We are an enormous country. We could absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees without blinking an eye. And we'll be a richer country for it. Or, we can turn them away, and damn countless people to unimaginable suffering, and be surprised in a few years if they turn embittered and violent. It's not really a choice.

This is important.

Duke Energy will stop at nothing to protect its profits. Right now, it’s attacking a solar project that benefits a church! Here’s what’s happening: Duke has asked state regulators in North Carolina to fine a small nonprofit up to $1,000 a day (now more than $180,000). Why? Because the nonprofit is selling solar power to Faith Community Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke has long been fighting to prevent anyone besides monopoly utility giants from selling solar power. Meanwhile, it has virtually no plans to offer solar itself. That means Duke is effectively making it impossible for North Carolinians to power their communities with clean energy if they can’t afford the up-front costs. We need your help to fight back! Tell the North Carolina Utilities Commission: Stop Duke Energy from bullying our communities out of using solar power!

On November 14, countries of the International Syria Support Group meeting in Vienna, including the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran, agreed to push for political negotiations between opposition forces and representatives of the government of President Bashar al-Assad by January 1, to be followed by an immediate, UN-monitored cease-fire. [1] The next session of the international Syria peace talks is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 18, possibly in New York City. [2] As Secretary of State Kerry has said, the ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition groups backed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey will significantly strengthen international efforts to confront ISIS. [3] Urge President Obama to pursue, and Congress to support, all diplomatic tools to ensure the implementation of a ceasefire in Syria by January 1 by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/paris-attacks-overshadow-meeting-of-global-leaders-on-syria/2015/11/14/5e2eb89a-8ac2-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html; http://www.un.org/undpa/Speeches-statements/14112015/syria 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/world/middleeast/new-peace-talks-on-syria-could-be-held-this-month.html 3. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/498cf8d5a3384728af0eaa449e366867/kerry-paris-consult-french-leaders-attack

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It's been shown kids do better when they get enough sleep. The start of the day is so early, it interferes with the ability of students to learn.

Rahm Emanuel has lost the confidence of the people over the cover-up of the Laquan McDonald murder. At this point Emanuel makes claims to media that are widely considered not credible. Toni Preckwinkle, Chuy Garcia & Kim Foxx have the confidence of the people signing this petition. Rahm Emanuel & Anita Alvarez do not.

Loopholes that let corporations hide money in offshore tax havens are set to expire at the end of 2015. Some lawmakers want to keep the loopholes open – and keep them open permanently. It's time we take tax loopholes off of Congress' holiday shopping list. Tax loopholes allow corporations to dodge taxes by hiding profits overseas in places like the Cayman Islands – some very profitable companies pay $0 in taxes. As these loopholes come up for consideration, Congress is faced with a $10 billion choice: Let the corporate tax loopholes expire so multinationals will pay their fair share, or keep them open for multinationals to exploit year after year. Congress must deal with a package of tax credits, due to expire at the end of this year. Hidden among the tax credits are some of the worst loopholes that reward multinational corporations for moving profits and jobs overseas. Why not take this chance to ditch some of the worst programs that enable tax dodging? Instead, backed by corporate lobbyists, there is a proposal to make these offshore loopholes permanent. It’s about time that these corporations start living by the same rules as the rest of us. It’s time to close these loopholes. Join us by adding your name to our petition.

In mid-November, the Obama administration quietly announced a $1.29 billion deal to sell 19,000 laser-guided and general purpose bombs to Saudi Arabia, to resupply its controversial bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. In addition, a separate sale of $380 million of U.S. JDAM bomb guidance kits was also approved for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is part of the Saudi-led military coalition. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Saudi air strikes since the war began in March, adding to the overall death toll of 5,300 people killed in the war. Thousands of houses have been destroyed in rebel-held areas, and 1.4 million people are now internally displaced. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International oppose the international resupply of the Saudi military coalition to continue the air war. The two groups have documented many air strikes that fail to discriminate between civilians and combatants. For example, Saudi bombs were dropped on a school, two wedding parties, in crowded markets where no military targets are present, and on a hospital operated by MSF/Doctors Without Borders. The Saudi government has refused requests by Human Rights Watch and other groups to investigate these and other specific incidents where civilians were killed. Under U.S. law, Congress has 30 days to pass legislation to reject the two arms sales. It can also act to terminate the sales at any point up to the point of delivery.

A hate crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.Let’s give communities the resources they need to properly investigate and prosecute hate crimes. Most importantly, let’s give them the resources to prevent these crimes in the first place.

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