A New York Times blog post by Lisa Belkin, “A Bully at Age 4?” raises the question, “How young is too young to be a bully?”
A comment from a parent described a big 4-year old child hitting other 4-year old kids at school, not allowing other kids to play if he didn’t feel like it, […]

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I have to ask myself what a little 5 year old child could do to make someone want to kill her. For the life of me I can’t find an answer that would be a good enough excuse. As a Mother of two I know first hand how children can get on your nerves but […]

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Thalidomide is the drug behind one of the largest medicine linked disasters of the twentieth century. Back in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s, it was used to treat severe morning sickness in pregnant women in Europe, resulting in 10 thousand children being born with missing limbs.
Apparently, one of the side effects of the medicine was to […]

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All Catholic Filipinos have a devotion to “Mama  Mary”. It’s a cultural thing.
Americans tend to be individualistic in their approch to religion, so tend to parse Bible verses.  But the Philippines, until recently, was still a country of peasants, where religion was taught to children by stories and fiestas.
So Jesus was “Kuya Jesus”, older brother […]

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Alyssa Bustamante is only 15 years old. Still a child yet she committed a horrendous crime with reports claiming it was just so she could know what it feels like to kill someone. She strangled, stabbed and slit Elizabeth Olten’s throat and then hid her body in a wooded area close to both of their […]

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Time magazine has an article about overprotective parents. The Title is appropriate:
The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
Fair enough.
My problem is how the article is framed:
…we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old’s “pencil-holding deficiency,” … We hovered over every school, playground […]

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There is nothing I enjoy more than reading a book that is described by the publisher and critics as “controversial” or “provocative.”  “The Gentiles, A History of Sri Lanka 1498-1833,” a carefully researched and well written book by Agnes Padmini Thambynayagam is such a book.  As you may have guess by her name, Ms. Thambynayagam […]

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In July 2008 we all remember the infamous 911 call in Orlando made from Cindy Anthony reporting the disappearance of her then 2 year old granddaughter, Caylee Anthony.
Now the stranger part of this call is the fact that the child had been missing for 31 days and the mother claimed the baby’s “Nanny” took the […]

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When I was working as a physician in the US, our Federal clinic’s policy was to order mammograms on all women starting at age 4o.
Why was this important? Because there is some indications that mammogram and early diagnosis increases the cure rate for breast cancer in young women.
This statement is not as obvious as you […]

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This just in from TJ Hart of WSKY 97.3 - Simon
Ever since 97.3 The Sky and Bloggernews.net first published the public records regarding the dismissed bar complaint against a former attorney involved in the missing 6-year-old Haleigh Cummings dealings that was filed by the missing child’s mother on www.thesky973.com, a virtual storm of emailed claims, […]

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Quick. Name the most dangerous terrorist organization in the US, organizations that are responsible for  47 of the53 most destructive terrorist attacks in the US.
Muslims? No.
Right wing Militias? No.
The Christian fundamentalist types? No.
It’s the Animal rights extremists.
Via SecondhandsmokeBlog, quoting from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision U.S. v Christianson:
… between 2000 and 2005, 43 […]

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Salt and Pepper: Religion and Public Education
The Cheatham County Tennessee School District is being sued by four students who are protesting the District’s position that allows, and apparently encourages, religious activities in the district’s schools. According to an article in the Tennessean:
The lawsuit alleges: a planned prayer took place at graduation last spring; the Gideons […]

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The CDC announced an increase in STD’s and an administration spokesman insisted that it’s all Bush’s fault, because some schools preach abstinence:
“Chlamydia and gonorrhea are stable at unacceptably high levels and syphilis is resurgent after almost being eliminated,” said John Douglas, director of the division of sexually transmitted diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease […]

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Yesterday kicked off Anti-bullying Week and it goes from November 16-20 2009. One thing that is really being focused upon is the problem of cyber-bullying. As we all know, this is a problem that is out of control and at some point, someone needs to put a stop to it. The problem is a huge […]

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Sometimes I really hate my job. I feel so helpless when I read about all the missing children and I somehow find my heart getting so close to some of them just from following their cases. It gives me great pleasure when I read one that I have written about is found unharmed, but it […]

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Actress Amanda Tapping (left) and TV writer and producer Damian Kindler have launched a new not-for-profit foundation to help disadvantaged children. The foundation is linked to the  television series Sanctuary, which airs on Syfy in the United States. Tapping stars in the series and is an executive producer with Kindler. They have launched the foundation […]

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One of the frustrating things when working in child maternal health in poor countries is trying to integrate medical aims into the cultural background of the people, without destroying it.
This NYTimes story, about trying to get the Mullahs in Afghanistan to approve of their people using birth control, is a good example of how to […]

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An article by Hillary Stout in the New York Times, “For Some Parents, Shouting is the New Spanking,” focuses on the damage to children done by parents’ shouting and, therefore, the need for parents to control their tempers.
Although I agree that a steady diet of shouting and bullying isn’t a good way for well-meaning, devoted […]

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Early Friday morning the gruesome discovery of 23 year old Zoelina Williams’s body was found in Berkeley California’s Aquatic Park. She was found about 4 am after she had been beaten and then shot to death.
It is believed that at the time of her slaying she had her 8 month old baby, Jashon Williams with […]

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An Amber Alert has been issued for an 8 month old little boy named Anthony Holland. He is believed to be with a man named Anthony Reid who is 22 years old.
The child is a black male, and is only about 2 ft. 4 in tall. He only weighs about 20 lbs. and has brown […]

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I often come up with what I plan to write on during my morning run. For some reason, ideas seem to bounce into my brain housing group (military term) as I am punishing myself physically. Today, I decided to put politics in the background; somewhat, and talk about life in general. Don’t worry, I promise […]

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A study among Chinese factory workers shows exposure to high doses of Bisphenol A at their jobs resulted in an increase of erectile dysfuntion.
Compared to the other workers, men with high BPA exposure were about four times as likely to report trouble achieving erections, about seven times as likely to say they had difficulty ejaculating, […]

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I have been trying my best to keep as many of the missing children in the news as I possibly can so you can imagine how happy I was to see one the children I keep naming will be added on the front cover of the popular People’s Magazine along with five other missing children.
Adji […]

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Once again another child has come up missing. Little 5-year old Shaniya Nicole Davis from Fayetteville North Carolina was last seen from her home Tuesday morning and an Amber Alert has been issued for her.
Shaniya’s mother reported to the police who arrived at the Sleepy Hollow Drive home around 6:50 that morning that it was […]

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When I ran across a recent article at “Air America” online titled: Abortion Restrictions In House Bill Show Power Of Organized Religion In Politics I broke into a sweat! (Well not literally!) However, how could it be that I, a self-professed proponent of Conservatism, could agree with ANYTHING that the “wacko Libs” at Air […]

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I was going to get back to pontificating on what I believe this week, but have been so angered by the media coverage of the Islamic terrorist attack on Fort Hood that I felt the need to speak on this top.
First, and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the families […]

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I was not trying to paint Sam Watkins or his band in a bad light in my recent article. At best I thought he had been duped into doing the now famous Haleighbug Benefit Concert. I had the opportunity to talk to Sam Watkins yesterday. And to say the least, it was illuminating.
The concert held […]

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The NYTimes has an article on “violence” at Fort Hood. At Army Base Some Violence is All To Familiar” the headlines cry.
Yes, one more “Ain’t it awful” report on how violent veterans are, without mentioning that the “violent crime” rate is still lower than that of Chicago.
The problems of violence on military bases is not […]

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One of the big blocks against the Health bill in Congress was the possibility of taxpayer money paying for abortion.
The Catholic Bishops, who have been on record supporting universal health care for thirty years, declined to support the bill because the clintonsque language in the bill allowed what the bishops to call “money laundering” to […]

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Wow! Another reality show and one that we get to see mother/daughter duos in action. This show Dallas Divas and Daughters airs every Sunday evening at 8pm EST on the Style Network. During this half-hour, we get a glimpse into the lives of five sets of mothers/daughters who live in Dallas, Texas and are considered […]

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