National Pediatric Group Recommends Children Get Morning After Pill Before Sex

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A national pediatric association is recommending that doctors prescribe women age 17 and younger the morning-after pill in advance of them actually needing it, under the assumption that they will be more likely to use the emergency contraceptive if they don’t have to make a doctor’s visit at the time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued the new policy statement Monday. According to a report by Reuters on the statement, which is published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the group believes that because federal law prevents over-the-counter sales of such contraception to those under age 18, the teens will be more likely prevent unwanted pregnancy if they already had the necessary prescription on hand.

The battle for over-the-counter availability for emergency contraceptives was in the spotlight last year as the Food and Drug Administration overturned a 2005 ruling that prevented teens from obtaining pills like Plan B without a prescription. The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius though overruled the FDA’s decision maintaining the requirement for a prescription for minors.

Reuters reported former FDA assistant commissioner for woman’s health, Susan Wood, saying of AAP’s new policy that “it’s not often you see physician organizations saying that their patients are better off without the physician involvement.”

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Republican Kelsey Grammer Blames Politics for His Show’s Cancellation

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He has made no secret of his political leanings and Kelsey Grammer believes that his support for the Republican party may have led to the failure of his latest television series.

The Starz television network announced on Tuesday that it would not give the Frasier star another term as mayor of Chicago and was canceling the drama Boss after two seasons. The show, which premiered to critical acclaim last year, stars Grammer as tyrannical Chicago mayor Tom Kane.

Earlier this year, the 57-year-old complained to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show that his Republican party leanings were the reason the show was not nominated for an Emmy. ‘Now explain something to me, you get a Golden Globe for ‘Boss,’ but you don’t even get an Emmy nomination, Leno asked. ‘Yeah, its hard to figure,’ Grammer said. ‘It may have to do with several things, honestly, but I think it’s possible, I mean, I am a, I’m a declared out of the closet Republican in Hollywood.’

‘Do I believe it’s possible that some young person, young voting actor, or even older voting member for the Emmys, would sit there and go, ‘Yeah, that’s a great performance, but oooooh, I just hate everything he stands for?’ Grammer asked, before answering sarcastically: ‘I don’t believe that’s possible.’

The Frasier star is a member of the Republican Party and has expressed an interest in politics saying he may someday run for United States Congress. An active campaigner for the GOP, Grammer was a guest at President George W. Bush’s first inauguration, campaigned for John McCain in the 2008 general election and endorsed Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination for President in 2012.

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Video: Teacher Writes, ‘You can’t be a Democrat and go to Heaven’; Parents Furious

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A Kentucky high school teacher was reprimanded by her district this week for writing a politically charged statement on the class whiteboard. South Laurel County High School teacher Kendra Baker wrote, ‘You can’t be a democrat and go to heaven’ during a classroom discussion about politics after the elections.

The comment was reportedly made by a student, but Baker apparently agreed with it enough to put it on the board for everyone to see. One student in attendance took a picture of it and gave it to the Board of Education as well as the Sentinel-Echo.

After some investigation, the Board determined Baker had violated district policy No. 8.1353 which states that teachers must create an atmosphere in the classroom that’s conducive to learning, mutual respect, and trust. The code also specifies that teachers are responsible for developing positive self-concepts and self-confidence so that students respect the worth and dignity of others.

The school reprimanded Baker by requiring she apologize to her students. Unfortunately, the incident resulted in one student leaving the school. Lexington’s NBC TV affiliate reported Monday that Chelsea Gilbert was ridiculed when she tried to stick up for others in her class.

Her mother told Lex 18, “You don’t send them to school to have someone else’s opinion shoved down their throat and demand they agree with it. It’s appalling. It’s wrong.” Gilbert will now be home-schooled as a result. Read more from this story HERE.

Seven Year Old Girl on Medical Marijuana to Offset Chemo Effects; Dad Says She’s “Stoned”

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A seven-year-old girl suffering from leukemia is one of Oregon’s youngest medical marijuana patients. Her mother says she gives her daughter marijuana pills to combat the effects of chemotherapy, but her father, who lives in North Dakota, worries about the effects of the drug on her brain development.

Mykayla Comstock was diagnosed with leukemia last spring. Her mother treats her with a gram of cannabis oil daily, The Oregonian reported.

Mykayla’s mother credits the drug for the leukemia’s remission. “As a mother, I am going to try anything before she can potentially fall on the other side,” said Erin Purchase, 25, who with her boyfriend administers Mykayla’s cannabis.

The girl says the drug helps her eat and sleep but also makes her feel “funny.” “It helps me eat and sleep,” Mykayla said. “The chemotherapy makes you feel like you want to stay up all night long.”

Mykayla’s father, who is divorced from the girl’s mother, was so disturbed by his daughter’s marijuana use that he contacted child welfare officials, police and her oncologist. The father, Jesse Comstock, said his concerns were prompted by a visit with Mykayla in August.

Read more from this story HERE.

Shocking Truth of Child Molester Warren Jeff’s FLDS: Members Believe He’s US President, Still Obey Him Without Question

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Cult leader Warren Jeffs has spent the past six years behind bars after being arrested and later convicted of sexual abuse of young girls, but that has not stopped him from continuing to exude complete control over his polygamous community.

A Friday expose on ABC’s 20/20 has revealed the insulated world of The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints Church where Jeffs’ 8,000 followers continue to believe that he is a prophet and God who has been wrongly imprisoned. ‘Anybody who thinks that Warren Jeffs’ incarceration ended his rule in this community has no idea what they’re talking about,’ said reporter Mike Watkiss. ‘He is in many ways more powerful because now he’s martyred.’

A 2008 raid on Jeffs’ FLDS stronghold in Eldorado, Texas, revealed the polygamous community which included pregnant child brides in pastel prairie dresses with elaborate braided hairdos. The FLDS holds polygamy as a fundamental belief and its men take multiple wives in what are termed ‘celestial marriages’ each performed in a ceremony called a ‘sealing’. The Utah-based church believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and arranged marriages sometimes involve underage girls.

More than a year after his conviction of child sex abuse, it appears that little has changed in the remote Yearning for Zion compound in Colorado City housing the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, a radical wing of the Mormon Church. Like in the past, Jeffs decides where people live, whom they marry and even what they eat and how they dress.

Children of cult members receive little more than a grade school education where science and history are ignored in favour of religious studies with an emphasis on Jeffs’ proverbs, and where every school book must be personally approved by the leader. One proverb reads: ‘When you disobey there must and will always be a punishment.’

Children in the local schoolhouse are also taught that Jeffs was the president of the United States and that God led Neil Armstrong away from the moon during the Apollo 11. When questioned by an ABC reporter about their general level of knowledge, a trio of girls who escaped the cult several months earlier along with their mother said that they had never heard of Ronald Reagan, Santa Claus or AIDS.

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Amazing Video: Babies in the Womb Yawning

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We already know that unborn babies can stretch and even hiccup in the womb, but new university research confirms that they also yawn.

There has long been debate about whether fetuses really are capable of yawning, or whether they are just opening their mouths.

As part of a study published in the international journal PLOS ONE, researchers looked at 4D scan footage of 15 healthy foetuses and examined how long their mouths stayed open for.

Using their newly developed criteria, the research team found that over half of the mouth openings observed in the study were classed as yawns. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s a 4D ultrasound video of the yawning:

Newspaper Copy Editor Disciplined for Questioning Obama’s Hawaiian Birth Place

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A newspaper copy editor who added the word ‘allegedly’ to a report stating Obama was born in Hawaii has been disciplined after the report generated searing attack from readers.

Appearing in the Montana Independent on Sunday, the edit to an Associated Press report covering the president’s visit to Asia was said by the paper to have been an error in judgement, wrongly meant as a joke.

The AP’s line was changed to read: ‘The Asia trip underscores Obama’s efforts to establish the United states as an Asia-Pacific power, a worldview defined by 21st century geopolitics but also by Obama’s personal identity as America’s first Pacific president. Obama was allegedly born in Hawaii.’

Writing a berating letter to the paper’s editor on Tuesday, one of at least two seen, retired AP staffer Tom Laceky called the edit an ‘unjustified ridicule.’

‘”Allegedly born in Hawaii?” As if there is any doubt? That right-wing notion has been so thoroughly discredited that only Donald Trump and assorted other loonies still cling to it.

‘Neither the AP nor – I hope – The Independent Record belongs in their company,’ wrote Mr Laceky who noted having served his last 28 years in the Helena bureau.

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“Brain-Dead” Organ Donor Awakens Immediately Before Organs Were to be Harvested (+video)

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The world of organ donation in Denmark is in turmoil. A documentary was aired earlier this month which showed family members reacting in anguish to the news that their 19-year-old daughter was brain dead after a car accident, agreeing to donate her organs and allowing doctors to turn off her respirator. About 1.7 million viewers tuned in to the heart-rending drama.

But Carina Melchior did not die after her respirator was removed. She is now undergoing rehabilitation and may make a full recovery. About 500 people immediately removed their names from Denmark’s organ donor register.

Doctors at Aarhus University Hospital were embarrassed by the incident. “We are overjoyed that the young woman survived and that she is moving on after the accident,” Claus Thomsen, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said. “But we made a mistake underway and made the family believe that their daughter and sister would die.”

The hospital acknowledged that the question of organ donation should not have been raised as there were no unambiguous signs that brain death would occur. New guidelines have been introduced to ensure that relatives will only be approached about organ donation if no more treatment options are available. There was no risk of a false diagnosis of brain death, the hospital insisted. Read more from this story HERE.

Things You Might Not Have Known About the Pilgrims

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It’s Thanksgiving week in America, and families across the country will soon enjoy a meal that harkens back to the harvest feast held in 1621 by the residents of Plymouth Colony. But even as we remember the Pilgrims this Thursday, our image of the English settlers remains largely based on myth rather than fact. Below, discover five things about the hosts of the original Thanksgiving that might come as a surprise.

1. Not all of the Mayflower’s passengers were motivated by religion [but most were]: The Mayflower actually carried three distinct groups of passengers within the walls of its curving hull. About half were in fact Separatists, the people we now know as the Pilgrims. Another handful of those on board were sympathetic to the Separatist cause but weren’t actually part of that core group of dissidents. The remaining passengers were really just hired hands—laborers, soldiers and craftsmen of various stripes whose skills were required for both the transatlantic crossing and those vital first few months ashore. Community leader John Alden, for instance, was originally a cooper, brought along to make and repair barrels on board the ship. Myles Standish, who would eventually become the military leader of Plymouth Colony, was a soldier hired for protection against whatever natives the settlers might encounter.

2. The Mayflower didn’t land in Plymouth first: The Mayflower first landed at the tip of Cape Cod, in what is now Provincetown. The settlers had originally hoped to make for the mouth of the Hudson River and find fertile farmland somewhere north of present-day New York City, but bad weather forced them to retreat. They intended to try again for the Hudson, but the approaching winter and dwindling supplies eventually convinced them to continue on across Cape Cod Bay to Plymouth.

3. The Pilgrims didn’t name Plymouth, Massachusetts, for Plymouth, England: In fact, the Pilgrims didn’t name Plymouth, Massachusetts, at all. It had been dubbed that years earlier by previous explorers to the region, and was clearly marked as Plymouth (or Plimoth—spellings varied somewhat) on maps that the Mayflower’s captain surely had on hand. It’s sheer coincidence that the Mayflower ended up sailing from a town called Plymouth in England and then landing in a town called Plymouth in America. And it’s unlikely that the Mayflower’s passengers felt any emotional connection to Plymouth, England, at all. Most of the Separatists had been living in exile in Holland for 10 years before sailing for America, and the rest of the passengers were drawn from the greater London area. The Mayflower only ended up departing from Plymouth because bad weather and misfortune had prevented the settlers from making the crossing on two earlier attempts—first from Southampton and then from Dartmouth—before they finally succeeded in sailing from the port of Plymouth.

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We Take Aborted Babies to the Trash Just Like Our Garbage

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We live in a time where babies are trashed, literally. Even if we do not directly participate in shedding innocent blood and throwing children in the garbage, we condone it when we do nothing to stop this barbaric, evil practice of nonchalant murder called “choice.”

We warm ourselves by the fire fueled by the blood of innocent babies when we look the other way with cold, selfish hearts. There is an attitude adopted by too many in the church and way too many in the world. An attitude of “I would never have one, but what other people do has nothing to do with me as long as I choose not to have one.” What if we had to be in the room for just one procedure? What if we could see the babies in severed parts, packaged and labeled to sell?

We have access to video and photos of the procedure and the babies. We have no excuses. Are our hearts so cold that the pictures do not move us anymore? Are we so cold that we warm our hands by the fire fueled by a culture of death, enjoying the benefits of choice?

We need to wake up to the reality that over 3000 babies are ripped apart at the limb and sucked through death tubes in the name of choice. We need to awaken others to the reality that once life is removed from the womb, it is reassembled and viable parts are sold for profit to make and improve products that we use, even eat. We need to awaken a nation to the reality that babies are thrown away like garbage by the thousands.

Please be moved with me by the tragic loss of lives today and every day until we end abortion. Please love life more than garbage. Please pray for God to end abortion completely. Please tell everyone you know that life is valuable.

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