Engage Her: Activating Women and MultiCultural Communities

A new law in Santa Clara County, California bans restaurants from giving away free toys with children’s meals exceeding healthy levels of calories, fat, sugar and salt. “This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes,” said the law’s author, Supervisor Ken Yeager. “Obviously, toys in and of themselves do not make children obese. But it is unfair to parents and children to use toys to capture the tastes of children when they are young and get them hooked on eating high-sugar, high-fat foods early in life.”

This new law bans free toys in meals containing more than: 485 calories, 35 percent of their calories from fat, 10 percent from sweeteners, or exceeding 600 mg of sodium. These guidelines follow the children’s health standards set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As a nation we are facing skyrocketing obesity rates among adults and children and in some places 30% of our population are obese, overweight and becoming diabetic, experiencing related coronary disease. We all have to find ways to counteract this unhealthy trend and determine what are some of the contributors to this epidemic. While many critics of this new law say that parents should determine what their children should be eating, it is apparent from looking at the dramatically increasing numbers of adults getting obese, overweight and having associated illnesses that many of the parents are not making the healthiest choices for themselves and their children. If the fast food chains offer healthier meals that meet the guidelines they can continue to offer the promotional toys with the healthier menu offerings. Stay tuned and let’s see how this legislation affects other parts of our nation.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/28/MNLA1D5QFV.DTL#ixzz0mUssRXNc

Census forms and your money!

To help promote participation in the Census, we’re announcing our new Text Message campaign: Text FreeCensus to 53137 and register your name in a drawing to win a FREE iPod Touch! Starting today, we’re announcing it to all our partners and the public.

While the deadline for sending in the Census has passed, the government is now getting ready to send representatives to the doors of people who failed to send in their census forms. They will be sending them up to several times to ensure we count everyone who lives in the United States regardless of their citizenship status. It is important that we encourage all our families and friends to open the doors and answer the questions to ensure they are counted in the Census to receive federal funding for their communities.

Remember: Text FreeCensus to 53137 to register to win a FREE iPod Touch and receive periodic messages.

President Obama gave his State of the Union address to discuss the highlights, challenges and solutions to our nation’s pressing issues. In his speech he acknowledged the challenges but came up with concrete solutions to address our key concerns. Top of our nation’s priority list is the economy and creating jobs to get Americans back to work. While we face many challenges abroad, our key priority is for us to focus domestically on getting Americans employed, providing funding and tax incentives to help our children get educated so that Americans across the country can become productive, pay their bills, plan for their future and get back on their feet again. We need to all pull together as Americans and support our federal, state and local government efforts to support us and create a stronger nation.

Dreams are endless for every individual, whether it’s something as simple as purchasing a luxurious car or attending a university to continue his or her education. However, for many, a dream will stay just that: a dream. Illegal students strive for their best, but are limited to what they can achieve due to their alien status. While all documented students continue their pursuit towards a greater education, undocumented students are often prevented in continuing their education due to the restrictions that are placed upon them.

Note that many of these students came to America at a young age. They have learned how to be citizens, and denying them a higher education is quite unfair. These students are not criminals; most have very high GPAs that are higher than those of legal citizens. These kids are the future, and could help raise the economy. Hopefully, the DREAM Act can pass, so these students can fulfill their dreams.

With the Senate getting 60 votes to approve discussion of the Health Care Bill, debate now begins on all the provisions, costs, details of the Senate version of the Health care Reform Bill. If the Senate can pass their version of the Health Care reform measure, it then goes to a special committee to merge the two Health Care Reform measures from the Congress and the Senate to create a merged version. That new version will need to be voted up on by both branches of government before they can send it to President Obama’s desk for approval. Let the debates continue.

As citizens, we need to make sure our voices are heard and listened to. Make sure your voice and opinions are heard.