After 20 years and BILLIONS of dollars it still has NINE deficiencies so serious they could “cause death, severe injury, or severe occupational illness” to the pilots flying them. ENOUGH. From Los Angeles, CA to Burlington, VT, too many of us are struggling to recover and rebuild from the worst of the pandemic. Classrooms have no heat or AC, families go hungry to pay for prescription medicines, a massive climate crisis is coming straight for all of us because lawmakers say the solutions are too expensive — because lawmakers say the solutions are too expensive. One way we could save BILLIONS every year is obvious: Add your name to tell Congress to cancel the F-35 Failed Fighter Jet!

Afghan interpreters who put their lives and families at risk deserve protection by the U.S. The U.S. has a moral obligation to act — from speeding up the visa application process and increasing the number of visas available to directly evacuating interpreters. And as veterans, active duty servicemembers, military family members, and civilian supporters, it's our duty to speak up and demand action from the Biden Administration. Will you add your name and tell President Biden not to leave Afghan interpreters behind? >>

"Whether you are a fan of Star Trek or not the following has universal appeal to all. "A dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars." – James T. Kirk, 2269 (TOS - "Whom Gods Destroy") "The United Federation of Planets was a supranational interstellar union of multiple planetary nation-states that operated semi-autonomously under a single central government, founded on the principles of liberty, equality, peace, justice, and progress, with the purpose of furthering the universal rights of all sentient life. Federation members exchange knowledge and resources to facilitate peaceful cooperation, scientific development, space exploration, and MUTUAL DEFENSE."** I've emphasized "Mutual Defense" because its important! While an obvious interpretation is "military defense", it also means Mutual Defense of Morals, Mutual Defense as in Care of Each Other. The US Senate are the rare few who are given the honor and duty of representing us all. But Minority Leader McConnell has vowed to put all of his efforts into blocking Democratic legislations to help all of us. We need to pass the President's Infrastructure Bill, the country needs roads, bridges, transportation, Broadband Internet, and We Need Clean Water. We need to Pass the For the People to help protect us from malicious voter suppression bills that are being passed by State Legislatures in multiple states. We need to have a commission to investigate the seditious attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6th, who are the Republican's trying to protect? We also need to Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, The John Lewis Act, The Equality Act, The Pro Act, The Breathe Act, American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, and Washington DC (our nation's great Capitol, is home to 712,000 people that are taxed hire per capita than any other state) should 100 percent be a state! We need common sense gun control like Mandatory Background Checks. We need the multiple Immigration Acts to Pass, We must raise taxes for the wealthiest one percent, they must pay their fair share, TAX THE RICH, We need NON-TRUMP JUDGES and damn it WE DIRELY NEED CLIMATE CARE!! WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW! WE CAN'T HAVE ANY OF THE THINGS WITHOUT ENDING THE FILIBUSTER! The Conservative Dems like Joe Manchin (WV) and Kristen Sinema (AZ) have said they want bi-partisanship. We have tried this to no avail. The Republican Senators do not represent the majority of the country, they do not speak for all of us, and they do not even speak for their constituents they claim to be speaking for. These policies are overwhelmingly popular with over 80 percent of the country's population. Enough is Enough. The Filibuster was established to protect Systematic Racism, and it continues to be in the way of changing that racist system.We need all of our Democratic Senators to ABOLISH THE FILIBUSTER NOW because WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW!! **(c/o https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/United_Federation_of_Planets)

The U.S. government’s unconditional support for the state of Israel has informed how the American news media reports—or fails to report— on the Israeli government’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. But during Israel’s assault on Gaza this May, Palestinians shared their experiences on social media, enabling the American public to get a clearer understanding of the violence that Palestinians face. As a result, the news media’s lopsided stories that privileged the narrative of the Israeli government began to fracture. American news media has played a significant role in promoting the false understanding that this is a conflict between two equal parties, not a struggle between an occupying force violating international law and a people fighting for the safety of their families and the basic human rights they are routinely denied. U.S. mainstream news regularly creates a false equivalency between the power of the Israeli government and Hamas and fails to provide historical and present day context, including information about the Nakba, the blockade on Gaza, and the imbalance of resources and power between Israelis and Palestinians. Moreover, mainstream news frequently only interviews Israelis and far too regularly uses the passive voice to avoid holding the the Israeli government accountable for its own horrific violence (an example from the New York times: “Just minutes after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Baraa al-Gharabli, 5, was killed in Gaza”). The Arab and Middle East Journalists Association issued clear guidelines for responsible reporting on Palestine / Israel. It's time for major news media outlets to balance the narrative and center the voices and experiences of Palestinians by using the active voice in describing Israeli violence, interviewing Palestinians, and including proper context in describing history, sources of conflict, and the disparity in power and resources.

It is incongruous for us to claim we want a two-State solution and that we support human rights but then fail to recognize Palestine as a State as 138 other countries do. How can we have an “even-handed” approach to the Middle East as espoused by Biden and many preceding administrations when we recognize one country, Israel, but not the other, Palestine? It is a position as likely to work as well as the “separate but equal” doctrine of the Jim Crow South. When the Palestinian people are denied justice, you and I lose it too. Recognition of the State of Palestine is a step in the direction of balance.

As the United States and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the war will continue for the Afghan people. Taliban forces, along with ISIS, continue, to bombard Afghans with violence and attacks similar to the most recent attack on school girls. In addition, the Afghan military continues to harm Afghan civilians, as reported by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Afghanistan was further ravaged by the longest war in American history and as a result, has almost entirely become dependent on humanitarian aid. The Taliban targets women and other marginalized groups, such as Shia Muslims and the ethnic minority group Hazaras, in the country. And while the Taliban has had control over parts of the country and continued to oppress women in smaller towns, Kabul and other major metropolitan areas have afforded vulnerable Afghans some semblance of safety, freedom, and access to education. While it is in the United States and Afghanistan’s best interest for the United States to withdraw, the United States owes Afghans support and a commitment to peace. In addition to failing its COVID response, Afghanistan is facing a devastating drought with estimates that as many as 17 million Afghans, about 42% of the population, will face famine-like conditions this year, according to the International Organization Migration. We are first and second-generation Afghan Americans and the children of Afghan refugees in America. Together, we can ensure that the Afghan people have a chance at a future without war, violence, or a humanitarian crisis. It’s the least they’re owed after decades of occupation.

This was preventable. Facebook has willfully enabled anti-Muslim violence and genocide around the world—including Myanmar, India, Australia, Sri Lanka and more. Today, it's the Palestinians who are targeted. Will you sign this petition to Facebook right now and demand that they stop this violence from taking place. They have enabled so much death against vulnerable communities, it must stop.

For the first time, there is legislation in Congress to ensure that no US tax dollars fund multiple human rights violations carried out by the Israeli government against Palestinians. We need you to take action today to ensure that your representative is on this bill. The Palestinian Children and Families Act (H.R. 2590), introduced by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN), states that the U.S. will not fund the Israeli government's imprisonment and torture of Palestinian children; theft and destruction of Palestinian homes and property; or any further annexation of Palestinian land. This legislation couldn't come at a more critical moment. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed systemic injustices across the globe, intensifying the harms of state violence and discrimination - Israel is no exception. During the pandemic, the Israeli government has continued to imprison Palestinian children under a military court system, putting them in grave danger of contracting COVID and separating them from their families. Horrifyingly, at a time when we are all asked to stay at home, the Israeli government has actually increased the rate at which it is demolishing Palestinian homes. Now is the time: The U.S. must stop funding the Israeli government's human rights abuses.

Palestinians have lived under Israeli military occupation and apartheid for decades. And the U.S. government has forced U.S. taxpayers to give Israel tens of billions of dollars in military funding along the way. In its April 2021 report, Human Rights Watch stated that "Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution ... based on an overarching Israeli government policy to maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians..." As documented in the Human Rights Watch report, Israeli apartheid and persecution includes: - "The suspension of basic civil rights to millions of Palestinians." - "Confiscation of more than a third of the land in the [Occupied Palestinian] West Bank." - "The forcible transfer of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes." Apartheid itself is defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as “Inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” The U.S. has long been a major funder of Israeli apartheid, forcing taxpayers in the U.S. to give billions of dollars to Israel's military. Meanwhile, the Israeli government uses its military to confiscate Palestinian land and enable the building of Jewish-only settlements. Palestinians who dare to oppose these policies are often arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or even killed by Israeli soldiers and police. What can be done? The Human Rights Watch report says, “The Israeli government should dismantle all forms of systematic domination and oppression that privilege Jewish Israelis and systematically repress Palestinians, and end the persecution of Palestinians.” It is time for the U.S. to stop funding Israel's crimes against humanity. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris must immediately end all U.S. funding for the Israeli military. Sources: 1. “Abusive Israeli Policies Constitute Crimes of Apartheid, Persecution,” Human Rights Watch, April 27, 2021. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/27/abusive-israeli-policies-constitute-crimes-apartheid-persecution. 2. “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” Report, Human Rights Watch, April 27, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution. 3. “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” Article 7 - 2(h); https://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm. * The artwork above is by Shirien.Creates. You can see more of her beautiful work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shirien.creates/

On Sunday, May 16, Senator Jon Ossoff led 29 Senators in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel & Palestine to prevent further killing of civilians. On Monday, May 17, the Washington Post reported that members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee [HFAC] had just learned that Biden had approved a new weapons deal with Israel, even though the deal had been notified to the committee as required by law on May 5. These are offensive weapons similar to those that Saudi Arabia has used to kill civilians in Yemen. In response, Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro and other HFAC members expressed concern about the weapons deal and the message it would send about the urgency of a ceasefire and urged that the weapons deal be delayed so Congress could review it. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Majority Leader Steny Hoyer overruled them and insisted the weapons deal would go forward without Congressional review. Senators don't work for Nancy Pelosi & Steny Hoyer. If even one Democratic Senator would speak up about this, it would give House Democrats more courage to insist on reviewing the weapons deal before it goes forward. In addition, under the Arms Export Control Act, a single Senator can introduce can introduce a resolution of disapproval on the arms deal and force a floor vote, as Senators Murphy and Paul did on Saudi arms deals in September 2016 & June 2017 in opposition to unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen. Urge Members of Congress, especially Senators Sanders & Warren, to speak up about this weapons deal, demand that it be delayed & reviewed, and introduce legislation to force a floor vote, by signing our petition. References: Sen. Ossoff leads 29 Senators to call for immediate ceasefire: https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/sen-ossoff-leads-28-senators-urging-immediate-ceasefire-in-middle-east/ WaPo article on House Dem opposition in arms deal https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/17/power-up-biden-administration-approves-735-million-weapons-sale-israel-raising-red-flags-some-house-democrats/ Rep Castro's statement demanding delay and review: https://twitter.com/AlexWardVox/status/1394369401420488708 House Dems demanding delay & review overruled by Pelosi & Hoyer: https://twitter.com/AlexWardVox/status/1394680891088285699

The characterizations by Knotts and the GOP are designed to shut down important dialogue and run counter to free speech principles. Education systems must welcome diverse opinions.

Palestinian people have the right to live in peace and with dignity. They have the right to control their land and natural resources. They have the inalienable right to be free. We, everyone committed to justice, must commit ourselves to freedom for all: "Freedom is indivisible...." June Jordan