Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mrs. M Obama and her national Campaign against Childhood Obesity
Politico Contributor
First lady Michelle Obama today is announcing a national campaign to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through what her office calls “a comprehensive approach that builds on effective strategies, engages families and communities, and mobilizes both public and private sector resources.”
“The ‘Let’s Move’ campaign will focus on reaching a national goal of solving the childhood obesity challenge within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight,” the first lady’s office said.
The issue will be her legacy as first lady, friends said.
At 9:15 a.m. in the Oval Office, “the President will sign a memorandum on childhood obesity as part of the First Lady’s nationwide campaign to combat childhood obesity. The First Lady will attend the signing. There will be a pool spray of the signing.”
"Let's Move," a campaign against childhood obesity led by first lady Michelle Obama, is scheduled to debut today.
"Too many of our children are seriously overweight, and our companies stand ready to work with you to address this health crisis," they wrote in an open letter to the first lady.
In recent years, the executives noted, they "have changed the way we develop and market more than 10,000 products, reducing fat, trans fat, sugar, salt and calories without sacrificing the convenience and taste consumers demand."
The first lady is to launch her signature initiative at mid-day with six Cabinet secretaries, providing they aren't kept away as the capital digs out of a blizzard and prepares for more snow.t noon in the State Dining Room, the First Lady by members of the president's Cabinet, as well as media, sports, entertainment, and business leaders, alongside mayors, the medical community.
1) Parents across the nation understand the impacts of unhealthy food choices and inactivity on their child’s health, but they are often overwhelmed and confused by conflicting information or just need some tips and tools to make some simple changes that can have a big effect without creating more guilt or aggravation. The Administration, in partnership with public health professionals and the private sector, will address these issues in several ways:
--Front of Package Labeling: By the end of the year FDA will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutritionally sound and consumer friendly front of package labeling providing 65 million parents in America and other caregivers with easy access to the information they need to make healthy choices for their children.
--The ABA: The American Beverage Association has voluntarily committed to put a clear, uniform front of pack calorie label on all of its cans, bottles, vending and fountain machines within two years. The label will reflect total calories per container up to 20oz. and 12oz serving size in multi-serve containers. This marks an important first step in ensuring parents have the information they need to make healthier choices, but there remains much work to be done across industry.
The Charleston Gazette is a member of the Politico Network.
National League of Cities Commends First Lady's Work to Reduce Childhood Obesity
Below are the Speakers at the press conference for Michelle Obama National Campaign on Childhood Obesity
Dr. Judith Palfrey, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010.
Mayor Chip Johnson of Hernando, Mississippi, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010.
Chip Johnson Mayor of Hernando Miss.
Mayhor to share stage with First Lady
Mayor Joseph Curtatone, of Somerville, Massachusetts, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010. .
Smarter School Lunches :: "Renegade Lunch Lady" Ann Cooper Changes the Way Kids Eat
How to fight childhood obesity in 3 steps
"A few extra pounds may harm kids hearts."
First lady Michelle Obama today is announcing a national campaign to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through what her office calls “a comprehensive approach that builds on effective strategies, engages families and communities, and mobilizes both public and private sector resources.”
“The ‘Let’s Move’ campaign will focus on reaching a national goal of solving the childhood obesity challenge within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight,” the first lady’s office said.
The issue will be her legacy as first lady, friends said.
At 9:15 a.m. in the Oval Office, “the President will sign a memorandum on childhood obesity as part of the First Lady’s nationwide campaign to combat childhood obesity. The First Lady will attend the signing. There will be a pool spray of the signing.”
"Let's Move," a campaign against childhood obesity led by first lady Michelle Obama, is scheduled to debut today.
- The program includes a pledge from 40 executives of major food producers and agribusinesses, some from the Chicago area, to help promote healthy eating.
- Among the signers: Irene Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Foods, based in Northfield, and Brenda C. Barnes, the CEO of the Sara Lee Corp., based in Downers Grove.
In recent years, the executives noted, they "have changed the way we develop and market more than 10,000 products, reducing fat, trans fat, sugar, salt and calories without sacrificing the convenience and taste consumers demand."
The first lady is to launch her signature initiative at mid-day with six Cabinet secretaries, providing they aren't kept away as the capital digs out of a blizzard and prepares for more snow.t noon in the State Dining Room, the First Lady by members of the president's Cabinet, as well as media, sports, entertainment, and business leaders, alongside mayors, the medical community.
- Participants include Tiki Barber, NBC correspondent and former New York Giants running back; Dr. Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Will Allen of Milwaukee, who is a leader in the effort to bring fresh produce to inner cities and urban areas; Mayors Chip Johnson of Hernando, Mississippi, and Joseph Curtatone of Somerville, Massachusetts, who are leading efforts in their communities to reduce childhood obesity; and local students, including a student from D.C.’s Bancroft elementary school, and members of the 2009 national championship Pee Wee football team -- the Watkins Hornets, from Watkins Elementary in Southeast D.C.
The administration provided these two examples of the program:
1) Parents across the nation understand the impacts of unhealthy food choices and inactivity on their child’s health, but they are often overwhelmed and confused by conflicting information or just need some tips and tools to make some simple changes that can have a big effect without creating more guilt or aggravation. The Administration, in partnership with public health professionals and the private sector, will address these issues in several ways:
--Front of Package Labeling: By the end of the year FDA will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutritionally sound and consumer friendly front of package labeling providing 65 million parents in America and other caregivers with easy access to the information they need to make healthy choices for their children.
--The ABA: The American Beverage Association has voluntarily committed to put a clear, uniform front of pack calorie label on all of its cans, bottles, vending and fountain machines within two years. The label will reflect total calories per container up to 20oz. and 12oz serving size in multi-serve containers. This marks an important first step in ensuring parents have the information they need to make healthier choices, but there remains much work to be done across industry.
The Charleston Gazette is a member of the Politico Network.
National League of Cities Commends First Lady's Work to Reduce Childhood Obesity
Below are the Speakers at the press conference for Michelle Obama National Campaign on Childhood Obesity
Tiki Barber speaks at First Lady's launch of childhood obesity campaign in Washington.
NBC correspondent and former NFL football player Tiki Barber speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010.
Judith Palfrey speaks at First Lady's launch of childhood obesity campaign in Washington.
Dr. Judith Palfrey, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010.
Michelle Obama Discusses Surgeon General's Report On Obesity
Event on Obesity with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama
Event on Obesity with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama
Will Allen
Chief Executive Officer
Growing Power Will Allen , CEO
Mayor Hernando speaks at First Lady's launch of childhood obesity campaign in Washington.
Mayor Chip Johnson of Hernando, Mississippi, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010.
Chip Johnson Mayor of Hernando Miss.
Mayhor to share stage with First Lady
Mayor Curtatone speaks at First Lady's launch of childhood obesity campaign in Washington.
Mayor Joseph Curtatone, of Somerville, Massachusetts, speaks at an event to launch First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative "Let's Move," a campaign to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on February 9, 2010. .
Joseph Curtatone, Eduardo Sanchez, Mary Story, Adewale Troutman
Childhood Obesity Smarter School Lunches :: "Renegade Lunch Lady" Ann Cooper Changes the Way Kids Eat
How to fight childhood obesity in 3 steps
"A few extra pounds may harm kids hearts."
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tackling Childhood Obesity
President Barack Obama signs a memorandum on childhood obesity in the Oval Office. From left are, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar February 9, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)
First Lady Michelle Obama introduces a new nationwide campaign to combat childhood obesity, "Let's Move." Learn more at http://www.LetsMove.gov.
"It’s done, honey," President Obama said to The First Lady earlier today as he signed a Presidential Memorandum establishing a task force on childhood obesity to address the growing health epidemic. "Now we work," she responded.
The new task force is charged with developing an interagency action plan to solve the problem of obesity among our Nation's children as part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign. The campaign will take a comprehensive approach to engage both public and private sectors to help children become more active and eat healthier within a generation, so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.
Within 90 days, the task force will develop and submit to the President a comprehensive interagency plan that details a coordinated strategy, identifies key benchmarks, and outlines an action plan. The President applauded all those involved:
I am so proud of the work that the First Lady, along with the Cabinet Secretaries behind me, has done in trying to tackle one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country, and that is the increase of childhood obesity. And because of the outstanding planning that they've done, they are going to be rolling out a terrific plan of action that involves the private sector as well as government agencies coordinating much more effectively a lot of public information out there to help parents make good decisions about allowing their children to be active and eating healthier.Members of the task force include: the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of Agriculture; Secretary of Health and Human Services; Secretary of Education; Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady; Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; and heads of other executive departments, agencies, or offices as the Chair may designate.
Speaking at an event later, the First Lady explained what motivated her to take this on: "These words – 'overweight' and 'obese' – they don’t tell the full story. This isn’t just about inches and pounds or how our kids look. It’s about how our kids feel, and how they feel about themselves. It’s about the impact we’re seeing on every aspect of their lives."
Help Save Virginia's Wilderness Battlefield from Wal-Mart
The Civil War's Wilderness Battlefield is under siege...again! But, this time it does not involve soldiers and artillery. Wal-Mart and JDC Ventures LLC have proposed to commercially develop 240,000 square feet on critically important land at the historic Wilderness Battlefield and just across the road from the National Park Service's center of interpreting the Battle of the Wilderness.
NPCA and its partners have determined that Wal-Mart's project would irrevocably harm the battlefield, undermine the visitor's experience of the National Military Park, and open the door for more incompatible, large-scale development at the gateway to the national park.
Save the Battlefield from Wal-Mart
Subject:
Relocation of Orange County, VA, Wal-Mart Supercenter NPCA and its partners have determined that Wal-Mart's project would irrevocably harm the battlefield, undermine the visitor's experience of the National Military Park, and open the door for more incompatible, large-scale development at the gateway to the national park.
Save the Battlefield from Wal-Mart
Subject:
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
I am writing you to ask that you please protect our nation's Civil War heritage for the benefit of future generations.
Like Virginia's Governor Tim Kaine and many thousands of Americans, I am seriously concerned that the proposed Wal-Mart development in Orange County, Virginia, would permanently harm historic Wilderness Battlefield and the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.
I am writing to ask you to relocate Wal-Mart's proposed Supercenter to another site in Orange County, but away from the battlefield and the national park. Ultimately, this is your decision.
Wal-mart is getting to big for it over sized britches. It is like they have senators in their pockets feeding them when they need something approved. Now they want to build near an Historical Battlefield, nuts plain nuts. DO NOT DO IT, I could not vote in any re-election of any congress person who did not support the Virginia Wilderness Battlefield against Wal-mart.... There has to be another location away from the Battlefield, where the truck traffic will not matter but the battlefield...GEEZ
And that you can take to the bank, and thats all I have to say on the subject
Thank you for considering my comments and helping to preserve our nation's unique and irreplaceable heritage.
Keep BLM lands near Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks closed to mining
One million acres of prime wolf, bear, and salmon habitat adjacent to Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks could be opened to new mining claims with the stroke of a pen. Closed to mining since 1971, these wild Alaska lands are integral to Bristol Bay's salmon-supporting ecosystem that is anchored by these two grand national parks.
A recommendation from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lift this mineral closure and expand a modern day gold rush was issued in the last days of the Bush Administration and we need your help to send this bad idea back to the drawing board.
Send a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Keep BLM lands near Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks closed to mining
Subject:
Keep BLM Lands near Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks Closed to Mining
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
Last November, just after the election, the Bureau of Land Management recommended that you lift a mineral closure that has kept 1 million acres of land adjacent to Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks closed to mining since 1971. These parks are located in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay, home of the largest wild salmon fishery left on earth and an area already under siege from a future mining district that is anchored by the proposed Pebble Mine.
Please don't sign anything that would open these lands to mining. The modern day gold rush occurring in this region is threatening not only the fish and wildlife, but also the livelihood of many local residents that depend on undeveloped lands. Adding another million acres to the stampede for gold will only add to the problems.
Instead, I would ask that you send the recommendation back to BLM to have them do a better job of scientifically reviewing the impacts of 1 million acres of new mines upon the area's fish and wildlife and our national parks. Please ask the BLM to evaluate permanent protections for these lands for the sake of Bristol Bay's clean waters and cultural traditions so we can protect Katmai's and Lake Clark's wolves, bears, and wild salmon forever.
NO STRIP MINING, are you crazy, destroy a natural habitat, that supports wolf, bear and salmon. Salmon that for hundreds of years have swam the rivers to get to their spawning grounds. If there are future salmon where do they go if their rivers are destroyed, GEEZ....miniong destroys lands, look at other strip mining in other parts of the country large naked holes with roads that go down and down and down, you can't fill them back up DO NOT DO IT....... You need to seriously take measures to protect it for my greatgrandchildren, and yours. Do you not want them to see the natural beauty of a n ecosystem that thrives. Mining would destroy it and it would never recover,that is a crime against nature, and I could not vote in any re-election of any congress person who did not support the Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks against the Bureau of Land Management. And that you can take to the bank, and thats all I have to say on the subject
A recommendation from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lift this mineral closure and expand a modern day gold rush was issued in the last days of the Bush Administration and we need your help to send this bad idea back to the drawing board.
Send a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Keep BLM lands near Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks closed to mining
Keep BLM Lands near Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks Closed to Mining
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
Last November, just after the election, the Bureau of Land Management recommended that you lift a mineral closure that has kept 1 million acres of land adjacent to Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks closed to mining since 1971. These parks are located in southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay, home of the largest wild salmon fishery left on earth and an area already under siege from a future mining district that is anchored by the proposed Pebble Mine.
Please don't sign anything that would open these lands to mining. The modern day gold rush occurring in this region is threatening not only the fish and wildlife, but also the livelihood of many local residents that depend on undeveloped lands. Adding another million acres to the stampede for gold will only add to the problems.
Instead, I would ask that you send the recommendation back to BLM to have them do a better job of scientifically reviewing the impacts of 1 million acres of new mines upon the area's fish and wildlife and our national parks. Please ask the BLM to evaluate permanent protections for these lands for the sake of Bristol Bay's clean waters and cultural traditions so we can protect Katmai's and Lake Clark's wolves, bears, and wild salmon forever.
NO STRIP MINING, are you crazy, destroy a natural habitat, that supports wolf, bear and salmon. Salmon that for hundreds of years have swam the rivers to get to their spawning grounds. If there are future salmon where do they go if their rivers are destroyed, GEEZ....miniong destroys lands, look at other strip mining in other parts of the country large naked holes with roads that go down and down and down, you can't fill them back up DO NOT DO IT....... You need to seriously take measures to protect it for my greatgrandchildren, and yours. Do you not want them to see the natural beauty of a n ecosystem that thrives. Mining would destroy it and it would never recover,that is a crime against nature, and I could not vote in any re-election of any congress person who did not support the Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks against the Bureau of Land Management. And that you can take to the bank, and thats all I have to say on the subject
Save Everglades National Park from Mining
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to issue mining permits for the destruction of up to 15,000 acres of wetlands near Everglades National Park. Together with existing mines, this would convert 30 square miles of historic Everglades and wildlife habitat into deep mining pits. Alternative plans exist and include buffers to protect the park, but these plans still allow at least eight years of mining.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to stop the proposed mining project. Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that the current proposals will cause unacceptable damage to the Everglades.
Save Everglades National Park
Subject:
Miami-Dade Lake Belt Mining Permits Re-issue
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
I am writing to urge the EPA to intervene to stop current plans to expand limestone mining activities in the Everglades, our country's largest subtropical wilderness.
The Army Corps of Engineers' proposals both to re-issue mining permits set aside last January by a federal court because of violations of federal environmental laws and to approve expansion of the mining would irreversibly destroy critical wetlands and endangered species habitat, harm Everglades restoration, contaminate local drinking water supplies and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Everglades National Park has already been devastated by a century of draining the Everglades and poor growth management, and must be protected from further harmful practices.
The EPA has the legal authority and the responsibility to prevent the permanent harm that the proposed mining would cause to the Everglades and drinking water. The EPA should only approve a five-year mining plan that includes buffers to protect the Everglades and the public wellfield. This would still allow years of mining while necessary studies are completed to see if any more mining can be done safely and without unacceptable environmental impacts.
I grew up going to the everglades, riding air boats, camping, stepping on alligators, heheheh, seriously, NO STRIP MINING, are you crazy, GEEZ....mining destroys lands, look at other strip mining in other parts of the country large naked holes with roads that go down and down and down, you can't fill them back up DO NOT DO IT....... You need to seriously take measures to protect it for my greatgrandchildren, and yours. Do you not want them to see the natural beauty of a n ecosystem that thrives. Mining would destroy it and it would never recover,that is a crime against nature, and I could not vote in any re-election of any congress person who did not support the Everglades National Park against the EPA. And that you can take to the bank, and thats all I have to say on the subject
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to stop the proposed mining project. Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that the current proposals will cause unacceptable damage to the Everglades.
Save Everglades National Park
Miami-Dade Lake Belt Mining Permits Re-issue
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
I am writing to urge the EPA to intervene to stop current plans to expand limestone mining activities in the Everglades, our country's largest subtropical wilderness.
The Army Corps of Engineers' proposals both to re-issue mining permits set aside last January by a federal court because of violations of federal environmental laws and to approve expansion of the mining would irreversibly destroy critical wetlands and endangered species habitat, harm Everglades restoration, contaminate local drinking water supplies and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Everglades National Park has already been devastated by a century of draining the Everglades and poor growth management, and must be protected from further harmful practices.
The EPA has the legal authority and the responsibility to prevent the permanent harm that the proposed mining would cause to the Everglades and drinking water. The EPA should only approve a five-year mining plan that includes buffers to protect the Everglades and the public wellfield. This would still allow years of mining while necessary studies are completed to see if any more mining can be done safely and without unacceptable environmental impacts.
I grew up going to the everglades, riding air boats, camping, stepping on alligators, heheheh, seriously, NO STRIP MINING, are you crazy, GEEZ....mining destroys lands, look at other strip mining in other parts of the country large naked holes with roads that go down and down and down, you can't fill them back up DO NOT DO IT....... You need to seriously take measures to protect it for my greatgrandchildren, and yours. Do you not want them to see the natural beauty of a n ecosystem that thrives. Mining would destroy it and it would never recover,that is a crime against nature, and I could not vote in any re-election of any congress person who did not support the Everglades National Park against the EPA. And that you can take to the bank, and thats all I have to say on the subject
Clear the Air in America's National Parks
My comment:
Why is it that our National Parks are under seige from big business and that the groups that are suppose to protect these parks from interests who want to destroy them. We American's have to save them for our next several generations, otherwise our legacy of beautiful clean natural parks given to us by some Presidents and people who wanted us to protect these lands will disappear to companies who want to mine, build communities to close or build big commercial properties, and we have to support the President with his clean air proposals. Natural clean air is essential to plants, animals, aand for people who visit the parks. Get out and show your support, carry signs, send these letters and promise not to re-elect any senator who does not support the President, whether they are Democrat or Republican this has to bipartisan......There are four letters here regarding four different parks in the United States
Be a wise American know what all the issues are, and where you can help........Now that is all I have to say about that.
Our national parks--and their visitors--are threatened by dirty air. Ground-level ozone, formed mostly in the summer months from automobile, industrial, and coal-fired power plant pollution, is one of the most deadly forms of air pollution and has a history of catastrophic consequences for people and parks. Across the United States park ecosystems show damage from ozone pollution.
However, new, stronger ground-level ozone rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could protect both parks and people, but protection is not guaranteed. The EPA has proposed a range of standards, from more to most protective. Big polluters and others will pressure EPA to adopt the weakest possible standards, and we can help counter that pressure by explicitly stating our support for the strongest standards. That's why we're suggesting you specify the precise standard you support in the letter you send to EPA. For more information on the range of standards proposed by EPA, please see EPA's Ozone Fact Sheet by clicking on the "Tell me more" link. Please contact EPA and let them know you care!
Clear the Air for America's National Parks
Subject: Ozone stndards
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
I 'm writing to comment on the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to revise the air quality standards for ground-level ozone. America's national parks are at risk: every summer visitors and the parks alike are harmed by ozone pollution. Our national parks should be a place of refuge during the summer months, but today many Americans, especially children, the elderly, and people with asthma, heart, and lung issues, are unable to safely hike or bike in many of our national parks due to ozone levels. I hope you will choose the standard that is most protective of park visitor health. Make every day in America's national parks a safe day to visit for every American.
I hope you will also consider the value of protecting national park ecosystems. Ozone pollution from coal-fired power plants and automobiles has long damaged multiple species of plants and trees and the wildlife that depend on them. From the Great Smoky Mountains to Yosemite, ground-level ozone pollution threatens the long-term sustainability of America's parks.
Our parks and the public deserve the most protective and science-based standards. I therefore urge you to set the "primary" ground-level ozone standard at .060 parts per million to protect public health, and the "secondary" ground-level ozone standard at 7 ppm-hours to protect healthy parks and ecosystems.
This is a national crime,some Presidents have set aside these beautiful parks for the people of America to have and behold their beauty, and now with the pollution of the air some Americans can nor even enjoy them. I believe we should step up and embrace what President Obama wants to do in clean air and energy, aand we should not be Democrat or Republican, we should united Americans saving our national parks for our future generations.
That is all I have to say on the subject.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important proposal.
Why is it that our National Parks are under seige from big business and that the groups that are suppose to protect these parks from interests who want to destroy them. We American's have to save them for our next several generations, otherwise our legacy of beautiful clean natural parks given to us by some Presidents and people who wanted us to protect these lands will disappear to companies who want to mine, build communities to close or build big commercial properties, and we have to support the President with his clean air proposals. Natural clean air is essential to plants, animals, aand for people who visit the parks. Get out and show your support, carry signs, send these letters and promise not to re-elect any senator who does not support the President, whether they are Democrat or Republican this has to bipartisan......There are four letters here regarding four different parks in the United States
Be a wise American know what all the issues are, and where you can help........Now that is all I have to say about that.
Our national parks--and their visitors--are threatened by dirty air. Ground-level ozone, formed mostly in the summer months from automobile, industrial, and coal-fired power plant pollution, is one of the most deadly forms of air pollution and has a history of catastrophic consequences for people and parks. Across the United States park ecosystems show damage from ozone pollution.
However, new, stronger ground-level ozone rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could protect both parks and people, but protection is not guaranteed. The EPA has proposed a range of standards, from more to most protective. Big polluters and others will pressure EPA to adopt the weakest possible standards, and we can help counter that pressure by explicitly stating our support for the strongest standards. That's why we're suggesting you specify the precise standard you support in the letter you send to EPA. For more information on the range of standards proposed by EPA, please see EPA's Ozone Fact Sheet by clicking on the "Tell me more" link. Please contact EPA and let them know you care!
Clear the Air for America's National Parks
Dear [ Decision Maker ],
I 'm writing to comment on the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to revise the air quality standards for ground-level ozone. America's national parks are at risk: every summer visitors and the parks alike are harmed by ozone pollution. Our national parks should be a place of refuge during the summer months, but today many Americans, especially children, the elderly, and people with asthma, heart, and lung issues, are unable to safely hike or bike in many of our national parks due to ozone levels. I hope you will choose the standard that is most protective of park visitor health. Make every day in America's national parks a safe day to visit for every American.
I hope you will also consider the value of protecting national park ecosystems. Ozone pollution from coal-fired power plants and automobiles has long damaged multiple species of plants and trees and the wildlife that depend on them. From the Great Smoky Mountains to Yosemite, ground-level ozone pollution threatens the long-term sustainability of America's parks.
Our parks and the public deserve the most protective and science-based standards. I therefore urge you to set the "primary" ground-level ozone standard at .060 parts per million to protect public health, and the "secondary" ground-level ozone standard at 7 ppm-hours to protect healthy parks and ecosystems.
This is a national crime,some Presidents have set aside these beautiful parks for the people of America to have and behold their beauty, and now with the pollution of the air some Americans can nor even enjoy them. I believe we should step up and embrace what President Obama wants to do in clean air and energy, aand we should not be Democrat or Republican, we should united Americans saving our national parks for our future generations.
That is all I have to say on the subject.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important proposal.
Monday, February 8, 2010
NASA Night Shuttle Launch
The Space Shuttle Endeavour launched early this morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The six-member crew is embarking on its 13-day mission to deliver a new room and observation deck for the Int'l Space Station. The launch is the last nighttime liftoff of the shuttle, and only four more flights remain before the program comes to a close later this year.
Washington, DC
Endevor lift off the last night time launch
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The space shuttle Endeavour thundered into orbit before dawn Monday morning, briefly turning darkness into daylight.
It was the second effort to get the Endeavour off the ground, 24 hours after clouds over the launching pad scrubbed Sunday’s attempt.
Clouds again encroached, but there were enough holes to allow the Endeavour to lift off on schedule at 4:14 a.m., a bright streak rising to the northeast along the East Coast. It was the 130th launching of a shuttle and probably the last night launching as the program winds down and ends after four more flights.
“What a beautiful launch we had this morning,” William H. Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, said in a news conference.
The Endeavour is carrying the last major piece of the International Space Station. Two of Endeavour’s crew members, Nicholas J. M. Patrick and Lt. Col. Robert L. Behnken of the Air Force, will conduct three spacewalks to install a 23-foot-long, 15-foot-wide Tranquility module.
The module includes a seven-windowed dome, or cupola, that will offer panoramic views of Earth and space. The viewing area, large enough for two astronauts, will be used for controlling the station’s 60-foot-long robotic arm and to observe other activities outside the station.
The Endeavour is also delivering space parts for the station’s water system that recycles urine and sweat into clean water.
A camera on the shuttle’s external tank detected a strip of insulating foam falling off about two minutes into the flight. Mr. Gerstenmaier estimated it at a quarter-inch thick and a foot long.
“It didn’t appear to impact the orbiter,” Mr. Gerstenmaier said, “and we see no damage to the orbiter.”
As with all shuttle missions since the loss of the Columbia in 2003, engineers will spend several days examining the foam loss to ensure there was no damage to the Endeavour’s heat shield.
The commander of the 13-day mission is Col. George D. Zamka of the Marines, and the pilot is Col. Terry W. Virts Jr. of the Air Force. The other crew members are Stephen K. Robinson and Capt. Kathryn P. Hire of the United States Navy Reserve.
While the Endeavour mission was off to a smooth start, Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., the NASA administrator, admitted he had not done a good job of laying out a clear picture of the agency’s future.
At a news conference on Saturday, he accepted blame for the rocky reception that has greeted President Obama’s plans to revamp NASA’s human spaceflight program.
The plans, revealed in Mr. Obama’s budget request for 2011, call for the cancellation of Constellation, the program that was to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020. Under the new budget proposal, money that went to the Constellation would instead be used to develop new space technologies like fueling stations in orbit, and the task of developing rockets for carrying astronauts to the International Space Station would be turned over to commercial companies.
General Bolden said some of the work in the Constellation program might yet be preserved. “I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water, if you will,” he said.
General Bolden also offered some conciliatory words as he acknowledged that the proposal for NASA would probably change as it winds through the budget process. “I do have to negotiate with my partners in Congress,” he said.
He said NASA would still work on a heavy-lift rocket even as the budget proposal seeks to cancel the Ares V, the behemoth rocket that would have carried the cargo for a lunar mission.
General Bolden said, however, that he did not expect the heavy-lift rocket to be ready until after 2020.
Washington, DC
Endevor lift off the last night time launch
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The space shuttle Endeavour thundered into orbit before dawn Monday morning, briefly turning darkness into daylight.
It was the second effort to get the Endeavour off the ground, 24 hours after clouds over the launching pad scrubbed Sunday’s attempt.
Clouds again encroached, but there were enough holes to allow the Endeavour to lift off on schedule at 4:14 a.m., a bright streak rising to the northeast along the East Coast. It was the 130th launching of a shuttle and probably the last night launching as the program winds down and ends after four more flights.
“What a beautiful launch we had this morning,” William H. Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, said in a news conference.
The Endeavour is carrying the last major piece of the International Space Station. Two of Endeavour’s crew members, Nicholas J. M. Patrick and Lt. Col. Robert L. Behnken of the Air Force, will conduct three spacewalks to install a 23-foot-long, 15-foot-wide Tranquility module.
The module includes a seven-windowed dome, or cupola, that will offer panoramic views of Earth and space. The viewing area, large enough for two astronauts, will be used for controlling the station’s 60-foot-long robotic arm and to observe other activities outside the station.
The Endeavour is also delivering space parts for the station’s water system that recycles urine and sweat into clean water.
A camera on the shuttle’s external tank detected a strip of insulating foam falling off about two minutes into the flight. Mr. Gerstenmaier estimated it at a quarter-inch thick and a foot long.
“It didn’t appear to impact the orbiter,” Mr. Gerstenmaier said, “and we see no damage to the orbiter.”
As with all shuttle missions since the loss of the Columbia in 2003, engineers will spend several days examining the foam loss to ensure there was no damage to the Endeavour’s heat shield.
The commander of the 13-day mission is Col. George D. Zamka of the Marines, and the pilot is Col. Terry W. Virts Jr. of the Air Force. The other crew members are Stephen K. Robinson and Capt. Kathryn P. Hire of the United States Navy Reserve.
While the Endeavour mission was off to a smooth start, Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., the NASA administrator, admitted he had not done a good job of laying out a clear picture of the agency’s future.
At a news conference on Saturday, he accepted blame for the rocky reception that has greeted President Obama’s plans to revamp NASA’s human spaceflight program.
The plans, revealed in Mr. Obama’s budget request for 2011, call for the cancellation of Constellation, the program that was to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020. Under the new budget proposal, money that went to the Constellation would instead be used to develop new space technologies like fueling stations in orbit, and the task of developing rockets for carrying astronauts to the International Space Station would be turned over to commercial companies.
General Bolden said some of the work in the Constellation program might yet be preserved. “I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water, if you will,” he said.
General Bolden also offered some conciliatory words as he acknowledged that the proposal for NASA would probably change as it winds through the budget process. “I do have to negotiate with my partners in Congress,” he said.
He said NASA would still work on a heavy-lift rocket even as the budget proposal seeks to cancel the Ares V, the behemoth rocket that would have carried the cargo for a lunar mission.
General Bolden said, however, that he did not expect the heavy-lift rocket to be ready until after 2020.
Obama Plans Bipartisan Summit on Health Care
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats and Republicans try to break their political impasse.
Mr. Obama made the announcement in an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show, capitalizing on a vast television audience. He set out a plan that would put Republicans on the spot to offer their own ideas on health care and show whether both sides are willing to work together.
“I want to come back and have a large meeting, Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Mr. Obama said in the interview from the White House Library.
Mr. Obama challenged Republicans to attend the meeting with their plans for lowering the cost of health insurance and expanding coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Republican leaders said they welcomed the opportunity and called on Democrats to start the debate from scratch, which the president said he would not do.
The move by Mr. Obama comes after weeks in which the administration has appeared uncertain about how to proceed on his top domestic priority since Republicans captured the Senate seat previously held by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. House and Senate Democrats had been increasingly at odds over what the bill should say, how to move ahead tactically and, in some cases, whether to continue at all.
The idea for the bipartisan meeting, set for Feb. 25, was reached in recent weeks, aides said, as part of the White House strategy to intensify its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations, share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives.
Mr. Obama’s announcement came after he surprised his rivals in late January by requesting that a session with House Republicans be open to cameras. That meeting produced a spirited 90-minute question-and-answer session with the president that many in the White House viewed as a critical success for Mr. Obama.
In making the gesture on Sunday, Mr. Obama is in effect calling the hand of Republicans who had chastised him for not honoring a campaign pledge to hold health care deliberations in the open, broadcast by C-Span, and for not allowing Republicans at the bargaining table.
Nancy-Ann DeParle, the director of the White House Office for Health Reform, briefed Democratic Congressional staff members in a conference call ahead of the interview, with Katie Couric.
Separately, some Congressional staff members expressed concern that Mr. Obama’s meeting would simply prolong an already tortuous process. And Democrats still face steep challenges in reconciling the differences between the House and Senate bills.
Some House Democrats are firmly opposed to a proposed tax on high-cost employer-sponsored insurance policies, which they think will hit some middle-class workers and violate Mr. Obama’s campaign promise not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000 a year.
The president offered a number of questions that his party would have for the Republicans.
“How do you guys want to lower costs? How do you guys intend to reform the insurance market so that people with pre-existing conditions, for example, can get health care?” he said. “How do you want to make sure that the 30 million people who don’t have health insurance can get it? What are your ideas specifically?”
The question for Mr. Obama is how much — if at all — he is willing to give on some of the concepts Democrats have already agreed on, or if he is using the meeting to lay the groundwork for another effort by Democrats to push the legislation through without Republican votes.
Mr. Obama did not indicate what he was willing to give up in the negotiations, nor did he chart a specific legislative strategy for moving a bill through Congress. Democrats in the House and Senate were hoping to resolve their differences in the bill, aides said, and present a unified health care plan in time for the meeting.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said in a statement that he welcomed the bipartisan meeting on health care and called on the president to begin the dialogue “by shelving the current health spending bill.”
“The fact is Senate Republicans held hundreds of town halls and met with their constituents across the country last year on the need for health care reform, outlining ideas for the step-by-step approach that Americans have asked for,” Mr. McConnell said. “And we know there are a number of issues with bipartisan support that we can start with when the 2,700-page bill is put on the shelf.”
When asked by Ms. Couric if he would agree to discard the bill and start over, the president said he would not. The starting point, aides said, would be with the proposals that passed the House and Senate.
It remained an open question whether the meeting could lead to real consensus on health care, or whether it would serve only to allow Democrats to frame a political argument against the Republicans going into the midterm campaign.
Republicans were involved in the health care discussions for months last year in the Senate Finance Committee, but differences with Democrats were never resolved.
The bipartisan meeting on health care could give Mr. Obama an opportunity to display the command on health care issues he showed at the meeting with Republicans. The administration believes that the public is supportive of many of the provisions in the bill — particularly taking away the insurance bans for pre-existing conditions — but that the debate was overshadowed by a messy legislative process.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said he was looking forward to the bipartisan discussion. But he joined Mr. McConnell in calling for a fresh start to the health care debate.
“The problem with the Democrats’ health care bills is not that the American people don’t understand them — the American people do understand them, and they don’t like them,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement. “The best way to start on real, bipartisan reform would be to scrap those bills and focus on the kind of step-by-step improvements that will lower health care costs and expand access.”
In the interview on Sunday, Mr. Obama said he did not regret pursuing health care in the first year of his presidency, even though he intends to place a higher priority on job creation this year.
“It was the right thing to do then,” Mr. Obama. “It continues to be the right thing.”
Palin at the Tea Party Conference in Tennessee
TheVoicesofAmerica.org
These are a few videos about the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT and their Convention held in Tennessee this past weekend. with the main speaker being Sara Palin.
Where the Tea Party Movement Goes from Here
Precinct Organizing Best Practices and the Abigail Adams Project
Homemakers of America
The web site for the Abigail Adams project is still under construction so you will find information on Homemakers of America. There are also on the ning site Abigail Adams Project main site you can then go to your individual state site and sign up to join with your ning login.
I find it interesting that they do not put labels with the candidates, no Dem. or Republican, but they offer information that you might not know about the candidates that you might vote on because of party lines. For those that are Independent voters this site might be something you will be interested in,.
These are a few videos about the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT and their Convention held in Tennessee this past weekend. with the main speaker being Sara Palin.
Where the Tea Party Movement Goes from Here
Precinct Organizing Best Practices and the Abigail Adams Project
Homemakers of America
The web site for the Abigail Adams project is still under construction so you will find information on Homemakers of America. There are also on the ning site Abigail Adams Project main site you can then go to your individual state site and sign up to join with your ning login.
I find it interesting that they do not put labels with the candidates, no Dem. or Republican, but they offer information that you might not know about the candidates that you might vote on because of party lines. For those that are Independent voters this site might be something you will be interested in,.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Michelle Obama Interviwed by Matt Lauer on The Today's Show
The Today's Show Matt Lauer interviwed Michelle Obama
“Last question,” Lauer said. “Is this fun? Is fun even a word that can be used to described what you’re living through right now?”
“I am having a ball,” Mrs. Obama said emphatically. “I really am. I mean, I love people, first of all, and I think it would be hard to be in this position if you fundamentally didn’t love people. So, I come to this with a certain level of just joy in hugging — I’m a hugger.”
She ticked off all the things that are right in her life.
“My life is filled with these wonderful interactions with Americans all across the country. That’s what I do every day. My staff is terrific. My kids are healthy. My husband’s fine. He’s got a hard job, but he can handle it.
“I’m having a ball, and, hopefully, I'm doing some good in the process. Check back with me in a year. But right now, I’m doing all right.”
First lady:
I’m ‘not that interesting’
Feb. 3: In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Matt Lauer, Michelle Obama addresses the intense scrutiny she faces, but also says she is enjoying her role as first lady.
She’s taking on childhood obesity.
“There are the shocking statistics that are there,” Mrs. Obama said. “One in three kids are obese in this nation. And the numbers go up when you’re talking about the African-American and Hispanic communities. The most shocking sort of reality that really hits you is that, because the young generation is on track for the first time in this nation’s history of being less healthy, having a shorter life span than their parents.”
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