The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance

Obama Wants More School, Shorter Summer Break

By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer – Sun Sep 27, 3:29 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll.

But she doesn't want a longer school day. "I would walk straight out the door," she said.

Domonique Toombs felt the same way when she learned she would stay for an extra three hours each day in sixth grade at Boston's Clarence R. Edwards Middle School.

"I was like, `Wow, are you serious?'" she said. "That's three more hours I won't be able to chill with my friends after school."

Her school is part of a 3-year-old state initiative to add 300 hours of school time in nearly two dozen schools. Early results are positive. Even reluctant Domonique, who just started ninth grade, feels differently now. "I've learned a lot," she said.

Does Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?

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Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

"Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

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Regardless, there is a strong case for adding time to the school day.

Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year.

"Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."

In the U.S., there are many examples of gains when time is added to the school day.

Charter schools are known for having longer school days or weeks or years. For example, kids in the KIPP network of 82 charter schools across the country go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than three hours longer than the typical day. They go to school every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer. KIPP eighth-grade classes exceed their school district averages on state tests.

In Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, early results indicate that kids in some schools do better on state tests than do kids at regular public schools. The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics — kids struggling in English, for example, get an extra English class; more time for teachers; and enrichment time for kids.

Regular public schools are adding time, too, though it is optional and not usually part of the regular school day. Their calendar is pretty much set in stone. Most states set the minimum number of school days at 180 days, though a few require 175 to 179 days.

Several schools are going year-round by shortening summer vacation and lengthening other breaks.

Many schools are going beyond the traditional summer school model, in which schools give remedial help to kids who flunked or fell behind.

Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents.

That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.

Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. Wealthier kids have parents who read to them, have strong language skills and go to great lengths to give them learning opportunities such as computers, summer camp, vacations, music lessons, or playing on sports teams.

"If your parents are high school dropouts with low literacy levels and reading for pleasure is not hard-wired, it's hard to be a good role model for your children, even if you really want to be," Alexander said.

Extra time is not cheap. The Massachusetts program costs an extra $1,300 per student, or 12 percent to 15 percent more than regular per-student spending, said Jennifer Davis, a founder of the program. It received more than $17.5 million from the state Legislature last year.

The Montgomery County, Md., summer program, which includes Brookhaven, received $1.6 million in federal stimulus dollars to operate this year and next, but it runs for only 20 days.

Aside from improving academic performance, Education Secretary Duncan has a vision of schools as the heart of the community. Duncan, who was Chicago's schools chief, grew up studying alongside poor kids on the city's South Side as part of the tutoring program his mother still runs.

"Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."

___

Associated Press writer Russell Contreras in Boston contributed to this report.

Is the following the reason why the Hitler-in-Chief wants this.........

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIzVZtbFUA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

Equating Conservatives with Terrorists.....

By Ken Klukowski and Ken Blackwell

“He who defines the words is the master.”

– Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Recent events reveal how far to the left President Obama really is. When the president’s Cairo speech, taken with his reactions to the deaths of an abortion doctor and a U.S. soldier, are weighed against his Department of Homeland Security report and his Supreme Court decisions, a pattern emerges. The president is indicating that conservatives can in many ways be equated with terrorists. Such a comparison is outrageous, and the possibility that this mindset could end up on the U.S. Supreme Court makes it all the more dangerous.

First was the president’s speech in Cairo. As Charles Krauthammer observed, Obama kept comparing appalling acts of Mideast terrorists with acts from America’s past, suggesting a degree of equivalency between the two. Separately, many noted that the president never once used the words “terror,” “terrorist,” or “terrorism.” He did, however, use the word “extremist.” More on that in a moment. Second was the contrast between the president’s immediate expression of grief at the shooting death of partial-birth abortion provider George Tiller versus the shockingly muted expression of sympathy for a U.S. soldier gunned down by a radical Muslim terrorist in Arkansas. A man shot and killed Dr. Tiller, who was one of the few doctors in America willing to perform partial-birth abortions on late-term, unborn babies right up to the moment of birth, committing what the late Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “infanticide.” Pro-life groups spoke out as quickly as pro-choice groups to condemn this vigilante act.

To read the immediate White House reaction, you would think a national hero had died. And indeed some in the media said exactly this, with USA Today editorializing that Dr. Tiller was a “hero” to many women. Setting aside the disgraceful commentary that came from some pundits trying to blame conservatives, and even moderates like Bill O’Reilly, for “inciting” this shooting, it’s worth noting that one CNN anchor referred to Dr. Tiller’s murder as “an act of domestic terrorism.”

Contrast that with the reaction to the killing of a U.S. soldier in Arkansas by a real terrorist. A man who had converted to Islam deliberately sought out and shot two uniformed U.S. soldiers, fatally wounding one of them. The White House was virtually silent for days, including the president’s choice not to utter a word when he introduced his nominee for secretary of the army to the media. Only now has the White House spoken, after being called out by journalists.

These events must be taken in the context of the deeply disturbing report issued by the Department of Homeland Security weeks ago. This is the report that said conservatives, such as people who are outspokenly pro-life or support the Second Amendment, pose a potential terrorist threat in this country. That report also warned that military servicemen returning from overseas were potential recruits for these proto-terrorist movements. There again, the Obama administration analogizes conservatives with terrorists.

That report was issued under the approval of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. That’s important because Napolitano was one of four finalists to be Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court may not succeed. Ironically, if confirmation is denied, it will be because supporters of the Second Amendment will make Sotomayor’s lifelong opposition to gun rights an issue that some elected officials cannot countenance. If Sotomayor does not make it to the Supreme Court, or if Obama gets one or two more vacancies to fill during his term (which is very likely), then Napolitano may well become a justice.

Should that happen, this comparing of conservatives with terrorists could impact Supreme Court decisions for decades. How would pro-life protesters fare in a case before a Justice Napolitano? Or what of a case brought by the NRA to advance Second Amendment rights, as will likely happen next year?

Conservatives are not the moral equivalent of terrorists. We should all fear the consequences of this administration failing to appreciate the difference. Ken Klukowski is a fellow and senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union.

Ken Blackwell is the former United States Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and a senior fellow with the American Civil Rights Union.

So, we have a President now calling the opposition "terrorists" . That is very reminiscent of some others throughout history..............The Communist Chinese have put that label on such violent individuals as the Dalai Lama (notice the sarcasim), as well as, other Tibetan Monks.

Federal Government Bans Religious Ornaments for 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree

Arizona schoolchildren chosen to decorate tree told to keep religion out

___________________________________________________

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) called on Arizona state and federal officials on Monday to stop enforcing a requirement prohibiting the state's schoolchildren from expressing religious viewpoints through Christmas themes while decorating ornaments for the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree.

Arizona was chosen this year to present 4,000 handcrafted ornaments made by elementary, middle-school, and high-school students to decorate Washington, D.C.'s annual Christmas tree.

Guidelines for the ornaments include specifications for their size, weight, composition, and the directive that "Ornaments cannot reflect a religious or political theme… Instead share your interpretation of our theme 'Arizona's Gift, from the Grand Canyon State.'"

In a letter to federal and state officials, including Arizona Governor Janice Brewer, ADF attorneys demanded that they abandon the discrimination against religious viewpoints.

"Banning Christmas from the Capitol Christmas tree is just absurd. Christian students shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their religious beliefs," said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs.

"The First Amendment does not allow government officials to exclude schoolchildren's ornaments for the capitol's Christmas tree merely because they communicate a religious viewpoint."

The request was issued on behalf of a mother whose son expressed a strong desire to submit three religious ornaments for the tree: One reading "Merry Christmas," another "Happy Birthday, Jesus," and the third portraying a manger scene with the Christ child.

Each of these ornaments will also honor Arizona, using as a theme the state's history, geography, or motto, "Ditat Deus," which means "God Enriches."

ADF attorneys indicate in the letter that they will take legal action if officials do not comply by October 4, the day before the deadline to submit ornaments for consideration.

"It is well established that expression of religious beliefs is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," the letter reads. "Religious expression is speech and is entitled to the same level of protection as other kinds of speech ... even expression that comes through symbols, such as ornaments."

Well, well, well. The "Dictator-in-chief" (I guess we can just use the initials, d.i.c.)has descended to a new low. But, considering some on my previous posts, not exactly unexpected. Every good dictator (I know ' it's an oxymoron), always ensures that he is the only thing "deified in his society. This is just another "brick" in the socialist "dungeon" that the "d.i.c." is building for all of us.

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

Democratic Lawmaker Likens Health Care Crisis to a ' Holocaust '

Republicans are likening Rep. Alan Grayson's remark to Rep. Joe Wilson's widely criticized shout of "You lie!" during President Obama's address to Congress earlier this month.

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Democratic congressman under fire for saying that Republicans want Americans to "die quickly" if they get sick fanned the flames further Wednesday by comparing the U.S. health care system to a "holocaust."

"I call upon all of us to do our jobs for the sake of America, for the sake of those dying people and their families," Florida Rep. Alan Grayson said on the House floor. "I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America."

Taking a page from Democrats who disciplined Rep. Joe Wilson earlier this month, Republicans now are seeking their revenge on Grayson who said Tuesday that the GOP wants Americans to "die quickly" if they get sick.

Grayson,a first-term Democrat known for being provocative, refuses to apologize for the comments he made on the House floor Tuesday night while criticizing Republican health care proposals.

Click here to watch the video.

Republicans are likening Grayson's remark to Wilson's widely criticized shout of "You lie!" during President Obama's address to Congress earlier this month. They say Democrats should insist that Grayson apologize just as they did Wilson.

"This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

"Alan Grayson not only refuses to apologize, but he is doubling down on his despicable remarks and he is dragging his party down with him," he said.

Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, who heads the party's conservative Republican Study Committee, was planning to introduce a "resolution of disapproval" over Grayson's behavior that mirrors one Democrats approved against Wilson. Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner, said Boehner supports the resolution.

Grayson said he won't apologize even in the face of a possible House resolution of disapproval that was passed against Wilson.

"Because I said the truth," Grayson told FOX News.

And Grayson was more than willing to keep challenging Republicans.

"I think that the Democrats are sick and tired of being kicked around with death panels," he said, referring to a term popularized by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "We're sick of it. They have nothing to offer (on health care) themselves."

Wilson told FOX News Wednesday that Grayson's criticism of GOP health proposals is "wrong."

"The Republican proposals are positive," he said. "They're for senior citizens. They're for small businesses. They're for creating jobs in our country."

Wilson wouldn't comment further on the controversy until he said he could look at exactly what he did.

Earlier Wednesday, the fourth-highest ranking Democrat in the House, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said he would encourage Grayson to apologize.

"We should keep in mind the rules of the House and the way we speak to one another," he said.

But Larson didn't seem open to having the House discipline Grayson in the same manner as Wilson, saying many other lawmakers would then have to be punished.

Grayson represents a Republican-leaning central Florida district around Orlando and was already among the GOP's top targets for the 2010 elections. Late Tuesday night, he defiantly gave Republicans more ammunition.

"Now Democrats have a different plan," he said, highlighting his comments with a sign that that read: "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."

"Democrats say if you have health insurance, we're going to make it better," he said. "If you don't have health insurance, we're going to provide it to you. If you can't afford health insurance, then we'll help you to afford it."

"So America gets to decide," he added. "Do you want the Democrats' plan or the Republican plan."

Republicans are pressing Democratic leaders to force Grayson to apologize.

"Will Pelosi hold vote to reprimand #Grayson?" Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., wrote on Twitter Wednesday, referencing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Or was JWilson reprimand just partisan politics after all?"

Ken Spain, spokesman for the House Republican campaign arm, said Democrats should be "lining up to call on him to apologize."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now has an opportunity to condemn the very behavior and tone of this health care debate that she claims will 'incite violence,"' he said, referring to Democratic concerns that the bitter tone of the health care debate could lead to attacks.

Pelosi's office didn't directly address the controversy Wednesday in a statement to FOXNews.com

"Members of Congress should focus on the issue at hand: ensuring quality, affordable and accessible health insurance for all Americans," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in e-mail.

FOX News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Once again, we can clearly see the the "ObamaCrats" will say and do ANYTHING to stymie any attempts to block their agenda or to inform the public of what the "dictator-in-training" has got in store for we "peasants".  But, we have something "up our sleeves" too. Its a VERY EFFECTIVE tool. Lets call it the 11-2-10 project. .

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

Biden on 2010: If GOP Succeeds, It ’s ‘The End of the Road for What Barack and I Are Trying to Do’

ABC News’ Karen Travers reports:

Vice President Joe Biden said today that if Democrats were to lose 35 House seats they currently hold in traditionally Republican districts, it would mean doomsday for President Obama’s agenda.

Biden said Republicans are pinning their political strategy on flipping these seats.

“If they take them back, this the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do,” the vice president said at a fundraiser for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) today in Greenville, Delaware.

Republicans need to pick up 40 seats next November to take back control of the House.

There are 49 seats currently held by Democrats in districts that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) won in last year’s presidential election.

Biden said these House seats are Republicans “one shot” at breaking the Obama administration’s agenda. But if Democrats can hold on to those seats, “the dam is going to break,” he said, and a new era of bipartisanship will begin.

“All the hidden Republicans that don’t have the courage to vote the way they want to vote because of pressure from the party … it will break the dam and you will see bipartisanship,” Biden said.

Republicans welcomed the vice president’s assessment of the 2010 landscape.

“What didn’t seem possible just a few months ago, appears to be the topic of conversation even within the upper echelons of the Obama White House,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “It is interesting to hear Vice President Biden admit that the administration’s effort to double down on a partisan agenda of government takeovers could possibly mean the ‘end of the road’ for their political viability.”

Knowing that 2010 is going to be a tough year for defending their own turf, Democrats are hoping to stay on offense in several House districts held by Republicans, including Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, Mike Castle of Delaware, Mary Bono Mack of California and Joseph Cao of Louisiana.

“From day one, Democrats said this is a challenging cycle but we're aggressively tackling that challenge with outstanding Frontline Members and by putting additional Republican seats in play,” said Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, referring to the most vulnerable Democoratic incumbents. “Republicans have banked on failure by opposing common-sense measures to get the economy back on track and health insurance reform.”

Biden’s comments came at a fundraiser for Giffords, a Blue Dog Democrat who was first elected in 2006 to represent a district that had been Republican since 2000.

So, the "vice chancellor" agrees with me that the day of reckoning will be November 2, 2010. At that time, the Congressional elections will be held. If the Republicans can take back  one or both Houses of Congress,  the ObamaNation will be "foiled" in its "plot" and maybe, just maybe, we will be a nation that has preserved its rights and freedoms.

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

China takes extreme security measures for parade

Apartments on the route are evacuated, businesses are forced to close early and transit lines are suspended as China prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary. 'Are we having fun?' one critic asks.

By Barbara Demick

September 30, 2009

Reporting from Beijing - This is a parade that demands state-level security. Discipline. Extreme secrecy. Ordinary people will not be allowed anywhere near the parade route in Beijing on Thursday, when the People's Republic of China marks the 60th anniversary of its founding with a military parade. That applies even to people who live in the neighborhood: Entire apartment buildings along the route toward Tiananmen Square are being evacuated to prevent residents from watching. Cameras and binoculars are forbidden in many locales. As the city prepares for the parade, Beijing feels more like a city under martial law than the dynamic capital that wowed the world during the 2008 Summer Olympics. The more than 80,000 students marching in the parade have been forced to sign secrecy agreements that prohibit them from talking to reporters (Chinese and foreign alike), sending text messages or posting blogs or photographs of parade rehearsals. Supermarkets have been ordered not to sell sharp knives, and the mailing of soap, toothpaste and liquids within Beijing is forbidden, apparently out of fear that they could be used to make explosives. SWAT teams with armored personnel carriers are stationed at key intersections. People who live near the parade route are forbidden to have guests in their homes or use their balconies. Pigeon fanciers have been told to keep their birds grounded. Even kite-flying has been banned since mid-September. "Are we having fun?" demanded a sarcastic Li Datong, a former editor at the China Youth Daily who is one of the few who have spoken out publicly against the parade. "Does this look like a country at peace? "The National Day celebration is supposed to be a happy occasion, but this certainly doesn't feel like it." When it comes to celebrating the modern country's communist roots, the cowboy capitalism and media-savvy youth of 21st century China take a back seat to tradition. Michael Anti, a Chinese blogger and social critic, says the inconvenience posed by the parade is not incidental but part of the message. "The Communist Party wants to show the young people it still has control. They're saying in effect, 'Even though you might have Twitter, I'm the one with power,' " Anti said. "The focus of the parade is to get people to act in a collectivist manner, like North Koreans." In contrast, during the Olympics organizers made an effort to include people in the star-studded opening and closing ceremonies through a lottery that allowed anybody to apply for tickets. Not this time. "Those who can watch the show live on location are invited only," Beijing Vice Mayor Ji Lin said last week during a briefing. Representatives of the neighborhoods near the square were among those on the guest list, Ji said. Journalists received telephone calls this month instructing them not to photograph rehearsals. Japanese journalists with the Kyodo News agency who were filming a rehearsal from a hotel room Sept. 18 complained that Chinese police broke into their room, roughed them up and smashed equipment. An official speaking on condition of anonymity said security is tighter this year than in 1999 -- the year of the last parade -- because ethnic violence in western China has prompted fear of terrorism. The inconveniences have been large and small. Rehearsals on weekends over the last month have virtually paralyzed the city. With checkpoints on main roads and public transportation suspended, businesses had to send employees home early and close at an incalculable cost. When rains delayed a rehearsal one weekend, the exclusive French restaurant Maison Boulud, fully booked for a reception, had to close and refund customers' money. By this morning, many of the biggest hotels in the city, including the Grand Hyatt and the Raffles Hotel, had been virtually evacuated. On the glass-facade shopping malls along Changanjie, the main avenue passing Tiananmen Square, high-end boutiques like Armani and Tiffany & Co. were also closing down. Although Beijingers are resigned to the omnipresence of big government, they have begun to grumble, at least among themselves. "Can't you see how much business we're losing," barked the owner of a store selling cigarettes and drinks near Tiananmen Square. On a subway platform where hundreds of commuters were stuck trying to get home during an early closing for a rehearsal, a middle-aged man mumbled angrily to a friend, "This parade is a waste of money and brings grief to people." He then looked around nervously to make sure he hadn't been overheard. Complaining about the parade is taboo, hence the secrecy agreements that the parade participants were forced to sign. But it's almost impossible in the 21st century to keep students from blogging their discontent, and some criticism has managed to make it onto the Internet. Tens of thousands of students in Beijing -- ranging from 14-year-olds to college freshmen -- were told in the spring that they had to "volunteer" for the parade. Participants had to give up most of their summer vacation and attend 12-hour rehearsals that often lasted until 3:30 a.m., flipping colored fans that spell out Communist Party slogans. "We Chinese torture ourselves for some face and superficial pride," wrote one student, who said that teachers had insinuated that a refusal to participate could affect their future academic careers. "Forcing people to participate in the parade can become a new Guinness World Record of ridiculousness." The blog postings were removed quickly after being put up, and some students received visits from the police. Thespectacle unfolding in Beijing is pretty much the same as it has been on many key anniversaries since China's founding in 1949. Although there may be more glitz this year for the 60th, the parade should follow the same script: formations of goose-stepping soldiers follow tanks and missiles down wide boulevards, and floats celebrating China's achievements from aerospace to agriculture are serenaded with choruses of the youth-league anthem, "We Are the Heirs of Communism." No doubt, there are many older Chinese who appreciate the pomp and formality of the tradition. "We do these parades every 10 years, and each time it is exciting," said 81-year-old Li Wei, a retired Communist Party official from Shanxi province. He had come to Beijing for the parade, but will watch on television. But even a decade ago, some critics were complaining that the parade was an anachronism. No less esteemed a figure than the late Li Shenzhi, an intellectual who served as Premier Zhou Enlai's diplomatic secretary, wrote in 1999 in an essay published in Hong Kong that the military parade reminded him of the worst authoritarian regimes in the world. "There're not so many countries left in this world that want to show off like this. My humble guess would be only North Korea's Kim Jong Il still has a passion for this sort of thing." barbara.demick@latimes.com Times staff writer David Pierson and special correspondents Tommy Yang and Nicole Liu contributed to this report.

Curious how this is the same country who hosted last years Olympics. Not the same China now, is it? This sounds more like a government that is worried about being overthrown then one in celebration. Emptying apartment buildings? Banning residents from viewing? Are they going to make them all wear the same outfit again like they did back in Mao's era? Lets hope that our own dictator-in-training isn't watching or we will be "goose-stepping" on the 4th of July next year. Or, has that been changed too? Like the Khmer Rouge did, life began on January 20, 2009 at 12:01 PM, and everything before that never happened. That sounds like a Barack Obama move..........

Coke, bottler launching campaign against soda tax

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co and its largest independent bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, are mounting a campaign against a possible U.S. tax on soft drinks.

In addition to a print and digital ad campaign in seven key U.S. markets including Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, the effort will include public relations, speaking engagements and education designed to emphasize to consumers the benefits of a balanced diet and lifestyle that includes exercise.

"Clearly, the threat of a soft drink tax demonstrates the need to better educate our consumers on what we're doing to be part of the solution to the obesity problem in the United States," said Coke spokeswoman Diana Garza, adding that its efforts to fight obesity are ongoing.

There have been increasingly vocal calls for taxes on sugary drinks and junk food to help fight the problem of obesity in the United States.

News of Coke's campaign was first reported on the website of the company's hometown newspaper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, citing an interview with Coke Enterprises' chief executive, John Brock.

The paper said the penny-per-ounce tax that has been suggested would increase the cost of a 12-pack of soda by $1.44, which Brock called "mind-boggling."

"The Coca-Cola Company and our bottlers believe the solution to obesity does not lie in attacking one product or by taxing middle-income Americans," Garza said.

Since Congress will ultimately decide whether a tax is imposed, the newspaper said the campaign is expected to include political publications and websites in Washington.

A strongly worded report on child obesity released earlier this month recommended that state and local governments tax junk food and soft drinks, while the American Heart Association said people should limit their sugar intake and said soft drinks were the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Matthew Lewis, Gary Hill)

Here is, yet another attempt and another step, toward the ObamaNations plan to impose a totalitarian state. This is where "his royal highness" decrees what he thinks you should eat or drink. Everybody better start waking up and realize this NUT JOB whats to be DICTATOR!

As for me, an avid soda drinker, with ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF STOPPING, I will NOT do what some fellow critic did on Facebook when he posted a poll on whether the President should be assassinated, but, I will express my displeasure in a more personal way. I will try to obtain many copies of the Presidents photo and keep then next to the toilet. And, when I run out of Charmin to "squeeze"..........

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

Crist stands by prediction Obama could face massive defeat

Posted: September 29th, 2009 06:51 PM ET

(CNN) — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is standing by his recent prediction that President Obama may be headed for a massive electoral defeat similar to that which President Carter faced in 1980.

[It] may happen again," Crist told CNN's John Roberts on American Morning Tuesday. "What I think has occurred is that in 1976 the people wanted a change…I think the same thing sort of happened last year in America."

What change we got may not necessarily be the change that America wants," Crist continued. "What I mean by that is that every day you get up and the government has taken over some other industry, auto industry or banks or whatever it might be. I think that the change that's coming about is a little too fast, little too furious."

Plagued by a sputtering economy, an energy crisis, and the Iran hostage ciris, Carter won just six states in 1980 — the fewest by a major-party presidential candidate since 1964.

Crist, who is vying for his state's GOP Senate nomination, recently vowed to a gathering of national conservatives that their party is poised for a rebound in the wake of two straight disappointing election cycles.

"America is awake and we're coming back," he said Friday at the biennial Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

We can only have the "Audacity of Hope" this will occur.........................now, where did I hear that before? Hmmmmmmmmm

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

Health Care Mandate Sparks Constitutional Debate

The constitution allows the federal government to regulate interstate commerce but legal experts argue the insurance requirement is just an attempt to dictate personal behavior.

By Jim Angle

FOXNews.com

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The requirement that everyone buy health insurance -- a central element to President Obama's health care plan -- is flatly unconstitutional, legal experts argue.

"At the heart of this plan is an unprecedented imposition on individual liberty," constitutional attorney David Rivkin told FOX News.

The constitution allows the federal government to regulate interstate commerce but Rivkin argues the insurance requirement is just an attempt to dictate personal behavior.

"What’s unique about here is the mandate imposed on individuals merely because they live," he said. "Not connected with any economic activity, not because they grow something, make something, compose something. Merely because they live. And this is absolutely unprecedented."

During the Prohibition era, the federal government dictated personal behavior by making the consumption of alcohol illegal. But to do so, the nation had to pass a constitutional amendment.

Health care reform depends on the individual mandate, in part because it needs the money and good health of younger people to fund the system and spread the risk.

"When you're 25 and healthy you think you're invincible. You think you're never going to get sick, never going to get into an accident," said Doug Kendall of the Constitutional Accountability Center.

And so young people don't buy insurance. But if one gets into an accident and runs up huge medical bills, taxpayers foot the bill, Kendall said.

"The fundamental point behind pushing people into the private insurance market is to make sure that uninsured individuals who can pay for health insurance don't impose costs on other tax payers," he said.

Kendall argues the interstate commerce clause justifies such action because it regulates insurance and health care. But when the Clinton administration wanted an individual mandate in the 1990s, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also called such a requirement "unprecedented."

"The government has never required people to buy any good or service, as condition of lawful residence in the United States," congressional budget officers said.

Some question why the government cannot force Americans to buy health insurance if it can regulate other behavior such as use of illicit drugs. But if the government can do that to protect taxpayers, why couldn't it force people to stop smoking or lose weight?

The Congressional Research Service looked into the mandate question and concluded only that Congress "may have" that power but called it "the most challenging question" -- meaning the centerpiece of health care reform is still open to debate.

And since when does Obama and his "henchmen" ever cared about a Constitution that they will,  eventually,  do away with? Dictators don't have Constitutions and don't have any restraints. That is why America was what it WAS. The good news is, there is still enough REAL AMERICANS in Congress that, today, prevented ObamaCare from getting out of committee. But, they have threatened to keep coming back.

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!

Only Democrats would pull this.........

.....................Welcome to the ObamaNation!

State to mom: Stop baby-sitting neighbors' kids

By JAMES PRICHARD, Associated Press Writer – Tue Sep 29, 7:23 pm ET

IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

"I was freaked out. I was blown away," she said. "I got on the phone immediately, called my husband, then I called all the girls" — that is, the mothers whose kids she watches — "every one of them."

Snyder's predicament has led to a debate in Michigan about whether a law that says no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers needs to be changed. It also has irked parents who say they depend on such friendly offers to help them balance work and family.

On Tuesday, agency Director Ismael Ahmed said good neighbors should be allowed to help each other ensure their children are safe. Gov. Jennifer Granholm instructed Ahmed to work with the state Legislature to change the law, he said.

"Being a good neighbor means helping your neighbors who are in need," Ahmed said in a written statement. "This could be as simple as providing a cup of sugar, monitoring their house while they're on vacation or making sure their children are safe while they wait for the school bus."

Snyder learned that the agency was responding to a neighbor's complaint.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the agency was following standard procedure in its response. "But we feel this (law) really gets in the way of common sense," Boyd said.

"We want to protect kids, but the law needs to be reasonable," she said. "When the governor learned of this, she acted quickly and called the director personally to ask him to intervene."

State Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, said he was working to draft legislation that would exempt situations like Snyder's from coverage under Michigan's current day care regulations.

The bill will make it clear that people who aren't in business as day care providers don't need to be licensed, Calley said.

"These are just kids that wait for the bus every morning," he said. "This is not a day care."

Snyder, 35, lives in a rural subdivision in Barry County's Irving Township about 25 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. Her tidy, comfortable three-bedroom home is a designated school bus stop. The three neighbor children she watched — plus Snyder's first-grader, Grace — attend school about six miles away in Middleville.

Snyder said she started watching the other children this school year to help her friends; they often baby-sit for each other during evenings and weekends.

After receiving the state agency's letter, she said she called the agency and tried to explain that she wasn't running a day care center or accepting money from her friends.

Under state law, no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers. Snyder said she stopped watching the other children immediately after receiving the letter, which was well within the four-week period.

"I've lived in this community for 35 years and everyone I know has done some form of this," said Francie Brummel, 42, who would drop off her second-grade son, Colson, before heading to her job as deputy treasurer of the nearby city of Hastings.

Other moms say they regularly deal with similar situations.

Amy Cowan, 34, of Grosse Pointe Farms, a Detroit suburb, said she often takes turns with her sister, neighbor and friend watching each other's children.

"The worst part of this whole thing, with the state of the economy ... two parents have to work," said Cowan, a corporate sales representative with a 5-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter. "When you throw in the fact that the state is getting involved, it gives women a hard time for going back to work.

"I applaud the lady who takes in her neighbors' kids while they're waiting for the bus. She's enabling her peers to go to work and get a paycheck. The state should be thankful for that."

Amy Maciaszek, 42, of McHenry, Ill., who works in direct sales, said she believes the state agency was "trying to be overprotective."

"I think it does take a village and that's the best way," said Maciaszek, who has a 6-year-old boy and twin 3-year-old daughters. "Unfortunately you do have to be careful about that. These mothers are trying to do the right thing."

___

Associated Press writers Randi Goldberg Berris and David Runk in Detroit and Kathy Barks Hoffman in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

Only a Democratic state would want to force a parent to get licensed to "keep an eye" on children waiting for a school bus. I do wonder, however, if they would pursue this if she wasn't white. Would she be partaking in the Clinton mantra about it "taking a village to raise a child"?

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance-For the Lack of Vigilance is the Loss of Freedom!