Free Republic

Discarded Americans are dying at younger ages while the federal government fills jobs with young and healthy migrants, according to data provided by the New York Times. “The America of those without college degrees has been scarred by death and staggeringly shorter life spans,” said the October 3 op-ed by Princeton professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton. Their op-ed said: Almost two-thirds of American adults do not have college degrees, and they have become increasingly excluded from good jobs, political power and social esteem. As their lives and livelihoods are threatened, their longevity declines. In the 1970s, American life expectancy...

Dioceses across the US have been bombarded with questions about the annulment news from the Rome. The Diocese of Madison, Wis. has already released a timely document (Frequently Asked Questions Re: Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus) that should prove helpful to Catholics seeking an annulment and Church leaders concerned about setting realistic expectations... Who qualifies for the shorter process? Answer: The shorter process is designed only for those rare cases when it can be employed without injustice. Three strict qualifications have to be met. Both spouses have to petition for it together, or if not, then the other party must at...

ROME, Ga. (BP) -- A "Personal Lifestyle Statement" for employees of Shorter University has placed the Georgia Baptist school in the news. The lifestyle stipulations, which employees of the university must sign or risk termination, is one of four new policy statements adopted by the university's board of trustees. The lifestyle statement includes requirements that employees: -- agree with the university's Statement of Faith. -- be active members of a local church. -- "reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality." -- abstain from alcohol in...

Shorter University in Rome, Ga., is requiring its employees to certify that they are not gay as a condition of employment. All 200 employees of the Baptist university, located about 65 miles northwest of Atlanta, received a "personal lifestyle statement" last Wednesday, which they must sign or risk being fired. Employees must pledge to be "active members of a local church" and to abstain from, among other things, drug use, premarital sex and homosexual behavior. "I reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality," the statement...

Lounging in front of the tube not only eats up hours in your day, it may also shorten your life, according to a new study. The study, which looked at the connection between watching TV and death for 8,800 Australian adults, found that each hour of TV-viewing was associated with an 11 percent increased risk of death from any cause, and an 18 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. These findings held true even after the researchers took into account other factors that could raise the risk of dying, such as age, gender, waist circumference and exercise habits....

Shorter Women May Have Very Long Lives: Gene Mutation FoundA gene linked to living a very long life -- to 90 and beyond -- is also associated with short stature in women. Daughters of centenarians were 2.5 cm shorter than female controls. (Credit: iStockphoto/Alexander Raths) ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2008) — A gene linked to living a very long life -- to 90 and beyond -- is also associated with short stature in women, according to new research. Mutations in genes governing an important cell-signaling pathway influence human longevity, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have...

A study suggests that women who are left-handed have a higher risk of dying, particularly from cancer and cerebrovascular disease - damage to an artery in the brain or an artery that supplies blood to the brain. While it could be a chance finding and the evidence is far from conclusive, numerous reports have associated left-handedness with various disorders and, in general, a shorter life span, Dutch researchers note in their report in the journal Epidemiology.Early grave? Sexy Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is famously left-handed

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – The Defense Department is committed to implementing changes in policy that will mean fewer, shorter and more predictable deployments for reserve-component troops, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the National Guard’s 54 adjutants general today. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, left, chief of the National Guard Bureau, speaks with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during the National Guard Bureau's Senior Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C., Feb. 27. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking to the Adjutants General Association of the United States mid-winter conference, Gates said his...

The California Assembly is betting that kids learn more with small books. Lawmakers voted Thursday to ban school districts from purchasing textbooks longer than 200 pages. The bill, believed to be the first of its kind nationwide, was hailed by supporters as a way to revolutionize education. Critics lambasted Assembly Bill 756 as silly. "This bill is really the epitome of micromanagement," said Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge. "(It's) absolutely ridiculous." "With all due respect," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, "this Legislature worries more about the rules than they do about whether children learn." But Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, a Los Angeles...