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Isabella and Lisa Miller Alexandria, Va., Jan 5, 2010 / 06:13 am (CNA).- In a case showing some ramifications of the legal recognition of same-sex unions, a Virginia woman has disobeyed a Vermont court order to turn over sole custody of her biological daughter to her former lesbian partner.Lisa Miller conceived and gave birth to her daughter Isabella through artificial insemination in 2002 while living in a same-sex civil union with Janet Jenkins in Vermont. Miller left Jenkins and homosexual practice a year later and converted to an evangelical form of Christianity, the New York Times reports.Jenkins brought a...

Lesbian Actress Rosie O'Donnell has a new girlfriend from Texas named Tracy Kachtick-Anders, who promotes herself as "a painter, doula, and mother of six." Depending on your point of view, this new relationship can be good news or bad, something happy or something sad. Tracy is the director of a Seattle-based non-profit organization called Open Arms Campaign which is dedicated to the recruitment of foster and adoptive families; which makes sense because lesbians can not reproduce as God has intended. They must adopt children like Rosie did with her ex-partner Kelli Carpenter, or use an artificial method of insemination or...

The survey of more than 1,000 parents found that a child’s background was not a factor in how quickly they learnt to talk. Working parents who put their babies in day care are just as likely to have a child whose speech develops late as those who leave their baby in front of the television.

It is often said "Children are a blessing from the Lord!" While that may indeed be true for some people, it is also possible that some children could be a curse, perhaps a form of divine payback or a result of reaping what you sow. Christians sometimes debate on whether they should use birth control (such as condoms or "the pill") within the confines of a loving marriage ... If you have ever thought about having children, or sex, or currently have children, or are having sex, then the commercial ... may be for you. Enjoy! (short commerical video attached...

GODLEY — As with all their children, Deahl and Patti Rooks pray daily for their 14-year-old foster daughter, Serenity. Not only was Serenity abused and neglected, she was born with a genetic disorder that left her with a cleft palate, no tear ducts, few teeth, and only three fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot. She also was legally blind and partially deaf. In their prayers, the Rookses have asked God to protect Serenity; to help her through various surgeries; and to keep kids from picking on her. But never have they prayed for Serenity to regain...

The city's bodegas and barbershops are secretly selling kids as young as 14 an illegal and potent mix of fruit punch and alcohol, a Daily News investigation found. "Nutcrackers," and a frozen version called the "Nemo," sell for $5 or $10 a cup - an easy buzz for teens who like the sweet taste and the cheap price. "They are poppin'. They get you sauced," said Shaquel, a 15-year-old who declined to give his last name. A News reporter was able to buy the blend of punch and vodka, white rum or tequila at five shops in upper Manhattan and...

School children from Chaghcharan district in Ghowr province participate in an award ceremony supported by ISAF forces Dec. 29 (Photo courtesy of ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan) NEWS RELEASEISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2010-01-CA–006 For Immediate Release CHAGCHARAN, Afghanistan (Jan. 2) – About 500 school children from Chaghcharan district in Ghowr province participated in an award ceremony supported by ISAF forces Dec. 29. The head of the provincial education department, local authorities and the chief of staff of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team there attended the event. "The local government put a lot of effort into facilitating education for the people...

I visited a friend’s home for an evening. I wanted to check my email. I asked the 12-year-old daughter if I could check my email via her bedroom computer. She hesitated. I wondered immediately at her hesitation.

Maj. Matt Ciancarelli (left), the Civil Affairs Group officer for 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, talks to one of the teachers of the Kharko School, Garmsir, Afghanistan, just before the opening ceremony Dec. 27, 2009. The Marines of the CAG, 2/2, helped hold an opening ceremony for the school after 45 days of repairs and five years of closure due to earlier fighting in the area. (U.S. Marines photo by Lance Cpl. Dwight A. Henderson) Ayoub Omar (left), assistant district governor of Garmsir, Afghanistan, hands a key over to and shakes the hand of Habib Omar, the head of the...

<Members of the Iraqi Police hand out book bags with school supplies for Iraqi schoolchildren during a combined humanitarian mission in the Faylaq neighborhood of Kirkuk, Dec. 22. Photo by Pfc. Jessica Luhrs, 1st Armored Division. KIRKUK — To help with their education, three hundred Iraqi children near here in the village of Faylaq were treated to a surprise donation of school necessities, Dec. 22. In an effort to improve education here, Iraqi Police and members of the Atyah Women's Organization (AWO), assisted by Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, donated the school supplies for the children.This humanitarian...

12/30/2009 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- U.S. servicemembers hosted busloads of Iraqi children for a day of fun, games and culture sharing Dec. 19, 2009, as part of the ongoing base effort to directly engage the local populace here. The event marked the fifth of its kind in the last four months, each one focused on educating and entertaining local youths. The engagements began in late August, when medical professionals invited about 30 local kids to the base for a health and wellness fair. In early October, base officials began expanding and standardizing the "Iraqi Kids Day" program,...

...Miller and Jenkins were joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. Isabella was born to Miller through artificial insemination in 2002. The couple broke up in 2003, and Miller moved to Virginia, renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian. Cohen awarded custody of the girl to Jenkins on Nov. 20 after finding Miller in contempt of court for denying Jenkins access to the girl. The judge said the only way to ensure equal access to the child was to switch custody. He also said the benefits to the child of having access to both parents would be worth the...

I’ve heard of gun owners who decided to get rid of their guns when their children were born. Their theory was that the guns were a danger to the children, and the household was therefore better off without guns. I disagree. Getting rid of guns renders one’s household more vulnerable to violent criminals, and a couple of simple steps can virtually eliminate the risk that a child will find and misuse a gun: Giving up firearms renders one’s home more vulnerable to criminals A home without a gun is a home where criminals can leverage their superior strength, the element...

Two Iraqi boys smile for the camera while recently visiting their new school in Ramadi. The Gulf Region District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handed the school over to the Iraqi Ministry of Education this week. USACE photo. RAMADI — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes the importance of education and places a high priority on school projects as part of their reconstruction mission here. With more than 1,135 school projects completed and operational, USACE finished and turned the Mazraa elementary school in the western city of Ramadi over to the Iraqi Ministry of Education this week.Paul Ijames, project...

BREMERTON, Wash., Dec. 29, 2009 – Navy Chief Petty Officer Connie Smith, a hospital corpsman, is helping to combat malnutrition in Afghanistan. Smith is involved with the Strong Food Project, which fights malnutrition among local Afghan children under the age of 5. “The project basically is to help kids from 6 to 60 months regain a normal appetite,” explained Smith, who is deployed from Naval Hospital Bremerton here to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. According to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan, the Strong Food Project began in November 2008 in the southern Afghan province of Zabul. The project is composed of...

<Pfc. Shane Dunningham, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, supervises as a wheel is fixed on a wheelchair, Dec. 3, at Forward Operating Base Delta. The wheelchairs were later distributed to the local Children's Hospital in Al Kut. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brien Vorhees, 55th Combat Camera. FOB DELTA — In an effort to help the Government of Iraq build civil capacity and essential services, U.S. Soldiers here recently assembled wheelchairs that were given to the local children's hospital in Al Kut. The 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment troops were happy to assemble the urban-style wheelchairs, specifically...

Category: Political -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pity the poor Black Congressional Caucus (CBC), its members must be so frustrated over not being able to blame a White Republican President for the mess being reported out of Haiti. A just released Pan American Development Foundation’s report brings news that “at least 225,000 children in Haiti’s have been sold into slavery as unpaid household servants.” This number was “far more than previously thought.” Question: If this is more than “previously thought,” why haven’t these very concerned Pan American Development Foundation liberals raised this issue and done something about it already? Answer: Their job is to...

“I’m not having a Christmas tree this year. There is no reason to go to all the fuss and trouble when I’m here alone. I don’t need a tree.” With that declaration, the tiny, white-haired woman turned her walker with a thump, thump, thump, as she slowly pivoted her arthritic knees to follow. Her wheezy asthmatic breathing came in short gusts as she labored across the hardwood floor. Buried in her exhales was a slight whistle of a familiar tune to keep her mind off her pain.

12/23/2009 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- Each year thousands of military children are affected by either a mother or father deploying, and when this happened to the Choate family here, it sparked an idea helps prepare military children deal with deployments. In October, Maj. Eric Choate, an Air Operations Squadron Det. 1 delivery control officer, deployed leaving behind his wife, Dorothy, and their 7-year-old son, Philip. During the course of the six months away, Mrs. Choate, the 86th Services Squadron Family Member Programs chief, noticed that Philip was having a difficult time coping with the absence of his...

A Jewish woman who married an Arab who subsequently tortured her is pleading to the Israeli government to include three of her six Jewish children, trapped in Gaza, in any deal that returns kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

A Project of Three Sides to Every Story, Inc. Imagine for a moment Lighting Candles World Wide and all at the same time. Imagine your child knowing we are Lighting Candles World Wide just for them.We have given this a lot of thought and we have come to the conclusion that everyone can light a candle at their home or in their home town at a designated place.You can be apart of Lighting Candles World Wide to show a united front for the children and their need to have both parents and grandparents in their lives.We have chosen December 18...

Could you imagine being jailed simply because you decided to opt your children out of sex education? Well, this is exactly what is happening to a number of fathers in Germany. And, if certain forces in the United States have their way, such a policy could one day find its way to our shores as well. This story is unfolding in the German state of Salzkotten, where the government has decided that all children must be indoctrinated with a state-designed curriculum — including explicit sex education that most parents would agree is inappropriate for children. Bob Unruh reports on the...

Various state representatives have initiated educational reforms to combat some of the most egregious problems in our educational system. Representative Dorothy Hukill, in particular, deserves high praise for her bill to ban the use of “restraining rooms” for special needs students in our schools. Yet there is an even greater outrage that must be outlawed. Schools have taken to calling police and arresting children over classroom disruptions. If teachers and principals cannot think of some other form of punishment, then they have no business teaching – period. As a point of reference, here are two of the most shameful news...

What Can We Do? It’s important to remember that we still have the power to evoke significant change. One look at the shift in Obama’s support in the past year clearly illustrates that the American public, when aroused, is a formidable force. There are several things we can do collectively and individually: Contact your Representatives and Senators. Demand that they demand the resignation and removal of Kevin Jennings. Cite specific examples (you are welcome to use a link to this article or directly to the links within this article) to support your demand. Forward the URL of this article to...

An excited child receives a bag of toys and school supplies from Spc. Michael Petro (right), of West Chester, Pa., as Staff Sgt. Marvin McCorvey, of Graham, N.C. manages the already growing crowd of children outside Forward Operating Base Falcon, in southern Baghdad, Dec. 12. Photo by Spc. Kelly LeCompte, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Two Soldiers with Company B, 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, recently organized a surprise toy delivery for children living here just outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Falcon. Spc. Michael Petro, an infantryman, said he had the idea to start collecting goodies...

The other morning a police car was parked beside the bus. A benign interloper, I watched intently as two unsmiling officers spoke to attentive, fear-frozen little faces inside the bus. Curious, I waited before walking to my campus office to ask the policemen what had happened. They shook their heads in quiet frustration before one responded to my question. “Several parents have reported incidents of bullying on this bus and at the elementary school. We were asked to speak to the students, to give them a lecture. I guess that’s our job.” In light of that episode and some other...

Most parents know to screen television shows for sex, violence or other negative messaging—but what about children's shows themselves? Research by the University of Alberta's Augustana Campus contends that children's programming can carry underlying political themes that may surprise parents. After analyzing 23 episodes of Thomas and Friends, a show about a train, his friends and their adventures on a fictional island, political scientist Shauna Wilton was able to identify themes that didn't seem constructive for youngsters. "While the show conveys a number of positive political values such as tolerance, listening, communicating with others and contributing to the community, it...

Muslim parents mutilate girls’ genitals, using crude instruments such as razor blades and scissors. The girl is held down often by her mother while the father cuts her genitals so that she does not have sexual desires. That makes her males’ slave for life. Parents cut their children with swords to celebrate various so-called “holy days.” Early youngsters learn to let blood, see blood and tolerate bloodletting.

Col. C.J. Read, commander of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a resident of Layton, Utah, passes out candy to students in a Taji area school as part of “Operation Back to School,” Nov. 22. Photo courtesy of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). CAMP TAJI — U.S. Soldiers here visited a local school in need to distribute school supply kits to the nearly 300 students as part of “Operation Back to School,� Nov. 22. More than 40 members of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), including Col. C.J. Read, commander of the 96th SBDE, and...

This is a reprint of an article from October which reminds us all why we must fight and WIN in Afghanistan. This is an article that says what Obama wouldn't say and can't say. This is about the human factor, life and death, not popularity politics.

Just who is a "young adult"? Common sense says it starts with legal adulthood at age 18. But elements of our society have unofficially declared that the onset of adulthood matches the onset of puberty at the very grown-up age of 12. Which is one of the reasons why parents often seem uncertain about how to parent during the critical teen years. I've come to believe that the term was designed to diminish parental influence during the years when our growing children need the most direction. It's a subtle way of telling us that we should relinquish our influence in...

Since Angelina Jolie adopted her daughter Zahara in 2005, the number of Americans adopting Ethiopian children has quadrupled. A pop-media obsession with celebrities adopting children in Africa has resulted in a queue of adopting foreigners dealing with opportunistic adoption agents in operating in a regulatory vaccuum. In Ethiopia - and beyond - its creating a heartbreaking mess.

Hussaen Haney Lateef pauses from playing with a soccer ball to pose with his ice cream during the October kids' day hosted by the U.S. Air Force on Joint Base Balad. Photo by Spc. Beth Gorenc, Task Force 38. JOINT BASE BALAD — Over the years and still today, while deployed here in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, many U.S. service members use their free time to mentor and assist the communities of Iraq’s youngest citizens and future leaders Airmen and Soldiers here hold monthly programs that bring children on base to learn from and interact with military mentors. During...

Since the war in Afghanistan commenced, we have heard of the casualties among US troops, and the enemy. We have heard stories of civilian casualties caused by US mishaps and the enemies desire for control. But in a refugee camp, 7 kilometers from the heart of Kabul, are uncounted civilian casualties.

Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Loriaux, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, surveys the foundation of a new secondary school being built in Kalour village in Kirkuk province, Nov. 22. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — U.S. Soldiers here are helping the village of Kalour construct a new secondary school to relieve overcrowded conditions through the addition of six classrooms. The new school is being built across from the Kalour Primary School and will have six classrooms, helping to alleviate overcrowding at the primary school.According to Abdul Jabbar Norey Ahmad, the Kalour Primary School principal, the addition of...

Alittle late in making those Thanksgiving flight plans? Wondering how you could possibly afford your ticket -- that is, without putting a kidney up for sale on Craigslist? Good news! You can get a free flight home on Southwest plus a $300 travel voucher. Just do what I plan to -- get on a Southwest flight in the next few days, and when it's taking off, shout over and over, "Go, plane, go!" and "I want Daddy! I want Daddy!" Pamela Root got the free flight and the voucher, plus an apology from Southwest, after her 2-year-old kept screaming those...

WASHINGTON – Faced with limited job options, many young adults are turning to an old standby to weather the recession: moving back in with mom and dad. Nearly 1 in 7 parents with grown children say they had a "boomerang kid" move back home in the past year, according to a study being released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. In a turnabout in the rite of passage in which a college graduate finds a job and an apartment, many are returning to their parents' empty nests because of tight finances or as they pursue an advanced degree. "The journey...

Students at Al Soonobar School greet Soldiers with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, Nov. 18, in Jaber Mohamed Village, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Lisa A. Cope, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). COL ADDER — U.S. Soldiers here delivered supplies and stuffed animals to students at the Soonobar School in Jaber Mohamed Village, Nov. 18. Lt. Col. Clinton Moyer, chief of civil operations with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, has worked with the school's staff and the local community for roughly a year to build a new school.Moyer, a Clearwater, Kan., native, said the new school...

Al Jazeera surfed community boards on popular Korean internet sites, and found an underground trade where pregnant women can sell their unborn children. The few cases that have surfaced have alarmed the government so much that it is believed to have formed a special task force to bring human-trafficking laws up to date, Al Jazeera's Steve Chao says.

A poster from the atheist billboard campaign. Photograph: Public Domain This week, the final phase of the atheist bus campaign will appear in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast – not on buses, but on billboards. Due to the amazing sums donated to the campaign fund by many Cif readers at the end of last year, we raised enough for a second wave of adverts – and the above posters will launch today. When, in this Cif piece back in October 2008, we asked how the extra funds should be spent, one of the issues which came up repeatedly in the...

Kids have got stuffed toy bug   By STAFF REPORTER Published: Today     NOT many of us would want to cuddle up to E.coli and Streptococcus this winter, but that's exactly what these cuddle toys are. The bizarre creatures, designed to look like the bugs that cause common colds, sore throats and coughs have become the latest craze. The fluffy GiantMicrobes are the same shape and colour as the real thing — but one million times bigger. They have been given human features such as eyes, a mouth and nose to make them more appealing to young children....

Nearly one in four children in the United States lived in a home that suffered from food insecurity in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In total, 16.7 million children, or 22.5 percent, were from families that had difficulty putting enough food on the table last year. That’s 4.3 million more children than in 2007. “Child hunger is not just a casualty of the recession,” commented the Rev. David Beckmann, president of the Christian anti-poverty group Bread for the World, in response to the data. “It was a problem before the recession, and unless we...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At least one in two children in 17 small counties in the United States is living in poverty, according to a U.S. Census survey measuring income and poverty in small areas and school districts. Ziebach County, South Dakota, an area with a population of 2,542, leads with a poverty rate for those under the age of 18 of 67.1 percent, the survey released on Wednesday showed. For all ages, the poverty rate is 54.4 percent. In at least 30 counties with populations ranging from just over 2,000 people to nearly 62,250 people, the poverty rate for all...

Children from a small school near Forward Operating Base Scania line up to receive school supplies and gifts, Oct. 27, during a Civil Military Operation conducted by the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Iraqi Army. Photo by Spc. Cory Grogan, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. FOB SCANIA — U.S. Soldiers here are working with the citizens surrounding this Forward Operating Base to ensure local children have the tools needed for a proper education. Oregon National Guard members with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 162 Infantry Regiment, based out of Springfield, Ore., from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were...

As many as 150,000 poor British children were shipped off to the colonies over three and a half centuries, often taken from struggling families under programs intended to provide them with a new start - and the Empire with a supply of sturdy white workers. Forty years after the program stopped, Britain and Australia are saying sorry to the child migrants, who were promised a better life only to suffer abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home. The British government said Sunday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would apologize for child migrant programs that sent boys and girls as...

For the last 25 years, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has aided in the search for missing children. In conjunction with all levels of law enforcement, children's organizations and John Walsh's America's Most Wanted, 492 (at last report) children have been recovered. Through the daunting tasks involved in these cases, searchers, law enforcement, and the observant citizens, work tirelessly to either bring home the missing, or provide closure.

Children’s Christian song, Dig A Little Hole and Put The Devil IN! Song sung by Granddaughter.

LEXINGTON, Mo. (Nov. 11) - Authorities on Wednesday searched a rural property in western Missouri for bodies and buried glass jars containing notes written more than 15 years ago by children who may have documented sexual abuse by five members of their own family.

A British woman said she was followed home by an off-duty police officer who overheard her yelling at her children and later received a warning. The 34-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said she threatened to smack her misbehaving children while they were shopping at a Woolston, England, grocery store in August, The Daily Mail reported Monday. The woman said two officers came to her door six weeks later and informed her an off-duty officer had overheard her during the incident and followed her home. She said a letter from the Southampton council children's services department told her...

Practitioner Admits Yes I Am Killing Unborn Children in Abortions Dallas, TX -- The late-term abortion practitioner at the new abortion center in Dallas has admitted in a shocking interview that he kills unborn children during abortions. Curtis Boyd is one of the few abortion practitioners to admit what he is doing, but he has no qualms with his job. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4549.html