Journalists with NBC News were interviewing a Palestinian woman in the West Bank who had been driven from her home when Israeli settlers attacked — beating them with sticks and throwing rocks at them. This was just one instance amidst a series of Israeli settler attacks that same day. Violence has become the norm for people across the West Bank. But as the Senate returns to Washington, we can change this broken status quo. For too long, Israeli security forces have allowed settler violence to rapidly expand, or worse, contributed to the displacement of Palestinian families. For too long, the U.S. government has helped bankroll violence that harms U.S. citizens. Sens. Van Hollen (D-MD), Kaine (D-VA), and Sanders (I-VT) will be introducing a privileged resolution demanding a State Department report on increasing violence in the West Bank. It’s a rarely used but powerful procedural maneuver because it isn’t subject to a president’s veto. If human rights violations are uncovered, it could spell an end to arms sales and other U.S. assistance to the Israeli government. Let’s get to work.

We as a community need to hold the administration and educators of the School District of Menomonie Area accountable. We need to demand transparency, corrective action, and implementation of mental health and bullying education with face to face assemblies, educator to student classes, and more effective responses to reports of bullying and/or harassment. A link on the district website should no longer be a sufficient response from the district. Our students should not fear going to their place of education, they should not fear their peers, and they should not fear reaching out for help when they need it the most. Most importantly, our students should not feel the need to take their life due to the bullying of other students. 

ICE is spending $20 million on electric shock gloves that can help agents gain “compliance” in seconds. ICE agents are already facing criticism for violence and excessive use of force, which has resulted in several deaths. There have been troublingly few consequences — and it’s partly because with $200 BILLION in the bank, ICE can largely operate with impunity. When Republicans used a special procedure to break the deadlock and advance ICE and CBP funding through 2029 earlier this year, they freed Trump’s immigration force from the congressional oversight and accountability that the annual budget process brings to bear. Trump’s immigration force is not above the law, and it’s time Congress act like it. Americans resoundingly reject funding ICE’s abuses, and we’re going to make sure lawmakers hear our clear demands to rein in ICE and CBP. It starts with getting our money back. Can we count on you to join us?

This isn't about one person. This is about We the People of the United States — and we don't want it. We didn't vote for a camera on every corner. We didn't agree to have our movements logged, stored, and sold. We didn't sign off on a private company profiting off tracking where our families drive, every single day, with no oversight and no accountability to the people paying for it. And the numbers back up what we already feel in our gut: LAPD's own internal audit found their camera system was wrong nearly 1 in 3 times. That's not a fluke — that's a system operating on our streets, making mistakes about real people, with almost nobody watching to make sure it's used the way it was promised. We are not anti-safety. We are not anti-technology. We are Americans who believe that any system with this much power over our privacy needs real transparency, real oversight, and real accountability — not a rubber stamp and a subscription fee. This is already working. Nearly 100 cities and counties across 28 states have already canceled or rejected these contracts since 2021 — because residents like us stood up and said something. That number grows every time one more person adds their name. If you've ever driven past one of these cameras and felt that same uneasy feeling — you're not alone, and you're not overreacting. Join us. We the People built this country on the idea that power answers to us, not the other way around. It's time these cameras did too. Stop the Flock. Add your name.

Communities across the country are organizing against Flock’s mass surveillance. At least 56 municipalities have deactivated, canceled, or rejected Flock contracts this year, from North Carolina to California to Massachusetts. Whether or not Flock has come to your community yet, state and city leaders have the power to act. They can: • Cut or refuse contracts with Flock Safety and similar ALPR vendors • Limit data retention to hours or days, not weeks or months • Limit data sharing, prohibiting access by other government agencies absent a warrant for a felony crime recognized under local or state law • Limit usage to felony investigations, missing persons cases, identifying unregistered or uninsured vehicles, and narrow non-enforcement uses like electronic toll collection • Require annual usage reporting and restrict ALPR data availability through open records requests, so it can’t be used for stalking or exploiting someone’s data for entertainment ALPRs enable warrantless tracking, fuel mass surveillance, and produce wrongful accusations with real harm to real people. Sign the petition now calling on state and city elected officials to block Flock and protect our privacy!

In August 2024, Phoenix Police Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue aggressively confronted Tyron McAlpin based on unverified allegations from a bystander. Within seconds of the encounter, body camera footage showed the officers repeatedly punching Mr. McAlpin and shocking him with a taser multiple times. Mr. McAlpin, who is deaf and lives with cerebral palsy, could not hear their commands and posed absolutely no threat. Following the violent arrest, the officers filed reports claiming Mr. McAlpin took a "fighting stance" and assaulted them. Because of these lies, Mr. McAlpin was wrongfully incarcerated for over a month before the Maricopa County Attorney's Office finally reviewed the evidence and dropped all charges. While the Police Department initially issued a minor 24-hour suspension to the officers, the Phoenix Civil Service Board voted behind closed doors to completely overturn Officer Harris's suspension and reduce Officer Sue's discipline to a mere written reprimand. Erasing what was already a minimal "slap on the wrist" is a profound insult to the disabled community and completely destroys public trust. A system that forces an innocent man to spend over a month in jail while letting the officers who beat him escape a single day of lost pay is fundamentally broken.

This issue is not about being against law enforcement or being against public safety. It is about deciding how much surveillance we are willing to accept in our community and ensuring that powerful technology is subject to transparency and public oversight. Flock Safety cameras are automated license plate readers. They photograph passing vehicles and record information associated with those vehicle sightings. That means the system doesn't only collect information about suspected criminals—it collects information about ordinary people going to work, taking their children to school, visiting friends, attending church, going to the doctor, or simply driving through town. That information can become searchable by law enforcement, and Flock operates a large network through which agencies can share access to vehicle data. Logan County residents deserve to know exactly who can access information collected here and what safeguards prevent that information from being misused. ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~ August 12, 2026 The IJ Database of ALPR Abuse The Institute for Justice has cataloged more than 100 incidents of ALPR abuse, including romantic stalking, wrongful stops and detentions, non-law enforcement use, and other types of misconduct. Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) were sold to American communities as a targeted tool for catching car thieves and finding missing people. What they actually purchased has grown into something far broader and more frightening: an AI-powered network of cameras that photograph and log the movement of every driver who passes, whether or not they are suspected of any crime.   Companies like Flock Safety have now blanketed thousands of communities with ALPRs, quietly assembling powerful mass surveillance systems that can reconstruct where people have been, when, and how often, all without a warrant.  This dragnet surveillance threatens the freedoms the Fourth Amendment was adopted to protect. These concerns aren’t just abstractions: every day, innocent people are harmed by officials’ abuse and misuse of these ALPRs. Here are just a few examples: • In Florida, a woman was stalked and pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy who saw her at a TV shoot.  • In Texas, a sheriff’s deputy used 83,000 Flock ALPRs to find a woman who had allegedly had a medication abortion, at the behest of her abusive partner.  • In Georgia, a police chief tracked his ex-girlfriend and her teenage daughter roughly 600 times. All told, the Institute for Justice (IJ) has identified well over 100 incidents of ALPR abuse, including romantic stalking, wrongful stops and detentions, non-law enforcement use, and other types of misconduct. Although this is the most comprehensive list publicly available, it may be just the tip of the iceberg. Officers rarely enter specific reasons when they search ALPR databases, and the volume of searches is so large that it would be impossible to figure out whether officers’ vague justifications are actually true.   For instance, in litigation against Norfolk, Virginia, IJ discovered that the top three search reasons (“cj,” “stolen,” and “inv”) accounted for nearly one third of 230,000 searches over two years. One officer repeatedly wrote “la la la la,” and nobody noticed. When the government can track the everyday movements of ordinary people—to their jobs, their churches, their doctors, their protests—it holds a kind of power over private life that the Constitution does not allow.  ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~ There is also a basic question of effectiveness. If taxpayers are paying for a surveillance system that records thousands of innocent motorists, the public deserves evidence showing what benefit Logan County is actually receiving. How many crimes has it helped solve here? How many arrests or stolen-vehicle recoveries has it produced? How frequently is the system searched? Who has access? These are reasonable questions, and citizens should be able to ask them without being dismissed or treated with hostility. Technology that gives the government greater ability to monitor people's movements deserves greater oversight—not less. We can support law enforcement while also demanding privacy, accountability and transparency from our government. Those principles are not mutually exclusive. Please sign this petition if you believe Logan County residents deserve a meaningful voice in whether this type of surveillance continues in our community.

Over the past 350 days and counting, U.S. airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 221 people. More deaths are likely. Defense Secretary Hegseth just announced agreements to carry out joint military operations on land across Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras, in addition to Ecuador. Since September 2, 2025, Hegseth’s campaign of extrajudicial killings has destroyed lives — and utterly failed to stop the flow of drugs or alleviate the overdose crisis. We see right through the Trump administration’s “war on drugs” propaganda. As we approach one year of illegal boat strikes, we’re joining partners and mobilizing activists like you to send Congress an urgent, clear demand: healthcare, not warfare.

As one person making change is hard. That’s why I need you, your voice, your action, your compassion to fight for what’s right. When we get this Data center taken down it will help influence the masses, show them that they too have the ability to scream NO! So please, help make a change. With peaceful protests and a lot of phone calls we can make the world a better place for all of us. Take back from the greedy.

Trump wants to rewrite the past and sow doubt about our elections to lay the groundwork to contest November’s midterm elections and seize control over future elections. There are checks and balances in our country for a reason. Local leaders run our elections—not the president. Only an authoritarian would attempt to seize control of our elections in order to control the outcome.  That’s why it’s so important that the Michigan Secretary of State join other secretaries of states across the country and double down and commit to overseeing a free and fair election. And they need to know Michigan constituents are watching and support them in upholding the law. They are, after all, elected to serve the people, not the president.  We need to defend our democracy. Join Michigan neighbors and your name to the petition to urge our Michigan Secretary of State to protect essential voting processes from partisan interference and uphold the will of the people! 

With the removal of the GSA, the reasons given were often “prevention against political indoctrination”. This was already an attack on queer peoples identities as no one should be deemed as political for a simple characteristic. However, the formation of a Right-Leaning organization powered by Turning Point USA which in itself is a right-leaning organization, is directly against the given reasons for absolving and banning a GSA. Straight from an official turning point site (1), one of their main goals is to “win the American Culture War by instilling a love for conservatism, faith, family, and America in the hearts of the youth.” This Culture War that they reference is now being placed into High Schools and putting the students directly into the battle. This allowance of a club directly powered by TPUSA is a reflection of the administrators of Hebron High School that they are allowing their students to be placed into the line of fire. To add onto the placement of Hebron Students into political war I think it is only right to mention their now passed founder, Charlie Kirk, who they still hold highly and strive to keep his legacy alive. His views on queer and non-white people were harmful, and can be seen as an attack on students. As the removal of the GSA is still prevalent, we will look at his views on Queer individuals. I will link an article I found in the footnotes but here are a few examples (2). To any administrators reading, is this what you want queer students to think you agree with and allow to be said on campus? . August 25th, 2025, he says that anyone convicted of a hate crime for destroying a pride flag should be released, additionally stating that it should be legal to burn a Pride Flag and BLM flag. . March 3rd, 2025, when at a conference he is asked for his opinion on queer people and although he states, “What you do in the bedroom does not matter” he then follows it up with, “I don’t agree with that lifestyle.” . October 28th, 2024, Kirk wears a T-shirt saying “XY = Man”, meant to invalidate Trans peoples experiences. . June 8, 2024, Charlie Kirk akin being queer to an “error”, saying it is alike to alcoholism and drug dependency and that you should not affirm queer people in their “struggle against god” Whether Club America is removed or an opposing political club is adopted into Hebron, it will provide a layer of safety for many kids who feel attacked by this movement of right-leaning organizations into school grounds following the removal of a safe space such as a GSA. Especially after Mr. T received death threats and a large amount of pressure from Right Leaning Individuals, such as our current Texan governor Greg Abott, many queer and non-white students have felt unsafe and unaccepted in Hebron’s halls. I can attest to that fact, as I was one of them. This action will create a safe environment and help remove Hebron Students from the frontline of the culture war Club America has placed them in. We ask that the removal of Club America is considered heavily before any clubs are added on top, as ending the political encroachment would be better for the health of the students at Hebron. Articles ---- 1 : https://tpusa.com/about/ 2 : https://www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/charlie-kirk-and-turning-point-usas

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is trying, once again, to silence the public. Did you know that you are "unnecessary and burdensome red tape" in the eyes of the EPA? The agency is accepting comments until August 21st on its proposal to make a change to the way permit applications for air quality permits are reviewed. At present, the review includes an opportunity for the public to comment. The change would eliminate that process for facilities considered to be "minor sources" of pollution and leave it to the states to decide if the public should have an opportunity to comment. "Minor sources" include diesel backup generators and natural gas turbines, like those used at data centers. For example, this Spring, the PA DEP received a plan approval application from Amazon Data Services for its Falls Township data center for 280 natural gas generators and 3 diesel tanks. DEP says the facility will remain a "synthetic minor," a facility that would exceed maximum "minor source" levels without the operator taking steps to keep the facility in compliance. A "minor source" is by no means a trifling matter. Please add your name to this petition we will submit to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. Thank you! And please consider taking an extra minute or two to submit a comment. The EPA Is accepting comments on its proposed rule change until August 21st. We've created this EZ form you can use to submit a comment. We'll format your comment as a PDF and submit it to the docket on Regulations.gov. We do this because agencies count petitions as one comment, even if a million people sign it. The number of signers will not go unnoticed, but will not "count." Even the letters some organizations ask you to sign and send are treated the same way. Our form ensures that each submission will be unique and, therefore, counted. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5VrVoZh8yQz9JyZHCsg2S6UPNRW8_1lnzaSy6iD8Z4rPOTQ/viewform If you prefer to submit your own comment, you can go directly to Regulations.gov at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/07/2026-13667/minor-new-source-review-program-air-permitting-public-participation-requirements-for-state#open-comment EPA's press release - https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-streamline-state-and-local-permitting-process-minor-sources