A teachers' strike will put the safety and progress of the Chicago Public Schools students at risk. Let us fight for a fair contract agreement for teachers & students! Chicago Public Schools (773) 553-1000 Chicago Teachers Union (312) 329-9100

This was supposed to be the year that a woman was finally elected to run the United Nations, after seven decades of men at the helm of the world’s foremost diplomatic organization. Having a woman secretary-general matters because so many of the issues the occupant of the office focuses on – development, education, health, among them – are areas where women hold the keys to progress, many global development experts say. And several of the women candidates were widely considered to be among the most qualified in the field of 12. But it looks like the old-boy system is pushing back against them! As Melissa Labonte, a professor of political science at New York’s Fordham University and an expert in UN issues says, "The pool of female candidates included some of the most competent women we’ve seen on the world stage, so I’m befuddled as to why they haven’t been ranked more highly, [but] either these women are being judged by a different standard, or we're seeing that the patriarchy of the UN system is alive and well.” Please sign this petition and forward it to everyone you know who wants our UN to be led by a highly qualified woman for a change!!!

Wisconsin’s discriminatory voter ID law has already caused chaos at polling places during the primary election with confusing and restrictive requirements. Now, in violation of a mandated court order, the state is "systematically denying" registered voters the specific documentation they’ll need to vote. The result? Thousands of Wisconsin voters - mostly Black and low income - will be disenfranchised due to needless barriers on the right to vote. In August, a federal judge ruled that “Wisconsin may adopt a strict voter ID system only if that system has a well-functioning safety net,” ordering the state to provide valid ID promptly and free of charge to any eligible voter who requested one. We’ve already seen other states, like Alabama, put up obstacles for voters trying to comply with voter ID requirements. Now, a new report in The Nation magazine reveals how Wisconsin is making eligible voters jump through needless and costly hoops to get the ID they’ll need to vote. Voter ID laws are already controversial for their disproportionate impact on poor voters and voters of color. Now, it’ll be even harder for the nine percent of registered Wisconsin voters without required ID to get the documentation they’ll need to vote this November. Voting is our greatest right and responsibility, and every American deserves to make their voice heard at the polls. If Wisconsin can’t make sure that every eligible voter has an ID, then they have no business requiring it to vote.

As a Widow of a Vietnam Veteran exposed to Agent Orange/Rainbow Herbicides who died of Esophageal Cancer, which I believe was caused by war time exposure to Agent Orange/Rainbow Herbicides, I can confirm that Vietnam Veterans and their survivors are still suffering the latent and delayed effects of Agent Orange (Rainbow Herbicides and components of Rainbow Herbicides). While other Veterans with similar maladies (like those at Camp Lejeune) suffer maladies and are covered by the VA, Veterans exposed to Agent Orange still fight for the same benefits, even though Rainbow Herbicides are made from" benzene" which is the same toxin found in the water at Camp Lejeune. We believe that the data identifying this and other maladies is being kept from public access in order to keep maladies like Esophageal Cancer off the presumptive list. This act is meant to fully address and provide reparation for the travesties these veterans and their families have perpetually suffered when the Admiral Zumwalt Report, the only "Time Relevant, HUMAN study (on exposed veterans)", that was ever performed, became a classified document kept from the public and from use in determining AO claims, thereby resulting in proliferated injuries by the Veterans and their families.

John Chiang, California's state treasurer, just suspended all state business and contracts with Wells Fargo after details of the bank scamming millions of dollars out of customers came to light. If California charters its own public bank, it could not only permanently avoid the risk of doing business with shady private banks like Wells Fargo, but it could avoid losing billions in bank fees and interest every year by storing public dollars in a public bank that exists solely for the purpose of investing in public infrastructure, small businesses, pensions for public workers, public K-12 and higher education, and other dire public needs. North Dakota has successfully managed its state finances with a public bank for over a century. It's time for California to do the same.

Save the pitbulls. Punish the breeder not the breed. This decision solves nothing. My family dog was a rescued pitbull. Pitbulls, like any other animal need a loving home. We need to change the stereotyping of these beautiful animals. Euthanization is NOT the solution. Education is the answer.

I am a disabled corrections officer asking all officers to enforce the law by protecting and preserving the right to life, due process and property. I am witnessing police officers use of shoot to kill, violating citizens rights to life, denying access to due process and property and am called to take this action.These avoidable deaths seem levied disproportionately on Black America, and in my experiences within and outside of the structures of public safety, are unacceptable so I am obligated as an American and former officer subjected to permanent injury in the line of duty who supports only non lethal uses of force to be practiced uniformly in the compliance of the law. I demand all officers hold themselves and their partners to the highest standard of law enforcement as a matter of justice and moral conduct that be consistently followed as a matter of national professional policing protocol that will save lives of citizens, officers and rebuild the public trust.

Taxpayers in the United States can not sustain the on-going egregious practices of fraud and malfeasance by banks who have been fined by DoJ, regulatory bodies and state attorneys.

After multiple racist social media posts, West Mayor Charles Wasko MUST resign immediately. For more details on this story visit http://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2016/09/28/officials-west-york-mayor-should-resign-after-racist-posts/91236864/

Any candidate for the President of the United States must be closely scrutinized and ultimately held accountable, especially when evidence for blatantly criminal behavior exists. The IRS must begin investigating the Donald J. Trump Foundation immediately - before the November 8th election - and refer the matter to the DOJ as soon as possible.

While I respect that the National Fraternity of Police Officers, the largest union of peace officers in the United States, believes an endorsement of Trump's Presidency is a move to protect the interests and safety of our nation's peace officers, openly endorsing a candidate that espouses divisive language is a poor choice for maintaining good relationships between the troubled departments and their communities of color. Instead, such a decision will cause even greater proof of division between the African-American and Latino communities and the men and women who are to protect and serve those communities. The purposeful lack of neutrality on the part of NFOP in this heated political climate reflects poorly upon our peace keepers; to remedy this, I ask the NFOP to rescind their nomination of Donald Trump as a show of good faith to the people they protect and serve. To do so would truly be making America great again.

On Tuesday, Alfred Olango, an unarmed Black man who was mentally ill was shot and killed by El Cajon police officers after his sister called the police asking for help for her brother. In video footage captured after Olango was killed, his sister can be heard wailing as she looked at the body of her murdered brother, crying, "Oh my God. You killed my brother. I just called for help and ... you killed him." She says she'd phoned the police three times for help stating that her brother was "not acting like himself." Witnesses report hearing as many as five gun shots. The murder of Olango by El Cajon police, comes on the heels of fatal shootings of Black men in Tulsa, OK and Charlotte, NC. Alfred Olango is the 217 Black person to be killed by U.S. police thus far this year. San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has indicated she will investigate. The community in San Diego is already demanding action and justice. Let's make the world knows that concerned Americans across the nation are also watching to see that justice is done.