Kirk Cameron makes anti-gay marriage video for NOM

Kirk Cameron makes anti-gay video for National Organization for Marriage (NOM) a hate group registered with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Controversial Parenting Study Reaches the Courts

The debunked study that accused same-sex parents of being inferior to their straight counterparts is now being wielded by proponents of DOMA in courts.

Controversial Parenting Study Reaches the Courts | Advocate.com

Size Bias Does Not Justify Bullying | Teaching Tolerance

Size Bias Does Not Justify Bullying | Teaching Tolerance

Infants living with dogs show healthier immune response

A recent Finnish study concluded that having a dog in the house with an infant for the first year produced a protective effect in regard to illness in the infant.  The researchers speculated that this effect was because of exposure to a variety of pathogens which helped the infants' immune systems develop earlier.  There was some evidence that exposure to cats had a similar effect, but in a larger study this effect was negated.

The most significant effect was found in households where the dog was present up to six hours per day in the house.  The researchers concluded that it was likely that when the dog was present in the household for only six hours, that meant it was outside the rest of the time gathering pathogens on its coat and paws, etc.  So, dogs that did not spend a considerable amount of time outside as well as inside did not provide as great a protective effect, yet the effect was still reported in a less significant form.

According to the study, "Children who had a dog at home had fewer respiratory tract symptoms than children with no dog contacts, and children having dog contacts at home had less frequent otitis and tended to need fewer courses of antibiotics than children without such contacts."

This is great news for pet owners who worry about exposing their young children to pathogens carried on the fur and body of the pets.  It appears that such exposure actually provides a protective effect instead of the opposite.  Be happy and love both your children and pets in the family.

Primary source: Pediatrics
Source reference:
Bergroth E, et al. "Respiratory tract illnesses during the first year of life: Effect of dog and cat contacts" Pediatrics 2012; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-2825.

More than 50% of LGB students face homophobic bullying in schools

More than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils in Scottish secondary schools experience homophobic bullying, according to a new report.

The Stonewall Scotland study also found that a quarter (26%) of them have attempted to take their own life, while more than half (54%) deliberately harm themselves.

Less than a third (31%) said that their school responds quickly to homophobic bullying behaviour.

Read the rest of the article here.

The Affordable Care Act in brief

Okay, I am not an expert on the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), so I got this information from www.obamacarefacts.com.  I just wanted to give a little background information on the ACA, because it is going to effect most of us  in some way or another, and probably already has.  It has been in force for two years already, so there you go.

• ObamaCare, Obama Care and Health Care for America are all the same thing. (it is an extension of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act and ongoing efforts to reform the health care industry.)

• Some aspects of Obamacare health care reform are already enacted. The Affordable Care Act was signed 2 years ago, I bet you didn't even notice unless you needed coverage and didn't have it. The Affordable Care Act requires that insurance plans cover preventative serves and stops insurance companies form dropping you when you are sick… Why would we need that if the system was working?

• ObamaCare is a hot button political issue and both sides of the isle will try to persuade you for or against it. You need THE FACTS on ObamaCare and the Health Care For America Plan.

• ObamaCare's goal is to provide affordable health insurance for all US citizens.

•  ObamaCare does not replace private insurance or medicaid

• Medicaid will be reformed and expanded in order to help cover more people, especially those below the poverty level.

• ObamaCare aims to improve community health care centers in an effort improve health care for those who cannot afford private health care.

• Affordable health coverage means American's and their families pay what they can afford.

• American Employers need to provide comparable coverage to the Health Care for America Plan or pay a modest and fair Tax to support ObamaCare. (like the current state run unemployment and workers compensation programs)

• If an American or their family chooses not to purchase healthcare through the Health Care for America Act they can buy private insurance.

• The government is by the people and for the people. The health insurance companies are for profit organizations who are for the bottom line and the investors.

• Those with incomes exceeding 250k will be subject to higher taxes. This will help pay for the ObamaCare. As you can imagine this does not make some people happy. Though it's important to note that those making less will not be losing money, rather they will be gaining the option of healthcare.

• ObamaCare aims to make it easier for small businesses to provide coverage to workers by offering Tax Credits to employers who enroll their workers in private healthcare plans.

• One of the main goals of ObamaCare is to ensure that all preventative care will be free on all insurance plans. Private insurance plans that are grand fathered in and are all ready in place will be exempt until they lose their grand fathered status.