TikTok is a place where millions of Americans have gone to find community, education, to grow their small businesses, and to organize on issues that affect our communities. It should not be banned. Members of Congress are claiming that banning TikTok is an issue of national security and data privacy, meanwhile little has been done to pass a comprehensive data law that protects us from all social media companies. In 2018, it was revealed that a data analytics firm that worked with Donald Trump’s election team harvested 50 million Facebook profiles of American voters. This was one of Facebook’s biggest data breaches ever, and the data was used to build a software program that influenced the 2016 election by targeting them with political advertisements. TikTok shouldn’t get singled out when privacy, data tracking, and data harvesting is an issue with ALL social media platforms. After members of Congress in the House of Representatives voted to pass a law to ban TikTok, it was revealed that some of those who voted for the TikTok ban may own $29 million to $126 million worth of stock in TikTok’s competitors like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Snapchat. This means that many of the same politicians who voted for a TikTok ban would financially benefit from a TikTok ban. It’s unacceptable. A TikTok ban would also harm small businesses. Over 5 million small businesses have TikTok accounts and TikTok generated $14.7 BILLION in revenue just last year which created over 224,000 U.S. jobs.Banning TikTok could be financially devastating for millions of people across the country. The truth is, data privacy is a huge issue. Companies track our data, our conversations, the things we view on social media platforms and use it to target us, and then sell our information to third parties all the time. But this isn’t just a TikTok issue. It’s a Big Tech issue. And just banning TikTok won’t fix it. Only passing strong national privacy legislation will truly protect us and our data. And together, we can demand it. In the meantime, we must come together to ensure that members of Congress don’t avoid the real issues at hand and that they don’t violate our free speech by banning TikTok. Will you take action now and sign the petition?

This topic of affordable housing is important because of the homelessness around Massachusetts that has been occurring. There is also inflation that is causing the prices of Massachusetts housing to increase at a sky rocketing price! Affordable housing is important so everyone has a place to live an thrive! Wouldn't you want to have somewhere to live, and be able to go at night to stay?

At the state level, Republicans have been eroding child labor laws across the United States within the last year—which has mainly looked like shifting guidelines on work hour restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds. In the past fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour division reported 835 cases of child labor violations affecting 3,876 minors, and 688 minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation, a 283% increase from nearly 10 years ago in 2015.

 The Department of Labor has called for employers to follow national labor law, but the department’s wage and employment division remains understaffed to take up cases to hold employers accountable, with the list only growing from shifting guidelines.
Many Republican-led state legislatures copy and paste their state-led strategy. If it happens in one state, it has the potential to be adopted by another—to the detriment of working people everywhere. In 2024, news of Republican dedication to tearing down and taking away any benefit working people have is commonplace. There's a reason for this: It's yet another part of Republicans' larger desolate vision for the future of America. Another push from the same MAGA Republicans who routinely try to rob senior citizens of Social Security, restrict access to domestic and social programs, and block Medicaid expansion This is part of a long-term plan to make labor cheaper while empowering corporations and CEOs to undermine workers' rights simultaneously.
The impact of these laws is just going to negatively impact children, particularly children of migrants who are often forced into the workforce early because of circumstances out of their control. The push to roll back these standards is just beginning, and we need to stop it in its tracks now. Image Credit: More Perfect Union

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, a bill introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and allies, would shorten the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours and increase overtime pay—doubling it for days that last over 12 hours. This bill is an opportunity to end the exploitation of working people and build an economy where the American dream is accessible to everyone. A 32-hour workweek isn't just about working less; it's about living more. And the evidence is clear—it's good for people and the economy. Studies show businesses flourish and workers' health improves with shorter workweeks. Less time spent working means healthier lives, stronger communities, and an economy where everyone thrives, not just the 1%. Sign the petition to shorten the workweek to 32 hours and make our economy equitable!

This initiative is significant as it addresses the needs of the youth population and the high rate of violent crimes in the area, which is significantly higher than the county average. Tailored support from the above non-profits and increased investment by governmental agencies can ensure that everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, can thrive.

Please help us protect a prized element of our quality of life and wellness on the SW side of Massillon. Massillon residents deserve peace and quiet!! Quality of life, and public health should be in the forefront of decision making when the city of Massillon is considering bringing new business to Massillon! In response, BitDeer’s only noise mitigation for the loud bit mining operations (70 plus decibels - 24/7, 7 days a week) is a simple palleted wooden fence, painted green. Bitdeer is not concerned about noise pollution and harm to local residents, in a very unregulated industry such as bitcoin mining. Listen to Massillon LIVE’s broadcast from Treemont Coffee today, March 9, 2024, about this issue: https://fb.watch/qICz6VELtm/?mibextid=w8EBqM

Support local business. The local Arts and music community. Allow people to continue to enjoy life and come together as a community through music.

Being a cancer patient or having a family member with cancer is already a very difficult situation, besides the immense emotional pain, the cost of treatment can be a heavy burden. The consequences of increasing the price of Keytruda are alarming and for many families, unbearable.Many patients rely on this medication as their best hope for survival, and price hikes could place it out of reach for those who need it most. Price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry not only threatens the lives of vulnerable patients but also reflects a disturbing trend of prioritizing profits over human welfare. We cannot allow greed to dictate access to life-saving treatments. Lowering the price of Keytruda is not only a matter of fairness but a moral imperative to ensure that individuals battling cancer have the opportunity to receive the care they deserve without the already inevitable financial hardship.

TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms right now, and taking direct, actionable steps to support artists and their labor, as well as to prevent artificial intelligence from stealing their work and likenesses, could be a model for how other platforms handle these issues moving forward. But it’s not just about being able to dance and do trends with some of our favorite music. Universal Music Group is pulling its music from TikTok after negotiations failed to extend the licensing agreement between the two companies, and those negotiations centered around prominent issues in today’s society: paying people for their labor, the effects of generative artificial intelligence more broadly, and benchmarks for online safety in a world that has become increasingly reliant on digital communications. TikTok needs to support artists and their labor.

17 Problems: How Dollar Store Chains Hurt Communities https://ilsr.org/17-problems/

Why was Congressman Trone so dismissive, insulting and ignorant in his interaction with Dr. Marsha Adebayo at a recent MLK event. She asked to talk to him about the Bethesda Road Moses African Cemetery and efforts to reclaim the land to memorialize the lives of enslaved and post-emancipated African Community. Instead of engaging, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand and a turn of his back saying" who cares about that little cemetery?" I care about that "little Cemetery," and I don't care to have a person with David Trone's historical ignorance and dismissiveness towards African American struggles influencing our community. The people in the "little cemetery were human beings and they deserve respect. Most of those buried in the "little" cemetery were children who were kidnapped, raped, murdered and worked to death in Bethesda, Maryland. Why are we still debating whether Black Lives Matter? We need the community to speak out against Congressman Trone's statement. David Mott - retired union organizer, Poor People's Campaign, Montgomery County Contact: bethesdaafricancemeterycoalition.net

Out of 30 NFL teams, 14 use real grass, 14 use artificial turf, and 2 use a hybrid field of grass and artificial materials. It would only cost the NFL 12 million dollars to replace the current turf fields to grass, compared to the nearly $12 billion dollars in revenue that the NFL made in 2023. And that’s not all: Over the last 8 years alone, the NFL has made over 74 BILLION dollars in revenue. Yet, many NFL team owners (30 out of 32 of whom are billionaires and have a combined net worth of over 260 BILLION DOLLARS) would rather prioritize their corporate profits over their players’ safety. For over a decade, NFL players themselves have been very vocal about how much of a toll turf takes on their bodies, and how they dread games where they know they will be playing on turf. The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the labor union that represents NFL players, has been advocating for grass fields despite the league’s PR attempts to defend the use of artificial turf. The NFL has a history of putting corporate profits above players: • In the 2000s, Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered a link between football and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) , a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head causing concussions. But instead of thinking of ways they could protect their players, the NFL went after Omalu and other scientists studying CTE. After nearly a decade of denial and suppressing scientific evidence, the NFL finally admitted the truth: There is a link between football and CTE. • Back in 2021, after shamefully using “race-norming” which prevented hundreds of Black football players with dementia from qualifying for awards in a $1 billion settlement of concussion clamps, the NFL agreed to end this practice. • The NFL has continued to come under fire for their lack of guaranteed contracts for players. The sham contracts offered by the NFL give so many outs for the corporation that players rarely see the full payouts from their deals. Meanwhile, every other major league in professional sports has guaranteed contracts. This is greed and exploitative, plain and simple, and it's costing players. And these are just a few examples. The NFL must do better and put player safety above corporate profits NOW. Add your name to the petition.