To provide quality education and programs in the Arts free of charge to children and the community.

According to a comprehensive study on the privatization of prisons by the Justice Department (https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/181249.pdf), private, for-profit prisons offer no mechanism foreign to the government to save taxpayer dollars. They lobby government officials for monopolies and subsidies, corrupt the justice system, and produce a private-sector incentive for putting more and more people in prison for questionable crimes and acts.

A non-partisan study released this week found that the state ranked 49 out of 50 in child well-being. http://datacenter.kidscount.org/DataBook/2012/

The Fargo Forum newspaper has a ban on same-sex marriage announcements, and they need to end that ban now! There is no place in North Dakota or anywhere else in our country to encourage bigotry against any group of our citizens. We in NoDak are not people who hate or want to destroy the lives of our neighbors, friends, and family. A ban on celebrating the beauty of a loving, life-long relationship is never the correct thing to do, whether you agree with that relationship or not. A customer is a customer, everyone has a right to their personal views, but no right to push them on others in their community. To keep the community from the knowledge of an extremely happy event they may want to celebrate is not a value we should encourage. Having a "news" outlet in a small area gives that outlet quite a bit of power, and using that power to damage others needs to be something we all need to reject.

Hydrofracking will destroy New York's abundance of fresh water. Bottom line: this is our WATER. 50% of cement casings in these gas wells FAIL within 30 years of use, releasing hundreds of neurotoxins, plastics, natural gas, and other chemicals into our WATER. DO NOT allow the gas industry to drill in New York. What's at stake here is much more important than profit. These rigs must be safe for use forever otherwise they put our water in immediate danger of being undrinkable; and as of right now, they're clearly not safe.

As consumers, we do not know much about the companies we buy from. Some outsource jobs and others care about social justice and give to the community for example. Some care about the environment, while others don't. Some pay little or no taxes while others pay a lot of taxes to the US. We need a Governmental website that gives us knowledge about big companies and their values, which will give us power and choice into how we spend our money. Through our collective dollar, everyone can help shape business ethics to be more humane - if we spend our money on ethical companies. Hence, ethical businesses would have a rise in profits and unethical companies would have a decrease in profits. Ideally, an ethical "arms race" between businesses could ensue - if the business wants to survive. Before you know it, America could be littered with ethical businesses...what a world that could be...

The Supreme Court has decided that Corporations are people, but a person cannot sign a contract or determine what is best for them until they reach the age of 18 years old. All contracts entered into by a corporation before it's 18th year should be considered illegal contracts with a minor. Furthermore, since none of these corporations have parents to provide for them they should all be considered wards of the state until they are old enough to make decisions for themselves.

Stop banks from endangering the banking system, and the public from unsafe and unsound practices and conflicts of interest. Make commercial and investment banking separate.

The Executive Branch of United States was limited to 2 terms by the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution stating that the president may only serve two terms. Contrary to the Constitution congressmen are serving multiple terms gaining more power and getting rich off their various benefits.

“Guilty as charged.” Those were Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s words when the Baptist Press asked about his company's financial backing of anti-gay organizations that promote the “traditional family.” For Chick-fil-A, this means funneling millions of dollars in corporate profits to vehemently anti-gay groups, including ones that practice “gay-to-straight” conversion therapy and hate groups that advocate for the criminalization of homosexual behavior. In response, on Friday night, the Jim Henson company severed ties with Chick-fil-A, and instead will be donating money to GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Now, Chick-fil-A is planning to partner with the Berenstain Bears for its next promotion, using the beloved bear family as a prize package for its kids' meals. Losing business partners is a huge blow to the multi-billion dollar fast-food giant, and the strongest lesson possible to the company that its anti-gay stance is out of touch with modern values. SumOfUs.org members have stood strong on gay rights issues in the past, and this time, to ensure the Berenstain’s – and Chick-fil-A – get the message, we’re putting this campaign up on SignOn to bring as much pressure to bear as we can against corporate homophobia. Sign our petition to the Berenstain Bears, then share it with your friends. Chick-fil-A has a long history of handing out money to groups like Exodus International, which specializes in “gay conversion therapy,” a process that views homosexuality as a mental disorder which needs to be “cured.” In addition, Chick-fil-A supports the Family Research Council, which advocates for the criminalization of homosexuality and has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Chick-fil-A is fast becoming a national symbol for supporters of homophobia. Next Wednesday, August 1st, Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay supporter Mike Huckabee is organizing National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day to support the company’s culture of homophobia. Two days later, on August 3rd, activists are organizing National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A to challenge Chick-fil-A's definition of a "real" family. Chick-fil-A has already received a lot of criticism, but the Muppets cutting ties with Chick-fil-A has been the company’s biggest blow yet. Fast food toy partnerships are multi-million dollar endeavors, with companies using them as the centerpiece of huge advertising campaigns to their target audience of young children. Getting The Berenstain Bears to follow the Muppets out the door will add more fuel to a massive media firestorm and show Chick-fil-A that supporting anti-gay groups is definitely bad for business. SumOfUs.org members have supported companies in the past for standing up for the LGBT community in the face of homophobic opposition, getting hundreds of thousands of people to sign thank you cards to Starbucks and JCPenney. Now we hope you’ll join us as we take on a company that funds some of the worst anti-gay groups in the US. Thank you for all that you do, Claiborne, with SumOfUs.org

This petition is intended to force action against those Executives who received Government-funded (taxpayer money) bonuses directly after causing the biggest financial crisis in recent history. These bonuses are undeserved and should be given directly back to the people. The masses should not have to suffer for the benefit of the few, the United States of America is better than this, do not allow this injustice to continue unchecked.

Prohibiting the sales of deadly ammunition and high capactity magazines in retail stores, including internet websites.