Derrell Odom fought in Iraq and earned a Purple Heart serving our country. Now, he struggles to get by on the minimum wage pay he makes at KFC. Even worse: his bosses are stealing from him. Through illegal accounting tricks like shifting hours on paychecks to avoid paying overtime, the KFC franchise where Derrell works is keeping his wages down to bolster their bottom line. This KFC store needs to STOP stealing from Derrell now - and KFC needs to ensure that no employee ever has their wages stolen again at any store.

In August, regulators at the DC Public Service Commission unanimously rejected the proposed merger between Pepco and Chicago-based energy giant Exelon. The commissioners said the deal was an inherent conflict of interest and would harm the city’s commitment to clean, renewable energy. Thousands of DC residents voiced their opposition to the merger and over half of DC's ANCs passed resolutions opposing the merger. But, despite this clear rejection by both regulators and the public, Mayor Muriel Bowser cut a backroom deal with Exelon. Now she’s trying to push this deeply flawed settlement, which addresses none of the core problems, through the PSC with an "expedited" process.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders may disagree on other things, but one thing they strongly agree on is that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Kuwait must contribute much more to the struggle against ISIS. The Turkey-Syria border must be sealed against ISIS; Turkey must stop bombing anti-ISIS Kurdish fighters in Syria; terrorist financing from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait must be stopped. On November 19, Hillary Clinton said: [1] “The United States should also work with our Arab partners to get them more invested in the fight against ISIS...When it comes to terrorist financing, we have to go after the nodes that facilitate illicit trade and transactions...we have to place more obligations on countries to police their own banks...once and for all, the Saudis, the Qataris and others need to stop their citizens from directly funding extremist organizations as well as the schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path to radicalization...the Saudis have a multiple level of responsibilities, first and foremost, stopping their own citizens from continuing the financing for extremists...Saudi financing is still a major source of revenue for terrorist groups inside Syria, inside Iraq elsewhere...Turkey has been more focused on the Kurds than on countering ISIS...But the threat from ISIS cannot wait...we need to get Turkey to stop bombing Kurdish fighters in Syria who are battling ISIS, and become a full partner in our coalition efforts against ISIS.” On November 19 (the same day), Bernie Sanders said: [2] “A new and strong coalition of Western powers, Muslim nations, and countries like Russia must come together in a strongly coordinated way to combat ISIS, to seal the borders that fighters are currently flowing across, to share counter-terrorism intelligence, to turn off the spigot of terrorist financing, and to end support for exporting radical ideologies...countries in the region like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE...have contributed far too little in the fight against ISIS...Saudi Arabia has the 3rd largest defense budget in the world, yet instead of fighting ISIS they have focused more on a campaign to oust Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Kuwait, a country whose ruling family was restored to power by U.S. troops after the first Gulf War, has been a well-known source of financing for ISIS and other violent extremists...Qatar will spend $200 billion on the 2022 World Cup...$200 billion on hosting a soccer event, yet very little to fight against ISIS. Worse still, it has been widely reported that the government has not been vigilant in stemming the flow of terrorist financing, and that Qatari individuals and organizations funnel money to some of the most extreme terrorist groups, including al Nusra and ISIS.” Urge President Obama and Congress to publicly demand that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Kuwait do much more to contribute to the struggle against ISIS by signing our petition. References: 1. http://time.com/4120295/hillary-clinton-foreign-policy-isis/ 2. https://berniesanders.com/democratic-socialism-in-the-united-states/

It’s clear to the majority of Americans that our immigration policy is in desperate need of reform. It’s equally clear that if brought to a vote today, there would be enough votes in the House and the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Add your name to tell Speaker Ryan pass immigration reform this year!

We, the undersigned students and parents of Chicago Public Schools, want to prove that our school lunches are inadequate. Currently the school lunches are terrible. We are fed the same options every day, the food is either overcooked or undercooked, the portions are too small and the quality is poor. We urge our principal, the Chicago Board of Education, and Aramark to act now to allow us to open the lunchroom kiosk, have vending machines, off campus lunch, food delivery, and increased options, portion sizes, and quality in our school lunch. This is important because we eat 1/6th of our meals here annually, and many students refuse to eat it. By signing this petition, we demand that school lunches get better. For more information, please visit http://rhsschoollunch.wordpress.com

At age 11 children can take a babysitting class and get certified to care for other children; at age 12 they can take a gun safety class and legally handle firearms; at age 14, in the state of South Dakota, they can drive a car without an adult present (to certain locations). All these activities put children in the position of making life and death decisions that impact their own well being as well as others, yet they are not considered competent enough to decide which parent they want to live with in custody situations. It is absurd and needs to change. My own children were victims of physical and emotional abuse, and neglect. Their voices were silenced by a system that chose to believe a slick abuser over the voices of the children. I was bullied and intimidated by that same system for trying to speak up for them and protect them. There needs to be a paradigm shift from focusing on parental rights to focusing on children's rights. Abusers shouldn't be able to use the guise of "custody battle" as an opportunity to get away with abuse and not have it be believed. Giving children their own voice and their own choice takes the power away from abusers, and away from judges who all too frequently make bad decisions that cost children something they can never get back -their childhood.

Representative Rodne has received media attention regarding his anti-Muslim comments. (http://www.king5.com/story/news/politics/state/2015/11/19/state-republican-under-fire-for-fb-comments-about-muslims/76082924/) Muslims are being attacked in America on a daily basis due to vitriol and hate after the Paris attacks. We cannot allow politicians or public officials to spread a hateful message without push back. We must demonstrate that only love can conquer hate; we must drown out their hateful messages with statements of love and solidarity for those targeted by racist, xenophobic violence.

Donald Trump is expressing views at a high level of politic that flies in the face of what America stands for. He has to be removed from government and the country.

It is estimated that property rentals will continue to rise as home-ownership is becoming further out of reach. As demand increases, landlords will be given increased opportunity to select their renters from a pool of eligible candidates. It is up to us to show landlords that declining equally qualified minority renters will not be tolerated, instead we demand fairness and integrity.

Syrian families have lost their homes, their relatives, and jobs. Half of the entire country is now displaced. A small fraction have waited up to 3 years to gain entry to the US as refugees. They have passed the most rigorous screening of any immigrants to the US, ever. Now our governor has effectively refused them entry into Indiana. This policy does NOT reflect our values!

Syrian families have lost their homes, their relatives, and jobs. Half of the entire country is now displaced. A small fraction has waited up to 3 years to gain entry to the US as refugees. They have passed the most rigorous screening of any immigrant to the US, ever. Now our governor has effectively refused them entry into Indiana. This policy does NOT reflect our values!

I believe in the importance of offering aid to other human beings in need, regardless of religion or their country of origin.