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New York » Disney is offering a free day's admission to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work next year.

The "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program will provide certified volunteers with a one-day ticket to any park at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., or Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., in 2010.

Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done.

Disney's Jay Rasulo called the promotion "very timely," citing the increased needs of nonprofits in the weak economy, as well as President Barack Obama's national volunteering initiative.

Duncan Dickson, who teaches theme park management at the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management in Orlando, said the volunteer initiative is "a smart marketing move."

Dickson said Disney will get good buzz for encouraging volunteerism plus free publicity from the nonprofits that benefit. And even when theme parks let people in for free, they make their money back in other ways, Dickson said.

Some guests who come in for free would have bought tickets anyway, but the free offer will also bring in visitors who wouldn't otherwise have made the trip, and they'll bring paying guests with them, Dickson added.

HandsOn Network has 70,000 affiliated agencies, from Habitat for Humanity to local
food banks, churches, health care centers, and educational programs. Once their service is verified by HandsOn, volunteers print out an online certificate that can be redeemed at a Disney park.

disneyland, disneyworld, travel, volunteer, family, fun, vacation

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September 17, 2009

Celebrate the Birthday of Our United States of America Government

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. We encourage all Americans to observe this important day in our nation's history by attending local events in your area. Celebrate Constitution Day through activities, learning, parades and demonstrations of our Love for the United States of America and the Blessings of Freedom Our Founding Fathers secured for us.

Waltham, MA (PRWEB) September 15, 2009 -- Today Care.com (www.care.com), the premier source of trustworthy care options for families, announced the launch of the Year of Care Giveaway—a sweepstakes where the service will give away $12,445 to one lucky winning family to pay for a year of child care.

Now that the kids are in school again, the child care needs of families across the country are shifting Parents are looking for new after-school options like babysitters, nannies, child care centers or structured activities for their children. Care.com is running this campaign to bring attention to the high cost of child care expenses, which are a burden for so many families.

The dollar amount of the grand prize ($12,445) equals the annual cost of child care expenses for an average family with two young children, according to the recently released State of Care Index. Child care expenses account for 14 percent of a family’s average budget and are often the second-highest monthly household expense behind mortgage or rent payments.

“Now that the kids are in school again, the child care needs of families across the country are shifting,” said Care.com CEO and Founder, Sheila Lirio Marcelo. “Parents are looking for new after-school options like babysitters, nannies, child care centers or structured activities for their children. Care.com is running this campaign to bring attention to the high cost of child care expenses, which are a burden for so many families.”

From now through October 9, Care.com welcomes all parents and families to enter their household into the Year of Care Giveaway for free by visiting Care.com and joining the service as a Basic Member or subscribing as a Premium Member. Current members of Care.com may also enter the Year of Care Giveaway by registering through their Care.com account homepage. Care.com will select one household at random as the winner of the Year of Care Giveaway and will announce the result of the sweepstakes on October 26.

To enter click link above or learn more here.  I'm on my way, good luck!

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childcare, children, parents, parent resources, contest

Tens of thousands of overweight children – some as young as four – will be shipped off to fat camp, under a Government scheme to tackle obesity.

Primary school pupils identified as being overweight will automatically be offered a place on a state-funded diet and exercise scheme.

Parents groups said the new NHS rules meant Labour had moved "beyond a nanny state, to a dictatorship."(my emphasis)

Health experts warned that the public branding of young children as fat could damage their confidence, expose them to bullying and trigger eating disorders. However, paediatricians welcomed the move.

Under existing regulations, children are weighed when they start primary school – aged four or five – and again as they leave, at 10 or 11. Parents of all children receive a letter saying whether their children are healthy, overweight, underweight or very overweight. Latest figures show that by the time they leave school, one in three children is overweight.

When it was introduced three years ago, the weighing programme was met with a backlash from parents. In its first year, more than half withdrew their children from the scheme, for fear they would be bullied after the class weigh-in.

When families were advised that pupils would not be told their weights, nor singled out and told to diet, but that data would simply be used by local health planners to monitor the spread of obesity and to help them set up the right services, participation rates increased.

The new guidance, slipped out to NHS Primary Care Trusts in England during the school holidays, orders an immediate change of approach.

From this month, pupils whose weight is too high – or too low – will automatically be offered a referral to "weight management services" in areas which already run such programmes
Read more

I don't know about you, but I don't think any government should require anyone to attend 'fat camps'. While it sounds like a good idea to help children get fit and stay active, this is something that is a parents responsibility. Parents need to become more responsible about teaching their children good eating habits and talking to them about reasons why staying active and eating right are best for them. Should their child have genetic reasons or otherwise for having a weight problem, the parents need to seek the help and support of a pediatrician or specialist not the government.

Without getting overly political or opinionated on this issue, I believe the government should not be taking part in the health and weight decisions of people young or old, especially at the expense of others. Health care and who pays for it should be and always has been between the patient and the doctor in the United States. This is one of the biggest issues about national health care, who is going to pay for it and who will make the decisions on what is covered and what is not, why should the majority of taxpayers have to pay for the care of others or suffer the cost at the expense of the few who do not take care of themselves or do not take it upon themselves to apply for insurance. In addition, according to statistics, many choose not to insure themselves because they are young and healthy or  according to the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that 25 to 75 percent of those who do not purchase health insurance coverage “could afford to do so". Additionally, 25% of uninsured already qualify for government health insurance, if they apply for Medicare/Medicaid or state aid such as ACCESS or SCHIP, which is subsidized by the federal government through our taxes already or they may seek medical care through non-profit organizations, such as Christian and Catholic hospitals and clinics, hospital emergency rooms, as well as the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration. Health care and the governments role are a hot issue in the United States as the current administration, and democratic party are pushing for a universal, government run health care system. However, many on the right and among independents do not want the type of government controlled health care being proposed in Congress at this time because it will lead to less personal choice and freedoms and more government involvement in their medical care and decisions, as well as personal privacy.

The current bill, HR3200, will not reduce insurance costs, nor create competition but will eventually lead to less choice in health care as private insurance companies slowly disappear because they will not be able to compete with the government care, whereas the bill proposes after five years everyone without insurance, who loses insurance or changes jobs must get on the government plan and this will be enforced through the IRS or you will be fined. 

Imposing government run health care will eventually lead to less quality of health care for all. An increased number of people on health insurance through a public option/government insurance will limit the number of doctors available, leading to rationing of care, less quality of care and longer wait times, as is one of the problems with care in the UK and other countries with government health care. One example of this shortage and lack of care is explained in this article regarding Babies Born In Hospital Lifts And Corridors.

What our health care system needs is a change in insurance tort reform laws to reduce frivolous lawsuits, allow interstate insurance competition like we have with car insurance plans, and allow for vouchers to those who are unable to afford insurance or don't receive insurance options through employment, yet don't qualify for Medicaid/Medicare, state subsidized plans. Along with some of the ideas outlined here Health care reform that actually works!

In closing, if you are opposed to the government controlling your health care and eventually dictating what you can eat or not and making parental decisions for you...you can join More Than 1 Million Have Signed Petition Opposing Obama's Health-Care Plan.

children, weight, government, awareness, health

Image by jmtimages [on call] via Flickr

On September 8, President Obama plans to broadcast nationwide in our public schools on televisions and via Internet his views on why kids should stay in school in order to reduce the drop out rates around the country. Sounds innocent enough. However, the Department of Education also included a list of activities they would like teachers to use before and following the speech to prepare for the speech.

Some of the suggested activities:

Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?

What do you think the President wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?

Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.(see update below)

While these items are optional by school district and up to the individual teachers, it has created quite an uproar online and in public schools across the country. Many parents are opting their child out of school that day because they feel the President is preaching a political agenda disguised as a motivational speech to our children. Others are not as concerned,but from the majority of coverage I have seen it seems most parents are concerned, along with some educators. 

While a President has addressed students before it has not come with an accompanied curriculum in which it suggests to students to ask how the President inspires them to how they can help the President. The suggested letter to themselves has since been removed and changed to ask students to write a letter to themselves on how they can achieve their personal educational goals.  Previously it asked students how they could help the President, suggesting they are to be loyal to him in some way or perhaps that they agree with his position and political views. This is what upset parents most, and I don't blame them.

In addition, as noted by Puma Pundit, there are books the Department of Education would like teachers to read to the students prior to the speech:

Remember, the Dept. of Education expects your kids to read books on the life of Barack Obama before the monumental speech on September 8th, well here’s a look at two of the books that shall be used:

The first book is aptly titled: Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope

and here is the description, direct from the Publisher’s Website:

a few choice paragraphs:

His mama, white as whipped cream; his daddy, black as ink…

He was there in Chicago because he cared about these people. They were his family. People in Kenya were his family. Indonesians were his family. And no matter where he was, the world was his home. And who he was could be summed up in one word: loveable.

As a former teacher, it is great to see the President wanting to motivate students to stay in school, but none of the questions and activities had anything to do with that purpose until parents started raising concerns and it became headlines news on most main stream media. Like many of the things this administration does, such as hiring of czars without a congressional vetting and nomination process...this administration also tries to push their agenda along hoping nobody will notice, especially since most mainstream media outlets fail to report on the issues until the public has made enough of an outcry. An example of this is the sudden resignation of Obama's Green Czar, Van Jones.

According to a recent article by Bob Unruh of World Net Daily:

A lawyer whose work has included myriad civil rights disputes and who has practice before the U.S. Supreme Court is accusing President Obama of trying to push his social agenda by reaching out directly to young children, bypassing parents who may challenge his statements.

And what Obama plans to do on Sept. 8 with a planned speech directly to students in public schools across the United States may even be illegal, according to Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel as well as dean of Liberty University School of Law.

"Obama has pushed his political agenda to the extreme by forcing himself on America's children," Staver said in a statement today. "Obama's political agenda on healthcare and his expansive vision for government is being rejected by the American people. Now Obama is after our children, who, like some socialist members of Congress, have not read the healthcare bill. Americans do not appreciate the president's attempt to use our children as political pawns in his game of chess. Mr. President, you must abide by the rule of law and stop this illegal activity. Our children do not belong to you."

Update:h/t @velvethammer political pundit on twitter

When caught red handed they changed their tune…

Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller

In an acknowledgment that the Department of Education provided lesson plans written somewhat inartfully, surrounding the President Obama’s speech to students next Tuesday, the White House today announced that it had rewritten one of the sections in question.

…..
As one of the preparatory materials for teachers provided by the Department of Education, students had been asked to, “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. “

Today, after Republicans accused the White House of trying to indoctrinate school children with liberal propaganda the White House and the Department of Education changed the section to now read, “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short‐term and long‐term education goals.”

…..

Mr. Obama will deliver his speech from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia – yet his remarks will be broadcast live on the White House website and C-SPAN, which all schools were encouraged to show in their classrooms.

Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009 Menu of Classroom Activities PreK-6

Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009 Menu of Classroom Activities 7-12

(Both docs. are also available for download at their above links)

Michele Malkin reminds us of the pro-Obama teacher who brought a little girl nearly to tears.

Related:

Obama Nation Indoctrination Education

Obama’s Plans for the “Involuntary Servitude” of American Youth [Update: “Require” Scrubbed]

Parents Powerless Against Forced LGBT Indoctrination [Update Alameda Unified School District Breaking Federal Law]

H.R. 1388: Mandatory Obama Brown Shirt Youth Brigade

“Understanding Obama: The Making of a Fuehrer”

Obama the Messiah Effect

Send Obama a clear message. Keep your kids out of school on Sept 8. Take them to work with you or provide a more substantial learning environment by discussing the Bill Of Rights, the US Constitution etc.

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education, parents, awareness, politics, teachers