Georgia is one of the twenty plus states that have Stand Your Ground laws or doctrines that virtually gives an individual the right to "shoot first" - in other words, a license to kill. In light of the tragedy and unjust killing of Trayvon Martin, we want to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in Georgia and want to repeal Georgia's law.

Requesting agriculture classification for exotic birds and domestic pigeons in Florida , Individuals who propagate exotic birds in Florida are covered by the Florida Right to Farm Act, 823.14, Section (3) c, which states: “Farm product” means any plant, as defined in S. 581.011, or animal useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, any product derived therefrom.” Palm Beach County individuals propagating exotic birds have had an agriculture classification, for exotic birds for 35 years. June, 2013 the decision by the Property Appraisers Office has denied agricultural Classification for Exotic Birds, previously, under the agricultural Classification for Exotic Birds, Code 6750. The PBC today view the exotic bird facilities as that as DOG BREEDERS WITH KENELS. Action is needed by Florida legislators to represent all Florida Citizens to include Exotic Birds in the Statute to maintain their status as exotic bird farmers and continue the benefit of agriculture classification as other farmers and nurseries raising pet plants, tropical fish and rabbits, that are considered as Agriculture Classification. A simple solution is to add the words "exotic birds" to Section 5 of Florida Statute 193.461 Solicitando la clasificación agrícola para los pájaros exóticos en la Florida , Los individuos que propagan pájaros exóticos en la Florida están protegidos bajo el acta Florida Right to Farm Act (el Acta del Derecho a Cultivar), 823.14, Sección (3) c, que estipula: “Producto agrícola” significa cualquier planta, tal como esté definido en S. 581.011, o animal útil para los seres humanos e incluye, pero no se limita a, cualquier producto derivado de aquellos.” Los individuos del Condado de Palm Beach (CPB) que propagan pájaros exóticos han tenido una clasificación agrícola para los pájaros exóticos por 35 años. En junio del 2.013 la Property Appraisers Office (Oficina de Asesores de Propiedades) denegó la clasificación agrícola para los pájaros exóticos, previamente bajo la clasificación agrícola para los pájaros exóticos, Código 6750. La CPB hoy día considera a las instalaciones de los pájaros exóticos como las de los CRIADEROS DE PERROS CON JAULAS.

Just last week, Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-R) seemed to be on board the path to citizenship, saying that Republicans must offer "people a path to earned citizenship. We have to invite people to come out of the shadows." Now he seems to have changed his tune, telling a North Dakota radio station this week that immigrants want jobs, not citizenship. "We don't want to push people into citizenship." This isn't the kind of leadership we're looking for. Rep. Ryan knows that a majority of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the American people support the path to citizenship. So why is he walking back now? In fact, Rep. Ryan seems to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth. In May, he referred to the US-born children of undocumented immigrants using an ugly slur -- "anchor babies" -- while pitching immigration reform to conservative constituents in his home state of Wisconsin. We need Rep. Ryan to be on our side and be a leader on immigration reform in the House. As a former Vice-Presidential nominee and future player in his own party, Rep. Ryan's words influence. He needs to champion reform, not cater to the out-of-touch anti-immigration faction of his party. Tell Rep. Paul Ryan to continue supporting a pathway to citizenship for 11 million Americans without papers.

If you care about the rights of every American then you need to sign this petition. There is an unfair, bigoted question in the screening process of the American Red Cross that 100% prevents any gay men from donating blood, even if it is certain they do not have HIV/AIDS. Si le importan los derechos de todos los americanos necesita firmar esta petición, hay una pregunta injusta e intolerante en el proceso de selección de donadores de la Cruz Roja americana que impide donar sangre en un 100% a cualquier hombre homosexual, aun cuando no tengan HIV/AIDS.

US adopts a federal law banning every state from adopting self-defense laws that authorize vigilantism, racial profiling, and killing unarmed people with dangerous or deadly weapons without a duty to retreat.

As a concerned citizen of this United States and of the State of Arizona. I believe the "Stand Your Ground Law" to be a irresponsible and dangerous law that breeds the attitude of "shoot first and ask questions later". I ask all responsible citizens to boycott Arizona tourism until this law is repealed by Arizona Governor elect Jane Brewer and The Arizona State legislature. Please show your support for responsible gun ownership and use by signing the petition and asking the State of Arizona to put an end to their advocacy of gun violence. Thank you Como ciudadano preocupada de los Estados Unidos y de Arizona, yo opino que la Ley "Defiende tu posición" es una ley irresponsable y peligrosa que promueve la actitud de “disparar primero y averiguar después”. Les pido a todos los ciudadanos responsables que emprendan un boicot contra el turismo en Arizona, hasta que esta ley sea anulada por la gobernadora electa, Jan Brewer, y la asamblea legislativa del estado de Arizona. Por favor muestren su apoyo en favor de la posesión y el uso responsable de las armas, firmando la petición y pidiendo al estado de Arizona que pongan fin a su defensa de la violencia por las armas. Gracias.

For more than 30 years, the Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Graduate Center for Worker Education, located in downtown Manhattan, has provided an opportunity for New York City working-class professionals to earn masters’ degrees in Urban Policy & Administration with specializations in New York City Government and Health and Nutrition Sciences. Proud alumni have gone on to elected and public office in New York City and careers in law, higher education, labor unions, public health, and non-profits. In short, the GCWE has made it possible for New York City's diverse, working-class population to get the skills and credentials they need to advance in their professional careers and also advance the interests of the working-class as a whole. Despite the vitality of this program, recent events have left students, alumni, faculty, and staff in CUNY seriously concerned over the future of the Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education and its degree programs. Professors have been dismissed, enrollment and classes dramatically reduced, and support services have all but stopped at the center’s Downtown Manhattan campus. Since spring 2012, Brooklyn College has withdrawn the resources that had once nurtured the Graduate Center for Worker Education, and has visibly removed necessary educational services for its hard-working students. The removal of essential staff, faculty, and resources has been followed with negligible communication by the college administration to students, faculty, staff, labor unions and the many communities that the center serves. For those students struggling to finish their degrees this situation has created an environment that is not conducive to learning. The GCWE, stripped of the people and programs that made it work so well in the past 30 years, no longer provides students with an environment that fosters the mutual respect, trust, support, and the tools needed to excel within an institution of higher learning. For the remaining students, classes are cancelled with little notice, no administrative staff is available to help, and no faculty advisors and deputies are available for essential consultation about our academic progress. Today, the halls of the GCWE campus are virtually abandoned and the program is all but defunct. Left with no other choices, GCWE students have begun applying to other CUNY campuses. Unfortunately, these other campuses are not as well-suited to working-class, trade unionists seeking a professional education to better themselves and New York City. We deserve a learning environment that promotes the educational and pedagogical goals of New York City working-class professionals. Therefore, today, we students, alumni, concerned faculty and citizens ask you to join us in demanding that Brooklyn College and CUNY honor its commitment to the working-class professionals of New York City by restoring the full-service degree programs at the Downtown Manhattan campus of the Graduate Center for Worker Education. We view the withdrawal of staff and faculty and the restriction of admission to New York City residents as a breach of CUNY’s commitment to educate students seeking to improve their lives and those of their diverse communities The dismantling of this long-standing program ranks with other attacks on working people across the country. Brooklyn College should be better. We seek the immediate restoration of the GCWE for the working people of New York City.

This petition is in regard to the racial injustice in the state of Florida. In light of the Trayvon Martin case and the Marissa Alexander case we need to bring this prejudice to the attention of America. We will not continue to pour resources into this state until Stand Your Ground is prohibited; as well as, justice for these families and the safety of all Americans.

The NYS Office of Mental Health has proposed the closure of Greater Binghamton Health Center's Child & Adolescent and Adult inpatient units in an effort to create "Regional Center of Excellence". We are seeking NYS Southern Tier residents to join us to voice concerns about the potential closure and help us save this Facility and these invaluable services. This petition is not a petition to "just maintain the status quo", it is a petition to keep vital services in the Southern Tier. It is also meant to act as a catalyst for positive change in order to maintain these vital mental health services for our region, raise community awareness regarding proposed closures and what it means for rural mental healthcare, and preserve jobs for those providing these essential services. Help us spread the word!!

America is in turmoil since the announcement of the Zimmerman verdict. Demonstrations of outrage have ignited all across the country in response. The verdict sends a message about the lesser value of Black life and the toleration of racial prejudice. We must refute this dangerous message. We cannot deny the role of race and racism in the Trayvon Martin Tragedy. The only reason that the 17-year-old, was considered suspicious in his own neighborhood was because he was Black. It is reflective of the prejudice in our society that the young Black man who was killed on his way home was made out to be the criminal, and the grown man who shot him became the victim. To omit the role of race is to ask for tragedies like this to happen again. We must break the cycle. America must talk about race and the reality of racial inequity. NOW. Your leadership is required to seed that conversation. In response to the Zimmerman verdict, your office released a statement acknowledging the tragedy of Trayvon’s death and the strong passions around the decision, noting: “[W]e are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this." You are right that we need to ask “how we can prevent future tragedies like this”. But to do that, we must ask ourselves how we will address racial inequality in our society. We can’t turn a blind eye towards the unfounded racial prejudice and criminalization of Black men that was at the root of this case. Nor can we ignore the myriad other indicators of racial injustice in this country: In Florida, the same State where Zimmerman’s trial took place, Marissa Alexander, a 31-year old Black mother of three was sentenced to twenty years for firing warning shots to defend herself from her abusive husband. She received no protection under the Stand Your Ground law. [1] This year’s public school closings in Chicago disproportionately affect Black students. Although the Black student population in Chicago is only 43%, of the 54 schools that were closed, 88% of the affected student population is Black. [2] In 2012, there were 313 reported extrajudicial killings of Black people by police officers, security guards, and vigilantes. That’s one Black person every 28 hours. [3] Deaths like Trayvon’s and so many more injustices will persist if we do not name the reality of racial inequity. This 17-year-old boy’s tragic death is about more than Gun Control and Stand Your Ground. It’s about racial prejudice in the United States. We need a leader who will name that. A leader who will respect the legacy of the many Americans who struggled and died for civil rights. A leader who will seize upon this critical teaching moment for America. We need you to be our President, not another cautious politician. America must begin a national conversation about race and we need your leadership to do it. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/marissa-alexander-gets-20_n_1530035.html [2] http://politic365.com/2013/06/10/88-black-how-about-taking-a-recess-from-closing-public-schools/ [3]http://mxgm.org/operation-ghetto-storm-2012-annual-report-on-the-extrajudicial-killing-of-313-black-people/

Prevention is easier than mitigation. There is a proposed LNG pipeline slated to begin construction here in 2014, which would put our waterways in jeopardy. We are trying to block it.

The battle against AIDS has some remarkable recent successes to report: 1 million babies treated with medication to prevent HIV infection at birth. 5 1/2 million people accessing lifesaving treatment in 2012, up from 50,000 in 2005 We are on our way to ZERO! Zero new infections and zero babies infected at birth; Zero AIDS-related moralities; Zero discrimination against those impacted by HIV/AIDS. But at the same time there is an imminent challenge to maintaining the good news: A massive global trade agreement, the Trans Pacific Partnership, is currently being negotiated without public input. The agreement contains articles which would impose intellectual property and patent protections that would cut off access to lifesaving medications for millions living with HIV/AIDS. Through signing this petition you will be urging our President to fulfill his commitment to, "Ushering in an AIDS-free generation," while at the same time bolstering the image and perception of the United States throughout the World.