I'm a musician, and I've made a penny per stream from my YouTube video. Video and audio streaming companies make the lion's share of the streaming profit while the artists get practically nothing. Artists should get at least 20 cents a stream clear. Musicians work for years to master their performances; we deserve to be paid fairly for our efforts.

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison is campaigning to become the next leader of the Democratic Party. Keith's candidacy represents the idea that while we must never yield an inch in defending the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights for all of our fellow Americans - regardless of the color of their skin, or where they were born, or how they pray, or whom they love - when we go to fight elections, our economic justice agenda must be front and center. Unfortunately, bad-faith actors have unleashed a scurrilous smear campaign against Keith, which some fear may derail his candidacy. Show your support for Keith's candidacy and your condemnation of the smear campaign against him by signing our petition. References: Key Keith documents: Keith platform: https://keithfordnc.org/platform/ Keith endorsements: https://keithfordnc.org/endorsements Keith statement on Medium: https://medium.com/@ellisonforcongress/listening-more-talking-less-2bb36e171dca Keith open letter to the ADL: https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/804452986110013440 Important pushback against the smear campaign: J Street: http://jstreet.org/press-releases/continuing-attacks-congressman-ellison-seek-silence-legitimate-positions-israel/ Americans for Peace Now https://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=21512 Bend the Arc: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/bendthearc/ellison JVP: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/jvp/ellison R. Marc Schneier: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/jta/ellison Emily Hauser https://twitter.com/emilylhauser/status/805500893332439041 Chuck Schumer: https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/804460430785650689 Bernie Sanders: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/bernie-sanders-support-keith-ellison-231185 http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/keith-ellison-dnc-resistance-231575 Randi Weingarten: https://www.facebook.com/randi.weingarten.9/posts/10154757721829524 JJ Goldberg: http://forward.com/opinion/355950/no-the-keith-ellison-tape-isnt-anti-israel-and-shouldnt-torpedo-his-democra/ Jay Michaelson: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/02/squabble-over-keith-ellison-reveals-dilemma-for-democrats-on-israel.html Ilya Sheyman: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1707 Gene Sperling: https://twitter.com/genebsperling/status/804532939912609792 Glenn Greenwald: https://theintercept.com/2016/12/04/the-smear-campaign-against-keith-ellison-is-repugnant-but-reveals-much-about-washington/

As a resident of a large state, I can't help but feel disenfranchised by our current electoral system. The Supreme Court has already ruled on the concept of one-person one vote. It seems clear that the winner take all system of allocating electoral votes is unconstitutional. The legal argument is here... https://medium.com/@lessig/the-equal-protection-argument-against-winner-take-all-in-the-electoral-college-b09e8a49d777

The shooting of a Washington pizza restaurant on Dec. 4th was a wake up call that dangerous fake news stories can have very real consequences. President-elect Donald Trump's pick for National Security Advisor has promoted these same kinds of dangerous, crackpot theories and must be stopped from promoting this evidence-free world view on the world stage.

If a private citizen's fire alarm goes off, we are sent a bill, if a paramedic is called we are sent a bill. Donald Drumpf is still a private citizen. Why should taxpayers or the city of New York be responsible for paying for his security? The cost is over $1 million dollars a day! He is NOT a public servant...yet. Even big celebrities, Including the POPE, have their own security details. The public should not foot the bill for his outlandish lifestyle. Let him be responsible for that. He has even admitted to NOT paying ANY taxes! Let Taxpayer money go towards Taxpayer services, not 1 private citizen and his entourage. There should also be a cap on how much is spent on other services he uses and/or curtails others from receiving, and let him budget himself accordingly.

Due to bypassing E.I.S. and easement grants and later PAYING fines where this should be demanding for environmental and habitat protection and a Federal law that no company or corporation may do any construction drilling nor start a project without a full map blueprint of where and how they would intend to construct and where they would be digging and drilling. THAT would show they aren't digging up sacred sights or sovereign lands and wouldn't cause harm to the environmental habitat surrounding each section of that pipeline .

Democrats just won a numerical majority in New York's state Senate. But now some senators who were elected as Democrats are considering caucusing with the Republicans. The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) is a group of Democrats, many of whom are from New York City, who could stop the party from controlling the New York Senate. This year, New York must protect against a federal government run by Republicans. We need to * protect immigrants from deportation, * defend women's rights, * protect Muslims in our community, * defend LGBT rights, * and so much more... We demand that Andrew Cuomo and the IDC ensure that New York Democrats are united and empowered against a Trump administration.

Governor Tom Wolf recently announced the new PIPE program that takes $24 million from an alternative energy program to further incentivize construction of natural gas pipelines in the state. This program would connect schools, hospitals, municipalities, manufacturing plants, and industrial parks to natural gas distribution lines, creating even more customers for the industry that is putting our communities and our most vulnerable populations -- children, the elderly, and the infirmed -- at risk. Building more pipelines when we should be transitioning away from fossil fuels is irresponsible. Asking the very populations that are most vulnerable to the immediate health and safety impacts to contribute to their own potential undoing is completely unacceptable.

KHSD Trustees first voted to allow non-staff CCW permit holders, including parents, to carry guns on campus on June 27th. Then on November 17, 2016 they called together a special meeting under outrageous circumstances, where they approved a proposal allowing teachers and other school personnel to carry arms on campus. The public was given a mere 24-hour notice and the meeting was held at an hour which made it difficult for parents, teachers, and other community members to attend. Over the past few months, the public—including teachers, school administrators, parents, elected officials and retired law enforcement officers—have come out strongly in overwhelming opposition to these dangerous policies which threaten to harm children and add more lawsuits to the many the district is already facing. Some of the most vocal proponents in favor of these policies are firearms trainers at local gun stores. In an apparent conflict of interest, some of the non-staff CCW holders who were granted permission to carry guns on campus are members of a church in which former Trustee Chad Vegas is their pastor. They meet on KHSD grounds during the weekend. These policies have the potential to endanger children who rely on public schools, and they were passed by Vegas even though he has removed his own children from the public school system and has gone on record encouraging his parishioners to do the same. In December 2016, Joey O’Connell, the new trustee replacing Chad Vegas, will be sworn in. During his campaign, he told members of the local chapter of the California Teacher’s Association that having more guns at schools creates more problems. A new board of trustees creates an opportunity to raise our voices and demand that they rescind these misguided firearms policies. Permitting more guns on high school campuses is dangerous. Having ready access to guns actually increases the risk of homicide. This puts over 37,000 students at risk. Gun violence disproportionately affects students of color. The KHSD is a racially diverse school district with some campuses having ethnic minority populations of 89% or more. Additionally, this policy will increase liability costs. Increased liability will likely take general funds away from classroom instruction.

The original design and intent of the Colonnade Apartments is not to be fenced in. The grounds surrounding perimeter of the building is filthy and has needed industrial cleaning for several years. Security problems, maintenance and cleanliness of the building need to be addressed and resolved from the inside out. A fence in the front is contrary to the interests of the tenants.

The petition is to try to stop Senate Bill 638 from becoming law in Michigan during the current lame duck session . If it passes, wealthy donors will have even more power over who runs state government and more say in what state government does. This bill has been described as Citizens United on steroids.

The government of Bahrain has reserved the Trump International Hotel for celebration of its annual national day. This raises serious conflict-of-interest questions about the incoming president's administration, including how this event could affect US policy towards Bahrain. [1] Torture and restrictions on freedom of expression are business as usual in Bahrain. If Donald Trump lived in Bahrain, he might be in prison like Nabeel Rajab who was imprisoned for tweets that criticized the Bahraini monarchy. [2] This summer the main Bahraini opposition party was dissolved and nearly all of its leaders are now imprisoned or detained. [3] The President-elect should not accept payment from any foreign governments, especially repressive ones like Bahrain which the U.S. should continue to criticize for human rights abuses. If President-elect Trump fails to reject these payments and divest from his companies, it will increase suspicions that US foreign policy under the Trump administration is “bought and paid for”. Ask your representatives in Congress to urge Donald Trump to reject Bahrain's payment and divest from his companies by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-bahrain-hotel-dc-231941 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/opinion/letter-from-a-bahraini-jail.html 3. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bahrain-rights-alwefaq-idUSKCN0Z01DU