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May 17, 2012 (Zenit.org) – In 1960, the combined oral contraceptive pill was first approved for use in the United States. Seven years later, “the Pill” was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, illustrating its enormous societal impact[1]. Roughly two generations later, statistics from the United Nations show that, within more developed nations worldwide, just under 16% of “partnered” women use contraceptive pills, a number which does not include usage among single women[2]. However, even as the popularity of oral contraceptives remains high, the drugs themselves have been evolving in response to further discoveries about the human reproductive system,...

Americans are well aware by now that Obamacare was sloppily written, a fact that has resulted in numerous unintended consequences that will adversely affect the nation. In light of a recent report from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the newly created Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) can be added to the list of poorly thought-out provisions of the new law. A temporary reinsurance program to run through 2014, the ERRP is an attempt to encourage companies to continue employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Heritage analyst Brian Blase pointed out in a...

A massive volcanic eruption that occurred in the distant past killed off much of central India's forests and may have pushed humans to the brink of extinction, according to a new study that adds evidence to a controversial topic. The Toba eruption, which took place on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia about 73,000 years ago, released an estimated 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere that blanketed the skies and blocked out sunlight for six years. In the aftermath, global temperatures dropped by as much as 16 degrees centigrade (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and life on Earth plunged deeper...

Debates over Iraq and whether the United States should immediately pullout or should have even gone in the first place have raged on for years. Yet Christian leaders are increasingly calling attention to the too-often overlooked Iraqi people, urging Americans to halt their arguments among themselves to look at the effects of their actions on the suffering people in Iraq. America has long claimed to be the world’s leading champion for freedom, but what they consider freedom in the United States has adverse effects overseas, noted the pastor of one of Iraq’s largest churches. In the first panel of Iraq...

WASHINGTON - The effect of deforestation on climate depends on three things — location, location and location. Environmentalists concerned about global warming have long encouraged preservation of forests because they absorb carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. But the issue, like most things, may be more complicated than it first appears. New research in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirms the effectiveness of tropical forests at reducing warming by absorbing carbon. But it suggests that in snowy latitudes, forests may actually increase local warming by absorbing solar energy that...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Teens who play violent video games show increased activity in areas of the brain linked to emotional arousal and decreased responses in regions that govern self-control, a study released on Tuesday found. The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to record tiny metabolic changes in brain activity in 44 adolescents who were asked to perform a series of tasks after playing either a violent or nonviolent video game for 30 minutes. The children, with no history of behavior problems, ranged in age from 13 to 17. Half played a T-rated first-person shooter game called "Medal of Honor:...

LOS ANGELES Ray Watson figured the ban on carrying liquids onto flights that forced thousands of travelers to discard cosmetics and other items would prove a boon for one industry: makers of toiletries. "I can't imagine all the millions of dollars that the Colgate-Palmolives are going to reap from this," said Watson, 40, of Denver, as he waited to pick up his luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. "The Dumpsters in Phoenix were filled with shampoo and toothpaste." U.S. authorities banned the carrying of nearly all liquids onto flights Thursday after British authorities arrested 24 people in an alleged plot...

How long have the scientists known about the predicted pole-shift, expected date and likely causes, outcomes?

Federal health advisers are looking into the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took Tamiflu, part of their annual safety review of the anti-flu medication and seven other drugs. There are no reports of deaths in the United States or Europe associated with Tamiflu. "Based on the information we have right now, we cannot say definitively there is a causal relation between the drug and the children's death," Dr. Murray Lumpkin, the deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Thursday. The Japanese deaths were detailed in papers released in advance of a Food and Drug Administration advisory...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative in the upcoming special election would create some closer races — even in the populous Bay Area and Los Angeles Democratic strongholds — but would not shift decisive power to Republicans, a new report will show today. The study by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley is foreshadowed in research papers obtained by the Oakland Tribune and roughly matches previous findings by institutes at Claremont McKenna College and the University of Southern California. In a study of one East Bay legislative seat, currently held by Sen. Liz Figueroa,...

Energy: China's burning ambition Source: Copyright 2005, Nature Date: June 30, 2005 Byline: Peter Aldhous Abstract The economic miracle that is transforming the world's most populous nation is threatened by energy shortages and rising pollution. It also risks plunging the planet's climate into chaos. Peter Aldhous reports. China is booming, and its hunger for energy is insatiable. For its people, the dismal air quality across much of the country is a constant reminder of its reliance on coal and other dirty fuels. When Nature visited Beijing to meet the technocrats responsible for China's energy policy, the city was blanketed in...

WRITTEN ON THE WIND – PART 2 : Iraqi USE of WMD During Present Conflict In Part One , it was stated the Iraqis had launched theater ballistic missiles-some loaded with “kill shots” of dangerous biotoxins: anthrax, botulinum, ricin,and aflatoxin. These didn’t hit any Coalition troops – in large part, because the troops weren’t where Saddam expected them to be ( thanks,in part, to a clever deception carried off by US Counter-Intelligence agents.) There was another factor: bad weather. On March 25,2003-right after the Iraqi missile launches,one of the worst sandstorms in recent memory swept through the country: slowing the...

This interactive tool illustrates the devastating effects of a nuclear weapon detonation in selected U.S. cities. The size of the weapon and the height at which it is detonated are the two main factors which affect the range of destruction. The size of the bomb can be chosen by selecting the weapon's yield, as measured in kilotons (KT) or megatons (MT) of TNT equivalent. There is also the option of having the bomb delivered using an automobile at ground level or using an aircraft flying at an altitude which produces the widest area of destruction.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Please list the ways this publication expresses it's feelings towards our country.

JUNEAU, Alaska - A team of scientists is traveling a 600-mile stretch of the Inside Passage this month to study the effects of cruise ship waste and other contaminants in Southeast Alaska waters. The $450,000 project is part of a nationwide look at the environmental health of coastal waters. During the 35-day trip, the scientists are traveling by trawler and testing the water between Dixon Entrance and Icy Bay. They are collecting sediment, groundfish, invertebrates and water samples that later will be analyzed in federal laboratories for the presence of metals, organic chemicals and other pollutants. "We've run into a...

Act as if you will. Act as if you are serious about attaining your dream. Walk, talk, and act enthusiastically, creating a single-minded attitude of success toward the results you desire. One of America's pioneering psychologists, William James, said that the greatest discovery is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind. What he advocated was that if you act as if you are what you want to be, then you will become that. This "act as if" principle is a powerful method of converting your consciousness from conditioned habits into specific positive behaviors that...

'No cosmic ray climate effects' By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent Clouds' role in climate change remains contested The principal cause of recent climate change is not cosmic rays but human activities, a group of scientists says. They say an article last year linking cosmic rays and changes in temperature was "scientifically ill-founded". They say the authors' methods were open to doubt and their conclusions wrong, surprising experts with their claims. In Eos, the journal of the American Geophysical Union, the 11 Earth and space scientists insist that greenhouse gases remain the chief climate suspect. In the climate...

Steve, 25, Jamie, 23, and Amit, 30, all liked, or like, a smoke. Steve tried cannabis at school and was smoking 10 to 15 joints every evening by the time he was at college. He lost his job and started behaving erratically. One night, drunk and stoned in a club, he ate a lump of hashish resin and woke up hearing voices. He is still being treated for schizophrenia. For several years Jamie had smoked 20 joints, often of powerful skunk, a week. He holds down a well-paying office job and says that he has no problems with motivation or...

Africa suffering worst effects of global warming By Steve Conno, Science Editor 29 July 2003 Global warming is affecting Africa more than the industrialised world despite being the inhabited continent least to blame for the greenhouse effect. A study by scientists at Britain's Hadley Centre has found that the tell-tale signature of global warming is significantly stronger in Africa than in other continents such as Europe and America. The researchers believe that industrial pollution, which emits the carbon dioxide that exacerbates the greenhouse effect, also offers some localised protection against climate warming. But because Africa is not as industrialised as...

Students at a Norwegian school are to be given an extra two hours in bed each morning next month - to help them cope with their hangovers. A school in Rogaland says students can skip their first two lessons during their celebrations in the run-up to their final exams. Final year students traditionally spend much of the three weeks before their exams at a series of drunken parties. Known as the 'RUSS' celebrations, the 18-year-olds party in special buses kitted out with beds, bars and music systems. But the parties take their toll. Last year there were reports of students...

Back in the last century, in high school American government class, we actually had to be able to recite and discuss each of the first ten amendments to our Constitution. I still remember reciting the Fourth Amendment in class. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." The important words, we learned, were that...

Point 1: Time stands still for Rings of Power"'How long do you think I shall have here?' said Frodo to Bilbo when Gandalf had gone."'Oh, I don't know. I can't count days in Rivendell,' said Bilbo...."This exchange, recorded in "The Ring Goes South", is the first indication that Frodo Baggins and his friends have come into the presence of a Ring of Power other than the One Ring which Frodo has carried for many years (since Bilbo left the Shire). The Rings of Power were created to hold back Time, or to delay its effects. But what was the range...

Date: Posted 5/2/2002 DEET Brain Effects In Animals Warrant Caution DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke University Medical Center pharmacologist is recommending caution when using the insecticide DEET, after his animal studies last year found the chemical causes diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes in rats after frequent and prolonged use. Mohamed Abou-Donia, Ph.D. has also called for further government testing of the chemical's safety in short-term and occasional use, especially in view of Health Canada's recent decision to ban products with more than 30 percent of the chemical. Every year, approximately one-third of the U.S. population uses insect repellents...