On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senate candidate Governor Maggie Hassan to oppose this deal and to support a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Shaheen and Governor Hassan to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Jeff Flake and Representative Kirkpatrick to oppose this deal and to co-sponsor a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Flake and Representative Kirkpatrick to cosponsor legislation to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

In this globalized world, peace and democracy in other parts of the world affect us here in the U.S. In addition to demanding that our government to be responsible and democratic in domestic issues, we will have to make sure that we demand our government to be a responsible member of the international community. I am a U.S. citizen who originally came from Ethiopia. I am not involved in Ethiopia's internal politics. But none of us should sit and watch when a genocide is committed by a government that is supported by the United States.

The Exeter Town Hall is a community space that benefits many, provides a broad range of arts and entertainment, and supports local artists. In addition to having an arts impact, the building is of historical significance. This building should remain available to the community while having the historical integrity protected so that it remains a community treasure. The proposed lease of the building to the Exeter Theater Company would create a number of issues, such as making the facility unavailable to the community, permitting major changes and loss of historical integrity, and straining downtown with parking demands.

In the 1990s, I helped organize my fellow teaching assistants at the University of California, Berkeley. At the time, we were facing huge workloads, low pay and insecure health care. It took several years but with support from the UAW we ended up getting university administrators to negotiate with us and created a better workplace as a result. Flash forward to today and tens of thousands of research assistants (RAs) and teaching assistants (TAs) are still facing the same things we were when I was at Berkeley. Many are paid so little they have to work additional jobs and rely on loans to make ends meet. The good news is they’re organizing and a recent National Labor Relations Board decision restored the rights of research and teaching assistants at private universities to come together in union and negotiate collectively. But administrators at Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and other prestigious private universities are doing everything they can to stop RAs and TAs from organizing. They submitted legal arguments against the right of RAs and TAs to form a union and, when they lost, set up anti-union websites to get RAs and TAs to vote against forming a union. This anti-union campaign is just another example of the greed we’re seeing at universities across the country. As tuition continues to skyrocket for students, administrators have raised their own salaries dramatically while shifting most of the critical teaching and research work to lower-paid, temporary workers, like TAs, RAs, adjuncts and postdocs. Sign the petition now to tell administrators at Columbia, Harvard, the New School and other prestigious private universities to stop with their anti-union campaign and allow research and teaching assistants to come together in union to create a better workplace.

Donald Trump has made building a wall along the border with Mexico a centerpiece of his campaign. It's part of his ruthless assault on immigrants, something that he has continued with relentless bigotry even after his visit to Mexico. And he continues to claim that Mexico will pay for that wall—something the Mexican president again refuted just this week. If Mexico isn't paying for the wall, it's the imperative that the U.S. Senate makes clear that America won't pay for it either. It's a ridiculous idea—an expensive farce that won't solve any real problems facing our country. And Democratic Senators—who have said they oppose Trump's delusional anti-immigration proposals—have the power to tear down that wall before it's even built by publicly stating they will block any measure to fund the wall if Trump is elected. If Democratic Senators draw the line now, they'll force Trump to do what he hates: Discuss details—such as how much the wall would cost, how it would be funded, and what good it would actually do.

The budget that the U.S. spends on border patrol has increased by more than 1,300% since 2002 to an astounding $3.8 billion in 2015. Donald Trump’s official immigration policy announcements this week would almost certainly more than double the current budget by adding 5,000 more border patrol agents, and of course–building a brick-and-mortar wall across the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border. All of this at a time that the flow of undocumented immigrants has actually decreased—in short, it's an expensive, race-baiting absurdity in search of a problem. And yet, this false solution would have real costs—especially as the president of Mexico just reaffirmed that despite Trump's claims, Mexico will not pay for the wall. The increase in taxpayer dollars that Trump is suggesting–which could likely eclipse $4 billion or more annually–could instead fund the following: * Education for more than 375,000 school children each year. * Benefits for more than 650,000 veterans per annual fiscal year. * Investments in energy efficiencies and renewable energy at triple the rates they were in fiscal year 2015. Will you join me in asking your Senator to commit to speaking out against Trump's fiscally unsound immigration policy?

My daughter has been on the street since she was 14. She is now 28, We have tried to get her into rehab and we were close one time. Her pimp showed up (crossing state lines) bearing a gun. They have both been arrested, with over 17 counts of prostitution and soliciting, all to no avail All charges were dropped. My daughter was found naked wrapped around a telephone pole one time, also. They pumped her stomach and sent her on her way. There are over 129 overdoses a day. Please help me help those who are out there and out of control. This is our problem, not just mine.

My older brother Manny and 30 other seriously injured patients in a sub-acute unit will be suddenly displaced, within unreasonable time, from the CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER, to cater to the new residents in the new "renovating" area in Downtown Los Angeles. These are the most vulnerable patients in the entire hospital, and their lives depend on professional care. As family members, we do our very best every day to help our loved one heal and recover. There are currently no other reliable sub-acute facilities properly equipped in the city or state to take our loved ones in their current condition. Please help us stop this unit from closing down. Hospitals' profit should not come before patients.

A petition to show the interest for Joshua Harrison, AKA JRockets, to teach a series of lectures on how to acquire dates with women and begin romantic relationships. The lecture series will be held at the Swan House. Formal dress required. If things go well, we can see this expanding to a successful podcast as well in the near future.

Our community has had several meetings held between the LDS Church and members of the community on the proposed development of the LDS Church located on the corner of Hunters Mill Road and Crowell. Even though the community has outlined conditions to ensure that the Hunters Mill area is preserved under current zoning, our concerns have been ignored.

It's time to end our political indifference to the native tribes of Washington State, who were here long before European settlement. Naming a cross state bike trail after a Hollywood actor who made movies that glorified the death and destruction of our indigenous people is a slap in the face to our native tribes. Sacajawea is a famous explorer, and should be recognized for her efforts. Renaming the cross state bike trail after her helps correct a portion of the racial imbalance that has affected generations and generations of our indigenous tribes.