Kids are being negatively effected by social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) everyday. I am a guidance counselor and I see students everyday who are harrassed or made to feel less than they are on these sites. Kids under 16 are not emotionally equipped to deal with these pressures and the negativity they are faced with on these site. Many parents do not monitor their own child's sites for appropriateness and children can easily be publicly humiliated. It is heartbreaking to see children in the news who commit suicide due to online bullying. These sites need to be regulated like alcohol and driving. It is a danger to our young kids well being and self esteem.

Many beloved pet dogs are being senselessly killed on public lands by legally set body grip fur harvesting traps in the state of MN. Hundreds of thousands of hunters and people recreating with dogs on our public grounds are being terrorized by a minority of trappers using body grip traps. If regulations were adjusted to require body grip traps to be set 5 ft. above ground or completely submerged in water, trappers could continue to successfully harvest furs and the vulnerability of dogs would be considerably reduced. This is being done to the benefit of dogs and trappers in neighboring states and Canadian provinces.

Crony Capitalism is a pestilence that infects both major U.S. parties. Here’s a revealing case in point, involving the so-called “fiscal cliff deal” that was negotiated by the White House and the GOP, and showing how a $500 million payoff to biotech company Amgen was snuck in at the last minute, effectively reducing Amgen’s record U.S. fine of $762 million in criminal and civil penalties by two thirds, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. See http://billmoyers.com/segment/u-s-rep-peter-welch-on-amgen%e2%80%99s-sweet-senate-deal/ In this exposé of political “skullduggery” (to use Bill Moyers’s term), Moyers reveals how a New York Times investigative report (published two days before the inauguration) traced the sell-out actions of Republican Mitch McConnell, Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Orrin Hatch, “a trio of perpetrators, who treat the U.S. Treasury as if it were a cash-and-carry annex of corporate America,” according to Moyers. We demand repeal of the paragraph that made this shameless giveaway to Amgen possible. Moyers’s discussion with House Democratic Representative Peter Welch suggests that even Tea Party GOPers might join in with other hoodwinked electeds to repeal this clearly corrupt payoff to a corporate wrongdoer. This is well worth viewing and acting upon to repeal what discredits our government and both houses at the highest levels. There can be no excuse for not going after this one!

The present Electoral system has only failed three times to elect a president that had won the popular vote. If a system of awarding office by congressional districts is put in place, that once rare occurrence will become commonplace.

A friend of my family grieved himself to death because of a senseless crime . His daughter was murdered with a stolen gun. Shot in the head along with two other of her friends. Louisiana has the largest number of people killed with guns according to CDC findings (46%).

Eliminating the electoral college system of electing the president of the United States of America

This is a petition in support of the children and families whose lives have been touched or affected by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) .Our goal is to bring public awareness to the abuse and neglect of our children in the system along with the struggles and obstacles that the parents/families face while trying to regain custody of our children.

In 2001, Ronny Lopez Jr. made a terrible mistake, and was held accountable by the Hawaii Judicial System. He has since fulfilled all requirements, did his time, changed his life around, has had no problems before or since. He works actively to help others as a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and is trying to raise a wonderful family in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. In the last 2 years, 4 prominent recovery centers on the island of Oahu wanted to offer him stable, long-term, positions based on his credentials, experience, and expertise, however could not because of archaic and special interest based Federal laws barring him because of his criminal history. With his current position disappearing come this May, the security and well-being of his family is in crisis if he cannot receive a pardon and find suitable employment. He put in his application for pardon in August of 2011, and the Paroling Authority did not start working on it until September of 2012. Time is running out, and the security of his family, including two beautiful children, is on the line. If you believe in change and if you believe everyone deserves a second chance, please sign the petition and show your support.

Under the Affordable Care Act, states are eligible to receive new funding to expand their Medicaid programs. Missouri lawmakers have so far refused to accept the funds to expand Medicaid in Missouri, but the fight's not over. Tell Missouri state legislators to accept federal Medicaid dollars and protect the nearly 400,000 Missourians that would benefit.

While Texas had 4 major cities with some of the highest growth rates in the country in 2012, severe draught and water shortages, now and worse to come, will threaten our well-being. The current Texas State Legislature, now in session, needs to address, if not prioritize, this impending crisis.

Prohibiting the practice of giving away live animals, fish, hermit crabs lizards etc as prizes would save many of them from cruelty. Winning a animal or fish is done on impulse and rarely do the recipients have the resources for them when they arrive home to care for them. I have seen fish in bags discarded in trash receptacles at the fair and many others die from the heat and being brought on rides. Many towns and cities in other states have banned the practice. Maryland is a progressive state and should do the same. There are better, more suitable prizes available that don't have the inherent cruelty of giving a live animal as a prize.

Not one senior Wall Street executive has been held responsible for the country's economic collapse. Attorney's have filed civil suits and these suits contain strong evidence that too big to fail banks defrauded investors; these suits need to filed as criminal cases NOW. They need to be held accountable; they must be made to pay back the money they stole or lost through their fraudulent acts.