I’ll be the first to admit that my kids love going to McDonald’s. From a very early age, both of them could identify the logo as we drove down the street and this was amazing because it showed how powerful the McDonald’s brand really was. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has long opposed the deceptive marketing of unhealthy foods to children. That is why they decided to sue McDonald’s if they continue to use toys to market the Happy Meal to young kids.

Now, I’m all for keeping kids healthy, but this is ridiculous. While my boys enjoy getting the toy in their Happy Meal, they usually end up playing with it for less than a day. After that it ends up broken, lost or left in the car (which causes it to be thrown in the trash).

McDonald’s is the king of brand marketing and they should not be blamed for what they do best. It’s up to the parent to decide when, if and how often their child should eat at McDonald’s. And even if the CSPI, sues, wins and gets the toys banned, I doubt consumption of Happy Meals will decrease.

CSPI, please trust the parents to make the best food decision for their children. We know the food is far from healthy and filling up the U.S. Court System with these types of lawsuits is a waste of time.

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, from 3:00 pm-4:00 pm (EDT), AIDS.gov will host a National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) webinar for Federal staff and grantees working with domestic HIV/AIDS programs. National HIV Testing Day is an opportunity for us to work together to promote HIV testing in the community.

The webinar, “The Current and Future State of HIV Testing in the United States,” will feature some of the U.S. Government’s leading voices on HIV/AIDS. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions.

To participate, register here by June 18.

Speakers include:

• Dr. Howard Koh, HHS
• Mr. Christopher Bates, PACHA
• Dr. Kevin Fenton & Dr. Bernard Branson, CDC
• Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson, HRSA
• Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, NIH/NIAID
• Ms. Beverly Watts Davis, SAMHSA
• Ms. Barbara Edwards, CMS
• Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, VA
• And other invited guests

Space is limited. Registrants will be joined on a first-come, first-served basis.

I received an email asking me to post about this website. While this post may not be of interest to all of my readers, I thought this was worth posting. While most of the articles were beyond my comprehension, some of the abstracts for the journals were pretty informative. See, I like reading stuff other than tech articles.

BioMedSearch is a biomedical search engine that contains NIH/PubMed documents, plus a large collection of theses, dissertations, and other publications not found anywhere else for free, making it the most comprehensive free search on the web.

BioMedSearch also provides advanced account features that allow saved searches, alerts, saving documents to portfolios, commenting on documents and portfolios, and sharing documents with other registered users. Registering for BioMedSearch is free.

The President goes through the benefits in health insurance reform that are already kicking in for young adults, retirees, and families, and says more benefits are coming down the pike.

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The purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what they do more transparent to the American people. We elect them, so we need to make sure they are doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments.

This was also the month history was made with the signing of the health care reform bill. There was a lot of fighting over this, but President Obama got it done. Only time will tell whether it was a good or bad idea to reform health care. To be honest, I don’t think anyone knows what will happen and there will always be people out there who want to see it fail, so they can say “I told you so”.

On Mar 2, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4691: Temporary Extension Act of 2010. To provide a temporary extension of certain programs, and for other purposes.

On Mar 4, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 1299: United States Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of 2009. To make technical corrections to the laws affecting certain administrative authorities of the United States Capitol Police, and for other purposes.

On Mar 17, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 2968: Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010. A bill to make certain technical and conforming amendments to the Lanham Act.

On Mar 18, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 2847: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.

On Mar 23, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. An act entitled The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is the Senate’s health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Senate is co-opting this bill as a vehicle for passage of their reform and will change the text of this unrelated bill in whole in the coming weeks. They do this because the Constitution requires all revenue bills to start in the House, and their health reform plan involves revenue. So they have chosen to work off of a bill that started in the House, even if that bill is unrelated.

On Mar 25, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 3433: To amend the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to establish requirements regarding payment of the non-Federal share of the costs of wetlands conservation projects in Canada that are funded under that Act, and for other purposes.

On Mar 31, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4957: Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend authorizations for the airport improvement program, and for other purposes.

S. 1147: PACT Act. A bill to prevent tobacco smuggling, to ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes, and for other purposes.

from barackobama.com

No, this isn’t a bootleg shirt I printed up marking the much needed overhaul of our health care system. This is actually a legitimate shirt from barackobama.com marking the historic vote in the House to send health reform to the President.

I received an email from the website asking me to co-sign the bill along side President Obama’s name to show my pride in helping bring about this great achievement (I’m still not sure what I did). I usually read over and delete these emails, but I couldn’t help adding my name to the list of those who would also sign. After submitting my name I was sent to the usual donation page with a chance to order the shirt.

When I saw it, I couldn’t help but laugh because the best way to piss people off even more is to wear around this shirt to really rub it in. Nevertheless, I donated the $25 to get one because this really is history in the making and he’s going to need that money in a couple of years. Growing up, I used to wonder what major events would shape our society and this is one of those events. Will it work? I have no clue. But I do know something needs to be done and this is the first step in getting the ball rolling.

I admire the tenacity of the president and despite the drama in Congress, he was determined to make it happen. Most of the people complaining will probably benefit from these changes and what’s a couple of more trillion dollars to an already high national debt? The debt was already on the rise before Obama got in office, so my kids were going to pay for it either way.

2012 is going to be crazy!!!

The purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what they do more transparent to the American people. We elect them, so we need to make sure they are doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4508: Small Business Act Temporary Extension. To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 692: A bill to provide that claims of the United States to certain documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as waived and relinquished in certain circumstances.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 1377: Amend title 38. To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand veteran eligibility for reimbursement by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for emergency treatment furnished in a non-Department facility, and for other purposes.

Note: There were a lot of post office related name change laws this month. But since that’s not really a big deal, I decided not to post each one.

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years. Mid-March the census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico. When you receive yours, just answer the 10 short questions (they say it take around 10 minutes) and then mail the form back in the postage-paid envelope provided. If you don’t mail the form back, you may receive a visit from a census taker, who will ask you the questions from the form.

The majority of the country will receive English–only materials. Households in areas with high concentrations of Spanish-speaking residents may receive a bilingual (English/Spanish) form. Any personal data you provide is protected under federal law.

Please take the time to fill out the Census and mail it back because the information affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. People from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more. It also helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services like:

• Hospitals
• Job training centers
• Schools
• Senior centers
• Bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects
• Emergency services

Don’t take this lightly. For more information regarding the Census and how it affects all Americans, check out the Census blog at http://blogs.census.gov/2010census.

If you are in need of a job, the U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers right in your own community. These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement for authorized work-related expenses, such as mileage incurred while conducting census work. For more information on the job opportunities they offer, visit http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs.

The President points to outrageous premium hikes from health insurance companies already making massive profits as further proof of the need for reform. Looking ahead to the coming bipartisan meeting on reform, the President urges members of Congress to come to the table in good faith to address the issue.

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On February 1st, President Obama issued an annual proclamation declaring the month of February American Heart Month. Yes, with Black History Month and my birthday, the month of February is already a joyous time. Being the nice guy that I am,  I’m willing to share (especially since they’ve been issuing the proclamation since 1963).

But even if that weren’t the case, having a month to focus on heart disease is extremely important because it is the leading cause of death in the United States. All of us know one or more people who’s lives have been affected by heart disease and if not taken seriously it could kill you. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together a nice site, full of information for you to learn more about the dangers of heart disease.

While dangerous, heart disease is something that can be controlled if caught early enough. Knowing your family health history and living a healthy lifestyle are just some of the things you can do to prevent it. I’ve provided some links below for you to learn more on what you need to do to become heart healthy.

American Heart Association National Website
Go Red For Women
The Heart Truth Campaign
Men and Heart Disease
Heart Disease and Black People