EDRA is proud of its nearly 50 years of work advancing environmental design research and until now, particularly proud of its founding roots and incorporation, since 1972, in the State of North Carolina. Our return to North Carolina on May 18-22, 2016 for EDRA’s 47th annual conference at Raleigh’s Convention Center, has become all the more momentous with the passage of HB2, a discrimination law we ardently reject and oppose. Our conference will go on, but not without EDRA declaring firm and full opposition to HB2. EDRA stands for the rights of all and stands united with all those who are opposing and calling for the full repeal of HB2. Moreover, we join in supporting the Equality Act which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation. Governor McCrory, we petition you to immediately rescind HB2 and to enact legislation in North Carolina safeguarding and extending civil rights to all. HB2 must go now!

Because refugees deserve to live just like us -Sasha Leitner NY (8 years old)

My phone did not work for close to 3 weeks because this asinine clown kept forcing the people who actually keep the phones working to go on strike by making demands they knew the CWA could not accept. Where can I go to burn my Verizon bill? Looking to move to At&T.

California Governor Jerry Brown just served Gov. Rick Scott with a major dose of Climate Reality. Florida is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet to the effects of climate disruption. A 2015 report declared, "Florida faces more risk than any other state that private, insurable property could be inundated by high tide, storm surge and sea level rise. By 2030, up to $69 billion in coastal property will likely be at risk of inundation at high tide that is not at risk today. " But don't tell that to Gov. Scott, a climate denier that literally fired a state employee just for using the term "Climate Change." That's why Gov. Brown wrote Rick Scott a letter that in part told him, "If you're truly serious about Florida's economic well being, it's time to stop the silly political stunts and start doing something about climate change."1 We totally agree -- Rick Scott has embarrassed our great state and put it at risk long enough, and we demand that he use his final three years to take serious steps to address climate change. Sign our petition telling Gov. Scott to #ActOnClimate, before it's too late to save Florida, and the planet. 1. http://floridapolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Letter-to-Gov.-Scott-5.2.16.jpg

I care about my home state of West Virginia and about its future. We can be an energy leader for the future as long as we're not stuck in the past and burdened by political fueled blaming. We need to step up and take the challenge of educating our coal miners and others in the state for new opportunities.

Amnesty International reports that US and Saudi-backed armed opposition groups in Aleppo are committing war crimes against Syria's Kurds, and have called on the US and other countries to "immediately block the transfer of arms to armed groups, including logistical and financial support for such transfers, where there is credible evidence that they have committed serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law." [1] The House of Representatives has a unique opportunity to do something about this in the coming days. Amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act [2] offered by Reps. Gabbard [3], Nolan [4, 5], and Yoho-Conyers [6] would end or limit the transfer of US weapons to combatants in Syria's civil war. Urge your Representative to support these amendments by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/syria-armed-opposition-groups-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-city/ 2. https://rules.house.gov/bill/114/hr-4909 3. http://www.rules.house.gov/amendments/GABBAR_04251116080824824.pdf 4. http://www.rules.house.gov/amendments/NOLAN_067_xml511160828282828.pdf 5. http://www.rules.house.gov/amendments/NOLAN_068_xml511160824512451.pdf 6. http://www.rules.house.gov/amendments/YOHO08851116092507257.pdf

Election fraud is becoming the norm in the United States. More that half of the states that have voted in the recent Democratic Primaries have voting discrepencies. Democracy cannot exist without free and fair elections. We need to take action to stop it NOW.

I have spent several years in Brazil and have seen the slow yet positive changes that were occurring. I have seen the slow yet real recognition and empowerment of poor, Black and Indigenous communities, and women of all classes. I have seen and lived the beauty of the popular culture of Brazil. I have a Master's Degree in Latin American history. Democracy cannot be destroyed, yet again, in Latin America. When you study Latin American history, you understand that mass violence always follows in these anti-Democratic backlashes. Far too often, the USA has been complicit in this cycle. We must apply international pressure now. This new "government" of Brazil cannot be recognized or accepted by nations around the globe.

I am a 24 year old male with Cerebral Palsy, and I believe certain properties of the cannabis plant help with spasticity, but I would like to do more research having to do with the brain, specifically the brains of people with CP. Unless we remove marijuana from the Schedule 1 Controlled Substance list, we cannot do this research effectively.

Nina Simone: The purpose of mankind is to be free. Freedom is an idea that is constantly compromised as a result of legislative policy and police who enforce policy designed to infringe on both economic freedom and the natural freedom of every man, woman and child. Considering the large amount of civilian complaints against police officers and the exponentially growing number of violent beatings and deaths at the hands of police, it’s time for a change in thinking, policy and action. Currently, many think is that justice policy is designed to protect the public; the reality is that many of these policies are designed to generate arrests and income for municipalities and judicial officers. The need for policy change is a result of 1. Many judges decide defendant’s fate based on legislative initiative, such as mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and not judicial precedent 2. There is an obvious conflict of interest present in the judicial system as employees of the justice “process” positions such as police officers, judges, district attorneys and prosecutors work together and have established working relationships. These relationships present a bias when an investigation into police misconduct must be conducted. It is time for a dramatic shift in the rules governing our justice system, specifically allowing police departments to investigate themselves of wrongdoing. 3. The tremendous cost taxpayers are forced to pay the winner of civil law suits against police departments. from 2010-2014, NYC paid 601 million in lawsuit awards Chicago paid 249 million in lawsuit awards L.A. paid 57.1 million in lawsuit awards Philadelphia paid 54.3 million on lawsuit awards Washington D.C. paid 30.5 million in lawsuit awards Taxpayers pay these amounts, not police officers. 4. The lack of punishment for police officers act as a reward for bullying and violations of rights, thereby reinforcing criminal behavior by people sworn to uphold the constitution and protect the Constitution. The time has come to change the rules, using the rules that currently exist. I propose our federal legislators implement a random number generator, based on the voting population, to be called to decide both complaints against police officers and punishments and penalties for misconduct. The cases heard by the civilian justice patrol will range from complaints to misconduct to killings. The rules will be simple: The Nina Simone policy is as follows: • The civilian review task force will be composed of the same people who constitute each municipality’s jury pool. • If an officer has a complaint lodged against him/her, the civilian task force will determine if the complaint had merit. • If the complaint has merit, the officer will receive one negative complaint in their permanent file. • Five merited complaints will result in a two week suspension without pay. • Ten merited complaints will result in an additional two weeks without pay and probation. • Fifteen merited complaints will result in termination. once terminated, former officers are permanently barred from police work. Police officers are not held financially accountable for their violations of individual rights, the taxpayer is. Implementation of this idea, will serve three purposes: • Saving taxpayer revenue, thereby allowing municipalities to spend this money on infrastructure, summer programs for children; creating employment opportunities or any number of needs the nation's many municipalities have. • Hiring and retaining qualified police officers. • Creating trust and transparency between the government and private citizens. Once the changes are implemented in the review, discipline and cause for termination occur, each citizen in this nation must treat officers with respect and dignity. There has to be an overall acknowledgement and understanding that a police officer’s job is difficult and dangerous, one improper move, the implementation of a mistimed tactic could result in their death. As a result, all citizens are required to respect and comply with a police officer’s request. The proposed change in police misconduct review will no longer will allow citizens be targeted and possibly be arrested and forced to pay fines and other penalties which conveniently find it’s way into the paychecks of people with high ranking positions in the judicial system for different municipalities throughout the nation

There are and have been too many questionable election results, and we need to put in place checks and balances to stop cheating instances such as what happened in New York.

This issue affects all residents of Monte Sereno as well as the parents, staff and students at Daves Elementary, across the street from the proposed site.