The County Commissioners can facilitate a rebirth and revitalization of Taos County. They can act now and be part of building a new Taos County, which is entirely based on the old Taos County before all of these rules and regulations stifled innovation and ingenuity. This will enable reduce water and fossil fuel consumption, foster innovation and empower aspiring farmers, and most importantly, it will increase the quality of life for people in the community. If Taos County goes back to its roots and empowers owner builders to develop innovative solutions to the problems that plague our society, they will re-foster the innovation, courage and self-sufficiency for which the residents of Taos County are known. The county is full of innovative individuals who have embraced taking personal responsibility for the world. They have taken it upon themselves to live more in harmony with the earth and reduce their global footprint. Yet, instead of celebrating these innovations, the county is, at present, attempting to regulate them out of existence. Think about individuals making minimum wage who cannot afford a home. Think about the most disadvantaged members of this community. Keeping people off the streets helps everyone in the community. For a full problem and solution statement with citations and references, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a1Htw7P8ulf9uKChr83bRMudsMR6vI5UBD3GLDcW_Z0/edit?usp=drivesdk

A teen and her mother in Nebraska face criminal charges for allegedly self-managing an abortion, and social media and tech giant Facebook has provided some of the evidence that led to their arrest. Prosecutors have obtained and are using private Facebook messages to demonstrate the teen was seeking pills to end an unwanted pregnancy. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Republicans claimed they weren’t interested in prosecuting people who are or were pregnant, yet local authorities are charging the teen and her mother. And despite Big Tech’s claims to support abortion access, Facebook is helping criminalize these people seeking abortion care—and many more people who want to practice autonomy over their lives or simply seek health care. The fact is that abortion access advocates and privacy experts had been warning us about this—that following the right-wing Supreme Court's overturning of Roe, our digital info could be used by authorities to track our pregnancies, support forced births, and criminalize us. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other tech giants collect endless data, creating digital trails about our health and behavior. And as they've shown, authorities will seek this information out and tech companies will provide it. It’s not enough for them to say they support abortion access, or even that they'll provide staff with resources to seek out abortion care. These companies need to act. - They need to stop collecting and monetizing the data that invades our privacy. - They need to allow users to control and delete their digital identities. - They need to refuse to comply with requests that compromise our health privacy. - And they need to stop backing right-wing politicians who have pushed abortion bans and laws that criminalize pregnant people, their families and their medical providers.

Tangible challenges such as inadequate materials, lack of access to sanitation products and inadequate facilities, coupled with psychological challenges such as the lack of menarche education, fear and cultural stigmatization put secondary school girls and menstruating youth in Nigeria at a disproportionate risk for adverse educational impacts and other negative outcomes.

This is costly not only in the monetary cost, but also in the damage done to our democracy and eroding faith in our elections. Such allegations are leading to violence and further division in our country. This must be stopped.

Republicans, who have won the presidential popular vote only once in the last 34 years, have engaged in a concerted effort to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing extremist judges, who have stripped us of our rights over and over again. And though the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 157 House Republicans voted against it. That’s right: 157 Republicans voted against protecting interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. And ONLY 5 Republicans in the U.S. Senate have publicly said they would vote to pass the bill. It’s unacceptable, but part of the Republican agenda has been to relentlessly attack the LGBTQ+ community. Republicans have not minced words: Florida Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (who is up for re-election in November) said that voting to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage equality was a “stupid waste of time.” And when Indiana Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun was asked if he would be okay with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states, he said “Yes.” It’s disgusting. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, LGBTQ+ couples and families have been anxiously rushing to the courts to get married, completing second parent adoptions with their partners, worrying about whether or not their partners and families will be covered by their health insurance in the future, and so much more to protect their families from these attacks. It’s heartbreaking. No one should have to worry that their rights (that so many have fought and died for) will be stripped away at the hands of corrupt, illegitimate, and unelected Supreme Court justices that do not represent the people. The U.S. Senate needs to act before it’s too late. It’s time to pass the Respect for Marriage Act to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage NOW.

As Citizens of Cobb County, Georgia, we are horrified and alarmed by the increase of deadly shootings involving assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in our society. These deadly weapons have been used by individuals to ambush people, including children, causing death and severe injury to large numbers of victims in mere moments. The ammunition for assault weapons shred human flesh and decimate bodies beyond recognition. These weapons of war and mass destruction should not be available to purchase. Retailers have the power to decide what merchandise they sell. They do not have to include assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in their product offerings to be successful, profitable operations. THUS, WE REQUEST THAT ALL RETAILERS IN COBB COUNTY IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY STOP SELLING ASSAULT WEAPONS AND HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES

Amazon wishes it could bury this headline: Their warehouses are being investigated by OSHA for workplace injuries.1 That’s because Amazon’s productivity quotas push workers past the limits of their bodies and their health. While this OSHA investigation could reveal damning evidence about how dangerous Amazon warehouse jobs are, Congress can act now to protect Amazon warehouse workers. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass legislation to protect Amazon warehouse workers from abusive productivity quotas! Workplace accidents and even deaths have been a problem at Amazon warehouses for years. So much so that in 2019 the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health named Amazon warehouses as one of the most dangerous jobs in America.2 Amazon’s obsession with placing speed above safety leads to 80% more serious workplace injuries at Amazon warehouses than non-Amazon warehouses.3 They use productivity algorithms called “Rate” and “ToT” (Time off Task) to keep a constant eye on their warehouse workers’ every movement, pushing them to go faster and faster, and even punishing them for taking bathroom breaks. This could be just the tip of the iceberg. The OSHA investigation into workplace injuries could reveal an even clearer picture of how Amazon abuses its workers for the sake of speedy delivery. But we don’t have to wait for an OSHA report to do something to protect Amazon warehouse workers. We can pressure Congress to act now and pass legislation to get rid of abusive productivity quotas at Amazon warehouses. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass legislation to protect Amazon warehouse workers from abusive productivity quotas! Sources: 1. CNBC, “Amazon faces probe by federal prosecutors and OSHA into warehouse safety,” July 18, 2022. 2. National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, “Dirty Dozen 2019,” April 22, 2019. 3. CNBC, “Amazon warehouse workers injured at higher rates than those at rival companies, study finds,” June 1, 2021.

Water is a basic human right. At a school that demands academic excellence, it is hypocritical that no water is provided for paying students. Dehydration negatively impacts academic performance and focus. How can we perform if we are not given the basic tools in order to do so. We are also in school for the HOT summer months with no AC in the classrooms as well. Water is something that should AT LEAST be provided considering the tuition we pay to attend this institution.

The Luther Burbank Center for the Arts claims, on paper, to be committed to serving Sonoma County’s diverse community, “taking meaningful actions to welcome and center the voices that often need to be heard, [and] furthering the community dialogue around equity, oppression, active inclusion and privilege in everything we do.” [Source: https://lutherburbankcenter.org/about/general-information/diversity-equity-inclusion/] If any place, particularly a nonprofit, commends itself for its upstanding diversity, equity and inclusion, it should be held accountable by those standards in all its actions within the community it serves. By allowing performers like Dave Chapelle to use their space as a platform for blatantly transphobic and harmful content, the LBC contradicts the values asserted in their DEI statement and directly contributes to the violent rhetoric LGBTQIA+ people are forced to deal with every day. By giving discrimination the stage, the Luther Burbank Center sends a message to all of Sonoma County that prejudice, harmful language, and stereotypes are cause for laughter and celebration. On Wednesday, July 20th, Minneapolis’ First Avenue theater listened to community outcry and relocated Dave Chapelle’s performance to another venue. By aiming to move Chapelle’s Sonoma County performances, we build upon the message which First Avenue has sent: transphobia will not be tolerated in our community or beyond. The LBC is supposed to stand for our community, not for profit! By signing this petition, you raise your voice against the normalization of transphobia in our county and stand as an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community.

All people should have the fundamental freedom to control their own body. This is the beginning of stripping away other essential rights. We need to stop it now.

Ben & Jerry’s is in court protecting their decision to stop selling ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories, after a betrayal by their parent company, Unilever. To appease the Israeli government, Alan Jope, CEO at Unilever, authorized a backroom deal to sell the franchise to an Israeli company – essentially overriding Ben & Jerry’s decision. Sign the petition: tell Unilever to stop its betrayal of Ben & Jerry’s and Palestinian human rights. Ben & Jerry’s made the human rights-affirming decision in 2020 to stop doing business in occupied Palestine, following a decade of grassroots organizing and campaigning by Palestinians and allies across the globe. In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s finally went public with their decision — after a particularly brutal Israeli military assault on Gaza which killed over 200 people — and during a huge surge of international support for Palestinian freedom. Now, a year after Ben & Jerry’s public announcement, their parent company, Unilever, has made a backroom deal to sell ice cream operations to the Israeli licensee rather than honor Ben & Jerry’s decision to respect Palestinian lives.

On June 27, Jayland Walker was pulled over for an alleged “traffic and equipment violation.” Eight Akron Police Department officers shot at Jayland more than 90 times in seven seconds. Jayland suffered 60 gunshot wounds. Then the same officers who murdered him handcuffed his lifeless body. The police bodycam footage reveals eight cops killed a Black man while five officers stood by and watched. Our hearts break for Jayland’s family and the Akron community. Jayland was a young man with a family and a bright future, a human who deserved to be treated with dignity. Instead, Akron police murdered him. The officers who fired more than 90 shots at Jayland are on paid administrative leave. As we mourn and turn our outrage into action, this moment requires us to recognize a painful truth: The police murder of Jayland Walker is not an anomaly. We’ve been here before. • In South Carolina, Walter Scott was stopped by police for a non-functioning brake light. • In Michigan, Patrick Lyoya was stopped for improper vehicle registration. • Just outside Minneapolis, where police murdered George Floyd, Daunte Wright was pulled over for minor traffic violations and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. All of these Black men were murdered by police during routine traffic stops. In a country where armed, militarized police are the response to every incident and crisis — and Black people are viewed as threats, not human beings — Black people aren’t issued tickets or citations; we receive death sentences. Now, as Jayland’s family and neighbors take to the street to demand justice, the Akron Police Department has initiated a terror campaign against protesters and journalists. From tear gas and rubber bullets to false imprisonment, Akron police have waged war against people demanding justice for Jayland as demonstrated by the violent arrests of Bianca Austin, the aunt of Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake Sr., the father of Jacob Blake. Police terrorism continues to target Black and Indigenous communities. And when people stand up to protest police brutality, cops douse them with chemical weapons and beat them with batons. This is who the police are, and dehumanizing and terrorizing Black people is what they’re paid to do. The murder of Jayland Walker and the violent police response in Akron are just the latest cruel examples of what happens when elected officials prioritize policing over investments that actually keep communities safe. That’s why we’re standing with The Freedom BLOC to demand Akron’s elected officials: 1. Protect protesters: Immediately end the use of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. 2. Stop arresting protesters and free those who have been detained: Immediately release all protesters from jail, expunge their records and remove all fines and fees. 3. Create and fund an unarmed traffic enforcement unit for routine traffic stops. 4. Invest in community-led public safety solutions. Invest in what keeps Black communities safe, including reparations, housing, public transportation, food security, health care and community-controlled public safety alternatives. According to Mapping Police Violence, Black people are 4.9 times more likely to be killed by police than white people in Ohio. And when we protest police violence, we become the next target of police brutality. We must take action to end this vicious cycle.