I am starting this petition in order to: 1. ensure that Oregon's recreational cannabis laws serve and benefit the people, environment, and the economy of Oregon with sustainability in mind, not just fiscal interests. 2. ensure the state of Oregon's tax dollars paying for the salaries of those serving the public aren't wasted on employees that have served in industries in the past that may cause a conflict of interest 3. ensure that the people appointed to these positions serve the public and state legislators ethically, intelligently, and without bias. I believe with these three points in mind we can write the best possible marijuana laws that will create a strong local economy, protect our invaluable environments due to the influx of growers and people moving to the state, and ensure that this medicinal plant isn't perverted by recreational use. This needs to be a public discussed subject that utilizes that vast amount of science surrounding the cultivation and use of cannabis's social, economic, health and environmental impacts. Thank you for your interest and please share and discuss publicly! Sincerely, Wesley Wagner (petition author) Oregon resident since 1991 [email protected]

I believe that expanding medicaid is the right thing to do, especially when it's almost free. There are 54,000 people in Nebraska who do not have health coverage now and would if we accepted federal money to expand Medicaid. The Nebraska Unicameral voted against this last year. It seems that they are afraid of anything associated with "Obamacare". Nebraska should accept federal funding to expand Medicaid.

Neither risk of an oil spill nor global climate change nor the falling price of oil will keep Shell from exploiting the Arctic’s oil. But you can. In 2012, Shell oil embarked on a dangerous plan to drill for oil in the frigid and unforgiving waters of the Arctic. It was a disaster. As documented in popular press reports and a recent retrospective “the Wreck of the Kullig” Shell’s mission was plagued by failure after failure1: Their vessels couldn’t meet basic air quality standards, were deemed unfit for the voyage by the coast guard, and unable to drill for oil at all by experts. Their experimental containment dome - the critical piece of equipment that’s supposed to protect the fragile ecosystem in the event of a well blowout - was “crushed like a beer can” in a simulation. Shell never even made it to their destination, or drilled a single well - despite spending millions of (taxpayer subsidized) dollars on the attempt. Then, in an attempt to dodge local alaskan taxes, Shell finally gave up and tried to tow it’s rig out of the arctic. Only to lose control of the massive structure and see it run aground (fortunately with no oil aboard). Two short years later, Shell’s back to try again, and it’s still a bad idea2. If Big Oil companies can’t even drill safely in the calm and warm water of the gulf of Mexico, how can we possibly expect them to get it right in the dangers, icy, waters of the Arctic? And if anything does go wrong, it will be nearly impossible to contain or clean up a spill in the Arctic - as the wreck of the Kullig clearly illustrates.3 But none of that seems to matter to Shell, which has already invested $1 billion in their plan to drill the Arctic - not to mention millions more in lobbying fees and political donations to our elected leaders.4 President Obama has been talking tough on climate change in the last few months. And under his direction, the Department of Interior and EPA have moved to protect critical arctic ecosystems like Bristol bay from mining, drilling and other disasters. But there’s still no law or policy that stops Shell from drilling the Arctic. Sign here to tell President Obama and his team that it’s time to shut the door on Arctic drilling for good - and block Shell’s plans. 1 - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/the-wreck-of-the-kulluk.html?_r=0 2 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/29/shell-arctic-idUSL6N0V846B20150129 3 - http://www.salon.com/2015/01/11/why_arctic_drilling_is_a_disaster_waiting_to_happen/ 4 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/29/shell-arctic-idUSL6N0V846B20150129 --

I have started this petiton because I personally know how horrible some school lunches are. Many of my friends agree, and our class has started a persuasive essay unit, and many of my classmates have written about the topic too.

To inform people that your b.c. and ss# are connected to ten accounts worth 3.5 billion dollars each. That money is yours to pay ALL public debt including but not limited to, car notes, mortgages, utility bills, taxes etc. Take control of the funds that are yours and free yourself from debt slavery!

The California Department of Public Health has reported a sharp rise in the incidence of pertussis (whooping cough) over the past four years, declaring this disease an epidemic in 2014. There was an outbreak of measles in 2014 as well. The Los Angeles Times and numerous other media sources have published data on vaccine rates in Southern California showing the widespread use of the “personal belief exemption” (CA Code 120365) by parents to excuse their children from mandatory vaccinations. Public health officials have tied the rise in pertussis and measles to the lowering of the vaccination rate. If this trend continues, the immunity of the entire population is threatened (known as ‘herd immunity’). Dangerous communicable diseases will spread further, and will also affect people who have been vaccinated—those with weakened immune systems, the very young, the very old, and the like. This petition seeks to address falling vaccination rates by requiring all children to be vaccinated in order to attend California schools unless they have a medical condition that precludes it.

A dog beloved by shelter volunteers was put down today. As a member of a rescue group, my appeal to rescue the dog and accept all risk and liability was denied.

The Occupy movement and political scientists have proven we are no longer a democracy. Congress and the President respond to the wealthy and corporations in making decisions. It is time the 99 percent spoke out and reclaimed their voices in government policy making.

This petition is by Ben Gordon and Charlotte Ashlock. We are an engaged couple who moved to the Bay Area to start a new life together. The Bay Area doesn’t seem so great to us any more. We see some people in multimillion dollar homes and other people begging just for pennies. It's not okay. Beneath is the full text of our petition, written in the form of an open letter to local government officials in the Bay Area. Thanks so much for taking the time & effort to check out our petition! Dear Mayors Edwin Lee of San Francisco, Libby Schaaf of Oakland, and Sam Liccardo of San Jose; Dear Supervisors of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco counties; Recently the Mayor of Portland faced an army of its citizens protesting outside city hall his threat to destroy homeless camps. I think this is a wake up call that people won't stand for dealing with the homeless in this way. But let's be real; no one's putting up any solutions here, especially when Lee's most exciting announcement was that we might house 500 of the 10,500 homeless people who applied for housing. Maybe. Maybe next year. Maybe 500. We as society have a problem where we are willing to allow people to fall out of society and have not constructed the proper tool set to keep them from falling out, nor for bringing them back in. We all universally agree this is wrong, but when faced with the problem or assigning a budget to the problem we look away and walk away. We pretend it's not there. It's not our problem we tell ourselves. We in the Bay Area are at the forefront with San Francisco dubbed "the homeless capitol of the world". San Francisco may be the second densest population area in the US, but we have by far the densest homeless population. We have become the global face of income inequality and poverty and the face of tremendous economic growth and success simultaneously. We challenge elected Bay Area leaders to step up and COLLABORATE. These are the challenges and demands we are issuing to Bay Area leadership: 1.) Admit that the issue of homelessness is a regional issue that needs to be tackled regionally. 
 2.) Admit that it is unacceptable we can give tax breaks to Twitter, Google, Facebook, and all the other tech giants who have all the resources in the Bay Area and we let people beg in the streets for the right to eat and have shelter. 
 3.) Admit that we do have the collaborative resources to productively solve this problem and that we can turn from a global embarrassment to a world leader if we work together.
 4.) The assignment and creation of a inter-county budget and task force with the full political support of the Bay Area’s major city leaders and business leaders. 
 5.) The creation of effective, lasting, comprehensive policy that addresses basic needs and a plan for a return to self-sufficiency. This includes but is not limited to elements of inclusion, outreach, housing, job training, job placement, language training, hygiene, clothing, nutritional support, mental health, physical health, social work counseling. This plan must provide for the infrastructure and staffing of ALL the bay area's homeless even the criminally dangerous and the severely mentally ill. This plan must provide the full scope of support and enablement to return to self-sufficiency with all the tools we have at our disposal. 
 6.) The establishment of a permanent regional funding source to the project that will be a tied percentage to the required scope of the issue. This funding source should not be a sales tax source and voted on by the 2016 election. Please like, share, tweet this message, even if you’re not from the Bay Area. Please email Sam Liccardo, Edwin Lee, Libby Schaaf or whoever your local mayor is. Our voices must be heard. Thank you.

Since the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United vs FEC, New York has been bombarded with millions of dollars in outside spending intended to influence our local elections. This problem only gets worse with every election. In the 2012 New York federal elections, spending by out-of-state organizations was 15 times higher than the amount spent in 2008. In 2013, in a state with 19.7 million residents, 170 campaign contributors gave more than $28 million – more than half the entire amount contributed to state-level candidates and party committees. If that seems outrageous, the 2014 election cycle saw total spending over $190 million in New York. Governor Cuomo himself has received 81 percent of his more than $45 million in campaign contributions from donors who gave him at least $10,000. Donors giving less than $1,000 accounted for only seven-tenths of 1 percent of his contributions. The Citizens United decision also undermines our Constitutional right, as a state, to regulate our own elections. Constrained by this ruling, a federal district judge has reluctantly struck down the New York State law that limited outside spending in our elections. But with your help, we can reverse this trend. NY is well on its way to becoming the 17th state to call for a constitutional amendment to prevent Big Business and billionaires from buying our elections. We must return the election process to the hands of the States and its people. To make it so, we need a majority of the Assembly and the Senate to sign on to a letter to Congress calling for an amendment. Call on them to sign that letter!

My son is a first-time offender. With the parole laws the way they are now: he will not be able to attend church with his family, be around his own children or any child, have a relationship and many other uncalled for rules. He, along with many other first time offenders, are having to pay on the inside and remain paying after released. As the laws read at the present time- these people are being set up to fail and return to prison. This only fuels mass incarceration. This leaves families to endure more heartaches and financial burdens. Yes, the laws were made to help protect our children but the way they stand right now they are helping to tear families apart. If you have to register as a sex offender you are not allowed around children even if the crime was not against a child . Every sex crime is put in the same group and not a case by case as it should be. You cannot even be in the same car with a child or attend church because there might be a child there. We need to help these people who have served time to become better citizens not continue to put them down.

Mayor Emanuel, seeking the endorsement of Chicago labor unions, told them that he supported the unionization of hundreds of educators at charter schools in 2013. Today, more than one hundred courageous educators at the Urban Prep and North Lawndale College Prep charter school networks are standing up to be heard, to advocate for the needs of their schools and their students, and to be treated fairly. They seek to join Chicago ACTS Local 4343, which already represents 800 members working at 29 schools covered by union contracts. Along with Chicago ACTS Local 4343, these educators are calling for commitments from their schools’ executives not to interfere with the staff’s right to organize, and to accept the decision of the majority of over 200 teachers and staff at these schools. And we are asking Mayor Emanuel to stand with us. These educators are dedicated to the mission of their schools and seek to build a climate of mutual respect and cooperation in order to better serve and support their students’ growth. In order to reduce staff turnover and provide students with greater consistency, they seek to ensure fair and equal treatment of all employees. These educators risked retribution for organizing. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against employees for participating in union organizing. However, charter school managers have campaigned to discourage their staff members from unionizing. The leaders of this effort call on their schools’ executives to demonstrate their respect and trust in their employees by pledging not to interfere with their right to organize, and by accepting the decision of the majority of teachers and staff. Along with ChiACTS, they also call on public officials who oversee Chicago’s schools, starting with the Mayor, to endorse the same respect and fairness for any and all educators who seek to unionize in charter schools. We are asking Mayor Emanuel to call on the executives of these and all charter schools to commit to a fair process that ensures the right of educators to organize free from fear. Please join us.