Voice Matters Blog

“Breastfeeding cop forced to take unpaid leave”A breastfeeding DC police officer has been forced to take leave without pay after the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) refused to allow her to work at a desk job. The department’s chief of police, a woman and mother, upheld MPD’s new policy to deny... Read More

Community Groups Tackle Childhood Obesity   Saving the nation’s children from the ravages associated with childhood obesity is the mission of the Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC) coalitions, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the YMCA. One hundred ninety PHCs are operating throughout the United States and have the potential to... Read More

New Report Shows America Getting FatterContinuing from yesterday's blog post on the efforts to combat childhood obesity, looks like the adults are not leading by example. According to a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation obesity rates among adults now exceed 25 percent in more than two-thirds of... Read More

For Better Health Care, Gold Card Only (If You Have One)Most European countries view the United States' health care system as crazy. Where most Europeans have access to health care, Americans (supposedly we're living in the land of plenty), are either paying high health care rates or forgoing treatment and medications due... Read More

No Books in this NookForgive us in advance for what seems an oxymoron, but: Isn’t a library called a ‘library’ because it houses books? Otherwise, why is it a ‘library’ at all? In today’s technology age, kids and adults are quickly moving from the tangible feel and smell of ink... Read More

Hot Weather Health TipsStaying cool in hot weather can be tough. When the temperature rises and the heat index soars, take these precautions for the sake of your health:Drink more fluids (nonalcoholic), regardless of your activity level. Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink. Don't drink liquids that... Read More

Bridging Health Equity Gaps Through MentorshipIn the community of Lakeland, Fla., professionals in minority communities are seeing opportunities to close gaps for underserved students. One such professional is Dr. Alexander Mbakwem who wants to see more people who look like him in the medical profession.To help make that happen, he... Read More

“Companies propose curbing junk food ads for kids?”The nation’s largest food companies say they will cut back on advertising unhealthy foods to children. The move by General Mills, Kellogg and other industry giants comes as the federal government released stricter standards for marketing junk food to children.An online search did... Read More

An Insight Into Twitter's MastermindTwitter co-founder Biz Stone was recently on NPR's weekly program, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" a weekly hour-long quiz program where you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what's real news and what's... Read More

IOM: Protecting Women and Wallets?NPR reported that the Institute of Medicine delivered a potentially game-changing announcement today: “it recommends that the federal government consider putting "the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods" on the list of services for women that would be covered by insurers without a... Read More

Republicans Follow Obama’s Twitter StepsThe first official republican debate held via Twitter is underway.  Candidates – including Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich – are poised to answer tough questions in 140 characters or less. The debate started a little after 3pm, with Sarah Elizabeth “S.E.” Cupp... Read More

FAA 'Staycay'The government funding stalemate is down to the wire for the Federal Aviation Administration. The Washington Post and Politico both reported this week that the group faces a partial shutdown if a solution isn’t reached tomorrow. That would mean about 4,000 furloughed workers beginning Saturday – an unwelcome and... Read More

Tweeting and Streaming Obama's TownhallMcKinney & Associates is proud to say that one of our highly esteemed colleagues, Shannon R. Mouton, was invited to live-tweet the President's town hall from the University of Maryland this morning. According to the White House website, President Obama will address "the on-going efforts to... Read More

Back to School: Are you on Facebook?   Parents may want to consider adding cell phones to the back-to-school list, and not just to keep tabs on their kids.       According to a USA Today article today, online and social media access are becoming increasingly prevalent and valued learning tools in the... Read More

Medicare Cuts Don’t Hurt Beneficiaries . . . So Far Despite the clamor and protest that accompanies even the slightest suggestion to reduce Medicare costs, especially among Medicare recipients and their advocates, the reality is cuts in the program have primarily targeted the providers. According to... Read More

Reexamining Gentrification During his town hall last week, an audience member questioned President Obama’s views on gentrification and its role in our communities. Among other things, Obama said called it a most likely “welcome problem,” for many suffering neighborhoods in this economy. But why would... Read More

Former HHS Secretary Says Diversity Is Key to Better Health  Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, the former US Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1989-1993 blames the lack of racial and ethnic diversity among the nation's health professionals for the growing gap in health disparities between whites and minorities.... Read More

Can you name this U.S. President and why he's important? Most of the nation's 4th graders could not.Do You Know Your History? The majority of students today don’t have a solid grasp on U.S. history. From a CNN article yesterday:"The Nation's Report Card: U.S. History 2010," the tests results report... Read More