Petition Tag - among

 Repeated pornography issues in & among the Rutland City Police Department.

 Lack of leadership & morale of/in the Rutland City Police Department.

 Lack of action as is required to do “on behalf of the City and betterment of the community,” by the Police Commission.

 Lack of transparency within the City government & offices.

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The Psychology Department at UCSD has come to the decision of declining Dr. Robert Epstein his position teaching infamously beloved classes, not for any budget reasons, but because the Department has expressed a manner of discomfort at the amount of press coverage and popularity of his courses.

The UCSD Psychology Homepage boasts, "The Department of Psychology at UCSD consistently ranks among the top experimental psychology programs in the country. From its founding in 1965 by George Mandler, the department now names among its faculty many of the world's leading experts in cognition, learning, memory, perception, attention, language, autism, emotion, and social relationships." To anyone that knows even the slightest bit about Dr. Epstein, whether they've noted how he effortlessly pulls off wearing a Beatles Abbey Road shirt underneath a casual suit or they've known about his 14 books or numerous television appearances, it's evident that they're talking about him when they post such a statement. Losing such a valuable asset would be devastating for not only the school, but it's students as well.

Just a few of the accomplishments of Dr. Epstein include; editor-in-chief of Psychology Today, contributing editor for Scientific American Mind, columnist ("The Skeptical Psychologist") for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, founder and Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Massachusetts, host of a number of psychology-related radio programs(particularly Psyched!®), author, father of four, and longtime psychology researcher and professor.

Dr. Robert Epstein has brought life to learning and creativity into classrooms. His impressive accomplishments and flawless feedback from students only solidifies the reasons why UCSD needs Dr. Epstein. The University would gain no benefit from denying him his position here at UCSD.

"During my tenure as Department Chair,
our staff in charge of undergraduate
affairs were virtually inundated with
students coming to them raving about
Epstein's class, and asking that he be
hired to teach future classes."
Ben A. Williams, Professor of Psychology,
University of California San Diego

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The purpose of this petition is to gather enough signatures of currently enrolled law students at Washington University in St. Louis to formally create an Immigration Law Society at Wash U.

The Law School has never had an Immigration Law Society, yet St. Louis is the home of a surprisingly large population of new immigrants and refugees. Immigration is a topic commonly intertwined with employment and labor law, criminal law, health care, international law and foreign policy, among many other areas. The Immigration Law Society at Wash U would allow students to explore immigration law through direct community outreach, local and national speakers, fair-minded debates, contacts with employers and professional organizations, and advocacy and awareness events. Furthermore, the community outreach and volunteer aspect of the organization would provide students another avenue to obtain real-world legal experiences while in school, giving Wash U law students a competitive edge in the job market, even in areas other than immigration.

If you support the creation of this new organization, please help us by signing this petition. Under the Bylaws of the Student Bar Association, a new organization needs at least 10 registered members and twenty student signatures supporting the group’s formation, among other things. Please note in the space provided whether you would like to sign as a "Member" or "Supporter."

Thank you!

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April 26, 2006

Fortean TV was a fun paranormal magazine show enjoyed by many people in the UK in the late 90s, hosted by Lionel Fanthorpe (pictured).

It was respected among the paranormal comunity as unique among paranormal tv shows as it did not just regurgitate stale old stories that everyone had heard thousands of times before but regularly brought new and current stories of a paranormal nature to the viewers attention.

It has never been repeted or released on video or DVD.

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March 01, 2006

Extensive research has shown that the availability of condoms in schools decreases teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease like HIV and Syphillis.

Reasearch also shows that condom availability does not cause sexual proactivity among teenagers, and mainly aids those who are already sexually active.

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Star and Timothy Joseph, self proclaimed, Original Haters of the Star and Buc Wild radio show, which is broadcast on multiple stations nationally, has downgraded radio talk since their arrival in early 2000.

Their attempts to capitalize on degrading, racial commentary are not acceptable or entertaining. Our citizens are not niggers, crackers or wetbacks and we should not have to tolerate being classified as niggahs, bitches, hoes, or poor white trash.

The lots of us are diverse, upstanding, intelligent, respectful citizens who are trying to cultivate, unify and elevate our nation as a whole. At 6:00 am when our young scholars are heading to school, Star and Buc Wild are polluting the air waves in an attempt to signify that it is ok to classify people in racial stereotypes and degrade women of all backgrounds.

The message needs to be sent out that no matter what your ethnic background is racism is not acceptable.

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Tribute: Shankar Rajee
M.R. Narayan Swamy

Shankar Rajee, who died of a heart attack in Colombo on January 10, 2005, was one of the earliest entrants into Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka, one who closely witnessed the growth of the movement from its nascent days to the frightening proportions it has now assumed.

In the last years of his life, Shankar (real name Nesadurai Thirunesan) had bowed out of the Indian media scene and led a largely low key, though not quiet, life, hopping between Chennai, where his mother lived, and Colombo, where he was a consultant with the state-run Cashew Corporation. He was also the leader of whatever was left of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation (EROS), the oldest of all the Tamil militant groups which came up in the 1970s in response to growing Sinhala chauvinism.

Shankar, who was educated in Jaffna and London, was among the earliest Tamils who took military training from the Palestinian guerrillas in the Middle East, probably in the hope that their own community would some day produce a Yasser Arafat.

In the years I covered the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict, I came into close contact with Shankar and he helped me gain valuable insight into the Tamil society. Our first meeting took place at the EROS office in a middle- class Chennai neighbourhood where I had gone to interview its other best-known leader, V. Balakumar. As the latter spoke to me, I saw Shankar seated by his side, studying a map of Jaffna and making a note or two. EROS had a collective leadership in which Balakumar and Shankar were the first among equals. They had contrasting personalities. Balakumar was the quiet one, almost inaudible, at home in Tamil, while Shankar spoke Tamil and English with equal ease, was outgoing and felt comfortable dealing with Indian bureaucracy and diplomats. Shankar was designated the head of the EROS military unit and maintained liaison with revolutionary groups from around the world.

Like so many Sri Lankan Tamils of that era, Shankar was a Marxist during his student days. In London, he and like-minded students formed a student group and then, in 1975, set up EROS. It was a path-breaking development in Tamil history. Some EROS members enjoyed a warm relationship with the local PLO representative who helped them to fly to Lebanon and Syria to get military training from Arafat's Fatah guerrilla group. Shankar valued this training although nothing much came out of it.

It was EROS that introduced LTTE, then a virtually unknown group, to the Palestinians but this produced friction between him and LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. The row was over money, which Shankar paid up. But their relations never improved, and years later LTTE's Anton Balasingham, probably reflecting Prabhakaran's view, accused Shankar of being an Indian spy—a charge the latter vehemently denied.

Much before that, Shankar recalled meeting Prabhakaran sometime in 1975-76 in the Tamil Nadu town of Tiruchy. Shankar had flown into India from London carrying air gun pellets, batteries and film rolls. He had been told to deliver them to a man but was not given his identity. It turned out to be Prabhakaran, a young and largely unknown entity who turned up at the small hotel across the Tiruchy bus stand where Shankar was putting up. When I reasearched for the LTTE chief's biography (Inside an Elusive Mind, Konark, 2003) Shankar told me: "It was Prabhakaran who came to take the delivery. Honestly, I was not impressed with him. He did not seem happy with what I had brought. He obviously was expecting some other things. Just what, I do not know."

Years later, before the souring of ties, Shankar had a more fruitful meeting, in an LTTE hideout in Sri Lanka's north, with Prabhakaran, who by then had begun to acquire a stature in the militant ranks. Shankar had a vivid memory, and in 2001 could recall what really happened: "Prabhakaran was eager to know what training the Palestinians imparted. His eyes sparkled at the mention of M-16s, AK-47s and anti-articraft guns. But he was keener to hear about pistols and revolvers."

But Prabhakaran was not a man of theory; he invited Shankar to display his shooting skills. The target was an empty Milk Maid can. From 20 feet away, Shankar took aim and grazed the can, toippling it. "Prabhakaran walked up to the fallen can, picked it up and put it back on the wall. He then returned to where the Fath-trained (Shankar) was standing and fired the gun, hitting it smack in the middle." Shankar was naturally impressed.

Despite the Palestinian training, Shankar and his friends in EROS did not carry out any military action in Sri Lanka. There were also differencs within EROS, leading to a split and the birth of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). When Tamil militancy galloped from 1983, EROS was among the first groups to secure Indian military training.

Shankar was also among the first to understand that New Delhi would never allow an independent Tamil Eelam to come up.

During the years leading up to the 1987 India-Sri Lanka peace agreement that sought to end Tamil separatism, Shankar, as the EROS military wing leader, masterminded some deadly bomb attacks in the island-nation that claimed many innocent lives. He also developed close ties with the Indian establishment but this was not enough to save him from a jail term in Chennai that may have contributed to his early death.

Shankar and Balakumar met the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, just before the latter flew to Colombo in July 1987 to sign the India-Sri Lanka accord. Prabhakaran, however, continued to mistrust him. Shankar and Balakumar met the LTTE chief at New Delhi's Ashok Hotel at that time; but on a second occasion, Prabhakaran told Balakumar that he did not want to see Shankar.

Shankar had a keen understanding of the Sri Lankan Tamil society and of LTTE. When the Tigers took on the Indian Army, he prophesied to friends that Prabhakaran would never, ever give up his Eelam goal. He was proved right. In March 1990 the Indian troops came home and the now-powerful LTTE ordered EROS to disband or merge with the Tigers. Some disgusted EROS members drifted away from politics, others (Balakumar included) joined LTTE while small band led by Shankar kept the outfit's flag flying for whatever it was worth.

Shankar was arrested in Chennai in 1997 on charges of smugggling foreign currency and was jailed. None of his contacts in the Indian establishment came to his rescue. He spent over a year in prison, where, his mother recalled later, he developed a good rapport with the other, mostly Indian, prisoners and became their leader. But despite the bitterness the detention caused, Shankar considered himself a friend of India. The imprisonment, however, affected his health, and he was never the same old self again.

Shankar never underestimated the LTTE or Prabhakaran, At the same time, he could not think of giving up his independent existence. Once the Sri Lankan military took control of Jaffna from LTTE in December 1995, Shankar visited the town to see a relative. The LTTE—which controlled a small part of Jaffna peninsula but had many eyes and ears in the region—came to know about the visit. The Tigers wanted to know if Shankar was merely calling on the relative or trying to resurrect EROS. Shankar got the message and promptly left Jaffna.

More than once he told me that Prabhakaran's personality would never allow him to compromise with Colombo, Norway or no Norway. It is a viewpoint that many have come to share now. But in February 2002, when the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government signed a ceasefire, only a few like Shankar asserted, with confidence that comes with experience, that it would not lead to Prabhakaran embracing Colombo, never ever.

From: Nesan Thirunesan, Son of the late Shankar Rajee, Leader of EROS.
e-mail: ttnesan@yahoo.com

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This petition was started by teenagers in Ontario. They had been given an assignment to study women's rights in the world and were disgusted by their findings. They feel that it is Canada's role as a leading nation to show that it really cares about these situations.

Todays's society is too enravelled with their own affairs and we believe that it is time for change. Hopefully with this petition, it will further interest citizens of Canada to look into this issue, and see for themeselves the terrible situation that is and has been occuring in the third world for many years. There were no girls in the group that started this petition, so it is not an act of feminism.

In Jordan about half of the population of the Jordanian woman there are being abused. No matter where these woman turn they are most likely to get sexually, verbally or physically abused.

Average monthly income for males in both the public and private sectors is much higher than that of females, while the unemployment rate among men is 14%, compared to 22% among women.

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The 1996 (DOMA) Defense of Marriage Act was enacted into law. This law clearly states that the definition of marriage is a bond between one woman and one man. This clearly states that same sex relations are not considered to be married legaly.

Taken from a letter from Patty Murray, she states "The Constitution leaves marriage to be regulated by the states rather than the federal government."
Another letter from Adam Smith on the Gay Marriage Bill states, "The amendment in question would prohibit states from allowing gay marriage... After evaluating the issue carefully, I have serious concerns with theis amendment and will oppose it. . . I do not see gay marriage as a threat that would chang the rights or obligations of heterosexual marriage. The real threat to marriage is abuse, neglect or outright lack of commitment to the contract people have voluntarily entered into when taking marriage vows. I believe our society is made stronger buy more committed and stable relationships, and we should encourage that."

Robert Benne and Gerald McDermott | posted 02/19/2004 has this to say, " We believe there are compelling reasons why the institutionalization of gay marriage would be 1) bad for marriage, 2) bad for children, and 3) bad for society.

1. The first casualty of the acceptance of gay marriage would be the very definition of marriage itself. For thousands of years and in every Western society marriage has meant the life-long union of a man and a woman. Such a statement about marriage is what philosophers call an analytic proposition. The concept of marriage necessarily includes the idea of a man and woman committing themselves to each other. Any other arrangement contradicts the basic definition.

Scrambling the definition of marriage will be a shock to our fundamental understanding of human social relations and institutions. One effect will be that sexual fidelity will be detached from the commitment of marriage. The advocates of gay marriage themselves admit as much. "Among gay male relationships, the openness of the contract makes it more likely to survive than many heterosexual bonds," Andrew Sullivan, the most eloquent proponent of gay marriage, wrote in his 1996 book, Virtually Normal. "There is more likely to be a greater understanding of the need for extramarital outlets between two men than between a man and a woman. … Something of the gay relationship's necessary honesty, its flexibility, and its equality could undoubtedly help strengthen and inform many heterosexual bonds."

The former moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church, a largely homosexual denomination, made the same point. "Monogamy is not a word the gay community uses," Troy Perry told The Dallas Morning News. "We talk about fidelity. That means you live in a loving, caring, honest relationship with your partner. Because we can't marry, we have people with widely varying opinions as to what that means. Some would say that committed couples could have multiple sexual partners as long as there's no deception."

A recent study from the Netherlands, where gay marriage is legal, suggests that the moderator is correct. Researchers found that even among stable homosexual partnerships, men have an average of eight partners per year outside their "monogamous" relationship.

In short, gay marriage will change marriage more than it will change gays.

Further, if we scramble our definition of marriage, it will soon embrace relationships that will involve more than two persons. Prominent advocates hope to use gay marriage as a wedge to abolish governmental support for traditional marriage altogether. Law Professor Martha Ertman of the University of Utah, for example, wants to render the distinction between traditional marriage and "polyamory" (group marriage) "morally neutral." She argues that greater openness to gay partnerships will help us establish this moral neutrality (Her main article on this topic, in the Winter 2001 Harvard Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review, is not available online, but she made a similar case in the Spring/Summer 2001 Duke Journal Of Gender Law & Policy). University of Michigan law professor David Chambers wrote in a widely cited 1996 Michigan Law Review piece that he expects gay marriage will lead government to be "more receptive to [marital] units of three or more" (1996 Michigan Law Review).

2. Gay marriage would be bad for children. According to a recent article in Child Trends, "Research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage." While gay marriage would encourage adoption of children by homosexual couples, which may be preferable to foster care, some lesbian couples want to have children through anonymous sperm donations, which means some children will be created purposely without knowledge of one of their biological parents. Research has also shown that children raised by homosexuals were more dissatisfied with their own gender, suffer a greater rate of molestation within the family, and have homosexual experiences more often.

Gay marriage will also encourage teens who are unsure of their sexuality to embrace a lifestyle that suffers high rates of suicide, depression, HIV, drug abuse, STDs, and other pathogens. This is particularly alarming because, according to a 1991 scientific survey among 12-year-old boys, more than 25 percent feel uncertain about their sexual orientations. We have already seen that lesbianism is "chic" in certain elite social sectors.

Finally, acceptance of gay marriage will strengthen the notion that marriage is primarily about adult yearnings for intimacy and is not essentially connected to raising children. Children will be hurt by those who will too easily bail out of a marriage because it is not "fulfilling" to them.

3. Gay marriage would be bad for society. The effects we have described above will have strong repercussions on a society that is already having trouble maintaining wholesome stability in marriage and family life. If marriage and families are the foundation for a healthy society, introducing more uncertainty and instability in them will be bad for society.

In addition, we believe that gay marriage can only be imposed by activist judges, not by the democratic will of the people. The vast majority of people define marriage as the life-long union of a man and a woman. They will strongly resist redefinition. Like the 1973 judicial activism regarding abortion, the imposition of gay marriage would bring contempt for the law and our courts in the eyes of many Americans. It would exacerbate social conflict and division in our nation, a division that is already bitter and possibly dangerous.

I strive daily to uphold the laws of the land but what is going on in the Nation about Marriage, I must speak up. I am a Christian and the higer voice we should seek and listen to is that of the Bible. Let me quote the breath of God in this matter, "For this reason, a man (male) will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife (woman), and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24

There was a problem with this same thing in the Bible, what does it say about Gays and Lesbians? "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable." Leviticus 18:22
" Are you still so dull ? Jesus asked them Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make the man unclean. For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultry, sexual immorality, theft, false testamony, slander. These are what makes a man unclean." Matthew 15:16-20
WE find in many other New Testament books of warnings of immoral relations, we must listen to them.

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Upon the end of a female freshman basketball's season only a select few make it to the next level--Junior Varsity. However that is not the case for the male freshman basketball players. They have a whole team designated for them: the sophomore team. While the boys have the priveledge of a sophmore team, girls have no such thing. Lady basketball players who may be a little late blooming have no chance. They have no opportunity to fine-tune their skills before the varsity level. A lady sophmore team would in turn help the lady basketball program because it would give them more time to develop and expose the girls to the high school competition level. Opponents in our district would not be hard to find because Plano ISD school have sophmore teams for their boys as well as their girls. Equality among the genders is there…..shouldn't it be here too?

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Why are we giving away $$87 billion+?

Why exactly are we giving away 87 billion to Iraq this time and who knows how much in the future in the form of a gifts instead of a loans? Would such a kingly gift be better appreciated our elderly in the form of healthcare and prescription drugs? Perhaps OUR electrical grid could be repaired for a paltry 50 billion?

These large gifts add to the deficit so in effect we are taking out a loan to give away with little hope of repayment.

It has been said business will prosper when the Iraqi infrastructure is repaired and improved. Business in Iraq will not necessarily benefit the US. There is no longer a mandate that we use US corporations or company's to re contract the rebuilding of Iraq. How would we benefit from for example; Spending 2 billion restoring Iraq's oil production so an offshore Oil Corp. can sell oil to France?

The potential for abuse is far less with a loan. Loans would encourage individual accountability and curb a "spend it because we got it" mentality among "gift" recipients. Loans greater accountability factor would discourage influence buying and enhance efficient competition among contractors.

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The American Computer Scientists Association has discovered that ALL Tobacco grown in cheap "Calcium Phosphate Based Fertilizers" (CPFs), which were adopted for Tobacco fertilization in use since the late-1940's, contain sufficient radioactive Polonium 210 isotope in them to be the agent responsible for the nearly 100% tumor (benign and malignant) rate found among almost all smokers, leading to the vast majority of Smoking-related Lung Cancer that occurs in later life. The rise of Smoker's Lung Cancer in the 50's, 60's and after mirrors the usage of CPFs by the Tobacco Farmers.

A glitch in the human bio-physiology allows Nicotine in Cigarettes to promote these cancers by blocking "apoptosis" and "apopto-genesis": that normally removes damaged tissue, replacing it, but in the Lungs of Cigarette Smokers and Passive Smoke victims it is inhibited by Nicotine. Over 1.5 million people die every year of cigarette smoking related Lung Cancer globally, 150,000 IN AMERICA ALONE. Lung Cancer is a slow, painfully traumatic disease that results in death.

To HALT the progression of Lung Cancer from smoking, the Tobacco Farmers and Tobacco Industry must REPLACE CPFs and use only Safe Fertilizers in growing Tobacco, and CLEAN up the polluted lands of the Growers...

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The American Computer Scientists Association has discovered that ALL Tobacco grown in cheap "Calcium Phosphate Based Fertilizers" (CPFs), which were adopted for Tobacco fertilization in use since the late-1940's, contain sufficient radioactive Polonium 210 isotope in them to be the agent responsible for the nearly 100% tumor (benign and malignant) rate found among almost all smokers, leading to the vast majority of Smoking-related Lung Cancer that occurs in later life. The rise of Smoker's Lung Cancer in the 50's, 60's and after mirrors the usage of CPFs by the Tobacco Farmers.

A glitch in the human bio-physiology allows Nicotine in Cigarettes to promote these cancers by blocking "apoptosis" and "apopto-genesis": that normally removes damaged tissue, replacing it, but in the Lungs of Cigarette Smokers and Passive Smoke victims it is inhibited by Nicotine. Over 1.5 million people die every year of cigarette smoking related Lung Cancer globally, 150,000 IN AMERICA ALONE. Lung Cancer is a slow, painfully traumatic disease that results in death.

To HALT the progression of Lung Cancer from smoking, the Tobacco Farmers and Tobacco Industry must REPLACE CPFs and use only Safe Fertilizers in growing Tobacco, and CLEAN up the polluted lands of the Growers...

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The first place to start regarding increased knowledge and education of drinking and driving as a problem with significant consequences rests before the college years. Middle school and high school administrations only minimally touch the surface in educating young children. For example, Students against Drunk Driving (SADD) is an organization in which students join and sign a written contract stating that no matter the circumstance, he/she will phone home for a ride rather than drive, if intoxicated. It has been argued by parents and educators that such types of organizations essentially promote underage drinking. However, the fact of the matter is that the contemporary mentality among many school age children is that drinking is cool and getting behind the wheel after having a drink can inevitably be observed across the country. Thus, organizations such as SADD serve as accident prevention rather than drinking promotion.

A severe limitation of such programs is that they are optional. SADD is an extra-curricular club that students may opt to join. Having compulsory meeting times in which social issues such as drinking and driving are addressed can help increase awareness among school age children and better prepare them for responsible decision making in college. Additionally, a student petition by students at the University of Texas-Austin would aid in alerting school officials of the need for greater education in middle and high school age children, in preparation for college and its increased liberties.

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INTRODUCTION: The Air Force often names air bases and air fields after the first aviator to be killed at or near the airport in question.

Many air bases are named for famous aviators native to the area in which the air base is located. Some air bases have been renamed.

There are only two major Air Force installations in NC: Pope and Seymour Johnson.

PRECEDENTS: Pope AFB, NC was named for 1st Lt. Harley H. Pope, killed with his crewman, Sgt. W. W. Fleming, January 7, 1917 when his JN-4 crashed into the Cape Fear River near Fayetteville. Poor visibility and fuel exhaustion led to the fatal crash. Lt. Pope is from Bedford, Indiana.

Seymour Johnson AFB, NC is named for Navy Lt. Seymour A. Johnson, Goldsboro native, killed March 5, 1941 in an aircraft accident in Maryland.

Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona is named for two local early aviators, 2nd Lt. Samuel H. Davis, killed Dec. 28, 1921 and 2nd Lt. Oscar Monthan, killed March 27, 1924.

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is named for aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright and for 1st Lt. Frank S. Patterson, killed June 19, 1918, in the crash of a DH-4. The Wright brothers are from Ohio.

Dyess AFB, Texas was renamed for Lt. Col. William E. Dyess, WWII fighter pilot who took part in the infamous Bataan death march. He escaped from a Japanese prison camp in April 1943 only to be killed in a P-38 crash in December 1943 at Burbank, CA.

Laughlin AFB, Texas is named for 1st Lt. Jack T. Laughlin, Texas native, B-17 pilot killed over Java on January 29,1942.

McConnell AFB, Kansas is named for three brothers from Wichita: 2nd Lt. Thomas L McConnell killed July 10, 1943 during an attack on Bouganville; Capt. Fred J. McConnell killed in a private plane crash October 25, 1945; and Lt. Col. Edwin M. McConnell who died September 1, 1997.


McGuire AFB, NJ is named for NJ native Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., P-38 pilot, second leading ace of WWII, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in action January 7, 1945 in the Philippines.

Nellis AFB, Nevada is named for Nevada native 1st Lt. William H. Nellis, WWII P-47 fighter pilot, killed December 27, 1944 in Europe.

Schriever AFB, Colorado was renamed in March 1998 for Gen. Bernard A. Schriever.

Vance AFB, Oklahoma is named for Oklahoma native Lt. Col. Leon R. Vance Jr., 1939 graduate of West Point, Medal of Honor recipient, killed July 26, 1944 when air-evac plane returning to the US went down in the Atlantic near Iceland.

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This petition is posted prior to the imminent sentencing of Charles Andrew (Andy) Williams, defendant in People v Williams (California).

It is presented after extensive support efforts of over 17 months by many individuals and groups in support of Andy Williams being tried as a juvenile.

He had just turned 15 prior to his arrest.

Andy Williams was taken into custody at Santana High School in Santee, California on March 5, 2001. He is being tried as an adult under California statute enacted under voter initiative Proposition 21.

This proposition and its resulting law remains controversial among individuals and groups, among them, Amnesty International
(http://www.amnestyusa.org/children/factsheetprop21.html) and the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (www.cjcj.org)

We call upon youth advocates worldwide, to contact the U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft for his expedient response to this petition.

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IT IS PATENT that human cloning should not proceed to the clinical research stage. A moratorium on clinical trials of human cloning is warranted on safety grounds, as there is no pathway from animal to pre-clinical to clinical human experimentation that would not involve significant risks to human children. As we have noted elsewhere, it is doubtful even in the long term that an individual or couple will present a rationale for the use of human cloning technologies that is compelling when balanced against the risks.

Leading cloning experts and developmental biologists have told that the cloning process seemed to create random errors in the expression of individual genes -- mistakes that can produce any number of unpredictable problems, at any time in life.

Among the defects routinely encountered among clones are mice which grow to be enormously obese, and cows born with enlarged hearts or lungs that do not develop properly, according to the Times.

During World War II, the Nazis implemented a program of eugenics with the aim of eliminating "undesirables" from the human gene pool. Setting ethics aside, from a purely biological point of view, when you begin to artificially manipulate the gene pool by cloning, you may lower diversity and place the population at an increased risk for death on a large scale because of environmental changes.

There are genuine ethical concerns involved with the potential for human cloning. Currently, people have not come up with any compelling reason to pursue human cloning that would override these ethical concerns about using human clones. Husain writes, "I hope that the leaders in our community of science are stable enough to trust themselves with risky research." Does he have enough trust to let them to decide for themselves whether such risky research is inherently worthwhile?

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