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After the debate last night was over, and Govenor Palin was on the stage she saw her husband Todd come out immediately after hugging him....we heard her clearly ask.........."Where are my kids?" I suppose that is the part I loved most. She won the debate and then asked for her kids. Doesn't get much better than that.

Enjoy!!! Rate and Comment! -TexCon

Hyperactive children should no longer be given Ritalin, new health guidelines say. Ritalin should no longer be given to hyperactive children. The drug should not be prescribed to children under five and used for older children only when they have severe ADHD or as a last resort, the guidance says.Instead, parents should be taught psychological techniques for changing the behaviour of unruly youngsters diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.The guidelines were issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.The directive says parent training and education programmes should be offered...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2008 – When Rosita, a Sesame Street Muppet, showed up at John Tyler Elementary School here today, she had a flashlight, batteries, a shiny new radio and a message for about two dozen of the school’s pre-kindergarteners: “Be prepared.” Sesame Street Muppet Rosita listens to pre-kindergarteners from John Tyler Elementary School in Washington on Sept. 17, 2008. After presenting Sesame Workshop CEO Gary E. Knell (left) with items found in emergency kits, she introduced the video included in "Let's Get Ready! Planning Together for Emergencies," an emergency preparedness kit. Defense Dept. photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click...

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police have arrested an award-winning West High School teacher for the alleged sexual abuse of a 17-year-old student. Jose Bernaf Fajul was arrested on campus Tuesday after classes ended for the day. The 46-year-old social studies and world language teacher was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of forcible sexual abuse and forcible sodomy. Salt Lake City police spokeswoman Lara Jones says the department had been working with the teenage girl and her father prior to the arrest. ... This outstanding "teacher" won Utah's 2007 No Child Left Behind American...

Much of the substance of this election comes down to this question: "do we want people with values like those held by the leadership of the American Library Association - in general - and Judith Flint and Amy Grasmick - in particular - to be in control of this country and guiding its children?

Barney Frank, one of two openly gay members of Congress and a prominent voice on gay rights, told the Associated Press that it's okay to go after kids in a political campaign

...the nature and extent of Sen Obama's left-wing agenda doesn't seem to have penetrated into the awareness of the American public...They just don't associate him, the "Progressive" movement and the Democratic party with the kinds of infringements...that have come to be seem as "normal" in everyday life...things such as...parents being threatened for spanking their kids...public libraries that let paedophiles in - while keeping Christians at bay...kids being punished in school for drawing pictures of their soldier relatives...

If your kids are behaving badly treat them like a dog, says Battersea Dogs Home behaviour expert Last updated at 23:49pm on 26.08.08  Good boy: Children should be 'trained' like puppies according to a behaviour expert from Battersea Dog's Home It's a common scenario for many a harassed mother  -  you're in the supermarket and your little darling starts playing up.  But forget the naughty step or cool-off corner.  The best way to handle misbehaving toddlers is to treat them like a dog, according to advice from a leading animal charity.They claim that, because young children and animals are...

This week, a toddler fatally shot himself after finding a gun in his parent's car. According to Jackson, Miss., authorities, the 3-year-old was sitting in the car at a gas station when he found the gun in the front seat and shot himself in the face. Police questioned the boy's parents, but no charges have been filed. But these aren't freak accidents. More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots. Some shoot themselves, while others kill friends or siblings after discovering a gun. Here are more scary stats: Americans own 200 million firearms, and 35 percent of homes contain...

An 11-year-old boy led officers on a high-speed chase topping 100 mph while standing on the car's floorboard to reach the gas pedal.

Kids and adolescents in Australia are so scared of the outdoors that it has restricted them to hang out in shopping centres, play computer games or go to school, according to a new survey. According to the study of Sydney kids, both primary school-aged boys and girls and adolescents have nowhere to play in a modern city. The data from the New South Wales child watchdog, the Commission of Children and Young People, comes after the New South Wales (NSW) Government failed to act on a two-year-old inquiry that warned children were missing out on playtime. According to the Commission's...

Every Friday my class reads a newspaper. The light went on one day in my dull mini-cranium about two minutes into the lesson. The kids knew lots of words I didn't know, such as: sally port, non-contact visit and CO. We were reading an article about prison. Did I mention that my students are fifth-graders? That means they are 9 and 10 years old, mostly Latinos. All of them are sweet like chocolate, cute to the max, and wise to the bone ... about certain things. "What's a sally port?" I asked. "Oh, teacher," replied Carla. "That's the wire cage...

North Carolina sheriff's deputies left the children of an arrested illegal immigrant woman on the side of a highway overnight stranded in a car, attorneys say. Lawyers for Maria Chavira Ventura say she was stopped June 14 for a traffic violation along Interstate 85 in Alamance County, N.C. Deputies arrested her for driving without a license, leaving her three children, ages 14, 10 and 6, alone in the car with a man they barely knew, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported Wednesday. The man, a church acquaintance who was catching a ride with Ventura, abandoned the children in the...

If your child came across a gun, what do you think they would do with it? Tell an adult? Pick it up? Pull the trigger? We wanted to try something. With a Northside ISD police officer's help, we put a group of children in a room with a real, unloaded gun to see what they would do when they thought no one was watching... ...During our experiment, several of the children picked up the gun and played with it. At least one boy walked up to another child and pointed it at the child's face. In the second group, comprised...

Father-of-three branded a 'pervert' - for photographing his own children in public park By David Wilkes Last updated at 1:46 AM on 16th July 2008 When Gary Crutchley started taking pictures of his children playing on an inflatable slide he thought they would be happy reminders of a family day out. But the innocent snaps of seven-year-old Cory, and Miles, five, led to him being called a ‘pervert’.

An outraged father of three enjoying a day out with his young sons in a U.K. park was branded a "pervert" by other parkgoers after he snapped photos of his own kids, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday. (snip) "What is the world coming to when anybody seen with a camera is assumed to be doing things that they should not?" Crutchley asked in an interview with the Daily Mail. "This parental paranoia is getting completely out of hand. I was so shocked."

When my wife, Dinah, and I accepted a commission to write a guidebook about family travel in Scotland we had visions of staring moodily across tree-lined lochs, introducing art to our two-year-old daughter, Phoebe, in countless galleries, growing to appreciate the squeak and bellow of pipe bands and maybe even the savoury intricacies of regional haggis. And our son, Charlie, was only six weeks old. He would be easy. Covering 4,000 miles, and assessing 60 hotels, 70 restaurants and more than 300 attractions for their child-friendliness, our Scottish travels would be a great contrast to our normal working lives —...

Barack Obama addressed the issue of official languages yesterday by endorsing one: Spanish.  Instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, he told an audience, America should be teaching its children Spanish.  Every child should be bilingual, Obama said, but listen to the language he chooses later: "It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup." Well, which is it — should we teach them Spanish or French? Maybe we should teach them Chinese, or perhaps Arabic. Immigrants...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2dfD0ryMco

Unfortunately, that TownHall.com aricle isn't news, or shouldn’t be. America’s public schools haven’t merely been falling behind. They’re in a freefall compared to other nations, including “developing” nations such as Romania, Belarus, et al. which, almost literally, don’t have a pot to pee in but yet succeed in educating kids far better than we do. Thing is, it’s not news simply because it’s been going on for a generation, at least, and if anyone noticed, they haven’t said much about it, and those who try to say much about it are derided as simpleton reactionaries. The causes of the misedumacation...

Kids Connect Alcohol Odors With Mom's Emotions ScienceDaily (June 25, 2008) — How children respond to the smell of alcoholic beverages is related to their mothers' reasons for drinking, according to a new study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center. When asked to choose between the odor of beer and an unpleasant odor, children of mothers classified as 'Escape drinkers' were more likely than children of Non-escape drinkers to choose the unpleasant odor. "Children's responses to odors provide us with a window into their emotions," says study lead author Julie Mennella, PhD, a Monell biopsychologist. "When given a choice between...

FReeps have such great taste! So, I thought I would put this out there. One of my favorite things to do during the summer months is read to my children before they go to sleep. Actually, I do this year round, but particularly enjoy reading to them during the summer months. At times we get carried away with some of the great children’s lit available ~ with Mom finally coming up tho the bedrooms at 10:30 to shut down the evening's activities. At which point we may have to get real quiet and me straining my eyes. It’s great to...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 – A new arm of an existing program is giving military children an opportunity to grow closer to their grandparents, who can help them through some of the trauma of having a parent in harm’s way. “Research has proven that grandparents can play a powerful role in helping grandchildren cope with significant issues in life,” said Cavin Harper, executive director of the Colorado-based Christian Grandparenting Network. “We’ve been doing ‘GrandCamps’ for nine years, but this will be the first year for our military GrandCamp program.” The Christian Grandparenting Network promotes effective grandparenting by challenging grandparents...

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2008 – For the past two years, one troop-support organization has made sure children of fallen servicemembers have an avalanche of fun. “Snowball Express” began in December 2006 with the mission of providing hope and new memories to military children who have lost a parent since 9/11. “The belief is these children should never be forgotten by a grateful nation,” said Roy White, the group’s chairman of the board and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. “Snowball Express accomplishes its mission by providing an all-expense paid, multi-day fun experience for eligible children [18 and younger] who...

AN ABC website has been accused of portraying farmers and forestry workers as evil and telling kids how much carbon they can produce before they die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2dfD0ryMco

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child. Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins. "We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing. The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

ARLINGTON, Va., April 29, 2008 – Following a workshop that helped children cope with a military parent’s deployment, the familiar, furry denizens of Sesame Street are starring in a new program focusing on multiple deployments and family adjustments upon a parent’s return. Sesame Workshop, the makers of Sesame Street, today released “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployment, Homecoming, Changes,” a video workshop that aims to aid children in understanding and unbundling the tangle of complex emotions many feel in the midst of a mother’s or father’s tours of duty away from home, and even broaches the difficult subject of dealing with...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2008 – As the children of Defense Department employees arrived in throngs for National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, they transformed the normally serene Pentagon courtyard into a veritable circus, replete with clowns, animals, and arts and crafts. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Edmonds and his sons, Gatlin, 5, center, and Adam, 4, prepare to enjoy the arts and crafts in the Pentagon's center courtyard April 24, 2008. The activities were part of America Supports You's celebration of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. Defense Dept. photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo...

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2008 – Military children and their sacrifices took center stage here last night during a reception attended by Defense Department dignitaries. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates talks with 10-year-old Will Bacon, right front, his brother, Jake, 9, and their mother, Christine, during an Our Military Kids reception in Washington, D.C., to honor military children April 7, 2008. The boys' father, Missouri National Guard Maj. Matt Bacon, is currently deployed to Iraq. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley, Department of Defense  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our Military Kids,” a nonprofit organization that provides grants that keep...

Genes trigger phobias in kids and teens 21:00 07 April 2008 NewScientist.com news service Jim Giles Our response to the things that scare us, from threatening men on dark streets to hairy spiders in the bath, is programmed to become active at different times in our lives, suggest two studies on the genetics of fear. Scientists already know that fears and phobias are shaped in part by genes. Identical twins, for example, are more likely to develop phobias for the same objects, such as snakes or rats, than non-identical twins. But less is known about when the genes involved act...

FORT MYER, Va., April 7, 2008 – Children normally are told to quit clowning around, but today it was actually encouraged, as clowns from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus entertained more than 100 youngsters at the child development center here. More than 100 children from the child development center on Fort Myer, Va., enjoy a performance by members of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, April 7, 2008. These four, from left, Ryan Cline, 2, Madeline Fontana, 5, Jaylen Wright, 4, and Liam Ryan, 4, got a chance to be part of the action. Photo by...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 – In mid-March, Indiana school administrators, military support groups and volunteers met at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville, Ind., to learn about ways to assist children affected by a family member’s deployment. One way is through “Operation Military Kids,” a program initiated by U.S. Army Child and Youth Services. Now in 42 states, the program works through the 4-H program and other volunteer organizations that connect with military youth and provide support through a network of community resources. "The idea of the meeting is to give training to the educators to know what...

Why Don't Kids Walk To School Anymore?No sidewalk and no green buffer makes walking feel unsafe. A wide treed buffer between a sidewalk and the street encourages walking. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan) ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Maybe when we were their age, we walked five miles to school, rain or shine. So why don't most children today walk or bike to school? It's not necessarily because they're spoiled, lazy or over scheduled. According to a University of Michigan researcher, concerns about safety are the main reason that less than 13 percent of U.S. children walked or...

Hey, you, emo kid in Kansas rocking out to Hawthorne Heights as you thumb through the current issue of Alternative Press and draw a cracked heart on the rubber toe of your Jack Purcell.  You think you got reason to be doleful? Well, then check out your ilk in Mexico. They've been getting their asses kicked lately as part of a country-wide anti-emo movement and now they're fighting back (this clip is in Spanish, but images speak louder than words. Check out the dudes arming themselves with leather belts. What is this, West Side Story?).  LA Weekly's Daniel Hernandez has...

An 11-year-old boy has married his 10-year-old cousin in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Rashidi and his unidentified cousin will seal the marriage they contracted under the sharia laws of Islam and move in together after a ceremony to take place in the summer, Al-Shams newspaper said. "I am ready for this marriage. It will help me study better," Mohammed, who goes to primary school in the northern province of Hail, was quoted as saying by Al-Shams. "I invite all my classmates to do like me," the boy said, adding that he...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man is on trial this week on charges he put his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son in a hot clothes dryer. In a videotaped interview with detectives shown in court Wednesday, Aron Pritchard said he put the children in the dryer to show them they could have a good time without much money. An hour later, the dryer had become hot and the boy had second-degree burns.

A new plan by a California lawmaker would allow schools to be used to promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, and let teachers in public district classrooms "inculcate in the mind of any pupil a preference for communism," according to a traditional values advocacy organization. "Just when we thought the indoctrination in California's public schools couldn't get any worse, state lawmakers introduce bills that will further brainwash innocent children," said a statement from Capitol Resource Institute, a traditional values and family advocacy organization based in California. "We're in California. Of course it has a chance of succeeding," CRI spokeswoman...

Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons—to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there’s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents. In the last few years, a handful of intrepid scholars have decided it’s time to try to understand why kids lie. For a study to assess the extent of teenage dissembling, Dr. Nancy Darling, then at Penn State University, recruited a special research team of a dozen undergraduate students, all under the age of 21. Using gift certificates for free...

I picked Greatest Grandson up at the high school this afternoon, I needed groceries too, so we went to Walmart. Standing in the checkout line I heard a voice behind me say, "Excuse me, Sir, I'm sorry I blocked you". This shouldn't be exceptional, but it is, today. On the way home I told him how proud he made me feel, and he said, "I was raised that way". He made the honor roll too, life is really good sometimes.

Welcome to Warm Fuzzy Wednesday and Thursday at the Finest. For those who start counting the days on Monday until the weekend, we're halfway there! So we're here to banish those doldrums and make you smile inside! Please feel free to post sweet graphics and/or little stories that make you feel all warm and fuzzy - or just come by and give us a smile. Only two more days 'til the weekend! A special addition this week is we are adding Fairy Tales. What Fairy Tale in your youth made you happy and provided the aura of “magic“ in...

One of my fellow Aggie posters on TexAgs.com has an org that helps get wheelchairs to kids in Iraq that need it. Please help get the word out for this great cause. This is a great guy providing very needed blessings for children who have no means to get around. CNN just reported on his activities. Website Story: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/13/iraq.wheelchairs/index.html#cnnSTCTextVideo Story (must see): http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/13/iraq.wheelchairs/index.htmlDonation link - Click HereHere are his recent pictures that he took that he posted on TexAgs. Wheelchairs for Iraqi KidsSupporting Troops blog - Kids' Wheelchair VideoDecember Wheelchairs Distribution storyon Department of Defense websiteDallas' WFAA TV news Report...

An Arkansas day care teacher is charged with raping a 4-year-old girl during nap time. Police say the incident was caught on closed-circuit video, 4029tv.com reports. Cesar Monarrez, 18, was a part-time employee at the Royal Children's Academy and had worked there for about three or four months. According to an arrest warrant, the alleged victim told authorities on Feb. 5 how Monarrez had touched her inappropriately. The girl told police her privates were burning because "Bubba" touched her with a knife inside his pocket, 4029tv.com reports. Police identified Bubba as Monarrez, and investigators said video shows him pushing his...

I seriously tried to cheat this week, because I'm running late, but the only source I found for the article I wanted to post is a prohibitted source, so I'm winging it! My 9 year old daughter loves to help in the garden and has her own spots for whatever she wants to plant (she is much better with flowers than mom!) The National Gardening Association has lots of ideas for getting kids interested in gardening at its Web site, Kids Gardening. This month's feature on the website is a "Parents' Primer" which is chock full of ideas...."find out how...

Having run out of men for terrorist activities, and apparently temporarily short on the mentally handicapped, al-Qaeda in Iraq has begun recruiting grade-school boys to conduct attacks. Children as young as 10 have received training on kidnapping and assassination in order to get past security processes and attack civilians. The US has it on tape: Videotapes seized during U.S. raids on suspected al-Qaida in Iraq hide-outs show the terror group training young boys to kidnap and assassinate civilians, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Wednesday. Footage aired for reporters showed an apparent training operation with black-masked boys — some of whom...

It's not just grown-ups who vote today. Thanks to Kids Voting Arizona, they too get to choose their educated picks for the presidency. My kindergardener called me a few hours into class to ask who daddy voted for and why. I told her Romney, then she had to quickly get off the phone. (Since when do they let five-year-olds tie up the phones?) When she arrived home, I asked who she voted for in the mock election. "Well, some of the people say that poor people are lazy. I don't want to vote for them because they're mean." Ah, I...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...