My name is Parisa Ghaderi. I'm an Iranian visual artist, filmmaker, curator, and assistant professor of graphic design at the Department of Art, Art History and Design at Michigan State University. I moved to the US in 2009 and, since then, I have made work that reflects my experiences as an Iranian emigre. 
 For the past 12 years, I have witnessed my non-Iranian friends celebrating their holidays such as New Year, Christmas, and Thanksgiving away from work and with family and friends. But, unfortunately, that's not the case for Iranian students in the US, considering the hostile political relationship between Iran and the US that complicates visa applications and limits travel between the two countries.
 There are many holidays that Iranian students miss celebrating with their loved ones—Nowruz is the most important. Nowruz, or "the first day of spring," is on March 21st. Still, unlike New Year's Day, the beginning of Nowruz's changes every year, ranging from early morning to past midnight (Nowruz's timing is based on the Solar Hijri algorithmic calendar).  This variability makes it difficult for Iranians living and studying in the US to celebrate Nowruz since there is no official time given off before, during, or after celebrating with friends and family, physically or virtually. At MSU, students and faculty have to abruptly reconvene their work duties, an often intense emotional burden that has been simply overlooked by academia.  My goal with this petition is to show Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr., President of MSU, that I am not alone in my effort to see community recognition of a day to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian "beginning of the spring," and exempt students and faculty from their expected duties during this holiday. I truly would appreciate it if you sign my petition to make Nowruz a holiday for the Iranian community at Michigan State University.

On Septemtember 12, 2012, Rachel Ronan was informed that her son, Lance Corporal EJ Easterland, would be deployed to defend our embassy in Libya. As any mother would, she immediately began making plans to see off her son, not knowing if it would be the last time she would be able to kiss him, hug him, hear him ever again. She told her employer at Super Cuts in Mandeville, LA, that she would need time off in order to say good-bye. Her boss insisted that she would have to be at work the next day. Rachel chose family over work, feeling that her rights had been infringed upon as a mother and an American. Ms. Ronan had been an exemplary employee with no write ups, warnings, or customer complaints of any nature. In this, a time where our country is at war, what would you choose? At the end of the day, our family is all we have. Our soldiers, like Rachel's son, are our first line of defense. In light of this, Rachel is protesting Super Cuts and encouraging others to do the same and to ask ourselves what exactly are we willing to sacrifice for God and country if not for our loved ones fighting for us. Also, how many others have had to to sacrifice their own job security in harsh economic times in order to say goodbye to their loved ones? Thank you for your prayers and support, never once should the idea that you could lose your job showing your love, support and pride for your country have to cross your mind. God bless our troops and those that support them. God bless America. And please God, keep Rachel's son, and those like him... safe.

US MEDICAL EXPERIMENT in Guatemala Stand against the appeal to not compensate Guatemala people, who have been injected with Syphilis in an undisclosed US experimentation in the late 1940's to test penicillin. These people have been dealing with life long illnesses and have lived in poverty. Today the US has an opportunity to take responsibility and restore the dignity of this people and help them to carry on knowing there is justice. The targeted population was among prisoners, orphans, conscripted soldiers and psychiatric patients. People who for a reason or another would be more vulnerable to abuse and seen as less than others. SHAME! They were treated like animals whose lives didn't matter.They have never been told what they were receiving. One thousand and three hundred were injected with sexually transmitted diseases without disclosing the nature of the experimentation and what was injected in their body. President Obama apologized when the experiment surfaced in 2010, but in June a judge dismissed the lawsuit that could help these people and their families to be compensated and given some resources. Using sovereignty of immunity, 70 years later the court is saying that they can't be sued because it took place on foreign soil. The decision that US was hiding, seventy years later It's paying off!, they're off the hook! It is also said that the experimentation lasted far longer than acknowledged. Some were still injected multiple times in psychiatric hospital between 1966 and 1979 and still bare the scars. Of course there are no records of experiments after 1953, but till this day they are baring the physical and emotional scars of a life long of suffering. Us, the people, we will not rely on government decisions and do what it take to restore the dignity of all people. The human spirit will prevail and the beauty of the earth restored for everyone to enjoy. Please forward it. (refer to Al Jeezera news, 8/19/12)

Police need to be aware that they must not tase women that are or could be pregnant. The following study demonstrates the effect of electric shock on unborn fetuses. While tasers may not be as dangerous as other forms of electricity, there is no point in taking the risk of the avoidable injury or death of a fetus. Rees reviewed the cases of four women who experienced electric shock during pregnancy. All four fetuses died: one due to spontaneous abortion in the first trimester; two ceased moving immediately after the injury and were aborted, and one died 3 days after delivery with burn marks on his body. Fatovich reviewed a series of 15 victims of electric shock during pregnancy published in the English literature. The fetuses died in 73% of cases, and there was only one normal pregnancy outcome. Leiberman et al reported on six pregnant women who suffered electric shock at home. In all cases, the current went from the hand to the foot, probably through the uterus, and all of the women felt fine after the incident. Three fetuses were stillborn, two within a week of the electric shock and one after 12 weeks. All had severe intrauterine growth retardation. References:
Rees WD. Pregnant women struck by lightning. BMJ 1965;1:103-4. 
Fatovich DM. Electric shock in pregnancy. J Emerg Med 1993;11:175-7. 
Leiberman JR, Mazor M, Molcho J, Haiam E, Maor E, Insler V. Electrical accidents during pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 1986;67(6):861-3. We need to have laws in place to constrain law enforcement from tasing women. There are other methods of constraining women that does not involve this risk. Please do what you can to address this very important issue.

Tell Starbucks to stop discriminating against dads, gay families, adoptive parents and hourly employees through its unequal paid parental policy.

Terminate and refuse to renew immigrant detention contracts with private prison companies.

Join Congressional Democrats (including Senator Dianne Feinstein) and members of the international community in calling on the Israeli military to cease its planned and imminent demolition of the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar and condemn the further illegal expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

Senators – especially Minority Leader Harry Reid - should urge New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez to withdraw from Democratic leadership until corruption charges against him are resolved.

Congress should prohibit the use of U.S. ground combat forces for offensive operations in Iraq or Syria, permitting only narrow exceptions like rescue of U.S. personnel. Congress should repeal or sunset the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or otherwise specify that the 2001 AUMF does not apply to the current conflicts in Iraq and Syria and does not authorize the use of U.S. ground combat troops for offensive operations in Iraq or Syria.

Continue to accept my Section 8 voucher, as a reasonable accommodation, due to my disability