North Carolina's General Assembly is about to take the unprecedented step of seizing a municipal-run water system from a city, which in this case has owned and operated it for over 100 years. Members of the NCGA have signaled their intention to introduce legislation in early 2013 that would force the city of Asheville to turn over not only its water distribution system, but control of its pristine 20,000 acre watershed, to the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County (MSD). Indications are that the city of Asheville will likely receive no compensation for the taking of these assets.

This nation has unleashed a military campaign against the world like none before and we must demonstrate the combined will to stop it. American led covert operations and counter insurgency are at the core of all revolutions and violence in this world, and this latest crusade we are all allowing to happen comes in the name of democracy.

Urban Outfitters leaves their front doors open in the dead of winter with huge heaters placed above the entry way to warm customers as they enter. Unfortunately, this practice warms the planet instead. They also send their merchandise home in new cloth bags instead of recycled paper or plastic. Tell Urban Outfitters to set a better example for the teens and young adults who shop in their stores.

Abolishing the winner take all of the Electoral College. Base the election on a percentage of the voters for each candidate. I think we are all affected by who is President of the United States. For a Candidate to win the popular vote, but to lose the election does not seem right.

How about reduced Pensions for all of our Congressmen Senators and Representtives In washington by 50% Including all State level officials too. No more fully paid health care after they all leave office.Stop maintaining an office after they leave office also. All Raises to Congress and Senators and House representatives be voter approved.Not approved by Themselves. That all benifet provided By our tax dollors be Published and put out for voter apporval.

A healthy response to the Sandy Hook tragedy. As a Marriage and Family Therapist who has worked for many years with men,  women, and children, I would like to propose a solution that I believe will head off violence at its root.  It involves family therapy.

Press reports say President Obama will soon nominate a new Treasury Secretary . Press speculation has centered on candidates likely to support the Wall Street agenda of cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits and other domestic spending rather than government policies to create jobs. We want President Obama to nominate Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who opposes austerity and wants the government to focus on creating jobs.

America is doomed to marginal or negative social progress as long as we put up with our 18th century political system. We do NOT need others to vote for us on national issues of major importance. Today's technology makes dependence on this antiquated approach really stupid

While the congress is busy trying to cut the social safty net to, in their word cut the deficit, They are too well paid and the benefits extremely generous, I feel we the people who they are supposedly there to work for us seem to have forgotten that, very little has been done for at least the last 3 years except to get the USA downgraded and create a hostile non-working congress.

Can congress be trusted, any longer, to represent their country without oversight? Threatening, for a second time, to refuse to raise the debt ceiling to enable payment of bills they, themselves, have incurred - meaning more debt for each of their constituents, is an outrage. Working fewer and fewer days when the country has so many problems is intolerable. Citizens must be protected.

With the latest violent acts that have happened, the person or persons involved ignored all gun laws, restricted areas for guns, etc..The bad people with always find a way to get the guns. Instead of focusing on more gun controls, focus on the real problem, mental health of these people doing the attacks. Instead of streamlining these people, people need to not be afraid of getting them they help they need, medication or making sure they take their medications or hospitalization, if necessary is done. Also make provisions for extra security at schools. Stop penalizing the honest people, let us be able to properly defend ourselves!

IF YOU EAT, THIS ISSUE CONCERNS YOU. The basics: After ocean dumping of sewage sludge was banned, spreading it on the land became the next cheapest option. Regulations were drawn up by EPA, arm and arm with municipalities (the producers) who want to save money, and spreaders (corporations) who make huge profits on waste disposal. The sewage sludge name was changed to “biosolids” and the product (toxic waste) is now given to landowners as free “fertilizer”. Full disclosure of the sludge contents is not required and indeed is impossible to ascertain. Only 10 components are regulated, while there are close to 100,000 possible known and secret (proprietary) chemicals that could be present and interacting. As well, sludge contains pathogens, antibiotics and other medications including endocrine disrupters, slaughter house and morgue wastes, and everything else that goes down the drain. All these pollutants are concentrated in the sludge as the waste water treatment plant purifies the water so it can legally re-enter the water system. The landowner is told about the nitrogen content in the sludge and about the amount of money that can be saved on fertilizer, while the risks to human health and that of the environment are ignored. These pollutants and toxins, once applied to agricultural land, become absorbed into the food chain. Land applied sewage sludge has sickened people, killed livestock, polluted water, and degraded healthy soil. Many countries, including Japan and Switzerland, now ban the practice. Sewage sludge biosolids do not belong on the land where we grow our food or graze our animals.