The NM Cannabis Justice Project coalition feels strongly about the need for public input as these rules will affect NM’s agriculture for generations to come. We continue to ask for transparency as the community advisory board did receive the opportunity to contribute to these particular set of rules, and the current rules hold a greater threat of unlawful water transfers out of small farms, do not acknowledge NM’s vibrant and longstanding cultures, and uses loop holes for large producers to ask for variances on water leasing rights.

Gov. Kristi Noem used private funds to send the South Dakota National Guard to the border. That makes them military for hire: mercenaries. Further, welcoming people fleeing persecution at the point of a gun isn't the America I want to live in. Joe Biden is the commander-in-chief of every state's National Guard. His authority supersedes any governors'. Biden can nationalize the South Dakota National Guard, bring them back from their border deployment, and end the mercenary precedent set by Gov. Noem. In 1954, Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard during the "Little Rock Nine" Crisis. In 1963, JFK nationalized the Alabama National Guard during the "standoff at the school door" crisis. Biden can do the same with your support.

When one of the founding members of Cannabis Vision Partners discovered her mother had breast cancer there was no where she could take her mother to for a safe, knowledgeable and comfortable experience at a dispensary. This was 14 years ago. Today not much has changed. We now have "apple store" style dispensaries and not one but TWO MedMen dispensaries approved by LA city council to operate in Venice, but none of them cater to women's needs and none of them are owned by women and certainly not women of color. Women and particularly women of color are the most disadvantaged when it comes to healthcare and almost invisible when it comes to natural healing. The needs of women and women of color are not being met in health and in business. One of the fastest growing industries is cannabis and currently the community of Venice Beach is being dominated and monopolized by greedy male corporations- essentially keeping out any women and especially women of color. This is a healing industry and the need for women focused healing is being neglected and we need change. You can make a difference for all women of color who choose to heal themselves with natural medicine and not with addictive pharmaceuticals and for women who want to make a difference in their communities. It all starts with someone like you who cares about women's needs.

Please join us so the administration realizes that type of behavior is unacceptable for our young people.

This is an attack on our very democracy and is designed to undermine confidence in our electoral process. Those responsible for promoting what is now called the "Big Lie" propagated by Donald Trump and which led to the insurrection on January 6th of 2021 should be held accountable for their actions. They have violated their oaths of office and this recall is to have them removed.

The proposed FY22 budget for the Town of Amherst does not go far enough to promote racial equity and social justice. The cry that arose last summer after the murder of George Floyd continues, as on average three people a day have been killed by police, and as the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin was announced, Ma’Khia Bryant, a teenager, was murdereed by police. The calls to defund the police did not stem from an isolated incident, but are based in the understanding that the safest communities have the most resources, not the most police. In his budget presentation to the Town Council on May 3, 2021, Town Manager Paul Bockelman revealed he had allocated only $130,000 to the CRESS program and only $30,000 to combine with existing funds to create an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion coordinator. The $130,000 comes from the two frozen police positions, and does not include any additional funding. Funding the CRESS program at only 6% of the proposed budget,and neglecting to address the additional proposals for a youth empowerment center and multi-cultural center, along with a BIPOC-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, sends a strong message that the town does not prioritize racial equity and the safety of BIPOC residents. Reallocating only two police positions and no additional funding is disrespectful to the countless hours the CSWG spent engaging the community with public forums, researching alternative programs, and coordinating with the 7GenMC to provide a thorough proposal to the town manager. Providing only $130,000 to design and implement an innovative, anti-racist alternative responder program ensures the program will not fully thrive, and that the town will likely default to the white supremecist institution of policing to address non-violent, non-criminal matters. $130,000 is inadequate. At a meeting with the finance committee May 27, the funding allocated was increased to $475,000 for CrESS and $90,000 for a director of diversity, equity and inclusion. This increase still falls short.

The world is waiting to see if Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer will be convicted for the murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Meanwhile in Connecticut, Black and Brown people are anxiously awaiting the declaration of the oldest pandemic, racism. In the midst of this, Valerie Horsley, a white woman and Hamden Town Council member representing District 4, used profanity against a Black man and fellow council member, Justin Farmer, exercising her privilege by demanding he refer to her by her professional title, justifying her demand by her acclaimed 'tribal' roots.

Veterans are not receiving the medical care and benefits they’ve earned. Stop sending vets to rubber stamp clinics and provide exam results.

The GA legislature and Governor have enacted a shameful law to restrict voter access to polls and to inflict pain on people trying to exercise their democratic right to vote. It is cruel and unusual to make it a crime to provide someone with a cool drink while waiting hours in line. Coca-Cola should take a brave stand against this assault and stand up for democracy as an iconic American company.

Alex Jones is a far-right conspiracy theorist profiting off a huge fake news empire via his InfoWars website, talk shows, and consumer products, who personally "helped jumpstart" the January 6 insurrection. Which is why it's completely unacceptable that Amazon sells Jones' merchandise and dietary supplements, even going so far as to host his online storefront. Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Spotify, and PayPal have all banned Alex Jones for hate speech violations. Amazon forced Parler, a far-right social media platform, offline by suspending them from their AWS hosting platform after the January 6 insurrection, ultimately causing Parler to go into hibernation for months. And yet, Amazon is fine collecting their 15% off of Jones' Super Male Vitality Natural Stamina Liquid Drops and other unregulated so-called nutritional supplements. It's time for Amazon to pull the InfoWars Store and stop profiting off of hate speech peddler Alex Jones.

Currently there are intense racial disparities in the incarcerated population. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 4 out of every 10 people incarcerated in the state are African American men- ten times the imprisonment rate for white men (CA Democratic Caucus, 2021). This happens because systemic racism and bias are prominent within the legal process and criminal court system. Racism impacts every step of the criminal justice system from policing to the courtroom to incarceration and even after release (CA Democratic Caucus, 2021). This bill addresses these disparities through granting defendants the right to equal justice by filing for a motion at trial or following a conviction if the defendant experienced discrimination by an attorney, judge, juror, law enforcement officer, or expert witness (A.B. 256; League of Women Voters of California, 2021). It also provides retroactive relief to those who have previously endured racial disparities in charges, convictions, and sentencing (Kalra et al., 2021; League of Women Voters of California, 2021). Plus, implementation of this bill will decrease court and correctional annual spending by reducing the proportion of minority races currently incarcerated and soon to be incarcerated due to the intentional biases (Kalra et al., 2021). A.B. 256, 2021 Annual, 2021 Reg. Sess. (California 2021). https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB256 CA State Assembly: Democratic Caucus. (2021, January 15). Assemblymember Kalra announces new california racial justice act for all. CA State Assembly: Democratic Caucus. https://asmdc.org/press-releases/Assemblymember-kalra-announces-new-california-racial-justice-act-all League of Women Voters of California. (2021, January 15). Support the racial justice act for all, ab256. https://lwvc.org/news/support-racial-justice-act-all-ab-256 League of Women Voters of California. (2021, January 28). Racial justice act community implementation. https://cavotes.org/racial-justice-act-community-implementation Kalra, A., Kamlager, Rivas, R. Santiago. (2021). Assembly bill 256: California racial justice act for all [Fact sheet]. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.naswca.org/resource/resmgr/files/2021lld/AB256FactSheet.pdf

There is a reason the Center for Disease Control made the guidance for Phase 1C of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out to include people aged 16 - 64 years with underlying medical conditions and disabilities, which increase the risk of serious, life-threatening complications and death from COVID-19. However and despite this guidance, in recent weeks thirty states de-prioritized these people in COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the name of efficiency and equity. It is common sense to prioritize vulnerable Americans. In the past twelve months, over half of a million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. 94% of these were Americans with comorbidities. The guidance is not just that of the Center for Disease Control. An analysis by FAIR Health, in collaboration with the West Health Institute and Johns Hopkins' Marty Makary, found that COVID-19 patients with developmental disorders are the most at risk of dying, followed by those with lung cancer and intellectual disabilities, regardless of age. And now, recent studies from leading immunologists in Boston show mutations are incubated in autoimmune disease patients, creating strains that are sometimes undetectable to testing and impervious to current COVID-19 treatments. Studies from John Hopkins found that people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s can catch the virus. Some develop severe and lasting symptoms, particularly if they have comorbidities or underlying conditions (such as obesity, diabetes, or high blood pressure (hypertension)). Data from one study shows that of more than 3,000 adults ages 18 to 34 who contracted COVID-19 and became sick enough to require hospital care, 21% ended up in intensive care, 10% were placed on a breathing machine, and 2.7% died. The majority of these patients had comorbidities. This in-hospital mortality rate is lower than that reported for older adults with COVID-19, but approximately double that of young adults with acute myocardial infarction. And the data is there in other parts of the world—the United Kingdom recently announced that sixty percent of their COVID-19 deaths were those with disabilities. In Australia, disabled people are five times more likely to die. Unlike the UK and AU, the United States does not collect data the same way it collects data on race or gender identity, meaning the 94% could be a low figure. Unfortunately, the majority of state vaccine rollout plans are based on state data. However, many states do not track numerous underlying conditions and disabilities within their health departments as they do other demographics such as race, age, and gender. But we know now that these are individuals at risk for bad outcomes and death from COVID-19; second to age is an underlying condition and disability such as developmental disabilities. To make matters worse, “disability activists, chronic illness advocates, and people with disabilities and underlying conditions have pointed to three main failures in inequitable vaccine rollouts: eligibility lists that do not include all those who are considered high risk; states that have not prioritized people with disabilities; and websites or vaccination sites that are not accessible, as author Cecilia Nowell wrote in her article "This women-made tool could help get more disabled people vaccinated" in The Lily. We implore the National Governors Association to re-prioritize those in thirty states who are vulnerable and have a disability. We demand vulnerable and disabled people are included in phase 1C of ALL states' vaccine rollouts, that vaccine sign-up and sites are accessible, and that states provide a choice of vaccines to those with conditions or disabilities who require choice due to their unique medical needs. Sign our petition to tell the National Governors Association to stop ignoring the vulnerable and disabled Americans and demand equity in COVID-19 state public health plans. Re-prioritize them for vaccination in the thirty states that have de-prioritized them by including them in Phase 1C. We will update you on our upcoming letter to the National Governors Association that will include this petition and other actions you can take as the campaign develops. Please stay tuned. Sincerely, Vulnerable Advocates Collective https://bit.ly/vacpact The Vulnerable Advocates Collective, or VAC Pact, is a group of activists dedicated to amplifying the voices of the vulnerable people and disabled people erased from the equity conversation. Full Plain Text Petition with Works Cited: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bma65ujyZAygUQcJ11ZEtHDi1Soh7Wc9_zKJtmT8J4M/edit?usp=sharing