tagged w/ nanny state
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In yet another Smartphone-related push to increase the intensity of the global police state, a “new” company, CrimePush, has released a smartphone app that will allow individuals greater ability to report “crimes” in real time.
The CrimePush app, which is now available on iTunes, is being touted as “the latest in mobile technology to provide urban populations with fast, discrete, and intelligent safety assistance.” This follows on the heels of similar Big Brother apps such as PatriotApp, which merged phones with American security and law enforcement agencies via the Internet, allowing for one-touch reporting of suspicious activities that could be perceived as threats to the Homeland.
Essentially, after the free app is downloaded, one need only access the app in order to record and report a crime to police. As Anushay Hossein of Forbes describes, “A package of information including the location of the crime, photo, video, audio, and text description of the crime are sent to authorities immediately. The application also allows for users to report crime anonymously so that they may continue with their busy lives knowing that with a push of a button, police will know and have everything to pursue the criminal.”
CrimePush co-founder, Eman Pahlevani, explains the alleged importance of the app a bit further by saying:
There are often situations when calling the police is not an option. There are other times when inconvenience or fear of reprisal prevents one from reporting an incident. Featuring the ability to take a photo, record video and audio, and provide a description of the incident, citizens can now be assured that their phone has the capability to alert family, friends, and the authorities at the push of a button, should a threat arise.
Pahlevani continues,
Often people are witnesses to crimes, such as sexual assault and robbery, but do not take the time or effort to call the police. There are other times when personal security is at stake and there is no discreet method of alert.”
While it is likely that CrimePush will receive glowing endorsements from the corporate media, law enforcement, and various trend-oriented communities (particularly those in large cities), one must pause for a moment to examine both the effectiveness of the technology, as well as its true purpose.
For instance, one must wonder if this app is any more effective at reporting true crimes (meaning violent crimes such as robbery, sexual assault, physical violence, etc.) than the technology already available. Anyone with a smartphone already has the capability to take video and audio recordings and depict incidents in text format. The only thing CrimePush does is allow that information to be sent to police faster.
However, consider for a second what this would involve. If one were to witness a sexual assault taking place, would one then whip out their smartphone and begin taking video/audio of the incident in order to send that information to police if one was afraid of being attacked themselves? Wouldn’t the act of videotaping and recording a crime thus make the individual doing the recording a likely target as well?
Not only that, but it is highly unlikely that an individual who is prone to simply ignore a violent crime taking place due to the inconvenience of the situation, will now reverse the content of their character, stick around and record the crime (which they could have done before), and then send that information on to police. Indeed, the lack of concern that the average person has for the well-being of their fellow citizen cannot be changed by virtue of a ridiculous smartphone app.
But, one might ask, what about situations in which one’s own safety is an issue?
Likewise, the idea that this new app would be useful in any practical fashion where one is in danger is comical to say the least.
Imagine for a second that you are being held up by your average run of the mill street thug. He has a gun (or knife, your choice) and is demanding your money, your car, or that you come with him. Immediately, you spring into action by whipping out your Smartphone and accessing your CrimePush app. Of course, this is presuming he hasn’t already taken your phone and that he won’t do so once you produce it.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s say you still have your phone, which you now have to begin typing on or using some other method to send your crime report to the police. You now notice the look of surprise and anger on the criminal’s face at the fact that you are using your phone during the course of being assaulted (or robbed, again your choice) so, in order to diffuse the situation and assuage his concern, you cleverly respond by saying, “It’s cool. I’m just sending a text. I’m totally not calling the police.” The police then arrive shortly thereafter and save the day. The puzzled criminal is then lead away in handcuffs wondering what could have possibly gone wrong.
Somehow, I’m just not buying that CrimePush will work this way.
However, the area in which CrimePush may be effective is in that of non-violent crimes, drug crimes, “suspicious activity,” political protest, and “subversive speech” etc. – all areas where police and other government agencies have been quite adept at pursuing, prosecuting, and convicting for many years without the aid of smartphone apps.
But while sexual assault, robbery, and murder will not likely be prevented or even successfully prosecuted by technologies such as CrimePush, crimes like drug use obviously will. Ironically, those individuals committing “crimes” which are non-violent and victimless in nature provide much less of a perceived threat in the minds of those witnessing the “crime.” It is for this reason that they are more likely to be taped and reported than an individual who is committing a real act of violence.
But, as we all know, reports to police will not be limited to criminals, violent or not. Individuals carrying weapons for self-defense are at a special risk for becoming targets of apps like CrimePush. After all, city dwellers in many areas have been trained to be generally terrified of weapons . . . at least when they are not attached to police in black stormtrooper uniforms.
Indeed, in a period where virtually every behavior can now be considered a crime, Constitutionally protected rights like free speech may even be reported to “authorities,” as apps like CrimePush become more popular amid a climate of programmed paranoia and a "See Something, Say Something" culture.
“Racist” speech or “homophobic” speech may be classified as “bullying,” the new trendy term used by a society which has been trained to be terrified of standing up for itself. Likewise for “threatening” speech which can simply be considered threatening because of the tone of voice.
Given the unbelievable levels of brainwashing experienced by Americans every day, it is highly possible that situations could occur where innocent people are reported to police simply for having a point of view that is considered outside the mainstream. A passerby, for instance, may hear a father lecturing another parent as to why their child should not be vaccinated, and why he does not vaccinate his own child. Given the right passerby, the right cop, or the right social worker, one could easily see how the ever-expanding powers of the State could then be called in via agencies like CPS to remove the child from the home.
(more @ link)
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/02/push-toward-snitch-culture-new-app.htmlIn yet another Smartphone-related push to increase the intensity of the global police... more
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) apparent war on Amish raw dairy farmers increased on December 6 when they filed a “motion for summary judgment,” with Pennsylvania judge Lawrence Stengler asking for a permanent injunction against dairy farmer Dan Allgyer to forbid him from selling fresh milk out of state. FDA regulation 21 CFR §1240.61 criminalizes any selling of milk intended to cross state lines.
After a two year expensive, exhaustive undercover operation, including multiple armed raids on Allgyer’s farm, FDA agents and a team of ten federal lawyers amassed over two hundred and seventy-six pages of evidence allegedly proving what Allgyer openly admits, that he is selling fresh (raw, unpasteurized) milk to customers who knowingly carry the milk across state lines.
Thousands of Maryland customers who have been buying from Allgyer for years were the main focus for evidence during the investigation. In spite of the FDA raids and injunction filing, Allgyer has continued to support his customers’ needs for fresh milk and other farm foods, citing his God-given inalienable rights.
Like most Amish, Allgyer is reluctant to participant in the legal system, but he has chosen to respond and his response claims that the FDA action “has created a serious dilemma” by “violating [his] due process and equal protection under the law” and he “is prepared to proceed with a public court forum, if necessary.”
Should Stengler sign the motion, the injunction would not ban Allgyer from selling in Pennsylvania, but the Maryland families he supplies would lose their food source, he would lose his out-of-state business and would be subjected to strenuous regulation and unannounced, unlimited, unwarranted inspections at his expense, including costs of travel, food, lodging and per diems for inspectors. A single inspection could cost up to $10,000.
Allyger’s response argues that the FDA’s action, though classified as a civil action, is in reality “a quasi-criminal action…because of the severe sanctions and consequences that could occur as a result of the FDA investigation and the inspection” and as such “requires prior notice of the offense, probable cause and official complaint, which is totally lacking in this case.”
Organizers of the DC area-buying club Grassfed on the Hill, supplied by Allgyer, helped form the Raw Milk Freedom Riders in support of Allgyer and other farmers like him.
“The freedom riders are a group of consumers challenging the FDA’s regulation by engaging in deliberate civil disobedience. They demand the FDA cease prosecuting farmers and consumers for transporting raw milk across state lines,” says the group’s founder, Karine Bouis-Towe.
“The riders have staged two ‘freedom rides,’ on November 1 they took raw milk from Pennsylvania to FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, then on December 8 they transported raw milk from Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois both times distributing the milk. The FDA declined to prosecute in both cases.”
The action against Allgyer is the latest in a string of FDA persecutions of Amish dairy farmers in recent years.
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/12/fda-escalates-war-against-amish-dairy.htmlThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) apparent war on Amish raw dairy... more
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Back in July, the Los Angeles Times reported on the issue of placing obese children in foster care after a doctor at Boston’s Children’s Hospital suggested that might be the best place for them. The paper predicted that this possibility is “not going to happen soon.”
How quickly things change after an Ohio third grader, who weighs more than 200 pounds, was taken from his family last month and placed into foster care because county social workers said his mother wasn’t doing enough to control his weight.
The 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy is considered ”severely obese and at risk for developing such diseases as diabetes and hypertension,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. So, in the land of obesity, case workers in Cuyahoga County, Ohio have drawn a line in the cellulose.
Cuyahoga County doesn’t have a specific policy in place for dealing with severely obese children. But Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services, told the Plain Dealer the organization removed the child in question because case workers considered the mother’s inability to get her son’s weight down a form of medical neglect.
“This child’s problem was so severe that we had to take custody,” Madigan told the newspaper.
She claims her agency worked with the mother for more than a year before asking Juvenile Court for custody of the child. It’s a very slippery slope, however, given that the Ohio Health Department estimates more than 12 percent of third-graders statewide are severely obese (1,380 in Cuyahoga County alone) and this is the first reported child taken into custody.
Children are generally only removed from homes where there is strong evidence of physical abuse, neglect or undernourishment. According to CBS News, lawyers for the mother are now arguing the state has “overreached.” They say the medical problems the boy is at risk for do not yet pose an imminent danger to his health.
The lawyers said they’ve seen children left in homes with abusive parents and drug addicts, but this boy had a normal childhood, participated in school active, and was on his elementary school honor roll.
“They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don’t love my child,” the boy’s mother, who did not wish to be identified, told the Plain Dealer. “Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle change, and they are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying.”
The boy has lost a few pounds and has received treatment for his sleep apnea. The downside is he’s living in a foster home and is now subject to the whims of the foster care system. His mother only gets to see him once a week for two hours.
Next month, the mother and the state of Ohio will debate the case in front of a Juvenile Court magistrate to decide what is in the boy’s best interest. A trial is set on the child’s 9th birthday.
From the sounds of it, the mother is doing what she can to get her son the weight control treatment he needs and, you have to wonder why the state would remove the boy from the home instead of actively helping him to lose weight, especially if he’s in a stable, loving environment — albeit one that is prone to give him the diabeetus.
It should be pointed out that the photo of the kid in this article is not the kid in question, but rather the first result when you image search “fat kid.” The more you know. http://hypervocal.com/news/2011/supernanny-state-200-pound-ohio-boy-taken-from-family-placed-into-foster-care/Back in July, the Los Angeles Times reported on the issue of placing obese children in... more
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|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
They invested in what was to be the first Tea Party HD TV network. Only the guy in charge of the con didn't kick in his share. He did pay himself and his family members some high salaries from the investors' money.
Now they want that law suit thing and some regulation to protect them from having their $$ sucked up into the 'job creator's' pockets.
A poster at daily kos, David Waldman, had a delicious take on the poetry of this situation:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/11/1035426/-Tea-Party-suckers-find-out-trickle-down-economics-is-a-scam;-file-lawsuit
excerpt:
Isn't that amazing? When they're taking money from others and putting it in their own pockets, wealthy teabaggers are patriots! When money gets taken from them and put in even wealthier pockets, they're plaintiffs! Help! Police! Courts! Do something! This kind of shit needs to be... regulated! We need the "nanny state" to step in and make things right! Because we didn't get to steal the money this time!|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
They invested in what was to be the first Tea Party HD... more
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Who needs overbearing parents, the nuns at catholic school or the morality police from the right wing nut-job patrol these days? We’ve got a current batch of Nanny democrats who put them all to shame.
These democrats are obsessed with finding new things they don’t like about what WE do. Then, they promptly pass another law to correct or punish our misguided ways. And, here’s the best part. They always find a way to exempt themselves and their friends, a.k.a. contributors. I can only assume they think, unlike we mere mortals, they are smart enough to make their own decisions or rich enough… well, let’s face it… none of the rules apply to the rich. Now, to what started me on this rant.
How’s this as a perfect example of hypocrisy? Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez is a cigar smoker... and apparently sees nothing wrong with relaxing on a balcony off the Assembly floor in Sacramento, puffing away on his Montecristo cigar, while he votes "aye" on SB 332 - a bill that just passed to let landlords evict people for doing the very same thing in their own homes. Do you suppose he and his friends make enough money to own single-family homes where they can continue to enjoy the freedom that he's denying to the peasant renters?
And what about that outdoor balcony... don't non-smoking lawmakers complain they want to use it without being exposed to his secondhand smoke? Or do they all consider themselves smart enough to figure out how to accommodate each other?
So where will Assembly Speaker Perez go to smoke that cigar in West Hollywood where a tough new outdoor smoking ban is set to take effect on January 1?
Bet it will be the exclusive membership-only Soho House where the rich-enough are exempt from WeHo’s smoking ban.
We ordinary people won’t be allowed to smoke on the non-membership restaurant patios because the West Hollywood Nannies say they must protect other ordinary people. http://wehonews.com/z/wehonews/archive/page.php?articleID=6480Who needs overbearing parents, the nuns at catholic school or the morality police from... more
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Avior
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5 months ago
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“On April 20th, after a year-long undercover sting operation, armed federal agents acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer to prevent him from selling his unpasteurized milk to willing, fully-informed customers in Maryland. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to catch Allgyer committing the "crime" of selling his milk. He was not tricking people into buying it, he was not forcing people to purchase it, and there had been no complaints about his product. These were completely voluntary transactions, but ones that our nanny-state federal government did not approve of, and so they shut down his business. The arrogance of the FDA and so many other federal agencies is simply appalling. These types of police state raids on peaceful businessmen, so reminiscent of our tyrannical federal drug war, have no place in a free society…”
Click here to read the full article: http://bit.ly/jWpZtF“On April 20th, after a year-long undercover sting operation, armed federal... more
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School will be soon be out but if it’s up to the New York State Health Department, a lot of city kids might be spending their time indoors.
The New York State Health Department created a list of what they deemed “risky recreational activities” and is forcing many summer programs to ban these games unless they shell out extra funds to be recognized as an official summer camp. They say the activities listed pose a “significant risk of injury” and have been named as hazards which need to be regulated at day camps.
While proper supervision and safety concerns rank high on every parent’s list of priorities, the games that have been deemed unsafe and risky might shock a lot of city parents who grew up playing these ‘dangerous’ games....
Continued at: http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/04/19/ny-state-says-these-kids-games-pose-significant-risk-of-injury/School will be soon be out but if it’s up to the New York State Health... more
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Dagum
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10 months ago
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Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wants Arizona to be a nanny state. She wants to impose fees on those who smoke and on those who eat too much.
Childless adults who are obese or suffer from a chronic condition and who fail to work with their doctor to meet specific goals would be charged $50 annually. The $50 annual fee also would apply to all childless adult smokers.
“If you’re not going to manage those things and take some personal responsibility, and in turn that costs the state more money, then you need to have some skin in the game,” said Monica Coury, assistant director of Arizona’s Medicaid program.
So, the next time a conservative accuses liberals of wanting a nanny state, remember Governor Jan Brewer.
http://www.alan.com/2011/04/01/az-gov-jan-brewer-wants-to-fine-smokers-and-fatties/Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wants Arizona to be a nanny state. She wants to impose... more
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bambuu
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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave final approval to an ordinance that would force fast-food restaurants to make the meals they market to children healthier.
Supervisor Eric Mar's ordinance would require that, in order to be sold with toys or other items targeted at youth, meals such as the McDonald's Happy Meal include fruits or vegetables and not have excessive calories, sodium, fat and sugar.
McDonald's opposed the legislation, arguing parents should be allowed to make their own choices. At least one local McDonald's owner complained that the law would effectively ban him from serving Happy Meals in their current form.
Mar Tuesday called the legislation "a simple and modest policy that holds fast food accountable."
He argued that with childhood obesity a major concern, it's necessary to compel restaurants that market to children to offer healthier choices.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, who opposed the legislation, said in a statement following Tuesday's vote that he would veto "this unwise and unprecedented government intrusion into parental responsibilities and private choices."
Newsom said that no city in the country had done more than San Francisco to "educate our children and encourage families to make healthier eating choices."
However, the board's 8-3 vote Tuesday approving the ordinance constituted a veto-proof majority.
In other action Tuesday, Supervisor John Avalos introduced a motion that could have the board vote as early as next Tuesday on an interim mayor to replace Newsom, who will leave for Sacramento in January to become lieutenant governor.http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=5499The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave final approval to an ordinance... more
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With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.
Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.
"I still can't believe they took our yogurt," said Rawesome volunteer Sea J. Jones, a few days after the raid. "There's a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they're raiding us because we're selling raw dairy products?"
Cartons of raw goat and cow milk and blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese were among the groceries seized in the June 30 raid by federal, state and local authorities — the latest salvo in the heated food fight over what people can put in their mouths.
On one side are government regulators, who say they are enforcing rules designed to protect consumers from unsafe foods and to provide a level playing field for producers. On the other side are " healthy food" consumers — a faction of foodies who challenge government science and seek food in its most pure form.
They want almonds cracked fresh from the shell, not those run through a federally mandated pasteurization process that uses either heat or a chemical to kill off salmonella and other possible contaminants. They hunger for meat slaughtered on the farm. And they're willing to pay a premium — $6, $8 or more — for a gallon of milk straight from the cow.
So despite research outlining the dangers of consuming raw milk and other unprocessed foods, they're finding ways to circumnavigate federal, state and local laws that seek to control what they can serve at the dinner table. Such defiance, they said, comes from growing distrust of a food sector that has become more industrialized and consolidated — and whose products have been at the root of some of the country's deadliest food contamination cases.
"This is about control and profit, not our health," said Aajonus Vonderplanitz, co-founder of Rawesome Foods. "How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?"With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a... more
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New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records--that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year--must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity.
The obesity-rating regulation states that every American's electronic health record must: “Calculate body mass index. Automatically calculate and display body mass index (BMI) based on a patient’s height and weight.”
The law also requires that these electronic health records be available--with appropriate security measures--on a national exchange.
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I do find it somewhat ironic and humorous that the man who so harshly criticized the Patriot Act is now doing everything he can to make sure he goes above and beyond the anti-freedom regulations contained within that bill.
Wonder how long it will be until obese Americans are made to diet for the good of the system.New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health... more
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By David P Shirk
In the mid 1700’s, there lay on a new continent clusters of colonies from many countries populated by many different people. Some were there as outcasts from their parent nation, and some to escape tyranny or oppression. Some came seeking to make a new life, and some in service of another. Battles were fought on this relatively new land as extensions of hostilities of the parenting nations. When the dust settled and the fighting stopped, the colonists for the most part became united in the populated areas under English rule. People of every origin and background were now merged together under the rule of the English crown and sought to make their own fortunes as best they co....
...We learn, and we seek solutions. Do any of you now understand why it is that those whom are either anarchical or voluntary in nature are far more beneficial to the real American ideal then statism or a corruptible republic could ever be? Do you see how the cries of a democracy can bring so much damage when those who raise their voices do so in ignorance? It has been well over 200 years since all this came about, and it is inexcusable to continue following 200 year old mistakes! All I can say is that if people don’t open their eyes soon, then their collective voices will bring us all to ruin.
http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?p=3696By David P Shirk
In the mid 1700’s, there lay on a new continent clusters of... more
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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is fond of saying, “You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.” Well, the Obama Administration certainly has not let the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig crisis go to waste, using it as a smokescreen to silently assault and further diminish American citizens’ personal freedom.
While the nation has its eyes and ears focused on the blame game ping-pong match between President Obama and BP top brass, President Obama on Thursday, June 10, quietly announced a new Executive Order establishing the “National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council.”
Claiming the “authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,” President Obama has truly gone off the deep end this time in his most atrocious attempt to date to control every aspect of Americans’ lives.
According to Sec. 5. of the Executive Order that details the President’s “National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy,” the Council will be charged with carrying out “lifestyle behavior modification” among American citizens that do not exhibit “healthy behavior.”
The President’s desired lifestyle behavior modifications focus on:
* smoking cessation;
* proper nutrition;
* appropriate exercise;
* mental health;
* behavioral health;
* sedentary behavior;
* substance-use disorder; and
* domestic violence screenings.
Making matters even worse, if that is even possible at this point, President Obama will create an “Advisory Group” composed of experts hand-picked from the public health field and various other areas of expertise “outside the Federal Government.”
Let’s consider who the President has sought advice and mentoring from in the past:
* Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who the Anti-Defamation League calls a “Messenger of Intolerance,” and
* Bill Ayers, leader of the 1960′s domestic terrorist group ”Weatherman” that was “responsible for 30 bombings aimed at destroying the defense and security infrastructures of the U.S.”
Now, President Obama is going to seek medical advisors who will be charged with modifying lifestyles and behaviors of those citizens he deems unhealthy? “Paging Dr. Kevorkian! You’re wanted in the White House STAT by President Obama!”
Whether you are a child, a parent, a worker, or retired, the President’s approximately 25-member “Advisory Group” will soon be present in every aspect of Americans’ lives, as the Executive Order prescribes. Specifically, our new so-called lifestyle behavior modification advisors will be actively carrying out the President’s orders in:
* worksite health promotion;
* community services, including community health centers;
* preventive medicine;
* health coaching;
* public health education;
* geriatrics; and
* rehabilitation medicine.
President Obama’s sweeping plan to enforce “lifestyle behavior modification” is chock full of open-ended target areas, especially when it comes to issues of “mental” and “behavioral” health, “proper nutrition,” “sedentary behavior,” and “appropriate exercise.” The President’s Executive Order is a blatant and forceful attempt to adjust the way Americans young and old think, behave, eat, drink and whatever else free will used to entitle our nation’s citizens to enjoy as prescribed by the Founding Fathers.
If you are feeling stressed-out, sad, confused, hungry, thirsty, bored, or tired, do you honestly trust President Obama and his “Advisory Group” to act in your best interests?White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is fond of saying, “You don’t ever... more
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Ann Coulter is a neocon through and through, at least in rhetoric….. when the dust settles, she would much rather argue for her big government programs than defend individual liberty and your rights to be free. One thing is for sure, the rEVOLution is growing, especially after winning the CPAC straw poll this year!Ann Coulter is a neocon through and through, at least in rhetoric….. when the... more
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Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been described by former colleagues as "psychotic." As more details emerge about Hasan's troubled state, gun safety advocates are launching fresh attacks on a Senate bill they say would make it easier for mentally unstable veterans to buy firearms.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) says his "Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act" will protect veterans' gun rights. But the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence calls it a "dangerous" proposal that could allow "over 100,000 mentally incapacitated or incompetent persons" to buy guns—people who would previously have been barred from doing so by the Veterans Administration (VA).
(click on the link for the full story and for the in-text links)Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been... more
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Welcome to Obamaland was published in January 2009, just as the new president was taking office. It predicted that Obama would turn the American eagle into a sick turkey.
When James Delingpole published Welcome to Obamaland in January 2009, he predicted that under Obama, whatever America was facing, it would become much worse. Many of his predictions appear to have come true. He believed that just as Tony Blair brought socialism to Britain, Barack Obama would bring it to the United States under the guise of "change."
http://us-president.suite101.com/article.cfm/obama_america_predictions_come_trueWelcome to Obamaland was published in January 2009, just as the new president was... more
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"Only council-vetted "play rangers" are now allowed to monitor youngsters in two adventure areas in Watford while parents must watch from outside a perimeter fence.
The Watford Borough Council policy has been attacked as insulting and a disgrace by furious relatives who say they are being labeled as potential pedophiles.
It will further fuel concerns over a growing nanny state amid the deepening row over the Government's new national anti-pedophile database.
That will see at least 11 million adults have to be vetted to work with children or vulnerable adults, including parents who give officials lifts to and from social or sports clubs.
Councillors in Watford claim they are only following Government guidelines and cannot allow adults to walk around playgrounds "unchecked". But Osfted dismissed the ban while parents branded it "a joke".
Play rangers currently patrol both parks – which are specifically for children aged five to 15 – and are fully qualified and have been cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau.
Parents already have to 'register' their child on arrival at the free playgrounds so staff have their contact details in the event of an accident.
But now only those who have been CRB vetted by the council can enter the sites, which are surrounded by six foot high steel and wooden fences.
Mother-of-five Marcella Bergin, 35, has been visiting with her three eldest children, Christy, 15, Seamus, 12, and Chloe, 11, for many years without any problems.
She said: "It's like they are branding all parents potential paedophiles which is disgraceful – 99 per cent of people are great parents and certainly not child abusers.
"They are encouraging a climate where parents and children are rendered suspicious without any proof of wrong doing or guilt," she said.
"Caring parents should not be viewed as a threat and if you are a bona fide parent or carer you are in a better position to look after your children than council staff."
A council notice to parents explains that: "Safeguarding the children and young people who use the site is one of our top priorities.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed on Tuesday how employers will come under pressure to register staff with the Government's anti-pedophile database even if they have little contact with children.
But a spokeswoman for Ofsted said: "Ofsted would never seek to prevent parents and carers having access to their own children."
Americans must know that the more we become like Great Britain, the less free we will be. The UK is a Police State, a Nanny State and their socialist health care system promotes Heroin, which comes from Afghanistan by the way (check my article and CNN vid, Giving Heroin Addicts Heroin for proof)."Only council-vetted "play rangers" are now allowed to monitor... more
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England's Children's Minister wants a review of the case of two POLICE OFFICERS told they were breaking the law, caring for each other's children.
Ofsted said the arrangement contravened the Childcare Act because it lasted for longer than two hours a day, and constituted receiving "a reward".
It said the women would have to be registered as childminders.
Minister Vernon Coaker said his department was talking to Ofsted about this particular case.
The two detective constables, Leanne Shepherd, from Milton Keynes, and Lucy Jarrett, from Buckingham, told the BBC how Ofsted insisted they end their arrangement.
'Shocked'
Ms Shepherd, who serves with Thames Valley Police, recalled: "A lady came to the front door and she identified herself as being from Ofsted. She said a complaint had been made that I was illegally childminding.
"I was just shocked - I thought they were a bit confused about the arrangement between us.
"So I invited her in and told her situation - the arrangement between Lucy and I - and I was shocked when she told me I was breaking the law."
Reward is not just a case of money changing hands. The supply of services or goods and, in some circumstances, reciprocal arrangements can also constitute reward
Ofsted spokesman
Babysitter or childminder?
Ms Jarrett added: "Our children were never in any harm, they were never in any danger.
"To think that they would waste their time and effort on innocent people who are trying to provide for their families by returning to the workplace... Surely their time and effort would be better placed elsewhere."
Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the pair had its "full support".
Secretary Andy Viney said: "Both of them are experienced professional officers.
"They just want to return to work after having children and have found that the system is working totally against them.England's Children's Minister wants a review of the case of two POLICE... more
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http://www.freemindsmedia.orgNanny staters in the UK ban Scouts from using knives, draconian ways to track your CO2... more
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