Mapping how environment impacts childhood obesity

Mapping how environment impacts childhood obesity - USATODAY.com

Mapping how environment impacts childhood obesity

No Supreme Court hearing for mom who asked to read Bible to son's class / The Christian Science Monitor

No Supreme Court hearing for mom who asked to read Bible to son's class / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Chief Judge Anthony Sirica in a 2-to-1 decision handed down in June by the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals. “But a reading from the Bible or other religious text is more than a message and unquestionably conveys a strong sense of spiritual and moral authority,” he wrote. “In this case, the audience is involuntary and very young. Parents of public school kindergarten students may reasonably expect their children will not become captive audiences to an adult’s reading of religious texts.”

The Ethyl-Poisoned Earth

Damn Interesting • The Ethyl-Poisoned Earth

A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research, which used data spanning more than fifty years, reported a “very strong association” between the exposure of young children to lead, and crime rates twenty years later when they became young adults. This correlation holds true for a wide variety of locales, social conditions, and models of government.

Lead exposure, crime seem to correlate

Lead exposure, crime seem to correlate - USATODAY.com

He found a "stunning" fit, he says. The trend lines match almost perfectly: Leaded-gas use climbed in the 1940s and fell in the early 1970s; 23 years later, rates for violent crime followed in near unison. He also studied lead-paint levels from 1879 over the next 60 years, matching them to murder rates from 1900 to 1959.

Overweight Older People Live Longer

Overweight Older People Live Longer

Last summer, researchers in Canada reported the same findings after analyzing data from more than 11,000 adults followed for more than a decade.

In that study, people who met the criteria for being overweight were 17% less likely to die compared to people of normal weight.

In the newly reported research, overweight study participants in their 70s followed for up to 10 years had a 13% lower risk of death than participants classified as normal weight.

Daily Kos' Poll of Republicans Met With Shock, Skepticism

Daily Kos' Poll of Republicans Met With Shock, Skepticism - AOL News

It's human nature for people to interpret any poll in a way that reinforces what they already believe. And if they can't, they simply dismiss the research as being flawed. Perhaps that is the real takeaway from this survey.

Acceptance of Gay People in Military Grows Dramatically

Acceptance of Gay People in Military Grows Dramatically - washingtonpost.com

Seventy-five percent of Americans in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll said gay people who are open about their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the U.S. military, up from 62 percent in early 2001 and 44 percent in 1993.

State of the Nation

Daily Kos :: State of the Nation

QUESTION: Would you favor or oppose giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and learn English?

Abstinence-only classes may be effective for young teens

Abstinence-only classes may be effective for young teens - latimes.com

Over the two years after taking the classes, 48.5% of those in the control group reported sexual activity, compared with 33.5% of those in the abstinence-only group. About 52% of those taught only safe sex reported sexual activity, and about 42% of those in the comprehensive class made a similar report.