Recreational Equipment, Inc., better known as REI, is one of the largest outdoor sports retailers in the country. Started in 1938 by a group of environmentalists, it was structured as a co-op so that members could be involved and invested in the practices and decisions of the company. But in recent years, REI has slowly begun to change. The company brought in a new CEO, apparel industry insider Jerry Stritzke, and started changing long-term policies that were once their biggest draws. Allegations of sexist practices in promotions have surfaced more frequently. And most recently, after once vowing that it would not carry clothing made in sweatshops, REI has rejected calls from students, workers, and its own members to stop selling clothes produced in sweatshops by The North Face, a brand owned by the world’s largest producer of branded apparel, VF Corporation. The North Face/VF has been embroiled in international controversy over its serial record of human rights abuses. In particular, REI members have expressed grave concerns about the safety of workers who produce apparel for The North Face/VF in factories that function as literal deathtraps. In 2010, The North Face/VF was responsible for 29 worker deaths and over 100 injuries when one of their factories in Bangladesh caught fire. Just last month, another VF factory caught fire, injuring and hospitalizing several workers. In-depth investigations have shown that The North Face/VF is operating equally unsafe factories in the country. Any of the 91 factories where they produce could easily become the next Rana Plaza. That’s 190,000 workers putting their lives on the line every day because of The North Face/VF’s greed. In the face of these repeated disasters, one would think that The North Face/VF would embrace a new approach to worker safety. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The North Face/VF has staunchly refused to sign an innovative, legally-binding agreement between apparel brands and garment worker unions – now signed by over 175 brands – called the Bangladesh Safety Accord. Instead of signing the Accord, The North Face/VF has joined forces with its buddies at Wal-Mart to create a company-controlled, non-binding agreement called the “Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety,” which has been heavily criticized for its lack of meaningful inclusion of garment workers and their unions, and its failure to require brands to pay a single cent toward the repair and renovation of unsafe factories. Simply put, The North Face/VF’s refusal to accept legally-binding responsibility for worker safety has placed it among most backwards and regressive companies in the global apparel industry. Moreover, The North Face/VF’s violations in Bangladesh are the most egregious cases in the litany of other sweatshop abuses at its supplier factories, including stolen severance pay in Honduras, poverty wages in Cambodia that have led to massive worker strikes, and violence against union organizers across the globe. Since September, VF Corporation has lost at least 15 university licensing contracts over the company’s failure to comply with these university’s expectations for fair labor practices. These universities have taken a decisive stand for workers rights against the largest branded apparel company in the world. But instead of taking their own members' concerns about The North Face seriously, REI has chosen to defend The North Face, calling their refusal to sign the Accord a “legitimate choice,” while refusing to meet with students and REI members about our concerns. This irresponsible, cavalier response to member concerns demonstrates that REI has lost sight of its values to maximize profit at any cost. As concerned proponents of human rights, we urge REI to sever its business relationship with The North Face/VF unless the company signs the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Workers around the world deserve better – and REI can do better. Learn more here: REIsweatshops.com

I was personally affected by this after trying to gain custody of my grandson. I have not been able to have any visitation or contact since his foster parents adopted him. They won custody over the assumption that it would be detrimental to his well being because of attachment issues towards the foster parents. He wasn't even two years old yet. I think it will be more detrimental for him not to be bonded to his own family.

New York is being overrun by chain stores, banks, nail salons and a sterile, ugly landscape. Small businesses are being kicked out one by one as their leases run out, because landlords can charge whatever they want with no regulation. Please help bring back the city we used to know and love.

Since as long ago as 2005 the Musk-Ox have been coming into Nome's small community and not only becoming a nuisance & danger to the public, but harming our dogs that are secured on chains or in pens as well. Some incidences have resulted in severe injuries or death to the dogs. This threat to individual dogs and the mushing community has got to stop. We need to find workable solutions to the problem. Recently a Musk-Ox was killed as it threatened a community member’s dog. As it happened, a herd of musk ox had invaded Icy View and had dispersed into several people’s yards. Authorities have told us to "walk" the herds out of our areas; she tried doing this but to no avail. She yelled at them to get them to leave; she also fired a warning shot but they did not budge. She had already lost one dog to horrific goring and a painful death; she was not about to lose another. She did everything she should have before resorting to a weapon. As the Musk-Ox were fleeing her yard, one of them saw her dog and ran straight to it. It then proceeded to lower its head in what she viewed as an attempt to ram her pen to get to her dog. She called 911 before she shot the musk ox. Immediately after, she did the proper thing by notifying authorities that she had shot the musk ox. The musk ox was then processed by the help of community members and given to the senior center. Yet, wildlife authorities determined that she committed a crime by killing the Musk-Ox. This is nonsense and has got to stop. She should not have been charged with any crime; we have the right to protect our families of which dogs are a part, and we have the right to protect our property. Enough dogs have been injured and killed; we do not want children or any person to endure an attack, when a change WILL be made. Let’s do it before that happens. Help us change this situation and encourage The Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game, in Nome and Juneau Alaska, to find workable solutions to this ongoing problem by signing our petition.

On October 15, 2013 the city council of South Lake Tahoe adopted a ban on plastic single-use carryout bags that applied to all grocery stores as of January 15, 2014 and all retail stores as of October 15, 2014. On June 17, 2014 the city delayed implementation of phase two of the plastic bag ban, which would expand the ban to all retail businesses in South Lake Tahoe. This second phase is important because plastic bags are harmful to Tahoe’s wildlife, environment, and delicate ecosystem. In addition, I recognize that the health of Tahoe’s environment and economy are inextricably linked.

Too many peaceful marijuana smokers incarcerated. Huge waste of our tax dollars.

My petition is about the establishment clause in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Most of us can hold, see, smell and use the dollar bill, but not every American can agree on personal matters of Faith. Since the US dollar is the currency used to trade barrels of oil on the international markets, do we not place blind faith in it - that it will cure what ails us? We trust that the dollar will hold it's value and not plummet: or, more specifically, that corporations, who have the same rights as We the People under the Law, will continue a stranglehold on our free speech and civil liberties. We have lost our way as a country, where corporate media controls the masses, and politicians use religion as a convenient tool for further manipulation. Did you know, the first treaty that the US ever signed, the Treaty of Tripoli (1796), expressly states that: "...the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion." ? Our founders were rather Enlightened for their time, and having lived through the turmoil caused by Europe (where kings took a liking to sectarian religious matters), they knew this all too well: to get religion the hell out of government - and perhaps, more importantly, to keep government from contaminating religion! This is why, I believe it is time to take a stand against Citizens United. In Freedom We Trust! Will you sign my petition to change this outdated and inappropriate national motto?

Because they do not have Rule of ethics,

Lee County commissioners work part time but make more than $87,000 a year. That’s more than double what some Lee County employees make working full time. These bus drivers, animal control workers, waste and water treatment operators and other public service workers, who provide vital services to taxpayers and keep our communities safe every day, continue to be denied raises. Many of them are struggling to keep up with their mortgages and put food on the tables for their families. If Lee County commissioners can make a living wage, why can’t workers, too? Sign the petition to tell commissioners it’s far past time to give workers a raise.

We, the undersigned, support Bob Bolus in spearheading the development of the Steamtown Mall in Scranton into the Steamtown Casino and Resort, and we encourage all our legislators to propose legislation to create a Casino and Resort license for the Steamtown Mall site in an effort to save the city.

Are you mad about 38 Studios...the insider loan that went bad and will cost Rhode Islanders more than $80 million of their hard earned tax dollars? Here's one way to channel that anger! Sign this online petition to support the appointment of an independent, outside counsel to investigate ALL aspects of the disastrous 38 Studios loan. Rhode Island taxpayers deserve to know exactly how this happened. Our General Assembly voted NOT to look at this fiasco. It's time for Rhode Island voters to join in demanding truth and accountability. We won't get that through sham investigations such as the one being run by Secretary of State Mollis. State officials cannot be allowed to investigate themselves; only a third party with no fingerprints at the scene of the crime can produce the truth!

The few bars that are open late put drunk drivers on the road at the same time as morning commuters. Closing the bars at 2 AM will also keep drunk people off the highway (between the 49th, Totem, and Northstar) at the time of heavier traffic. So drinking and commuting will be safer! My mother, Gitte Stryhn, an important member of this rural (ca. 1,000 -person) Alaskan community, was recently killed by a drunk driver that was leaving the Totem bar while she was bicycling to work. Only 1 bar is open until 5 AM. So only 1 bar will be affected by a 3-hour difference in closing time. Three bars are normally open until three or three-thirty, so they will close only an hour or an hour and a half earlier. One bar that stays open late only on very special occasions would only be able to stay open until two.