There exists unreasonably high luxury taxes on menstrual products. Luxury taxes are taxes placed on items that are considered non-essential. People who menstruate do not have control over their periods, and therefore pads, tampons, panty-liners, and diva cups are absolutely essential. They are not luxuries. The price increase in these products has created a phenomenon of menstrual inequity among homeless and low-income women, we call this “period poverty”. In California, women pay $20 million in taxes on menstrual products annually. USA Today estimates that women have to spend anywhere between $150 to $300 annually on period products.This is a detrimental price for low income and homeless women, who often have to choose between essentials like food and clothes, or having menstrual products. Period poverty is especially relevant to Los Angeles, where 20,671 women are currently experiencing homeless, a disproportionate amount being women of color. To put this into perspective, a box of tampons cost $7 at a common retailer; this often means homeless menstruators are forced to choose between their next meal or these products. Additionally, many homeless shelters in Los Angeles are constantly in need of sufficient menstrual products to distribute to the people there. This is due to the stigma around periods that makes people potentially uncomfortable when donating these products, which just proves the need for greater financial accessibility to period products.

Working in veterinary medicine is an incredibly stressful and often thankless job. For credentialed Veterinary Technicians, Veterinary Assistants, Customer Service Representatives, and all veterinary support staff there are added issues of low wages and substandard benefits. When these stresses are paired with incompetent and/or uncaring leadership, the result is both tragic and unsurprising. From a study published in 2019 by Dr. Witte, et al. (https://tinyurl.com/vetstaffsuicide) we know that veterinary support staff members have a 2.3 - 5 times higher risk of suicide when compared to the general population. Vanessa’s situation will occur again and again until something in the veterinary industry changes, and the importance of mental health is paid more than lip service for PR purposes.

Unsafe situation for pets in Santa Fe, New Mexico

It's estimated that 47% of ALL U.S. homes have visible dampness and mold. People spend 90% of their time indoors, yet a lack of emphasis is put on indoor air quality and how that affects our health every day. The recent peer-reviewed medical journal “A Comprehensive Review of Mold Research Literature From 2011 – 2018” published in Internal Medicine Review concluded that 112 of 114 (98.2%) of epidemiological articles published between 2011 and 2018 supported the proposition that inhaled mold, mold fragments, toxins and various pathogenic inflammagen, or other components of the air in water-damaged buildings (WDB), cause single and multi-system illness in humans. Symptoms include chronic and daily manifestations of fatigue, pain, nonrestorative sleep, cognitive deficits, neuropathic pains, gastrointestinal issues, musculoskeletal compromise, post-exertional malaise, dermatological, ophthalmic, endocrine, and other chronic multisystem symptoms for those suffering. These studies included 273,000 subjects from over 30 countries and 5 continents! The time for adequate funding for research and awareness on this overlooked public health issue is long overdue.

Toxics from waste buried on site are leaching into groundwater aquifers threatening the public health, and contaminated stormwater is entering the ecologically sensitive watersheds of Green Cove and Butler Creeks, which drain into the federally impaired waters of Budd and Eld Inlets of Puget Sound, habitat for endangered Salmon and Orcas. The Squaxin Island tribe has provided comment that notes a development overlying these contaminated soils would make contamination of soil, water, wetlands and groundwater permanent, adversely affecting their treaty rights. This proposal has met with years of overwhelming public opposition, yet the City of Olympia continues to review it despite the Applicant's continued failure to comply with agreements to provide information to the City, the Department of Ecology, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) which are needed to perform an adequate review. The Applicant, Jerry Mahan of John L. Scott Realty, has obtained numerous extensions of time to provide this data, but has failed or refused to do so, violating the terms of the agreement to obtain an extension. Therefore, by failing to comply with these agreements and the laws which require information that would allow consideration of adverse environmental impacts which are foreseeably likely to be leading from this project, Applicant is acting in bad faith. The City should inform Applicant that he has not performed pursuant to the terms of his agreement granting a 6 month extension, and the project can no longer be considered until a new complete application is submitted. We request that the City of Olympia return this application as incomplete and void, as required by the terms of the extension agreement. Any new application must provide the information required by the City, Ecology and DNR so that they can do their job to safeguard public health and the environment.

Texas recently enacted the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the country, outlawing all abortions after 6 weeks with no exceptions. Mississippi is taking their own anti-abortion law to the Supreme Court — a case that could overturn Roe v. Wade and put dozens of new anti-reproductive healthcare laws on the map. And while it may not surprise you that racism and misogyny have run rampant within the United States for decades, you might not realize we’ve been exporting it too. For nearly 50 years, the Helms Amendment has blocked people around the world from having control over their own reproductive healthcare. It’s the worst of a paternalistic U.S. foreign policy at work: spreading harmful ideology under the guise of humanitarian assistance. But that could change soon. For the first time since 1973, the House passed an appropriations bill that DOESN’T include the Helms Amendment. And IF it passes the Senate, we can make 2021 the year we finally wipe this outdated, imperialist policy from our books and build a world where people can create their families — and build their futures — in the ways that work for them. Add your name to tell the Senate: It’s time to #RepealHelms

This country cannot move forward while Blue and Red continue infighting. Something must be done. Republican Senate leaders have been known to say they will not vote for anything just because the Democrats put it forth. This, coming from a man as old as Mitch McConnell, and being agreed to by the others in the same party, is ludicrous. We did not elect them to play games. The censuring of senators for not voting the way they want them to (for having minds of their own) is also a very telling indicator that the Republican party is more concerned that their members play "follow the leader" than think for themselves. The people who voted for each senator did so for the purpose of looking out for their interest... Not so they can sit around, smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, and thinking about how they can get back at the unpopular members of their group, or play tit-for-tat with the Dems. Pointing fingers, blaming each other, and threatening "if you do that, we'll do this" makes every single one of you look like a playground bully!

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

Women and anyone with a uterus deserve the right over their own bodies as much as any man. Human Equality doesn’t stop at equal pay, equal voting and equal treatment, but extends into our homes, doctor’s offices and our own minds. * * * Mujeres y cualquier persona con un útero merece el derecho sobre su propio cuerpo al igual que cualquier hombre. La igualdad humana no se limita a la igualdad de remuneración, la igualdad de voto y la igualdad de trato, sino que se extiende a nuestros hogares, consultorios médicos y nuestras propias mentes.

WHAT IF YOU NEEDED POWER TO LIVE AND YOUR POWER WAS DISCONNECTED OVER $79. Then your utility distributor refused to restore service unless you paid an additional $75 in reconnect fees (while knowing you need power to live)! We are NOT asking not to pay. We are only asking for adequate reasonable accommodations or protections to Griffin Utilities policies and procedures so customers who need power to live are NOT AT RISK of disconnection; or Risk LOSS OF LIFE DUE TO DISCONNECTIONS. THE RESOLUTION ADA Reasonable Accommodations and/or Protections to Griffin Utilities Policies & Procedures to Protect Power-dependent Patients (PPP). A. Payment Extensions - Consider offering Payment Extensions prior to an account becoming delinquent for power-dependent individual customers. B. Grace Period - there are NO grace periods. Consider establishing a delinquent payment grace period. Provide this delinquent account Grace Period prior to sending a disconnect notice or warning of disconnection to power-dependent individual customers. C. Late Fees - Waive Late Fees or allow fees to be distributed over time without fear of disconnection for power-dependent individual customers. D. Reconnect Fees - Waive Reconnect Fees or allow fees to be distributed over time without fear of disconnection for power-dependent individual customers. E. Budget Billing - Consider the establishment of Budget Billing for power-dependent individual customers. F. Advance Notice of Disconnection - Provide a 24 to 72 hour advance notice of disconnection. G. Priority List - Maintain separate data or a Priority List of Griffin Utilities power-dependent individual customers. Consider adding Power-Dependent Individual Services to the current Priority List; and at a heightened state such as major medical facilities, nursing homes, and hospices. H. Scheduled Outages - Advance notice of scheduled outages/rolling blackouts for power-dependent individual customers. Help us advocate to PPP (PROTECT POWER-DEPENDENT PATIENTS); for some of the most vulnerable on local and state levels. Please sign this Petition.

The mask policies are working to limit the spread. In Ohio school districts where masks are optional, case rates are higher than in districts that require some masking, and we see better week-to-week trends in schools where everyone wears a mask. Most importantly, there have been fewer quarantines in schools where everyone wears a mask, helping us towards meeting the goal of keeping Ohio children in the classroom.

New state laws restricting voter access, and gerrymandered districts both suppress voting and threaten democracy. Overly restrictive abortion laws make access to abortions unjustifiably difficult, threatening women’s right of choice. Overpriced drugs and medications and the inability to reduce their prices through government negotiations, together with other medical services, maintain a severe financial burden for millions of Americans. Tax loopholes and havens inaccessible to all but the very rich allow the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. This places an unfair burden and financial hardship on the poor and middle classes as they are forced to pay in taxes what the rich should be paying.