On January 5, freshman Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin [MD-8], widely seen as a progressive champion, cast a breathtaking vote in support of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He voted for the Royce-Engel H. Res. 11, which attacked UN Security Council Resolution 2334 for restating the opposition of the international community to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. [1] These illegal settlements are an existential threat to hopes for a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. But now Jamie has an opportunity to make restitution for his vote in support of illegal settlements. He can join Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and dozens of other Senators and Representatives in supporting the candidacy of Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison to lead the Democratic National Committee. [2] Unlike Jamie - but like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - Keith voted no on the Royce-Engel pro-settlements resolution. [3] Join us in pressing Jamie to support Keith by signing our petition. References: 1. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2017/roll011.xml 2. https://keithfordnc.org/endorsements/ 3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/05/keith-ellison-votes-against-gops-israel-resolution/

Manners dictate that if one, especially the Prime Minister is asked a question in Canada in either English or French, and the individual questioned is capable of responding in either language, that they respond to the questioner in the language that the question was asked, no matter where they are.

Twitter currently accepts money from and runs promoted content for known "hate group." This is absolutely unacceptable! Twitter must stop this immediately. For the last several months, white supremacy groups have used Twitter to spread their message and attack people of color. And just days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, the Federation for Immigration Reform, a group identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center began running paid content on the site. FAIR has a history of using extreme, violent, and offensive language aimed especially at Hispanic and Latino immigrants. Twitter should not take money from hate groups!

The hip hop movement focus is Promoting public awareness of the need for Consciousness, civil rights, activism, justice, political, community awareness in music and this will be the day to recognize these artists who have sent positive messages in their music. I am bringing awareness that we must stop bad elements in Rap Music as a message to the youth and send positive, and uplifting messages in music.

The 2017 senior class was informed yesterday that the long standing tradition of the girls and boys wearing different colored gowns had changed to everyone wearing blue. As far back as people can remember the gowns have been two different colors. In earlier years the girls wore white and the boys wore blue, starting in the early 80's the girls wore red and boys wore blue. Back in those days the red gowns made up an "M" with a blue background. As a graduate of 1984, I remember this with pride. Traditions are important in our society. These days it's hard to provide our kids with examples of long standing tradition. If you were a graduate from MHS and would like to keep his tradition, please sign this petition and forward it on to other MHS graduates. Hopefully together, we can change the administrations's mind on making this change. After all our Alma Mater says "We sing our song of praise to the beloved "Red and Blue."

Never before has an incoming president held such alleged wealth, nor such a complex financial portfolio as Donald J. Trump. His holdings make him susceptible to violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, and to fears of corrupting influences from his various international schemes and dealings. On January 11, prior to his press conference, Mr. Trump tweeted, "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I have nothing to do with Russia - no deals, no loans, no nothing!" His tax returns can help verify these claims and begin to restore trust in the veracity of the president-elect across major swaths of the American electorate.

I am an OB-GYN, semi-retired. I have watched moms in this state, and felt that we can do better! In Europe, women get a year off to be with a newborn. Most families now are small, and the total amount of time a woman will need for this maternity time-off is not much, in a lifetime of work. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies get breastmilk exclusively until 20 weeks, and then supplementation can slowly be added in. Pumping in the workplace is not the same as one-to-one mother-child breastfeeding. If we can get this improved law in California, it will be more easily won in other states also.

My family, like millions of families with children with disabilities across the country, depends on the protections and supports offered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that allow our son with autism to attend public school, gaining the education and skills he needs to achieve his full potential in life. This generation of young people with disabilities and their families should not have to worry about a return to policies that systematically excluded and denied children like ours before this law was passed and enforced.

The United Nations is necessarily an imperfect human institution. It's basically a parliament whose members are governments. If the governments are far from Heaven, the UN isn't going to be magically angelic. But as Henny Youngman asked: "Compared to what?" Before the UN existed, the world was not better off. It was worse off. Some people in Washington are having an outrage festival because the UN Security Council - with the support of the Obama Administration - criticized illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. During her confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. ambassador to the UN, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley harshly condemned the Obama administration for allowing the UN Security Council to criticize Israel and pledged to never let it happen again if confirmed. She also said the U.S. should threaten to cut U.S. funding to the UN, which would violate a U.S. treaty obligation. [1] Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin are pushing the same attack in S. Res. 6: bashing the UN Security Council for restating the international community's longstanding opposition to illegal Israeli settlements. [2] Insisting that the UN can't say anything about the Israel-Palestine conflict is an unrealistic fantasy. The UN has to represent the whole world, not just the pro-settlements lobby in the United States. Urge Senators to push back against the Haley-Rubio-Cardin attack on the UN and oppose S. Res. 6 by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-nominee-nikki-haley-set-to-show-skepticism-about-value-of-un/2017/01/17/4558615a-dcf0-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html 2. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-resolution/6/cosponsors

On the night of January 6, when temperatures were below zero, Brian Carroll saved a homeless Vatterott student's life by providing him shelter in the campus library. The student had run out of his medication, and Carroll knew that if he did nothing, the student would likely die of exposure if he didn't get indoors during an ice storm that was hitting the Kansas City area. Vatterott's corpporate owners, TA Associates, fired Carroll as a direct result of his action that likely prevented this student from dying of hypothermia. Even though the student didn't damage the library or its property, and only stayed overnight, TA Associates refused to simply issue a disciplinary mark against Carroll and instead fired him outright. The world needs more compassionate people like Brian Carroll in positions of leadership, not less. This petition demands TA Associates not only give Carroll his job back, but raise his salary for his compassionate action that likely saved a student's life.

Petition for DeRidder Internet: Based on average prices, satellite internet is 72.5 Percent more costly than land based services, and only half as reliable. Huge portions of the DeRidder population resides outside of serviceable areas as of 1/18/17 with many roads having old lines, that are outdated. Companies who own the rights to these lines refuse service to residents of which the lines lay on or near their properties. For example, AT&T owns lines down SR 394 but say the lines are old, and they don't plan to replace them. Sugartown has quality high speed internet available throughout portions of their immediate area, but DeRidder doesn't offer service just 4 short miles from our super Walmart. This is a community issue, as many residents are forced into purchasing the more expensive and less reliable satellite internet in order to be connected to our quickly advancing world. Children in public schools of the DeRidder area are expected to have internet access for continuing education at home, as well as our large population of home schooled children. College students also need access to quality internet to pursue studies. These young residents are the future of our city, and without having access to the tools they need in this year of 2017 it could be detrimental to their studies. These are but a few examples of why this is so important. Change needs to happen, we need everyone's help. At this moment we have hundreds involved in petitioning for such change, and the numbers keep growing. Companies targeted in the petition include: Suddenlink, Cameron Communications, and AT&T. Neighborhoods of petitioners include but are not limited to within the sub streets thereof: SR394, HWY 26, Hwy 112, Granberry Rd., Ball Rd., HWY 190, Yankee Ridge Estates Subdivision ( some have access, many don't ).

I was a Girl Scout growing up, and now I lead a Junior troop. I've been these girls' leader since they were 5-year-old Daisies, and it has been a rich, rewarding, and loving experience for me. I’m heartbroken to learn that GSUSA will be participating in the presidential inauguration this year. Donald Trump has repeatedly made statements that are not only antithetical to everything GSUSA purports to value, but which are directly harmful to women and girls. Tradition is not a justification for normalizing Donald Trump and his blatant misogyny. Just this week, nearly 60 members of Congress have announced they will not attend the inauguration. We aren't required to do things just because we've done them in the past. What we ARE required to do, as Girl Scouts, is live by the Girl Scout Law. You are failing to live by your law, GSUSA. Donald Trump has proven at every opportunity that he lacks even the most basic respect for women and girls. Traditions that hurt our girls must be broken. We look to you to model courage, confidence, and character and pull out of the inaugural parade.