Health officials are encouraging Americans to get vaccinated for the flu, as there are a significant number of flu shots available this year. Thus far, 85 million flu shots have been distributed of the 135 million doses for this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But some critics assert that it is more dangerous for Americans to acquire the flu shot than the flu.

Delaware has become the very first state to pass a controversial law that effectively outlaws the corporal discipline of children by their parents. Senate bill 234 was signed into law by Governor Jack Markell on September 12.

Pennsylvania’s New Oxford High School marching band stirred controversy earlier this week after a halftime show that commemorated the Russian Revolution included olive military-style uniforms and giant hammers and sickles. There was an immediate public outcry against the performance prompting the superintendent to issue an apology for the display. Additionally, the band has reportedly made significant changes to the halftime show.

Last week, a Chicago alderman declared that Chick-fil-A had agreed to cease funding pro-family and Christian organizations, leading some to believe that Chick-fil-A had kowtowed to public pressure. According to Chick Fil-A president Dan Cathy, however, indications that his company had come to that agreement are entirely false.

“Chick-fil-A made no such concessions, and we remain true to who we are and who we have been,” he said in a statement posted on Mike Huckabee’s website on Friday.

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has filed suit in an effort to be permitted to engage in the presidential debates set to take place between President Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Johnson has filed an anti-trust lawsuit in federal court, asserting that the two major parties are conspiring to ostracize third party candidates from the debates as well as the Oval Office.

Though Clint Eastwood’s performance at this year’s Republican National Committee was deemed questionable, his performance in his latest film, Trouble with the Curve, is not. Playing a baseball scout who is nearing the end of his career, Eastwood is rather convincing as a father who is interested in mending the broken relationship with his daughter. Trouble with the Curve is a wonderful story of redemption with an emphasis on a number of Christian values.

A study on the effect of long-term consumption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) by rats has France calling for a major investigation into GMOs. Findings from the study show evidence that there is a connection between GMO crops and tumors, as well as organ damage. The French agriculture minister is now asking European authorities to abandon the use of GMO crops, and the French government is calling for a health agency investigation.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton signed an order on Tuesday allowing Arizona police to begin immediately enforcing the provision of the state's immigration law SB 1070 that requires them to check the immigration status of individuals whom they lawfully stop. Fox News reports that the ruling is “the latest milestone in a two-year legal battle over the requirement [that] culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that upheld the provision on the grounds that it doesn’t conflict with federal law.”

Republicans in the House of Representatives have added another bill to this week’s legislative agenda, which is already cumbersome. The addition is entitled the Market Transparency and Taxpayer Protection Act and would force government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to close their non-critical assets. The bill is intended to reduce the size of the two mortgage companies.

The Federal Reserve has announced that it would begin yet another round of quantitative easing, a maneuver that has caused the independent and nationally recognized statistical rating organization Egan-Jones to lower the U.S. government to “AA-“ from “AA.” Egan-Jones specifically cited the third round of quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve, indicating it would hurt the U.S. economy and the nation’s credit quality.