of the four beer stores in Whiteclay since 2009, and allegations of many illegalities (including sex trafficking) are rampant among the native people. Alcohol is wreaking havoc on the lives of the tribal people: addiction, fetal alcohol syndrome, domestic violence. I am a Nebraskan and feel compelled to campaign against this situation.

Changing Walton Dune’s Neighborhood Beach Access to Regional Beach Access will have a significant negative environmental impact, destroying dunes and a critical habitat area as designated by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. It will also increase safety and traffic concerns, as this area has neither outlet nor turnaround for public or emergency vehicles, and the added congestion created will exacerbate the already present overcrowding issues on the narrow road and small beach. More information can be found at 30abeachside.com. ---------------------------------------- 6/4/16 - Some confusion has surfaced by combining the issue of changing the Walton Dunes (NBA) into a Regional Beach Access an (RBA) and the issue of private landowner/customary land use. These are completely separate and distinct topics. The Walton Dunes Neighborhood Beach Access (NBA) has been a public access point not only for the neighborhood but the general community for decades. I hear no one suggesting that this access should or could be private. Opposition to the RBA is largely based on preventing the escalation of unsafe traffic conditions and preserving a pristine area for residents and visitors alike. The area in question is pristine. The dunes, which were decimated by Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, are making a comeback. The Walton Dunes NBA was scraped clean when used by the county to remove debris from the beach area. The dunes now are several feet tall and growing each year. The area is home to nesting turtles, flora and fauna. Words from a song "They paved paradise to put up a parking lot" come to mind. The Walton Dunes NBA is located 1/2 mile from County Highway 30A off of Lakewood Drive. This area is congested; with no other outlet or turn around, narrow streets, blind corners and no continuous sidewalk to the beach. The area consists of hundreds of residential and multi-unit complexes, with construction at an all-time high. This area provides over 1,000 rental opportunities for individuals a day, not to mention the full time residents - most of which use the Walton Dunes NBA. When combined with pedestrian, bicycle, construction, service and local vehicular traffic, the traffic and safety concerns only escalate. The placement of a parking lot on Beachfront Trail will only magnify already dangerous conditions and will require several homeowner associations to drive through said parking lot to access their residences. If the goal is to provide additional access/parking to tourist and locals outside of the neighborhood (1/2 mile radius of the location in question), we must deal with reality. Changing the Walton Dunes Neighborhood Beach Access (NBA) into a Regional Beach Access (RBA) changes nothing except increasing traffic tension and paving a portion of this pristine area. The neighborhood who has learned to use the NBA "as is" will quickly park in the parking places and compete for what little beach is left after construction. This will bring us full circle, leaving those tourist and locals outside the neighborhood still frustrated with no access/parking and heavily used beach.

I am a Puerto Rican American who along with the other 8.5 million, cares about Puerto Rico, its culture and its heritage!

At 19 years old, Robert Chambers was shot in the back of the head by deputy Steven Glidden of the Houston County Sherrif's office. With mounting evidence of police misconduct and a cover up, civil rights attorneys for Robert's mother, Sharese Wells, have filed paperwork to bring this case to trial. There were fingerprints that were never analyzed, a gun that didn’t match up to reports and another possible suspect in the burglary he was a suspect in, among other inconsistencies. By his own admission, Glidden says he didn’t see a gun on Chambers as he ran. Please sign this petition asking Loretta Lynch and GF Peterman of the Department of Justice to bring civil rights or criminal charges against the officer so that Robert's loved ones can have a chance at justice.

I have been doing research on childhood obesity in Mississippi; this is an urgent problem for which solutions exist. I believe the children of Mississippi need more than simply a law in words. They need a law in action.

I think the rise of Donald Trump is evidence enough that the educational standards of this country have sunk well below acceptable. They need to be supreme.

Roadside Memorials around the Tucson area are considered by many to be sacred sites, worthy of protection. They stand as as a reminder that life is precious and driving with caution saves lives. Don't let them be removed from our landscape. Let's spend the money being used to remove these sacred sites on improving the quality of the roads themselves-

The proposed Pescadito dump will be bringing industrial, demolition and special wastes that are toxic into Webb County by rail and truck, from industries within an 800 mile radius. This includes materials like coal ash, which carries significant health risks for humans, livestock and most importantly, our air and water. Pescadito will also accept maquiladora and other industrial waste by rail from Mexico, which will not even be inspected until it has already crossed the Rio Grande. The proposed site is within the floodplain, on the Pescadito creek, which empties into the Rio Grande. Local landfills have more than 100 years of life remaining. We don't need this dump. Read more at http://NoLaredoDump.com. Sign this petition, or sign a paper petition when you see our volunteers in public. Just stand with us and CALL them out!

We applaud reforms outlined in Senator Sanders' plans for combating detriment to our ecosystem; however, there is one immensely destructive industry not addressed. Animal-agriculture is a major cause of climate-change pollution, water pollution, drought, water shortage, deforestation, land degradation, species extinction, and contributes to world hunger. We are calling to end animal-agriculture subsidies. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found animal-agriculture responsible for 14.5% - 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions - more than the entire transportation sector. Climate scientists published a report detailing missing data from the FAO's calculations, and pegged the real figure at a whopping 51%. In the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, agricultural activity was identified as a source of pollution for 48% of stream and river water, and for 41% of lake water. The top source of this pollution is the storage and disposal of animal waste. First, storage tanks often leak, rupture, or overflow. Second, the way the industry disposes of the waste is by spraying it onto farms as fertilizer; however, the farms produce far more waste than is needed for this application, so the (excessive) excess runs off into surrounding water systems. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorous, an effect of fertilizer runoff, is the most common form of water pollution in the United States. In addition, there are toxic substances in the animals’ excretions, such as pharmaceuticals and bacteria, which cause damage to the environment, wildlife, and human health. The amount of water used to raise animals for human consumption dwarfs the amount used for growing plants for us to consume. A hundred billion gallons of water is being exported from California each year - in the form of alfalfa, to feed livestock. That’s enough to provide for the yearly water usage of a million families. The UN estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. Occupying over half of Earth’s arable land; animal-agriculture is behind the majority of deforestation, land degradation, and species extinction. Despite these intensive impacts, it has been estimated that one in eight people still suffer from food scarcity - and it's only getting worse. According to the FAO, "the number of hungry is currently climbing at the rate of some four million a year." Animal-agriculture is in fact a contributor to world hunger. For example they use land in Africa to grow soybeans to feed to cattle in the United States instead of feeding soybeans to starving people in Africa. Even those still consuming products of animal-agriculture ought to end taxpayer money propping up this destructive industry, as many in the scientific and health communities have warned us of the need to curb consumption. Also, there are no two ways about it: animal-agriculture is unconscionably cruel to the individuals who are its commodities. In contrast; fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds build health and prevent and reverse disease affordably with healthy carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Fruit trees and plants actually sequester carbon in the soil where it belongs. In light of all we know about industrialized animal-agriculture's devastating impacts on the health of the planet and people, as well as its inherently inhumane exploitation of sentient beings, it does not make sense for us to be subsidizing it. This is a case of the profits of a few taking precedence over the benefit of the many. Bringing an end to all funding, both direct and indirect, of animal-agriculture by the U.S. government would be a huge step with many positive effects, not the least of which is helping to reverse catastrophic environmental deterioration.

As an objective observer, it's plain to see that Detroit school children and their education are continually place in jeopardy because the state of Michigan regards them as little more than expendable pawns in a political chess game. No child's education--and by extension, their lives--should ever be so easy to play with.

We the 2016 Florida Democratic Pledged Delegates, 2016 Democratic Pledged Delegate Candidates, and the voters of the great State of Florida, are writing to you to express our strong concerns for the current direction of our party and the future of the democratic process in our United States of America. It is our deepest hope that when you read our concerns and our requests for action, you do so in the sentiment expressed in a quote by Abraham Lincoln in stone at our nation’s capital: "…and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish" 1863 As citizens and elected officials, we have deep-rooted concerns for the Democratic party’s primary system. The primary system has shown to not only disenfranchise millions of independent and non-party affiliated voters, but has also been involved with numerous accounts of possible voter fraud and confirmed accounts of unethical behavior at the expense of voters. In the recent months, the execution of the Democratic primary system has: (1) Disenfranchised thousands of Democrats due to lack of polling stations in Arizona, (2) Both elected and hired party members have been involved with numerous confirmed accounts of unethical behavior relating to voting, (3) The access to our party's VAN, or member contact lists, has been used by top party leaders to prevent other members from running in the Democratic primary party system, and (4) Over 120,000 registered Democrats in Brooklyn, New York were purged from voter lists preventing them from participating in the primary system. As pledged delegates elected in this primary system, we pledge to conduct our own polls to ensure that we vote for the candidate in line with majority. We refuse to represent the State of Florida at the convention in Philadelphia without the will of ALL our Florida citizens who hold our party platform dear to their hearts. As party members, we pledge to refuse responsibility of a Republican-controlled White House come November. Currently, millions of party members will abstain from voting for the Democratic nominee if this current primary process continues. We urge you to speak with your constituents so you may truly realize that no speech on "party unity" or "lesser of two evils" will trump the intimate emotions of disfranchised party members across this state and nation. As voters in the State of Florida, we pledge to hold you responsible for your decision on our call to action. In the extreme case that our voices are not heard, you can expect activists on the ground in your district, and voters in the booth. Your acceptance to our call of action will garner respect and gratitude during your future political endeavors. Therefore, we the People of Florida ask that you pledge, as a superdelegate, to provide a means for citizens in your districts to determine your vote at the convention just as Florida superdelegate Alan Grayson has recently accomplished. If you choose not to conduct a poll, we ask that you pledge to refrain from voting and participating at the convention in Philadelphia. We sincerely hope that you join our efforts in ensuring that the State of Florida arrives to the convention with the current voice, and the will of our Florida electorate. Anything less will be considered a direct attack on our constitutional voting rights. Sincerely, The electorate of Florida