There are plans in place for Wal-Mart to be the anchor store in a new development in downtown Athens. The Armstrong-Dobbs tract is the most valuable piece of land in Athens-Clarke County. It abuts the Oconee River and is within walking distance of UGA and Athens' unique local businesses. We are not against development of the Armstrong-Dobbs tract. In fact, we celebrate development for the opportunities it might bring our community to grow. However, we are against the placement of a 100,000 sq. ft. Wal-Mart within the Armstrong-Dobbs development as an "anchor store." Please sign this petition to voice your support for an alternative vision of Athens' future. We protect our small businesses. We love our unique culture. We are People for a Better Athens. We will not sell or trade your email under any circumstance. Please like and share our Facebook Page to stay engaged! http://www.facebook.com/ABetterAthens

The airwaves are full of commercials with Bill Clinton saying there should be no new taxes and President Obama saying we need to tax the wealthy. There has been zero response from the Democratic National Committee or Bill Clinton refuting these commercials. This pathetic behavior needs to stop. We the democratic people demand that you start fighting back now.

Tim WIlson has been in a jail cell in Japan for 3 months with little contacts to the outside world, no contact with his family. He faces a potential sentence of 10 years for importing a small amount of edibles containing marijuana. A package he never received. His charges are unjustified and his trial date has repeatedly pushed back. They transferred him to a prison without informing the family. He sits in a prison cell though he has not been convicted. He needs support of the community and the world to bring his story to light.

Many individuals with criminal records get turned away by putting on their application they have been convicted of a crime. By "Banning the Box" we can help these individuals get recognized for their skills rather than their pasts. Please help create safer communities and lower the rate of recidivism!

We as concerned parents, people of the community, and advocates to fight childhood obesity, want Congress to stop the bill that would reverse the progress the USDA is trying to make to make federally funded school lunches healthier. 
The proposed Agriculture Spending Bill that Congress, the frozen food manufacturers, and potato grower lobbyists are trying to pass would: 

1. Block the USDA from limiting starchy vegetables to two servings a week (which include french fries, tater tots, etc). 
 2. Count tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable!!! 
3. Require 'further study' on long term sodium reduction (meaning the school lunches can still contain high amounts of salt/sodium) 
 4. The USDA would have to define 'whole grains' before they regulate them (so school lunches would not have to incorporate more whole grains as asked by the USDA) 

All of these measures are attempts for private food manufacturers to put profits ahead of children's health and we as a members of the public want Congress to NOT pass this bill and think of the 1 in 4 children who are obese and the 1 in 3 adults who are obese. Our country is facing an epidemic as confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control. Billions of US taxpayer's money is spent on the many diseases associated with obesity - don't sell us out!

Tomato sauce on pizza is a vegetable, says Congress; GOP says healthier school lunches are too expensive.

There are five voting members of the Delaware River Basin Commission who will cast a vote this Monday, November 21 to accept weak gas drilling regulations which will, in effect, lift the moratorium on fracking in the Delaware River Basin. We must urge those members--the governors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York, plus the Army Corps of Engineers--to vote no in order to protect the water supply of over 15 million people.

We the concerned citizens of Pennsylvania demand the immediate impeachment and/or resignation of Tom Corbett. The record of his administration says it all, everything from his involvement in the PennState molestation scandal to taking money from gas companies but far too many other grievances to list in this short petition. By signing this petition you agree Tom Corbett should resign and/or be impeached for the better good of Pennsylvania.

From the BPA (bisphenol-A) in our canned tomatoes and water bottles to the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) in our shower curtains and baby toys to the phthalates in our shampoo and shaving cream to the BFR (brominated flame retardant) in our mattresses and our baby's pajamas, we're surrounded by toxic chemicals that raise our risk of developing cancer, asthma, Alzheimers, and also cause a dizzying array of developmental, neurological, immunologic, reproductive, and endocrine disorders. The Safer Chemicals Act of 2011 would help protect consumers from these and other toxic chemicals but it needs more support to pass in the Senate.

The Supreme Court may treat corporations like people who can spend whatever they want on elections, but the American people don't have to accept it, said Democratic senators who proposed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to retake control of campaign spending. The proposed amendment would grant Congress the power to regulate campaign contributions to federal candidates and expenditures concerning federal elections; the same powers would be granted to the states with respect to state elections. The amendment would essentially reverse the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which found that corporations have the right to spend unlimited sums of money in federal elections.

In the history of nonviolent protest in the united states, the federal government has often had to step in to protect the civil rights from the excesses of local police. We are calling on the White House to investigate and determine whether federal laws are being violated by local law enforcement authorities in their brutality against citizens exercising their right to peaceably assemble and protest.

After being evicted from Zuccotti Park in a pre-dawn raid, many people from Occupy Wall Street relocated to property owned by Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church -- a progressive church with a rich history of social activism. But instead of the occupiers finding sanctuary on church property, they were arrested by the New York Police. The Bloomberg administration is clearly determined to put an end to Occupy Wall Street's peaceful witness against economic injustice. It's time for Christians to stand with the 99% -- not merely in words, but in action. Join us in asking Trinity Wall Street to do the right thing and offer sanctuary to Occupy Wall Street. (If you are an Episcopalian, please indicate your parish in the comments, so Trinity can see that many within their own tradition are asking for their support.)