Representative Lauren Boebert's disgusting, hateful attacks on Representative Ilhan Omar, and on millions of others who practice Islam, must not be tolerated. For a member of Congress to repeatedly and unapologetically use hateful, racist, and Islamophobic tropes to attack a Muslim colleague is deeply dangerous. Rep. Omar and her staff receive threats of violence on a regular basis, fueled by comments like Rep. Boebert’s. This sort of toxic behavior has no place in the halls of Congress, and it diminishes the honor of the institution we serve in. It has no place in our public discourse. It has no place in our society. It has no place in any workplace, period. Republican leadership has refused to act to hold members like Boebert accountable. Minority Leader McCarthy has consistently normalized extremists in his party, like Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have personally attacked Democrats, as well as the seditionists who tried to overturn the results of our free and fair election. It is clear that Democrats must act, because inaction is complicity, and each day that passes without meaningful accountability further endangers the lives of our Muslim colleagues, Muslim staff, and every Muslim who calls this country home. I have worked with my colleagues to introduce a resolution, H. Res. 845 that will hold Rep. Boebert accountable by removing her from her committee assignments. Please join me in asking your representative to co-sponsor this resolution and send a powerful message to every Muslim and every marginalized person who has ever questioned their place in this country or in the halls of power: We see you. You belong. You are powerful. You deserve a life free from fear, and we will hold accountable those who would threaten that freedom. How we respond in moments like these will have a lasting impact, and history will remember us for it.

The Subway restaurant is a favorite of millions of people in many countries, and that is great. Unfortunately, however, Subway is also a major contributor to the plastics pollution that is inflicting harm to countless wildlife around the globe. More specifically, the single-use plastic bags that Subway places its sandwiches in and hands them to all its customers are a major contributing factor to the ever-increasing plastics pollution that is harming wildlife. Here are the mind-boggling statistics: Subway sells over 7,000,000 sandwiches every day of operation, which adds up to over 2.5 billion single-use plastic bags dispensed by Subway into the environment every single year (https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/280957). True, plastic bags are technically recyclable, but hardly any of them get recycled, and thus nearly all of them end up in landfills or float around in the environment, with devastating consequences for wildlife. For example, it is estimated that over a million seabirds alone are killed by plastic pollution each year (UNESCO.org). Of course, Subway is not the only company who dispenses plastic bags into the environment. Unfortunately, there are many companies that do the same. However, we are hoping that Subway will take the lead on this worthwhile goal of ending the practice of dumping hundreds of billions of pieces of plastics into our fragile environment every single year. There are two alternative steps that Subway could take to ameliorate this problem: A) The best alternative would be for Subway to do away with the use of plastic bags all together and instead use paper bags to place its sandwiches in before handing them to the customers. Paper bags may not be as versatile as plastic bags for such uses, but in terms of versatility of use, paper bags represent an acceptable alternative, an alternative for which the benefits to life far outweigh its disadvantage of lesser versatility. Also, although paper bags have a higher initial cost to the environment in the production process than paper bags, there is no arguing that plastics disposed in the environment have a much more harmful effect on wildlife than disposed paper bags. B) Offer Subway customers choices: a) No bag at all (especially for customers who will eat inside Subway restaurants); b) a paper bag; or c) a plastic bag (the currently used one). Currently, Subway restaurants automatically place sandwiches in plastic bags without even asking customers if they want one or not. We hope that if customers are asked and given options other than plastic bags, they will opt for the better alternatives. Let us ask Mr. Chidsey, the CEO of Subway restaurants, to take the minimal steps outlined above and reduce the harm that Subway plastic bags inflict on wildlife. Please take a moment to sign this petition. Thank you!

Every single freedom we have will be taken away, from voting to judicial decisions to the right to protest. The very atrocities we see in other authoritarian countries will become our every day reality. If corruption is left to become normalized and the perpetrators aren't held accountable, common sense shows this will all just get worse.

Books, and especially books with controversial, unpopular and/or unconventional protagonists, are common targets for censorship. This strategy to control thought runs counter to our culture's deeply-held beliefs in the importance of freedom of expression. We strongly support each parent's right and obligation to engage fully in their child's education. However, that right does not extend to dampening the opportunities for new ideas or exploration of cultures, lives, and lifestyles, both villainous and virtuous, in the past, present and future, for other children in our system's schools. Through reading, these imaginary journeys promote empathy, understanding, inspiration and curiosity, all essential traits for healthy adults and a thriving democracy. We applaud our Fairfax County Public School's conclusion that the books in question are "valuable in their potential to reach marginalized youth who may struggle to find relatable literary characters who reflect their personal journeys." We note that, contrary to the public assertions that propelled action by FCPS, no depiction of pedophilia was found by either school committee formed to investigate the allegations that the books were not suitable. It is important that everyone who believes in the the value of diverse ideas, intellectual freedom and curiosity, and the contribution books make to a healthy democracy, reject the notion that censuring books is a pathway to a better future. Please join us in supporting our Fairfax County Public School Board.

Not based in the U.S.? Sign the petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-bravo-cancel-real-housewives-of-dubai/ Andy Cohen announced that the first international city of the Real Housewives franchise will be Dubai, the heart of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is an oppressive monarchy that criminalizes being gay, requires male guardianship permission to marry, and permits marital rape. Sign our petition today and tell Bravo: Cancel Real Housewives of Dubai and demand that Dubai’s dictators end their violations of women’s rights. This is urgent: filming is expected to start soon. Bravo TV and Andy Cohen are providing cover to a UAE dictatorship that hides its brutal reality behind an international image of luxury and glamour. Cohen and Bravo are packaging a nightmare as a fantasy: Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum repeatedly organized the abduction and holding captivity of his adult daughters. And, he consistently threatens his former wife, Princess Haya, who fled from Dubai and was granted refuge in the UK. Dubai’s rulers need to see accountability for their mistreatment of women and LGBTQI+ persons, not a TV show projecting a fantasized image while vulnerable communities in the United Arab Emirates are living a nightmare.

Saudi Arabia already bought billions of dollars’ worth of US weapons when Trump was President. The bombs hollowing out Yemeni towns and throwing over half the Yemeni population into starvation were manufactured here in the US. The war in Yemen won’t end if we keep fueling the fire with US weapons. Thankfully, Bernie Sanders and other senators are trying to block the weapons sale in the Senate. But they need your help and there’s not a lot of time. If you act now and tell your Senate to block the sale, there’s a chance we can stop this $650 million weapons sale in its tracks!

Residents that live in Greenburgh Housing Authority and Greenburgh Heights, LLC complexes have a right to health protection during this pandemic.

The risk of living on an island with very limited medical and veterinary services can be mitigated. Ferry terminal workers must be able to use their discretion to give priority boarding to both people and animals having a medical emergency, including women in labor, without a medical form or a phone call from a physician or veterinarian.

Without informing the public, the County is now preparing for extensive aerial spraying to control cheatgrass on Boulder County Open Space natural lands. We, the residents of Boulder County, don’t want our ecosystems and our communities to be exposed to toxic chemicals. The health of the local ecosystem will not be restored with chemicals. Boulder County Open Space natural lands need forward looking ecological restoration to improve the health of the local ecosystem, increase carbon sequestration, and help mitigate the climate crisis. Such restoration will not come from Boulder County Open Space weed managers who focus on the use of chemicals. Boulder County Commissioners need to seek competent restoration advice from ecologically minded practitioners. The use of chemicals to manage cheatgrass is not consistent with Colorado State recommendations. The State correctly categorizes cheatgrass as a List C species for which the goal “will not be to stop the continued spread of these species but to provide additional education, research, and biological control resources to jurisdictions that choose to require management of List C species”. Aerial spraying is no longer a standard activity for grassland management and requires substantial documentation and explanation for such an extreme action, particularly given the state classification of cheatgrass. While cheatgrass is a local nuisance, there is no evidence that it posses a threat to native species in the Colorado Front Range. *Additional resources* Spray to Play — Article from Boulder Weekly: https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/spray-to-play/ Information about Indaziflam from Beyond Pesticides: https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/Indaziflam%20Fact%20Sheet%202020.pdf Colorado State Weed Management Recommendations: https://ag.colorado.gov/conservation/noxious-weeds/species-id

With a female majority in the New York CIty Council, and with Latino Leadership in high positions on a decline, it is crucial that our City centers a Latina leader in our government to ensure equity, diversity, inclusion, and representation are prioritized.

On the heels of the Rittenhouse verdict, your office sent out a message that we have to fix the justice system in our United States. Here is a concrete way you can send a clear message - free Leonard Peltier #freeleonardpeltier. He has applied for clemency before. Given the justice system in South Dakota, it is unlikely his case for parole will be granted - there is just too much of a two-tier justice system there. I plead a petition to you, President Biden, as the head of our government. I am sharing this petition on MoveOn.org. It is time to release Mr. Peltier. Thank you in advance.

The more parents and school boards are vigorously demanding self-charged school buses the sooner school bus manufacturers would invest in developing and deploying practical proven self-charged electric school buses.