For The Children

California: Treatment and fraud

"CNN has a pretty powerful investigative series on California’s dysfunctional treatment system. Over $185 million per year of state and federal money goes into California’s drug rehab counseling program, much of it lining the pockets of unscrupulous clinics who pay people $5 to sign in (or simply invent clients). While each state has a different system, the fraud and abuse in treatment is a national problem as the treatment industry has become a hugely lucrative business, with lots of taxpayer money to tap and tons of 'addicts' who are required to go through treatment because of their involvement in the criminal justice system." Continue reading →

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Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine: This Is Why a Shingles Epidemic is Bolting Straight at the U.S.

"Shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults. So as chickenpox rates have declined, shingles rates have begun to rise, and there is mounting evidence that an epidemic of shingles is developing in America from the mass, mandatory use of the chickenpox vaccine by all children." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine: This Is Why a Shingles Epidemic is Bolting Straight at the U.S.

Energy drink makers tell Senate panel they’re being ‘victimized’

"Energy drinks are a small but growing segment in the non-alcoholic beverage industry in the United States, but health experts have expressed concern that their caffeine content poses risks in youngsters as heart arrhythmia and higher blood pressure. Last month, the American Medical Association called for a ban on the marketing of energy drinks to children and teenagers, said Senator Jay Rockefeller at the start of the hearing. He stated that in the first six months of this year, poison control centers in the United States received about 1,500 reports involving energy drinks, 'more than half of which involved children under the age of 18.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEnergy drink makers tell Senate panel they’re being ‘victimized’

Disturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing

"The initial events took place in 2011, when Monica Contreras was led from the court into a waiting room for a supposed, though unexplained, drug search. She then says a court marshal named Ron Fox touched her and ordered her to lift up her shirt. When she fled back into the courtroom and complained to the hearing master, asking at least for a female marshal, Fox had her arrested for 'making false accusations against a police officer.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing

John Whitehead: Turning public schools into forts

"As surveillance cameras, metal detectors, police patrols, zero-tolerance policies, lockdowns, drug-sniffing dogs and strip searches become the norm in elementary, middle and high schools across the nation, America is on a fast track to raising up an Orwellian generation — one populated by compliant citizens accustomed to living in a police state and who march in lockstep to the dictates of the government. With every school police raid and overzealous punishment that is carried out in the name of school safety, the lesson being imparted is that Americans — especially young people — have no rights at all against the state or the police." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Whitehead: Turning public schools into forts

Teenaged entrepreneur denounces business-limiting French laws in Quebec

"17-year-old graphic designer Xavier Menard tried to register his company but was told by the Quebec business registry that he couldn't because the company's name--Wellarc--is too English. 'My first reaction was: you must be kidding,' Menard said. The bureaucrats were serious, so the mild-mannered teenager took his anger to YouTube. In a short video Menard attacks Pauline Marois's government, not for its desire to protect the French language, but for its 'idiotic' methods. In his video Menard points out Quebec's 7.5 percent unemployment rate, which is higher than the national average, and says it is even worse for youth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTeenaged entrepreneur denounces business-limiting French laws in Quebec

SWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Stood Him Naked Next to Sister, Terrorized Family

"Although the team purportedly sought to arrest William for quarreling with a drunk, off-duty police officer at a local veterans club early that morning, the family says that their 'terrorization' continued for another 45 minutes after William was apprehended. The officers threw to the floor, kicked and handcuffed Georgeia, her stepfather and her adult son Billy. They also injured Mark's shoulder and forced Billy to lie face down in broken glass, according to the complaint. When Georgeia pleaded repeatedly that she had young children in the house, at least one officer allegedly stated, 'You think you can get one of ours, and we won't get one of yours?'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Stood Him Naked Next to Sister, Terrorized Family

America’s best educated kids don’t go to school

"Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, compared home schoolers and public school students on the results of three standardized tests for the 2007-2008 academic year. With public school students at the 50th percentile, home schoolers were at the 89th percentile in reading, the 86th percentile in science, the 84th percentile in language, math, and social studies. Socio-economic factors may have a lot to do with why home schoolers do so much better. Virtually all have a mother and a father who are living together. Nearly two thirds of fathers and 62 percent of mothers have a bachelor’s degree or higher." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s best educated kids don’t go to school

Wisconsin town to charge parents $114 fine if child accused of bullying

"Parents in Madison, Wisconsin suburb of Monona will soon face fines if their kids are the subject of repeat complaints about schoolyard bullying. The local ordinance, passed by Monona officials on May 20, provides for a $114 fine within 90 days after a written notice about their child’s behavior. The fine increases to $177 for each repeat instance within one year of the first violation. Officials told the paper that the ordinance was not taken up in response to any specific problem children. The ordinance appears to be the first of its kind anywhere in the nation. It also covers cyber bullying through social media and text messaging." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWisconsin town to charge parents $114 fine if child accused of bullying

There was a time when kids were taught to respect firearms, not fear them

"Kids today are reprimanded for carving out a gun-shaped pastry or wearing a tee-shirt from the National Rifle Association. But America hasn’t always been so gun-phobic. Check out these pictures of firearm safety, taught in Indiana schools in 1956. By banning gun-shaped Pop-Tarts, are we teaching children to respect a gun’s power or are we only feeding their natural curiosity — curiosity that, without proper education, could be deadly?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThere was a time when kids were taught to respect firearms, not fear them