Senate ObamaCare bill fines families $3800 per year for ignoring mandate
posted at 5:25 pm on September 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) released his general plan for the Senate version of ObamaCare yesterday, and it portends some hefty costs for American families. Baucus stripped out the public option but left in place individual mandates to buy insurance — and backed them with big fines, administered by the IRS. Each family could pay up to $3800 per year for failing to get government-approved coverage:
A bipartisan group of senators huddled in the afternoon to decide whether to move forward on an overhaul plan that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) began circulating over the weekend. The plan includes some of the stiffest penalties Congress has proposed for Americans who don’t carry health insurance coverage.
Sen. Baucus emerged from a meeting with the six-member bipartisan group saying he had given his colleagues until 10 a.m. Wednesday to provide feedback on his draft. The group will meet again Wednesday afternoon in an attempt to come up with an agreement before Mr. Obama’s address.
Under the plan, people who earn between 100% and 300% of the poverty level (or between about $22,000 a year and $66,000 a year for a family of four) would face fees ranging from $750 to $1,500 a year.
For taxpayers with incomes above 300% of poverty, the penalty starts at $950 a year and reaches as high as $3,800 for families. Nearly 12 million people fit in this category, according to the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Individual mandates are bad enough, at least constitutionally speaking. States have insurance mandates for drivers, but those are predicated on accessing public roads, not private enterprise. The courts should make minced meat out of an argument that Congress has the power to compel citizens to buy insurance for any reason, let alone health insurance.
But the problem here goes beyond the mandate, and even beyond the fine. Who will manage this mandate? Who determines the validity or non-validity of insurance coverage? That bastion of medical knowledge, the Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayers will have to provide proof of insurance from the previous tax year to avoid the fines. If the IRS doesn’t consider the coverage adequate, families could be out the cost of the coverage and the fine. They can appeal any negative verdicts, of course … to the IRS.
The IRS hasn’t the expertise, nor the flexibility, to manage the nation’s health-insurance coverages. This is a tremendously bad idea. As I wrote earlier, who in this country believes that the IRS doesn’t intrude enough into their lives?
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Hmmmmm......couldnt see that coming...LOLOLOLOL-and hey-that wasnt in his camaign slogan was it......LOLOL
Who cares what We The People want anyway-right? We are going to have to change some wording in some songs ard here-Land of The Free.....list goes on...and on...and on....
Can we all say it now? I told.......
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Our new "Daddy"
ugh...okay here's the speech if any of you missed it-my kids did of course :)
Ive already got a Dad and so do my kids thank you VERY much Obama!!
I cant believe this speech-its like NOTHING I have EVER read before coming from a President. I know he thinks he's "for the people" but please...I think we can direct our kids just fine....I think he went a little too far on this one....hmmm..no surprise and Im glad we chose to keep our kids home.....:)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009
The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Ive already got a Dad and so do my kids thank you VERY much Obama!!
I cant believe this speech-its like NOTHING I have EVER read before coming from a President. I know he thinks he's "for the people" but please...I think we can direct our kids just fine....I think he went a little too far on this one....hmmm..no surprise and Im glad we chose to keep our kids home.....:)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009
The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Bean Jar....
This idea was taken off of my good friend Melinda-but I think my big sis Kym does this with her kids too-Im thinking this is a keeper :)
Our BEAN JAR
A fun thing we do, it's a reward system of sorts. Works alot like her token system, with my "tweaks" How the bean jar works, when Mom or Dad notices something nice being done, we can chose to tell that person to put a bean in the jar. They take a bean out of the holding jar, and put it into the bean jar. Simple really, oh and I can not take credit, read it somewhere!
One thing I noticed, and one reason I decided to do this is I always feel I am so negative to the kids. I ALWAYS notice the wrong, and often forget to say thanks or great job. So this helps me, Mom to notice the good. Beans are added for all types of things, here are just a few ideas. I ask for someone to do something, example "can someone go downstairs and grab me a can of tomato sauce?" If someone jumps up quickly and does it hastily sometimes I say you can put a bean in the jar, sometimes not! If the kids get 100% on their math, or spelling tests etc. they get a bean, this is done everytime, and not only on 100%. If someone is struggling with something, say a specific times table or spelling list etc I sometimes let them add a bean for accomplishing it. I have a set amount for piano practice, a certain amount of days equals a certain amount of beans. However I try to do it more with simple kind gestures that happen. If I notice someone giving of themselves for another, that always gets a bean. I notice a good attitude, especially when that someone has been having a hard time with that lately, they might get a bean. Get the picture?
Once all the beans are in the jar, it will be completely full. We will do something extra fun as a family. Something that is abnormal, something special. I also like this idea because it is teamwork. Everyone is competing TOGETHER to fill the jar.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Things That Make You Go Hmmmm.....
Widespread Movement to Opt-Out of Obama’s Televised Speech to Children
worldnet-daily3Following widespread concern about President Obama’s nationally televised address to schoolchildren, many parents and schools are opting to forgo the Sept. 8 speech.
School officials have been asked to take a break from normal educational activities to allow students to view the speech from the president and participate in recommended brainstorming exercises following the broadcast. Obama will give the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. The speech is scheduled to broadcast live at 12 noon EST on C-SPAN and at whitehouse.gov.
But parents across the nation are complaining about the speech taking up valuable classroom instruction time and possibly “indoctrinating” young children.
According to a letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. …
“He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.”
Some schools allow parents to opt-out
Donald Phillips, superintendent of California’s Poway Unified School District, sent a letter to parents Wednesday announcing that the district “will not be encouraging” teachers to include the viewing of the president’s speech as a part of a supplemental classroom learning activity. If teachers choose to do so, they must inform parents by Friday and give them an opportunity to opt-out of the Tuesday broadcast.
“Who Killed the Constitution?” Here’s a dirty little secret: The bedrock of our country is … dead
kidsStudents who opt-out will be assigned alternate learning activities outside of the classroom during the speech and any follow-up discussions.
Additionally, the district is providing a link to a copy of the president’s speech so parents may decide whether they want to view it at home with their children.
“We believe the president’s address would be the most beneficial if you choose to view it together at home as a family,” the memo states. “We believe any discussion with your child or children around the importance of education and goal-setting could be both meaningful and appropriate.”
Officials with Texas’ Keller Independent School District said they will allow students to view the presidential address. However, a district notice states, “If parents do not want their student(s) to watch the broadcast, parents may dismiss their student(s) during that time and not be penalized.” Additionally, the children will not be required to use the United States Education Department materials for suggested brainstorming assignments after the speech. Many Texas school districts are asking parents to contact principals if they do not wish for their children to view the speech while several schools have opted not to show the broadcast.
Stephanie Klick, Tarrant County Republican Party chairwoman, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that many Texas families are speaking out against plans to air the broadcast in schools.
“We’re hearing from parents and grandparents that are not very happy. They really feel like it is political indoctrination,” Klick said. “People don’t like this. I have heard from some families that are planning to keep their kids home.”
The Houston Independent School District has directed principals to give parents advance notice if they are planning lessons around Obama’s speech. Parents may opt-out their children. According to a Houston Chronicle report, “Children pulled out of school for the day will cost districts about $35 per child, as state funding for schools is based on daily attendance.”
In Utah, school districts are taking precautions ahead of the speech, according to KSL 5 News. Salt Lake City School District is advising schools to have teachers notify parents if they plan on airing the address in class, and then allowing an opt-out. Some principals will be sending home notices if their schools plan to show the speech.
One Utah father told the Deseret News he will pull his four children out of school rather than allow them to watch the Obama broadcast.
constitution“We will go on a picnic and read the Constitution – learn something useful,” he said.
Wisconsin school districts have been hearing from concerned parents, according to the Associated Press. Palm Beach County, Fla., public schools may not run the broadcast. In Columbia, Mo., a district spokeswoman said kids won’t be seeing the speech at all.
Meanwhile, Atlas Shrugs‘ Pamela Gellar blasted the White House and the Department of Education for spelling errors in its “Indoctrination Day” announcement, noting that she will keep her children home from school on Sept. 8.
Geller took this screenshot of the announcement:
“Yes, your education tax dollars at work,” Geller wrote. “Math, geography, spelling, English – that’s for fascists! What’s important is junk science, global hoaxes, and the green-colored slave labor market. Live for the sake of ‘the man’ and like it.”
She continued, “Obama, stay away from my children. … My kids will not be in school on the 8th (and neither should yours).”
Objections to president’s speech
Several bloggers discussed their thoughts on the president’s address to schoolchildren on the Free Republic website. The following are some comments about the upcoming speech:
* I’m so mad right now, I think my head will explode.
* You don’t mess with people’s kids! There’s a line, and he’d better no cross it or he will cause a revolution in this country.
* This idea reeks of Bill Ayers.
* He is treading on very dangerous ground.
* Thank God we live in Alaska. That’s 8 a.m. up here, and most of the students are still eating breakfast. I’ll read the transcript later in case I want to experience nausea.
* Why does this have to be a live broadcast? Why must all schools halt at the appointed time to listen to our dear leader? It doesn’t accommodate children or the families very well.
* Isn’t it time for parents to organize a national campaign to pull their kids out of school on that day?
* Have you called your local school today to express your opinion about the Obama propaganda video and lesson plan? If not, now is a good time. Even if you do not have children in school, you pay taxes to support it and you have to live with the results of its teachings, so you have a stake in the outcome.
* I would keep my kid out for the whole day instead of just a couple of hours – the school districts receive an amount per student based on their daily attendance, so the thing to do is to hit them in the pocketbook, where it hurts.
* I will be keeping both of my children out the entire day. Our school district has said they will be airing the speech and also have other activities planned around it. Knowing what some of these school boards and administrators are like, those activities could be more damaging than an Obama speech.
* I assume brownshirts will be taking the names of those who opt out.
Several people referred to Sept. 8 as “National Keep Your Kids at Home Day.”
nm-tea-partyThe Nationwide Tea Party Coalition announced its “Hall Pass on That” website, with several suggested actions for parents who do not approve of their children participating in the presentation. The coalition offers the following suggestions:
* Contact the child’s school to find out whether it is participating in the program.
* If your child’s school is participating, ask what alternatives there are for the children of families who wish for their students to learn about the establishment of the country respective to the Founding Fathers’ intentions. Discussions may focus on the Constitution, the definition and actions of a republic and the responsibility of elected leaders to their constituents.
* Ask if the school can excuse your child from the presentation and instead receive a DVD of the address and copy of the activity directives to be evaluated by parents at a later date.
* Request a meeting with the school board, superintendent and principal to inquire as to why parents were excluded from the decision-making process of this event.
Pre- and post-speech lesson plans
The Education Department has been encouraging teachers to create lesson plans around the speech, using materials provided on the department website.
As WND reported, worksheets provided by the U.S. Department of Education encouraged teachers to ask pre-K through 6th-grade students the following questions:
* What is the president trying to tell me to do?
* What is the president asking me to do?
* What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?
Students may be asked to write down “key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful, make posters of their goals, create a “supportive community” by sharing those goals with one another.
Junior-high and high-school students may be asked to brainstorm answers to the following questions before the speech:
* Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?
* How will he inspire us?
* How will he challenge us?
* What might he say?
They are encouraged to take notes while Obama speaks about personal responsibility, goals or persistence. As part of a “guided discussion,” they may talk about what Obama has inspired or challenged them to do.
Fox News reported that the White House is now “rethinking” its course recommendations for students and rewriting its suggestions for student assignments on how to “help the president.”
schoolchild3Among the activities suggested for pre-K to 6th grade students were to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president” and discuss what “the president wants us to do.”
According to the report, the suggestion about writing letters has been changed to: “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.”
Lessons prompt concerns about ‘illegal activity’
The Texas Justice Foundation warned the proposed ‘”classroom activities’” for teachers as to how they should handle the president’s Sept. 8th speech to American schoolchildren, reveal that illegal activity may occur, if the recommendations are followed.”
“The questions, comments, evaluations and analysis that occurs before, during, and after the president’s speech will clearly ‘reveal information concerning political affiliations’ and probably, ‘critical appraisals of other individuals with whom the child(ren) has/have close family relationships’ (such as parents),” the foundation said in a press release. “This is perhaps one of the greatest invasions of personal privacy and injecting political affiliation into the public school system in the history of the United States.”
The group said the speech may violate protections provided in the Pupil Rights Amendment.
“It also violates 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 98.4[c] [1] and [2] that defines psychological testing as:
(1) Psychiatric or psychological examination or test means a method of obtaining information, including a group activity, that is not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs or feelings; (emphasis added)
(2) Psychiatric or psychological treatment means an activity involving the planned, systematic use of methods or techniques that are not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal characteristics of an individual or group. (emphasis added)
Texas Justice Foundation warned that the group activities suggested by the Department of Education “are not directly related to academic instruction and that are designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs, or feelings.”
“At this time of intense controversy over the president’s far-reaching plans to transform America, it is incredible that he would consider using children to advance his political agenda,” Justice Foundation President Allan Parker said. “It violates the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children, federal law and is perhaps the greatest intrusion of a president into the education process in the history of the United States. In the opinion of the Texas Justice Foundation lawyers, it is both morally and legally wrong.”
‘Public relations tactic gone too far’
Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom, objected to the Obama administration message to schoolchildren in a Cato Institute article titled, “Hey Obama, leave those kids alone.”
“It’s one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that’s a reasonable use of the bully pulpit,” McCluskey wrote. “It’s another thing obama-shadowentirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change. Frighteningly, this is what President Obama has done.”
McCluskey objected to Department of Education-suggested classroom activities for pre-K-6 students encouraging children to make posters setting out “community and country” goals.
“Perhaps even more frightening is the lesson schools are pushed to teach that it is important to listen to ‘the president and other elected officials,’” he wrote. “Possibly most distressing of all, though, is guidance that appears explicitly designed to glorify both the presidency and President Obama himself …”
He said the White House is trying to use its power over education to “indoctrinate children, something completely antithetical to a free society.”
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder condemned Obama’s speech as a “public relations tactic” that has gone too far.
“I believe that if parents choose to keep their children at home during this presentation, they should be able to do so without any consequences being imposed upon their children,” Kinder said. “And if local school districts across Missouri choose not to make this speech mandatory for students, they should not face any penalties for the state or federal government.”
Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said in a statement that he believes Obama’s speech may be a platform “to spread” his “socialist ideology.”
“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other president, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”
He continued, “While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American president and the value of community service, I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda. The address scheduled for Sept. 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the president’s agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our president’s initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Just got "The Note" from the school today...Hmmmmmmmm............Im leaning on just keeping them home....
worldnet-daily3Following widespread concern about President Obama’s nationally televised address to schoolchildren, many parents and schools are opting to forgo the Sept. 8 speech.
School officials have been asked to take a break from normal educational activities to allow students to view the speech from the president and participate in recommended brainstorming exercises following the broadcast. Obama will give the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. The speech is scheduled to broadcast live at 12 noon EST on C-SPAN and at whitehouse.gov.
But parents across the nation are complaining about the speech taking up valuable classroom instruction time and possibly “indoctrinating” young children.
According to a letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. …
“He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.”
Some schools allow parents to opt-out
Donald Phillips, superintendent of California’s Poway Unified School District, sent a letter to parents Wednesday announcing that the district “will not be encouraging” teachers to include the viewing of the president’s speech as a part of a supplemental classroom learning activity. If teachers choose to do so, they must inform parents by Friday and give them an opportunity to opt-out of the Tuesday broadcast.
“Who Killed the Constitution?” Here’s a dirty little secret: The bedrock of our country is … dead
kidsStudents who opt-out will be assigned alternate learning activities outside of the classroom during the speech and any follow-up discussions.
Additionally, the district is providing a link to a copy of the president’s speech so parents may decide whether they want to view it at home with their children.
“We believe the president’s address would be the most beneficial if you choose to view it together at home as a family,” the memo states. “We believe any discussion with your child or children around the importance of education and goal-setting could be both meaningful and appropriate.”
Officials with Texas’ Keller Independent School District said they will allow students to view the presidential address. However, a district notice states, “If parents do not want their student(s) to watch the broadcast, parents may dismiss their student(s) during that time and not be penalized.” Additionally, the children will not be required to use the United States Education Department materials for suggested brainstorming assignments after the speech. Many Texas school districts are asking parents to contact principals if they do not wish for their children to view the speech while several schools have opted not to show the broadcast.
Stephanie Klick, Tarrant County Republican Party chairwoman, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that many Texas families are speaking out against plans to air the broadcast in schools.
“We’re hearing from parents and grandparents that are not very happy. They really feel like it is political indoctrination,” Klick said. “People don’t like this. I have heard from some families that are planning to keep their kids home.”
The Houston Independent School District has directed principals to give parents advance notice if they are planning lessons around Obama’s speech. Parents may opt-out their children. According to a Houston Chronicle report, “Children pulled out of school for the day will cost districts about $35 per child, as state funding for schools is based on daily attendance.”
In Utah, school districts are taking precautions ahead of the speech, according to KSL 5 News. Salt Lake City School District is advising schools to have teachers notify parents if they plan on airing the address in class, and then allowing an opt-out. Some principals will be sending home notices if their schools plan to show the speech.
One Utah father told the Deseret News he will pull his four children out of school rather than allow them to watch the Obama broadcast.
constitution“We will go on a picnic and read the Constitution – learn something useful,” he said.
Wisconsin school districts have been hearing from concerned parents, according to the Associated Press. Palm Beach County, Fla., public schools may not run the broadcast. In Columbia, Mo., a district spokeswoman said kids won’t be seeing the speech at all.
Meanwhile, Atlas Shrugs‘ Pamela Gellar blasted the White House and the Department of Education for spelling errors in its “Indoctrination Day” announcement, noting that she will keep her children home from school on Sept. 8.
Geller took this screenshot of the announcement:
“Yes, your education tax dollars at work,” Geller wrote. “Math, geography, spelling, English – that’s for fascists! What’s important is junk science, global hoaxes, and the green-colored slave labor market. Live for the sake of ‘the man’ and like it.”
She continued, “Obama, stay away from my children. … My kids will not be in school on the 8th (and neither should yours).”
Objections to president’s speech
Several bloggers discussed their thoughts on the president’s address to schoolchildren on the Free Republic website. The following are some comments about the upcoming speech:
* I’m so mad right now, I think my head will explode.
* You don’t mess with people’s kids! There’s a line, and he’d better no cross it or he will cause a revolution in this country.
* This idea reeks of Bill Ayers.
* He is treading on very dangerous ground.
* Thank God we live in Alaska. That’s 8 a.m. up here, and most of the students are still eating breakfast. I’ll read the transcript later in case I want to experience nausea.
* Why does this have to be a live broadcast? Why must all schools halt at the appointed time to listen to our dear leader? It doesn’t accommodate children or the families very well.
* Isn’t it time for parents to organize a national campaign to pull their kids out of school on that day?
* Have you called your local school today to express your opinion about the Obama propaganda video and lesson plan? If not, now is a good time. Even if you do not have children in school, you pay taxes to support it and you have to live with the results of its teachings, so you have a stake in the outcome.
* I would keep my kid out for the whole day instead of just a couple of hours – the school districts receive an amount per student based on their daily attendance, so the thing to do is to hit them in the pocketbook, where it hurts.
* I will be keeping both of my children out the entire day. Our school district has said they will be airing the speech and also have other activities planned around it. Knowing what some of these school boards and administrators are like, those activities could be more damaging than an Obama speech.
* I assume brownshirts will be taking the names of those who opt out.
Several people referred to Sept. 8 as “National Keep Your Kids at Home Day.”
nm-tea-partyThe Nationwide Tea Party Coalition announced its “Hall Pass on That” website, with several suggested actions for parents who do not approve of their children participating in the presentation. The coalition offers the following suggestions:
* Contact the child’s school to find out whether it is participating in the program.
* If your child’s school is participating, ask what alternatives there are for the children of families who wish for their students to learn about the establishment of the country respective to the Founding Fathers’ intentions. Discussions may focus on the Constitution, the definition and actions of a republic and the responsibility of elected leaders to their constituents.
* Ask if the school can excuse your child from the presentation and instead receive a DVD of the address and copy of the activity directives to be evaluated by parents at a later date.
* Request a meeting with the school board, superintendent and principal to inquire as to why parents were excluded from the decision-making process of this event.
Pre- and post-speech lesson plans
The Education Department has been encouraging teachers to create lesson plans around the speech, using materials provided on the department website.
As WND reported, worksheets provided by the U.S. Department of Education encouraged teachers to ask pre-K through 6th-grade students the following questions:
* What is the president trying to tell me to do?
* What is the president asking me to do?
* What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?
Students may be asked to write down “key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful, make posters of their goals, create a “supportive community” by sharing those goals with one another.
Junior-high and high-school students may be asked to brainstorm answers to the following questions before the speech:
* Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?
* How will he inspire us?
* How will he challenge us?
* What might he say?
They are encouraged to take notes while Obama speaks about personal responsibility, goals or persistence. As part of a “guided discussion,” they may talk about what Obama has inspired or challenged them to do.
Fox News reported that the White House is now “rethinking” its course recommendations for students and rewriting its suggestions for student assignments on how to “help the president.”
schoolchild3Among the activities suggested for pre-K to 6th grade students were to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president” and discuss what “the president wants us to do.”
According to the report, the suggestion about writing letters has been changed to: “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.”
Lessons prompt concerns about ‘illegal activity’
The Texas Justice Foundation warned the proposed ‘”classroom activities’” for teachers as to how they should handle the president’s Sept. 8th speech to American schoolchildren, reveal that illegal activity may occur, if the recommendations are followed.”
“The questions, comments, evaluations and analysis that occurs before, during, and after the president’s speech will clearly ‘reveal information concerning political affiliations’ and probably, ‘critical appraisals of other individuals with whom the child(ren) has/have close family relationships’ (such as parents),” the foundation said in a press release. “This is perhaps one of the greatest invasions of personal privacy and injecting political affiliation into the public school system in the history of the United States.”
The group said the speech may violate protections provided in the Pupil Rights Amendment.
“It also violates 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 98.4[c] [1] and [2] that defines psychological testing as:
(1) Psychiatric or psychological examination or test means a method of obtaining information, including a group activity, that is not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs or feelings; (emphasis added)
(2) Psychiatric or psychological treatment means an activity involving the planned, systematic use of methods or techniques that are not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal characteristics of an individual or group. (emphasis added)
Texas Justice Foundation warned that the group activities suggested by the Department of Education “are not directly related to academic instruction and that are designed to elicit information about attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs, or feelings.”
“At this time of intense controversy over the president’s far-reaching plans to transform America, it is incredible that he would consider using children to advance his political agenda,” Justice Foundation President Allan Parker said. “It violates the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children, federal law and is perhaps the greatest intrusion of a president into the education process in the history of the United States. In the opinion of the Texas Justice Foundation lawyers, it is both morally and legally wrong.”
‘Public relations tactic gone too far’
Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom, objected to the Obama administration message to schoolchildren in a Cato Institute article titled, “Hey Obama, leave those kids alone.”
“It’s one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that’s a reasonable use of the bully pulpit,” McCluskey wrote. “It’s another thing obama-shadowentirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change. Frighteningly, this is what President Obama has done.”
McCluskey objected to Department of Education-suggested classroom activities for pre-K-6 students encouraging children to make posters setting out “community and country” goals.
“Perhaps even more frightening is the lesson schools are pushed to teach that it is important to listen to ‘the president and other elected officials,’” he wrote. “Possibly most distressing of all, though, is guidance that appears explicitly designed to glorify both the presidency and President Obama himself …”
He said the White House is trying to use its power over education to “indoctrinate children, something completely antithetical to a free society.”
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder condemned Obama’s speech as a “public relations tactic” that has gone too far.
“I believe that if parents choose to keep their children at home during this presentation, they should be able to do so without any consequences being imposed upon their children,” Kinder said. “And if local school districts across Missouri choose not to make this speech mandatory for students, they should not face any penalties for the state or federal government.”
Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said in a statement that he believes Obama’s speech may be a platform “to spread” his “socialist ideology.”
“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other president, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”
He continued, “While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American president and the value of community service, I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda. The address scheduled for Sept. 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the president’s agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our president’s initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Just got "The Note" from the school today...Hmmmmmmmm............Im leaning on just keeping them home....
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
First Week Back :)
Well Ive been doing just awful updating on here .....LOLOLOL
Monday was the first day back for the kiddoes.....Monkey Boy is sooo excited and teh first thing out of his mouth when he got there was "Oh there's ------!!!!!!" Gasping for air....ugh...LOLOL His little girlfriend...sigh.....LOLOLOL
Flamingo was so excited she can be with her best friend every day now-they have been having sleepovers abt every other week this summer-they have gotten to be very close-which is so nice-its always nice to have a best friend :)
Stinger ha been doing awesome. Today we started really hitting the reading-he isnt thrilled with that-but I did notice something today-he is a really fast silent reader!!!!! I thought he was tricking me because he got through his novel pages so fast-so I quizzed him-and sure enough he got every question right. So I guess its harder for him to read outloud.....and to comprehend what he is reading-he says when he does it in his mind he understands what he is reading...so I thought that was interesting-looks like we will be having to bump up those pages each day...LOLOL:)
He's got an IEP with K12 Washington online this year and will be getting accomidations for his testing-which will be really nice. Its alot of online meetings and telephone calls every week though-with his sped teacher, his reg teacher, and his speech teacher-but Im glad-as he needs the one on one speech help that he has been missing....His first online session is tom morning-so we shall see how that goes. He's got two group sessions online every week and one- one on one session every week...so its alot, but should be good for him....we shall see...
Its sure quiet in the mornings ard here though after the other two kids have gone. Stinger likes it...LOLOLOL
Ive got to start cleaning sometime....-my Mother in law is coming up the middle of Sept-that will be so nice to see her-the kids are so excited as they havent seen her in quite awhile as is Dh. Can't wait!!!:)
Monday was the first day back for the kiddoes.....Monkey Boy is sooo excited and teh first thing out of his mouth when he got there was "Oh there's ------!!!!!!" Gasping for air....ugh...LOLOL His little girlfriend...sigh.....LOLOLOL
Flamingo was so excited she can be with her best friend every day now-they have been having sleepovers abt every other week this summer-they have gotten to be very close-which is so nice-its always nice to have a best friend :)
Stinger ha been doing awesome. Today we started really hitting the reading-he isnt thrilled with that-but I did notice something today-he is a really fast silent reader!!!!! I thought he was tricking me because he got through his novel pages so fast-so I quizzed him-and sure enough he got every question right. So I guess its harder for him to read outloud.....and to comprehend what he is reading-he says when he does it in his mind he understands what he is reading...so I thought that was interesting-looks like we will be having to bump up those pages each day...LOLOL:)
He's got an IEP with K12 Washington online this year and will be getting accomidations for his testing-which will be really nice. Its alot of online meetings and telephone calls every week though-with his sped teacher, his reg teacher, and his speech teacher-but Im glad-as he needs the one on one speech help that he has been missing....His first online session is tom morning-so we shall see how that goes. He's got two group sessions online every week and one- one on one session every week...so its alot, but should be good for him....we shall see...
Its sure quiet in the mornings ard here though after the other two kids have gone. Stinger likes it...LOLOLOL
Ive got to start cleaning sometime....-my Mother in law is coming up the middle of Sept-that will be so nice to see her-the kids are so excited as they havent seen her in quite awhile as is Dh. Can't wait!!!:)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
WHOOT!!!! Just When I Was Getting Bummed....
Okay all you Twilight Fans-Here's something we can sink our teeth into!!LOLOLOL
The Vampire Diaries is a YA horror series of novels written by the NYT Bestselling author of the Night World series, L.J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991.However, pressure from readers led the author to write a fourth volume, Dark Reunion, released in 1992.[1]
After taking a hiatus from writing for several years, L.J. Smith announced in 2008 a new spin-off trilogy entitled The Vampire Diaries: The Return, continuing the series, with Damon being the main protagonist. The first installment, The Return: Nightfall, was released on February 10, 2009. The Return: Shadow Souls and The Return: Midnight are tentatively slated for release in April, 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The Vampire Diaries is currently being adapted into a TV series and is set to premiere on September 10, 2009 on The CW and CTV.[2][3]
WHOOT-eh???????
The Vampire Diaries is a YA horror series of novels written by the NYT Bestselling author of the Night World series, L.J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991.However, pressure from readers led the author to write a fourth volume, Dark Reunion, released in 1992.[1]
After taking a hiatus from writing for several years, L.J. Smith announced in 2008 a new spin-off trilogy entitled The Vampire Diaries: The Return, continuing the series, with Damon being the main protagonist. The first installment, The Return: Nightfall, was released on February 10, 2009. The Return: Shadow Souls and The Return: Midnight are tentatively slated for release in April, 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The Vampire Diaries is currently being adapted into a TV series and is set to premiere on September 10, 2009 on The CW and CTV.[2][3]
WHOOT-eh???????
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Ridding The World of Injustice :)
Well we had a Charlottes Web moment this week-LOLOL
We were outside watching the water birds migrate back to Willard Bay-which they seam to do every night. They fly right over our house.It is soooo breathtaking-they are soo close you can actually hear their wings flapping in the air above you.....
Anyway-me and the kids were out on the front porch watching and enjoying the quite and lovelyness of the birds and as we are watching them fly-over in the distance we hear "BOOM-boom, boom, boom-Boom" We look off into the distance and we see birds slowly falling from the sky. It was heartbreaking.:(
Seams the neighbor kids down the street were having a shooting spree at these poor birds expense. These kids just walk out into the middle of their field, crouch down and just wait for flocks to fly overhead. Flamingo was in tears as we both just looked, helpless as we just sat there watching.
This happend every night for 2 days before we had had enough. So we call the Wildlife people and they sent out an officer the next night-and what do ya know-he sat across the street just watching and sure enough-like clockwork the shots went off and away he went in his pickup truck off into the field.
We found out when we talked to him that it is illegal to shoot anything ard here except for swallows and sparrows. So those kids got into a heap of trouble. PLus there is a bird refuge a couple town down the freeway-so its just plain rediculous to be shooting these poor things..Just wrong-kwim?
But the good news is is that we havent heard any BOOMs as of late-WHOOT!!!! Justice served. :) You should have heard Flamingo holler when she found out the wildlife people had gotten the bad guys...she takes after her mother when it comes to animals :)LOLOLOL-Is that a good thing???LOLOLOL;)
Hey-we are getting a new Lab puppy tom!!!WhOOT!!! He's a yellow lab-sooo cute!!!!WE've already picked out a name " Cooter" and Ive got the pantry all set up for him :)Ill post pics as soon as I can:)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Hustling Here and There....and Everywhere
Well we have officially got 2 1/2 weeks until school gets going ard here again.
Ive got pairs of new jeans for all the kiddoes, all the school supplies have been stocked up and Ive just got a couple of shirts I need to buy and then we are all set. New back packs are packed and first week lessons are planned(except for Science-yes k12 is being a royal pain in geting this order right-LOLOL)
But Im just chomping at the bit to start again with Stinger. I LOVE teaching him-its hard sometimes when things dont click like I think they should, but there is never anything we cant handle. Im excited, but K12 has a real extensive Language Arts program-which I think we were lacking last year and Im unsure how Stinger will react to all this reading and writing....looks like it will take us well into the afternoon. But we will be learning cursive and that should be fun-LOLOL He is supposed to finish 4 novels this year too-which will be a challenge-but we will make it :)Alot of independant reading-which he has never experianced with me before-so alot of new things to expect from him-but with K12 and such a dillagent schedule we should do OK *knocking*-Ill keep ya posted-LOLOL
This weekend was Dads side Family Reunion. It was SOOO much fun!!!!!! The kids had a BLAST-came home with a BUNCH of candy-LOLOL and giggles to boot! LOLOL It was so much fun seeing Mom and Dad,my sis, and all my cousins :)They have the cutest kids and sheesh-they are growing up...LOLOLOL
Dads side of the family was in charge of the games this year-I did a water balloon toss-which turned out way fun-my bro in law got a LITTLE wet-it was sooooo funny!!!They also had a bouncy house, a cake walk, a pinata, and a bunch of other games. We also had a talent show which was wayyy cute!!!!Loads of nummy nummy food :)and a raffle with prizes-Stinger and Flamingo won a rubics cube-they thought that was really neat. Stinger wont touch his-he wants to keep it perfect!LOLOLOLOL Flamingos of course is all messed up-LOLOLOL Monkey Boy was quiet upset that he hadnt won anything-until he spied Papa and Nanas B-day bag for him-LOLOLOL Then he was alll smiles-especially since they had gotten him the transformer he had been dying to get-LOLOLOL. So the reunion was a BIG success-way to go Dad and Mom!!!! We all had soo much fun!!!
This week is Vacation Bible School. The teachers are the ones from S Carolina again-so its been alot of fun. The Theme is "Its a Jungle Out There" So they have been discussing animals all week. Tonight they talked all abt snakes-relating to the serpent and Adam and Eve. They even brought some live ones, a salamander and two turtles that all the kids got to touch-I said "No Thank You!!!!So Its been fun.
Something sooo amazing happend tonight though. Usually at the end we bow our heads and they make sure no one is peaking and they ask everyone to ask themselves if they trust in the Lord, If they have asked Jesus into their heart and if they would make the choice to allow Jesus to lead their lives etc. They ask for a show of hands-again everyone is closing their eyes etc. They ask if anyone would like them to pray for them too-again all with head bowed and eyes closed. Guess whos hand slowly came up???????????STINGERS!!!!!!!!!!I couldnt believe it!!!!! WOW!!! This was soooo big for him to do-took soo much courage for anyone, but especially him-kwim? -if you know Stinger you KNOW what a BIG step this was!!!! .....My heart just beamed inside. I was bursting with joy!!!! That my little guy understood what all this is meaning and has chosen to let the Lord lead his life!!!!Oh Im a proud Momma -so overjoyed my son was moved to express this by his uplifted hand. Choosing the Lord-AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!Im just speechless..dont know how to express it in words....So that was a BIG thing tonight!!!!!WHOOT!!!!!!I cant wait to tell Dh tonight abt this.Exciting-eh?!!!!! :)
This week is Monkey Boys B-day. We will be celebrating it prob on Saturday. He cant wait-obviously-LOLOL Every day he asks me "How many more days Mom!!!!???"
Oh and dh got a new video camera-its a samsung something or another...its really cool its a DVD one-you know those small DVDs-really tiny-just right for me to misplace-LOLOL;)but its a dig. camera too-so maybe we will have videos to look at really soon that I can download-that will be cool-eh?Something else to confuse myself with-LOLOL
Sleepover here tom with Flamingo and a GF-whoot! LOLOLOL So she will be cleaning her room tom;)LOLOLOL-with my help Im sure......She's excited that she can bring her to VBS tom night-should be fun :)
Ive got pairs of new jeans for all the kiddoes, all the school supplies have been stocked up and Ive just got a couple of shirts I need to buy and then we are all set. New back packs are packed and first week lessons are planned(except for Science-yes k12 is being a royal pain in geting this order right-LOLOL)
But Im just chomping at the bit to start again with Stinger. I LOVE teaching him-its hard sometimes when things dont click like I think they should, but there is never anything we cant handle. Im excited, but K12 has a real extensive Language Arts program-which I think we were lacking last year and Im unsure how Stinger will react to all this reading and writing....looks like it will take us well into the afternoon. But we will be learning cursive and that should be fun-LOLOL He is supposed to finish 4 novels this year too-which will be a challenge-but we will make it :)Alot of independant reading-which he has never experianced with me before-so alot of new things to expect from him-but with K12 and such a dillagent schedule we should do OK *knocking*-Ill keep ya posted-LOLOL
This weekend was Dads side Family Reunion. It was SOOO much fun!!!!!! The kids had a BLAST-came home with a BUNCH of candy-LOLOL and giggles to boot! LOLOL It was so much fun seeing Mom and Dad,my sis, and all my cousins :)They have the cutest kids and sheesh-they are growing up...LOLOLOL
Dads side of the family was in charge of the games this year-I did a water balloon toss-which turned out way fun-my bro in law got a LITTLE wet-it was sooooo funny!!!They also had a bouncy house, a cake walk, a pinata, and a bunch of other games. We also had a talent show which was wayyy cute!!!!Loads of nummy nummy food :)and a raffle with prizes-Stinger and Flamingo won a rubics cube-they thought that was really neat. Stinger wont touch his-he wants to keep it perfect!LOLOLOLOL Flamingos of course is all messed up-LOLOLOL Monkey Boy was quiet upset that he hadnt won anything-until he spied Papa and Nanas B-day bag for him-LOLOLOL Then he was alll smiles-especially since they had gotten him the transformer he had been dying to get-LOLOLOL. So the reunion was a BIG success-way to go Dad and Mom!!!! We all had soo much fun!!!
This week is Vacation Bible School. The teachers are the ones from S Carolina again-so its been alot of fun. The Theme is "Its a Jungle Out There" So they have been discussing animals all week. Tonight they talked all abt snakes-relating to the serpent and Adam and Eve. They even brought some live ones, a salamander and two turtles that all the kids got to touch-I said "No Thank You!!!!So Its been fun.
Something sooo amazing happend tonight though. Usually at the end we bow our heads and they make sure no one is peaking and they ask everyone to ask themselves if they trust in the Lord, If they have asked Jesus into their heart and if they would make the choice to allow Jesus to lead their lives etc. They ask for a show of hands-again everyone is closing their eyes etc. They ask if anyone would like them to pray for them too-again all with head bowed and eyes closed. Guess whos hand slowly came up???????????STINGERS!!!!!!!!!!I couldnt believe it!!!!! WOW!!! This was soooo big for him to do-took soo much courage for anyone, but especially him-kwim? -if you know Stinger you KNOW what a BIG step this was!!!! .....My heart just beamed inside. I was bursting with joy!!!! That my little guy understood what all this is meaning and has chosen to let the Lord lead his life!!!!Oh Im a proud Momma -so overjoyed my son was moved to express this by his uplifted hand. Choosing the Lord-AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!Im just speechless..dont know how to express it in words....So that was a BIG thing tonight!!!!!WHOOT!!!!!!I cant wait to tell Dh tonight abt this.Exciting-eh?!!!!! :)
This week is Monkey Boys B-day. We will be celebrating it prob on Saturday. He cant wait-obviously-LOLOL Every day he asks me "How many more days Mom!!!!???"
Oh and dh got a new video camera-its a samsung something or another...its really cool its a DVD one-you know those small DVDs-really tiny-just right for me to misplace-LOLOL;)but its a dig. camera too-so maybe we will have videos to look at really soon that I can download-that will be cool-eh?Something else to confuse myself with-LOLOL
Sleepover here tom with Flamingo and a GF-whoot! LOLOLOL So she will be cleaning her room tom;)LOLOLOL-with my help Im sure......She's excited that she can bring her to VBS tom night-should be fun :)
Thursday, August 06, 2009
The Weepies-Adam Soundrack
Cant Go Back
Yesterday when you were young
everything you needed done
was done for you.
Now you do it on your own
but you find you're all alone
what can you do?
You and me
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now.
I know there will be days when you are so tired
you cant take another step
The night will have no stars
and you will think you've gone as far as you will ever get.
But you and me will
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now.
and yeah.... yeah...
go where you wanna go.
and yeah..yeah...
be what you want to be.
If you ever turn ard
you'll see me
I cant really say why everyone wishes
they were somewhere else
But in the end the only steps that matter
are the ones you take all by yourself
and you and me
walk on walk on walk on
yeah you and me
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEAUTIFUL :)
Yesterday when you were young
everything you needed done
was done for you.
Now you do it on your own
but you find you're all alone
what can you do?
You and me
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now.
I know there will be days when you are so tired
you cant take another step
The night will have no stars
and you will think you've gone as far as you will ever get.
But you and me will
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now.
and yeah.... yeah...
go where you wanna go.
and yeah..yeah...
be what you want to be.
If you ever turn ard
you'll see me
I cant really say why everyone wishes
they were somewhere else
But in the end the only steps that matter
are the ones you take all by yourself
and you and me
walk on walk on walk on
yeah you and me
walk on walk on walk on
cause you cant go back now
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEAUTIFUL :)
ADAM- A MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!!
This show looks SOOO good!!!!!!!!My eyes teared up just watching the trailer...LOLOLOL
Its an Aspie love story-doesnt get much better than that- eh?:)
Im just dying here wanting to see this......!!!
Its an Aspie love story-doesnt get much better than that- eh?:)
Im just dying here wanting to see this......!!!
Monday, August 03, 2009
CEDAW and Homeschooling Families
This is interesting-was posted on the HSLDA websight(Rights and legal on Homeschooling)
At first I was thinking it was a good law-equal rights for women and all of that....but if you keep reading it goes much....further-discrediting the family, gender roles etc.....sigh......
Keep our lawmakers in your prayers......
CEDAW and Homeschooling Families
July 16, 2009
William A. Estrada, Esq.
Director of Federal Relations
Introduction
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been at the forefront of HSLDA’s lobbying efforts recently, but there is another UN convention that may also be sent to the United States Senate for ratification, and would also threaten home educating families: the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).1
CEDAW calls for sweeping changes in law and policy to eliminate “all forms” of discrimination against women. It was drafted around the time that the Equal Rights Amendment movement was at its zenith. If ratified (requiring two-thirds of the Senate or 67 senators to approve it), CEDAW would become the supreme law of the land under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI, thus trumping state laws and being used as binding precedent by state and federal judges.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, CEDAW was signed by President Carter’s administration in 1980. Now that the women’s treaty has a favorable majority in the U.S. Senate and supporters in the Obama administration, proponents of CEDAW are pushing to have it ratified.
Why is CEDAW Dangerous to Homeschooling Families?
The greatest danger posed by CEDAW is its requirement that curricula be revised to ensure that there is no differentiation made on the basis of gender. CEDAW’s Article 10 gives the government the power to make these revisions: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women … and in particular to ensure … the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods.” Under the guise of eliminating bias against women, CEDAW attempts to eliminate any differentiation between the sexes.
CEDAW prohibits making distinctions between the roles of mother and father, and teaching a traditional understanding of the family. Children are to be taught that they can get along just as well with two mothers or two fathers, and any attempt to show otherwise could be considered discrimination against women.
If CEDAW is ratified, Congress will not only acquire the duty to implement the treaty, but it will also acquire the jurisdiction necessary to pass legislation to comply. Such necessarily far-reaching legislation will impact the education of all children, including those who attend homeschools and private Christian schools.
Another danger posed by CEDAW, just like the CRC, is that a committee of “experts” on gender issues from 23 foreign nations has the power to supervise all nations that ratify CEDAW, to ensure that they are taking steps to enforce the convention’s requirements. This strikes at the heart of our system of representative government, where elected officials represent us in state legislatures and in Washington, D.C. No one on this committee has ever been elected by a U.S. voter, yet the committee would make rulings that could affect the lives of all U.S. residents.
Possibly most shocking of all, under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW passed by the UN General Assembly in 1999, individuals or groups who disagree with how the treaty is enforced by Congress and the U.S. judicial system can take claims alleging violations of CEDAW directly to the CEDAW Committee. The CEDAW Committee has an “inquiry procedure” whereby it can directly investigate possible CEDAW violations.
Conclusion
It is possible that CEDAW will be sent to the U.S. Senate for a ratification vote this year, even before the CRC. Regardless of which treaty is sent first, it is imperative that homeschoolers and other freedom-loving Americans work together to defeat both.
We will continue to monitor this treaty, as well as the CRC, and provide updates.
Endnotes
1. All references are from the text of CEDAW, located on the United Nations website at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm
At first I was thinking it was a good law-equal rights for women and all of that....but if you keep reading it goes much....further-discrediting the family, gender roles etc.....sigh......
Keep our lawmakers in your prayers......
CEDAW and Homeschooling Families
July 16, 2009
William A. Estrada, Esq.
Director of Federal Relations
Introduction
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been at the forefront of HSLDA’s lobbying efforts recently, but there is another UN convention that may also be sent to the United States Senate for ratification, and would also threaten home educating families: the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).1
CEDAW calls for sweeping changes in law and policy to eliminate “all forms” of discrimination against women. It was drafted around the time that the Equal Rights Amendment movement was at its zenith. If ratified (requiring two-thirds of the Senate or 67 senators to approve it), CEDAW would become the supreme law of the land under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI, thus trumping state laws and being used as binding precedent by state and federal judges.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, CEDAW was signed by President Carter’s administration in 1980. Now that the women’s treaty has a favorable majority in the U.S. Senate and supporters in the Obama administration, proponents of CEDAW are pushing to have it ratified.
Why is CEDAW Dangerous to Homeschooling Families?
The greatest danger posed by CEDAW is its requirement that curricula be revised to ensure that there is no differentiation made on the basis of gender. CEDAW’s Article 10 gives the government the power to make these revisions: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women … and in particular to ensure … the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods.” Under the guise of eliminating bias against women, CEDAW attempts to eliminate any differentiation between the sexes.
CEDAW prohibits making distinctions between the roles of mother and father, and teaching a traditional understanding of the family. Children are to be taught that they can get along just as well with two mothers or two fathers, and any attempt to show otherwise could be considered discrimination against women.
If CEDAW is ratified, Congress will not only acquire the duty to implement the treaty, but it will also acquire the jurisdiction necessary to pass legislation to comply. Such necessarily far-reaching legislation will impact the education of all children, including those who attend homeschools and private Christian schools.
Another danger posed by CEDAW, just like the CRC, is that a committee of “experts” on gender issues from 23 foreign nations has the power to supervise all nations that ratify CEDAW, to ensure that they are taking steps to enforce the convention’s requirements. This strikes at the heart of our system of representative government, where elected officials represent us in state legislatures and in Washington, D.C. No one on this committee has ever been elected by a U.S. voter, yet the committee would make rulings that could affect the lives of all U.S. residents.
Possibly most shocking of all, under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW passed by the UN General Assembly in 1999, individuals or groups who disagree with how the treaty is enforced by Congress and the U.S. judicial system can take claims alleging violations of CEDAW directly to the CEDAW Committee. The CEDAW Committee has an “inquiry procedure” whereby it can directly investigate possible CEDAW violations.
Conclusion
It is possible that CEDAW will be sent to the U.S. Senate for a ratification vote this year, even before the CRC. Regardless of which treaty is sent first, it is imperative that homeschoolers and other freedom-loving Americans work together to defeat both.
We will continue to monitor this treaty, as well as the CRC, and provide updates.
Endnotes
1. All references are from the text of CEDAW, located on the United Nations website at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm
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