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PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, JULY 22, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Life without children is a growing social reality for an increasing number of American adults. This is the conclusion of the 2006 edition of "The State of Our Unions" report on marriage, released last week by the National Marriage Project. The project is based at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Up until recently, for most people, the greater part of adult life was spent with young children forming part of the household. A combination of marrying later, less children and longer life expectancy means, however, that a significantly greater part of...

In the name of the fatherhttp://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1033732006 http://tinyurl.com/ozefu DANI GARAVELLI Sun 16 Jul 2006 ONCE upon a time, I believed it didn't matter a whit whether a baby was born into a family with one parent or two. Or with two mothers or two fathers rather than a mother and a father. Why should it? What was important was not the number or gender of the parents, but whether or not they were loving and attentive. That was, of course, before I had any of my own. Now I realise that bringing up children is a challenge even for two well-meaning...

The debate about neonatal circumcision is over. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), neonatal circumcision is the result of ignorance, bad medical practice and American social and cultural pressure. Regarding the three most commonly cited justifications for neonatal circumcision (penile cancer, venereal disease and penile hygiene), the AAP now states that the benefits are negligible, which means that the majority of American men are walking around without foreskins for no good reason. Yet, the barbaric practice shows no sign of abating, and for this reason I plan to shed some light on the cultural dark spot of circumcision....

One exciting thing about the free market is that you can't predict what the market will create. Big-government advocates tell you exactly what will happen when their plans work (as if they actually would work!), but we who trust the free market can only say that people will compete and good ideas will win. We do know that competition works. It works because it gives people the chance to be creative...

A Fostoria (Ohio) man pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the drowning-deaths of his 10-month-old twins. On August 7, Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, left his sons unattended in a bathtub for 30 minutes while he played a “computer game” three rooms away. One report suggests that Kleinmark was playing a Game Boy Advance, which as we know, is portable and could have been just as easily used in the bathroom while supervising the infants. Kleinmark is facing up to 10 years in prison

David and Tonia Parker of Lexington, Mass., saw a red flag when their son came home from kindergarten last January with a "diversity book bag" that included Who ' s in a Family, a book promoting acceptance of gay marriage. The Parkers thought it was their right, as parents, to decide when and how to introduce their son to the issue of homosexuality. The Parkers believed the public school, Estabrook, is right to be teaching tolerance of gays but wrong in raising the subject in kindergarten and then indoctrinating 5-year-olds on gay marriage. Tonia Parker says gay parents are allowed...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, September 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Utah Supreme Court heard Tuesday the case of a mother who wants a lower court decision granting parental standing to her former partner, a lesbian, overturned. “I am here to protect my child,” Cheryl Barlow said. “That's the only reason.” In a courtroom with standing room only, Barlow’s attorney argued that, “This case is about the right of a natural mother to decide what is best for her child. My client decided what she thought was best for her 2-year-old child and left a relationship and a lifestyle,” said Alliance...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has approved abortions in cases where themother's life is in danger or the child would be handicapped, the official IRNA news agency is reporting. "It is the first time in the past 26 years that parliament dared to debate such a controversial law," the agencysaid on Tuesday, referring to the period since the 1979 Islamic revolution. IRNA remarked that opponents of the bill argued many disabled people had played important roles in societyand that the legislation was open to abuse. Proponents of the law underlined the financial drain of handicapped children on families. IRNA...

Please sign the New Hampshire petition for Protection of Parenting Equality. And please visit www.nhcustody.org for an education on the problems in New Hampshire and across the country relating to how the family courts continue to sever the parent/child relationship after a no-fault divorce or separation and are thus creating huge numbers of NH and American children with only a single parent. Equal parenting rights require protections explicitly written into our states' child custody statutes, even though these same [parental] rights have been historically upheld as amongst the most sacred liberties protected by the constitution's 14th amendment equal protection clause....

GRANITE CITY - A Sothern Illinois woman was arrested last week (March 17) after trying to intervene on behalf of her 14-year old daughter's effort to have an abortion. The girl was allegedly taken to an abortion clinic by the mother of the man allegedly to have impregnated the 14-year old. According to the girl's mother, her 14-year old daughter was called off from school in Madison County by a woman posing as the girl's “grandmother.” The woman took the girl from her home only minutes before the girl’s mother returned home from work. It was later determined that the...

Japanese police questioned three siblings today after it was discovered they had been living with the decomposed corpse of their father for nearly a decade. Police found the body of Kyujiro Kanaoka lying on a futon bed at the family’s home in Itami, western Japan, said a police spokesman. Kanaoka’s three elderly children, all in their 70s or older, told police they thought their father was still alive but that one of them recently had consulted a relative about the possibility that he might be dead, the spokesman said. Police were investigating the cause of Kanaoka’s death. Judging from the...

A St. Paul mother and her live-in boyfriend are accused of locking the woman's 11-year-old daughter in a chain-link dog kennel in a warehouse basement, leaving her cold and, one night, naked. Deborah L. Cameron and Eric Bare appeared in Ramsey County District Court on Wednesday, each charged with two counts of unreasonable restraint of a child, a gross misdemeanor.

Meet Douglas Dycus. The 40-year-old Florida man was charged yesterday with felony child abuse and domestic battery for allegedly using a stun gun to discipline his 14-year-old son. Dycus, an engineer with a Palm Beach firm, admitted to cops that he used the electrical device on the boy when the child was wrestling with a brother and holding up the family's departure from their home last month.

Group of Baptist families face possible loss of children to state "German Christians who choose to homeschool their children are coming under continued enforcement action by the government, with one group of families fearful they may lose custody of their kids..." [ Snip ] "...The families are part of one of two Baptist denominations in the area that reportedly split over the issue of whether or not to continue homeschooling the younger generation..." [ Snip ] "...Guenther says if the parents' attempt to negotiate with government officials fails, the parents could have their children removed from their homes. Thirteen children...

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!

Union Sent Threatening Letter To Parent Who Complained POSTED: 5:16 pm EST November 18, 2004 UPDATED: 5:37 pm EST November 18, 2004 LETTER: Teachers' Union Responds To Parent Who Complained (PDF file) SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- Channel 9 has obtained a letter from the teachers' union to a parent who complained Kathy Garrett beat her child years ago. Carol Goings was shocked by the threatening letter she received.

================================================== MORE THAN PATRON OF HOMES, IT'S TIME FOR ST. JOSEPH TO GAIN HIGHEST OF RECOGNITION By Michael H. Brown Much of the time, it is baffling. While St. Joseph is widely recognized by Catholics (many churches and religious orders are named for him, as are many people), he has remained in the background when it comes to intercession. Oh, his prayers are sought. He is on the list. But he has not been granted recognition in proportion to who he was -- the father of Jesus while He was on earth. Perhaps St. Joseph is kept in the background...

North dons its gay apparel By David Ertischek / Staff Writer Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Usually at 7:50 on a high school morning, sleepy faces struggle to keep their heads up. But last Wednesday at the Newton North Little Theatre, all eyes were focused on four speakers leading a panel titled "Life Outside the Gender Norm." The panel was one of six events occurring during Newton North's Annual Transgender, Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day, known as ToBGLAD Day. ToBGLAD Day has sparked protest in the past from some Newton parents who say they're not adequately informed about the day's...

Parent Claims Drama Teacher Threatened Son School District Says It's Investigating POSTED: 2:41 PM CST January 9, 2004 UPDATED: 3:01 PM CST January 9, 2004 OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The Blue Valley School District has opened an investigation after a drama teacher allegedly threatened a student. KMBC's Krista Tatschl reported that a student at Blue Valley North High School told his mother that his teacher threatened him. "He was shocked and scared," said Christena, whose son was allegedly threatened. Christena asked that KMBC not use her last name to protect her son. Christena told Tatschl that she knows discussions in...

A parent of a high school student asked local school officials last week (Nov. 14) to reconsider a Sept. 22 decision that paved the way for students to choose clothing that displays the Confederate flag. Stella Moore told members of the Jackson County Board of Education that her son had heard racial slurs at Smoky Mountain High School and described an incident where students ran across the football field (during a pep rally) carrying a Confederate flag and yelling "KKK." "Your decision was made without regard for the feelings of those who think that flag represents racism and slavery," Moore...