politics

As of late, our nation's confederate monuments have come under fire for what they represent.  Some argue that they serve to remind Americans of our history and the war that threatened to destroy the Union brought forth by the Founding Fathers' belief in democratic ideals and liberty.  Other's are reminded of a dark time in our history, where minorities were sold as property and were regarded as inferiors to the white, land owning men.  Regardless of political affiliation or one's interpretation of history, Confederate statues and monuments will continue to remind us of the horrors of slavery, a stain on our nation's past that shouldn't be celebrated.  Instead of tearing down these monuments, our nation should look to replace them with statues commemorating more influential and unifying figures in our culture's history.  We should shy away from the polarizing realm of politics and public service, instead opting to memorialize individuals from popular culture that never failed to inspire, achieve, and selflessly serve others.  When one hears the words "inspire," "achieve," and "selfless" many individuals come to mind, but who is the best example of these ideals? Not Mahatma Ghandi. Not JFK. Not Harriet Tubman. The answer might surprise you.   A recent study found that when individuals are asked to identify a figure who personifies these qualities, 69% of those polled said that the Lego Bionicles™ stand out to them as the best examples of a true leader, a true inspiration. Children look up to them, women swoon for them, and men yearn to be one of them. In their battle to protect the Matoran from the dastardly Makuta, the Bionicles displayed the character and leadership that should be celebrated in America.   Sign this petition and you could help change our country's identity and future.  Replacing monuments dedicated to hate and discrimination with newer, shinier ones for the Bionicles and their heroism will be the catalyst towards greater social equality and a happier future.  After all, the Bionicles are for the people. 

There are many voices advocating for changing the way our government operates, some are even calling for violent revolution and that call for violence scares me, not just for myself, but for our children. I agree that our current system needs to be changed, but that change can happen from within and without violence. However, the only way to peacefully change the way our current system of government operates is to eliminate the influence of corporations, PACs, and wealthy individuals. We need a way for everyone's voice to be heard, not just those of the 2 major parties and their allies. Therefore, I propose a bill, or possibly a constitutional amendment that would restructure the way our campaigns are financed. If we do so it would ensure that the halls of power are not strictly influenced by those who hold the purse strings, but rather by WE THE PEOPLE!  1- Businesses will not be allowed to contribute to any federal election campaign, 2- Limit individual contributions to a one time only amount of 200 dollars. 3- NO Politcal Action Commitee contributions.  4- Require all FCC licensed outlets to broadcast debates which include ALL candidates, not just those from the 2 major parties, free of charge.  5- NO MORE LOBBIES  We must hold our congress people responsible for serving the country, the entire country, not just those who can financially support them. My fear is that if we cannot enact this reform soon our country will be hopelessly divided and descend into violence and injustice for all. 

The National Statuary Hall honors American heroes and patriots in the Capitol building in Washington, DC. Each state is given the opportunity to be represented by two statues of figures they wish to honor or recognize, for a total of 100 statues. Today, not one of the 100 people recognized in the Statuary Hall is African American. In 2003, a change in law allowed states to replace one or both of their statues at their choosing. Since then, several states have updated their contributions and yet still no African Americans are present. This petition calls on the state of Maryland to update its statues on a regular basis in order to recognize more Marylanders who made significant contributions to the state and nation. Every 25 years, the state should replace one of the two statues (currently honoring Charles Carroll and John Hanson), allowing each individual statue to stand for 50 years but also allowing modern heroes to receive a national honor from the state of Maryland. As a first step, we humbly recommend that replace one of their to statues in the National Statuary with a monument to Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was born in Baltimore, represented the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, successfully argued for desegregation in Brown v. Board, and became the first African American Supreme Court Justice. His legacy in Maryland and the United States is unparalleled. The state legislature should undertake the necessary steps to begin a replacement campaign. To be clear, the purpose of this replacement is not to diminish or demean to contributions of either current honoree. Rather, the state should undertake a goal of updating its honorees on a regular basis in order to recognize the continuing contributions of its citizens. Both current statues for Maryland were donated in 1903. Their legacy should continue at the Maryland State House or other commemorative sites in Maryland.

Friends of the Public, Many women have been harmed and have died prematurely or unnecessarily because of a routine but avoidable gynecological practice known as MORCELLATION. This world-wide practice has devastated many families for well over two decades now. More than 600,000 hysterectomies are done in the US every year. By the age of 70, one out of every three American women will have had a hysterectomy. About 90% of these surgeries are done for what is presumed to be a benign condition called fibroids. More and more of these surgeries are done with minimally invasive techniques.  Usually, to get the uterus out of the body using the "minimally invasive" technique, it is cut into small pieces with a machine called a morcellator.  However, a devastating problem happens if in fact the woman did NOT have fibroids – but if she actually had cancer.  Unfortunately, the tests that are done before a hysterectomy do not identify these cancers well.  Many gynecologists don't even bother getting any tests. In fact, morcellating cancer spreads the cancer inside the woman’s body.   This is called ‘up staging’ the cancer.  It is important to understand: 1) The average life span following accidental morcellation of sarcoma is only 24-36 months. 2) Only 15% of woman who have leiomyosarcoma (LMS) that has spread (stage 4) will be alive after 5 years. 3) Women with sarcoma who are morcellated are about 4 times more likely to die from sarcoma than if they had not been morcellated.  This is an avoidable disaster. This problem has been recognized for more than two decades.  A review of the literature, by the Food and Drug Administration, revealed that 1 in 350 women who go for fibroid surgery actually have sarcoma.  This means that everyday 2-5 women in the US – and more around the world are susceptible to having a deadly cancer spread because of morcellation. This catastrophic problem has happened in my family and we are fighting to stop this dangerous activity called morcellation.  A chance of 1 in 350 for such a devastating outcome is much too high to accept.  Women should be told the truth and the practice should stop. Please help us bring an end to spreading cancer with morcellation.  This is a totally AVOIDABLE practice.  People need to understand their options, which include hysterectomy through a mini-lapartomy incision or trans-vaginally – but – up until recently, most women never heard anything about morcellation or about the possibility of cancer upstaging. And, if they do, this risk is down-played by most minimally invasive gynecologists. We can tell you based on our experience, when cancers are spread by morcellation, the outcomes can be devastating - because the cancer is upstaged. We need your help. Please sign our petition so we can get the word out.  We want the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to change this "standard of care" by ending the needless waste of life caused by spreading cancer with morcellation. For more information and original references see: http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/blog/onlinefirst/pages/post.aspx?PostID=188 ) (also see:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23189178) (also see:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21565389). The attached video below shows an example of morcellation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPkKw0j-aXE The following companies manufacture and distribute uterine morcellator devices: 1) ETHICON: Gynecare morcellator 2) Storz: Rotocut Morcellator 3) Richard Wolf Medical Instrumentation Company 4) LiNA: LiNA Xcise Cordless Laparoscopic Morcellator 5) Blue Endo MOREsolution Tissue Morcellator 6) Pneumoliner Power Morcellation System by Olympus Corporation. Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci Robot deserves special mention, as the frequency of robotic hysterectomies performed by minimally invasive gynecologists is currently on the rise across the United States. Note that Intuitive Surgical builds and markets the DaVinci robot, which is not itself a "morcellator". However, use of the DaVinci robot almost invariably appears to require that the uterus be minced up, or morcellated, into smaller pieces inside the woman's belly cavity in order to extract from the abdomen. A clear example is shown in the following YouTube video of DaVinci being used to perform a robotic hysterectomy and manually morcellating the uterus using the endo-wrist component of the robot (morcellation is being performed at minute 5:30 of the video).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6luiX6UQmg  Without morcellation using equipment manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, robotic hysterectomies would, likely, not be possible using the DaVinci Robot. It is noteworthy that the DaVinci robot does not appear to have a readily available warning label advising against its use to morcellate tumors with malignant potential inside the body. The company's Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Myriam Curet, a surgeon herself, has been informed and advised of this severe hazard in the use of DaVinci for robotic hysterectomy and the absence of a readily available warning label.