Mayor Bloomberg refuses to adequately fund our public libraries unless they sell off assets including crown jewels of the system, a plan that is wrong-headed and counterproductive.   We are in a period of steadily increasing use of libraries by all sectors of New York’s population, attendance is up 40% and circulations are up 59%, while the amount required to properly fund libraries is a pittance compared to other city expenditures.      Public libraries enrich their communities and are an important part of the tax base and a stable economy, providing jobs, community space and serving as a buffer against economic downturn.   They provide a safe haven for seniors during the day, teens after school, for parents with young children, for job seekers needing computers, for the growing number of freelance professionals, and for those needing literacy and technical skills.   Bloomberg’s plan would eliminate irreplaceable and historic crown jewels, such as the research stacks underneath the main 42nd Street library, and demolish Brooklyn Heights Art Deco style building, housing 62,000 square feet of library space replacing it with only 15,000 square feet of space in a developer’s high rise.  The removal of the Brooklyn Business Library from Brooklyn’s central business district in downtown Brooklyn, the hub of commerce, transportation, and next to universities is a travesty.  These are just two examples of a scheme to shrink New York’s public library system, eliminating resources that communities depend on.   We need to immediately halt real estate deals that involve selling any more branches to private developers until the libraries have been properly funded and until the needs of the public’s library system are the first priority. Libraries should not be hostages for development.  The city should cease the practices of bribing the public into approving bigger and denser development and pressuring communities into accepting libraries housed in smaller spaces with fewer services. Developer-driven partnerships that put developers in the driver’s seat and render competitive bids meaningless are bad public policy that must be avoided.  The practice of using developers who specialize in insider deals, who treat the communities poorly and have a record of failing to deliver promised benefit violates the public trust. There should be no elimination or sale of irreplaceable assets such as the crown jewel research stacks under the 42nd Street main library or elimination of the Business and Career Center Library on the border of Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn. There should be no premature library closings such as Donnell library, closed in 2008 and still awaiting a replacement.  Any library closing should have a binding contract for its prompt replacement with solid assurances, including full up-front payments and financing in place.   There should be no mass sell-offs of libraries.  Sales of library properties, if any, should be sequenced so that multiple libraries are not closed at the same time and only when it is in the best interest of the public's library system. “The knowledge of different literature frees one from the tyranny of a few”  -Jose Marti   Plaque on 41St Library Walk   New York’s libraries, the lifeblood of a democracy, have contributed to making our city economically vital and a cultural powerhouse.  We must not sacrifice it to shortsighted planning and the interests of powerful developers. We demand protection for public libraries, the city’s trusted place to learn, grow, be inspired, and connect with great minds.   Relevant articles: • New York Times: Critic’s Notebook- In Renderings for a Library Landmark, Stacks of Questions, by Michael Kimmelman, January 29, 2013.  • Wall Street Journal: Undertaking Its Destruction, by Ada Louise Huxtable, December 3, 2012. • Noticing New York: New City-Wide Policy Makes Generation Of Real Estate Deals The Library System’s Primary Purpose, by Michael D. D. White, January 31, 2013.   • Center For An Urban Future: Report - Branches of Opportunity, by David Giles, January 2013

Marijuana has been authorized for medical use in several other states because medical evidence shows that it helps cancer patients, glaucoma patients, and those suffering from chronic pain. Allow patients to use all the medical options available to them.

The Fiscal Cliff, Sequestration, and the House declining to raise the debt ceiling.

The American Morgan Horse Association since 1948 has required two registered Morgan horse parents to produce a registered Morgan foal, or baby. Court cases indicate illegal breeding has been going on. We want to require the AMHA to DNA-test all new foals (babies) back to the date that the registry books were closed in 1948, and to register all from this point forth, properly, into a half or pure registry.

DRONES ARE BEING USED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR SURVEILLANCE WE NEED LAWS THAT PROTECT CITIZENS FROM CLOSER SURVEILLANCE, NOT SOCIETIES WHERE EVERY MOVE IS MONITORED BY GOVERNMENT POLICE ARE BEING OFFERED THE OPTION OF ARMING THE REMOTE CONTROLLED AIRCRAFT (NON LETHAL CURRENTLY) THEY MAY ARM THEM WITH RUBBER BULLETS, TASERS, TEAR GAS CONGRESS WANTS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR POLICE IN THE USA TO USE THEM WITHOUT ANY PRIVACY PROTECTIONS police can use them to peer into homes or track an individual's actions from afar ACLU WANTS THESE SAFE GUARDS : USE OF A WARRANT, FOR AN EMERG, TO STOP A NEW CRIMINAL ACT WHETHER THE POLICY BE REGULATED BY THE PUBLIC VS LAW ENFORCEMENT IS IN QUESTION AND WHETHER WEAPONS OF ANY KIND ARE PERMITTED IT SHOULD ALSO BE SUBJECT TO OPEN FINANCIAL AUDITS WHEN GOVERNMENTS MAKE STATEMENTS THAT THREATEN A SPECIFIC CULTURE - THE CULTURE RECEIVING HOSTILITY SHOULD BE NOTIFIED THEY ARE BEING PROTECTED A DIFFERENTIATION SHOULD BE MADE BETWEEN DRONES USED FOR WILDLIFE AND THOSE INVOLVING CITIZENS

Many citizens in the State of Illinois are unable to marry their partners only because they are of the same sex. Such a policy violates equal protection of the law because there is no rational basis or compelling reason for such a restriction. All people must have the same right to marry.

I have because of the requirements we can get help with paying for are kids going to school at a private one

section 8 housing illegally evicting me off of section 8 housing as well as losing everything i owned ripped me off over 100 thousand. and still threaten to take me off of my voucher if they don't stop receiving there illegal paper work as well as legal aids illegal documentation

Pennsylvanians have a right to know what's in our food and what we are feeding our families! Please sign the petition below asking your state representative to support laws that would require labeling for genetically engineered (GE) food in Pennsylvania. We'll deliver your signature directly to your elected officials.

Please don't allow the navy to blast in our oceans, it is so unfair to all oceanic animals

It is about time for change and this will certainly help so please sign

2/5/13 Asbury Press "NJ: Last week, legal notices were posted announcing that, starting today, authorities would come in and disassemble the camp if the tents had not already been taken down. Eighty people would have been completely homeless. Last year, Superior Court Judge Joseph Foster refused to allow Lakewood to shut down the camp, stating that the residents could not be moved without an alternative place to live. Officials contend that Tent City leaders have not abided by their part of the bargain to forbid more people from moving in. But neither has the county. It hasn’t offered any alternatives, including entering into a partnership with other parties, public or private, to build a county homeless shelter. Before bulldozing Tent City, both the county and the township need to come up with alternatives for those who find themselves, literally, out in the cold. Some of these residents have substance abuse problems and/or mental illness, and have been reluctant to leave Tent City. But many have fallen on bad luck and hard times. All of them need some help. Long-term homelessness may be a tough nut to crack, but what is becoming increasingly clear is that Lakewood simply lacks the will to keep its citizens safe — in Tent City and in the township’s thousands of dilapidated rental houses. And Ocean County lacks the desire to use anything more than an iron fist to deal with the homeless in its midst. A judge properly ruled that alternative housing must be provided before Tent City can be razed. That has yet to happen. Authorities must, as a matter of basic decency, provide a shelter or some alternative before sending in the bulldozers.