Most people think sending money to a friend or family member in need is a personal matter, but ICE disagrees. We just found out that ICE has been collecting personal financial data on millions of people who use money transfer services like Western Union.1 ICE can use this data to try to target immigrants who send money back to their families, and potentially deport them. The federal government should never be in the business of spying on people who are just trying to financially help their friends and family. Sign the petition: Tell Congress and President Biden to ban ICE surveillance of money orders and cash transfers! For millions of people in California, Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas, who recently used a money order service, like Western Union, their personal information and the personal information of the person they sent money to likely ended up in a database without them even knowing – a database that is shared with ICE and other law enforcement agencies. Since 2019, ICE used administrative subpoenas to money order and cash transfer companies like Western Union to collect sender and recipient names and addresses. This essentially criminalizes people for not having bank accounts, and specifically targets immigrant communities of all kinds for the commonplace practice of sending remittances back to family members. Once Senator Wyden started asking questions about the program, ICE shut it down.2 That’s because ICE has gotten so out of control that they don’t stop to question whether their actions are legal or not – they’re just out to hunt down, detain, and deport as many immigrants as they can. This has to stop. ICE has consistently proved that they will abuse any amount of power given to them. That’s why Congress and President Biden need to act now to specifically and permanently ban ICE from spying on people’s private financial data. Sign the petition: Tell Congress and President Biden to ban ICE surveillance of money orders and cash transfers! Sources: 1. Buzzfeed, “ICE Conducted Sweeping Surveillance Of Money Transfers Sent To And From The US, A Senator Says,” March 8, 2022. 2. Ibid.

Even as the price of gas per barrel is well below recent records, gas prices remain high.1 That’s because oil and gas companies are gouging consumers, and taking advantage of the war in Ukraine to rake in as much profit as possible. Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that cuts to the heart of the problem: corporate profiteering. The Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax will stop price gouging at the pumps by forcing oil and gas companies to share their recording-breaking profits with consumers.2 This can’t wait, tell your elected officials to pass this bill and stop gas price gouging. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to tax oil and gas companies and stop price gouging at the pumps! Senator Elizabeth Warren’s bill would take on price gouging. The Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax would tax the big oil companies and also go a step further: by using that revenue to give Americans a rebate to offset how much soaring gas prices hit people’s pocketbooks. If oil and gas companies had their way, every major news event would trigger unnecessary gas price hikes at the pumps, and squeeze new record profits out of the hands of everyday Americans. We have to put a stop to this. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to tax oil and gas companies and stop price gouging at the pumps! Sources: 1. Newsweek, “Oil Prices Are Dropping — Will Gas Prices Go Down, Too?,” March 14, 2022. 2. Truthout, “Warren Says Democrats Are Working on a Bill to Tax Big Oil’s Windfall Profits,” March 9, 2022.

The United Farm Workers elected farm worker leadership requested to meet with Gov. Newsom on Cesar Chavez Day. The Governor has chosen to not meet with farm workers elected by their peers. Farm workers are speaking up. A worker delegation will go to Sacramento to meet with the state Latino Caucus on March 31. Support them by signing their petition today. Farm workers will make it clear to CA's Gov. Newsom that a living legacy to Cesar is not just proclamations and holidays. It's meeting with those most impacted when making public policy decisions. It's taking decisive steps to make real change. Last year Gov. Newsom vetoed their landmark bill which would have granted farm workers the same voting options California voters have enjoyed for years. These are the same voting choices that Governor Newsom used to defeat the Republican recall in 2021, including giving people the option of casting ballots in the comfort and security of their own homes. His veto came despite huge support for the bill in both state houses. The 50 billion dollar agricultural industry has strong opposition to the bill. Farm worker Francisco Naranjo organized support for the bill last year. He is committed to making this law happen saying, "Without this law farm workers don't have a fighting chance. Growers will continue to manipulate the process and intimidate us to take away our voice. Being allowed the privilege to vote offsite would allow farm workers to make their own decision and vote for a union with its benefits without supervisors' interference." Farm workers ask people to listen to them, to join in conversation, and to help their voices be heard by those in power. Sign the petition asking Governor Newsom to sign the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act.

This is a significant step to protect our health and our children.

The CannaJustice Coalition leading this work in VA is proudly partnering with Minorities for Medical Marijuana and Morring Law firm here in the Commonwealth to push this message forward. Legalization can be a way to dismantle the War on Drugs or re-activate it. As the number four reason for deportation and the reason why many are barred from housing, education and employment, we must legislate legalization that makes the public feel safe, and ensure police are not targeting them for a legal substance. As of August 31, 2021, the state is responsible for incarcerating 570 people for 599 marijuana-related offenses. There are 229 people incarcerated with a non-drug related Most Serious Offense (MSO), 331 people incarcerated with Drug Sales MSO and 10 people incarcerated with Drug Possession MSO with their families sooner. There are even more of our loved ones on community supervision due to marijuana that need to be set free from surveillance. Cannabis expert, Shaleen Title, explains that this a crucial and vulnerable moment for the future of the cannabis market. While states are making historic progress creating paths for small businesses and disenfranchised groups, larger companies are expanding, consolidating, and lobbying for licensing rules to create or maintain oligopolies. Federal legalization will only accelerate the power grab already happening with new, larger conglomerates openly expressing interest. Left unchecked, this scramble for market share threatens to undermine public health and safety and undo bold state-level efforts to build an equitable cannabis marketplace and reduce the impact of disproportionate policing. Virginia must recognize our role in protecting our people but also our place in the federal legalization conversation that stands up to exploitative businesses and demands an equitable return for those impacted by the racist War on Drugs.

Wolves are key apex predators for balanced ecology of wild lands. Yellowstone Park in 1960s is a good example of what will happen to wild land when wolves are absent, total collapse of ecology, no animals or vegetation. Without sufficient healthy wild land, our future generation will not even have clean water to survive. Hence the Federal government's project Conservation Atlas. You cannot conserve healthy wild land without having healthy numbers of wolves. Killing them must stop NOW. Protect them now, they will repay us in tenfold.

Collectively we can make changes for the betterment of our youth and the communities through work release, education, innovation and hard work.

We're not safe unless we're all safe. Child protective services operates as a kidnapping gang who takes children from safe and loving home. If we don't stand together, united, the government will continue to take our children.

When we took the space at 2 Berry, an abandoned warehouse with no power or water, in 2015 I had a handshake agreement with my landlord for use of the outside on North 14th for a patio. For 4 years our landlord never allowed us to use it as he rented the wall to Seen Media for advertising, making over $50,000 a year off it by 2019. After threatening legal action we finally wrestled it away, and put in our patio. Now, the landlord would like to put in a billboard on our roof. Apart from the massive disruption to our business, and possible damage to an already neglected roof that has numerous leaks and massive structural damage, the added revenue stream for our landlord will mean small business like us will never be able to renew leases. The city needs to address the use of empty commercial spaces for advertising immediately. If a landlord can make $100,000 a year off of a 1600 sq foot commercial lot they will never have incentive to fill those spaces and will leave them empty for years and years waiting for a multi-chain retail or bank to come along and pay anything they want. The pandemic cost a lot of small businesses, many shuttered, including 2 of our 3 locations. A positive that came out of it was that for the first time in decades small businesses that survived had bargaining power with landlords and many new exciting restaurants, bars, and storefronts opened but things are not back to how they were. We need to curtail these revenue streams for landlords ASAP or you will see more and more empty storefronts.

In light of rising oil and gas costs due to the war in Ukraine and the hastening of catastrophic climate change, I am asking for you to heed the call of activists in Ukraine and in our Native communities to immediately end America’s reliance on fossil fuels. I urge you to: - Pass President Biden’s climate and clean energy plan immediately: Fully fund weatherization, conservation, and wind and solar programs in the U.S. -Enact a global Marshall Plan to combat climate catastrophe, including using the Defense Production Act to build millions of heat pumps so allies can heat their homes using renewable energy instead of Russian gas by next winter. Finally, the Biden administration must halt the expansion of fracking and drilling permits in the United States. More dirty energy won’t solve our problems. It’s time to accelerate the transition to just, safe, and clean local energy.

The largest oil companies are raking in record profits, in part because they are gouging prices during a time of war and crisis. According to the Guardian, in the third quarter of 2021 alone, 24 top oil and gas companies made more than $74 billion in net income. There is no reason for them to be jacking up prices at the pumps—especially during a time of war that already has the potential to ignite global instability. Congress must do everything in its power to rein in prices–from banning price gouging to investigating pricing schemes to taxing companies for their excessive profits. It’s time to deliver immediate relief to consumers, hold oil companies accountable, and tax them at fair levels. Instead of taking action, Republicans in Congress are working to shield oil executives by supporting Putin and his efforts to disrupt our markets. They continue to put profits and the ultra-wealthy over the needs of Americans. Long term, we need to decrease our dependence on oil and prioritize combating climate change by creating high-paying jobs in renewable energy, as laid out in President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. But right now, we need action to relieve the problem of oil companies choosing to massively increase prices at the expense of people just trying to get by. While other industries are putting Ukrainians ahead of profits, Big Oil must be stopped and held accountable. Add your name if you agree.

From Russia to Saudi Arabia, oil dictators are helping to turn our planet into a giant war zone and climate disaster. But even as the Biden administration works to stop Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. also arms and protects every single oil monarchy across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's monarchy has been America's top weapons customer. Meanwhile, the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have led a brutal war of starvation and bombardment in Yemen. To make matters worse, the Saudi and UAE rulers are literally refusing to take President Biden's phone call. Meanwhile, global gas prices could drive a worldwide recession while these dictators and Western oil companies make a hefty profit. It is time for the U.S. to stop investing in oil dictators who are helping to drive a global climate crisis. President Biden must stop supporting the brutal oil monarchies of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and every other U.S.-backed autocrat across the Middle East. Source: 1. "Saudi, UAE leaders declined calls with Biden amid Ukraine conflict: report," The Hill, March 8, 2022.