The US Census and Sesame Street ... - Page 6 - Big Big Forums

Jolie Rouge · 10-20-2009, 05:10 PM

Is your teacher lobbying for Obamacare at school today?
By Michelle Malkin • October 20, 2009 01:17 PM

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/10/20...-school-today/

A tipster e-mails: “Keep up the good work. Thought you’d like to see what Maryland teachers are being sent today (during school hours, school e-mail).”

Quote:

Dear XXXXXXX [redacted]

We’ve waited long enough.

Right now, everyone is paying for the cost of our broken health care system. People with “pre-existing conditions” are being denied coverage by insurers. Women are being charged 30-51% more than men for the same health insurance policies. Newborn babies are being denied coverage because they’re “too fat” or “too small.” And a jaw-dropping 44,000 people a year are dying because they lack health insurance. How much longer will Americans need to wait before Congress acts?

Image removed by sender. Call Congress Oct 20th

Today, we’re sending our message loud and clear – that it’s time to deliver on health care. Call 1-800-603-SEIU and use this form to report back on your call.

Local 500 members are joining with voters across the country in calling Congress today, October 20th. Our union has a vibrant presence in Washington, and we’ve been hard at work lobbying for this legislation, but we’re powerless without the participation of our membership. We’ve set a goal of making 3,000 calls from members online, but we need your help to get there. Make three calls (two Senators, one Representative), and tell your members of Congress you expect reform that:

* Ends insurance company abuse;
* Makes health care affordable for everyone;
* Includes a strong public health insurance option;
* Requires employers to pay their fair share;
* Does not contain taxes or more costs to working families who are already paying more than their fair share into the system.

I hope you’ll call each of your members of Congress today at 1-800-603-SEIU and share this email with other SEIU members. We can’t let insurance companies dictate what happens in Congress, because when they win, we lose.

Respectfully,

Merle Cuttitta
President
SEIU Local 500

P.S. When you call, let the Congressional staffer know you’re an SEIU member. Let’s show our presence on these calls today, then report back on how it went...

Jolie Rouge · 11-01-2009, 06:13 PM

Schools shun Obama yet let sales firms prey on students
By Betty Buehler
Fri Oct 30, 5:00 am ET

Las Vegas, N.V. – "OK, sixth graders, scream!"

And, oh, do they, sending one teacher toward the exit covering her ears.

Who owns the sixth graders' attention during this period, just days after untold school districts, bowing to parental pressure, refused to broadcast President Obama's talk telling students to take responsibility for themselves and their education?

Let's just say that you won't be reading this in Time magazine, since Time Inc. owns fundraising company QSP, which is visiting our school today.

The screaming is the opening to the annual school fundraiser assembly, kicking off a couple of weeks of good, capitalist behavior by our country's youngest army of salespeople. They will be rewarded for their efforts with prizes: The baby hoodie keychain/cellphone/music player holder is the teeny starter, with an electric guitar, iPod touch, or $250-dollar American Express card at the other end, for those who can outsell the rest.

Even better?

Students who sell fast will be entered into a drawing, their names being placed into the money machine, a chamber with air blowing money around. Keep what you catch.

QSP hires the bubbliest, most cheerful motivators in order to get the kids pumped up about selling! Presented in a tone of voice with ever-more exclamation points!!!

As a teacher witnessing this spectacle, I'm not quite as enthusiastic as either the presenter or students, but I find some entertainment value in the show. The administrators are wearing jester hats, complete with bells. One reward for students will be to duct tape the dean to a school wall. Another is for the students themselves to come up with a suitable fate for another administrator.

Thankfully, somebody must have thought better of what was done in the past, creating a "human ice cream sundae" out of this administrator, with, yes, real ice cream and toppings, the administrator sporting goggles – in a school where many students receive free meals because their parents struggle to feed them.

Time Inc. can breach the school walls to talk to kids, but the president of the United States cannot.

If it's about money, what gives?

The fundraiser brings in thousands per year for the school, yes, so you can't blame cash-strapped schools for going along with it. But the US government also provides thousands per year to schools like this, without exploiting the labor of children to do so.

Yet in my school a message was sent to teachers that, though not forbidding the showing of the president's speech, did suggest to any teacher reading between the lines that playing this speech was discouraged, and anyone wishing to do so would have to jump through hoops.

The implication?

If you do this, it could be a big pain in the neck for us. It seems that private business trumps the government, no matter how much money the government dishes out.

Private employee to captive students: "Who's ready for more prizes?!"

President of the United States to students, many of whom are not allowed to listen:

Quote:

"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...."

Private employee:

Quote:

"How many of you would like to get out of school for a show?" (The motivator describes a BMX show that will come to the school for certain sales numbers.) "The top 25 sellers of the school will sit in a special VIP section and get autographs."

President:

Quote:

"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."

Private employee:

Quote:

"Who wants to get out of school ... and ride in a limo?! YAY!" The kids scream madly. (Top-selling kids get a lunchtime limo ride to a pizza place.)

President:

Quote:

"[S]how 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."

What was the biggest fuss about the presidential speech?

Not the speech itself, but a lesson plan that suggested (not demanded) that teachers could ask the students to write about how they could help the president out. This was blasted as propaganda, force-feeding ideology to children.

Compare that to, "We are asking you to have your mom or your dad, your grandma or grandpa help us out by taking this [catalog of sales items] to work" or, "You can order online and get an Internet ID number."

And I, too, want to scream, loudly.

Betty Buehler has taught sixth-grade writing in Las Vegas since 2001.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091030...hvb2xzc2h1bm8-

Jolie Rouge · 01-31-2010, 11:15 PM

Sunday, January 31, 2010
Obama Youth: 'Organizing for America' Recruiting in Public High Schools

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/201...r-america.html

One of Pamela Geller's readers sent her an astounding document: a high school application for employment at Barack Obama's personal political wing: Organizing for America (OFA). http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/a...-school-1.html

Students at Perry High School in Masillon Ohio appear to be among the recruiting targets of OFA. http://www.perrylocal.org/

Included on the 20-page application is a recommended reading list that includes the most radical propaganda literature imaginable. Prominent on the list: Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, which is a step-by-step guide to the violent overthrow of the United States government. http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/bloggin...-through-nine/

Quote:

An Atlas reader, Chuck, has a student in the eleventh grade in an Ohio High School. Her government class passed out this propaganda recruiting paper so students could sign up as interns for Obama's Organizing for America (OFA is the former mybarackobama.com site.)

Quote:

“The Radical does not sit frozen by cold objectivity. He sees injustice and strikes at it with hot passion. He is a man of decision and action. There is a saying that the Liberal is one who walks out of the room when the argument turns into a fight... Society has good reason to fear the Radical. Every shaking advance of mankind toward equality and justice has come from the Radical. He hits, he hurts, he is dangerous. Conservative interests know that while Liberals are most adept at breaking their own necks with their tongues, Radicals are most adept at breaking the necks of Conservatives."
-- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

Obama is using our public school system to recruit for his Alinsky-inspired private army. Organizing for America is (and I quote) recruiting in our high schools to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda"...

Quote:

"Radicals precipitate the social crisis by action – by using power… The Radical recognizes that constant dissension and conflict is and has been the fire under the boiler of democracy. He firmly believes in that brave saying of a brave people, 'Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!'"
-- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

This is incredible. l... [and] This is no accident. Obama is poisoning our public school system. He acts as if it's his own private breeding farm. Once again academic learning and achievement is hopelessly abandoned, and supplanted by radical leftist activism from the left-wing Alinsky indoctrinators in the [union-controlled] public school system.

Quote:

"The Radical may resort to the sword but when he does he is not filled with hatred against those individuals whom he attacks. He hates these individuals not as persons but as symbols representing ideas or interests which he believes to be inimical to the welfare of the people… That is the reason why Radicals, although frequently embarking upon revolutions, have rarely resorted to personal terrorism."
-- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

Children must be advised to expose this ugly propaganda. Children must tell their parents how they are being used and manipulated. Parents, warn your kids. Better yet, home school.

But I'm sure the Democrats would be okay if the tables were turned and, say, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove had recruited and organized high school students into GOP political action wings.

This is, at minimum, outrageous. Any attorneys out there? How could this be legal?

Jolie Rouge · 02-06-2010, 11:28 PM

MM's column looks at the bloated Census p.r. and education budget. http://michellemalkin.com/2010/02/05...us-boondoggle/

GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson is asking questions. http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/sen-...ss_news_128746

As well he should. History shows that the more the Census spends on advertising, the lower the response rate is. http://dailycaller.com/2010/01/18/ce...ting-campaign/

Best watchdog site for all the latest Census shenanigans: My Two Census. http://www.mytwocensus.com/2010/02/0...sus-questions/

The Super-Sized Census Boondoggle

If only the federal government were as responsible with our money as Pepsi is with theirs. The soda giant has been in the Super Bowl ad business for more than two decades. But this year, Pepsi determined it was economically unwise to pay $3 million for a 30-second spot. So, who’s foolish enough to pay for Super Bowl gold-plated airtime? You and me and Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Census Bureau will squander $2.5 million on a half-minute Super Bowl ad starring D-list celebrity Ed Begley, Jr., plus two pre-game blurbs and 12-second “vignettes” featuring Super Bowl anchor James Brown. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...ad-super-bowl/ It’s a drop in the Census boondoggle bucket (otherwise known as the tax-subsidized National Democrat Future Voter Outreach Drive). The Obama White House has allocated a total of $340 million on an “unprecedented” promotional blitz for the 2010 Census. That’s on top of $1 billion in stimulus money siphoned off for increased Census “public outreach” and staffing. In all, the Census will triple its total budget from 2000 to $15 billion. http://michellemalkin.com/2010/01/04...n-ad-campaign/

Ads pimping the Census have already appeared during the Golden Globe awards and will broadcast during the Daytona 500 and NCAA Final Four championships. Some $80 million will be poured into multi-lingual ads in 28 languages from Arabic to Yiddish. Racial and ethnic groups have been squabbling over their share of the pie.

The U.S. census is a decennial census mandated by our constitution. Should Americans know about it? Sure. Should the p.r. budget become a bottomless slush fund in recessionary times? Surely not.

Yet, no matter how you translate it, the Census commercials to date have been an Ishtar-style flop. Global ad agency Draftfcb, based in (Obama’s hometown) Chicago and New York, nabbed a $200 million, four-year contract to oversee the Census Bureau’s direct marketing, online, and offline general market media strategies. The agency hired comedian Christopher Guest to produce “viral” spots. One of the supposedly “humor-driven” videos produced by Guest and commissioned by Draftfcb was uploaded to YouTube a few weeks ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMGO6...layer_embedded It has racked up a measly 6,880 views.

“For a once-a-decade project involving every living American, that’s a pretty crummy return on investment,” jeered AdFreak.com’s David Griner. http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010...sus-funny.html “The video seems to be hampered by the same problem that plagues all campaigns meant to ‘go viral.—i.e., it’s simply not that funny…[T]he joke is a chuckler at best, and dragged out to three minutes, that chuckle gets spread pretty thin.” According to independent Census watchdog Stephen Morse, the feds conducted a total of 115 focus groups in 37 markets across the country before settling on the dud of an ad.
http://www.mytwocensus.com/2010/02/0...sus-questions/

That’s a hell of a lot of focus-grouping to get people to pay a little extra attention to government head-count questionnaires that will be coming straight to their mailboxes, anyway.

Taxpayers are also footing the bill for the Mother of all Government Junkets – a three-month, $15 million road trip by lucky-ducky Census Bureau flacks traveling in 13 buses and cargo vans with trailers. They’ll be partying in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and at parades across the country. In case you were wondering about the anticipated Census Road Show carbon footprint, it’s an estimated 223 metric tons.
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/ http://dailycaller.com/2010/01/18/ce...ting-campaign/

But not to worry: The eco-racketeers of an Al Gore-endorsed carbon offset firm called http://Carbonfund.org have become official government “partners” with the Census to offset all the vehicle emissions – and surf off the free publicity to garner more shady business. http://www.carbonfund.org/blog/about...ica-road-tour/

As if overpriced TV ads, online videos no one watches, and indulgent, cross-country caravans weren’t enough, the Census Bureau is also enlisting 56 million schoolchildren to pester their parents and act as junior government enumerators. Educrats are spending several billions more on math and social studies lessons peddling the Census. Overzealous Census partners such as the National Association of Latino Elected Officials have distributed recruitment propaganda urging constituents to participate because “Joseph and Mary participated in the Census.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121502928.html Goodness knows what kind of fear-mongering curricula the kids are being served in the name of counting heads – and shaping the electoral landscape.

“When times are tough, you tighten your belts,” President Obana lectured us. “You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas.” Coincidentally, the Census Road Tour junketeers just wrapped up a visit in Vegas. http://www.lasvegassun.com/photos/ga...ica-road-tour/

Next stop? You guessed it: The Super Bowl in Miami.

Taxpayers should start crying foul.

Jolie Rouge · 02-06-2010, 11:40 PM

Jimme Bise tweets:

Quote:

“Two! Four! Six! Eight!
How Do We Enumerate?
Census!
Census!
Yaaaaay Census!”

http://twitter.com/jimmiebjr/statuses/8686578715

The Census educrats are urging your schools to turn your kids into government cheerleaders — literally. http://www.census.gov/schools/materi...nsus_week.html

Johnny may not be able to add, but he’ll be able to root loudly for his right to federal funding based on the most inflated head-count numbers possible. Yay!

http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/CN...TR_508comp.pdf

http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/CN...BR_508comp.pdf