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On a commercial break from Monday Night Football, there was a commercial for NFL's Play 60, where they promote kids to play outdoors for 60 minutes.In the commercial, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints is set to throw a pass on the White House lawn with children running in slow motion, with the White House in the background.At first thought, I was waiting for Drew to pass to one of the kids. Then I thought he might sling that sucker through the White House window hopefully getting Obama in back of the head.Then Obama pops up in the scene...

Did anyone just see that disgusting slo-motion love fest Obama commercial for his serve.gov site? BAAAAAAAAAARF

A three-story downtown warehouse, initially planned as a condo conversion project, is being sold to a local nonprofit agency for its new headquarters. An investors group organized by Dave Jorgensen, a partner in VJS Construction Services, is selling the 45,000-square-foot building at 728 N. James Lovell St. to Community Advocates Inc. for $1.8 million, said Joe Volk, the agency's executive director. Community Advocates, which helps the poor deal with tenant-landlord disputes, problems with obtaining health care, and other basic needs, plans to renovate the building for its headquarters, Volk said Tuesday. The project will consolidate the group's main office, now...

Hi folks, I’m sure some of you can help me out with this problem: My jerk boss has appointed me to help collect donations for the United Way, and there’s really not a way out of it. I was hoping to collect information related to the wonderful things they do, like misuse of charitable funds, black listing the Boy Scouts because they wouldn’t allow homosexual men to take boys on overnight camping trips, etc. Does anyone have more info that might be helpful in me driving my unit’s pledge total to $0 this year?

Please join me in asking United Way to stop all affiliation with ACORN until a full investigation of ACORN has been conducted. Twin Cities United Way (PDF see page 10)United Way of North Central Florida lists ACORN as a Partner Agency I am sure there other examples out there! C'mon FREEPers, let's do what we do best! Find the other examples, link them here, and call United Way and ask them to stop all work with this organization known as ACORN until they are fully cleared.

(CNN) -- Authorities are at the scene of a building in Binghamton, New York, where there are "multiple" shooting victims and hostages are being held, a county spokesman said. Broome County Director of Emergency Services Brett Chellis said there is an "active" shooting situation at the American Civic Association, and that several law enforcement agencies are at the scene. Chellis did not provide numbers of victims or hostages, and had no further details. According to the United Way of Broome County Web site, the civic association assists immigrants and refugees with immigration and personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification.

United Way of Dane County is moving forward on its mission to effect change in the community by announcing expanded programs and initiatives in its Agenda for Change for 2009. The United Way collected more than $17 million in contributions in its 2008 campaign, paving the way to continue investing in programs and initiatives aligned to respond to issues the community identified to have the greatest impact in crucial areas, including schools, early childhood development and safety. "The community responded in a very challenging economic climate, and we are excited to share details of how their investments will solve the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than $2 million -- that's what the United Way of the Central Carolinas has agreed to pay into the retirement plan of its chief executive officer. The payments are spelled out in tax returns known as the IRS form 990, filed annually by non-profit agencies like the United Way and available to the public. The returns show the local United Way agency has already paid more than $1 million into the employee benefit plan of CEO Gloria Pace King. Board members tell WCNC they've committed to pay more than $1 million more over the next three...

For months, the United Way of Central Carolinas board said Gloria Pace King was worth every penny of her controversial $1.2 million pay package. Tuesday, 37 of those board members unanimously called on their longtime CEO to resign or be fired.

A Peoria, Illinois, pastor is challenging United Way's funding of Planned Parenthood. Pastor James McDonald of Providence Church says Planned Parenthood operates large abortion mills in Chicago and in Champaign, Illinois. "...[A]nd that troubled us greatly in the Christian community, and we wanted to encourage United Way to do what was right -- which is to stop funding completely," he explains. But abortion is not the only issue troubling McDonald. He objects to the supposed "comprehensive" sex education strategy Planned Parenthood promotes. "I am...very concerned about what [Planned Parenthood is] doing -- not only to the American family, but to...

United Way of the Bay Area is legally responsible for a nonprofit it spun off to process hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable contributions and must pay $4.78 million to a company left holding the bag when the nonprofit collapsed in 2003, a San Francisco judge has declared in a tentative ruling. Superior Court Judge Robert Dondero did not find fraud by United Way and denied punitive damages sought by Network for Good, an Internet charity clearinghouse in Maryland that sued United Way. But Dondero said United Way had engaged in a variety of misconduct, including manipulating financial records...

Anonymous census focuses on gays Results may help better describe diverse population Friday, January 26, 2007 Rita Price THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH At some point this weekend, Scott Britton and Jim King will sit down at the home computer and type in their profiles. The Worthington residents expect to click on boxes that identify them as educated, suburban and middle class. They’re also white, gay and the parents of an adopted black infant. Typical? Probably not quite. But organizers of central Ohio’s first gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender census say it’s time to find out more about the people who make...

Former Clinton political hitman James Carville, who recently touted New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for a 2008 presidential run, is reportedly behind an advertising campaign attacking President Bush for his 1990 sale of Harken Energy stock as well as his ties to the oil industry in general. American Family Voices, a group described by the New York Times as "secretive," has paid to run a 30-second commercial on cable news programs in Washington, D.C., and in New York through Thursday. The ad blasts President Bush as "sly like a fox" for talking down his dealings with Harken Energy, which Democrats...

Some parents upset over sex booklet in schools Thursday, November 10, 2005By R. DAVID HEILEMANThe Sun Star STRONGSVILLE _ An informational booklet that describes the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases and contains phone numbers for Planned Parenthood and confidential reproductive health services has raised protests after it was placed in students' lockers throughout the district. City resident Theresa Fleming said her 11-year-old son, a sixth-grader at Kinsner Elementary School, was among those who received a copy of the booklet, Youth Pages, A Guide for Cuyahoga County Teens published by United Way's 211 First Call For Help. She said the...

The staff at Deaf Inc., a social service agency based in Allston-Brighton, got a letter recently, an appeal to participate in the annual fund-raising campaign of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. It was an ironic moment. Deaf Inc. enjoyed a good relationship with the United Way until recently. But that was before Deaf Inc. was cut off from United Way funding, after a management decision by United Way that its work no longer fit into the charity's priorities. This is what Deaf Inc. does: It helps people who can't hear manage their lives and live independently and with dignity,...

I have tried to google for something of substance that would explain why corporate entities spend so much time and energy coming up with ways to 'persuade' employees to donate. At my place of employment, it's common knowledge that the exec sitting in the corner office is going over the list of those who donate and those who do not making 'mental notes'. Personally, I have never donated, and never will. The more they pressure me to do so, the more opposed to it I become. I really want to know _why_ they try so hard. It has to be...

The neglect of the nation's poor that has become so evident in New Orleans is happening in other major cities as well, the head of the United Way said Wednesday. "This is a wake-up call for America," said Brian Gallagher, president and chief executive officer of United Way of America, which has taken a lead role in resettling tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors. Gallagher and other leaders of charitable groups met with President Bush on Tuesday to plead for a long-term solution. Gallagher said he told Bush a commitment to spend billions of dollars on flood walls, hotels...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said today it will no longer accept funding from the United Way so as not to complete a required counterterrorism compliance form. Christine Link is ACLU of Ohio executive director. She says the decision won’t make much of a difference to the Cleveland-based nonprofit legal organization’s finances. It is not a United Way agency, but it can receive United Way funding if designated by donors. Link estimated ACLU of Ohio receives about $10,000 a year from United Way. ACLU of Ohio’s annual budget is approximately 700-thousand dollars, mostly from individual...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- A conservative legal group said Thursday that the United Way should take back a $171,000 donation to an organization that is representing several detainees in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.</p> <p>Officials from the Legal Aid Society and the United Way's Sept. 11 Fund said none of the restricted grant is paying for work on the detainees cases, and is going entirely to help victims of the World Trade Center attacks.</p>

The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta will withhold $1.3 million in funding to the Boy Scouts pending an investigation into alleged minority membership inflation. Without much discussion Wednesday, the agency's Board of Directors unanimously agreed to pledge that amount to the Boy Scouts of America-Atlanta Area Council for 2005-06, but hold it in escrow starting July 1, the beginning of the council's budget year. Board members won't decide how much to turn over to the Scouts until they see the membership report and learn how the council will handle any negative findings. The tentative decision to maintain current funding is...