Dear John,
It’s Valentine’s Day weekend. Here’s what we love this week:
💝 Paid Sick Days and Safe Days
💝 Our health
💝 Treaty Rights
💝 Our planet
Here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week:
1. Sick and SAFE time
In The American Prospect, labor journalist Sarah Jaffe reports on the nationwide fight for paid sick days – especially by rail workers last fall – and also the crucial safe time included in Minnesota’s legislation. Safe time is paid time to seek safety from domestic violence, stalking, and more.
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3. “A very high priority”
The MinnesotaCare Public Option bill advanced this week. The bill would expand eligibility for the state government's affordable health insurance program to self-employed people, undocumented folks, and more. This would be a gamechanger for 200,000 uninsured Minnesotans, including farmers, artists, and small business owners. Speaker Melissa Hortman deems this “a very high priority,” and we agree!
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3. It’s electric!
President Joe Biden named electric vehicles as a key strategy for curbing climate change in his State of the Union address. Read about how researchers are finding that it doesn’t take that many electric cars to improve public health. And then check out this article about Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to St. Cloud where she promoted electric vehicles as the future for public transportation.
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4. Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
As the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to overturn federal rules, a bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers is backing a bill that would aim to keep Native American children within the foster care system in Native American homes. [link removed]
It’s worth sharing again. The This Land podcast digs into the Right-wing efforts to dismantle ICWA.
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5. Treaty rights
The MN Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in an ongoing dispute about a wood products mill that would impact wetlands near their reservation. The court decision “serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of respecting the sovereignty and treaty rights of Indigenous nations,” said Band President Faron Jackson Sr.
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6. Sports
Meet Minnesota’s first trans and nonbinary hockey team. “It’s really saving folks,” the team president shares in this MPR feature. [link removed]
7. Imposter Syndrome
Leslie Jamison writes in The New Yorker – even the originators of the idea of imposter syndrome question the impact and value of it, which is now ubiquitous.
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8. The Amazon
In Rolling Stone: The survival of the world's biggest rainforest is critical to the survival of life on Earth. The fossil fuel industry is hell-bent on drilling in it.
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9. Ice, ice baby
If Sir David Attenborough has narrated a nature documentary, I (Katie) have watched it. This second edition of the series about all of Earth’s (less and less) frozen places is heart wrenching and jaw-dropping. Also, penguins!
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10. “Cry Me a Cockroach”
Yes, that is indeed the name of the San Antonio Zoo’s annual fundraiser where donors can make a contribution to name a cockroach after their ex this Valentine’s Day. The internet is loving these fundraisers across North America because “Whether you're celebrating with someone special or cursing someone especially horrible this Valentine's Day, you're not alone when you have a cockroach as an ally.”
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And that’s a wrap!
Send us what you’re reading, watching, and listening to.
Until next time,
Katie Blanchard (she/her)
Basebuilding Director
Jessica Zimmerman (she/her)
Development Director
Paid for by TakeAction Minnesota
TakeAction Minnesota
705 Raymond Ave Ste 100
Saint Paul, MN 55114
United States
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