This petition was by Silvertip Mountain Center, LLC, co-owned by Dr. Laurie Hinck and Jay Schifferdecker to protect the vulnerable AB Wilderness from inholding development. Laurie Hinck: I was born in Silver Gate, Montana (within 15 miles of these Beartooth inholdings). I am co-owner of two businesses, Silvertip Mountain Center and the Log Cabin Café Bed and Breakfast. I have a PhD in environmental history and have a strong background in how development has harmed the rural U.S. West. Jay Schifferdecker: I own two businesses in the area, including a ski shop. I have been skiing and mountaineering in the Beartooths for over twenty years. The AB Wilderness is vulnerable and we need to protect it from encroachment. Our blog: http://theschiffspeaks.blogspot.com/ INHOLDING COMMERCIALIZATION / WOODY CREEK CABIN HARMS THE ABSAROKA BEARTOOTHS: 1. Pressures the Greater Yellowstone’s wildest ecosystem: contaminating a watershed of the Yellowstone River, stressing grizzlies and other wildlife, causing noise and light pollution 2. Privatizes public space, degrades public access 3. Violates the spirit of the Wilderness Act of 1964: “To assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition.”

I have been concerned about water usage in California since I read Cadillac Desert over a decade ago. Now with the very serious drought looming it is time for not just Californians, but for all people to take action.

OPEN LETTER TO President Barack Obama The White House Washington D.C Dear President Obama, I hope this letter of concerns find you in good health. I am doing my very best to continue supporting you. I trust you leadership, but I am very concerned about the problems Michigan residents especially those in the Black communities are experiencing ever since Mr. Rick Snyder became Governor. He has eroded and disrespected democracy in Michigan by ignoring the United States and Michigan Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We need your intervention now! We need you NOW! Many feel abandoned by you, our President. I am doing all I can to give you support and speak up for our historical president but when we don’t hear or see you speaking up against anyone, especially any top official such as a governor, who is disrespecting and attempting to, and in some cases, reverse our voting rights, that is a major problem that can’t be defended. Please speak up and against these types of actions. So many voters have opted out of the voting process. Why? Because it seems as though our votes are being railroaded and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is being ignored as displayed shortly after a majority vote on November 6, 2012 repealing PA 4 of 2011 also known as the Emergency Manager Law. The governor signed into law before January 2013, another version of the EM bill (PA 436) during lame duck session in which it was written to not be able to be repealed. This bill was already written and ready for the governor’s signature had Proposal 1 been approved and it was…with a “NO” vote. Even prior to this vote, over 300,000 signatures were easily obtained for the purpose of having this proposal placed on the November 2012 ballot and the Republican party did all it could to not have this initiative placed on the ballot by claiming that the “font” was inaccurate. That trick didn’t work so the only resolve Governor Snyder chose was to ignore the vote by signing into law, House Bill PA 436 another form of taking over and away our right to vote, be it wrong or right, on December 27, 2012. Please respond. Sincerely Yours, Cynthia A. Johnson Registered Detroit, MI voter

Our environment. Everyone in Fayetteville can see the plastic bags blowing around Fayetteville. We used to make fun of Springdale for having chicken feathers blowing around the streets of their town due to the chicken trucks hauling live chickens through town. Now, when I see those plastic bags blowing into our creek beds, across fields and into streams I think how they are not biodegradable and how they are blowing out of our landfills at an increasing rate. I think we can start a good thing if we BAN THOSE BAGS!!!-- Let's do it!!!!

In support of the Ukrainian people and for world peace

A report by CommonWealth Magazine says the Massachusetts legislature may fail to pass the Massachusetts Disclosure Act in time for the 2014 state elections. That means corporations can spend unlimted money to influence elections without disclosing their spending, and Super PACs can spend unlimited money without disclosing their donors in real time. That is unacceptable! We already saw this play out in the 2013 Boston mayoral elections, when shadowy outside groups spent millions to influence the elections without disclosing their donors. Let's not have a repeat in 2014 when the stakes are even higher. Take action now! Tell your state legislators to pass disclosure reform now. It's the voters right to know which special interests are trying to influence their votes.

Hello, Please sign our petition to urge New York City Landmark's Preservation Commission to protect the handsome A&P Warehouse at 67 Vestry Street in Tribeca. This warehouse is the last visual remnant of the story of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, a company founded in the now-demolished Washington Market. Other A&P warehouses that are younger and less historically significant are National Landmarks. Shouldn't this one be landmarked as well? Sincerely, Tribeca Trust and the residents of 67 Vestry

In Maspeth, NY, two weeks ago, UPS fired a driver and longtime union activist without the fair hearing he was entitled to. Outraged and aware that violating one worker's rights threatened them all, other drivers walked off of their job to stand in solidarity with their fellow worker. In retaliation, UPS has now notified all 250 drivers who participated in the protest that they are on notice of termination. In other words, "You're fired." The well-being of these drivers and their families hangs in the balance because they spoke out against a company that violated workers' rights. UPS shouldn't ship pink slips to their drivers just for speaking out--what should have been a routine disciplinary matter became an attack on hundreds of working families. It's bad for their brand, their employees, and most importantly, their customers. Tell UPS that it's not okay to retaliate against their workers. The drivers are committed to negotiating a fair resolution--why can't UPS do the same and take back the notices of termination? What can brown do for you? Certainly not this.

When Congress slashed food stamps in February, 850,000 low-income families in 16 states plus D.C. stood to lose $90 of food assistance per month. But in a twist befitting the movies, there is still a way we can wipe out those cuts entirely. It's tricky to explain, but the bottom line is this: if a state were to increase its minimum monthly heating assistance benefit to $20 without kicking anyone out of the program, then no one in that state would face food stamp cuts. Three of the 16 states—New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania—have already done this. Executive orders by Govs. Andrew Cuomo, Dan Malloy and Tom Corbett increased the minimum heating assistance in their states to $20 a month, thereby preventing any food stamp cuts from taking place. Every state—including Massachusetts—facing cuts can do this. Sign the petition demanding that Gov. Deval Patrick increase heating assistance to low-income families as a means of restoring their food stamp benefits.

By the end of this year, most of our troops will be home from Afghanistan and our nation will finally turn the page on more than 13 years of war. The President has promised to pivot our nation from its war-footing, do some nation building here at home, and put our fiscal house in order by finally reining in the Pentagon's bloated and waste-ridden budget. But the Pentagon has a trick to keep the money flowing, a massive slush fund known in Washington as the 'Overseas Contingency Operations' (OCO) account. By using that slush fund, the Pentagon and its friends in Congress have managed to not only protect billions of dollars in wasteful spending, but to completely avoid any of the dramatic cuts that domestic programs like education and health care have faced over the past few years (1)! It’s time to get rid of the Pentagon’s slush fund. Our troops are finally coming home from the Middle East, yet the Pentagon's budget remains sky-high. Over the past year, more than half our troops in Afghanistan came home, yet the Pentagon's account for the war actually increased! This wasn't because the 30,000 troops in Afghanistan were suddenly twice as costly. Rather than bringing our tax dollars home with our troops - and using some of that money to pay to heal the wounds of our veterans from over a decade of war - Congress chose to protect the profits of Pentagon contractors by adding billions to the Pentagon's OCO slush fund on spending that had nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan and everything to do with special interests in Washington. Recently, the Pentagon released its budget for the coming year, and it looks ready to continue the gimmicks, keeping its slush fund for years to come. Every dollar the Pentagon puts in its slush fund is a dollar less for early childhood education, nutrition assistance, and health care, all of which are being slammed by deep budget cuts. Some in Congress are calling for giving the Pentagon even more money and paying for it by cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Congress and the Pentagon are depending on Americans not noticing their budget gimmicks. They're hoping that they can keep using the pretext of the war in Afghanistan to throw tens of billions of dollars into failing weapons systems and wasteful spending at the Pentagon. Thankfully, we can stop them. Sign this petition today to demand that Congress get rid of the Pentagon's slush fund, cut wasteful spending at the Pentagon, and bring our tax dollars home after 13 years of war. (1) http://huff.to/1fQJmaa

When Congress slashed food stamps in February, 850,000 low-income families in 16 states plus D.C. stood to lose $90 of food assistance per month. But in a twist befitting the movies, there is still a way we can wipe out those cuts entirely. It's tricky to explain, but the bottom line is this: if a state were to increase its minimum monthly heating assistance benefit to $20 without kicking anyone out of the program, then no one in that state would face food stamp cuts. Three of the 16 states—New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania—have already done this. Executive orders by Govs. Andrew Cuomo, Dan Malloy and Tom Corbett increased the minimum heating assistance in their states to $20 a month, thereby preventing any food stamp cuts from taking place. Every state—including Maine—facing cuts can do this. Sign the petition demanding that Gov. Paul LePage increase heating assistance to low-income families as a means of restoring their food stamp benefits.

When Congress slashed food stamps in February, 850,000 low-income families in 16 states plus D.C. stood to lose $90 of food assistance per month. But in a twist befitting the movies, there is still a way we can wipe out those cuts entirely. It's tricky to explain, but the bottom line is this: if a state were to increase its minimum monthly heating assistance benefit to $20 without kicking anyone out of the program, then no one in that state would face food stamp cuts. Three of the 16 states—New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania—have already done this. Executive orders by Govs. Andrew Cuomo, Dan Malloy and Tom Corbett increased the minimum heating assistance in their states to $20 a month, thereby preventing any food stamp cuts from taking place. Every state—including New Hampshire—facing cuts can do this. Sign the petition demanding that Gov. Maggie Hassan increase heating assistance to low-income families as a means of restoring their food stamp benefits.