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States Shun Funds For Abstinence Education

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:47:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

(AP) Skeptical states are shoving aside millions of federal dollars for abstinence education, walking away from the program the Bush administration touts for slowing teen sexual activity.

Barely half the states are still in, and two more say they are leaving.

Some $50 million has been budgeted for this year, and financially strapped states might be expected to want their share. But many have doubts that the program does much, if any good, and they're frustrated by chronic uncertainty that it will even be kept in existence. They also have to chip in state money in order to receive the federal grants.

A federal tally shows that participation in the program is down 40 percent over two years, with 28 states still in.

The abstinence-only grants have been controversial from the start.

Tags: sex, sexuality, bush, education, abstinence, teens

Bikinis make men stupid: Scientific proof

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:54:19 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

You may have known this all along, but now it has been demonstrated scientifically: bikinis make men stupid.

This month’s issue of the Journal of Consumer Research features a paper titled “Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice,” which is a neuroeconomist’s (definition in a moment) way of saying that men don’t make good decisions while checking out pretty girls in bikinis.

In the “bikini” experiments, Belgian researchers conducted a series of tests on 358 young men.

“I observed in my studies that men are more likely to pick a smaller immediate reward over a larger later reward,” Bram van den Bergh, the study’s lead author, tells me. “Hence I do think that men might spend money on something they might otherwise not purchase. Men would become more impulsive in any domain after exposure to sexual cues.”

Tags: men, behavior, women, science, sex

Elderly Pair To Be First Gay Married Couple in California

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:24:03 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

More than 55 years after they fell in love, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin plan to become one of the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in California.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will officiate the private ceremony in his City Hall office tomorrow before 50 invited guests.

He picked 87-year-old Martin 84-year-old Lyon for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as gay rights pioneers.

The couple co-founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis — the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization.

Martin and Lyon were also the first couple wed in February 2004 when Newsom decided to challenge California's marriage laws by issuing licenses to same-sex couples.

Tags: gay, gay marriage, lesbian, marriage

Social networks more powerful than thought?

Mon, 26 May 2008 16:25:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Facebook, MySpace and other Web sites have unleashed a potent new phenomenon of social networking in cyberspace. But at the same time, a growing body of evidence is suggesting that traditional social networks play a surprisingly powerful and underrecognized role in influencing how people behave.

Taken together, these studies and others are fueling a growing recognition that many behaviors are swayed by social networks in ways that have not been fully understood. And it may be possible, the researchers say, to harness the power of these networks for many purposes, such as encouraging safe sex, getting more people to exercise or even fighting crime.

"Public policy in general treats people as if they are sort of atomized individuals and puts policies in place to try to get them to stop smoking, eat right, start exercising or make better decisions about retirement, et cetera. What we see in this research is that we are missing a lot of what is happening if we think only that way."

Tags: social networking, facebook, myspace, livejournal

Child porn is not protected speech: Supreme Court

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:36:02 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a law aimed at preventing child pornography, ruling a provision dealing with "pandering" illicit material does not violate constitutional protections on free speech.

The 7-2 ruling rejected suggestions the law is overly broad, and will stifle a range of expressive or artistic material that is not obscene.

The case involves Michael Williams, convicted in a Florida federal court for promoting child pornography on the Internet.

A three-judge panel concluded the provision was "substantially overbroad and vague," and that "non-commercial, non-inciteful promotion of illegal child pornography, even if repugnant, is protected free speech." In other words, the judges said merely talking about child porn is not necessarily criminal.

Souter wrote that a double standard exists since those pandering images not involving minors engaging in simulated sex could now be prosecuted, but possession of those images would not be subject to prosecution.

Tags: child, children, porn, free speech, law

Mr Sulu's getting hitched....

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:15:50 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

GEORGE Takei, the original Sulu from "Star Trek," is the latest Hollywood star to announce that he is taking advantage of California's new gay-marriage ruling.

Over the weekend, Takei announced on his Web site that he and long-time partner Brad Altman will get married this summer.

"Our California dream is reality," he wrote. "At long last, the barrier to full marriage rights for same-sex couples has been torn down."

Takei, who also had a reoccurring role on "Heroes" last year, first came out in 2005 in order to talk against a veto by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of a same-sex marriage law.

Tags: gay, marriage, gay marriage, sexuality

Age of pregnant FLDS 'girls' disputed

Sat, 17 May 2008 01:59:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.

But in the past week, the state has twice been forced to admit "girls" who gave birth while in state custody are actually adults. One was 22 and said she showed state officials a Utah birth certificate shortly after she and more than 400 minors were seized from the West Texas ranch in an April raid.

The state has in custody two dozen other young mothers and others whose ages are in dispute. If most of them also turn out to be adults, it would be a severe blow to the state's claim of widespread sexual abuse.

Parker said the state ignored evidence the young mothers presented, including birth certificates and Social Security cards.

Tags: flds, religion, belief, marriage, children, pregnancy, teen, girls, texas, abuse

Polygamy showdown: balancing child welfare, religious freedom

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:55:43 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Texas officials are trying hard to keep the focus on child abuse — and away from religion — in the custody battle involving 437 children seized from a polygamist religious sect this month.

If only it were so simple.

Like it or not, this conflict is about far more than the issue of older men having sex with under-age girls in violation of Texas law. It’s also about religion — specifically the religious culture of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS).

Defenders of the church argue that the raid was an overreaction to one telephone call (that may have been a hoax) and was motivated by long-standing animus toward the FLDS community. The state counters that dramatic measures are justified when evidence points to children trapped in a religious culture that promotes child abuse.

The only way to sort out the truth, and determine the fate of the children, will be to put the FLDS way of life on trial.

Tags: religion, belief, rights, children, polygamy, sect, texas, culture

Wis. school district will allow religious expression in art

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:54:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Tomah School District has agreed to permit religious expression in student artwork in response to a federal lawsuit.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group, sued the district in March on behalf of a Tomah High School student. ADF alleged an art teacher gave the student a zero on an assigned drawing of a landscape because the student included a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love."

The teacher cited a class policy that prohibited any expressions of violence, blood, sex or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit alleged the student was treated unfairly because of his religion.

Students still will be barred from including gang symbols, violence, blood and sex in their work. But they will be allowed to express their religious beliefs as long as it satisfies the assignment criteria.

Tags: art, artist, religion, public, school, christian, legal, policy, belief

CPS: Most Sect's Girls Have Been Pregnant

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:32:24 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

31 Of 53 Teen Girls Taken From FLDS Polygamist Compound Have Children Or Are Pregnant, Officials Say

A total of 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 are in state custody after a raid 3½ weeks ago at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Of those girls, 31 either have children or are pregnant, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar. Two are pregnant now, CPS officials have said in court; it was unclear whether either of those two already have children.

"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," he said.

State officials took custody of all 463 children at the ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying a pattern of teen girls forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.

"I do have serious questions about how they are determining age in there," said Parker, who is trying to get a better count from FLDS families.

Tags: flds, polygamy, sect, religion, belief, children, abuse, pregnancy, teen

'House of horror' children never saw daylight

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:29:09 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Three children freed from a cellar in which their mother had been imprisoned and raped by her own father for 24 years had never seen daylight, police in Austria have confirmed.

Police spokesman Franz Polzer told CNN that 73-year-old Josef Fritzl admitted holding his daughter, Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, hostage in the windowless cell and fathering seven children by her.

Fritzl explained Elisabeth's disappearance by saying she had run away from home, a story backed up by letters he forced Elisabeth to write, including one that begged her parents not to look for her.

Elisabeth said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984 -- weeks before she was reported missing -- her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room, she told police.

For the next 24 years, she was constantly raped by her father, resulting in the six surviving children, she said, according to the police statement.

Tags: family, abuse, children, austria, sex, rape

When God goes to the office

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:37:13 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Religion, like sex and politics, once was considered inappropriate watercooler talk. Not anymore. Prayer sessions, religious diversity groups and chaplains like Reece, along with rabbis and imams, have become more common across corporate America in the past decade.

Fifty percent of those questioned in a 2002 Gallup poll said religious expression should be tolerated in the work place while another 28 percent thought it should be encouraged. That's compared to 21percent who didn't see a place for religious expression on the job.

"Faith is coming out of the closet at work," says David W. Miller, author of "God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement." "It could be as simple as using a Buddha screen saver or having a cross at your desk."

Experts like Tulin recommend that companies create faith-friendly policies through a "religious-diversity lens." They say employees should be up front about their religious needs.

Tags: god, work, religion, office

Affirmative action ban heads for ballot

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:16:22 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Ballot initiatives have been proposed in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma that would give voters the chance to decide whether they want to do away with affirmative action in government-funded projects and public schools.

Ward Connerly, who heads the American Civil Rights Coalition -- a nonprofit organization working to end racial and gender preferences -- and the main backer of the ballot initiatives, says the 37 word initiative would read: "The state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting."

Connerly, who is of African-American and American Indian descent, said affirmative action causes resentment. He criticized cases in which a Caucasian student might be denied a college slot in favor of a black student with a lower grade-point average.

Tags: race, government, affirmative action, education, school

India gives incentives for girl children to stem female foeticide

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:02:51 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.earthtimes.org

The Indian government announced Monday a slew of incentives for poor families with girl children in an effort to stem the practice of female foeticide. Under the scheme named Dhan Laxmi after the Hindu goddess of wealth, poor families with a girl child would be given cash incentives for registration of birth, immunization, enrolment in school and delaying marriage till she is 18, India's Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury said.

In addition the girl child would be provided an insurance cover of 100,000 rupees at birth and the rest of the incentives would come to a cash package of about 200,000 rupees, Chowdhury was quoted as saying in an official release.

Modern sex selection technology combined with a traditional preference for boys are the main reasons for the skewered ration.

Chowdhury said the aim of the Dhan Laxmi scheme was to make people value the girl child. "People worship the goddess of wealth in temples, but not the girl child at home," she said.

Tags: india, girl, birth, death, goddess, murder

Obama Uses Jesus' Sermon to Bolster Gay Civil Unions

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:54:12 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

Barack Obama defended same-sex civil unions Sunday by referring Christians against the practice to look at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which he contends supports gay civil unions.

"I believe in civil unions that allow a same-sex couple to visit each other in a hospital or transfer property to each other," Obama said, referring to unions that provide all the legal benefits of marriage but the title, according to Christian Broadcasting Network. "I don't think it should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state.

“If people find that controversial, then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans,” the Democratic presidential candidate contends. “That's my view. But we can have a respectful disagreement on that."

Tags: gay marriage, civili unions, gay, legal, bible, obama