The Disneyland Guest Assistance Card HAS ENDED! Look at the result! "Dear Kim, First of all, I would like to thank you for all of your hard work in this matter. I have truly appreciated the updates. I have been so hopeful that adjustments would be made to the new guest assistance program. It is with great sadness, that I share with you our recent heart breaking experience at Disneyland. Our daughter, Amanda, has a life threatening condition, that has resulted in developmental delays, deafness and autistic tendencies. Amanda, has a condition where she will spontaneously stop breathing and requires CPR until she resumes breathing again on her own. Sometimes these spells will last for only a few minutes and other times she may require CPR for 30 minutes or more. Unfortunately, she has spent a great deal of her life in an intensive care unit on full life support. We have nearly lost her many times and sadly, since there is no cure for her condition, we have been told she will likely pass away during one of these arrests. She has been cheated out of most normal childhood activities, including even being able to attend school. Her absolute favorite thing in the world is Disneyland. It is the one place that she lights up and smiles. In fact, although we only get to visit 6-8 times a year, I spend nearly $350 a month on annual passes so that we,as a family, can share these special moments with Amanda. When we do go to Disneyland our visits must be brief due to the fact that if she gets over tired, or over heated, she will likely have an event. We also must carry a heavy emergency bag that contains oxygen and all the equipment necessary to save Amanda's life during her spells. In addition, her behavior issues make it difficult for her to wait in long lines or to be in tight quarters. A few years ago, Amanda went into an arrest in a fast pass line at Disneyland anD getting help to Amanda was a bit of a challenge because they had to clear all the people from the long, twisted lines. Once paramedics reached her she was rushed to CHOC hospital. It was shortly after that event that Disneyland gave Amanda the green-light pass. This pass provided special accommodations for Amanda, allowing her to get on and off all the rides she enjoyed within 2-3 hours, which is about her limit, and it kept her in an open area where help could get to her immediately if needed. After hearing about the change that was going to take place, we planned a visit to give Disney's new program a fair chance. On October 10th, we visited City Hall and explained very clearly, in private, Amanda's limitations and her special needs. We told the cast member/supervisor that she could tolerate a maximum of 3-4 hours at the park. We were introduced to the new program and told that they were sure it would work for us. After 2.5 hours of struggling with the new program, we had gone on Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. The next ride we were hoping to go on was Peter Pan. We waited in another line at the kiosk for about 15 minutes and we were told we could get in line for Peter Pan in 45 minutes. At that point we could see this was not going to work for us, Amanda was already showing signs of fatigue. We made our way back to City Hall and requested to meet with a manager. As we began to express our concerns, Amanda dropped to the ground, in a respiratory arrest, right at the Guest Relations Managers feet. We spent the next 3 days watching her go through spell after spell. Despite this, when my husband made contact with the same gentleman who witnessed our nightmare, he, apologetically, told us that Disney was not willing to make any additional accommodations for Amanda. We were offered the option of canceling our passes or told we could put them on hold for a couple months to think about what we wanted to do, but we would still be required to pay the monthly payments. I still have been unable to make a decision on what to do with our annual passes. We know we cannot return to experience a repeat of our last visit My heart aches at the thought of knowing that the one thing in Amanda's life that she has enjoyed more than anything else will be gone forever since Disney is being so unaccommodating to those who honestly need "special assistance." Debbie" The Autism Society of Los Angeles was on hand today October 14, 2013, to help parents with children with disabilities get through the new Disability Assistance system. This was a very busy day at Disneyland but to get your Disability Access service card it required a 1-2 hour wait. This is after they had to wait to park and get tickets. The cast members were very nice but really did not explain this very complicated system very well and could not accommodate parents who's. children had autism or other developmental disabilities. How this system work is that you start at City Hall or chamber of commerce in California Adventure, you are asked what difficulty your child has. They do not want to see any doctors notes or other documentation. They will take your child's picture and print out a card. They will explain to you that you have to go to the kiosks that are throughout the park and you will be asked what ride you would like to go on. They will write on the card the wait time. Today it was never less than 30 minutes more like 60 minutes. You then have to wait around for your allotted time then you can go on the ride. After your one ride is done you go back to the kiosks and get another time for the next ride. Again you have to figure out what to do for 60 minutes before going on the ride. We figure that with this new system that the family with a child with a disability will only be able to go on four - five rides in an 8 hour day. The feedback from the parents that we spoke to was that this is a crazy system to do with a child with autism who has a problem waiting on the best of days. Parents were exhausted , frustrated and just plain sad. It is like something has...

Robert Lloyd, a qualified former police officer, applied for an open County Constable position and was one of five to be interviewed. After a few opening questions, the Commissioners began to ask questions prohibited by the Texas Constitution concerning his personal beliefs related his religion, how he has voted, his attitudes toward abortion and sexual orientation. Subsequently, he has joined with the Texas Civil Rights Project in filing a lawsuit against the Commissioners Court. In defense, the Court has engaged a New York law firm funded at taxpayers expense. Please sign this taxpayer petition to pressure the Court to negotiate a settlement and stop funding the defense.

Congress is comfortable to let over 30 Million Americans go without health insurance. They Have been a Do Nothing Congress for more than 5 years. It is time to let Congress know who they work for! Defund Congress's Health Care and Pension Now!

The danger of huge radiation releases from Fukushima 4 has taken on a new dimension; the world community must step in!

Hi, my name is Jim Tate, I’m starting this petition through MoveOn.org because I stand with those Sarasota City Commissioners who support the reform of “Stand Your Ground” in Sarasota. Area Republicans are already expressing their displeasure. Gun Crazy right wing Republicans are calling it “an outrage!” and e-mailed Republican Party members castigating commissioners for including Stand Your Ground reform in its list of priorities. Let's show Sarasota Commissioners our support for the reform of Stand Your Ground in Sarasota and that WE'VE GOT THEIR BACK! By signing this petition.

MSU has decided to short many of our members on several hundred dollars worth of pay. Several hundred dollars is a large amount to most people, but when almost all of us make well under $20,000 each year a cut of this amount from our paychecks is critical to our wellbeing. Most graduate students who were teaching assistants over the summer are affected by this pay cut. During our most recent contract negotiations with MSU, the university wanted to change the summer teaching appointment period. We worked with MSU to make sure the dates of the summer appointment period accurately reflected when summer work occurred. Because of this, there was a three-day overlap between the spring appointment period and the summer appointment period. For those three days, if a teaching assistant had both a spring appointment and a summer appointment, MSU maintains that it is only obliged to pay those TAs for one of the jobs. Stipend rates vary from department to department, but losing these for days of summer pay amounts to around $200. With 330 TAs in this situation, that is approximately $66,000 that MSU is withholding from grad student paychecks. Similarly, there is a four-day overlap between the summer and fall appointment periods that MSU does not want to pay TAs for either. GEU has been working with MSU since last year on this issue. Recently, we met with the university, thought this issue was settled, and that summer TAs would be paid properly. Two weeks later, with no explanation whatsoever, the university declined to do so. This lack of recognition for the work that we do is unacceptable.

What if you lost your legs in the Boston bombings only to discover you can either accept charitable contributions and lose your health insurance or keep your health insurance but know it still won't cover all your medical needs? ThinkProgress brings us the story of brothers caught in our modern "health care system" Catch 22. "That [accepting their charity checks] wouldn’t be an issue if they could access health care through an employer, or if the funds were enough to cover all of their expected medical costs. But the Norden brothers’ recovery process has been slow, and they’re not sure when they will be able to work again. They also worry that the high cost of prosthetics will quickly eat up the $1.2 million sum, leaving them with nothing." Why should being at the wrong place to view the end of the Boston Marathon require anyone to make such choices?http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/16/2625731/boston-bombing-victims-cash-checks/. Additionally, Mother Jones tells us about what mass shooting victims face. "Mass shootings can be a devastating financial blow to victims and their families, especially if they don't have health insurance. Dr. Adil Haider, the codirector of the Center for Surgery Trials and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, tells Mother Jones that "if a person has insurance—it will mostly likely cover everything apart from the deductible." But, he adds, "unfortunately, most of the patients we see do not have insurance." If a victim is paralyzed by a gunshot wound, costs could easily surpass $1 million—although a patient could be eligible for Medicaid or disability at that point...In Virginia Tech and Columbine, the most commonly awarded amount was $11,500 and $10,000, respectively, and payment amounts are often distributed based on number of nights spent in the hospital (after Aurora, victims who spent fewer than seven days in the hospital received $35,000)." http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/where-does-money-donated-victims-mass-shootings-go But, we can get these victims access to quality care if Congress will negotiate so these individuals can be added as dependents to the Congressional plan. As dependents of the government plan, these individuals would be able to reap the benefits currently available to them while also being able to access funds donated to their recovery without fear of losing their subsidized insurance. Add your name to tell Congress to get to work taking care of our survivors! If we can't stop the killing and maiming, we can at least step up and get people the coverage they need and the care they deserve.

My name is John Fenton, and I farm and ranch near Pavillion, Wyoming. Over the years, drilling has damaged and devalued our land and the land of our neighbors. The water has been contaminated and the air fouled. Our health has also been attacked. My wife is losing her sense of smell and her sense of taste, my youngest son developed seizures, and I suffer chronic headaches and fatigue. The EPA stepped in to investigate, and released a draft report on the contamination. But now, the EPA has dropped its study. Along with my family and my community, I feel abandoned. I wish that my family was the only one experiencing this kind of heartbreak. But we’re not. Families in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and Parker County, Texas, have similar stories. Over the past year, the Obama administration has ordered the EPA to shut down one fracking-related water pollution investigation after another. President Obama, you promised we would only “Extract natural gas safely, without polluting our water supply." But you’re running away from your own investigations that show we’re not. President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy: stand up to the oil and gas lobby and protect communities across the country; uphold your responsibility to us, our health, and our drinking water; and direct the EPA to reopen these important investigations into the dangers of drilling and fracking.

My step-father is married to both my mother, and another woman in a different city. My mother and step-father have two little girls (age 5 & 8) not only are they seeing that it is okay for their father to be married to two women at a time, they are learning that there is no justice for breaking the law. My mother tried to have him prosecuted since it is a class-C felony, and it was denied. Nobody sees this as a real concern. Bottom line, its a felony, it needs to be treated as so, punished as so.

Genetically engineered foods have not been adequately tested; it's unethical to be putting an experimental technology into the food we feed our families. I am concerned about the rise in allergies and gastrointestinal problems in children. I believe GMOs need to be labeled so that we the consumers can make our own choices. We have a right to know what we are eating and feeding our families.

There are fans that cannot afford to purchase season tickets, but want to be a part of the game day action and excitement as much as they can. By only allowing season ticket holders to purchase tailgating passes, you are not allowing fans that cannot purchase season tickets the ability to enjoy the excitement and camaraderie of the game day experience.

To see that heroin dealers receive attempted murder and murder charges for distributing a lethal drug.