At a town hall forum on Maine's heroin epidemic on January 6, Gov. LePage said: "Now the traffickers ... These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty, these types of guys. They come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, and they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave." These blatantly racist comments are unacceptable in today's political debate and do not represent the views of me or most Mainers.

At a town hall forum on Maine's heroin epidemic on January 6, Gov. LePage said: "Now the traffickers ... These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty, these types of guys. They come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, and they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave." These blatantly racist comments are unacceptable in today's political debate. I urge Gov. LePage and the Maine GOP to apologize for and repudiate these deeply offensive comments. UPDATE (JAN. 8): The governor gave a news conference in which he blamed the media for covering his remarks and claimed they were a slip of the tongue. He also said he apologized to "Maine women," who he made a point of saying were virtually all white. It's not clear what he was apologizing to them for. Because of the fundamental insincerity of this statement, we're continuing to urge the governor to give a full and honest apology for his racist statements without blaming others for his actions.

Senate bill 571 that Snyder has signed prohibits local officials from publicly discussing ballot proposals or millage issues in the 60 days leading up to an election. It is essentially a gag order and is a violation of our free speech. He has willfully poisoned our citizens' drinking water in Flint for over a year, and is now infringing upon our right to free speech. Recall him now before he does more harm.

There has been a growing conflict on the San Mateo County Coast between families, hikers and off-leash dogs and their owners. These conflicts have resulted in injuries to children, adults and pets. The potential for violent confrontations between hikers and dog-owners are escalating. Our parks should be safe places for all our citizens to enjoy. We simply ask that our Rangers enforce existing law.

My name is Ana Sol Gutierrez and I am an immigrant from El Salvador. I was the first Hispanic elected public official in Maryland. I am a professional engineer and a long-serving, experienced public servant. I am now running to be the first Salvadoran-American in Congress, seeking to fix a broken and inhumane immigration system and to be a voice for the millions who have no voice in our current political system. I will not let Democrats stand idle to the xenophobia and the fear-mongering of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, FOX news, and the Republican Party.

According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia has deployed cluster bombs in Yemen which violates international law and causes horrific civilian casualties. United States provided these cluster bombs that were used. The United States has also refused to accede the Convention on Cluster Munitions. More information on this can be found at noclusterbombs.org and hrw.org

Our teenage son was given a very harsh sentence outside the mandatory guidelines for his “first” offense. Both the Judge and the Prosecutor stated in the newspaper “We will make examples of all”. The court appointed lawyer provided counsel for both teenagers involved, which is a conflict of interest that was never addressed. No appeals and Writ of Habeas was ever filed by the court-appointed attorney. Our children, regardless of age, are our priority, even when the courts treat them just like a number.

I'm starting this petition because I am an individual targeted by gang stalkers, so I know what it feels like to live in fear. I know what it is like to feel hopeless and wonder if there is any way to escape all the pain and suffering. Innocent people are being sought after by people who have absolutely no regard to human life and they must be stopped.

I believe that if kept clean and safe, chickens are a good source for food as well as natural fertilizer. Hens are extremely quiet and produce no more waste than the average dog or cat. As a tax paying resident of Farmington Hills, I should be allowed to keep these quiet farm animals in the privacy of my own yard. I have been contacted by Councilman Lerner. He has informed me that a resident May in fact keep chickens, but they must be a minimum of 175' away from the neighbors. I appreciate this information, but feel as though that makes it mostly impossible for most residents to in fact keep a coop. After all, how many of us live 175' apart? Perhaps that was the whole point when coming up with this number as a zoning guideline.

The Israeli Knesset is on the verge of adopting an anti-democratic law to isolate and marginalize internationally respected Israeli peace and human rights groups like Peace Now and B'Tselem. [1] While purporting to be about "transparency," the proposed law would brand Peace Now, B'Tselem, and other Israeli groups working for democratic values like peace and human rights as "foreign agents," based on the fact that they receive funding from foreign governments, mainly European governments. The American Jewish Committee says the proposed law risks Israel's reputation as a democracy. [2] The Washington Post editorial board warned: "The proposal reflects the kind of tactic that Russia and China have employed to squelch dissent, and it is not in keeping with Israel's core values as a democratic state." [3] The proposed law discriminates against groups that receive foreign government funding, while allowing right-wing, pro-occupation Israeli groups that receive funding from foreign billionaires like Sheldon Adelson to continue to shield their donors from scrutiny. A recent Peace Now report found that 94% of donations to Israeli right-wing organizations are not transparent. [4] Urge Congress to speak up against the proposed Israeli law to isolate and marginalize peace and human rights groups by signing our petition. References: 1. http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=16136 2. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ajc-statement-on-proposed-israeli-ngo-law-300199603.html 3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-danger-to-israeli-democracy/2016/01/02/22f90a2e-af3d-11e5-b711-1998289ffcea_story.html 4. http://peacenow.org.il/eng/sites/default/files/Right%20Wing%20Funding.pdf

This is a social justice issue. Health is essential to a good life. Although health care is not perfect, without it people cannot prevent disease or maintain their health. I just learned that my Medicare B annual deductible increased, but Social Security remains stagnant in 2016 with no COLA. Though this is minor, others deprived of ACA health insurance will suffer greatly!

Here are the statistics regarding tobacco: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, imposing a terrible toll in health, lives, and dollars on families, businesses and government. Tobacco kills more than 480,000 people annually–more than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Tobacco costs the U.S. approximately $170 billion in health care expenditures and more than $150 billion in lost productivity each year. While the United States has made major progress against tobacco use, nearly one in five Americans still smokes, and more than 2,500 kids try their first cigarette each day. http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/facts_issues/toll_us/ In addition, secondhand smoke causes serious diseases and premature death among nonsmokers. That's why a growing number of states, cities and countries are enacting laws that require all workplaces and public places to be smoke-free. North Dakota will be the 30th smoke-free state as a result of a ballot initative voters approved on Nov. 6, 2012. These laws protect everyone's right to breathe clean air. A Global Movement for Smoke-Free Air There has been enormous progress in the United States, and a growing movement globally, to enact strong smoke-free laws: • In the U.S., 30 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, plus hundreds of cities and counties, have enacted strong smoke-free laws that include restaurants and bars. The states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. • A growing number of countries have also passed strong smoke-free laws. These include: Bhutan, Chad, Colombia, Djibouti, Guatemala, Guinea, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Lithuania, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Turkey, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Zambia. All Canadian provinces/territories and Australian states/territories have enacted such laws. A Toxic Soup of Chemicals and Carcinogens Secondhand smoke is a poisonous mixture of more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer. The U.S. Surgeon General and public health agencies around the world have documented overwhelming evidence of the deadly effects of secondhand smoke: • Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and heart disease in non-smoking adults. Among babies and children, it causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), low birth weight, respiratory and ear infections, and more severe asthma attacks. • There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can trigger harmful changes in the cardiovascular system that increases risk of heart attack or stroke. • In the U.S., secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 people each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, secondhand smoke kills more than 600,000 people each year, according to a 2010 study by the World Health Organization. Smoke-Free Laws: The Only Solution Public health authorities have concluded that the only way to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to require completely smoke-free workplaces and public places. Other approaches, such as air ventilation systems and separate smoking and non-smoking sections, do not eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke. Numerous scientific studies have also documented that smoke-free policies do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry (see our Fact Sheet: Smoke-Free Laws Do Not Hurt Business at Restaurants and Bars). I would like to know why Virginia is lagging behind the rest of the country in passing legislation to protect it’s residents and kids? Even Washington DC and Tennessee have passed laws protecting our right to breathe clean air. Instead, all I see is our representatives protecting the tobacco lobby and it’s addicts and our state become more unhealthy with obesity rates at an all time high. I’m asking you to sign this petition to our state representatives to introduce legislation to ban all smoking in public places and in cars where kids are present This is directly affecting me and others in our society and I'm sick of seeing our kids addicted to these products.