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.

Emanuel has a long record of being extremely undiplomatic, abrasive and contemptuous of humane values. His record as mayor of Chicago, where his administration oversaw the coverup of the horrific police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, is especially troubling. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) tweeted after news of Emanuel's selection broke: "Rewarding Rahm Emanuel's cover up of Laquan McDonald's murder with an ambassadorship is not an act that reflects a value of or respect for Black lives.” Top diplomatic posts should only go to individuals with ethics, integrity, and diplomatic skills. Emanuel possesses none of those qualifications.

Hassan Mushaima, a political activist, founder of the Movement for Freedom and Democracy and a well-known voice critical of King Hamad, has been arrested for his involvement in peaceful protests of the Bahreini Arab Spring. Hassan, an elderly man with cancer, is serving a life sentence in Jau Prison. He was officially arrested on charges of attempting to subvert the government. Dozens of human rights defenders and protesters have been arrested along with him, and are now serving an unjust sentence, deprived of contact with their families and forced to wear chains on their feet if they claim their right to access appropriate medical care. Hassan's arrest, a clear attempt to silence him, makes it all the more necessary and urgent to investigate his case and secure his release.

In February 2021, President Joe Biden’s aides launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. We ask that this process be sped up to close a shameful historical chapter marked by torture, sexual abuse, cruel and unusual punishment -- all of which have tainted U.S. standing at home and abroad. Funding commitments in the American Rescue Plan would solidify the closure of the facility. Reuters reported: “Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America’s global image.” Asked whether Biden would shut the high-security prison located at the Guantanamo Naval Station by the time his presidency ends, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters: “That certainly is our goal and our intention.”

For decades, both female and male survivors of sexual assault in the military have had their allegations disbelieved and dismissed by their superiors in their chain of command. In addition, many survivors who have made reports of assault have been bullied and threatened by their perpetrators without intervention by the chain of command. Women service members have especially been brutalized. Most victims do not report the violence out of a well-based fear of retaliation. Many military careers have ended because of the failure of the chain of command to take allegations seriously and to properly investigate and punish those responsible. The U.S. Army culture is incapable of effectively handling allegations of sexual assault and too often the chain of command prevents proper adjudication of such serious charges. After the Navy's Tailhook sexual assault scandal two decades ago, the Navy Investigative Service (NIS) was changed into the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with a civilian director and the entire investigative structure civilianized. That Navy civilian structure stands in stark contrast to Army Criminal Investigative Division (CID), which is led by military police officers who are not criminal investigators. Army CID is also distinct from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which is not totally civilianized but does have investigative agents leading the organization. The Provost Marshal General of the U.S. Army General Donna Martin said CID has not had “significant structural change” in 20 years, “and yet we have had significant, quadrupling cases of sexual assault.” It is critical that the Army has professional civilian investigators to investigate military sexual assault charges and take the investigations out of the hands of those in the military chain of command of the perpetrators. Veterans For Peace https://www.veteransforpeace.org/ Service Women's Action Network https://www.servicewomen.org/ Austin orders new steps to curb sexual assault while panel studies the problem https://bit.ly/2Qf4ExT Should the military continue to be allowed to police itself on sexual assault? Retired general and Pentagon weigh in. https://bit.ly/3tA0Qpi Spc. Vanessa Guillen case could be Army CID’s ‘Tailhook scandal’ https://bit.ly/3bWp4nR Remove Prosecution of Sexual Assault from Military Chain of Command https://bit.ly/3r1RxNj

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.

It is imperative that we pursue peace and global cooperation in the face of climate catastrophe and human suffering from multiple U.S. wars, occupations and drone attacks. Flournoy, a Pentagon advisor in the Clinton and Obama administrations, calls for the US to send more military equipment to Saudi Arabia to police the Middle East while the US pivots to Asia to ramp up a Cold War with China. In her essay, “How to Prevent a War with Asia,” Flournoy claims the way to prevent a nuclear confrontation with China is for the U.S. to increase military spending on cyber warfare, artificial intelligence and drones, as well as troop deployments to the South China Sea to conduct roving war games near two nuclear powers, China and North Korea. This is a prescription for tremendous human suffering. Flournoy supported the surge in Afghanistan, regime change in Syria and the disastrous military intervention in Libya. She sits on the Board of Booz Hamilton, a consultancy for military contractors and during her 2013-2016 tenure with Boston Consulting expanded military contracts from $1.6-$32 million dollars (American Prospect). It is a fundamental conflict of interest to choose a Secretary of Defense so closely tied to war profiteers. We need a Secretary of Defense, untethered to the weapons industry, who will embrace diplomacy and reject a new arms race with China. One possible candidate is Thomas Countryman, Board Chair, Arms Control Association, former United States Assistant secretary of State for International Security and Adviser to Diplomacy Works. Thank you.

The U.S. Navy has 225 million gallons of jet fuel stored in twenty, 20-story fuel tanks constructed 80 years ago during World War II inside Red Hill. These tanks sit a mere 100 feet above Honolulu’s water supply. We do not trust in 80 year-old tanks that now are as thin as a dime with the pressure of 12.5 million gallons in each tank. With the November 2021 contamination of 93,000 residents who ironically are in the military communities around Pearl Harbor, we know it is only a matter of time before contamination may reach the aquifer polluting the water for 400,000 residents of Honolulu. The Governor and members of the Hawai'i Congressional delegation have finally called for suspension of Red Hill operations and the removal of the fuel from the tanks. State and Federal officials are also concerned about the U.S. Navy’s plan for the tanks and in a October 26, 2020 letter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Hawaii’s Department of Health rejected the U.S. Navy’s plan for the tanks as “deficient.” According to ABS Consulting, a firm hired by the U.S. Navy, there is a 27.6% chance of a leak of up to 30,000 gallons of fuel during any given year which has been called a “conservative" estimate by an EPA specialist. . ABS also calculated a 34% chance of a release of over 120,000 gallons in the next 100 years. Chronic, undetected releases are expected to total 5,803 gallons per year, according to ABS. In 2014, Fuel tank #5 leaked 24,000 gallons. That same fuel tank was put back into operation in 2020. In September 2019, the Navy released its preferred plan on how to upgrade the Red Hill tanks after studying six tank upgrade options. The Navy’s preferred choice—the least protective and least expensive option—is to keep the original steel tank liner, coat it with epoxy, and explore installing a water treatment plant to filter toxic chemicals from Oʻahu’s drinking water in the case of another major leak. The plan also commits to some undefined, undetermined “double-wall equivalency” solution or relocation of the tanks “around 2045”– which proposes to extend the deadline to upgrade the tanks another 7 years using some unknown, future technology that is not actually a double-walled solution. The idea of putting off another 20 years until 2045 a decision on the future of the tanks is irresponsible. Other Department of Defense fuel tanks locations have replaced their aging fuel tanks that too have had leaks. With the largest budget in U.S. history-over $780 billion this year, DOD can certainly put into its budget the removal of the fuel tanks from Red Hill. The $194 million overhaul of the Point Loma-San Diego, California fuel tanks began in 2005 and was finished in 2013. 54 underground and above-ground fuel storage tanks were replaced with eight tanks, all above ground. Fuel tanks at Kitsap Naval Base, Washington are also being replaced. While Department of Defense will cite national security for the necessity of retaining the tanks, as residents of Oahu we believe our human security demands the protection of our water supply. We residents of Oahu rely on the Department of Health to protect us from danger. Red Hill jet fuel tanks are the biggest danger the residents of Oahu have. Following are among many documents that provide evidence of the dangers of Red Hill jet fuel tanks to our public safety: https://www.staradvertiser.com/tag/red-hill-water-crisis/ University of Hawaii video of the Red Hill fuel tanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_pPWoGlO-s https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/03/how-hawaii-activists-helped-force-the-militarys-hand-on-red-hill/ https://popularresistance.org/hawaii-groups-wary-of-militarys-sudden-decision-to-shut-down-red-hill/ https://popularresistance.org/1-1-billion-and-counting-for-navys-obstinance-in-shutting-down-leaking-fuel-tanks/ How the Military Poisoned its Families https://youtu.be/QToBQ9kCuSs https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2957825/statement-by-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-on-the-closure-of-the-red/ https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/03/08/hawaii-news/red-hill-bulk-fuel-storage-facilitys-permanent-closure-is-ordered/ https://features.nmgnetwork.com/beneath-red-hill/?fbclid=IwAR1d-q_gt2R4IWRHhA_E-9ElxzWnrs2ybqlg5BXjDiLXAPYUGVD0HpYT8Cs https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/hawaiis-leadership-calls-for-suspension-of-navys-red-hill-fuel-facility/ https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/navy-has-no-realistic-timeline-to-restore-safe-water-to-military-housing-on-oahu/ https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/honolulu-shuts-off-major-water-sou https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-10/documents/red-hill-tua_proposal_final_combined_response-2020-10-26.pdf https://www.civilbeat.org/beat/navys-red-hill-fuel-tank-plan-rejected-by-epa-health-department/ https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-06/documents/red_hill_risk_assessment_report_redacted-2018-11-12.pdf https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2011/budget_justification/pdfs/04_Family_Housing/milconFamHSG.pdf https://sierraclubhawaii.org/redhill https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/05/the-navy-replaced-its-leaky-fuel-tanks-in-california-why-not-oahu/ https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/03/11/breaking-news/red-hill-tank-that-leaked-fuel-being-brought-back-into-service/ https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-09/documents/red_hill_aoc_tua_proposal_decision_document_20190919.pdf https ://printreplica.staradvertiser.com/?publink=2e10d1b5b_1345f04&fbclid=IwAR2GQVpfBQSwrUE4R4l_N0sAbKeJqpC296AmhBG-h2s48uO_ty6oULe5qGw Link to the 103 page report of the Hearing Officer that was released September 10, 2021. https://www.scribd.com/document/524707077/Red-Hill-recommended-decision-finding-of-fact

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

Our forefathers attempted to prevent financial elites from controlling the country. Today 4 or 5 families have 50% of the wealth and can finance political campaigns through PACs with Million Dollar Plus donations without any disclosure of their names.