Biden Announces White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

President Joe Biden last week unveiled a new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a step he said was part of an effort “to send a clear message about how important this issue is to me and the country. The office’s mandate will be twofold – it will be tasked with implementing and expediting last year’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the president’s signature gun legislation, and with finding additional actions within the president’s purview to stem the flow of gun violence. MORE

‘Peace Is Only a Thought Away’ — What Neuroscience Tells Us About Nonviolence

Neuroanatomist and author Jill Bolte Taylor has a unique understanding of the brain, consciousness, and what we are as humans.  She insists that we all have the potential to cultivate our capacity to feel the kind of beautiful unity she herself experienced after a stroke and explains simple ways to orient our brains so that we can gain a broader sense of interconnectedness.  This fundamental experience of oneness reflects what part of our brains do naturally; it is just a matter of learning to get out of the way to let them do it. MORE

U.S. Agrees to Send Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine in Military Boost for Kyiv

U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to supply Ukraine with long-range army tactical missile systems (ATACMS), a boost to Kyiv’s capacity to target Russian military logistics at long-range distances as the country prepares for a second winter at war. Biden told Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a private meeting that a small number of the weapons would be transferred, which Ukraine has been requesting for months. MORE

Lawmakers Seek Overdue Justice for Nuclear Victims

Renewed bipartisan efforts are underway to extend and expand a federal program that offers health care benefits and compensation to some victims of U.S. nuclear weapons production and testing. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) originally passed Congress in 1990 with bipartisan support. It aims to provide compensation for some victims exposed to radiation during U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing and employees of the U.S. uranium mining industry. The program is set to expire in 2024. MORE

Yes, Nuclear Weapons Are Immoral. They’re Also, Practically Speaking, Useless.

In the quest to eliminate nuclear weapons, Ward Hayes Wilson, director of the Rethinking Nuclear Weapons project, suggests a strategic two-step approach.  Moral arguments alone haven't succeeded in eliminating nuclear weapons over the past century. Many nations still perceive these weapons as essential for security. Therefore, he suggests, it's vital to dismantle the belief that nuclear arms ensure safety before engaging in moral discourse – first highlighting their ineffectiveness and then addressing moral reprehensibility.  MORE

TAKE ACTION: Urge Congress to Invest in Welcoming Policies, Avoid Government Shutdown

Congress is currently negotiating federal funding legislation for the upcoming fiscal year, to avoid a shutdown of the federal government. A shutdown would halt refugee admissions and negatively impact our ability to care for the most vulnerable among us. Church World Service invites us to tell Congress to provide robust funding to welcome refugees and asylum seekers, and ultimately avoid a government shutdown that could inflict devastating consequences on humanitarian programs. TAKE ACTION

Biden Extends Temporary Protected Status to Nearly 400,000 Venezuelan Migrants

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said that almost a half-million immigrants in the United States who had fled Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis would be granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which allows them to immediately apply for work authorization. By allowing them to legally earn income, the change could alleviate the costly burden of housing the refugees in major cities across the country. The migrants also will be protected from deportation for at least the next 18 months.   MORE

U.N. Official Says Pilot Program in Mexico Could Ease U.S. Migration Pressures 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said a small-scale pilot program in southern Mexico could ease migration pressures on the United States. The program is designed to give legitimate asylum applicants the option of jobs, healthcare, and housing in Mexico to deter them from traveling to the U.S. border. MORE

TAKE ACTION: America’s Largest Asset Managers Must Stop Fueling the Climate Crisis

As the climate crisis deepens, the world's biggest investors are making it worse by pouring more and more money into fossil fuels and refusing to hold polluters accountable -- and America's largest asset managers are doing the most damage of all. The Sierra Club urges us to tell the CEOs of BlackRock, Vanguard State Street, and Fidelity to put our future and our long-term savings over short-term fossil fuel profits.  TAKE ACTION

What Would Happen If the World Cut Meat and Milk Consumption in Half?

Swapping 50 percent of the world’s beef, chicken, pork, and milk consumption with plant-based alternatives by mid-century could effectively halt the ecological destruction associated with farming, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, China, and Southeast Asia, according to the study in Nature Communications. Such a dietary shift could also lead to a 31 percent reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the study found. That’s the equivalent of not burning 1.8 trillion pounds of coal each year between 2020 and 2050. MORE

The Beekeepers Who Don’t Want You to Buy More Bees

There is a widespread and now deeply rooted belief that the global population of honeybees has been running dangerously low for more than a decade. The notion has spurred a boom in beekeeping, most notably among corporations eager to demonstrate their environmental commitment. But it turns out that the craze for honeybees now presents a genuine ecological challenge. Leading conservationists say the best thing you can do for honeybees right now is not take up beekeeping. MORE

JPMorgan To Pay $75 Million Over Claims It Enabled Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims that the bank enabled the sex trafficking acts committed by financier Jeffrey Epstein. JPMorgan said that $55 million of the settlement will go toward local charities that assist victims of domestic, abuse trafficking, and other crimes, as well as to enhance the capabilities of local law enforcement. Of that amount, $10 million will be used to create a fund to provide mental health services for Epstein's survivors. MORE

Modern Slavery Survivor Calls for a Reformed Economic System

Modern slavery remains an unsettling presence in our everyday lives. Our garments, smartphones, and even solar panels often carry the grim mark of forced labor and human exploitation. This disturbing reality begs a question: if consumers truly understood the human suffering behind their purchases, would they make different choices? MORE

World Must Learn from Bosnian War in Dealing with Sexual Violence in Ukraine Conflict

Sexual crimes were a key element of the Bosnian war in the early 1990s but because there were no women or survivors of these assaults involved in the peace accord, few victims have received justice. A new report says the tragedy offers guidance on how not to handle the widespread rape occurring amid the Ukraine war. The world must focus on sexual assault victims first, put aside biases and stigma associated with sexual violence and provide support for children born after rapes. MORE

In Palermo, Italy, Feminist Rage Bursts into the Streets

People gathered to protest over the course of four days in Italy in a recent march against violence toward women. Marchers carried banners with slogans such as: “Ti rissi no,” (“I told you no” in the Sicilian dialect), a symbolic slogan that arose after the recent gang rape in the city of Palermo.  “It’s no longer enough for us to say ‘no’ to rapists and violent men,” said one organizer. “It’s time to bring a case against the whole system that fuels and nurtures violence: the courts, the military bases, the press, the educational system, the health system.”  MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Fund WIC for All Families in Need

As Congress works towards finalizing bills to prevent a government shutdown, some have proposed massive cuts in funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. It is estimated that even with the Senate’s proposed $6.3 billion funding level for WIC, 600,000 mothers and children would be turned away when they seek aid that provides healthy food and nutrition support. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urges us to tell Congress to ensure adequate funding for vital nutrition programs. TAKE ACTION

CEO Pay Has Surged 1,209% Since 1978. Worker Pay Has Risen Just 15%

A new analysis shows that top U.S. CEOs saw their total compensation rise by 1,209% between 1978 and 2022 while typical worker pay rose just 15%—a chasm that is fueling the United Auto Workers strike and other labor actions across the country. CEOs of the 350 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. made 344 times more than a typical worker last year. In 1965, by contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker pay gap was 21 to 1. MORE

What to Know About the Expiration of Federal Emergency Childcare Funding

The emergency childcare funding Congress allocated during the pandemic is set to expire at the end of the month, raising concerns for the millions of families and childcare providers who relied on it over the last two years. The loss of this crucial source of emergency funding for U.S. child-care providers threatens to hit an already overstretched industry at one of its biggest pain points: trying to hold on to low-paid staff in a tight job market. MORE

Michael Zack is scheduled to be executed on October 3 by the state of Florida for the murders of Laurie Russillo and Ravonne Smith. Please hold Michael, Laurie, Ravonne, their families, and the people of Florida in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Jedidiah Murphy is scheduled to be executed on October 10 by the state of Texas for the murder of Bertie Cunningham. Please hold Jedidiah, Bertie, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Will Speer is scheduled to be executed on October 26 by the state of Texas for the murder of Gary Dickerson. Please hold Will, Gary, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION