January 27, 2023
Egg prices, AP classes, guns and blood, and more.
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
EGG PRICES = PRICE GOUGING?
The price of eggs has skyrocketed over the last year. There appears to be some question whether the egg industry took advantage of the avian flu situation and inflation to increase prices beyond what was necessary and gained unusually high profits. Farm Action, a farmer-led group, as well as Sen. Jack Reed, are asking that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate. https://apnews.com/article/inflation-commodity-markets-jack-reed-business-1b32cb587f20a8d44eaf707f72635e70 and https://farmaction.us/2023/01/19/farm-action-calls-for-ftc-to-investigate-record-high-egg-prices/ Let’s join in this request for an investigation to this problem of an American staple food by contacting the FTC’s Office of Inspector General to voice our concerns.
FLORIDA BAN ON AP AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Education rejected a pilot Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course, due to concerns over intersectionality, queer history, Black feminism, reparations, and other topics that it claims violate Florida law (and for being “woke indoctrination”). Since then, the College Board has announced that the pilot course has been revised, though it will not state whether that is in response to Florida's ban. Let's contact the College Board and tell them that they cannot allow racist and homophobic state officials to dictate what is taught across the country, and that the original content is crucial to accurately depicting Black history in the United States. We can reach them via their website:
https://form.collegeboard.org/f/send-message or Twitter: @CollegeBoard
MENTAL HEALTH
One in five Americans experiences a mental illness each year. Yet the United States has a chronic shortage of mental health professionals, with every single state designated as a Mental Health Care Professional Shortage Area. The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) has fact sheets we can use to inform our state legislators (contact) about the mental health needs of their constituents and ask them to enact policies to ensure that every person who needs mental health care is guaranteed to get it.
POSTCARDS TO VOTERS FOR PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE RACE
Right now, Postcards To Voters (PTV) is writing for Joe McAndrew for a Pennsylvania State House seat in a special election on February 7. If we are already approved with PTV, we can text, email, or Slack message to get addresses. If we are new to PTV, we can start the approval process to be ready for the next campaign: https://postcardstovoters.org/
GUN VICTIMS AND BLOOD DONATION
There’s a nationwide blood shortage, and it’s made worse by the epidemic of gun violence: gunshot victims are five times more likely to need blood transfusions and require ten times more blood units than people seriously injured in other ways. Not everyone can give blood, so it’s important that those of us who can seriously consider doing so. Let’s use this tool from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to find a blood donation center near us. ( h/t Moms Demand Action)
You were missed. Glad you're back!