This is a real problem, and there are those that do not have the financial means to front costs or pay for the rebuilding of their own home. The contracting industry exploits victims snd the very companies that should be protecting victims of disasters, are part of that exploitative industry. There are victims displaced from their homes because the insurance company doesn’t pay what it actually costs to rebuild. They leave victims to fend for themselves. We need to raise awareness and take a stand for those who can’t or those that don’t even realize they are being done wrong.

There are many stories to tell about December 27, 2021. We can talk about the incredible humans that were lost, those who survived but must heal impossible wounds; and the way that the community rallied in the wake of tragedy. The one story that does not need to be spread or glorified is that of the shooter.

Our constitution states first amendment is a right for freedom of speech. Historians who know their history in context with today’s racist and controversial understanding about the origins of American Slavery and the economic incentives of reconstruction will join me in “Standing Up” for the Truths that our children need to understand to make our society a “better” place to live, work and play. We fight for freedoms and liberties for All people of color.

This is a global movement that is diligently developing and testing income alternatives to have in place before the next crises hits. The Incentive will work for people who are actively pursuing upward mobility to use as they see fit when they have a job & when they don't. The purpose is to increase the economic, value, and the upward mobility of every citizen and become able to actually meet the rising cost of living and business recoupment through direct cash supplements that are not contingent on having employment, nor set according to a stagnant skillset that justifies consigning essential, gig, temporary, blue-collar workers to low wage pay, or an earnings minimum. The Incentive Direct Cash Income Supplement can be combined to your earnings to create a dignified salary to support efforts to remain work ready, and to keep lives intact during the pandemic. The Incentive Direct Cash Income Supplement will benefit citizens by contributing to better mental stability, less depression and stress that would in some cases lead to suicides, drug/alcohol and other addictions and dependencies. Author of Petition Stephanie Taylor Twitter:@TaylorHaasTech

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.

The dress code is sexiest and presents double standards to women! It’s our bodies and we should choose how we get to dress!

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

While Whole Foods billionaires' wealth continues to skyrocket, frontline grocery workers are left to grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks in stores throughout the nation. Why? Because Whole Foods doesn’t provide the paid leave employees need to stay safe or care for their families—forcing them to choose between their paycheck and coming to work if they were exposed to the virus, if they are sick but don’t have access to a test, or leaving a loved one who needs care alone at home. Whole Foods can afford to do better. The grocery store chain and its parent company, Amazon, are raking in profits during the pandemic. To slow the spread of the virus among Whole Foods employees and customers, CEO John Mackey needs to immediately institute a permanent comprehensive paid leave policy. That includes guaranteed paid sick time, paid family and medical leave, and paid time off to be vaccinated.

Agriculture Committee Members, I oppose bill A04611. This bill has broad sweeping negative impacts on many animal interest groups including farmers, bird breeders, reptile keepers, mammal breeders, and more. New York Assembly Bill 4611 (A04611) was introduced on February 4. This bill seeks to ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. This included shipments within, into and from the state (both import and export). Per the bill, shipping via any “mail carrier” will be banned so that includes the commonly utilized overnight services from major carriers such as FedEx and UPS (for verified shippers). A04611 was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Fines can be $1,000 per violation. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill and she sits on the assigned Agriculture Committee. The Committee members must be made aware of the broad sweeping repercussions of this bill and informed of the many shipping regulations, restrictions, and safeguards already in place. Please allow me to inform you regarding the many regulations already in place to protect animals. Stringent policies are already in place by shipping companies, as well as various federal and state animal welfare laws. First, mail carriers already prohibit the shipment of many animals. The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the shipping of mammals, most birds, turtles, and snakes. The United Parcel Service (UPS) does not allow shipments of mammals, birds, or snakes. Other companies have various restrictions and certifications. For example, FedEx requires that you have a Live Reptile Certification in order to ship live reptiles. If a carrier does allow for the shipment of certain live animals, there are stringent policies and laws in place. These include but are not limited to: Containers must meet construction standards; Proper ventilation; Veterinary health certificates and inspections; Use of heat/cold packs during certain weather conditions; International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards; International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) standards; Labeling requirements; Internal packaging requirements; The federal Lacey Act. Not only are all of these regulations already in place, but shipments are required to be done as timely as possible. When reptiles are shipped, they are delivered to the carrier or picked up late in the day and then delivered early the following day. The travel time is always less than 24 hours, and typically closer to 12 hours. Animals also are not shipped during temperature extremes as various thresholds for animal safety are applicable (too hot/too cold). The shipping of live animals is a serious matter, is not unregulated, and is not taken lightly by either the shippers or the carriers. For those who do ship animals, protections and safeguards for those animals are numerous. I hope you oppose and stop A04611. It is a misguided bill attempting to fix a problem that does not exist due to so many protections already existing. A04611 is bad for New York, the residents, and the animals. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Have a good day. Bill Text February 4, 2021 Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohibiting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 382 to read as follows: 3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1. 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to 5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within 6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside 7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall 8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean 9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service 10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall 11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in 12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo- 13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to 14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal 15 service or other mail carrier. 16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty 17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed 18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for 19 mailing. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately Sincerely,

A 16-year-old girl working on palm oil plantations in Indonesia told the Associated Press that her boss took her to a remote part of the estate and suddenly grabbed her arm and started pawing her breasts, throwing her to the jungle floor. Then he held the ax to her throat, spit on her, and raped her. “He threatened to kill me,” she said softly. “He threatened to kill my whole family.” This story is just one of many -- women working on palm oil plantations are enduring horrific working conditions: From free labor to exposure to toxic pesticides to rape. And Procter & Gamble, like many other beauty brands, have blood on their hands as they source from producers that operate like modern-day slavery. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) investigations found that labor abuses regularly occur even on plantations that supply mills bearing the green palm stamp for sustainable palm oil. Procter & Gamble is one of the world’s biggest palm oil users, and despite year after year of its palm oil suppliers being exposed for labor abuses, it has failed to ensure palm oil workers are protected. We ask P&G to: 1) Enforce and monitor the worker protection standards for all its palm oil suppliers 2) Apply full transparency and proof that workers rights are being respected instead of relying on inadequate; certification schemes and allowing offenders to hide from public scrutiny If we expose a global giant like Procter & Gamble and make them shift big time, it will send ripple effects through the industry and all the others might follow suit.

Many US families still have significant savings in our accounts and have our Dependent Care facilities closed due to Covid 19. I would hate to see our hard earned savings go to waste due to a March 15th deadline. I know I'm not alone. This simple change could help a lot of families once Dependent Care facilities are safe to open and keep our children safe again.

For all rapes reported to police, only 34.5% are cleared by arrest, and even fewer actually lead to convictions. This is an alarming number given the fact that approximately 20% of women in the U.S. have experienced an attempted, or completed rape in her lifetime. According to aggregate data, for every 1,000 rapes, nearly 38.4% are reported to police, and only 7 result in a felony conviction. Given the disparity between the occurrence of rape, and the number of rape cases that result in conviction, it is apparent the system is inadequate at providing justice for victims. While the numbers are vague, experts estimate 200,000, or more rape kits are lying, unsubmitted in police departments all over the U.S. According to the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidency Policy and Funding Committee, there are 6,000 untested kits in Maryland. Not only does this impede the justice system’s ability to prosecute offenders, but it leaves victims tragically unvindicated. By these rape kits going untested, rapists remain free and justice is not sought out. Legislation will allow for offenders, especially serial rapists, to be arrested and convicted, giving survivors the justice they deserve. With this legislation in place, Maryland will be able to do our part in ending the backlog of rape kits. For too long, the voices of the raped and assaulted have been silenced by being relegated to the back of an evidence room.