People are taking to the streets by the tens of thousands to demand elected leaders act quickly to stop global climate change -- but some politicians just aren’t listening. Governor Chris Christie yanked NJ from a regional program that reduces climate changing pollution. The courts have called it an illegal stunt, and recently legislators in Trenton started a process that could reverse it. The best part? Christie won't even be able to veto it. New Jersey has already felt the effects climate change through the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. We should be on the front lines of this fight. If Chris Christie won’t show leadership on this issue, our legislators have to step up and do the right thing for our state and our planet.

The four nuclear reactors devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011 continue to pose a grave risk to people and the environment around the entire world. An unprecedented three reactor cores have melted down into (and most likely through) their containment vessels on the east coast of Japan. 

 After three years of questionable management and oversight by the government of Japan and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), enormous quantities of radioactive releases continue to spew daily into the world's ocean from the Fukushima nuclear power facility—with no end in sight. 

 A new, international “Level 8" category must be added to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s current 7-level scale that characterizes the severity of nuclear accidents. This new “Level 8" would firmly identify the need for an internationally coordinated response to a major nuclear emergency occurring in any country that has been overwhelmed by disaster, has had a multi-unit accident, or has failed to provide the timely expertise and resources necessary to protect neighboring countries and the global environment from a substantial, ongoing or imminent release of radioactive materials. 

 Please sign the petition and spread the link widely to help mobilize a global response. 

 To learn more about this worldwide campaign, and how you, your family, and your community can publicly support it, please visit www.FukushimaResponse.org or www.FixFukushima.info

Keeping guns out of our shools. This idea could backfire. I have nieces and nephews that are 4 and 5 years old

Organ transplant medication costs are very expensive, in the thousands of dollars per month. I have had a heart transplant and the costs of the medications in copay on medicare is around 1/3 of my SSDI check. Yet, the rules are such that I cannot receive "extra help" for medication costs. The rules are income limit only, without regard to actual copay costs. Also, cannot receive any forms of assistance due to the same rules. Many times I have had to choose which meds to take and how much food I can eat, just to stay alive. This is wrong. Transplant costs are astronomical, yet once transplanted, there is not a system in place to insure patients receive the life saving anti rejection meds.

So many issues of race, class, and infrastructure have been brought to light by the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. This action, clearly within the Mayor's authority, would address one of the most damaging circumstances of life in Ferguson for many residents, and show a clear path to a brighter and more just future for the community. Petition Background (taken from this article in Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/ferguson-profiling-police-courts-shooting-264744) Read the full ArchCity Defenders report on Municipal Courts here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwptqn3mhq9xvy7/ArchCity%20Defenders%20Municipal%20Courts%20Whitepaper.pdf

I find the NFL's recent handling of domestic abuse and child abuse by star players to be abhorrent to the rules of our society. I would like the league to fairly & uniformly mete out punishment to star players & scrubs, alike. And I would like to see the NFL reveal what it stands for by making unequivocal statements regarding domestic abuse & child abuse.

I think Congress is forgetting something, and with just days before they leave Capitol Hill to campaign, I need your help to remind them: "Congress: Isn't it your job to help grow the middle class?" I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot from these same politicians about how they fight for the middle class and stand up to special interests. But words are one thing, and actions are another. It's time for them to show us they are serious about creating jobs and closing tax loopholes. Time for them to stop protecting companies like Burger King who flee the U.S. to dodge taxes, and instead stand up for the millions of Americans who just want a decent shot at a good job and a high-quality education. Legislation to create 1.9 million jobs, improve schools and reduce poverty -- paid for by taking on special interests and their massive tax breaks -- has been pending for months and months without any action. We think this is something every member of Congress needs to support if they expect us to take them seriously when they claim to be for the middle class.

During a rant on sexual assault, this week Rush Limbaugh asserted that sometimes “No means yes.” 
We knew we had to take action after Limbaugh’s reprehensible rant excusing rape on college campuses. In case you missed it, Limbaugh actually said, “’no means yes’ if you know how to spot it.” Here is the audio: http://goo.gl/jIplNt It’s completely unacceptable.

 We want to get as many people as we can pressuring Rush Limbaugh’s sponsors to pull their ads from his show. Sign your name and demand that companies pull their advertising from Rush’s program.

With three Libraries at the University, including 2 on the uptown campus, it has been decided that there was a need for an athletic study area limited to only athletes. By doing this they had to tear down the wrestling room where various club sports hold practice every night of the week. The compensation given to these clubs was a small mat room in the basement of the PE building. This room does not have enough room for a single wrestling match (2 people) no less a practice where up to 40 or even 60 students attend.

The current pool proposal only has 4 lanes. That will kill competitive swimming for the next 50 years. Plus, the city is planning to add an unneeded $623,000 building for recreation and rentals. We suggest the city scrap the plans for the extra building and make the pool a full 8 lanes. Further, the new pool design includes a significantly larger deck which adds to the cost of the new construction. We recommend a smaller deck, no extra building, and a full 8 lanes for swimming.

Getting this evil Fraudcasting network OFF THE AIR!

Update 9/24/14: I am talking with Dean Groves tomorrow regarding this petition. Thank you all for your support and please continue to bring suggestions as to how we can improve UVa Grounds' safety for everyone. For years, UVa has tried to pretend violent and sexual crimes do not occur on a regular basis on or nearby university property, but with each sexual assault and abduction, the evidence is mounting that the university not only has a problem, but is not effectively fighting the problem. Simple changes in how the UVa and Charlottesville PD patrol areas like Wertland, 14th, 15th, Virginia, Gordon, Grady and JPA, which have been hot spots for violent and sexual crimes since 2006, when I first started attending UVa, could prevent future tragedies like the ones that occurred this past weekend. Michael Gibson, Chief of UVa PD, said in an email last year, "While you can never completely protect yourself from sexual assault, there are some things that you can do to help reduce your risk of being assaulted." He is absolutely right--one thing we can do is hold him and his police department accountable for failing to prioritize patrolling areas that, year after year, continue to feature sexual assaults, abductions, assaults, muggings, etc. Additionally, his department's alerts are also inadequate and misleading. They often wait days before deciding there has been enough or severe enough criminal activity in an area to issue warnings, by which point, other students have needlessly fallen victim to the same criminals because they do not know there is a problem. While previous email alerts used to detail the exact addresses that criminal activity had taken place, the emails from this past weekend have omitted location details in some pathetic attempt to pretend there isn't crime on UVa property. The withholding of this information serves UVa's image at the expense of student safety. These alerts also fail to identify important details like how the criminals were thought to be targeting students, while also placing undue blame on the students for the crimes committed against them by implying or omitting details that make every scenario seem like the student is wandering lost and drunk out of their mind, like they have unfairly done with Ms. Graham. Furthermore, Dean Laushway, one of the associate deans of students at UVa, upon hearing my suggestion at a lunch meeting three years ago to start a crime awareness website specifically for the UVa area, implied that maintaining the pristine image of UVa and Charlottesville was more important than taking steps to make the community a safer place for students. Now that a sexual assault has occurred on the front door of UVa's hospital on Lee Street this past weekend (per the CrimeView map on Charlottesville PD's website), in addition to Ms. Graham's abduction, the crime problem is now affecting hospital employees, patients and their visitors. This is simply unacceptable and we, the UVa community, deserve a safer place to learn, work and play than what the UVa administration and police department is currently providing. They owe it to everyone, and especially the women of the UVa community, that UVa Grounds and the surroundings areas should not be hunting grounds for sexual deviants and heinous murderers. Addendum 9/18: 1) For future signers, please state in the "comments" section if you are a student, alumnus/a or concerned community member (which could mean in Charlottesville/Albemarle County or otherwise). If you are a student or alum, please state your school ie CLAS, etc and your graduating year. If you are a concerned community member, you are welcome to state if you are part of a university community elsewhere or have another background that you feel is relevant to this issue. We would like to know this information as best we can so that when we present this petition to UVa, they have an idea of where the backing for this petition comes from. This is not to discount any of those three populations and frankly, the fact that citizens from over half the US states and at least 5 foreign countries have signed the petition is amazing and speaks to the fact that students, faculty, citizens, patients and visitors having the right to a safe university community is a universally desirable goal that is recognized from people from all kinds of backgrounds and locations. Thank you all for voicing your concerns. 2) If you have suggestions or anecdotes of how other university campuses do security and alerts well, please mention them in the comments section. Crowd-sourcing is a great way to get ideas and no one person can have all the answers.