Building a monstrously large structure* on a modestly appointed block, endangering young children during construction, interfering with the orderly flow of traffic, disruption of the peace, solemnity and mental stability of surrounding homeowners and significant increase in property taxes, is detrimental to the neighborhood and its inhabitants. *The picture shown above is a photoshop representation of what the new structure (on the left) would look like if tearing down the existing structure and building a new one instead of renovating was allowed to occur.

A teen and her mother in Nebraska face criminal charges for allegedly self-managing an abortion, and social media and tech giant Facebook has provided some of the evidence that led to their arrest. Prosecutors have obtained and are using private Facebook messages to demonstrate the teen was seeking pills to end an unwanted pregnancy. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Republicans claimed they weren’t interested in prosecuting people who are or were pregnant, yet local authorities are charging the teen and her mother. And despite Big Tech’s claims to support abortion access, Facebook is helping criminalize these people seeking abortion care—and many more people who want to practice autonomy over their lives or simply seek health care. The fact is that abortion access advocates and privacy experts had been warning us about this—that following the right-wing Supreme Court's overturning of Roe, our digital info could be used by authorities to track our pregnancies, support forced births, and criminalize us. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other tech giants collect endless data, creating digital trails about our health and behavior. And as they've shown, authorities will seek this information out and tech companies will provide it. It’s not enough for them to say they support abortion access, or even that they'll provide staff with resources to seek out abortion care. These companies need to act. - They need to stop collecting and monetizing the data that invades our privacy. - They need to allow users to control and delete their digital identities. - They need to refuse to comply with requests that compromise our health privacy. - And they need to stop backing right-wing politicians who have pushed abortion bans and laws that criminalize pregnant people, their families and their medical providers.

Tangible challenges such as inadequate materials, lack of access to sanitation products and inadequate facilities, coupled with psychological challenges such as the lack of menarche education, fear and cultural stigmatization put secondary school girls and menstruating youth in Nigeria at a disproportionate risk for adverse educational impacts and other negative outcomes.

This is costly not only in the monetary cost, but also in the damage done to our democracy and eroding faith in our elections. Such allegations are leading to violence and further division in our country. This must be stopped.

Republicans, who have won the presidential popular vote only once in the last 34 years, have engaged in a concerted effort to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing extremist judges, who have stripped us of our rights over and over again. And though the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 157 House Republicans voted against it. That’s right: 157 Republicans voted against protecting interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. And ONLY 5 Republicans in the U.S. Senate have publicly said they would vote to pass the bill. It’s unacceptable, but part of the Republican agenda has been to relentlessly attack the LGBTQ+ community. Republicans have not minced words: Florida Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (who is up for re-election in November) said that voting to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage equality was a “stupid waste of time.” And when Indiana Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun was asked if he would be okay with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states, he said “Yes.” It’s disgusting. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, LGBTQ+ couples and families have been anxiously rushing to the courts to get married, completing second parent adoptions with their partners, worrying about whether or not their partners and families will be covered by their health insurance in the future, and so much more to protect their families from these attacks. It’s heartbreaking. No one should have to worry that their rights (that so many have fought and died for) will be stripped away at the hands of corrupt, illegitimate, and unelected Supreme Court justices that do not represent the people. The U.S. Senate needs to act before it’s too late. It’s time to pass the Respect for Marriage Act to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage NOW.

As Citizens of Cobb County, Georgia, we are horrified and alarmed by the increase of deadly shootings involving assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in our society. These deadly weapons have been used by individuals to ambush people, including children, causing death and severe injury to large numbers of victims in mere moments. The ammunition for assault weapons shred human flesh and decimate bodies beyond recognition. These weapons of war and mass destruction should not be available to purchase. Retailers have the power to decide what merchandise they sell. They do not have to include assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in their product offerings to be successful, profitable operations. THUS, WE REQUEST THAT ALL RETAILERS IN COBB COUNTY IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY STOP SELLING ASSAULT WEAPONS AND HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES

Amazon wishes it could bury this headline: Their warehouses are being investigated by OSHA for workplace injuries.1 That’s because Amazon’s productivity quotas push workers past the limits of their bodies and their health. While this OSHA investigation could reveal damning evidence about how dangerous Amazon warehouse jobs are, Congress can act now to protect Amazon warehouse workers. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass legislation to protect Amazon warehouse workers from abusive productivity quotas! Workplace accidents and even deaths have been a problem at Amazon warehouses for years. So much so that in 2019 the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health named Amazon warehouses as one of the most dangerous jobs in America.2 Amazon’s obsession with placing speed above safety leads to 80% more serious workplace injuries at Amazon warehouses than non-Amazon warehouses.3 They use productivity algorithms called “Rate” and “ToT” (Time off Task) to keep a constant eye on their warehouse workers’ every movement, pushing them to go faster and faster, and even punishing them for taking bathroom breaks. This could be just the tip of the iceberg. The OSHA investigation into workplace injuries could reveal an even clearer picture of how Amazon abuses its workers for the sake of speedy delivery. But we don’t have to wait for an OSHA report to do something to protect Amazon warehouse workers. We can pressure Congress to act now and pass legislation to get rid of abusive productivity quotas at Amazon warehouses. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass legislation to protect Amazon warehouse workers from abusive productivity quotas! Sources: 1. CNBC, “Amazon faces probe by federal prosecutors and OSHA into warehouse safety,” July 18, 2022. 2. National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, “Dirty Dozen 2019,” April 22, 2019. 3. CNBC, “Amazon warehouse workers injured at higher rates than those at rival companies, study finds,” June 1, 2021.

The real estate developers are a powerful force in NYC, but the people of Brooklyn don't back down in the face of a threat to our communities.

We are partnering with other organizations across the country to gather signatures on this petition started by Greenpeace. Please add your name to this petition to send the strongest possible message to President Biden. The climate crisis is already changing life as we know it. Devastating climate impacts are displacing millions of people each year. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry continues to extract from public lands and exploit communities of color for profit. Declaring a Climate Emergency would be the beginning of the end to the era of fossil fuels and climate destruction. By using his executive powers, President Biden can repair the harm caused by environmental racism and deliver good-paying union jobs, justice, and clean energy for all. Families from Washington state to Florida are already starting to feel the severity of the climate crisis. In the United States and around the world, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor people are the first to feel the impacts of fossil fuel extraction and predatory exploitation. By declaring a Climate Emergency, President Biden can begin to utilize the “whole-of-government approach” to begin solving the biggest existential threat that we have ever faced.

“Keep negotiating, Chuck!” That was the call of the 17 Congressional staffers who occupied Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office Monday to demand he reopen climate negotiations. “We refuse to be complicit in the enormous suffering and devastation around the world that will result from not passing climate justice policy this year,” the protesting staffers said in a statement. Senator Joe Manchin has repeatedly sabotaged President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda — but Democratic leadership must refuse Manchin’s ultimatum. Democrats must exercise their power! The Senate must pass sweeping climate legislation; and President Biden must declare a national climate emergency! The Senate must pass climate legislation that accomplishes the original goals of Build Back Better: substantive investments in renewable energy and building communities resilient to climate change. Furthermore, President Biden must use the powers conferred by declaring a national climate emergency to take the following steps towards securing a livable future: - Stop leasing public lands for fossil fuel production - Stop issuing drilling permits - Strengthen standards for water and air pollutants, especially carbon dioxide and methane - Direct the EPA to designate greenhouse pollutants as criteria air pollutants and set a science-based national pollution cap under the Clean Air Act.

Congress is finally set to pass historic legislation regulating the Big Tech monopolies — but Amazon, Facebook, and the other Big Tech companies are fighting the bills with all they’ve got. That includes Facebook’s multi-million dollar campaign spreading the lie that regular people oppose regulating Big Tech. The truth is that small businesses by and large support laws to protect them from platform monopolies — just ask Alexa. Advocacy group Accountable Tech asked Amazon’s Alexa what she thought about one of Big Tech’s favorite fibs: that the bills will hurt small businesses. Q: Hey Alexa. Will these new bipartisan antitrust bills in Congress hurt small businesses? A: No. These bills will actually spur competition by prohibiting Big Tech monopolies like Amazon from elevating their own products in their search results. These bills would level the playing field for small businesses. Even Amazon’s own AI can see through Big Tech’s misinformation. But Senate leader Chuck Schumer is delaying the vote, even though it has the votes to pass. We need them to pass tech antitrust legislation — immediately. Congress must take on the power of big tech!

Biden has been making alarming compromises with his federal judge appointments recently— like cutting a back-channel deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and nominating Chad Meredith, an anti-choice member of the Koch-brothers funded Federalist Society, to a Kentucky federal judgeship. President Biden’s decision to put forth an anti-abortion judge in the wake of the Dobbs ruling is indefensible. As progressive advocacy group Indivisible said in a statement, “Republicans have already stacked the federal judiciary with far-right partisans — we don’t need Democrats helping them do it.” President Biden must pick up the pace on nominating federal judges. With a Supreme Court consistently tearing down our fundamental rights, the federal courts are one of our few available protections. August recess is right around the corner. President Biden must make nominating federal judges a top priority in the next two weeks—and the Senate must swiftly confirm these nominees.