As the current law in Tennessee stands, expecting mothers may only receive pay at the employer’s discretion. We, a group of female students at Lipscomb University, would like to see this change. Why? The answer is simple: In today’s economy, no matter the situation, a woman cannot afford to be without pay for months at a time. The cost of living is rising. Basic needs from housing to groceries are becoming less affordable even for couples, let alone single women who by choice or by no choice conceive a child. To be expected to take a few months away without pay is frankly impossible. We are also concerned about part-time employees who receive no benefits. Many jobs only hold a handful of full-time positions within their companies. Often women in need of a job are forced to settle for part-time hours because there are no openings for a full-time position. This really hurts when it comes to pregnancy because part of the reason that corporations keep so few full-time employees is to avoid providing necessary benefits. If a woman becomes pregnant while working part-time, she has no choice but to either go straight back to work after giving birth or accept unemployment benefits which more than likely will not match her working wage. As part of the current bill, employers who do provide maternity leave to employees are only required to hold a similar job for a woman if she chooses to take leave. This means that someone else will step into her job, so when she comes back, she will essentially start over in a like-position. We would like to see progressing, career-oriented women be able to pick up where they left off exactly. Several developed countries provide paid leave for their expecting mothers with no economic consequences. Therefore, we believe that the benefits outweigh the costs of businesses providing paid leave to their employed mothers-to-be. The first few months of a newborn’s life are crucial for mental and physical health. Babies are more likely to be breast-fed, which helps protect them from serious infection. Women who are able to stay home with their newborn report fewer depressive symptoms, reducing the risk of developing depression after quickly returning to work and leaving their child with another caretaker. Let’s help all women get the benefits they deserve: to receive their living wage during leave, to be able to enjoy the first weeks of their child’s life, and to continue progressing their career once they return to the workplace. We have mailed a copy of the bill with these revisions to our state representatives. Please sign this petition to show support for these changes.

On April 9, 2016 my husband and I had lunch at Golden Corral and during our meal, I noticed a man sitting at the opposite table in front of us had a gun holstered in his belt. I beckoned for our server and asked him if Golden Corral allows weapons inside their restaurant. He said yes, as long as it's "in the open" but not if "it's concealed." Being that his answer wasn't adequate, my husband asked to speak to the manager. He arrived at our table and I asked him the same question. He affirmed that Golden Corral allows guns inside their restaurant since "Ohio is open carry." I said we wouldn't be back and he said that was fine; in fact, "he felt safe with someone open carrying inside Golden Corral." Guns have their place but not in public restaurants.

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison, a high-profile supporter of Bernie Sanders, and former State Department official Huma Abedin, a high-profile supporter of Hillary Clinton, are two of the most prominent Muslim Americans in American politics. Apparently, the anti-American terrorist group Daesh ("ISIS") has a problem with the involvement of Keith Ellison and Huma Abedin in American political life. Apparently, that contradicts the anti-American Daesh propaganda line that there's no place for Muslims in America. Apparently, that's why Daesh has issued death threats against Keith Ellison and Huma Abedin. [1] Urge Congress to pass a resolution condemning Daesh death threats against Keith Ellison and Huma Abedin by signing our petition. References: 1. https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/720347634624524288

Paul Song is a sexist bully. It is not right to refer to any woman as a "whore." We do not need people practicing medicine in our country who refer any woman in public as a "whore."

We, the parents of BPS students, are deeply disturbed by the remarks made by Paul Grogan, the President of the Boston Foundation, in the Boston Globe on April the 3rd. “..if there’s some pain and suffering to existing institutions because they haven’t been able to be effective, there’s going to have to be consequences to that, just as there is in the private sector,” Paul Grogan, Boston Globe, April 2, 2016. The Boston Foundation has an oversized influence on policy in the Boston area due to its financial resources. We don’t believe the Boston Foundation should be creating policy by promising financial relief to our chronically underfunded schools. It is our wish that the Foundation have some understanding and empathy on the effect that the policies they promote have on our children. It is our children who have been entrusted to the Boston Public Schools, and therefore, they experience the pain and suffering Mr. Grogan so casually writes off. Fifty-seven thousand children attend Boston Public Schools, and we do not believe that our children’s education should be dismissed so easily. Boston Public Schools is the oldest public school system in the country. Academically, BPS is very strong. The 4th and 8th graders in BPS exceeded the national average for all public schools on the National Assessment and Educational Progress (NAEP). BPS is the only urban school to do so. Our graduation rates are the highest they have ever been and we are making strides to close the achievement gap in Boston. But more than test scores or prizes, BPS is where our children have found a place to learn, grow, create and discover. It is where our children sounded out their first words when learning to read, observed caterpillars change into butterflies, plunked keys on the piano, learned to share, and think. Boston Public Schools takes in all children regardless of income, ability, race, social, economic or immigration status and forms them into bright, curious scholars. So it is highly discouraging that the philanthropic community would give so little regard to the school system where our children go to school every day. We believe that philanthropy that has no concern for the effects its actions have on its intended beneficiaries is a destructive philanthropy and worse than no help at all. We are asking Mr. Grogan to develop as a compassionate learner and grow in empathy and humility.

Protecting the most vulnerable autistic kids in Ontario. My family and child has been personally affected and many more as well.

This petition hopes to bring awareness of colony collapse in bee populations, due to Neonicotinoids (pesticide) use. Florida can't afford to lose anymore pollinators, and it's time for us acknowledge these important insects!

Wall Street bankers are back at it again, buying up people’s mortgages at discount prices from government agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). And Secretary Julián Castro's Wall Street giveaway lets the bankers who helped create the foreclosure crisis profit off of struggling homeowners’ mortgages. For years, the banking industry has made billions by displacing communities, destroying neighborhoods and looting the public’s assets. Mr. Castro should be helping people stay in their homes, not helping Wall Street bankers profit from economic inequality and exploding debt. HUD is supposed to help homeowners stay in their home through its “Distressed Asset Stabilization Program.” But instead it has been a giveaway for Wall Street: In 2015, 98% of homes sold through HUD’s DASP program went straight to Wall Street (15,309 out of 15,624). These homes are often sold at steep discounts, averaging 45% off for some of the biggest banks on Wall Street. A majority of the loans went to The Blackstone Group, a huge private-equity company notorious for its foreclosures. Blackstone tenants have dealt with roach infestations, harassment, and even attempts at illegal evictions. In 2008, as the financial markets came crashing down under the weight of the predatory, racially targeted subprime mortgage crisis, millions of Americans saw the wealth that they had spent generations building wiped out by Wall St. recklessness. The year before, in 2007, African Americans held 71% of their wealth in home equity, while Latinos held almost 90% of their wealth through homeownership. When the housing market collapsed, it took this wealth with it: African Americans lost a third of their wealth between 2007 and 2011, and Latinos lost more than two-thirds. References: http://www.wsj.com/articles/liberal-activists-launch-campaign-against-hud-secretary-julian-castro-1460497427 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-29/warren-demands-hud-curb-sales-of-soured-loans-to-private-equity http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/progressive-groups-target-julian-castro-221817

Resurfacing Chase Street presents a unique opportunity to re-evaluate and improve upon the ways our children walk and bike to Chase Street elementary School. Adding two more crosswalks in front of the school increases this access, further helps to slow traffic in this corridor, and reinforces Chase Street Elementary as a neighborhood school. **Note: If you have signed a paper version of this petition, please don't sign it a second time!**

The candidacy of Bernie Sanders has been routinely ignored by the Mainstream Media. CBS, NBC, MSNBC, ABC do your job!

The head of the Democratic Party, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is trying to hamstring Elizabeth Warren's signature initiative--and throwing women under the bus in the process. She is cosponsoring a bill that would pave the way for payday lenders to rip off women for years to come. Even worse, she's rallying other Democrats to join her in advancing the bill. Payday lenders exploit poor people, especially women and people of color, with enormous fees and interest rates. They're a huge reason that Senator Elizabeth Warren and President Obama created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). If Rep. Wasserman Schultz's bill goes into effect, it'll be at least two more years before the CFPB can start reigning in some of the worst payday lenders. But the backlash is growing, and if enough of us pile on, she'll have to abandon the bill. Will you add your name?

Americans for Peace Now - the US affiliate of the mainstream Israeli peace movement Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) - is calling for President Obama to support action in the United Nations Security Council to help bring about a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. [1] This is common sense: when the big powers want to resolve conflicts diplomatically, the United Nations Security Council is where they go to do it. That's how we got a diplomatic agreement on Iran's nuclear program; that's how we got a diplomatic agreement for a ceasefire in Syria. Unfortunately, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] is lobbying Congress in the opposite direction, urging its activists to "encourage your senators and representative to oppose efforts to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the U.N. and other international bodies." AIPAC doesn't want the UN Security Council to take any action because AIPAC doesn't want the Israel-Palestine conflict to be resolved diplomatically. AIPAC wants to maintain the cruel and unjust status quo, which is guaranteed to produce more violence and unnecessary suffering for Israelis and Palestinians. Urge Congress to stand with Americans for Peace Now in favor of a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict by signing our petition. References: 1. http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=17702