Wildlife killing contests are held regularly in New Mexico and many other states. They are organized events in which contestants compete for prizes by killing the most animals over a given time period. Wildlife killing contests serve no legitimate management purpose. They range from well publicized, sponsored events to informal contests announced on the Facebook pages of predator-killing enthusiasts. (There are many such pages, such as Predatormasters, Predator Hunting Dog Down, NM Desert Dogs etc.) Prizes are also sometimes offered for the largest and smallest animals killed. The most common targets are coyotes, but other targets include foxes, prairie dogs, skunks, badgers, bobcats, and other unprotected species. Contestants usually use high-powered firearms to kill their targets at long distances, often after luring them in with calling devices. The AR-15 is a popular weapon among predator hunters. It is a modified version of a rifle developed for the military, accurate at long distances. Prairie dogs are simply used for target practice without any pretense of “fair chase.” Participants in prairie dog shoots enjoy the "red mist" that occurs when their targets are disintegrated by high powered rifles at distances of up to 800 yards. Is this "hunting"? Wildlife killing contests are legal in every state except California. (Colorado limits the number of animals that can be killed by each participant to five, which is not much of a restriction.) Wildlife killing contests happen because many species of wildlife are not legally protected. In New Mexico, for example, there are seasons but no bag limits for furbearers such as bobcats and foxes, which means you can kill as many as you like during much of the year. For other species, such as coyotes and prairie dogs, there is no protection at all. You can kill as many as you like at any time. Wildlife killing contests give ethical hunters a bad name. Using animals for live target practice violates one of the core tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: wildlife should only be killed for a legitimate purpose. Advocates of wildlife killing contests often say that such events are needed to “manage” wildlife to prevent overpopulation, protect livestock or increase game animals. Science does not support these claims. Coyotes, for example, are self-regulating. Coyotes often mate for life. A pair will defend territories against other coyotes. When resident coyotes are removed, they are quickly replaced by new arrivals. Coyotes are intelligent social animals.They often mate for life. The indiscriminate killing associated with wildlife killing contests does not target specific coyotes that are attacking livestock. There is evidence that wildlife killing contests may actually increase conflicts with livestock by leading to higher pup survival rates (and so more mouths for adults to feed), and increasing the number of younger, transient individuals that may be more predisposed to attack livestock. Killing predators indiscriminately does not necessarily translate to more game animals since ungulate populations are often limited by other factors, like habitat and climate. Wildlife killing contests ignore the ecological importance of target species. Coyotes, for example, help to keep prey populations in check, including rodents that carry human diseases such as hantavirus and plague. Prairie dogs are a keystone species upon which many other wildlife species depend to some extent. Coyotes eat prodigious numbers of rodents, including species that carry human diseases such as hantavirus and plague. While wildlife killing contests have little impact on overall coyote numbers, they disrupt pack family structure and causes needless suffering to individual animals, not just to those that are actually killed or wounded, but to those that are left orphaned and unable to fend for themselves. Wildlife killing contests undermine the economic benefits of wildlife to New Mexico. Non-consumptive users of wildlife comprise about one-third of the state’s population. They outnumber hunters and anglers by nearly two to one, and account for $328 million in annual expenditures related to wildlife-watching.

We, the students of Baltimore, are being denied access to culturally relevant education. The punitive system of standardized testing hinders our ability to learn.

The Democratic Chair person should have the best interest of the party in mind. Mrs. Schultz has undermined the debate schedule. She has shown bias toward her friend Hillary Clinton.

As a parent who has been battling a rare disease for many years which left me gravely ill at points and for which I underwent an autologous stem cell transplant, I have been advocating for the passage of this school bus transportation bill since 2011. We live too close to our zoned elementary school to be eligible for school bus transportation provided by our school district and had to find alternate ways to transport our children. Various versions of this bill have been passed in previous years with extremely wide support. NYS Bill S595 passed on June 14, 2011. NYS Bill A9267 passed on June 19, 2012, and NYS Bill S595A passed on June 21, 2012. On August 17, 2012, Governor Cuomo vetoed the bill. The bill language was modified several times to address concerns. NYS Bill S738 was reintroduced and passed on June 11, 2013. NYS Bill S6404 passed on June 10, 2014. NYS Bill S248B passed on June 15, 2015. NYS Bill A1470B remains in the Assembly Education Committee. Please ask Assemblywoman Nolan to put this bill on the Education Committee Agenda. Please ask Governor Cuomo to kindly sign this important piece of legislation into law. The passage of this bill can take away further unnecessary burdens placed upon parents and children that may already be climbing an uphill battle each and every day. Thank you for your support.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz cannot be a even arbitrator for the whole Democratic party, when she is so intertwined with the HRC campaign. I think she should give up the DNC and stay with HRC. The things that she has decided so far are very pro HRC.

The process to decide our next president is just as important as who is ultimately elected. For our democracy to have real meaning, the process must have integrity - not only to trust the results but to build trust with the next generation of voters. The DNC's responsibility to protect this trust, and its unjustified penalties targeting the essential tool of grassroots voter data damages this trust. Not only does it look favorable to the leading candidate (who would like to win the nomination with the support of the whole party), but it looks like the DNC does not want data breaches reported. Protecting voter data is also essential for building within the party and with potential supporters. Punishing the messenger damages the entire nomination process. Let's hold the DNC & NGP VAN accountable! (For background on the data breach and the DNC's response: go to the NYT reporting http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/18/sanders-campaign-disciplined-for-breaching-clinton-data/)

I believe in democracy. I believe that the primary system should not be rigged to favor one candidate over another one. I believe that my party should live up to the rot of its name and stand for democracy, not oligarchy.

"So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot!” - From the movie V for Vendetta, when the character V addresses the people through a high jacked news room. Hello, I’m of the Millennial generation, the first time I was eligible to vote was the year Kerry and Bush were running against each other for President. Being that it was my first opportunity to vote I looked forward to executing my right as a woman living in the United States in 2004. Well, I knew I wasn’t going to vote for Bush but Kerry did not feel worthy of my vote either, so I wrote-in a nobody. After that, I unregistered myself from voting and, like the majority of Millennials, facing a myriad of challenges ahead of me, had given up. When you sit back and pay attention to the corruption in our government it tends to beat you down and make you feel like you have no voice, hope, or vote. Two years ago I realized that I can make a difference in my local elections and reregistered to vote. In Seattle, where we elected to the Seattle City Counsel an awesome Indian American woman running in the independent Socialist Alternative party that she had created. After she won, twice, I felt a sense of renewed hope that we could collectively change things on a small scale. This non-white woman ran against the establishment, against a corrupt money infiltrated system and with the mobilization of the (mostly young) people she won! That gave me so much hope! Then, a year ago as I started to care more about politics. Through liking the Elizabeth Warren Facebook page I came across a meme quoting a Senator Bernie Sanders. The meme was right on point for me, and so I went and "liked" Senator Bernie Sanders's Facebook page. When Bernie announced he was running for president I thought, "wow, I'd like to learn more about this guy" so I dove into the vastness of the Internet. Reading and listening to everything I could find about him, from old articles, video clips, radio clips, interviews and began to realize he cares about the world for the exact same reason I am an activist. I fight for my (not yet born) children. I constantly wonder, “what kind of world am I working to make for them to come into?” With Bernie Sanders running for president we have a chance for a leader that knows how and will LEAD this country towards unity and lead us to vote for representatives that will pass legislation BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE! If you have been paying attention then you know that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has been doing everything they can to keep Bernie from become the Democratic nominee. I genuinely believe, NOW, when we have such a leader running for President of the United States, that this is the time for us to stand up and take back what is left of our “democracy”. Knowing how much Bernie Sanders appeals to a sleeping giant of non-voting eligible voters such as Millennials, Independents, Liberals, Libertarians and the lifelong Republicans that don’t agree with him on women’s or gay rights but are campaigning for him because they are fed up with the corruption as much as the rest of us are, I BELIEVE HE CAN WIN the Presidency outside of the Democratic Party AS A INDEPENDENT WRITE-IN. Democrat voters afraid to split the vote are welcome to write Bernie in so they can keep a Republican from the White House. Bernie supporters are far less (by a huge percentage) likely to support Hillary than Hillary supporters are to support Bernie. If Bernie Sanders loses the Democratic nomination due to DNC corruption, I ask that We the People ask Bernie’s campaign to use this incredible tool of the (mostly) 21st Century, the internet, to spread the information that he will run as a write-in and have the Sleeping Giant rally to make history by electing a President We the People want and break free of the two party system we all despise. This is our V for Vendetta moment! Let us stand together and once again fight to recreate a government FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE! Thank you!

Due to the undemocratic actions taken by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic National Committee and because we believe the two party system, corporations, special interest groups, and the wealthy and powerful are corrupting our Democracy, I started this petition requesting that Bernie Sanders run as an Independent in the 2016 Presidential Election. For millions of us, neither party represents our ideals as fully as Senator Bernie Sanders does. This is why he must run as an Independent so we too are represented next year. Otherwise, many of us will be unable to vote for President in next years election.

At what point do we, as political creatures, say enough is enough? How far does the DNC have to go before we start putting pressure on the DNC, not to play fair, but to obey the rules that they them selves instituted. I wrote the following canned reply weeks ago after receiving one too many of what I'd like to refer to as Hillary's chain (e)mail: "As a general supporter of the Democratic Party I have been systematically removing my email address from lists that support Hillary Clinton in her presidential bid. I am dissatisfied with the DNC in general for its lack of foresight and its insistence on backing Hillary Clinton. I will not be voting for Hillary because I disagree with her policy stances; they are consistently moving targets. And whether it be her association as a Barry Goldwater republican or her chumminess with Wall Street or her rapid sea changes depending on current polling, I can not bring myself to TRUST Hillary R. Clinton. Please feel free to remove me from any list serve that supports her candidacy. Steve Archer II USMC 1999-2004 OIF/OEF veteran Small business owner African American Black male Citizen" Was that enough? No. So I'm starting a petition wherein I am declaring that I will only write in Bernie Sanders name at the top of the ticket and walk away from the rest of the election. While the Republican Party may claim to fear Donald Trump, he is good for business. The DNC has no respect or concern for the voting public. They believe that we will pinch our nose and vote for Hillary Clinton. #bernieorbust is a wonderful slogan but there's no pressure, there's no leverage, there's no passion. Bernie Sanders started the fire? Perhaps. I believe it would be unconscionable to allow this spark of a political revolution to die in the back rooms of the DNC. Again, my impassioned plea, is that you call your politicians and let them know that you will be riding in Bernie Sanders and leaving the rest of the ticket blank if the DNC is not immediately re-organized and access is restored to the Bernie Sanders campaign. Just to be clear reorganizing the DNC means that chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Debbie Wasserman Schultz should step down or be removed from her undeserved position.

Because Jerry, homie. Jerry.

I posted this on whitehouse.gov, but some persons on Face book blocked it from being shared for ten days. The constant reactionary backlash from the NRA is a leading cause of death and destruction in the USA