In the spirit of Aloha, we suggest we in Honolulu push our elected officials to give the $25 million in Federal funds allocated for the non-essential Ala Wai bridge to Maui for the reconstruction of Lahaina. The current Ala Wai bridge design is estimated to cost over $60 million and features a culturally insensitive 18-story, lighted, bridge tower with long cables extending across the span destroying the view of Diamond Head. It looks like it belongs in San Francisco instead of Honolulu. And it’s not a critical infrastructure project. Reallocating funds from a non-essential pedestrian/bicycle bridge project to a critical rebuilding project would be a remarkable show of solidarity from Honolulu to Lahina, from Oahu to Maui. We recognize that reprogramming Federal funds is not easy, but Senator Brian Schatz is on the appropriations committee and he and rest of our Congressional delegation have done a good job in getting a large number of members of Congress to visit Lahaina and Kula to see the destruction for themselves. We believe they would be amenable to special legislation for the reprogramming of federal funds, if we in Honolulu are generous enough to recommend this. At the community meeting on the Ala Wai Bridge proposal on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at the Ala Wai Elementary School cafeteria, most in the 100+ audience did not want a pedestrian/bicycle bridge to be built. The most applause in the meeting occurred when the sign “Rebuild Maui, Not the Ala Wai Bridge” was raised. If the Bridge Has to be Built, Build a Modest Bridge BUT, should the decision stand to build another bridge over the Ala Wai with the McCully bridge only 200 yards away and despite the incredible needs of Lahina, the bridge should be modest like the McCully bridge and using as little funds as possible with the caveat that unspent federal funds will be given to Lahaina. Costs over $25 million are to be paid by the Honolulu/Oahu taxpayers, all the more reason to have a modest bridge. If one wanted to add decoration, certainly there are remarkable designs from the Hawaiian culture that could be added and/or painted onto a modest bridge. Even with a modest bridge, we must recognize that the people who use the Ala Wai park and gardens will be deeply affected. The bridge would displace a canoe club which houses a historic koa wood canoe. Public parking for those families who use the soccer, baseball and basketball facilities and the community gardens will be disrupted and probably taken away by the years of bridge construction. The proposed, very expensive “spectacular” 18 story steel cable bridge would be an affront to the culture of Hawai’i. It will block the view of the canal and Diamond Head from as far up the Ala Wai as the Hawaii Convention Center. It will have nighttime lighting on it that will be shining into apartments on both sides of the Ala Wai. It will be a magnet for youth who will figure out ways to make the long steel strands into a zipline challenge. According to City of Honolulu’s description, “The bridge’s asymmetrical design in plan and elevation has elements intended to be an abstraction of local inspirations such as fishing nets, waterfalls, and traditional musical instruments.” But it would take a miracle of imagination to figure out how this description has anything to do with the tower and steel cables. Recognizing the history of construction projects in Hawaii, we know the disruption of life on the Ala Wai will last for many years, much longer than any timeline of project completion that the authorities will publicize. We on Oahu have a unique opportunity to practice Aloha to our neighbor island that is suffering so much. In the spirit of Aloha, we hope a decision to offer the $25 million Ala Wai Bridge project federal funding to Lahaina is considered immediately by our elected officials. Please tweet the Mayor of Honolulu and City Council chair, the Hawaii Congressional delegation and the Governor of Hawaii with a link to this petition. https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/give-honolulu-s-25-million-ala-wai-bridge-federal-funds-to-lahina-forrebuilding @MayorRickHNL; @HonoluluGov; @bissenmovement; @GovJoshGreenMD; @SenBrianSchatz; @SenMazieHirono; @RepJillTokuda; @RepEdCase

As DC Mayor Muriel Bowser stated: "Even though we’re bigger by population than two states and pay more per capita than any state; we pay more in total federal taxes than 22 states. "

The fight for the E.R.A. has been a long road, but for the first time in history we are at the finish line and need Biden to push us over. As of 2020, the E.R.A. has met all Constitutional requirements to become an official amendment-- all necessary states have ratified the ERA.​​ As part of finalizing the E.R.A. we need President Biden to publish it now! We are so close to having equal protections enshrined-- We owe it to our feminist ancestors to finish and finally win this fight! ​ We demand equality. We are born equal, it is time our Constitution reflects it. From abortion rights to equal pay and Black maternal health, our communities are on the line. Send a letter to Biden now and tell him to Publish the Equal Rights Amendment

As constituents of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, we are disappointed by her recent vote for an additional $40 billion for the war in Ukraine, thus funneling billions more taxpayer dollars to the Pentagon and war profiteers. While we realize some of the money was earmarked for humanitarian aid, we are still deeply concerned that continued weapons shipments only discourage a negotiated settlement. We deplore this vote mainly for two reasons: It is adding fuel to the fire in Ukraine. It will prolong the war, resulting in more Ukrainian and Russian deaths. It risks escalating and widening the war – up to and including nuclear war. The billions in US taxpayers’ dollars are desperately needed to address vital human needs at home, such as health care, housing, education, and the danger of climate change. In late January of this year, Congresswoman Lee issued a joint press release with Rep. Pramila Jayapal that said “there is no military solution to this crisis.” In March, following the Russian invasion and after voting for billions for Ukraine, Lee and Jayapal issued a joint statement cautioning: “Alongside this resolution, we must reaffirm the urgent need for diplomacy and de-escalation at this dangerous and unpredictable moment” ”support for diplomacy is the most direct means we have of trying to bring peace to Ukraine in light of continued fighting and mounting harm to Ukrainian civilians” “We must …work relentlessly toward de-escalation” Shortly after 9/11, Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force, a blank check for endless war. At that time she said: “Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.” But in May 2022, she voted in lockstep with every Democrat in Congress behind President Biden’s war policy without voicing such questions or concerns and without mentioning the need for diplomacy and de-escalation. As co-chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, Rep. Lee has fought for reducing the bloated military budget (calling for reductions of over 30%) and using that money to help meet the needs of poor and working people. But now she appears to be on board with massive and endless funding for the war in Ukraine. At the current rate, US government funds for the Ukraine war are four times the current budget to fight climate change. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States. The increase in aid to Ukraine provided by Congress is staggering and now approaches Russia's entire military budget. It matches the escalatory rhetoric from the Biden Administration, which now says a US goal is to use the war in Ukraine to weaken Russia. We have supported Rep. Lee in the past in large part because of her opposition to the military-industrial complex and her advocacy for peace. We are deeply concerned about her stance lining up behind the forces of militarism, providing billions more to the war machine and putting us all at risk of a catastrophic war with Russia. We need to stop this war which is accelerating the advent of the 2 existential dangers we are facing. Nuclear War and Climate Change,

Stand up for our time and effort being used as uncompensated store employees.

Automation is reducing the number of available jobs for U.S. workers. If this trend continues, unemployment will increase and skilled labor will become a commodities and the United States won’t be competitive in the world market economy.

Jeff Bezos is the Rockefeller of our time and Amazon is Standard Oil's equivalent in the digital age. Amazon needs to be broken into 34 smaller pieces very similar to how Standard Oil was treated nearly 100 years ago. It needs to be regulated on how it treats employees and its entire workforce. (“NY AG sues Amazon over treatment of warehouse workers” | TechCrunch.) New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office has launched a lawsuit against Amazon for how the corporation has treated its workers during the pandemic. Amazon needs to be regulated in terms of how it treats its partners and vendors. (“Amazon bullies partners and vendors, says antitrust subcommittee” | cnbc.com.) The House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust violations issued a report saying that Amazon unfairly treats its business partners. The monopoly that Amazon enjoys reaches beyond one or two industry sectors. From books and online publishing to Internet commerce and its Amazon Web Services cloud computing, all of its business operations need to be closely scrutinized and regulated. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Amazon and other big tech firms for unfair anti-competitive practices. Amazon's market dominance in each of the industries where it operates is a death sentence for new ventures and startups. Please sign this petition and share with your social networks!

Please sign this letter which we will forward so President Biden sees a spike of opposition to the U.S. nuclear weapons posture. March 1 is the anniversary of the 20Mton H-bomb test known as "Bravo" that made human guinea pigs out of the people of Rongelap downwind from the Bikini Atoll in 1954 and also sparked the Japanese antinuclear movement because a Japanese fishing vessel was likewise caught directly in the fallout. We want to communicate our grave concerns about the nuclear posture of the United States. As a nuclear armed state, every overt and covert military operation overseen by the United States is backed up by its first-strike capable nuclear arsenal, making them potential violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international agreements.

1. Our bloated military budget is larger than the NEXT 10 countries together and is only supporting the already wealthy Military-Industrial-Banking complex. 2. This money is critical to supporting the ongoing wars, civilian deaths and casualties around the world and is creating hatred and violence. Did you know American soldiers were killed in Africa recently? 3. By law, the Pentagon is supposed to provide Congress with a yearly audit. They have broken the law annually and TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS are missing - over $21,000,000,000,000 as of the last investigation. 4. The Military is the largest single source of pollution and planetary degradation. No global plan to end our environmental crisis can succeed without dealing with this. 5. Either we are spending our money on Life or Death. As a so called ethical culture of religious and moral values how can we sanction killing people, all in defenceless 3rd world countries, who have not attacked us? If you condemn abortion but not our endless wars you are at best a hypocrite. 5. Did you know virtually every conflict since 1945 was triggered or promoted by the United States? Is this the country you want to be associated with? 6. Curtailing military spending will decrease our historic budget deficits.

The U.S. military wants to extend the lease on the State of Hawai'i property as it provides access to the 110,000 acres of adjacent U.S. government-owned land at the largest U.S. military firing range. The Army calls the 132,000-acre range on Hawaii island the “Pacific’s premier training area.” Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA), with a 51,000-acre “impact area,” is used heavily by Hawaii-based and visiting international military forces. It is the largest live-fire range in Hawaii and supports full-scale combined arms field training from the squad to brigade (approximately 3,500 soldiers) level. The Army set a 40-day public "scoping" period for the Environment Impact Statement (EIS). Written comments should be submitted via the EIS website at 808ne.ws/357ek2V. Hawaiian cultural practitioners Clarence Ku Ching and Mary Maxine Kahaulelio filed suit against the Hawai'i State Department of Land and Natural Resources in 2014 claiming the state breached its trust duties by failing to enforce the lease. Four years later, State Circuit judge Gary Chang ruled in 2018 in Ching and Kahaulelio’s lawsuit (Ching v. Case) that the DLNR failed to care for the Big Island property, lacking inspections over the first nearly 50 years of the lease. Judge Chang said that the state has a duty to "mālama ʻāina" and called two DLNR inspection reports “grossly inadequate” and ordered the state to develop and potentially execute a plan to obtain adequate funding for a compre­hensive cleanup of the land. After Judge Chang’s order, DLNR said that as the landlord of the property, it would work with the Army to develop a formal inspection, monitoring and reporting process, which has been virtually non-existent. However, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned part of the order. Hawai'i State organizations that support this petition are: Hawai'i Peace and Justice; Veterans for Peace-Chapter 113-Hawai'i; Cancel RIMPAC Coalition; Golden Rule Anti-Nuclear Sailing Ship: Women's Voices Women Speak; Malu Aina Center for Non-Violent Education and Action; Peace Action-Maui; National and International Organizations that support this petition: World Beyond War; Peace Action; Popular Resistance; Background Links: VIDEO: Mauna Kea Observatory Directors Give Update https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/08/25/video-mauna-kea-observatories-directors-give-update Hawaii Has Failed To Take Care Of Pohakuloa https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/08/hawaii-has-failed-to-take-care-of-pohakuloa/ Ching v. Case Ruling https://law.justia.com/cases/hawaii/supreme-court/2019/scap-18-0000432.html

You know. It's clear when we listen to the youth rising, and look at the "racism, vast militarism and extreme materialism" around us. the real threat of nuclear extinction. The real threat of our grandchildren having an inhabitable climate and planet.

The Rust Belt Renewal Initiative is a proposal for the United States to adopt a decade-long national commitment to rebuilding the once-mighty base of the industrial Midwest as the hub of a revived American manufacturing capability. The RBRI would be powered not by toxic fossil fuels but by clean and abundant, locally generated, renewable sources of energy, primarily solar and wind, to produce new generations of energy-efficient, carbon-free, electricity-powered transportation, appliances and other durable goods to the world-class standards of safety and reliability for which American-made products were once widely celebrated. RBRI will focus our personal and collective creativity on meeting the unique requirements of a 21st century economy and society while effectively addressing the paramount challenge of our time, reducing the disruptive impacts of climate change.