All child care workers are among our communities’ most valuable assets. They should, and must, be recognized equally for the herculean task of caring for children during the pandemic. Every child care slot has equal value in moving our economy forward. Larger providers should not be penalized because they are meeting the charge to open their doors to more children and families. The DCYF draft literature makes it clear that funds are available are for stabilizing child care businesses. An equitable distribution of all funds available will stabilize both small and large sites.

Amazon’s Ring and police across the country would like us to buy into the idea that more surveillance equals more safety. But domestic violence advocates argue that police interventions often escalate violence rather than stop it, and that families in danger need emergency housing, support, and resources – not video doorbells. Tell Jamie Siminoff, CEO Ring, Amazon, to stop partnering with police and start working with experts in domestic violence to help victims and families. Amazon markets Ring heavily even without evidence it can help victims of domestic violence. Since its creation Ring has pursued police partnerships to sell their concept of surveillance as safety. Now Ring is adding domestic violence partnerships with more than 1,800 law enforcement agencies and 360 fire departments across the U.S., providing free doorbell cameras in exchange for promoting Ring and the Neighbors app. But police intervention often escalates domestic violence, rather than stops it. [1] In 2008 Derek Chauvin, the racist officer who murdered George Floyd, responded to a domestic violence call by busting down the door of Ira Toles’s bathroom and shooting him at close range. The police violence left the household traumatized. [2] Amazon’s Ring may very well make violent police escalation easier and more frequent. And the impact will be felt more harshly in Black and brown communities. Domestic violence has spiked under COVID-19 conditions, disproportionately affecting Black and brown households with less money, since economic independence is a critical factor in violence prevention. [3] If Amazon wants to make a positive contribution to preventing domestic violence and supporting its victims, the company should work with experts rather than the police. Sources: 1. “Police Are Giving Amazon Ring Cameras to Survivors of Domestic Violence. Is It Helping?” Type Investigations, September 20, 2021. https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2021/09/20/police-are-giving-amazon-ring-cameras-to-survivors-of-domestic-violence-is-it-helping/ 2. “Minneapolis Man: Cop Who Kneeled on George Floyd ‘Tried to Kill Me’ in 2008.” The Daily Beast, May 29, 2020. https://www.thedailybeast.com/minneapolis-man-alleges-derek-chauvin-tried-to-kill-him-before-he-kneeled-on-george-floyd 3. “A Pandemic Within a Pandemic — Intimate Partner Violence during Covid-19.” The New England Journal of Medicine, December 10, 2020. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046

We need our future generation to be healthy. The obesity rates right now are sky-rocketing. The United States consumes the most fast food in the world. The life expectancy rate has gone way down due to obesity. 16% of young adults aged 18 to 24 eat out at least once weekly. Children see about 13 advertisements every single day while teens see about 16. Only 1 out of 10 food advertisements are about fruits or vegetables. Children who are exposed to advertisements for unhealthy food have a 30% higher likelihood of eating unhealthy food. To eat healthily, be sure to have vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, and a variety of foods with protein. Dr.Mimi Tatlow-Golden, a Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Childhood, on the Safefood Podcast she said this about children and young people, "not only do they eat more after viewing ads immediately or in general in their lives, but they don’t compensate for that eating later on in the day, so they don’t sort of have an extra snack, and then eat less at dinner, they just eat a little bit more." References: https://supplements101.net/fast-food-statistic/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31329232 https://uconnruddcenter.org/research/food-marketing/#, https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/food-marketing-to-children-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/, https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/health-conditions/diabetes/eat-healthy,https://www.safefood.net/Professional/Nutrition/Nutrition-podcasts/Marketing-of-unhealthy-food-to-children/Transcript-Marketing-unhealthy-food-to-children

Plastic containers like pop bottles can be recycled, they cannot be recycling infinitely. When plastic is recycled it requires "virgin plastic" to be turned into a new pop bottle. The other kind of plastic, the kind that you find wrapped around packages or what your produces comes in, is not recyclable. Additionally, the production of plastic has immense environmental impacts. According to the World Economic Forum, about 4-8% of annual global oil consumption is associated with plastics. In 2015, the CIEL reported that manufacturing polyethylene plastics are responsible for 184.3 to 213 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is about as much as 45 million passenger vehicles emit during one year. The data is clear; plastic is bad for our planet.

Workers at Hello Fresh are organizing a union to make their jobs safer and more sustainable at the largest meal kit company in the United States. While Hello Fresh profited from the pandemic, employees faced disrespect, a COVID-19 outbreak, and preventable injuries. Workers are calling on the company to make sure sustainable jobs are part of the package and that the company pledge to not harass or intimidate workers organizing a union. Your voice matters. Join them.

In order to persuade Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, to play his appropriate role in not only gathering data on sexual trafficking that occurs on Facebook, but collaborating with authorities to help curtail the horrible practice and consequences of human sexual trafficking.

Climate change for us is an existential crisis! We have no time to lose to take action and save us and our planet. Reforming the way agriculture is done, rethinking the process, and inspiring others can help reverse climate change and set us up for a bright future!

CVS Health is a Fortune 4 Company and integrated into every aspect of the US Healthcare System. CVS Health is the parent company of CVS Pharmacy, Aetna, Caremark and many others according to their SEC filings. https://twitter.com/BATransAdvocate https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/558610-cvs-att-comcast-and-others-donated-to-anti-lgbtq https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/14/corporations-anti-lgbtq-politicians-donations-study https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/04/02/the-pro-lgbtq-companies-that-helped-elect-arkansas-anti-trans-bill-sponsors/ https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/04/16/businesses-and-trade-groups-bankrolled-sponsors-of-texas-cruel-anti-trans-bill/ https://upriseri.com/the-women-project-v-cvs/

Errors, omissions and inconsistencies riddle Amazon's developers plan. As objectors testify under oath the full picture becomes clear and it is not what the Council members were presented when they agreed to consider this proposal. The lack of transparency does not allow for any informed decision. The proposal and objections are on public view at the Churchill, PA Borough website. If you agree this is the wrong business approach; if you care for the environment; if you want have clean water and air for the future generations you will sign this petition.

My name is Rudy Howell, and I am a poultry farmer in North Carolina. My wife and I raised chickens for a major poultry company for over 25 years—that is, until they terminated me for telling the truth about how this industry hurts workers, animals, and the environment. Years of being a top producer and never having had a single disciplinary action against me, and still they sent me packing for speaking up about the consequences of corporate influence in the food industry. Utterly discouraged by inaction from my company and regulators, I brought in videographers to discuss public health concerns, animal welfare, and unfair business practices I and my fellow farmers endured at the hands of poultry industry. It was shortly after the scenes from the video of my chicken house were published that I was given my walking papers. Well, I am not about to stay quiet. Currently, only a handful of corporations control our food from farm to fork. Over the past 50 years, fewer and fewer multinational agribusiness corporations have come to control more and more of our food system, shutting out local and family farmers in the process. With unchecked power, companies have standardized exploitative practices that are harmful to farmers, to rural communities, to the animals themselves and to our environment. But it doesn’t have to be this way! I’m not the only farmer they did this to, and there are countless others too afraid to talk for fear the poultry companies will do them the same. This system pits farmer against farmer, with the lowest performing paying the bonus of the top performer. The system operates to keep farmers from talking with each other and sharing information. Their dark-money ties and big-shot lobbyists have done a hell of a job keeping farmers like me quiet and consumers like you blissfully unaware. That’s why I was so pleased to see things finally starting to change earlier this summer in the antitrust Executive Order Promoting Competition in the American Economy that President Biden signed, but the USDA and Congress must ensure that family farmers are part of the solution by updating the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) to address the treatment of livestock and poultry farmers by meatpackers, swine contractors, and poultry companies. These reforms are long overdue, and it is critical that we move as expeditiously as possible to complete this rulemaking process. Concentration of corporate power has contributed to a host of problems such as racial inequity, climate change, rural degradation, animal cruelty, and worker/farmer exploitation. Recently, the administration took an important first step in showing its commitment to increasing competition across the agriculture sector and rectifying the situation. The Department of Agriculture announced that it was going to improve the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect farmers of color from discrimination, assure that farmers can associate freely and that whistleblowers are protected from retaliation, and improve court access for farmers who wish to bring lawsuits against industry bad actors—but it must have congressional support to enact truly meaningful change. When companies have this much power, they can cut corners and bend the rules in their favor, even at the expense of farmers, rural communities, workers, our environment, and consumers. In this David-and-Goliath dynamic, good people could lose everything if they speak out against unsafe practices, corruption, and injustice. For the safety and sustainability of our food system, we must break the culture of fear and retaliation in industrial agriculture. Farmers need a #FairShake. Sign my petition if you agree!

Walmart is a great place to find a wide array of low-cost essentials among other things. However, recently it has caught my attention that Walmart stores are still selling MyPillow brand pillows. I like Walmart for the quality products I get for a specific price point. With the CEO of MyPillow supporting the capitol insurrection and the lies about election fraud, I’m disheartened by Walmart’s refusal to cease the sales of these products. I worry that allowing CEOs to lie publicly and spark unnecessary discourse about our democratic elections. Hopefully with enough signatures, we can let Walmart know that we’d like to continue shopping at their stores, but not while they sell products who’s profits go towards overturning a democratic election.

Amazon continues to feel the heat in Alabama. Earlier this month the NLRB ruled that Amazon unfairly tampered with the union vote in Bessemer, Alabama.1 Amazon used their massive power to pressure the postal service into putting a mailbox at the workplace in Alabama -- which may have caused workers to feel Amazon could see when and how they voted, potentially influencing the result. This is just further proof that Amazon has too much power, and is abusing it to undermine workers' rights. One way we can help fight back: pressure the federal government to break up Amazon. Sign the petition: Tell the federal government to support workers and break up Amazon! Amazon isn't just a tech giant, it's a global monster with tentacles gripping nearly every part of daily life. And Amazon workers, especially Amazon warehouse workers, continue to feel the squeeze. Amazon warehouse working conditions are notoriously bad. So much so, the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health named Amazon one of the most dangerous employers in the country.2 On top of that, during the historic heatwaves earlier this summer, Amazon warehouses pushed workers to their physical brink, without providing air-conditioning. But the tide is turning. Activists like you and me are speaking out and demanding Amazon be held accountable. In Alabama, that might mean a new worker union election. But we can't stop there. Amazon has proven time and again that they have too much power and influence, and use it to undermine their workers and their right to a safe workplace. So now it's time for action. Together we can raise our voices and pressure Congress to act boldly to break up Amazon's monopoly. Sign the petition: Tell the federal government to break up Amazon! Sources: 1. Vox, “The Amazon union drive isn't over yet,” August 3, 2021. 2. Futurism, “After Deaths, Amazon Lands on List of Most Dangerous Employers,” October 18, 2019.