TikTok is a place where millions of Americans have gone to find community, education, to grow their small businesses, and to organize on issues that affect our communities. It should not be banned. Members of Congress are claiming that banning TikTok is an issue of national security and data privacy, meanwhile little has been done to pass a comprehensive data law that protects us from all social media companies. In 2018, it was revealed that a data analytics firm that worked with Donald Trump’s election team harvested 50 million Facebook profiles of American voters. This was one of Facebook’s biggest data breaches ever, and the data was used to build a software program that influenced the 2016 election by targeting them with political advertisements. TikTok shouldn’t get singled out when privacy, data tracking, and data harvesting is an issue with ALL social media platforms. After members of Congress in the House of Representatives voted to pass a law to ban TikTok, it was revealed that some of those who voted for the TikTok ban may own $29 million to $126 million worth of stock in TikTok’s competitors like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Snapchat. This means that many of the same politicians who voted for a TikTok ban would financially benefit from a TikTok ban. It’s unacceptable. A TikTok ban would also harm small businesses. Over 5 million small businesses have TikTok accounts and TikTok generated $14.7 BILLION in revenue just last year which created over 224,000 U.S. jobs.Banning TikTok could be financially devastating for millions of people across the country. The truth is, data privacy is a huge issue. Companies track our data, our conversations, the things we view on social media platforms and use it to target us, and then sell our information to third parties all the time. But this isn’t just a TikTok issue. It’s a Big Tech issue. And just banning TikTok won’t fix it. Only passing strong national privacy legislation will truly protect us and our data. And together, we can demand it. In the meantime, we must come together to ensure that members of Congress don’t avoid the real issues at hand and that they don’t violate our free speech by banning TikTok. Will you take action now and sign the petition?

Out of Alaska Airlines' 314 operational airplanes, 73% of Alaska Airlines' fleet are Boeing planes. And United Airlines, one of the largest airlines in the world and one of Boeing's top customers, has more Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts than any other airline. They had five serious incidents with Boeing planes last week alone. Since 2020, there have been a shocking 1,800 service difficulty reports from airlines to government regulators about the Boeing 737 Max planes—from fuel leaks to engine stalls. But despite the glaring and egregious safety concerns with Boeing's production, Alaska Airlines, as of August 28, has transitioned to an all-Boeing fleet. The Alaska Airlines Boeing incident is the third major incident from Boeing in the past five years—with the two heartbreaking crashes in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in the death of more than 340 people. And less than a month before January's Alaska Airlines Boeing incident, employees at a Boeing supplier sounded the alarm about safety concerns with Boeing 737 Max jets, but their warnings were ignored, they were told to falsify records, and workers were retaliated against for speaking out. But this is not new. Boeing’s former CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired and accused of creating a culture that put profits ahead of safety, notably telling Congress, "We don't 'sell' safety; that's not our business model." Even Boeing employees, journalists, and investigators have said that Boeing has cut corners and prioritized cost-cutting over safety and employee concerns. The dangerous and deadly trend of Boeing aircraft accidents is alarming. We can't allow Boeing to earn billions of dollars while potentially cutting corners and allowing glaring safety issues to slip past. Major airlines like Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines must do the right thing and retire their Boeing planes. Will you sign the petition?

The U.S. has more than 260 embassies and consulates across the world. U.S. embassies started flying Pride flags during President Obama's administration. Donald Trump banned the practice during his presidency, and President Biden reinstated it. Now, MAGA Republicans want to bring back Trump's hateful reversal and send a message to LGBTQ+ people across the globe. One of the roles of our embassies is to project values around the world—including in countries that have yet to respect the dignity and equality of the LGBTQ+ community. The State Department and its ambassadors should project these values—and not be subject to the demands of hateful Republicans in Congress. Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in the U.S. have gone up sharply over recent years, with the FBI declaring a chilling 13.8% increase in reports based on sexual orientation and 32.9% increase in reported hate crimes based on gender identity. And globally, it is still illegal to identify as LGBTQ+ in more than 70 countries, with many people forced to seek refuge and asylum, fearing their physical safety or even their life. The Pride flag is not just a symbol of queer identity but also one of celebratory resistance and hope for freedom. By banning Pride flags from U.S. embassies, our government is allowing bigots to roll back LGBTQ+ progress and silence LGBTQ+ people and their allies—a foreboding warning not just for people in the U.S. but also LGBTQ+ people across the world. Sign the petition to allow U.S. embassies to fly Pride flags!

This topic of affordable housing is important because of the homelessness around Massachusetts that has been occurring. There is also inflation that is causing the prices of Massachusetts housing to increase at a sky rocketing price! Affordable housing is important so everyone has a place to live an thrive! Wouldn't you want to have somewhere to live, and be able to go at night to stay?

At the state level, Republicans have been eroding child labor laws across the United States within the last year—which has mainly looked like shifting guidelines on work hour restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds. In the past fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour division reported 835 cases of child labor violations affecting 3,876 minors, and 688 minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation, a 283% increase from nearly 10 years ago in 2015.

 The Department of Labor has called for employers to follow national labor law, but the department’s wage and employment division remains understaffed to take up cases to hold employers accountable, with the list only growing from shifting guidelines.
Many Republican-led state legislatures copy and paste their state-led strategy. If it happens in one state, it has the potential to be adopted by another—to the detriment of working people everywhere. In 2024, news of Republican dedication to tearing down and taking away any benefit working people have is commonplace. There's a reason for this: It's yet another part of Republicans' larger desolate vision for the future of America. Another push from the same MAGA Republicans who routinely try to rob senior citizens of Social Security, restrict access to domestic and social programs, and block Medicaid expansion This is part of a long-term plan to make labor cheaper while empowering corporations and CEOs to undermine workers' rights simultaneously.
The impact of these laws is just going to negatively impact children, particularly children of migrants who are often forced into the workforce early because of circumstances out of their control. The push to roll back these standards is just beginning, and we need to stop it in its tracks now. Image Credit: More Perfect Union

It is unacceptable that in the 10 years after lead contaminated water was discovered in Flint, Michigan—exposing millions of people to serious illness—the city still hasn't replaced the lead pipes that caused the crisis. But this isn't just an issue in Flint. Though the use of new lead pipes have been banned since the 1980s, it's estimated that there are 9.2 million lead pipes used in public water service lines across the country. Even just a tiny amount of lead can cause serious, lifelong damage to those exposed. Lead contamination in children is associated with learning and behavioral issues and long-term exposure can result in lifelong disabilities. And for adults, lead exposure is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and even cancer. This is about more than just clean drinking water—it's about environmental justice. In Flint—a city with a majority Black and working class population—the water crisis has shown how easily government mismanagement can expose marginalized communities to environmental hazards.

The RNC and EX-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has promoted LAWLESSNESS and the destruction of Democracy by promoting Trump. It was highly irresponsible for NBC executives to hire EX-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. McDaniel has steadfastly stood by & promoted Trump, the WORST, most LAWLESS and CORRUPT President in History who incited riots & violence, causing 5 deaths by his brainwashed MOB of Supporters to make himself an UN-elected Dictator by stopping the certification of Democratically Elected Joe Biden. Here's a list of some of Trump's outrageous behavior: • Pathological Liar: Fact finders claim Trump made over 30,000 False & Misleading Statements while President. Invented the ‘Big Lie’ by claiming that he ‘Won the 2020 Election’ and the election was ‘Rigged’ & ‘Stolen’ without ANY proof. Accused Democrats of ‘Stealing the Election’ when it was HE & REPUBLICANS who tried to STEAL the election & subvert the will of the people • Threatened Election officials demanding they “find votes” to help him STEAL the 2020 election. • Obstructed & Blocked Congressional Investigations to prevent the American People from learning how he Violated his Oath of Office using unjustified claims of Executive Privilege and ordered Witnesses & Federal Employees not to comply with Congressional Subpoenas • Mob Boss Style Quid Pro Quo: As a smear tactic to preemptively destroy Biden as a potential 2020 Democrat candidate, Trump pressured the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations of former Vice President Biden, before Military Aid would be released • Campaign Finance Violations: Hush Money Payment to Porn Star Stormy Daniels by personal attorney / fixer, Michael Cohen “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump days before the 2016 Presidential Election. • Mob Boss Threats; ‘If you come after me, I’m coming after you’ • Threatened “Death and Destruction” if he’s criminally charged in New York for Campaign Finance Violations • Implied General Mark Milley should be executed • Falsely accused Georgia election workers of stealing votes causing them to receive death threats • Corrupt Pardons: Used his pardon powers to reward political allies, corrupt public officials, accused war criminals and other controversial figures. Reportedly told officials he’d Pardon those who Broke the Law to build his Border Wall • Obstructed Justice on numerous occasions as detailed in the Mueller Report • 91 Criminal Charges; 34 felony counts (Campaign Finance Violations) in connection with hush money payments to a porn star… 40 felony counts for hoarding classified documents and impeding efforts to retrieve them….four (4) felony counts for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and 13 felony counts for election interference. [source: politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list] In addition, if re-elected Trump & his cronies have made it clear they intend to turn the Presidency into a Presidential Dictatorship using plans outlined in ‘Project 2025’. Trump and his cronies have openly stated they intend to “terminate rules, regulations & articles, even those in the Constitution”, invoke the “Insurrection Act” & declare “Martial Law” to Quash Protests, use “Shock Troops” to take over the government, replace 50,000 Federal Employees with Trump loyalists, eliminate Freedom of Speech and shut down media outlets which have been critical of him. He promised to ‘root out’ those who he thinks are ‘communists, marxists and ‘the radical left’. This means anyone who opposes him. Trump’s statements prove he intends to violate his Oath of Office, the United States Constitution and Citizens rights. Trump has proven to be a lawless pathological liar, narcissistic psychopath and a clear & present danger which the RNC is recklessly unleashing onto the American public by enabling, sponsoring and promoting on they’re ticket. This is just a sample of the outrageous behavior which EX-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel steadfastly stood by while doing everything possible to put Trump back in the White House as President. McDaniel's conduct should not be rewarded or given legitimacy by being hired by a reputable News organization like NBC. NBC Executives who hired Trump supporting EX-Chair of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel should be fired.

Ronna McDaniel, a 2020 election denier, Trump ally and former Republican National Committee chair, has just been hired by NBC to be a political commentator. Ronna McDaniel actively attempted to sabotage the 2020 election results and continues to sow doubt about the integrity of the 2020 election, claiming that the election was rigged and that mail-in voting allowed for fraudulent ballots to be cast, despite investigations proving this false. Being an election denier has literally paid off for McDaniel. Election deniers should be held accountable for their attempts to undermine our democracy, not rewarded with high-profile jobs. Upon the announcement, Carrie Budoff Brown, who oversees NBC News political coverage, claimed that McDaniel would provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” Election deniers should not be being platformed as trustworthy sources. It’s both irresponsible and wrong to reward her with this role. Sign the petition to demand NBC fire Ronna McDaniel as a political commentator now!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential bid is dangerous for our country. Kennedy is only going to serve as a spoiler, pulling enough votes away from Biden in key swing states to tip the Electoral College to Trump and install a man who has been impeached twice and indicted four times in the White House. Kennedy doesn't have ballot access in enough states to win, but his extremist platform and risk to swaying the election towards Trump are causes for concern. His rejection of science and embrace of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories put more lives at risk the further they spread online. And if that's not enough to sound alarm bells, he's previously backed a 15-week federal abortion ban (which he's since tried to backtrack on).1 This combination of bad policy and even worse electoral impacts is why nearly all of the people who know Kennedy best—members of his own family—have spoken out against his deadly lies and called for him to end his campaign.2 Let's join them by building the online call for RFK Jr. to step aside before he helps Trump win. Sources: 1. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/13/rfk-jr-backs-15-week-federal-ban-on-abortion-00111017 2. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4245980-kennedy-family-members-call-rfk-jr-s-independent-bid-dangerous-to-our-country/ Photo: AP

Having backpacks in class is a way to make everything more organized and it’s faster to go to classes

So students have more time to do all the basic necessities before their next class.

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, a bill introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and allies, would shorten the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours and increase overtime pay—doubling it for days that last over 12 hours. This bill is an opportunity to end the exploitation of working people and build an economy where the American dream is accessible to everyone. A 32-hour workweek isn't just about working less; it's about living more. And the evidence is clear—it's good for people and the economy. Studies show businesses flourish and workers' health improves with shorter workweeks. Less time spent working means healthier lives, stronger communities, and an economy where everyone thrives, not just the 1%. Sign the petition to shorten the workweek to 32 hours and make our economy equitable!