The new age Holocaust and genecide of Iraqi Christians must end! Innocent people dying because of their faith. Over 2,000 years of history being destroyed. The United States must step in and put an end to this or the Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian cultures will fall and never survive in the Middle East. Christianity is coming to an end in the lands where it was founded and begun! PLEASE HELP OUR IRAQI CHRISTIANS!

My petition is to bring my husband home a free man. He was wrongfully convicted. In 2009 our family was going on vacation to Galveston, Texas to spend some time with our best friends. My best friends' daughter and our daughter were best friends for 10 years. Their daughter practically lived with us as her parents worked all the time. We took her everywhere with us, including on vacation. Two weeks before we went on vacation, she shared with my husband and me that she had been messing around with a guy in the back of his pickup truck. She was about to have her very first womanly check up and knew that her parents could very well be about to find out she was no longer a virgin. We were gone on vacation for a little over a week. When we returned home she told her parents that my husband sexually assaulted her. We went to trial in August 2012. During the trial she was caught in several lies. She admitted that during the time she made these accusations she was having a consensual sexual relationship with a 35 year old man. Keep in mind she was only 14. She told the court that the only thing she slept in was a tank top and her panties. We produced a photo into evidence that was time stamped and dated and it was her sleeping in a T-shirt with a tank top under it and shorts. So while I now have 4 children at home to raise, she is out partying and drinking. We have always been good people. We just do not understand how something like this could have happened to us. Please, I beg of you to take the time to help me bring my husband home to us. He was incarcerated August 28, 2012. If you have any questions about any if this, including the case, please do not hesitate to ask me. Thank you in advance.

Germany has paid Jewish people over 60 BILLION Dollars in reparations & African Americans haven't been paid anything........

Between the ages 18 to 21, young adults transition from trying tobacco products to becoming regular, daily smokers. On Oahu, the rate of smoking between the ages of 18-24 tripled from 8.6% in 2010 to 23.9% in 2011 and has continued to climb. These increasing rates among the youth are shocking. Please sign the petition and show Honolulu City Council your support for raising the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21!

If we can't fund our on country, why should we fund Israel? They continue to kick the hornet's nest in the region while costing us a fortune that would be better spent at home.

Corporations affect our lives every day in multiple ways, including what we eat and drink, the air we breathe, the cleanliness of our water, our working conditions, and our living conditions. Court decisions giving them "free speech rights" based on the amount of money they can spend are inherently anti-democratic. Instead of one person, one vote, these Justices have made the U.S. a corporatocracy of one dollar, one vote. Their anti-democracy beliefs make them unfit to serve on the Supreme Court and betray their oaths to the U.S. Constitution.

This will control welfare spending, men having the option of moving from place to place, grandparents supporting grown fathers and it will force men to stay gainfully employed and remain future tax payers .

We’re facing a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions that we have a moral and legal obligation to address. Thousands of starving and traumatized children have fled to our borders seeking refuge from Central American countries -- like Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala -- that are devastated by extreme gang violence and drug wars. Now Congress is trying to pass a bill that would fast track the deportation of these innocent children. The HUMANE Act seeks to overturn life-saving refugee protections -- passed during the Bush administration -- that require the U.S. to assist child refugees seeking sanctuary from countries torn with violence. If the HUMANE Act is passed and President Obama signs it into law -- which he has pledged to do -- we’ll be sending children back into a war-zone with little chance of survival. We must have the courage to stand up for the lives of these children and for the values that we hold true as a nation!

Citizens, taxpayers, and volunteers at the Animal Center of Moore County hereby petition the Moore County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to INVESTIGATE the unauthorized euthanasia of a cat and to immediately APPOINT under its sole authority an onsite Animal Advocacy Manager at the Animal Center of Moore County. The cat, Harlequin, was to be held for a possible foster home. She was euthanized July 2, 2014 by staff in direct defiance of orders from Animal Operations Interim Director Tami Golden. Ms. Golden, an Animal Center volunteer, and the shelter’s Volunteer Coordinator Betsy Ficarro promptly were made aware of the incident. All three expressed shock and disbelief and the incident was reported to others outside of ACMC. The news and outrage quickly enveloped the community. Ms. Ficarro had no direct involvement with the euthanasia. Coincidentally, she was relieved of her duties effective immediately July 9, 2014 without warning, and told her position had been eliminated; despite significant measurable accomplishments during her brief tenure. Other reasons for her termination subsequently offered by county management have been contradictory and unsubstantiated. This event and ensuing public comment have been reported (see: The Pilot links below) and was brought before the County Commissioners at its meeting July 15, 2014. The shelter manager and other staff currently remain in their positions and disciplinary action, if any, has not been made public. With respect to personnel laws, we feel that residents and volunteers deserve an investigation and explanation from our elected officials and county management team in response to this abhorrent act of defiance. To ensure that the Animal Center and its animals are fairly represented and to provide reasonable checks and balances, we petition the BOCC to appoint an independent Animal Advocacy Manager who will serve under its direct authority. This person would report directly to the BOCC, have unrestricted access to all areas of the Animal Center with the right to visit anytime, unannounced and to stay without limitations. Responsibilities of this position may include, but not be limited to, ensuring clean conditions at the shelter, handling all complaints from the public, and creating and maintaining an effective working relationship with animal rescue organizations, animal welfare groups and humane societies. Macomb County, MI, has instituted such a position to serve as a model. We also feel that Betsy Ficarro should be given fair and due consideration for the position as her experience, accomplishments and ongoing commitment to animal welfare have remained beyond reproach. Please sign our petition if you support this call for transparency and accountability by the Board of County Commissioners to investigate, report and act on these issues involving the Animal Center of Moore County. Thank you. BACKGROUND: MOST RECENT STORY http://www.thepilot.com/news/county-to-meet-with-animal-advocates-over-shelter-changes/article_dc7ade8a-0e87-11e4-ab1d-001a4bcf6878.html COUNTY COMMISSION FOLLOWUP STORY http://www.thepilot.com/news/animal-advocates-address-county/article_dbba6030-0ca0-11e4-98b8-001a4bcf6878.html ORIGINAL POST http://www.thepilot.com/news/more-personnel-changes-at-animal-center-angers-advocates/article_0b0a13ea-0926-11e4-ab80-001a4bcf6878.html

Last week, news broke that Rupert Murdoch -- through his company, 21st Century Fox -- tried to buy Time Warner, the world's second-largest media conglomerate, for more than $75 billion. Time Warner rejected the initial offer, but Murdoch seems hellbent on pushing ahead and buying the company. [1] There's a real risk that he'll ultimately prevail. If Time Warner sells, Rupert Murdoch would own HBO (Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, etc...), Cinemax, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TBS, TNT, DC Comics (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc...), and literally dozens of other companies, movie studios, and TV channels with which you're no doubt familiar. A combined Time Warner and 21st Century Fox would create a content company so large that it would radically transform the media landscape. Murdoch would control 40% of the cable market [2] -- eclipsing the 25% share of the nearest competitor, Disney. It would also mean that Murdoch would control about a 30% share of the movie market [3] -- a portion so staggeringly big that it'd be about twice the size of the nearest competitor. Giving one company this much control over our media would be terrible for consumers and the marketplace. According to Reuters, owning Time Warner would make Rupert Murdoch the undisputed "king" of the U.S. media.[4] And we've already seen the disastrous effects that come when Rupert Murdoch has unbridled media power. In the United Kingdom, Murdoch's dominating presence created a sense of impunity that, when combined with his culture of corruption, led to the now-infamous phone hacking scandal. There, Murdoch's papers engaged in telephone hacking at an industrial scale, ultimately stealing private information from thousands of people's phones over the course of several years. In Australia, Murdoch controls about 70% of the local newspaper market, which gives him an enormous amount of influence over the electoral process. That sheer size also creates an overall chilling effect. In 2013, Australia's largest progressive group attempted to run a TV ad that criticized Murdoch's extremely biased newspaper coverage. Every single major network refused to run the ad, with some reportedly citing fear of criticizing Murdoch as the reason for the decision. [5] These are just two of many examples of the harms that follow when Murdoch is allowed to concentrate media and irresponsibly wield the power that comes from it. --- [1] http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/07/rupert-murdoch-still-wants-time-warner-192517.html [2] As measured by cable subscriber fees. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foxs-play-time-warner-pros-719231 [3] Based on average of studio market share of years 2011 - 2014. http://goo.gl/zxyU27 [4] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/17/us-time-warner-fox-idUSKBN0FL15T20140717 [5] http://mm4a.org/17FvTxY

In the words of my daughter, a veteran who served 2 tours as a nurse at the beginning of Iraqi Freedom: "Much has been uncovered about the problems veterans have been facing in receiving services and obtaining employment. Based on my personal experience, and discussions with fellow veterans, I believe these issues are related to the fact that many current VA employees are not veterans, let alone combat veterans. They cannot understand our needs, our language, or our demeanor. This can be changed if more combat veterans are employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs." NOTE: When actual legislation is written, we agree with comments we've received that 10 point preference eligible disabled veterans should be considered together with combat veterans. UPDATE: After extensive research, we've found that direct healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and physician assistants, are hired under Title 38, which does not mandate veteran preference. We believe this group needs to be covered by veteran preference requirements. VETERANS CARING FOR VETERANS!

No justice, no peace.