Closter Dock Road is a county road that runs through the towns of Closter and Alpine in Bergen County. Closter Dock Road is traveled by tractor trailers and over-sized vehicles every day, which not only create excessive noise and pollution, but even more alarming, these vehicles create a safety hazard to anyone living or traveling along this road. The trucks also clog up downtown Closter, and once Closter Plaza is finished, traffic and congestion will be even worse. Local government’s hands are tied by the county, so we need your support to force the county to change the conditions that exist on Closter Dock Road and help make our towns safer and a better place to live. Our beautiful, historic town is being negatively impacted by all these commercial vehicles. Please sign our petition; we need your help!

I am a Native American student who attends Norte Vista High School in Riverside, CA. Seeing the misrepresentation and dehumanization of my culture is demeaning and morally inappropriate. This mascot falsely iconizes Indigenous people and treats us as if race is a logo. Let's settle this once and for all; this is the first step in recognizing Natives as actual people not a mystical joke. Next Thursday I will be going in front of the Superintendent of the District and the other Board Members to present my proposal of a Mascot change for my high school Norte Vista. Though our mascot isn't the Redskins, it is still a Brave. The portrayal of the two are still the same just with a different name. According to "Missing the Point Center for American Progress": Research shows that these team names and mascots can establish an unwelcome and hostile learning environment for American Indian/Alaskan Native students. It also reveals that the presence of AI/AN mascots directly results in lower self-esteem and mental health for AI/AN adolescents and young adults. And just as importantly, studies show that these mascots undermine the educational experience of all students, particularly those with little or no contact with indigenous and AI/AN people. In other words, these stereotypical representations are too often understood as factual representations and thus “contribute to the development of cultural biases and prejudices.” Racist team names and mascots provide a misrepresentation of AI/AN people that masks the very real and continuing hardships that these communities endure today. " It's sad to say, but we need the US government's help in some way when it comes to bettering our communities. This is all due to the point in history where the US intentionally wanted to make the Natives reliant on the government in a way to get rid of us and assimilate us (Termination Era, Allotment, Federal Indian Law, Federal Trust Responsibility etc etc). Up until President Obama, no US president has paid any attention to the sovereign nations. They pushed us to the side and paid no attention to us. How can we expect to work with the US when it is filled with people who think of us as a joke, as something of the past because of these mascots and Hollywood portrayals and being cut out of the History curriculum (which is another thing I want to change, but one step at a time). The change of mascot is one step in the right direction. Adidas even said they're willing to help out financially, so what's stopping us? Thank you for your time and your support. It would mean a lot if you shared this link with everyone you know, Native and Non-Native. Wopila!

Many of us have first-hand knowledge of the sacrifices that our veterans have experienced. For countless veterans, the sacrifices continue. Veterans Day is the day that we as a nation honor our veterans. Yet, veterans employed in the private sector compete for this day off with their non-veteran counterparts. Those veterans are required to use their accrued time off. All veterans should have this day off without reservation.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing to increase the mandatory minimum sentence for gun crimes from one year to three years. There is no evidence that this approach has a significant effect on gun violence. Illinois should reduce gun violence through strategies that work: improve economic conditions (increase jobs) and reduce the number of firearms in circulation, particularly firearms that are not legally owned (registered).

The payment of dues in the 2014/2015 academic session was compulsory for all NUESAITES, the association led by Salami Oluwafemi, aka Anomalous has in no way or the other give back to the students in spite of large turn up, for the dues, we are suspecting an act of embezzlement, we hereby demand for the investigation of his regime, before we are forced to pay another which might follow the same trend. #SayingNoToCorruption

There are so many more boy characters in Pokemon. I'm 7 years old and go to Jackson Street Elementary School. My sister Chloe, my friends, and I like to play Pokemon and we like things to be fair. If there aren't as many girl characters, it's not fair and it's not as much fun to play.

Dear Friends and Allies, Building off the momentum from the success of the Soil Not Oil Conference, we are reaching out to invite you to support THE SOIL NOT OIL PLEDGE, as part of our ongoing campaign in defense of soils worldwide. (Please forward widely)

**Please add a comment when you sign in order to ensure that with every signature, a copy of our petition is delivered directly to our targets' inboxes! Most of us already know of the problems of Aramark in UChicago's dining halls: poor quality food, incorrect allergen labelings, shortages of dishes and failed health inspections. But the problems with Aramark extend far beyond our dining halls. Aramark is a massive corporation, with a revenue of almost $15 billion in 2014. And Aramark makes many of these profits from prisons, which means Aramark is a major beneficiary of the prison industrial complex. Aramark provides food in over 600 prisons and has been under fire for years for prisoner abuse: -In Ohio, Aramark failed to provide sufficient food and understaffed their kitchens. There were allegations of relationships between inmates and Aramark workers, and maggots in the food preparation area. -The state of Michigan canceled its contract with Aramark after food which had been thrown in the trash, partially eaten by rodents or allowed to rot was served in prisons. -In New Jersey, prisoners were underfed, causing persistent hunger, and Aramark gave them food which made them sick for days. -Aramark employees have been charged with delivering marijuana and cell phones to prisoners and having sex with prisoners. Dozens of Aramark staff have been banned from Michigan state prisons because of their actions. -And this barely scratches the surface; there are hundreds of documentations of misconduct by Aramark, the majority of these cases in prisons. -These conditions have lead to demonstrations, hunger strikes and protests by prisoners in Ohio, New Mexico, Kentucky and elsewhere. In 2011, Indiana’s ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections because of the substandard food Aramark provided. Mass incarceration exists because it is profitable. More people in prison means more money for companies that build prisons, operate prisons, produce products used in prisons, use prison labor or provide food in prisons—like Aramark, Sodexo, and Compass Group. As long as UChicago Dining contracts with any company that serves food in prisons, we are funding the prison industrial complex. Aramark makes hundreds of millions of dollars from prisons, and their problems aren’t just in prisons: -After the Chicago Public Schools outsourced their janitorial services to Aramark, there has been a lack of custodians, which leads to dirty classrooms and a lack of basic necessities like soap and toilet paper. -Aramark has been accused of withholding wages and underpaying workers. Joseph Neubauer, who spent three decades as the CEO and Board Chairman of Aramark, is the chair of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees. He is also the chair of the University’s $4.5 billion fundraising campaign. What are the other options? Other food service providers the University is considering, including Sodexo and Compass Group, also profit from prisons. In order to stop supporting mass incarceration and start supporting its workers more, UChicago Dining should self-operate its food service. Many colleges self-operate, meaning that they run their own dining programs without an outside contractor. In 2008, Yale switched from contracting with Aramark to self-operation. The University of Chicago could and should do the same because self-operation: -Ends the University’s support for prison privatization and prisoner abuse. -Makes dining hall staff full members of the University community. -Allows for direct student input in the University’s food service. -Enables the University to more effectively respond to students’ concerns. -Equips the University to provide food service that is on par with that of its peer institutions. The University of Chicago’s contract with Aramark is ending at the end of this academic year. We are calling on the University of Chicago to: 1. Commit to transitioning to self-operation of their dining service within three years. 2. Give 40% of the new dining contract to local South Side businesses in order to minimize UChicago's complicity with the prison industrial complex during the transition to self-operation. 3. Ensure that the dining hall workers’ current contract continues to be respected during any transition. 4. Provide transparency and seriously consider student input throughout the contract renegotiation process. Join us by signing the petition! -------- Sources: http://chicagomaroon.com/2015/10/16/cathey-dining-hall-hires-new-nutritionist/ http://chicagomaroon.com/2012/11/29/breaking-cathey-dining-commons-closed-until-further-notice/ http://www.aramark.com/about-us/News/aramark-general/fourth-quarter-full-year-2014-results http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/prison-maggots-food_n_5588439.html http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/07/michigan_cancels_aramark_contr.html http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/food_behind_bars_isnt_fit_for_your_dog_20131222 http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28501-five-corporations-you-ve-never-heard-of-making-millions-from-mass-incarceration http://www.privateci.org/rap_aramark.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/prison-maggots-food_n_5588439.html http://inthesetimes.com/prison-complex/entry/16206/private_contractor_accused_of_skimping_on_prisoner_food http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/chicago-public-schools-dirty_n_5922982.html http://www.knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Aramark http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/08/education/student-life-a-food-fight-over-private-prisons.html https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2015/dec/2/aramarks-correctional-food-services-meals-maggots-and-misconduct/

I was deeply saddened last weekend at the county fair by the sight of the two elephants that were forced to perform strange and unnatural acts for a cheering crowd. I saw sadness in their eyes and felt moved to do something about it.

Due to lack of planning and ineffective negotiation by New York City's Department of Education (DOE) we have lost our 5th Grade's classrooms at the Whitehall Annex! Our Bronx elementary school, PS 24, is already filled beyond its legal capacity, yet the DOE is attempting to make up for its planning debacle by bringing the 5th grade back into the main building. Our student population has increased by 36.3% over the past seven years, from 769 students in 2008 to 1048 students in 2015. The PS 24 main building is built to accommodate 610 students. This is a major safety issue. The current overcrowding is detrimental to our children and shows little consideration for the teachers in our school. Overcrowding and lack of planning has already caused the loss of the school library and classrooms specialized for music, science and Spanish. We could lose the art room next year. Indoor recess space is extremely limited. There is simply no room for additional classrooms in the main building. We petition the NYC DOE to seek space equivalent to the Annex to lease as soon as possible and to not attempt to build additional classrooms within the already overcrowded space of the PS 24 main building.

"Even if we could agree on how to avoid offense – and I’ll note that no one around campus seems overly concerned about the offense taken by religiously conservative folks to skin-revealing costumes – I wonder, and I am not trying to be provocative: Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious… a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive? American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition. And the censure and prohibition come from above, not from yourselves! Are we all okay with this transfer of power? Have we lost faith in young people's capacity – in your capacity - to exercise self-censure, through social norming, and also in your capacity to ignore or reject things that trouble you? We tend to view this shift from individual to institutional agency as a tradeoff between libertarian vs. liberal values (“liberal” in the American, not European sense of the word)." - Erika Christakis

we want our lives back.