Now that winter is in full swing, many Americans are flocking to warm vacation destinations and booking cruises. Unfortunately, many of these trips have a devastating impact on the environment – but it doesn't have to be that way. We need your help to convince Carnival Cruise Lines, one of the worst actors, to clean up its act!

ASPIRA was originally founded in 1961 by social justice advocate and union activist, Antonia Pantoja, to address the high drop-out rate and low academic achievement of Puerto Rican youth. Their staff is dedicated to upholding that mission and seeks the board’s recognition of their hard work. In the spring of 2013 a committee of concerned educators at ASPIRA launched their campaign to form a union. The board of ASPIRA and its administration immediately launched an anti-union campaign in response. They threatened to terminate several key members of the union committee. The community rallied around the educators and charges were filed against ASPIRA at the National Labor Relations Board. Thankfully no members of the union committee were terminated. The NLRB charges were settled, and ASPIRA considerably toned down their anti-union rhetoric. Over a hundred staff members at ASPIRA schools have courageously and publicly declared their support for a union. However there are still members of the staff who are hesitant to openly support the union effort because of the chilling effect of ASPIRA’s initial anti-union campaign. That is why we are now asking for the board to publicly declare that they will not interfere with the staff’s right to organize, and agree to provide a peaceful and unobstructed pathway to union recognition. Please sign this petition demanding the ASPIRA board respect the rights of their staff by pledging to remain neutral during the unionization effort at ASPIRA. Spanish Translation: ASPIRA fue fundada originalmente en 1961 por el defensor de justicia social y activista sindical, Antonia Pantoja, para hacer frente a la alta tasa de deserción escolar y el bajo rendimiento académico en la juventud puertorriqueña. Su personal está dedicado a la defensa de esa misión y busca el reconocimiento de la mesa directiva por su ardua labor. En la primavera del 2013, un comité de educadores interesados de ASPIRA lanzaron su campaña de formar un sindicato. La mesa directiva de ASPIRA y su administración inmediatamente lanzaron una campaña antisindical en respuesta. Amenazaron con despedir a varios miembros clave del comité sindical. La comunidad se reunió en torno a los educadores y presentaron cargos contra ASPIRA ante la Junta Nacional de Relaciones Labores (NLRB por sus siglas en inglés). Afortunadamente ningún miembro del comité sindical fue despedido. Los cargos de la NLRB se resolvieron y ASPIRA moderó considerablemente su retórica antisindical. Más de un centenar de miembros del personal en las escuelas ASPIRA han declarado valiente y públicamente su apoyo al sindicato. Sin embargo, todavía hay miembros que no se atreven a respaldar públicamente el esfuerzo sindical debido al efecto de enfriamiento de la campaña inicial antisindical de ASPIRA. Es por eso que ahora estamos pidiendo a la mesa directiva que declare públicamente que no va a interferir con el derecho del personal a organizarse y que esté de acuerdo en proporcionar una vía pacífica y sin obstáculos para el reconocimiento del sindicato. Por favor firme esta petición exigiendo a la mesa directiva de ASPIRA que respete los derechos de su personal mediante la promesa de permanecer neutral durante el esfuerzo de sindicalismo en ASPIRA.

It is outrageous that on the same day Congressional Republicans abandoned their radical abortion ban proposal for being too extreme, Virginia Republicans are pursuing an even more dangerous version. Virginians need leaders who focus on policies to support families' economic security, not interfere in private decisions that should be between a woman, her family, her faith, and her doctor. Virginia voters have repeatedly rejected these sort of extreme attacks on women's health. This abortion ban was too radical for Washington and Virginia women can't stand for it here.

Firing a popular, student-supporting dean over end-of-the-year bonuses to administrative staff while rewarding a football coach with a $800,000 a year makes clear WMU's priorities. They need to change. Reinstate Dean Alex Enyedi; it's the right thing to do.

To protect the welfare and interests of the citizens of Erie, Colorado.

Even House Republicans now see the need for legislation to accept our tax money and provide health coverage for all Kansans. This will also create jobs. They can do it this session. We must INSIST that they do! Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence said, “I just think that we’re well past the time that we should be looking at how we develop a Kansas solution.” Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita (HB 2045) has been working tirelessly for this since last year. Now is the time! They have the power, now they just need the will. We can make sure they Expand Medicaid!

On February 26 FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is calling a vote that will implement regulations that will reclassify all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as public utilities. This may seem reasonable. However, it will essentially shut down most small ISPs serving rural areas. We don't have the resources to comply with the Title II reporting requirements. If that doesn't bother you, this might: The Universal Service Fund (renamed the Connect America Fund) is a tax that will apply to every Internet access customer in the land. It is currently 16.8% If the regulation is allowed to go into effect, your $40 Internet bill will go to $46.72. This money will be taken from all Internet users and selectively given (free of charge) to selected ISPs who will use it to build our their networks and replace your small, local ISP that they will have essentially driven out of business. Once Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and a few other big players have taken over, they will be free to increase Internet access charges-- they will have no competition. When you use up your monthly allotment of 10 Gigabytes of data (About 2 Netflix movies), and they start charging you for going over your data allotment, your bill won't be $200 for this "abuse" it will have the CAF tax applied so that you will be paying $233.60! The Internet has grown to its current usefulness through an approach of little government regulation as a Title I Information service. Please sign this petition and prevent this outrageous power grab.

The purpose of this petition is to stop Israel's control on the US. We cannot afford another war for financial and human life reasons. Israel/Netanyahu and the rest of the right wing Zionists who are land hungry have an agenda of land grabbing and making Israel bigger for all the Jews to come. Netanyahu is a war criminal who is running an apartheid country and I do not want someone like that influencing our politicians and dictating what we should do. I strongly oppose the 4 billion dollars we give Israel and feel we should use that money helping Americans.

Hello everyone. My name is Samuel Keys, and I am running for local office right here in Mississippi. As a progressive, I want to create progressive ideas to not only move my district forward, but also my county as a whole. So join me in this fight as we move Lincoln County, Mississippi forward.

The U.S. Senate is poised to take up dangerous new sanctions legislation that would sabotage diplomacy and could lead to war with Iran. As President Obama explained, “New sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails... It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill... The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.” Tell the Senate to support Obama’s call for diplomacy, not war, with Iran! Introduced by Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), this legislation is a renewed push for the very same reckless, diplomacy-killing sanctions that we fought and helped prevent last year. New sanctions would violate the interim nuclear deal, push Iran away from the negotiating table, and put us on the path to war with Iran. If Congress passes a new Iran sanctions bill that leads to the end of negotiations, Congress will be held responsible for the failure of diplomacy- and perhaps for another war. This bad bill could go through- despite President Obama's promised veto- but only if enough Democrats support it. That's why we need to make sure Senate Democrats hear our opposition now- before the legislation gains traction. Help us send a united, strong, anti-war message to the Senate. The pending agreement has the potential to stand as a powerful example of an important U.S. foreign policy milestone- demonstrating the power of tough, principled diplomacy in lieu of a rush to use military force. An issue that's this important to all of our collective security is worth taking the time to get right. Please take one minute to stop war hawks from killing diplomacy.

As a parent of children who attend public schools in Virginia, I have witnessed first hand the effect school violence can have on the ability to learn and thrive in the school system. It is time for a change to happen. It is time for parents who send their children to school to learn, to be able to feel safe in doing so. As parents we have a right to be able to send our children to public schools to learn and be free from violence. It should not be the victims of these attacks and/or instances of bullying, that must find new schools to attend out of fear or embarrassment, but should instead be the requirement of those who commit the violent acts. It is also important for schools and those in power to realize that the need for counseling and anger management in early instances of violence is important to preventing these children from growing into violent adults. Our children have a right to education and to feel safe in getting that. Please help show support in making our schools safer for our children and in ensuring that children who need help receive that.

Every week we have to hand over our nephew to his mother and her husband a child sex offender. We have no choice it is the law that she and he get unsupervised visitations.