This surgery, performed on me 20 years ago, changed my life in ways which I could never have imagined and still impacts my life today. I am not the same as I was before.

Servers, bartenders, and wait staff have been earning $2.13/hour since 1992. They are, and always have been, COMPLETELY dependent on the generosity of others for their entire income. Even though there have been increases in the minimum wage (although not enough, but that is another discussion), servers have never been included in those that have been able to receive the benefits of those increases. Servers are among the lowest wage earners in the country. And they are among the hardest working employees. They do not just "show up" for a couple of hours and collect big tips and go home. An average server will put in anywhere from 7-13 hours everyday. They prepare food and beverages, clean counters, clean food and beverage machines, stock food, beverage and ice machines, stock all paper products including restrooms, polish glasses and silverware, set up serving stations and restaurant sections, among other things. And that is all BEFORE they start their shift serving guests in the restaurant to earn the tips that pay their bills. The average "earning period" for the server is about two, maybe three hours, hopefully. If the restaurant is slow, management will use their servers as cleaning staff to clean windows, brass rails, mirrors, doors, relocating booths to clean under them, chandeliers, cabinets, shelves, or anything else that "needs to be done." Servers are NEVER allowed to sit down while on the clock, nor are they allowed to eat, at all. All for $2.13/hour. When the server is "cut" from their ability to earn any more tips, they then repeat everything they did before they started their shift before their day ends. The worst part is by far the majority of guests have no idea that servers only make $2.13/hour. They do not realize that their "paycheck" completely goes to the government to be applied towards their taxes (barely). And because the guest is not required to leave any specific tip at all, the tip often times may only be 10% of the check. If you are an attentive and above average server, you may be able to receive 15%-20% tips on the total sales of your guests' checks. Again, however, the guest does not realize that 30%-35% of the tips the server receives immediately is deducted to be applied to compensate other employees in the restaurant (i.e., bartenders, hostesses, bussers, food runners, etc.). So that 10%-20% the server received quickly drops in reality to 7% to 14% income for the server. Then, to add insult to injury, since the recession hit almost a decade ago, business has dropped severely for everyone. Many, many, many days and nights servers are looking at empty tables. Empty tables equal empty pockets. I know of no other employee who shows up to work for an employer for 7-13 hours a day, puts in a full HARD days work, and walks out the door with nothing to show for it. And the employer does not have to pay them for their work. That is wrong. Servers should be paid a minimum wage just like every other worker who reports to work for their employer and puts in an honest hard days work.

News recently broke that schoolchildren in Portland, Oregon, have been drinking water in their public school buildings that's contaminated with lead. And at least 33 U.S. cities have used water testing "cheats" when faced with lead concerns. That's right. Across America, we're knowingly poisoning our kids. After the lead crisis in Flint made national headlines last year, the Michigan Attorney General brought criminal charges against three state and local administrators. We now know deceptive practices like this are happening all over the country—and the people responsible must be held responsible. Lead is a neurotoxin—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no acceptable level of exposure to lead in young children and pregnant women. By cheating on these tests, public health officials have knowingly endangered the health of the children in our communities. This is not just a local issue, it’s a national crisis and we need federal action.

This week, it came out that schoolchildren in Portland, Oregon, have been drinking from water contaminated with lead in their public school buildings. And at least 33 U.S. cities have used water testing "cheats" when faced with lead concerns. It's been nearly two years since news broke that in my hometown of Flint, Michigan, kids have been drinking poisoned water. Two years and no real action to solve the problem. It won't stop until people lose their jobs over this. The people in power who have knowingly made these decisions cannot be trusted to implement the solutions and keep our children safe.

Cholera broke out in Haiti in October 2010, and continues to constitute a grave medical emergency. Overwhelming evidence has established that reckless disposal of human waste by a United Nations peacekeeping base in Mirebalais poisoned Haiti’s rivers with a particularly deadly strain of cholera bacteria and created the epidemic. Now, despite even UN Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton’s acknowledgment that the UN was the “proximate cause” of the epidemic, the UN continues to refuse to accept responsibility and control cholera in Haiti. [1] Now Michigan Democrat John Conyers and Utah Republican Mia Love have initiated a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Kerry, urging that the State Department ensure that the UN take "concrete steps to eliminate the cholera epidemic introduced to Haiti in 2010 by waste from a UN peacekeeper camp, and to comply with its legal and moral obligations to provide cholera victims with access to an effective remedy." Ask your Representative in Congress to support the bipartisan Conyers-Love letter by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.ijdh.org/advocacies/our-work/cholera-advocacy/; http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2016/04/what_caused_haiti_s_cholera_epidemic_the_cdc_s_museum_knows_but_won_t_say.html; http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/21/471256913/why-the-u-n-is-being-sued-over-haitis-cholera-epidemic

Montreal is by far the most indebted city in Canada. It is time for Mayor Coderre to stop the lighting up of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, the granite stumps and other useless wastages of our money. If he can't control his senseless urges, then he should do the honourable thing and RESIGN immediately! Enough is enough!

As a Muslim and Marine who served in Iraq, I was outraged to watch Carl Higbie on CNN calling my faith "a political ideology masquerading as a religion.” Higbie then went on to endorse a range of war crimes, including the murder of Muslim civilians. Donald Trump: if you want to be the next Commander in Chief, you must denounce this extremist hate speech.

BECAUSE THESE CAREER POLITICIANS, JUST WONT STOP WITH THERE OVER POWERING KING AND QUEEN LIKE BULL CRAP! THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA IS IN AMERICA NOT ENGLAND! REMEMBER HERE IN AMERICA, WE THE PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE! LAST I CHECKED WE STILL HAD A U.S. CONSTITUTION AS WELL AS THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE!

It is now virtually impossible for either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders to officially win the Democratic nomination before the Democratic convention. In order for either candidate to reach the required number of delegates to claim the nomination, they will need superdelegates -- a group of delegates that will not be officially awarded to either candidate until the Democratic National Convention is held at the end of July. That means a contested convention -- and a vigorous debate over the values and priorities of the Democratic Party -- is now assured. But despite that fact, on June 7 mainstream media outlets are planning to declare Hillary Clinton the winner. How? By combining the delegates she wins from that day's primaries with an unofficial tally of superdelegates who have informally committed to Hillary Clinton based on unofficial polls and declarations of support. This is a profoundly misleading and anti-Democratic move by mainstream media outlets, and it could affect the real-time results of the California Democratic primary election taking place on June 7 -- a primary that could have a dramatic effect on the Democratic nomination. If Hillary Clinton is falsely declared the winner at 8pm Eastern time -- as media outlets are planning to do -- voter turnout in California could be significantly depressed, which could dramatically alter the outcome in a race that now appears to be a dead heat. Tell the mainstream media to resist the temptation to feed the news cycle with superficial and misleading horse-race journalism and let democracy take its course. Sign the petition and tell national media outlets: Do not falsely declare a Democratic nominee on June 7.

Several lawsuits have recently been filed against Monsanto, the maker of glyphosate herbicides (trade name "Roundup") for allegedly causing cancer. An MIT researcher has correlated rising glyphosate use with rising rates of autism in children. Round-Up has also been implicated in the death of the bees, (Colony Collapse Disorder). Nevertheless, the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Rec is still spraying glyphosate all over public parks. It's most dangerous to pregnant women because it disrupts fetal development. The LA Department of Parks and Rec is only regulated by the Mayor's office. There are no regulations in place to determine the amount of Round-Up the Department of Parks and Rec can spray. According to a recent article in The Palisades News " UCLA professor emeritus John Froines, who lives in Santa Monica, said the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the “most prestigious body in the world on carcinogens,” has labeled Roundup’s glyphosate a carcinogen. “If they say it’s a carcinogen, you can be sure it is,” IARC’s determination was based on the review of more than 1,000 studies, according to its website. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in particular is related to glyphosate. The site uses the phrase “probable carcinogen,” which Froines said government agencies treat as meaning a carcinogen.

This petition was created in opposition to austerity measures announced by the UMass Boston administration in May 2016. Since then, some of these measures have been enacted, including a tuition hike of 5.7% (amounting to $753 for in-state students, more for out-of-state and international students) and cancellation of some previously scheduled courses. Moreover, the State Legislature passed only a minimal increase in funding--perpetuating its chronic underfunding of public higher education in Massachusetts. Although a number of non-tenure track faculty have been reappointed for the fall semester, the fight to save UMB is far from over. Further tuition hikes, increased class sizes, and cutbacks to faculty, staff, and programs are likely if we do not continue to advocate for UMB’s urban mission as well as full state funding of public higher education.

We The People of Hancock County WV want Healthy and Safe school hours for ALL Hancock County Students. When teens get the required 8.5 to 9 hours of sleep: • The academic performance improves • They get better grades and scores • School attendance goes up • Tardiness decreases • They sleep less in class • They have fewer car accidents • They visit nurses and counselors less often • They report less depression and irritability • They suffer fewer concussions and sports injuries • They have an overall better quality of life Continuing Starting school early in the morning , without a doubt, undermines optimal health and success of our children. For more information , studies and researches please visit the Face Book page "Hancock County Wv Start School Later" or Face Book Group " Friends Who Like Hancock County Wv Start School Later".