My journey is funded entirely by donations made for me through the Southern Oregon Guild, which is an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping aspiring and professional artists and artisans learn how to become commercially more successful. All donations made to support my effort are fully tax deductible to the donor. You can use the Paypal button on the left if you wish to make a donation. When you make a donation using Paypal you will receive a receipt via Email . This receipt will be a written acknowledgement that you have made a donation through the Southern Oregon Giuld
As I am approaching the departure date for my walk across America I have been thinking what to talk to President Obama about if I get a few minutes with him. When speaking to people about this, most tell me to talk him about health-care. This blog is going to be dedicated to my walk and I will stay away from political and religious matters most of the time, I just feel that I have to give my opinion about this. The health-care debate is becoming a war of lies, rumors, and blackmail. The debate has gotten especially ugly since Sarah Plain has joined in saying that Obama’s health-care plan is downright evil.
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”
This sort of language is exactly the kind of fear-inducing talk that is driving protests over the edge into violence. Instead of being a voice of reason by opposing health care reform on reasonable grounds Palin invokes the kind paranoid arguments that contribute to extremismIts. It all over the Internet, TV, radio, and just about every other form of media, you can not escape this. We are told by countless sources that this heath-care plan will take away the freedom to choose your doctors, the freedom to choose what’s in your plan, the freedom to keep your existing plan, the freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, and the freedom to choose high-deductible coverage. Now people are brainwashed by this crap so bad they oppose the healthcare reform without knowing a thing about it.
Briefly after all these rumors spread Obama sends a message to all Health Care Critics For Spreading Outlandish Rumors in one of his weekly address talks.
Watch it below
Making sure every American has access to high quality health care is one of the most important challenges of our time. The number of uninsured Americans is growing, premiums are skyrocketing, and more people are being denied coverage every day. A moral imperative by any measure, a better system is also essential to rebuilding our economy — we want to make health insurance work for people and businesses, not just insurance and drug companies. Personally, I like the idea of reforming our system by expanding coverage, improving quality, lowering costs, honoring patient choice and holding insurance companies accountable.
This is the opinion of a 17 year old small town photographer, what is your opinion on the reform?
When I started this hike my backpack weighed 65 pounds including food and water, which was about one-forth of my body weight. The first twenty-mile day was exhausting and not very fun. I have now reduced my pack weight to a more manageable 25 pounds! This will make the walk so much easier and enjoyable!
As I work to gain more sponsorship so I can walk across America the frustration of being stuck here is driving me crazy. If I truly want to finish this walk I will need more money! Getting proper sponsorship at the age of 17 is a challenge. Most people that do not know me will look at me as a liability without knowing my capability’s and experience. I just hate being judged by my age! In America you can join the Army and wield a weapon at this age and at the same time you cannot have a credit-card, own a home, get a business license, or pretty mush anything related to these things. I have worked hard on my own for over two years now. I have paid rent, taken care of my girlfriend, dog, horse, and a photography business.
My family and friends are starting to realize the dangers of a walk of this proportion. They worry for me, I feel honored that I have so many people that care for me. I know some do not want me to go back on the road and complete this hike. My mother has 1000 reasons why I should stay home. When thoughts of this walk flow into her head they are quickly accompanied by thoughts of bears, wolves, crazed truck drivers, thieves, murderers and just about anything else that could go wrong. If you spend your life worrying about everything that could go wrong you will never find yourself at ease and happy. You could get in a car tomorrow and crash and burn, if you worry about it every day you would be scared to death of cars. I am not saying I do not fear the dangers of this walk, once you lose fear you become fullish. I just will not let fear control my life and stop me from completing my goal to walk across America.
I have spent the last few days trying to get more sponsorship and also working on a new website “www.mikewalksamerica.com“. I just hope some of the possible sponsors come through and I can get back on the road by the first of next month. I just do not see why I have been put down by so many possible sponsors. They all seem so interested and excited about my hike, and they all love the sponsorship system I have set up! But They all just lose interest and drop out in the end. All donations and sponsorships are completely tax deductible through a 501 (c) (3) license, this means come tax-time you get all the money back. If you want to see me walk across America, make a film, and share a message of hope to the younger generations of america, I need your help! Every little donation is a one more step to reaching D.C. and meeting with president Obama! If you want to help there is a Paypal button on the upper corner on this blog. Paypal is a safe and secure way to make a donation. If you want a receipt for your taxes I can fax or email you one.
If you want to become one of my all important sponsors there is a downloadable PDF sponsorship packet on www.mikewalksamerica.com. In this packet you will find information on my hike, types of sponsorship, how it will benefit you, and much more! I plan to take the documentary I am making and this message into the schools in rural areas in the hope that it will inspire those younger than I am to ignore what they hear and create their own bright future.
I Am going to be using a Solio Solar Powered Battery Charger for my phone on this walk. Having a way to always charge my cellphone and GPS will be amazing! my biggest worry besides my water supply is the next place to charge my Blackberry phone. Having a Solar Powered Battery Charger will give me the advantage to charge my phone now matter where I am!
Did you know that over the next five years, we will import and use 2.5 billion chargers for handheld electronics in the U.S. alone. These chargers most of which end up in landfills – will create a total of 9 billion kilograms of CO2. This is equivalent to the pollution created by five year’s worth of driving by 1.8 million American cars!
Over a twelve month period, 100,000 people charging their mobile phones would produce:
-172,500 pounds of CO2, enough to fill 6 million basketballs.
-412 pounds of sulphur dioxide (SO2) the cause of acid rain, enough to fill 3.6 million ping pong balls. -Plug into the sun with Solio for free, clean energy!
Using this charger will be one more step to a green Sustainable life.
“The Solio Magnesium Edition is the world’s most advanced hybrid charger. Engineered to meet the demands of the serious adventurer, Solio Mg edition combines the most efficient solar panels with the highest capacity battery to collect and store power. The Solio Mg is our first iGo® compatible charger. With expanded compatibility and a strong yet elegant magnesium alloy shell, this is the most powerful and versatile hybrid charger ever made.
Solio is a hybrid because it can accept power from either the wall socket or Sun storing this energy within Solio’s internal rechargeable battery. Solio then uses this energy to power your gadgets at the same rate as if they were plugged into the wall. Solio will also hold its charge for up to a year. Solio limits your need to purchase and carry around multiple chargers for all of your gadgets and is your one stop charging solution for all of your products from cell phones and iPods, to digital cameras, game players, and GPS.
One hour of sun will give you enough juice to play your iPod™ for about an hour or provide up to 25 mins of additional talk time on most cell phones.*
Provides an emergency power source when away from power outlets.
Adapter tips allow you to power multiple gadgets with a single charger ( tips for most products included in pack.)
Works with multiple gadgets, including mobile phones, iPhone™, Bluetooth® headsets, smartphones/PDAs, MP3 players, portable gaming devices, digital cameras, GPS and much more.
Reusable – use it again and again.
Compact lightweight design – convenient for travel or emergency use.”
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