Solitary confinement affects inmates in these three ways 1. Psychological -Inmates often experience a sense of “isolation panic” when initially put into solitary confinement -Those in solitary confinement often suffer from: depression, anxiety, psychosis and suicidal ideation -Those who have a history regarding mental health experience worsened state -The suicide rate amongst former inmates is highest among those who were in solitary confinement 2. Physical -exposure outside and amongst others is vital for “normal” brain function -lack of sensory exposure also leads to quickening memory loss -issues with long distance eyesight -Vitamin D deficiency increases risk for bone breaks and fractures 3. Societal -there is no treatment when released for trauma or solitary confinement -”Do we want people to come out better or worse than they went in” Also, Inmates that are assigned to solitary confinement during their incarceration are 3.2 times as likely to commit an act of self-harm as opposed to those who did not experience solitary confinement. Inmates that experienced solitary confinement were 2.1 times more likely to commit acts of self-harm during solitary confinement as well as 6.6 times more likely to commit acts of self-harm once outside of solitary confinement compared to inmates that never experienced solitary confinement. This study shows that Serious Mental Illness coupled with solitary confinement lead to the highest rates of potentially fatal self-harm. Solitary confinement, age, and serious mental illness overlaps showed that younger inmates were more likely to experience less lethal acts of self-harm, whereas older inmates were likely to commit more lethal acts of self-harm. Knowing this information is a clear indication of a human rights violation and we should stand to correct that. Please sign the petition in solitary to show Gov. Parson that the citizens of Missouri stand in solidarity to put human rights first.

INDICTING THESE INDIVIDUALS IS ONLY FAIR! COMMIT THE CRIME, DO THE TIME! By NOT acting, & indicting them, YOU ARE ENABLING THEM, TOO! By your inaction, you are normalizing terroristic behavior from our elected public officials. Congress has ways to deal with traitors amongst their ranks. THERE ARE LAWS TO DEAL WITH THEM! USE THEM!!!!!! CENSURE THEM! WRITE RESOLUTIONS TO EXPEL THEM! DEMOCRATS, CALL FOR THEM ALL TO BE EXPELLED! DO YOUR JOB TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC FROM FUTURE DOMESTIC ENEMIES. You took the oath, to protect us from enemies, foreign & domestic. HONOR YOUR OATH! If you DON'T indict them, they are emboldened to continue lying to the public, inciting continued violence from their supporters, & not only obstructing a Democratic agenda, but still in office, pressing for their abysmal agenda, which persecutes women, children & families across the nation. Furthermore, since they're not charged with insurrection, they can run for re-election, no problem! And continue terrorizing the country! WE CALL ON CONGRESS & WHITE HOUSE & DOJ TO DO YER JOB!!! CENSURE, CHARGE, REMOVE THESE TRAITORS FROM OFFICE, & BAR THEM FROM FUTURE ELECTIONS. I personally urge all of you to DESIGNATE THE GOP AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATION! Although this sounds fair to me, probably most Americans would not agree with this measure - yet.

Our nation, our state, and our city have a crime and incarceration problem. The US incarcerates a higher fraction of our population than any other country of the world. Yet, this incarceration practice is expensive, traumatizing, and ineffective. For example, the re-arrest and re-incarceration rate (recidivism rate) is extremely high at 70 to 80 %. The underlying cause of this cycle of crime is the epidemic of trauma. More than 2/3 of us have experienced trauma, and research shows that trauma heightens our fight, flight, and freeze responses, leading to more crime and trauma. We need trauma-informed justice. This is why Connection First has developed the Connection First Restorative Justice Program (Plan). What is RJ? It is an evidence-based framework that helps to heal the societal wounds of trauma. RJ brings together those that caused the harm with those who received the harm to ask: What happened? Who was impacted? What needs were not being met during the harm? How can the harm be repaired? How can we avoid future harm? Connection First has partnered with law enforcement, the public defender, and state attorney to develop an RJ program for Leon County and Tallahassee. For more information, visit our website at https://www.connectionfirst.org, or watch this youtube video: https://youtu.be/c2UcW9fzac4 Along with law enforcement and the judicial system, citizens share in the responsibility of maintaining safety and peace. To this end, Connection First proposes to split the funding in three ways: 1/3 from the county, 1/3 from the city, and 1/3 raised by citizens. This division will ensure that no one entity has sole power over the RJ process.

Our purpose is to inform and to promote social change within our education system. We want to focus on the structure first, where the students develop and learn different behaviors and attitudes. This is a vulnerable and important time for students so, we want to advocate for better staff development and implementation of non discriminatory practice in schools. We are advocating towards mental health and trauma-informed practices to be put into schools nationwide. The students need support, not to be reprimanded unfairly with punishment.

Calvin University cannot fire Professor Kuilema over his support for marginalized communities. Professor Kuilema has shown time and time again that he is an excellent faculty member by caring for his students, and teaching them to think critically about the world around them. To fail to reappoint Professor Kuilema over his involvement in a queer wedding would be unfair and unjust to not only him, but the Calvin University community as a whole. This petition was created by Calvin University alum, Nicole Sweda, and current Calvin University student, Isaac Seiler.

For many trans and non-binary students, being forced to use a labeled, gendered restroom is extremely uncomfortable. We should not have to experience any more struggle or discomfort than our cisgender peers. Gender-neutral restrooms should be accessible and available to students without them having to ask to use a staff restroom or be forced to one or two options that are often far away from classes.

Over the last two years, since the pandemic began, America’s roughly 700 billionaires grew their fortunes by $1.7 trillion, or 57%. They are now worth a collective $4.6 trillion―one-third more than the bottom half of American society. A billionaires income tax proposed by President Biden in his newly unveiled budget and also by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), would tax billionaires’ wealth gains each year, just like workers’ wages are taxed each year. The President’s plan would raise at least $360 billion and Sen. Wyden’s plan would raise at least $550 billion. This new revenue would help working families afford healthcare, childcare, eldercare, education, housing and more.

Damning new reports show that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has concealed decades of expensive gifts he received from billionaire Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. These new revelations add a new level of corruption to Thomas's profile. We already knew that Thomas has abused his position—from refusing to recuse himself from cases regarding his wife's involvement in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election to crusading on behalf of his right-wing allies to overturn abortion access and so much more. It has become clear that his wife—longtime conservative activist Ginni Thomas—was actively urging the White House to overturn election results both leading up to January 6 and after the deadly insurrection. Thomas' failure to recuse himself from cases about January 6 warrants immediate investigation and heightened alarm. And it's only the latest in a long history of conflicts of interest in the service of a right-wing agenda and mixing his powerful role with his conservative political activism. He has shown he cannot be an impartial justice and is more concerned with covering up his wife's coup attempts than the health of the Supreme Court. Thomas—who sided with the majority on overturning Roe and removing nationwide legal protections for abortions—made it clear in that ruling what the right-wing court could do next: overturn high court rulings that establish gay rights and contraception rights. And while he carries this right-wing agenda, he accepts hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from a right-wing megadonors.   Ever since his confirmation hearings more than 30 years ago, the public has questioned Thomas's ethics and behavior. His abuse of power, his conflicts of interest, and his secrecy about his financial and political ties make him unfit to serve. He must resign—or Congress must immediately investigate and impeach.

Absent peace in Ukraine, our countries face escalating confrontation, with grievous additional harm to its population and great risk to the world. Peace requires courageous mold breaking cooperation and reciprocity between Russia and the US in accord with the interests of the government and people of Ukraine. Nuclear plants, humanitarian corridors and safe zones must be secured immediately by UN peace keepers. Following a cease fire, President Putin must withdraw with dispatch all Russian forces from Ukraine. President Biden can create an atmosphere for peace by declaring that the US does not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO and stationing of weapons with offensive potential. Following the precedent of the global solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Biden should end the US embargo and other regime change actions in Cuba just as President Putin abandons such pressure and aspirations for Ukraine. Russia should end its claim to the Donbas and the US should return the land of the Guantanamo base and prison to Cuba. Secretary of State Blinken’s worthy sentiments apply as much to the US with Cuba and Venezuela as they do to Russia with Ukraine and Georgia: "the principle that one country can’t dictate to another the choices that its citizens would make about their future; the principle that we’re past the time of spheres of influence where one country subjugates its neighbors to its will. *********************************** The Mariupole Theater pictured above is reported to have sheltered at least 500 civilians and been visibly marked "children". It was attacked on the 54th anniversary of the My Lai Massacre. Local authorities say over 300 people died in the theater; 504 were killed in My Lai. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/25/ukraine-russia-war-mariupol-theater-death-toll/ *********************************** Additional background on the Ukraine-Cuba link is here https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2022/02/cuba-and-ukraine-personal-reflections.html

These policies and practices include: (1) Calvin University prohibits staff and faculty members from being in queer relationships through an unclear and dated rule. Calvin University sees “sexual relations” as only being permissible in the context of marriage which they define as only being between “a man and a woman”. A sexual relationship outside of this traditional marriage is not recognized by Calvin University as being a legitimate marriage. Therefore any staff or faculty members in queer relationships and/or marriages will be terminated on the grounds that they are committing “sexual misconduct”. (2) Calvin University consistently lacks adequate support for their LGBTQ+ students and is not transparent about a lack of supports when recruiting LGBTQ+ students to attend the school. Calvin University publicly brands themself as a Christian university that provides more support and safety for LGBTQ+ students in comparison to other, “more conservative” Christian universities. They do this by publicly advertising the supports the school offers for LGBTQ+ students such as a peer support group - Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA), a therapy group through Calvin’s Center for Counseling and Wellness - Without Shame, and a Sexuality Series Director, a position that has not been filled at a full-time capacity in several years, making it ill-equipped to support LGBTQ+ students and their needs. (3) Calvin University does not allow LGBTQ+ students to enter certain leadership positions at the university if they are in “same-sex relationships”. The positions include most notably being a resident assistant in university dorms, but this is not the only leadership position LGBTQ+ students are barred from. (4) Calvin University refuses to allow staff and faculty allies to publicly advocate for LGBTQ+ rights without repercussions and consequences to their careers at Calvin University (denying tenure, reappointment, etc.). Calvin University’s discriminatory policies and practices: (1) Create a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people in the Calvin University community, including LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, students, allies, and potential candidates for hire. (2) Directly harm LGBTQ+ people and their allies in the Calvin community by ending the careers of LGBTQ+ staff and faculty. (3) Jeopardize the careers of allies who affirm and seek justice for LGBTQ+ folks in the Calvin community and elsewhere. These policies fuel anxiety, a fear of speaking up, and uncertainty among Calvin faculty and staff. Some faculty and staff have seen their LGBTQ+ colleagues leave or be dismissed from the Calvin community, but they cannot speak up about it for fear of jeopardizing their careers. (4) Increase feelings of shame among LGBTQ+ people across the Calvin community. Calvin University’s partial affirmation of LGBTQ+ identities but not relationships, leaves many LGBTQ+ folks at Calvin feeling ashamed of themselves, isolated, lonely, and wrong. It furthermore may intensify mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. (5) Create a toxic culture where LGBTQ+ people and their rights are debated across campus – dehumanizing LGBTQ+ people into an issue and invalidating their worth as people. (6) Bar the majority of LGBTQ+ people, including Calvin alumni, from working at the university – effectively limiting any diversity in gender identity or sexual orientation in the staff/faculty makeup at the school. This lack of diversity limits the work and perspectives that Calvin University has. It also sends the message that no matter what gifts and great contributions a person has or may offer Calvin University, their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, bars any contribution to the institution. Calvin University must STOP their discriminatory policies now! They must stop harming, silencing, and traumatizing LGBTQ+ people and their allies. This petition was created by Calvin Alumni Lindsay Owens and Grace Swanson.

The FIRST robotics programs have long been a safe haven for students who don't fit anywhere else. They also seek to deliberately increase the diversity in the STEM workforce, believing that more voices lead to better and stronger technical solutions. This is a moment for FIRST to stand behind their Youth Protection Program and their Diversity and Inclusion policies to ensure that transgender youth in Texas or visiting Texas feel safe to participate in this valuable program.

To address the health hazards, and environmental concerns, social and environmental injustice to the Wai'anae community. To make right what has been wrong for so long for our Kupunas and future generations to come.