Corporal Punishment is banned in many states, but sadly not all. Statistics show that the children receiving this type of punishment are disproportionately children of color and children with special needs.

We oppose the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. We believe him to be unfit in every way for this position.

We are calling on American Tax Funding to immediately cancel the foreclosure auction of Mary Smith's home on 53 Cutler Street, Rochester NY, and end all efforts to displace her, and instead negotiate a reasonable settlement so Ms. Smith can stay in her home of 30 years.

Hydrogen is not a climate solution. In fact, it will make the climate crisis worse. It is one of the false climate solutions being promoted by the fossil fuel dirty energy industry so it can keep doing business as usual. The investment of billions of taxpayer dollars and the creation of more tax subsidies for polluters are diverting resources away from the proven, scalable, available renewable energy solutions that must be deployed to address the climate crisis. STOP developing hydrogen hubs. Go back to the drawing board and pick real clean energy solutions instead.

Assault weapons, along with large capacity ammunition feeding devices, should not be used by civilians and have no place in our cities and towns.

There is no place in Congress for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who most recently argued that the January 6 insurrection would have been armed and succeeded under her leadership. She has previously made an abhorrent comments comparing the mask mandate in the U.S House to the Nazi extermination program of Jewish people during the Holocaust. There is no place in Congress for her racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and attacks against survivors of gun violence. There is no place in any workplace, much less the halls of Congress, for those who harass, intimidate, and spew hate at their colleagues.

List of Common Sense Changes Needed on a National Level: 1) NO MORE Automatic or Semi-Automatic military ASSAULT WEAPONS for Civilians, PERIOD. No more multiple high-count ammo cartridges sold to civilians, PERIOD. 2) Persons with a criminal record, anyone arrested for domestic battery, persons with mental illnesses, under age persons, and other persons unsuitable for gun ownership should NOT get a gun license or permit of any kind. 3) Every Gun Owner Must have a background check. NO more gun shows without background checks, PERIOD. 4) Every Gun Owner Must take a gun safety course & renew the same course every year or two. 5) Every Gun Owner Must have a gun permit for each and every gun they own which MUST be renewed regularly just like a driver's license with a demonstration of competency in the use the weapon and a written test of the rules. Legal gun owners with a current permit are the ONLY persons allowed to buy ammo of any kind. 6) No Internet Sales of Guns or Ammo. 7) Make it illegal to "Loan", "Lend" or otherwise allow another person who does not have a current, legal gun permit to borrow or use your firearm PERIOD. Gun owners should be Proscecuted for allowing ANYONE without a legal gun permit to use their firearm, PERIOD. 8) Gun owners MUST purchase an appropriate Gun Safe BEFORE purchasing a gun and it must be installed (attached to wall/floor) by the Gun Dealer and inspected by the local police every year. Gun Owners who don't use their gun safe properly should be Proscecuted for any accidents or crimes due to their Gun Safe Negligence. 9) Gun owners MUST report loss or theft of a firearm and/or ammo IMMEDIATELY or face procecution for failing to do so. 10) Add lost or stolen weapons to a National Database for police agencies. Anyone caught possessing or using an illegal firearm and/or ammo on this database should be procecuted for this violation in addition to any other charges. Mandatory jail sentences should be used for illegal weapons use or possession. 11) ALL new Ammo produced after 2012 MUST be the new kind that goes "bad" after a certain time limit. All old ammo should be traded in "for free" for this NEW ammo. Then make the use of the old ammo a felony after a period of amnesty for the old ammo. Controlling the ammo is much easier and more effective than controlling the guns. 12) There must be a record of the sale of all ammo, limits on amounts of ammo per gun owner, restrictions on how much ammo can be purchased within a certain time limit which makes it impossible to legally "stock-pile" ammo. 13) All ammo must be sales MUST be "tagged" to a gun owner's gun permit to prevent lending, borrowing, gifting, trading or otherwise exchanging ammo ESPECIALLY with unlicensed persons.

Dear Gov. Quinn, We, concerned residents of Illinois, have determined that the draft rules for fracking, recently published by the IL Dept. of Natural Resources (IDNR), are insufficient to protect the public health and the environment from the many dangers of fracking. There are at least a “Dirty Dozen” significant problems with fracking that must be addressed by a state-sponsored Council - consisting of members of several state agencies, front line community members and independent scientific advisers. We ask that you step in and extend the First Notice Period for these draft rules and convene this state-sponsored Council immediately to oversee the rewriting of these rules. We ask that this state-sponsored Council consist of representatives from IEMA, ILGS, IDPH, IEPA, the IL Water Survey, the IL Dept. of Agriculture, the IL Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the IL Department of Labor, the Pollution Control Board, the State Fire Marshal, the IL Dept of Transportation, the IL State Police, front line community groups who will be directly impacted by fracking, and independent scientific advisers. We have the time and the duty to make these rules the most protective of the public health and the environment as possible, we ask that you intervene to get this accomplished. Many of the residents of Illinois have been following the documented problems with fracking in other states and we are very concerned that the same mistakes will be made here. We refuse to take lightly the many dangerous impacts of fracking that are poorly addressed in the draft rules, including but not limited to this "Dirty Dozen": 1) toxic radioactive waste, 2) induced seismicity, 3) chemical disclosure rules that protect the industry rather than the public health, 4) insufficient fines, penalties and permit revocations, 5) inadequate chemical and water testing procedures, 6) dangerous allowance of open pits for waste water storage, 7) an unfair public hearing process with permits that are allowed to be modified to the benefit of the industry over the rights of local residents to be fully informed, 8) rules that override local control by the counties, 9) insufficient handling of non-water fracking operations, 10) ill-advised allowance of fracking on flood plains, 11) public health dangers from fracking related air pollutants including volatile organic compounds, 12) exemptions for fracking operations that have already begun. Please use your power as the Executive Officer of the State to extend the First Notice Period for the rules for fracking and to convene a state-sponsored Council to oversee the rewriting of these rules. We, the undersigned, will not support a Governor who does not make the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare, and the water and environment of Illinois a first priority. Petition generated by Frack Free Illinois, ww.facebook.com/FrackFreeIllinois Please send daily comments to the IDNR about the rules by going to www.ilagainstfracking.org until Jan 3rd.

MASSACHUSETTS CHILD’S FATHER ONLY VISITS TWICE IN 77 DAYS (3/23/12) Massachusetts six years-old child continues to be held in Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DFC) foster home. Alexiss was county court ordered to be removed from her home and placed in a foster home to “ensure father had opportunity to visit with child. Mother had in the past refused to allow unsupervised visits with the father who has a criminal record of sexual assault, rape, and kidnapping (Superior Court District Attorney Katherine Cappelli); recorded allegations of child molestation involving his stepdaughter; imprisonment for domestic violence; years of heroin use; discharge from the military for alcohol/drug rehabilitation failure; mental health issues; and initially was residing in a half-way house. Child has been in a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DFC) foster home for 77 days. And the father has only visited child twice; often no showing for visits and cancelling visits with excuses, such as his “car broke down” or “he was unable to leave work in time to make it…” Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DFC) reports father visited child on February 27, 2012 and March 21, 2012. All other visits were apparently cancelled or no shows. The county judges orders have been forcing the Mother to allow unsupervised visits or pay the father $1,000 per missed visit. The Mother has been paying the father to ensure the child’s safety. The county judges denied the mother’s request for a home-study; alcohol/drug evaluation; mental health assessment to ensure unsupervised visits were appropriate; failed to utilize the mandated court clinics to allow expertise in the field to investigate the appropriateness of unsupervised; and further denied the child a Guardian Ad Litem. The county judges failed to grant the child the mandated 72-hour hearing that is required for children that are placed in DCF care, and the Mother was not represented by an attorney at the time of the child was placed in DFC custody. Today, the Mother was granted an emergency hearing for Alexiss’s return. However, even with, the Father’s lack of interest and missed visits as reported by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DFC) Alexiss continues to be held in custody. Mother has appealed to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, DCF Commissioner Angelo McClain, and Massachusetts Chief Probate Justice Paula Carey. However, the Mother’s concerns have fallen on deaf ears. PLEASE HELP GET CHILD HOME, CALL Governor Deval Patrick (617) 725-4005, Massachusetts HHS Sec Bigby (617) 573-1600, and Massachusetts Justice Paula Carey (617) 788-6600 . The county judges are misappropriating state funds and services by using DCF to detain this child for reasons other than intended by law.

With the loss of release time for faculty member to do the climate commitment and sustainability coordinator work at Century College, there is concern that what momentum has occurred in this regard will be lost and that change will be even slower. Administrators are too busy to take on the duties and follow-up to the extent needed to make things happen. Research shows that for every dollar invested in sustainability, there is a nearly 200% return. Just by incorporating the Class5 plan for energy efficiency program, the College will save far more than the salary of a full-time sustainability coordinator as well as moving toward our goal of becoming sustainable and climate neutral. Far more can be done in regard to educating administrators, employees, and students in regard to the win-win aspects of making the campus sustainable, and having a full-time coordinator working with the Sustainability Committee can help this happen. There should be sessions on sustainable campuses each semester that include the College’s recent policies regarding green purchasing, the state of our environment, solid waste reduction on campus, etc. Duties of the present sustainability coordinator work by Pam Thinesen, Biology faculty at Century College include: Greenhouse gas inventory (between 30 and 40 hours per year) Progress reports (about 2 hours per year) Scheduling Sustainability Committee meetings, preparing agendas, preparing minutes Planning and coordinating Greener Living Fair Writing committee newsletter each semester Researching ways to increase sustainability and reduce carbon footprint as well as best practices Meeting with community/company reps regarding possible sustainability improvements for the College Working with faculty to encourage incorporating sustainability across the curriculum A large amount of time is spent writing formal recommendations and following up on these. Difficult to get replies and positive responses regarding various initiatives. These plus many other miscellaneous duties could be done more thoroughly and regularly with a full-time coordinator. Note that Pam will no longer be sustainability coordinator as of December 12 due to budget cuts. Someone is needed to complete the greenhouse gas inventory for this past year as well as the required progress report, due January 15. These are usually completed during the winter campus break. Note that several of the MnSCU institutions that have signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment have sustainability coordinators and some have sustainability departments that are either with the Facilities Services Departments or are stand-alone departments. The leading schools in sustainability in Minnesota and across the United States have several employees actively working to educate others on their campuses and carrying out different aspects of the climate commitment. We highly recommend that Century College look at cost savings, in addition to the resulting improvements in sustainability that will result from having a full-time sustainability coordinator on campus.