Nation
Lyft Pledges $500K In Free Rides To Civil Rights Orgs, Bail Funds
Rideshare app Lyft has pledged $500,000 in free rides to civil rights organizations in the wake of the death of George Floyd as protests and riots erupt across the country. Some of the organizations include National Urban League, NAACP, National Action Network, Black Women’s Roundtable and National Bail Fund Network.
“We want to take a moment to speak candidly about the tragedy that is enveloping our country right now. To our Black community members, we recognize your pain and feelings of fatigue over the injustices you face every day. The color of your skin should not impact how you are treated,” Lyft Co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer wrote in a joint email to customers.
“Acts of injustice against Black Americans — including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, and countless others — have created an inflection point. This is a call to action for each and every one of us to do better, to speak up, and to be part of the solution.”
The company’s program for donating rides, LyftUp, has been offered to customers during times of crisis. For example, free rides were offered to evacuate people in 2017’s Hurricane Harvey and 2018’s California Camp Fire.
The Co-founders added, “Systemic racism is deeply rooted in our society, and it’s important that Lyft supports organizations that fight it.”
“As part of our continued commitment to communities of color through LyftUp, our transportation access initiative, we’re providing $500,000 in ride credit to national civil rights organizations who have been working to facilitate essential transportation and equitable access during the recent crises (National Urban League, NAACP, National Action Network, Black Women’s Roundtable and National Bail Fund Network).”
In Minneapolis, the company will provide the ride credits to Lake Street Council members who are volunteering “with rebuilding efforts.”
Former President Donald Trump stated bluntly on Truth Social, “FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES. Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”
Trump was referring to the escalation of war in Ukraine. He, like many other commentators and lawmakers, are warning that the decision to continue sending weapons – and now tanks – could potentially lead to the use of “nuclear weapons.”
It’s mission creep and it’s dangerous, they say.
Why? Because Russian President Valdimir Putin has indicated in two different speeches that he would use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, if needed. Those warnings are not just bluster but a very real possibility.
And the escalation of war is visible.
Russia launched 55 missiles strikes across Ukraine Thursday, leaving 11 dead. The strikes come one day after the United States and Germany agreed to send tanks to Ukraine in an effort to aide the country. 47 of the 55 missiles were shot down according to Ukraine’s Air Force command.
Eleven lives were lost and another 11 were injured additionally leaving 35 buildings damaged in the wake of the attacks. According to The New York Times, Denys Shmyhal, said in a post on Telegram. “The main goal is energy facilities, providing Ukrainians with light and heat,” he said.
Ukraine is now demanding that they need F-16 fighter jets. In a post on twitter Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko said, “Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.”
Morning. Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.
— Oleksiy Goncharenko (@GoncharenkoUa) January 26, 2023
The US has abstained from sending advanced jets in the chances that a volatile decision could foster more dangerous attacks like former President Trump’s post on Truth referred to. If the US did authorize the decision to lend Ukraine the F-16 jets Netherlands’ foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra, would be willing to supply them. According to The New York Times, Hoekstra told Dutch lawmakers, “We are open-minded… There are no taboos.”
F-16 fighter jets are complex to work on, they are not the average aircraft that can be learned in a matter of weeks. It can take months for pilots to learn how to fly these birds. European and US officials have the concern that Ukrainian forces could potentially use the jets to fly into Russian airspace and launch attacks on Russian soil.
Western allies are trying to avoid such a provocation, because that could lead to nuclear warfare in reference to what Putin has said he would do to defend his country.
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