"Bill to Screen, Medicate Kids May Hit Senate This Week"

Christopher Getzan, The NewStandard

   Legislation to test children for "mental health disorders" and then provide them commercial drugs — which would be highly controversial if people knew about it — could reach Congress during this month's lame duck session.

Funding for a controversial Bush administration plan to submit the nation's school children to mental health testing and drug treatment may end up reaching the Senate floor this week, as GOP congressional leaders look to clear the legislative slate in order to set the table for George W. Bush's second term.

The plan, called the New Freedom Initiative (NFI), is the keystone of a package of initiatives by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, a group of doctors and mental health care professionals established by the Bush Administration in 2002.

U.S. Says Troops Now Occupy Fallujah

Jim Krane, Associated Press

FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. military officials said Saturday that American
troops had now "occupied" the entire city of Fallujah and there were no
more major concentrations of insurgents still fighting after nearly a
week of intense urban combat.

A U.S. officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Fallujah was
"occupied but not subdued." Artillery and airstrikes also were halted
after nightfall to prevent mistaken attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces who
had taken up positions throughout the city.

"Blue States Buzz Over Secession"

Joseph Curl, Washington Times

Secession, which didn't work very well when it was tried once before,
is suddenly red hot in the blue states. In certain precincts, anyway.

One popular map circulating on the Internet shows the 19 blue
states won by Sen. John Kerry — Washington, Oregon, California,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland and the
Northeastern states — conjoined with Canada to form the "United States
of Canada." The 31 red states carried by Mr. Bush are depicted as a
separate nation dubbed "Jesusland."

The idea isn't just a joke; one top Democrat says, "The segment of
the country that pays for the federal government is now being governed
by the people who don't pay for the federal government."