As you've probably noticed, the drama of a potential government shutdown and Obamacare's October launch has been heating up across the news.

See how these interlinked topics are playing out from Left to Right here and here. And for clarifying facts, these articles may interest you:

• 8 answers on Obamacare and the shutdown, CNN (Center)

• FactChecking 'Pernicious' Obamacare Claims, FactCheck.org (Center)

This week we also wanted to share a story that's interesting because it didn't initially receive much attention in the news until a video went viral- yet it affects all public schools and has upset folks on the Right and the Left.

It's about an education program called Common Core. Most citizens are not familiar with it, but a father in Maryland was arrested while loudly questioning the program at a school meeting this week and the video of that event got some attention. 

Snippet from Unrated Source: Slate
What is Common Core and why is everyone—right, left—so mad about it?

...while it’s not a federal program, it certainly has strong federal support, enough to make it a controversial program that some Republican politicians have felt the need to back away from.

 ...Liberal opponents describe Common Core as a crude mandate that’s going to push arts and science even further out of schools...and end up being used to rate schools and teachers unfairly.  

Or, as former George H.W. Bush Assistant Education Secretary Checker Finn likes to say: “Conservatives hate anything with the word ‘national’ in it, and liberals hate anything with the word ‘test.’ ” 

Snippet from the Right: The Blaze 
(Opinion) Common Core: A Lesson Plan for Raising Up Compliant, Non-Thinking Citizens 

When viewed in light of the government’s ongoing attempts to amass power at great cost to Americans—in terms of free speech rights, privacy, due process, etc.—the debate over Common Core State Standards, which would transform and nationalize school curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade, becomes that much more critical.

Snippet from the Left: Huffington Post
Robert Small, Maryland Parent, Arrested At School Meeting After Questioning Common Core 

"I want to know how many parents here are aware that the goal of Common Core standards isn't to prepare our children for full-fledged universities, it's to prepare them for community college," 46-year-old parent Robert Small shouted Thursday night during a school meeting between parents, teachers and administrators...

Find these stories and related news here.