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.

Ever since the launch of the Safe Travels program in October 2020, Maui County has been struggling with rising COVID 19 cases endangering the health, safety and economic recovery of the residents and businesses in Maui County. Since December 24, 2020, Maui County has been experiencing the highest per capita case counts in the State. The last few weeks Maui County has also had the highest testing positivity rates in the State. A Special Committee composed of public health experts including local DOH staff and other medical professionals, small business owners, County officials and nonprofit partners could help Maui bring its COVID numbers down, prioritize effective public health and safety expenditures, improve public information and enforcement of mask use and other safety protocols, streamline the vaccination process and accelerate the overall recovery process for the County. Unlike any private COVID task forces convened by the Mayor, a Special COVID19 Committee authorized by the County Council would be an open and transparent policy advisory body that is subject to public meeting and records laws.

This type of racist witch hunt is diametrically opposed to US values and interests: It is unjust, plain and simple, because it targets people based on their ethnicity rather than any evidence of criminal behavior. It validates and exacerbates racist attitudes toward Asian Americans. It undermines the spirit of openness and collegiality that has made US S&T research and development the envy of the world. President Biden: You cannot say you oppose racism toward AAPI people while your Justice Department carries out a national campaign of racial profiling and harassment of AAPI people!

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

The absences of long-term care coverage in Medicare is one of the biggest, and most tragic omissions in the care it pays for. Without this change in Medicare coverage, long-term care recipients and their immediate families are forced to liquidate everything they ever owned to pay for care, until they are so impoverished that they become eligible for Medicaid. Care facilities currently are notoriously fraught with nightmarish inadequacies, as Medicare's own review process, as well as state level reviews, demonstrates, and this is true throughout the US. Making them dependent upon Medicare for funding will impose accountability on them and result not only in more people who need it getting care but in all patients who need such care getting a high standard of care.

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

The single most important thing we can do to move our country forward, the thing on which all other progress in the current Senate depends, is to eliminate the filibuster rule. The Democrats can do this if they act in unison. Therefore it is critical to get Joe Manchin and Kristin Sinema, the only Democrats currently in opposition, to feel the weight of popular support and join their fellow Democrats in making this essential change.

It is important to preserve Democracy and free and fair Elections.

Have you heard of the LGTBQ+ “panic” defense, more commonly called the gay “panic” defense? The LGBTQ+ “panic” defense is a legal defense strategy that puts the blame of a violent act on the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim. When a criminal uses this defense they are stating that the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim explains and excuses their loss of self control and the violent acts that followed, including murder. This legal strategy is usually used to claim one or more of three defenses: Insanity, stating the victim’s orientation or identity caused the defendant to have a nervous breakdown and lash out violently Provocation, stating that the victim made some kind of non-violent sexual advance which provoked a violent response from the defendant Self-defense, stating that the defendant felt physically threatened because of the victim’s orientation or identity This defense strategy is rooted in homophobia and transphobia and when it is allowed in court it sends a message that the lives of LGBTQ+ people are worth less than other lives. The FBI reported that about 1,736 people were victims of hate crimes in 2019 because of their sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. The LGBTQ+ “panic” defense was used as recently as 2018 in Texas to mitigate a murder charge. 12 other states have banned this defense from being allowed in court. This defense strategy has been used in Utah. One example is George Moriarty. Moriarty was drinking with Gary Horning and Leon Dyer when they went on a drive up Ogden Canyon. What happened between the men is still unknown. What is known is that Moriarty was beaten in the car and then shoved down a 140ft embankment. He survived and climbed back up to the road where Horning and Dyer then hit him with the car they were driving. Moriarty was found dead the next day. Dyer and Horning used the gay “panic” defense and were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to up to only 10 years in prison. There is a much longer list of sexual orientation and gender identity-based hate crimes in Utah. To protect the LGBTQ+ community from having crimes against them tried differently in court because of their orientation or identity, we need to ban the use of the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense in Utah. Sign this petition to be sent to the Utah State House and Senate to ban this from ever happening again in Utah courts. Sources: https://lgbtbar.org/programs/advocacy/gay-trans-panic-defense/ https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2019/resource-pages/hate-crime-summary https://www.qsaltlake.com/news/2012/10/01/a-history-of-hate-crimes-in-utah/

Voters elected Democrats to the presidency and to a majority in both houses of Congress, expecting Democrats to deliver real relief for the American people and invest in lifting us all up. That includes increasing the minimum wage to $15/hour—an essential and long-overdue measure that would increase quality of life for tens of millions of people currently working for starvation wages. Republicans stand in opposition to a minimum wage increase, as they always do. But Republicans have shown, again and again, they aren't interested in serious governing or helping deliver for the American people. It's time for Democrats to stop waiting for Republicans—and to stop allowing a minority party to set the agenda in Washington. Democrats have been advised by the Senate parliamentarian they can't include a wage increase in the covid relief bill. They fear that Republicans will use the filibuster—the regular tool of obstructionists who used it to support Jim Crow laws enshrining segregation and inequality and block progress ever since—to block a stand-alone bill. It's time for Democrats to recognize that the American people care about our wages, real relief, investment in jobs and our community—and we don't care about antiquated protocols. Democrats: Deliver the wage increase, however you can. Do it now. Americans are relying on you and will support you if you can deliver on this popular, essential, urgent need.

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.

COVID-19 has devastated Arizonans. Arizona's jobless rate is 7.5%—higher than the national average. 239,000 Arizonans fell behind on rent as of February 2021. Over 1 in 3 have trouble covering basic household expenses. Nearly 700,000 are struggling to keep food on the table. We just passed a devastating milestone as a country: 500,000 Americans dead from COVID. Millions more have experienced deep and lasting health effects from getting the infection. Their lives will never be the same. And we’re still feeling the economic consequences of COVID, as we remain on the brink of massive unemployment and eviction crises. The pandemic is far from over. The economic crisis is ongoing. Sen. Sinema must join the vast majority of Democrats—and Americans overall—who are fully supportive of this COVID relief package.