Ocean Safety is a priority for me. I have consulted with an expert in this industry and here is what they have to say: "I was approached by a sales representative to carry full face snorkel masks when they first came out so I tried the product. After using it for about 10 minutes I decided to start "testing it" as it was fine for normal surface swimming. I dove down 5' in relatively calm waters. Upon surfacing, the valve stuck shut on the snorkel so I had to rip the unit off my face to get a breath of air... kinda scary if you're a beginner or not in shape. Then while surface snorkeling, I put my chin down to my chest to see what would happen if the snorkel went underwater... same result; the valve stayed stuck in the closed position, so I again had to rip the unit off my face to breathe. By then I was getting horrible issues with fogging, so I left some water in the mask to "wash the lens" and due to the design, I kept getting water up my nostrils (causing me to gag). Finally, I decided to exhale through my nose into the mask to see if the build-up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) would or could be an issue... within 2 minutes or so I was feeling light-headed and knew there was absolutely no way I would be selling this mask. This was before they became popular and it was being hyped as the greatest new mask for snorkeling. I gave the sales rep a call the very next day and gave him my thoughts and it didn't deter him from moving on to the next potential dealer. These masks are a horrible design and we will continue to get more deaths by asphyxia ( I wouldn't call it drowning because you are being deprived of oxygen and polluted by excessive CO2 due to the product design and not necessarily by the user being "out of shape" or inexperienced). I spoke with a first responder who went on three of the calls this weekend, and the common denominator was a full face masked being used. Perhaps it is time to consider having this product removed from stores? I never sold them and never will."

in the hopes, which are slim these days, of change.... I know there are many many souls who want to end this horrible situation like me.

U.S.-citizen Allison Blixt and her Italian wife Stefania Zaccari have two happy, healthy sons. Stefania gave birth to their son Lucas, and Allison gave birth to their son Massi. Because Allison was born and raised in the United States, she is able to pass her citizenship on to her children even though they were born abroad. However, the State Department refused to recognize Lucas’s citizenship and denied that Lucas was her son. The State Department explicitly informed the couple that it was using a policy applicable solely to unwed mothers, even though the couple were married when Lucas was born! Andrew Dvash-Banks and his husband Elad have a similar story, except their sons also happen to be twins. One twin was recognized as a U.S. citizen and the other is living in the U.S. on a tourist visa! Join us in demanding the U.S. State Department change this discriminatory policy! Learn more about this issue on our website: www.immigrationequality/fightforfamilies/

U.S.-citizen Allison Blixt and her Italian wife Stefania Zaccari have two happy, healthy sons. Stefania gave birth to their son Lucas, and Allison gave birth to their son Massi. Because Allison was born and raised in the United States, she is able to pass her citizenship on to her children even though they were born abroad. However, the State Department refused to recognize Lucas' citizenship and denied that Lucas was her son. The State Department explicitly informed the couple that it was using a policy applicable solely to unwed mothers, even though the couple were married when Lucas was born! Andrew Dvash-Banks and his husband Elad have a similar story, except their sons also happen to be twins. One twin was recognized as a U.S. citizen and the other is living in the U.S. on a tourist visa! Meet the families in this short video and sign our petition to demand the State Department stop discriminating against same-sex couples and their children! Learn more about this issue on our website: www.immigrationequality/fightforfamilies/

Please sign on to this letter to the Lincoln City Council urging them to put the 2012 Fairness Ordinance to a city wide vote in the November 2018 elections. Six years is too long for our relatives, friends and neighbors to wait for these protections.

Personally experiencing racism in high school in 1994-1995 (Wedowee, AL), I was told that I was a "mistake" because my mother is black and my father is white and he, the "leader", did not want the students to take someone outside their race to the prom, which prompted him to cancel the prom. Alabama allowed him to continue teaching after several known problems due to segregation on buses, speaking against dating other races, harsher treatment to black students, etc. Alabama only swept problems under the rug, or in this case, the school was burned down and the dust flew while the principal was promoted to superintendent, as people of color were left once again to keep it all together and wondering why did our state let us down again?

I think that citizens through their elected representatives should prevail on them to speak out against such bigotry in the White House. This would be a wake-up call to this administration to have the least attended S of U address in history.

As an LU alum, and community activist, I condemn chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. in his supportive remarks of POTUS during tumultuous times of neo-nazi events in Charlottesville, VA and most recently, his support of POTUS during undignified remarks of immigrants being from s***hole countries in regard to Africa and Haiti. We realize that we need to be the change that we want to see in what LU represents in the community and world. We desire UNITY and not division. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. is fostering division and we do not support him.

We're asking every democratic member of congress to boycott the SOTU address to protest against Trump's racist comments and destructive rhetoric! We do not believe that Donald Trump honors the office of the president and does not deserve our attendance during his state of the union address. Peaceful protests and boycotts are an effective tool in showing our dissatisfaction with the current status quo.

The history of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) denomination is grounded in social justice and civil liberties advocacy. As Pastor of Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan and the 20th President of the PNBC, I am calling for our church family along with other black denominations and individuals across America to ask Congress to strongly condemn the latest racist comments made by Donald Trump in reference to immigration. To refer to Haiti and African countries as “sh**-hole” countries whose people should not be allowed to immigrate to this country in favor of Norwegians is nothing short of overt unabashed racism. Unfortunately, Trump has made similar racist statements before. During his campaign, he referred to Mexicans as criminals, drug lords, and rapists. Trump failed to condemn the KKK, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis for their racist protest in Charlottesville, VA last year. Instead, he called them “very fine people” and referred to those who stood up to them as troublemakers. The dreadful picture that Trump paints and wants all of America to believe pertaining to immigrants in the United States is a false narrative. Instead of criminals and unemployed thieves, immigrants are highly educated and play an important and vital role in the productivity of our society. According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 2014, 10.5 million immigrants had a college degree or higher, representing about 29 percent of the total 36.7 million U.S. foreign-born population ages 25 and over. Furthermore, the rates at which immigrants obtain college degrees outpace the rate of native-born Americans. Between 2000 and 2014, the college-educated immigrant population increased 78 percent from 5.9 million to 10.5 million. The native-born college-educated population grew over the same period by only 39 percent. Of the college-educated immigrant population, 25% are Hispanic or black. Additionally, immigrants constitute a part of the workforce that keeps America productive and healthy. In 2014, immigrants accounted for 16 percent of all civilian employed workers, including 32 percent of computer programmers, and nearly 26 percent of physicians. It is not enough that Trump says these bigoted words and suffers no consequences. Rather, he is developing policies on the basis of race that will hurt people of color for years to come. It is time for us to respond! I am calling on all people of goodwill, who believe that our country should uphold the tenets of honesty and decency, to contact their congresspersons, Republican and Democrat, and demand that they denounce Trump for these bigoted and divisive statements. We want every pastor across denominations to ask their church members to contact local political representatives in support of denouncing Trump’s hateful rhetoric. The Republican Party leadership have been grave disappointments in their pledge to honor our country (whose motto is In God We Trust) by failing to condemn Trump for his continued racist and divisive comments that erode our democracy. Our mandate will be galvanizing communities to participate in the upcoming midterm elections. We must elect people to Congress who have our best interests at heart. As the denominational home of Dr. King, PNBC will lead by example and honor his life and legacy by standing up, speaking out, and actively engaging our 2,000 churches to fight back against racism and for impartiality and fairness. “You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression…” —Martin Luther King, Jr., Address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, at Holt Street Baptist Church, Dec. 5, 1955 NOW IS THE TIME! About PNBC The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) was founded in 1961 to give full voice, sterling leadership, and active support to the American and world fight for human freedom. New generations of Progressive Baptists are continuing the struggle for full voter registration, education and participation in society, economic empowerment and development, and the realization of universal human rights and total liberation for all people. PNBC’s global membership is estimated to be 2.5 million people. For more information, visit www.pnbc.org.

I believe the sale and use of marijuana is not only going to help the medically inclined people who smoke or eat the bud for its medical effect. But I believe as well the sale and taxes upon growth, distribution and sales of marijuana will pull the USA out of debt. Also, the by-products such as hemp we can use in almost all applications, whether food, building, art, or other commercial use will help our earth, our environment, and our living matters. By the federal government, marijuana is bad for people. Really? And alcohol and tobacco are killing thousands a day? And not only killing us but children. Fetal alcohol syndrome, FAS, is no joke and it's happening a lot thanks to the US government. Wow! That's good population control; let's kill or give unborn children problems because alcohol is safe and it okayed by the government. I have never seen women have a birth defect or give birth to a baby with problems when they smoke marijuana the whole time they were pregnant. Let's just end this battle, the war on drugs. Make Marijuana legal; it's that simple.

The views expressed by the President do not reflect the views of people in the United States. Once again his words and behaviors show he does not represent the beliefs of the majority of the United States. His actions have destroyed or severely harmed relationships with others around the world. He must apologize as he is also putting many lives in danger by his words and deeds.