Obama: Compulsory Community Service Will Be Required of Students

Obama's Community Service:
Middle School, High School and College Students:
REQUIRED to "Serve"



50 Hours for Middle, High School Students
100 Hours for College Students
Retirees Will Be "Encouraged" to Serve

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The honeymoon might be over.

DBKP had planned on reserving comment on the incoming Obama administration until it had actually taken power. We figured that regardless of differences, Barack Obama deserved the benefit of the doubt and a chance to propose policies before we criticized them.

The Obama president-elect's website changed all that with the announcement--just three days after the 2008 election--that students will be "required" to "serve" and perform "community service".

From Change.gov (emphasis ours):

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in under served schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps.

Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.

Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

We are against any compulsory government programs.

In times of existential national emergency--such as all-out war--we would be in favor of a military draft and other policies necessary for the survival of the USA. But, nothing is different today than three days ago.

It's telling that serving notice that compulsory government service--for middle and high school students, no less--less than three days after the election results were known indicates this is a high priority for the incoming Obama administration.

We will oppose this will all our meager means available.

We also wonder if all of the Internet sites which posted "Bushitler" memorabilia the last eight years will go along with a government-mandated program which incorporates young students against their will-and the will of their parents, possibly.

A honeymoon was much preferred.

Regardless of who was proposing this, we would oppose it.

It's a dangerous precedent, if it becomes reality.

by Mondo Frazier
image: RidesAPaleHorse

Possible Terror Plot Update: Five Missing Afghan Students Names

UPDATE
More Details Surface on Missing Afghan Students

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Earlier today, I published a post about five Afghan students reported missing for more than a week from the campus of the University of Washington. After contacting a variety of individuals and government agency representatives, I am now able to shed more light on the matter.

At 2:52 p.m. CDT, I received some answers to a set of questions I had sent to Dr. Maria Beebe, chief of party for Afghan eQuality Alliances at Washington State University. She confirmed that the University of Washington is an alliance partner, despite the fact that the name of the school was not listed on the program's website.

She also provided the names of the missing students. They are as follows:

• Mohammed Ratib Abeer — Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan;
• Masood Ghory — English Instructor for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission;
• Rahmatullah Hamidi — Scientific Member for Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education;
• Numan Tarin — Senior National Coach for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission; and
• Sayed Hashmatullah — National Consultant for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission.

Dr. Beebe said the students were reported "missing" to local police by Ken Peavler after they did not show up in class and their roommates verified that they had not shown up in their rooms. As program manager at the Evans School of Public Affairs, Peavler's duties include keeping track of the study-abroad students.

ALSO at DBKP: Five Afghan Students Missing From University of Washington, School Bus Stolen in Delaware

Of the 38 students selected for the program, only 32 remain after one returned home to Afghanistan to deal with a family matter.

Since the Afghan eQuality Alliances program is attracting a number of applicants (250 for the next batch for 36 slots), Dr. Beebe said, program officials can be more selective and add a criteria related to their current job titles.

"So, for example, we can say only directors and assistant director levels would be considered," she explained. "At that level, we will also get the older (more mature) students who have children and will have more compelling reasons to go back to Afghanistan."

Apparently, at least five of the students were not old enough or not motivated enough to want to return.

I have yet to receive additional information from U.S. Agency for International Development or the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Developing…

Check back for more updates as they occur.

WANT MORE of Bob McCarty, "The Ultimate Blogging Machine"? Try these recent posts: * Supreme Court Chief Justice Pens ‘Mystery Novel’ * Democrat’s Message Flagged as ‘Junk Mail’

by Bob McCarty
image: dbkp file
Source: More Details Surface on Missing Afghan Students

Anti-Chavez Studen Protester Shot: It Was Only a Matter of TimeVideo Report

A gunman points a pistol at Anti-Chavez protesters in Venezuela

Venezuela got its latest look at "21st Century Socialism". They ran or were shot.
VIDEO of Protester being shot in Venezuela from Sky News.

People in Venezuela took to the streets to protest the Chavez government's steady march to turn the country into a private club for Chavez and cronies. They were shot by masked gunmen. Does anyone doubt who arranged this? Does anyone doubt that this is only the beginning of an attempt to turn back the clock on democracy in Venezuela?

A report on the carnage in Venezuela from
More on the Chavez reaction to the protesters from AP and CNN:

Photographers for The Associated Press saw at least four gunmen -- their faces covered by ski masks or T-shirts -- firing handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd. Terrified students ran through the campus as ambulances arrived.

National Guard troops gathered outside the Central University of Venezuela, the nation's largest and a center for opposition to Chavez's government. Venezuelan law bars state security forces from entering the campus, but Luis Acuna, the minister of higher education, said they could be called in if the university requests them.

More on the carnage from AP and CNN:

Photographers for The Associated Press saw at least four gunmen -- their faces covered by ski masks or T-shirts -- firing handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd. Terrified students ran through the campus as ambulances arrived.

National Guard troops gathered outside the Central University of Venezuela, the nation's largest and a center for opposition to Chavez's government. Venezuelan law bars state security forces from entering the campus, but Luis Acuna, the minister of higher education, said they could be called in if the university requests them.

The people in Venezuela have taken to the streets in protest over the Chavez government's steady chaining of the country's freedoms. Political opponents are jailed, shot or just disappear. TV stations and newspapers shut down. Companies assets seized by the government.

The people spoke out on how they feel about the anti-democratic changes Chavez is pushing. The Venezuelan people spoke out. And Chavez answered them back by quoting another despot killer, Mao Tse Tung:

"Change must come through the barrel of a gun."


by Mondoreb



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School Massacre Avoided: Another Kid Wants to Take Out "Bullies"

Another Columbine-style attack is planned; this time it's short-circuited before anyone dies. The justification: ridding the world of bullies. When firing a rocket launcher at innocent students doesn't qualify you as a "bully". The look into a 14-year-old's confused mind from the Philadelphia Daily News?

DILLON COSSEY apparently wanted to rid the world of bullies.

And he had a plan to do so, according to his confession to police:

Back up a car to Plymouth Whitemarsh High School and dump out a stockpile of weapons; barricade school doors using chains and padlocks so students couldn't get out; then fire a rocket launcher.

The chilling details of Cossey's blueprint for carrying out a Columbine-style attack emerged yesterday as the 14-year-old entered a guilty plea in Montgomery County juvenile court.

Cossey pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder, risking a catastrophe and possessing an instrument of a crime. He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in jail. Because he was charged as a juvenile, Cossey cannot be held in custody beyond age 21.

How far down the road of teen vigilante justice have we come that this is no longer national news? It is another sad chapter in a sad book.

Kids with weapons planning to kill innocent fellow students under the banner of "Making the World Bully-Free".

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
[photo:funmansion]



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