Decent and innocent people are being attacked in part because of reckless rhetoric in the name of shameless self promotion of people like Donald Trump. It must end now. Donald Trump owes it to all Americans and all Muslims to help put an end to this type of ugly violence here in America and all Americans(including those in Washington and on every major news network) need to stand up and put immense pressure him to do so.

In the state of Kansas, under the Personal and Family Protection Act, it is legal to concealed carry a handgun without a permit or training. Under a state or municipal building exemption, public universities and colleges are not currently required to allow firearms in campus buildings, but this exemption expires on July 1, 2017. After that date, concealed carry will be allowed in campus buildings unless “adequate security measures” are put in place. Considering the costs and planning required to implement “adequate security measures”--there are over 800 buildings on Kansas public university campuses--there is no practical way to maintain gun-free campuses without amending the law. The Kansas Coalition for a Gun Free Campus and the undersigned university affiliates and other concerned citizens believe that the presence of firearms on our campuses fundamentally alters the nature of the work we do at institutions of higher learning. Numerous Kansas college affiliates have already voiced their concerns, including University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, KU Senate President Michael Williams, and forty Kansas State University distinguished professors. Among the reasons cited for prohibiting the possession of firearms on college campuses are: 1) More accessible weapons means more opportunities for intentional gun violence and accidental discharge. 2) Students, faculty, and staff of color will be disproportionately affected and will be especially vulnerable. The LGBT community, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups will also be disproportionately affected. 3) There will be a greater risk of successful suicide attempts, especially in student dormitories and private offices. 4) The presence of firearms limits academic freedom by creating an environment of intimidation and fear. These are just a few of the many reasons guns do not belong on college campuses. Kansas gun laws allowing concealed carry on campuses will also discourage highly qualified prospective students and faculty from considering our colleges and universities for study or employment; as such, the quality of education will suffer. We disagree with the notion that arming our colleges will protect us in the event of an active shooter, as it would create confusion and potentially undermine the efforts of law enforcement. Since Kansas does not require permit or training, the chances of successful civilian intervention are even more unlikely. Additionally, as indicated in the arguments above, active shooter situations are far from our only concern. It is clear to us, the undersigned, that firearms should not be allowed in our classrooms and other campus buildings. We will not rest until Kansas legislators amend the law to address our concerns. Further reading: The Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act: https://ag.ks.gov/docs/default-source/documents/concealed-carry-statutes.pdf?sfvrsn=24 Kansas Board of Regents Weapons Fact Sheet: http://www.kansasregents.org/resources/PDF/FACT_SHEET-2105_weapon_possession_on_university_campuses_in_Kansas.pdf Chancellor Gray-Little speaks: http://www.kansan.com/news/ku-chancellor-bernadette-gray-little-weighs-in-on-campus-climate/article_7aa86e14-9d21-11e5-8c6f-f34d00a8f27c.html?mode=story KU Weapons Information Session: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/dec/08/fear-unanswered-questions-dominate-guns-campus-inf/ Forty Kansas State Distinguished Professors speak out: http://www.k-state.edu/today/announcement.php?id=23727&category=news&referredBy=email#.Vl72_2j7j-8.twitter

Pardon or commute Joshua Williams’ sentence... Josh was charged with arson and was sentenced to 8 years at the Missouri Department of Corrections for trying to set fire to a QuikTrip Gas Station after hearing that a St. Louis County, Berkeley Missouri Police Officer shot and killed an unarmed male. Yet, the QuikTrip was never set on fire, Josh pled guilty under the circumstances. Josh was reacting out of duress due to recent Police Violence that was affecting, and continues to affect, the mental health and well-being of people and communities. Taking away this young man’s freedom because he has been mentally abused is wrong!! The Atlanta Black Star speak more on African-Americans, Race Trauma and PTSD. "Race-based trauma isn’t just inclusive of racist acts, but also the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness one feels during and after the incidents. " https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/09/06/cant-breathe-african-americans-race-trauma-ptsd/ Robert T. Carter, Ph.D. wrote on this in a 2006 Psychiatric Times article: “Race-based traumatic stress injury can be a consequence of emotional pain that a person may feel after encounters with racism, which can be understood in terms of specific types of acts (as distinct types: racial harassment or hostility, racial discrimination or avoidance and/or discriminatory harassment, aversive hostility).

The State of Missouri refuses to let a disabled veteran telework. I am a Military Service Disabled Service Connected Veteran hired under the Show Me Heroes program. The State of Missouri placed Disabled Veterans like myself on Leave of Absence without pay during Christmas time. I have asked for work over and over again and the State of Missouri has refused. Please sign my petition telling the State of Missouri to let me telework so I, a disabled veteran, can support his family.

I start this petition with great concern for the civil and human rights of persons of color, having witnessed police officers in Minneapolis and Hennepin County commit perjury, lie under oath, in order to convict persons of color with or without prior records. I and other researchers know the shooters of the BLM activists were escorted to the site by police and escaped with MPD help. I also know MPD will continue to stalk persons of color to either pad arrest statistics or to harm or worse murder...with the knowledge they can and will and have gotten away with it. We request that the MPD be placed in federal receivership until the city can produce officer candidates capable of providing equal justice under the law for all.

As a former teacher and school-based administrator, I understand the importance of system-wide consistency in responses by school staff members to acts of bullying and intolerance.

On December 8, the House voted to tighten the Visa Waiver Program that lets people from certain countries travel to the U.S. without first obtaining a visa. Democrats Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, John Conyers, Jan Schakowsky, Raul Grijalva, and Keith Ellison were among the Democrats who voted no [1], citing discriminatory and overbroad provisions, and the lack of a time limit on these provisions. Rep. Honda said that he voted against this bill “because it unjustly targets individuals based on their nationality" and that he could not "vote for a bill that categorically bars access to the Visa Waiver Program for dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Iran and people who have traveled in the last 5 years to Iraq and Syria, including humanitarian workers…Under this bill, a French citizen of Syrian descent who has never been to Syria would still fall into this blanket category.” [2] Rep. Lee said she shares “the concerns of the ACLU, AILA, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and others that this bill would allow for the discrimination of individuals based on their nationality." [3] Rep. Conyers said, "I believe the provisions in the legislation restricting the use of the visa waiver program to individuals who have traveled to Syria or Iraq or are dual nationals of these or other covered nations – are discriminatory…I also believe the provision should have included a sunset date so we can assess its efficacy." [4] Like Rep. Conyers, the ACLU has called for the discriminatory provisions of the legislation to have a sunset provision [5], meaning that they would expire and have to be reconsidered and reauthorized to remain in force - just like the Patriot Act, passed after the September 11 attacks, had a sunset provision so it would have to be reconsidered. Likewise, every major Democratic proposal for an authorization for the use of force against ISIS, including President Obama's proposal [6], has a sunset provision, so that it could not continue indefinitely without Congress having to reconsider it. It is very likely that some version of the bill will be included in the omnibus spending package expected to be passed by December 18. Urge President Obama and Congress to sunset the nationality-based restrictions of the visa waiver reform bill by signing our petition. References: 1. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/326f7ca541d945259e5cff4031264201/house-roll-call-visa-waiver 2. http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2015/12/08/30868/ 3. http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2015/12/08/30868/ 4. http://democrats.judiciary.house.gov/press-release/statement-honorable-john-conyers-jr-hr-158-visa-waiver-program-improvement-and 5. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/obama-visa-waiver-changes-backlash-215875; https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-letter-house-re-visa-waiver-program-improvement-and-terrorist-travel-prevention-act-2015 6. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/11/senators-split-on-obamas-war-powers-authorization

One in 4 kids in Maine is food insecure--but Shaw's Supermarkets has announced it is ending its food donation programs in Maine, just as the cold winter and holiday season is approaching. The Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program in Brunswick, Preble Street shelter in Portland, and Good Shepherd Food Bank are just a few of the agencies that have relied on Shaw's donation. By donating food that is not selling well or nearing the expiration date, grocery chains can help alleviate hunger and reduce food waste at very little cost to the company. Local Shaw's employees have expressed interest in continuing these programs—but to convince the corporate higher-ups, we all need to speak out. For more information: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/12/10/loss-of-shaws-donation-hits-food-bank-a-key-time/

This petition backs the 21 kids from across the U.S., ages 8-19, who have taken the U.S. government to federal court, demanding science-based action on climate change. Every person, regardless of age, race, gender or religion has the right to a clean environment and a safe future - and the U.S. government's continued acts that prevent meaningful climate recovery undermine that right. When these kids spoke up, Big Oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Koch Industries got scared and through their trade associations joined the U.S. government in trying to stop the lawsuit. Our children know that we can’t wait to achieve a binding climate justice deal. We stand with them in demanding that the U.S. government stop the continued permitting and subsidy of the fossil fuel industry and adopt a national science-based Climate Recovery Plan to bring atmospheric CO2 concentrations below 350 ppm by the year 2100.

We know that efforts to alter voting laws are nothing more than a political attempt at manipulating the rules to maintain control and continue stacking the deck in favor of wealthy special interests and against ordinary Michiganders.

On October 20, 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was brutally gunned down by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. Even though Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel knew about this gruesome murder, it wasn’t until communities rose up in protest and a journalist sued the city of Chicago to get video footage of the murder released, that Mayor Emanuel decided to act [1]. In a recent op-ed, Mayor Emanuel stated “At the end of the day, I am the mayor and I own it. I take responsibility for what happened and I will fix it.” Since the release of the police dashboard camera, Mayor Emanuel has fired Chicago Police Supt. Gary McCarthy and assembled a five-person task force on police accountability [2]. However, these actions fail to address the role Mayor Emanuel played in covering up Laquan McDonald’s murder. Mayor Emanuel’s negligent and possibly criminal leadership kept the McDonald family in the dark about what really happened to their son. Instead of demanding that killer cop Jason Van Dyke be held accountable for his violent actions, Mayor Emanuel has been working hard to protect his own effort to get re-elected. Before the video was released, Mayor Emanuel had praised the efforts of his former police chief, defended the city’s investigations of police shootings, and resisted a federal investigation into the police department. By turning a blind eye to the brutal murder of Laquan McDonald, Mayor Emanuel is clearly demonstrating his lack of concern for Black lives. Chicago residents deserve better! Demand that Mayor Rahm Emanuel resigns. DeAngelo Bester, Workers Center for Racial Justice Charlene Carruthers, BYP100 Byron Hobbs, SOUL Katelyn Johnson, Action Now References “Rahm Emanuel, Anita Alvarez – where’s your resignation?” The Grio, 12-02-2015, http://on.thegrio.com/1XN4QRG “Rahm Emanuel Denies Laquan McDonald Cover-Up In Op-Ed” The Huffington Post, 12-04-2015, http://huff.to/1IvbzbQ

Mitch McConnell is trying to sneak a provision that gives the wealthy even MORE control over our democracy into the must-pass government funding bill. If Senate Majority Leader McConnell gets his way, a billionaire could donate an unlimited amount to a Super PAC -- which could then coordinate directly with candidates who, once in office, will owe that donor favors. And because he’s using a rider -- an unrelated provision attached to the spending bill -- to get it done, the only way we can stop it is by speaking out! Help us stop this legislative trickery today. Congressional negotiators are also considering riders that’d make it even easier for wealthy donors to hide their identities by blocking the IRS and the SEC from shining a light on secret campaign spending. Yet another rider would prevent the President from requiring federal contractors -- who receive hundreds of billions in our tax dollars -- to disclose their campaign-related spending. And those are just the ones about money in politics -- this deal is full of poison pills and unrelated ideological riders. This attempt at gaming the system to pass policies that the public would never agree to is outraging Americans of every political stripe. Sign the petition today and tell Mitch McConnell to cut every last rider and special interest giveaway from the government funding bill!