FATHER'S DAY ONLY 2 DAYS AWAY

With Father's Day coming up this Sunday, it's more important than ever to support our troops before one of the most important holidays of the year for men in the military, who are usually family men. 

Below is a heartwarming story about some fortunate troops who actually get to be home for Father's Day this year.


According to the calendar, Father's Day is Sunday. But for four men who recently returned from overseas tours of duty with our armed forces, the holiday came early this year thanks to their favorite Major League Baseball teams.

The reunions took place at Mariners, Braves, Twins and Diamondbacks games this season. EspnW talked to the teams, the servicemen and the family members to bring you an inside look at how these special homecomings happened.

In each case, the teams came up with a plan, but executing the surprise with so many moving parts wasn't easy. It took planning, some luck and, of course, some deliberate misdirection, requiring the assistance of friends, family members, team mascots and, in some cases, the umpires working the games.



This is an amazing achievement on the part of these sports teams. They have made this Father's Day an uplifting and unforgettable holiday for these families. But there are thousands of troops, many of them also fathers, who are still serving bravely in Afghanistan, and they WON'T be home this Sunday to see their families for the
holiday.

Think about the troops that didn't get the heartwarming homecoming events, the troops that won't get to come home for another 3, 6 or even 9 months. THEY NEED OUR SUPPORT NOW!

TROOPATHON 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT

We at Move America Forward are excited to announce our plans for the fifth annual Troopathon, coming July 12th, 2012.

Mark your calendars! This July 12, 2012 at 4 PM Eastern / 1 PM Pacific at www.troopathon.org our 5th annual Troopathon, "Never Forget Our Troops" will begin streaming live as well as simulcast on multiple radio stations across the country!

This year's theme for our TROOPATHON is "NEVER FORGET Our Troops" which just gives the Troopathon 2012 a little of it's own unique flavor! This year we are going to put on a bold event to support our troops with participation from all our favorite Troopathon guests who you will remember previous years.

But our "Never Forget" theme is not ONLY about our troops, because this year we have another individual to honor with the Troopathon, our dear friend Andrew Breitbart, who tragically passed away this year.

We all miss him and in recognition of Andrew's devotion to the troops, we're going to dedicate this year's Troopathon to his memory and his life's work.

Andrew participated in every Troopathon, from our inaugural event in 2008, up until last year's event at the Nixon Library. From 2009-2011 Andrew was a co-host for three consecutive Troopathons. Troopathon would never have been as successful as it was without Andrew's dedication and hard work.

He was an unforgettable figure...so "NEVER FORGET" is an appropriate theme for not only honoring Andrew's legacy, but also to remind people not to forget about our troops in Afghanistan!

For this, the FIFTH annual Troopathon needs to be bigger and better than the last four! We are pulling out all the stops in order to send the largest care package shipment to our troops! It's a lofty goal, and a gigantic undertaking, and we need your help if we are going to succeed!

Please help us put on a great show for YOU and OUR TROOPS. The better show we can make, the more people will donate and send more care packages to our troops - so we must do our very best! Please make a donation today and make this year's Troopathon the best ever!


DON'T KNOW WHAT A "TROOPATHON" IS?

If you don't know what the Troopathon is, or didn't watch the last four, it's time to familiarize yourself with a concept that is making waves and breaking new ground in efforts to support our troops.

The Troopathon is a unique event that comes once a year and is designed to show a huge outpouring of support for our troops. We love sending care packages to the troops. We do so all year long especially on the holidays, but once a year the Troopathon raises a huge amount of care packages for the troops. It's the biggest day of the year for our organization, and it's VERY important that we make it a success!

Over the years, our Troopathons have raised millions to send TONS and TONS of care packages to the troops...over 190 TONS, in fact!

The Troopathon is a great concept, and very unique. Move America Forward was the first organization to attempt this and continues to be the only pro-troop organization that holds an annual Troopathon-like event. The concept is to bring all of your favorite pro-troop celebrities who we already know and love from talk radio, television, Hollywood movies, the music scene and internet bloggers who support our troops.

You will recognize names like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Dr. Laura Schlessinger...the list goes on! They come on the show to support our troops because they understand how much the troops sacrifice and the importance of their mission to defeat the terrorists and keep America safe!

WE'RE DEPENDING ON YOU our loyal Move America Forward supporters, to help us put this show together and make it a reality. Without your help and support, none of this would be possible, so we are grateful for the amazing support you have all displayed in the past with your donations and contributions.

Help continue and extend the legacy of Move America Forward's great work for our troops...please make a donation today and make Troopathon 2012 a successful event for the 5th year in a row!

"Today, the last significant federal hurdle has been cleared to allow consumers to buy fuel containing up to 15 percent ethanol (E15). This gets us one step closer to giving the American consumer a real choice at the pump. The public has a right to choose between imported oil and home-grown energy and today's action by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advances that goal. Today's action demonstrates that the Obama Administration is making good on its commitment to work to reduce foreign oil imports and increase domestic energy production, including production of renewable biofuels. In addition, the EPA has fulfilled its responsibility to the American public to ensure that E15 is a safe and reliable fuel. Home grown biofuels are providing sustainable rural jobs that cannot be exported. Today's action proves yet again that renewable biofuels are not a dream of the future, but are a reality, and are making a difference today."

To read more about the EPA's announcement see:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/additive/e15/e15-mmp.htm#plan

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

New Law Increases Penalties for Crimes Against Mail Carriers

ROCKFORD ­- June 15, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today signed a new law that will protect postal workers and letter carriers by allowing judges to consider harsher penalties for violent crimes against employees of the United States Postal Service. The Governor signed the law at Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers' annual convention in Rockford.

"The hard-working men and women of the United States Postal Service deserve our gratitude," Governor Quinn said. "This law will help make sure that they are able to continue doing their jobs safely."

Senate Bill 3665, sponsored by Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) and Rep. Jerry Costello III (D-Sparta), allows judges to consider a victim's employment in the United States Postal Service (USPS) as an aggravating factor in violent crimes like assault, battery and robbery. Upon conviction, a judge could impose more severe sentences on the offender.

This law is an initiative of the National Association of Letter Carriers, which is working with the USPS to inform postal workers in Illinois about the appropriate steps to take in the event of a crime being committed against them or in their vicinity.

As U.S. government employees, USPS workers are already protected by federal law; however, in the event federal prosecutors don't pursue cases involving crimes against postal workers, this law will allow state courts to consider USPS employment in their proceedings.

The new law goes into effect January 1, 2013.

###

A new TV feature is available on the USDA FTP site. The new TV feature can also be seen on USDA's YouTube channel and seen and downloaded as a video podcast.

FTP Download instructions:

The host: ftp://ocbmtcmedia.download.akamai.com

User name: usdanews

Password:  Newscontent1

Filename for TV Feature: Water Quality

The new file is in QuickTime Movie (H.264 ), MPEG 4, MPEG2 and HDV.

YouTube: water quality

video podcast: water quality video podcast

RSS Page: water quality rss

Davenport Parks and Recreation 
This summer weekend: June 15 - 17

Golf and a Movie - Family Friday Nights

Friday, June 15, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Red Hawk Golf and Learning Center
6364 Northwest Blvd

Come join us at Red Hawk and enjoy the 3 par golf course and a bucket of balls to use at the range. To top it off we have pizza and a movie afterwards. Only $4 per person at the event.  

Family Learn How to Fish!

Saturday, June 16, 9:00am - 12:00pm

Vander Veer Botanical Park Lagoon

215 W Central Park

Fishing is a popular sport for many people, but do you know how to fish? Do you really know the techniques of fishing? Bring your entire family with your poles or borrow a few from Parks and Recreation "Learn-How-To-Fish". The event will discuss basics about fishing, which will include fish identification, parts of the fishing pole, baiting your hook and much more. Sign up for door prizes at the event. Please bring your own worms and have fun fishing! This event is FREE and fun for the whole family! 
Cool off with Public Skate Sessions at the River's Edge

There will be no place better this hot weekend than cooling off with a little ice skating at the River's Edge. Admission is only $3, and we also rent skates for additional $3. Public Skate times this weekend are as follows:

Friday, June 15, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Saturday, June 16, 2:00pm - 4:00pm & 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Sunday, June 17, 2:00pm - 4:00pm

The River's Edge

700 West River Drive

 

Happy Father's Day!
Centennial Park Summer CRAZE!

Sunday, June 17, 3:00pm - 6:00pm

Centennial Park

Calling ALL families in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas! Come celebrate summer with Davenport Parks and Recreation and B100 at Centennial Park, 315 S Marquette St. You can enjoy an array of FREE activities at this beautiful riverfront downtown park. Enjoy exhibition rugby, our Spray Park, and the Dog Off Leash Area. You can end the night by attending the City of Davenport Night at the River Bandits baseball game. It's a fun filled afternoon for the whole family!

 

City of Davenport Night at Modern Woodmen Park

Sunday, June 17, 7:00pm

Take the family out to the ballgame! Pick up your FREE tickets at the River's Edge for berm or bleacher seats at Modern Woodmen Park for City of Davenport night. Watch the River Bandits play and stay for fireworks after the game.

 

Music on the Levee

Sunday, June 17, 7:00pm

Want to listen to music instead of watching baseball?  This Sunday is part of a series of FREE Sunday night concerts at Peterson Pavilion at LeClaire Park.  Come on down to hear some smooth jazz from Tewanta & Company. Refreshments will be available for sale.  Enjoy the band-shell seats or bring your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy some music riverside under the stars. 

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new recommendations against routine prostate cancer screening.  The USPSTF now recommends that regardless of age, men without symptoms should not routinely have the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test to screen for prostate cancer.

The recommendation has raised concerns among health care specialists. Some say the task force based its recommendation on flawed data.

The American Cancer Society recommends that men discuss the possible risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening with their doctor before deciding whether to be screened.  The discussion about screening should take place at age 50 for men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and at age 45 for men who are at higher risk, including African-American men and men who have a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Karl Kreder, M.D., professor and head, UI Department of Urology: "It is very important to recognize that there are side effects to prostate cancer treatments and those do need to be taken into account.  Men need to talk with their physician to determine if they should be screened, and how to proceed if prostate cancer is detected.  For some men, monitoring the progression of their disease is appropriate, but if the cancer is aggressive and fast-growing, treatments can extend survival."

DID YOU KNOW?
UI researchers are working to develop a prostate cancer vaccine.  Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in men over age 75. If the patient's type of prostate cancer is less aggressive and slower to grow, the patient could die of another cause before the prostate tumor would cause a problem.  More information is available online at: http://www.uihealthcare.org/Clinic.aspx?id=3634.

DYC Youth Explosion

Performing Arts/Talent Show

Sunday, June 24, 2012
4:00 PM

$5 Donation

Third Missionary Baptist Church

Milhouse Hall
222 W. 14th St., Davenport, IA

Sponsored by:

NAACP

NAACP CELEBRATES 103 YEARS OF SERVICE 1909-2012

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 563-505-0903

Davenport Youth Council

#47AA

U.S. History Should Compel Americans to Action against
Human Trafficking, Expert Says

This year marks the century-and-a-half anniversary of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln set the date of freedom for the nation's 3 million slaves.

"As many of us know, slavery did not die when America abolished it in the 1800s," says Lucia Mann, author of Rented Silence (www.luciamann.com), which explores British Colonial slavery in South Africa, and the victims who survived the institutional brutality.

"The opening statement of the Declaration of Independence is, 'We believe these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' Almost 100 years later, in 1865, the 13th Amendment extended this belief to 'Negroes.' To this day, involuntary servitude is outlawed, and yet, it still exists!"

Mann has a personal interest in slavery. Her Sicilian mother was a sex slave and a World War II concentration camp survivor. As a child, Mann was forced to live with her father, who was also her mother's master, in South Africa.

"According to the United Nations, there are more than 27 million slaves worldwide, which is more than twice the number of those who were enslaved over the 400 years that transatlantic slavers trafficked humans to work in the Americas," Mann says.

Many slaves today are forced into prostitution while others are used as unpaid laborers to manufacture goods bought in the United States, she says.

"It's almost impossible to buy clothes or goods anymore without inadvertently supporting the slave trade," she says.

Mann, a Canadian and British citizen who considers herself an "American at heart," says Americans should dedicate themselves to opposing modern human trafficking, both worldwide and within U.S. borders, since the nation was largely built on the backs of slaves.

Human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry worldwide, behind drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. It's a $32 billion industry, and half of those trafficked are children. Half of the billions spent come from industrialized nations, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

So, what should be done when a U.S. citizen suspects a case of human trafficking? Mann says the following organizations are a good start:

• Catholic Sisters congregations, 888-373-7888: Grand events, like this year's 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, are reportedly hot spots for prostitution rings involving trafficked slaves. The same was true for the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, which is why nuns throughout the Midwest collaborated in an awareness campaign, which ultimately led to training cab drivers and hotel staff to recognize signs of modern slavery and how to report it.

• Victims hotline and on-line tips reporting: The Modern-Day Slavery Reporting Centre, created by Mann, is the first hotline - 1 (800) 610-7035, Ext. 227 -- in the United States and Canada for victims. It also provides volunteer translators (including Mann) for victims who don't speak English. The website, www.mdsrc.org, includes a section that makes it easy for third parties to report suspicious activity by clicking "File a Report." This section allows visitors to volunteer information.

• Federal Bureau of Investigation - report human trafficking, 1-888-428-7581: This number can be used 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST to report concerns to the FBI, which also offers plenty of information about human trafficking on its website.

• Various easy-to-find anti-trafficking organizations: Type in "human trafficking" on any online search engine and several sites will appear promoting various methods of combating modern slavery, Mann says. The important part is following through on an interest to help, she says.

"I have a firsthand account of dealing with national prejudice and human slavery, but I think many people are compelled to help victims of human trafficking because freedom is a universal desire," Mann says. "Any individual can make a difference in someone's life. That is the motive behind my books; I want victims to know that, like me, their tragedy can become their triumph."

About Lucia Mann

Lucia Mann was born in British colonial South Africa in the wake of World War II and lives in West Covina, Calif., and British Columbia, Canada. She retired from freelance journalism in 1998 and wrote three books to give voice to those who suffered brutalities and captivity decades ago, and today.

EDWARDSVILLE, IL (06/13/2012)(readMedia)-- -

WHO:

• Illinois National Guard chaplains, community clergy and the Partners in Care program

WHAT:

• The training is designed to raise awareness among community religious leaders about the challenges faced by servicemembers and their families, with a focus on deployment related issues such as anger management, suicide prevention, military marriages, and church and community support for the military.

• Partners in Care is a program dedicated to providing servicemembers community resources through local congregations.

WHEN/WHERE:

• June 19- St. John's United Methodist Church; 7372 Marine Road, Edwardsville starting at 9 a.m.

WHY:

• The goal of Partners in Care is to provide military personnel with local community support in their geographical area.

• There are 72 congregations across Illinois that are part of the organization, which was started in fall 2009.

• Faith group leaders will receive pertinent information to minister, not only to military personnel, but to the community.

**All are encouraged to attend. For further information, please contact Chaplain Lambert at vincent.lambert@us.army.mil or 773-406-5183.

Become our Facebook Fan!

www.facebook.com/illinoisnationalguard

-30-

Pages