US foreign policy must stop endangering the lives of innocent civilians to achieve its goals. The use of drones in foreign lands have killed thousands of non combatants including hundreds of women and children.

“The inside-the-beltway world of Washington, DC rarely deals with truly foundational economic issues. When they do, it is only because they are being forced to by crisis or a political movement forcing something onto center stage. Over the past few decades, we have watched the steady destruction of the American middle class by the massive expansion of the low wage worker economy – it’s time that we banded together to fight back. The first step in that fight legislatively is the introduction of Sherrod Brown and David Vitter’s bill taking on the Too Big To Fail banks. Brown and Vitter’s Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness (TBTF) Act puts serious pressure on “Too Big to Fail” banks in a variety of ways, and those banks are doing some serious squealing as a result. The bill would force the TBTF banks to stop playing some of their most egregious accounting games and make the TBTFers keep almost twice the percentage of capital reserves.”

Illinois is the ONLY state in which health authorities are required by law to notify school principals of the names of students that test HIV-positive. Principals can then disclose the information to any school personnel they like. A bill before the senate, HB 61, would repeal this invasive and unnecessary requirement. Please tell Illinois’ senate to pass HB 61! Read more about this dangerous law. http://www.hivhealthreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/HIV-YES-on-HB-61-factsheet-4-18-2.docx

As a consumer I would rather pay more at Walmart than support subhuman working conditions and wages in other countries for cheaper products. I want people worldwide to have safe working conditions, and wages that pay the bills each month. I won't go back into Walmart until workers get wages at 75% cost of living, and a minimum 36 hour work week in both the US and abroad. I also won't go into the store, until worker safety is assured abroad as it is in the US.

I had surgery for my a birth defect in my brain, and I did not have anyone to help guide me through this confusing time. As a teenager, I just felt like I had to go along with everything the doctors told me and just accept my new life. I believe that if people who have traumatic Brain Injuries, had better advocacy, there would be less crime and suicides.

This is only one example of how people in Congress have voted themselves special advantage over the citizens they serve. They receive low to no cost health insurance that is far superior to the average citizen. How can they have any idea how to craft health care policy when they do not have to experience it first hand?

Camila Vallejo as a leader of the Chilean Student Movement has been a pioneer in the empowerment of students in the 21st Century and an inspiration for young people across the world. The Movement and Vallejo’s own ideals reflect the values of the State of Florida as laid out in the State’s constitution: “The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.” In modern times there has not been a student leader that has more personified these values and empowered young people than Camila Vallejo. The organizing and community-building that she helped to lead is not unique to Chile or even to South America, but are ideas firmly entrenched in American history as well. The Civil Rights Movement, LGBTQ Movement, Women’s rights, and other struggles for marginalized people in the United States show that we share many values of history and community with Vallejo. With the University of Central Florida having the largest student population in the United States, her presence, sharing of experience, and encouragement will help thousands of students continue the tradition of fighting for fair, affordable, and accessible education in Florida and across the country. With Florida continuing to go through tough economic times, and problems directly affecting students such as budget cuts, annual tuition increases, and mounting student debt, we need an empowered student body to address these issues. Thus with Chilean students facing many of the same problems and with their movement in a maturing spot, having Camila Vallejo speak is more appropriate and relevant than ever.

Nothing is more important than fair and free elections. The requirement to show a voter ID to vote in North Carolina is an unconstitutional infringement on our right to vote.

There is presently a 40 acre parcel of land that is part of the Wounded Knee Massacre for sale. I have written to President Obama at whitehouse.gov about this matter. My feeling is that the site should be made an American Historical Site by the U.S. government.

The people at the bottom of the wage scale -- like myself -- in the U.S. pay Social Security tax on their entire income. Why should the wealthy and the super wealthy not do the same??? It is time the cap was removed! The debate about possible cuts in Social Security would be over!

The oil and gas billionaires the Koch brothers are trying to purchase the Los Angeles Times! It’s part of a larger bid to buy the Tribune Company’s media assets, which includes TV stations and major newspapers across the country in addition to the Times. Charles and David Koch laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to buy America. The first two pieces of the strategy are educating grass-roots activists and influencing politics. To achieve their goal they have devoted their fortunes to bankrolling climate change denial, union busting, and the Tea Party. Over time the brothers have assembled a complex political infrastructure that supports their radical conservative agenda. The third piece of their strategy is media. Now, they want to expand their radical right-wing propaganda to communities across the country by “Fox-news-ifying” local papers like the Times. It’s a frightening scenario when a free press is actually a bought and paid-for press. We can’t allow respected journalistic institutions to become mouthpieces for the Koch’s self serving political agenda.

Rick Perry and company have an unnatural interest in the private sex lives of ordinary Texans. Whether they’re just playing Cupid, or being stupid, is for you to decide.