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Independence Day

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The 4th of July

Kids Speak for America Independence Day

Independence Day, in the United States, the Fourth of July, a time when family and friends are getting together in celebration with pool parties, picnics or a day at the beach. An evening filled with excitement and fireworks. For many children this day is a highlight of their summer vacation as they will soon be returning to school. Many adults thinking as it as a long weekend or a day off from work. Unfortunately many among us do not know what we are celebrating on this historic day.

Why We Celebrate Independence Day

July Fourth in the U.S., commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were now  the United States of America, a new nation and no longer part of the British Empire. These original 13 colonies had formed a country that would become the greatest, strongest nation the world had ever seen.As we celebrate,  remember that the 4th of July is not just about fireworks, picnics and kids having fun. Each of us needs to reflect on the freedoms we have and what we must do to keep the United States of America free.

Independence Day

This Schoolhouse Rock video titled “Fireworks” features a song of the same title written by Lynn Ahrens. Kid, teenager or adult you will find this independence day song performed by Grady Tate to be catchy as we learn about this 4th of July holiday and our Declaration of Independence.

John F. Kennedy Assassination

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pres. john f kennedy John F. Kennedy assassination occurred November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. On this date kids and adults were glued to their television sets in shock as they mourned the death of the 35th president of the United States. As kids we should not dwell on the John F. Kennedy Assassination alone, we also need to learn more about who this man was. [Read more…] about John F. Kennedy Assassination

Meet the Young Marines

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Emerald Empire Young Marines
Emerald Empire Young Marines in Veterans Day Parade

The Young Marines are a Drug Demand Reduction and leadership program supported by the United States Marine Corps. The Young Marines are sponsored by the Marine Corps League. Overall the Young Marine program teaches you leadership, responsibility, knowledge, respect, patience and how to live a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

 

The Young Marines were founded in 1959 in Waterbury Connecticut. Now Young Marine units are found all over the United States and Internationally.

 

Some of the activities we do include camping, field training, parades, first aid, CPR, map, navigation, shelter building, survival, drug resistance training and a lot more.

 

The rank structure of the Young Marines is based on the rank structure of the United States Marine Corps. A young marines starts out as a Young Marine Recruit and on completion of basic training becomes a Young Marine Private. You can move through the ranks with the highest rank being Young Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant. There are also billited ranks of Young Marine First Sergeant and Young Marine Sergeant Major.

 

I just completed basic training and am now a Young Marine Private working towards my first advancement of Young Marine Private First Class. A Young Marine who earns the rank of Young Marine Sergeant will be promoted a pay grade upon graduation from United States Marine Corps boot camp.

 

In the Young Marines we can also earn awards, ribbons and medals for personal, achievement, service and qualification awards for things like personal achievement, courage, hunter safety, swimming, first aid, CPR, PT Score, sportsmanship, navigation, boating and a whole lot more.

 

On Veterans Day weekend our unit Emerald Empire Young Marines marched in the Albany, Oregon Veterans Day Parade and the Springfield, Oregon Veterans Day Parade. The parades were a lot of fun while marching, The kids and adults were really nice.

 

I have learned that you want to respect others and say sir, ma’am, miss or you will be doing a lot of pushups.

You get real good with shoe polish and how to shine your boots until you see the reflection of your face.

To learn more about the Young Marines visit YoungMarines.com

Voting Issues for Kids

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Reading articles at Kids Speak for America it became apparent to me that Kids Speak for America believe that our nations youth should become involved in politics at an early age. As a young parent I would agree that kids should be involved in politics.

As I look around it seems to me that too many people consider politics to be for adults only, an archaic way to think. Politics has a profound affect on young people before and after they become old enough to vote. Young people need to understand the issues and become involved in them.

During the last presidential election the Obama campaign did a amazing job at getting young people to vote. While I was taken in by his promise of change I found the only change to be for the worse and have been disappointed with my vote ever since. Many other young people have also found themselves disillusioned. While we may be disappointed in the performance of President Obama we should give credit to his campaign for getting young people to vote.

Today when I look at politics I find myself a bit more educated and as I look around I see many issues that should be of concern to teens and young adults. As teens and young adults we are the ones that are going to be paying future bills for today’s new spending programs. Spending though is not the only issue that has an affect on our life and many young people may be able to better relate to some of these other issues.

Should the Age of Consent Be Lowered?
A lot of young people have sex in their teen years. While I am glad that I waited until marriage to have sex many of my friends did not. While I believe you should wait until you are older and in a committed relationship before you have sex, my view is not the issue. The issue is, should the age of consent be lowered?

The age of consent generally refers to the age that a young person is considered legally competent to consent to sexual acts. In the United States the age of consent ranges from 16 to 18 with 30 states setting the age at 16, 8 states at age 17, and 12 states at age 18. There is even greater variety throughout the rest of the world.

Age of consent is an important legal issue as there are serious consequences for the violation of the age of consent, including punishment for child sexual abuse, statutory rape, illegal carnal knowledge, and corruption of a minor.

If an 18 year old has consensual sex with a 17 year old in a state where the age of consent
is 17, the 18 year old can be in serious trouble. The 18 year old may be criminally charged, jailed and even have to register as a sex offender. You may be such an 18 year old or may even be waiting until you are older to have sex. Either way, Age of Consent is an issue that you should care about.

Legal Drinking Age
In the United States the minimum legal age for purchasing and or drinking alcoholic beverages in public places is 21. This legal age is higher than many countries that have drinking ages ranging from 18 to 20. The reasons for having a legal minimum age include promoting safety, preventing abuse, and preventing children from having access to alcoholic beverages. Most states in the United States do allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the privacy of their homes under the supervision of their parents.
Are you for or against the lowering of the drinking age? Drinking age is certainly an issue that young people can become involved in.

Voting Age
In the United States the legal minimum voting age is 18. Until the middle of the 20th century the minimum voting age throughout the world was usually 21 years of age. The political issue surrounding the minimum voting age is that until a certain minimum age a young person lacks the necessary knowledge and judgment to independently cast a vote. Do you believe that the legal voting age should be even lower? If you do or don’t this is another issue you could become involved in.

Corporal Punishment
Do your parents or school still spank? If they do you may have threatened them by telling them you were going to turn them into child protective services. They have probably told you to go ahead for spanking is legal. In fact, the use of corporal punishment in the home is legal in all 50 states and 20 states still allow schools to use corporal punishment. There is a difference between a spanking and a beating and states do recognize that.

Proponents of corporal punishment claim that it has the benefit of being quick to administer, effective in deterring inappropriate behavior, and inexpensive. If you are on the receiving end of a spanking I am sure you would disagree! Critics claim that there are better disciplinary alternatives and that spanking lowers the self esteem of the child being punished and that it teaches young people to use physical violence. Obviously corporal punishment should be an issue that young people have an interest in either for or against.

In this article I have offered these political issues for your thought. These may or may not be issues that you have an interest in. These issues do suggest though that each and everyone of us regardless of our age is affected by how politicians and those of voting age. As teens and young adults we need to make our concerns and desires known.

Seth at Kids Speak for America likes to give OoRah and I want to give one back.

OoRah Kids Speak for America

~Denise~

Kids Need to Know About President Reagan!

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When talking with kids some say I don’t know about President Reagan. Some kids say I know Ronald Reagan was a President but but know nothing about him. Others know nothing about President Reagan or only that he was an actor. Only a few kids know that he was also the 40th President of the United States.

President Reagan was an Actor but that was just a small part of his life that helped to make him great. Ronald Reagan grew up poor and went to college where he studied economics.  Later he became an actor, a spokesman and then Governor of California.

If President Reagan was still living he would have been 103 years old on February 6th, 2014

Kids need to know about President Reagan and how he inspired America with sense and purpose. Ronald Reagan believed not only in the freedoms that we as Americans have such as freedom of speech and religion but also that all people should be free.

President Reagan brought down the Berlin wall. “Tear down this wall!” was the challenge issued by United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987

Kids need to know that President Reagan believed that parents should teach their kids just how exceptional America is. He believed that if parents did not understand these freedoms kids should teach it to their parents. President Reagan was not like some Presidents that want to make excuses and apologize for America for being the great country that it is. Instead, President Reagan wanted us to understand how lucky we are to be able to experience our life as Americans.

President Reagan was about being an optimist. He was a man that knew how to use the humor of everyday life and he was a man of deep conviction.

President Reagan was called by many names such as The Gipper, Dutch and Great Communicator. To me though he was President Reagan, 40th President of the United States and a great man who still inspires Americans to  protect our freedom in America, to seek freedom for the world and continue to make America and even greater place to live.

Some day I will get to visit the Reagan Ranch and the Reagan library where I will get to feel closer to his presence. Until that time I will continue to honor the memory of President Reagan by doing my small part to help keep his memory alive.

OoRah President Reagan

Should Our Troops Go or Stay

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The Karzai government asked the United States to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond Obama’s July 2011 timeline. I know that the Democrats and Republicans all have their own ideas why we should be there and why we should not be there.

As an American kid it is my opinion that Afghans request to keep troops in Afghanistan is a good idea for a simple reason. By having troops in Afghanistan we can better keep our eyes on the crappie  terrorist to prevent actions such as them shipping bombs to the United States.  If there is a terrorist attack or threatened attack close to Afghanistan  or some other nearby country we can be quick to eliminate the scum or defend .

During  World War II when we raided the beaches in Normandy almost 1,500 American soldiers lost their life on D-Day and over another 5,000 American solders were wounded. I wouldn’t want to see this type of slaughter ever happen again on a single day like it did then and on  D-Day or 9/11 when terrorist attacked America. I know that Normandy is not the same type of war as it is in Afghanistan but when I think of how easy it is for our troops to be killed when we are not prepared this bothers me.

A disadvantage of keeping troops in Afghanistan could be if an attack happened in the USA or very close we will have a lot less troops near by. Even so, we now have troops stationed overseas in over 150 different countries.

For these reasons I hope  our president will allow a few of our troops to stay in Afghanistan instead of having all of our troops come home.

~Seth W.~

Electoral College

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The founding fathers of the United States Constitution established a compromise between election of the President through a vote of Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of the countries citizens. The Electoral College and the election of the president is explained in this Kids Speak educational series video from Schoolhouse Rock. A bit of flair and fun as always.

The following video offers a more in depth explanation of the Electoral College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5PbodZMA2M

Treat the National Budget Like a Family Budget

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Have you ever wondered how a politician can go into office as a middle income American and a few years later are wealthy? Why is it that they can pad their own pockets while putting the rest of us further into debt? Could it be that they can only keep their eyes on a single budget and it’s their own?

When running for office most politicians both liberal and conservative believe that the Federal Government should act like any business or family and live within their means. Unfortunately once in office they are swayed by their party leaders to tow the party line and receive the goodies that come along with it or serve a single term in office.

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh but am I? If you are honest with yourself and consider what a rubber stamp congress has brought us during recent times you will understand.  It is obvious that our politicians both local and national need to get back to budgeting the hard earned dollars of tax payers in the same way they would budget the income of their own family.

Maybe comparing the government to a family seems trite, but current events seem to justify the analogy.

A family has income supplied by the adults in the family through their own efforts–either through their employment or their entrepreneurial efforts. They can incur debt up to a certain point. And what is that point? When no creditor is willing to lend them any more money.

Up until that point, to borrow any further, they are likely to have to pay more in interest rates. Even to the point where they have to find lenders who would charge exorbitant fees and interest rates.

With the passing of Michael Jackson, the media related that he was 500 million dollars in debt. How could that be? Evidently there were those who were willing to extend credit to him and his operation on the basis of his ability to pay that debt at some point in the future. Or maybe his celebrity prompted others to extend him significant credit.

The average person or family normally wouldn’t have that much credibility to attract such beneficent creditors.

Well, the Federal Government has a similar situation to Michael Jackson. There is sufficient credibility and trust in the United States Government that others (including countries such as China) are willing to lend the money to continue operating. However, as has been the case, the government must increase the interest rate paid in order to continue to entice others to lend them the money.

At what point does a person or family realize that it can’t cover all the debt they incur? When their expenses exceed their income. At that point, perhaps after a period of hiding from the creditors, they have to declare bankruptcy or place their finances in the hands of an agent who will reduce their finance charges and allocate limited financial resources to them.

At what point does the Government realize that it can’t cover all the debt they incur? As we see, the creditors of the United States Government are willing to accept an appreciation on their investment.  The Government only pays the interest on the debt because they roll over the debt every so often. As long as the government revenues cover the debt service–or interest–it is able to stay afloat.

However, there may come a time when creditors will not be willing to lend the United States Government any more money at any interest rate–same as families and individuals. It may be a ways off, but if the government continues to rack up the debt at the rate it is going, there must come a time when the Government truly will go bankrupt.

I hope you now understand how the family budget (and debt) is no different than the Federal Government debt. If you want the answer to how the politicians are able to pad their own pockets just look at the bills they support and you will understand!

~A Concerned Citizen~