Serial liar George Santos has just been charged with 10 new counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft, and falsifying campaign finance records. The Justice Department already indicted him on 13 other counts – including embezzling donor money from his campaign, money laundering, and lying to the House of Representatives. George Santos misled and lied to hundreds of thousands of voters about his identity, his finances, and what he was doing with their money – deceiving every one of his constituents to gain power. And once he got to Congress, he got straight to work undermining the guardrails designed to catch the corruption he was engaging in. His first vote was to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics, and he recently cosponsored the extremist “ACE” Act which would give big money interests more influence in our elections. If we can’t trust him to be honest about who he is, we can’t trust him to serve in Congress and represent our country. George Santos wants a government that’s more corrupt and less accountable – but we can’t allow his deceit and corruption to move our country backwards. Add your name if you agree: Congress must pass the Freedom to Vote Act.

Israel and the Palestinian territories have been engulfed in new levels of horrifying violence. On October 7th, Hamas fighters entered Israel and brutally killed over 1,000 people, most of whom were civilians. In addition, Hamas fighters are now holding as many as 150 Israelis as hostages and prisoners of war. The Israeli military is now bombing the Gaza Strip, a densely populated territory of over 2 million Palestinians, half of whom are children. As of October 12th, Israel has dropped over 6,000 bombs on Gaza and killed over 1,500 Palestinians, including 500 children. The Israeli Minister of Defense has publicly stated that Israel is cutting off food, water, fuel, and electricity to Palestinians in Gaza, creating the conditions for mass starvation and death. But the worst may be yet to come. Following the Israeli military's cutoff of fuel and power to Gaza, Palestinian hospitals are now running out of electricity, and many wounded Palestinians could soon die. The combination of Israeli bombardment, an Israeli ground invasion, and Israel’s intentional mass starvation of Gaza Palestinians could create the conditions for genocide. All of this sits atop a long and ugly history of Israeli apartheid and military occupation, in which Palestinians have been forced for decades, often at gunpoint, to give their homes and land to the Israeli government so that those resources could be given to Jewish Israeli settlers. And in Gaza, Palestinians have been living under a crushing Israeli blockade for years, trapped in what has been described as the world's largest open-air prison. Unfortunately, President Biden offered a blank check of political support for Israel in his speech on October 10th. This comes on top of the billions of dollars in military funding that the U.S. gives Israel every year. President Biden must reverse course and plant the seeds for peace. Otherwise, U.S. foreign policy will help encourage the deaths of thousands of Palestinians – as Israel bombs, invades, and starves the Gaza Strip. We need Biden to support a ceasefire now. Please join us. -------------------------------- SOURCES: “Israel-Hamas war live updates: Gaza Strip residents panic as 1.1 million told to evacuate by Israeli military," Yahoo News, https://news.yahoo.com/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-gaza-conflict-death-toll-185228934.html “Palestinian death toll passes 1,500 – as it happened," The Guardian, October 12, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/oct/12/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-biden-hamas-attack-holocaust-gaza-displaced-palestine#top-of-blog "Gaza 'soon without fuel, medicine and food' - Israel authorities," BBC, October 10, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67051292 “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: A Look Into Decades Of Oppression And Domination,” Amnesty International, accessed October 13, 2023, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/ “Timeline: the humanitarian impact of the Gaza blockade," Oxfam, accessed October 13, 2023, https://www.oxfam.org/en/timeline-humanitarian-impact-gaza-blockade “President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Terrorist Attacks in Israel,” The White House, Oct 10, 2023.

The news over the last few days has been horrifying. Attacks on everyday people are war crimes that have no place in any conflict. Hamas’ deadly attacks against civilians and hostage-taking are unconscionable. A siege of Gaza where millions of people — many of whom are children — are without water, food, or electricity also isn’t justice. The U.S. government has a crucial role to play in what happens next — and our voices can help ensure those efforts focus on preventing further escalation and protecting people’s lives. That’s why I’m calling on you today to urge the Biden administration to do all that it can to prevent further escalation of the crisis and safeguard people’s lives. Will you add your name to the petition now?

Our institutions, and quite frankly, just general normalcy are at stake. Chaos will ensue if MAGA leaders like Jordan or Scalise get picked as Speaker of the House and extremists likeMatt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene will only be emboldened. As the GOP circus continues, the American people are the ones who will continue paying the price for their chaos, as House Republicans continue to avoid governing and advancing progress. Sources: 1. "Freedom Caucus likely to play a bigger role in new GOP-led House. So who are they?" Pew Research Center, January 23, 2023 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/23/freedom-caucus-likely-to-play-a-bigger-role-in-new-gop-led-house-so-who-are-they/ 2. "Jim Jordan's rapid rise has been cheered by Trump and the far right. Could it soon make him speaker?" ABC News, October 16, 2023 https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jim-jordans-rapid-rise-cheered-trump-make-speaker-104002789 3. "Jim Jordan U.S. Representative from Ohio," GLAAD, October 6, 2023 https://glaad.org/gap/jim-jordan/

I've talked with other parents at De Zavala, and I'm not the only one who feels this way. We all believe that our children should get a chance to learn about and respect each other's cultures and histories. We're asking the Fort Worth School District to add an educational Black history program at every school in the district. This would promote diversity, inclusion, and mutual respect among our students.

No one should have to bury their loved ones because of someone else’s lack of concern.

Housing can be a particularly cruel method of racial oppression and Home Owner Associations (HOAs) are often the tool. Green Valley Ranch HOA -- and many other HOAs -- have far too much power over residents and are motivated entirely by profit, often on the backs of low income people of color looking for the American dream of owning their first home. HOAs should never restrict anybody's right to shelter. Nowhere is this more clear than in Denver at the Green Valley Ranch properties. We can stop Green Valley Ranch and other HOAs by joining together and making change on the local, state and national level. The Redress Movement works in deep partnership with local communities to repair the harm caused by intentional policies to segregate communities and we do our work by educating, mobilizing, shifting the narrative, and winning redress victories. Our starting point is housing but we work in solidarity with others who are facing the facts of history, redressing harms of the past, and healing our nation by dismantling the barriers that divide us.

Vaccines don’t just protect you - they protect your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your world.

To help provide improved safety and accountability for users of the multi-use pathways. It can also help with enforcement should the need arise due to collisions.

President Biden has the power to fire Trump-appointed head of the U.S. Postal Service Louis DeJoy, but he still hasn’t done it. Since being put in his role by Trump, DeJoy has been on a crusade to privatize the USPS, slash worker hours and pay, slow down mail delivery, and raise the costs for consumers. So why hasn’t he been fired yet? Sign the petition: President Biden must act and fire Trump crony Louis DeJoy from the USPS. President Biden can fire DeJoy by appointing two new people to the Postal Board of Governors who are committed to a strong USPS, worker safety, effective mail delivery, and firing Trump’s Postmaster General. 1. DeJoy’s tenure has been a disaster for USPS workers. Trump appointed DeJoy in 2018 to oversee privatization of the postal service. Since then, DeJoy has cut postal worker staffing by over 30 million hours just this year, and dramatically reduced wages for two thirds of rural mail carriers. 2. Overworked, underpaid carriers are currently working through record-breaking heat waves, often in trucks that lack air conditioning. Multiple USPS workers have died in the past two years from heat related illness, including one in Texas this summer. 3. Mail prices have gone up, and delivery has slowed down. Service cuts have been felt especially hard in rural and Indigenous communities, where broadband is scarce and for-profit delivery companies often don't provide service. 4. DeJoy has plans to keep cutting the USPS, and to make life more miserable for workers. President Biden must nominate Postal Board of Governors candidates who will fire DeJoy for his failed leadership, and advocate strongly for the expansion of USPS services already authorized by Congress. Add your name: Urge President Biden to fire Trump-appointee Louis DeJoy and save the USPS! Sources: Government Executive, “USPS continues to lose more money than expected,” August 9, 2023. ABC, “Family, friends mourn loss of Dallas USPS mail carrier who died on this route,” July 1, 2023. Vox, “If the US Postal Service fails, rural America will suffer the most,” April 16, 2020. Truthout, “DeJoy’s 10-Year Plan Could Gut USPS. He Doesn’t Want You to Know the Details,” August 7, 2023.

When families expecting a child post to pregnancy websites like BabyCenter, they might not know that ICE is watching them. That’s because ICE contracts a data broker to scrape thousands of social media sites, gaming platforms, and even financial apps like CashApp. Why does ICE need to know when your baby is due, what video games you like to play, or where are you planning your next vacation? ICE doesn’t need this personal information about us, but because there’s a legal loophole, they can and do get access to a lot of our online activity. Congress must act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! ICE can reach into our personal online activity because they don’t do the spying themselves. Instead they contract out shady third party data brokers who do their spying for them and then give them wide access to everything they find. You’ve likely never heard of these companies, but they’ve probably already know a lot about you. For instance, ShadowDragon, the data broker ICE uses that scrapes data from BabyCenter. ShadowDragon doesn’t stop at pregnancy websites. According to their own internal videos and events, they scrape data from all the major social media platforms; gaming platforms like Fortnite, XBOX, and Playstation; review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor; messaging apps like WhatsApp; even financial transaction apps like CashApp. The Fourth Amendment right against illegal government search and seizure needs to apply to the internet. That’s why Congress needs to act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! Sources: 1. 404 Media, “Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players,” September 18, 2023.

This week, Live Nation announced it would stop taking merch cuts at some of its venues. While it’s a start, there are nearly 100 Live Nation venues this does not apply to and many, many more venues nationwide owned and operated by other companies. Every venue and promoter must follow suit. Venues and promoters—often one and the same, given Live Nation’s effective monopoly on the live music industry—do not design, manufacture, ship, transport, load, or unload, and in most cases sell an artist’s or band’s merchandise. Fans are already price-gouged by junk fees on ticket sales. Taking a cut of merchandise sales from artists not only drives up the cost of merchandise for fans, it also creates a situation for musicians where making ends meet is even more difficult in an already predatory industry. These cuts have such a negative impact on some artists, they are forced to consider leaving the industry altogether because they cannot afford to continue with their careers. The fans come to the venues for the artists, not for the venue owner or promoter. They buy merchandise to support the musicians they love, not because they’re fans of a corporation. Their money should go directly, and entirely, to the artists.