It only took two years, but the White House has finally gotten around to providing a response to a petition asking for the pardon of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Official answer: nope. “As the President said in announcing recent intelligence…
White House Petition Site We The People Has Seen Over 363,000 Petitions in Three Years
We the People, the White House’s oft-beleaguered but still culturally relevant and surprisingly popular online petition site, just turned three. So, how’s it doing? Pretty good, in terms of participation. The White House has just released the numbers and in…
‘Mike Brown Law’ Petition to Make All Cops Wear Cameras Tops White House Threshold
A petition to require all state, county, and local police officers to wear body cameras has blown past the signature threshold on The White House’s We The People online petition site in just a week. This prompts The White House,…
Tim Howard National Airport Has a Nice Ring to It, So Do Your Patriotic Duty and Sign This Petition
It’s the morning after a USA World Cup loss so you’re understandably a bit depressed. It was such a good run and we came so close to somehow pulling out the victory over Belgium. But look at it this way…
White House Makes It Easier to Sign Petitions
The White House’s online petition site We The People, despite its many flaws and shortcomings, is pretty damn popular. According to the White House, it has over 14 million users and has logged over 21 million signatures in the couple…
Deport Justin Bieber Petition Gets a Non-Response Response
It took the White House nearly three months to respond to one of the most popular petitions to ever hit the We The People online petition site–and they didn’t really respond at all, unless you count “no response” as a…
Comedian Petitions Obama to Formally Label Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni a ‘Ding-Dong-Boob-Poopy’
Comedian Eugene Mirman has pretty solid proposal for how President Obama should handle Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. He should publicly call him a “ding-dong-boob-poopy.” Oh yeah, and then he should spend a little bit of time trying to convince the…
The Deport Justin Bieber White House Petition Tops 100,000 Signatures
Over one hundred thousand people want Canadian pop star Justin Bieber to go back to Canada. Well, not exactly “go back” on his own volition – it’s more like they hope he is forcibly removed by the U.S. government. A…
6-Year-Old Tries to Save NASA with White House Petition
With NASA budget cuts looming, one 6-year-old kid is taking as direct a route as he can to ask President Obama to save the nation’s space program. Connor Johnson of Denver, Colorado loves space and hopes to be an astronaut…
Default Porn-Blocking Is Your Hilarious White House Petition of the Day
It’s been a while since I’ve looked at We The People, the U.S. Government’s online petition site that’s, well, whatever is worse than an exercise in futility. Think of something that could be described as that, and then think of…
The White House Is Ignoring a Bunch of Petitions, and This Site Tracks Them
There’s a new single-serving site that lets you know which We The People online petitions the White House is ignoring. Since the We The People site launched back in 2011, it has seen 232 petitions meet their signature threshold (5,000…
Petition Asks Obama to Recreate Frozone Scene from The Incredibles
The White House’s We The People online petition site is a truly wonderful place. Not because it gives citizens the ability to voice legitimate concerns and possibly help to enact real change. No, we know that’s not what’s happening. It’s…
Do The Privacy Implications Of Google Glass Scare You?
Google Glass has some people spooked. They think that Glass turns those who wear the technology into a surveillance cyborg. Now some groups are calling upon the government to take action. Do you think Google Glass should be banned? Let…
White House Finally Responds To CISPA Petition, Says Cybersecurity Legislation Must Respect Privacy
CISPA is all but dead once again, and the Senate is moving ahead with its own cybersecurity legislation. That doesn’t mean the fight is over though. In fact, the Senate might just propose a bill that’s worse, but the White…
White House Announces Second ‘We The People’ Hackathon
The White House has just announced its second National Day of Civic Hacking, to take place at the White House. It will take place on June 1st. “For the National Day of Civic Hacking, participants will focus on producing full,…
Another Star Wars Petition Hits White House Site, This Time Calling for National R2-D2 Day
Over the half year or so that the White House has been operating their We The People online petition site, we’ve seen that it can be used in a variety of ways. There are the ridiculous petitions – the ones…
Petition to Force Congress to Wear NASCAR-Style Suits with Corporate Logos Gains Steam
Ever since the White House changed the rules on their We The People petition site, forcing petitions to reach the 100,000-signature threshold before warranting an official response, “successful” petitions have been a lot more scarce. Only a handful of petitions…
Google Reader Shutdown Prompts Plethora of Petitions
As you may have heard, Google has just announced that they are closing the doors on their 8-year-old RSS aggregator Google Reader. The company cites declining usage and a need to focus on other products as reasons for the shutdown.…
Anti-CISPA White House Petition Crosses 100,000 Signature Threshold
After CISPA returned in February, privacy advocates started a “We The People” petition asking the White House to stand against the controversial legislation. It’s been a month since the petition was created, and advocates are one step closer to a…
Hate Daylight Saving Time? Here’s a Petition for You
If you woke up this morning in a haze and needed an extra cup or four of coffee to get going, you can probably blame Daylight Saving Time. Or your hangover. But probably DST. On Sunday morning at 2:00am our…