Free Republic

Rising temperatures, rising sea levels and the increasing likelihood of extreme weather will all alter children's lives and the lives of their own children. And yet, children are largely left out of discussions about appropriate responses to climate change, according to a journal released by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution. The findings in this issue have clear implications for policymakers and researchers trying to tackle the many challenges that climate change poses: * Policies must be developed to prepare and adapt in the face of inevitable climate change. States, cities and communities throughout the world must promote preparedness and...

She was back. Back where she was held captive. Back where she feared she would never see her family again. Back in Imperial County, California. But this time she had shifted from defense to offense. In 2002, Elizabeth Smart made headlines when she was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake. Smart, only 14 at the time, spent nine months held captive in the mountains near her family’s home and later in Imperial County, California, which is where she returned 12 years later for a special mission with Operation Underground Railroad. Operation Underground Railroad For 12 years as a U.S....

A north Alabama family is trying to pick up the pieces after six children lost their parents to separate circumstances in the same weekend. Jennifer and Toby Norsworthy were known as a loving and generous couple who put their family above all else. That family is quite extensive, with many of them traveling to Huntsville to be with them during this time. "Toby and Jennifer were all about family," said his mother, Tami Norsworthy. Jennifer Norsworthy, 40, had a history of blood clots. The family said one formed in her sleep last Friday. She was rushed to Madison Hospital where...

We have surrendered our most primary weapon - our minds Back in ‘86 I saw Oliver Stone’s graphically intense ‘Platoon’. It was opening in a brand new theater with a screaming sound system that made you feel as though you were in the center of the battle. Sitting right across the aisle were two well-dressed, young, absolutely moronic parents who had their son sitting between them. He could not have been more than five. Stone’s ultra-intense Vietnam War masterpiece had the audience thoroughly keyed up. Roaring artillery and wholesale slaughter were coming from every direction without warning. The poor little...

ANGRY parents have blasted a council that wants kids as young as four to choose the gender “they most identify with” before starting school. It wrote to parents urging them to support their child’s choice of “gender identity” in a letter confirming primary school places this week. And it asked them to leave the gender section of a form blank if their child had “another gender identity” altogether. The letter was sent to thousands of parents preparing to send kids to new schools later this year.

Last month, I wrote about some important legislation in Florida that would modernize that stateÂ’s harsh alimony and child custody laws. Florida is lagging behind many states which have updated these laws to reflect the fact that most women now work outside of the home and that children need both parents to thrive, regardless of whether their parents are living together or apart. Sadly, Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) capitulated to intense lobbying by liberal special interest groups and vetoed the bill. The bill had immense support, passing both houses of the Florida legislature by super-majority margins. The governorÂ’s office...

Insanity. By now, you’re no doubt aware of the waves of “undocumented minors” that have been washing across the U.S. southern border. They arrive, they’re given stuffed animals by Glenn Beck & Ted Cruz, and then they’re…well…where do they go then? They certainly aren’t being deported. So just what happens to them after they’re given their complementary Steiff bear? According to the AP they go to…other illegals. The vast majority of immigrant children who arrive alone at the U.S. border are placed by the government with adults who are in the country illegally, federal data reviewed by The Associated Press...

An attempt by President Obama to promote his 'My Brother's Keeper' initiative, which aims to keep youths of color out of trouble, came to a farcical end when rapper Rick Ross's ankle bracelet - which he received on a kidnapping and assault charge - went off. Obama had invited a bevy of hip-hop heavyweights, including Niki Minaj, Common, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T and DJ Khaled, to the meeting at the White House Friday. But none of them - least of all Ross himself - expected the ankle bracelet to interrupt the president, according to TMZ.

The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence has a new ad out, and it's incredibly disturbing. In the new ad, a girl portraying Alice from the beloved childhood fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland" comes across a handgun and shoots herself in the face. An actor dressed in a white rabbit costume looks on in horror for added effect. As the young girl shoots herself and creepy music plays, a narrator is heard saying, “Over one-third of all American households have a gun. Ask your neighbor: Is there a gun where they play? Asking saves kids.”

Just ten days after the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a stern statement warning of the dangers that gender ideology poses to children and adolescents, Planned Parenthood began a campaign on social media to “train the next generation of trans allies.” In a series of Tweets, the abortion giant Planned Parenthood urged that steps be taken to open people’s minds to gender fluidity, linking to the “Teaching Transgender Toolkit.”

(CNSNews.com) - Sometime in the next four years the global population of human beings who are 65 and older will surpass those under 5 for the first time, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. “For the first time in human history, people aged 65 and older will outnumber children under age 5,” says the report, entitled “An Aging World: 2015.” “This crossing is just around the corner, before 2020,” says the report. “These two age groups will then continue to grow in opposite directions,” it says. “By 2050, the proportion of the population 65 and older...

Update — AP’s latest on casualty count: “A spokesman for the Punjab government says that a bomb attack on a park in the Pakistani city of Lahore has killed 60 people and injured 300.” An explosion in Lahore, Pakistan, has killed between 50-60 people, mostly women and children, and left hundreds injured as they celebrated Easter. Law enforcement said the explosion occurred near a large group of Christians celebrating Easter, according to the Associated Press: Senior police officer Haider Ashraf says the explosion took place close to the children’s rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park. He says the explosion appeared to have...

The American College of Pediatricians has released an in-depth report stating that the move to indoctrinate children with the idea that they can pick their gender amounts to child abuse. They are urging legislators and educators to reject all policies that would condition children to accept chemical and surgical distortions allowing people to impersonate the opposite sex. Some of the points made in their report include the following: Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait. “XY” and “XX” chromosomes are genetic markers, not a disorder. No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex....

One in seven American children aged 2 to 8 suffers from a mental, behavioral or developmental problem, federal health officials report. Researchers analyzed data supplied by parents in the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health, looking for reported speech and language problems, learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, anxiety and more. "Based on the number of kids affected, this is something we need to pay attention to," said lead researcher Jennifer Kaminski, team leader for child development studies at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The researchers found that young children with mental, behavioral or...

 Link to video  This video shows the value of the familiarization with guns and basic gun safety training, such as the Eddie Eagle NRA program.  You have to go to the very last part of the video to see the important result.  There are eight children.  Of the eight, two of the children are from homes that have legal firearms.  Those children have been familiarized with guns and taught not to play with them.  From the video: "There were only 2 kids that did not pick up the gun [...] They are the kids who have guns in their...

If you grew up in the 1960s or 1970s, then you know how relaxed everything used to be. Our parents never forced us to wear seatbelts, we pretty much at whatever we wanted, and were given way more responsibiity than we should have been given. It's a little sad kids today won't get to experience half the things we did, but looking back, there's a good reason why they won't. Were these 12 things we did as kids kind of dangerous? Yeah, maybe some of it was.

Ten years ago, I would have said that Judge Scalia's brilliant legal opinions defending the constitution of the founding fathers, was his most important contribution to America's future. But, today, I believe that Scalia's 9 conservative children are his most important contribution to America's future. One son is a priest. If the Democrats win the 2016 election, they could reverse Scalia's legal achievements. But his numerous children, present and future grandchildren, and future great-grandchildren, will continue to fight to restore America's freedom. I believe that a conservative who has many children, makes a more important contribution to the future of...

Archdiocese of Washington The Gospel Train Reaches Temptation Station -- Stay on Board, Children! A Homily for the First Sunday of Lent Msgr. Charles Pope - February 13, 2016 - "Jesus Tempted in the Desert" by Jaci XIII is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0There's an old gospel song tradition that speaks of the Christian life as a ride on the "Gospel train." The Gospel train is not always an easy ride with perfect scenery, but you've gotta get your ticket and stay on board.Mysteriously, the train sometimes passes through difficult terrain. But just stay on board! On his way to...

Liberals: They produce nothing. They create nothing. They are the parasites that live off other people’s honest labor Liberals like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders represent the worst of America, children in grown-up positions, obstinate in their ignorance. They abhor free market capitalism, limited government, fiscal responsibility, faith-based anything except faith in government, self-determination, individual responsibility, anything traditional or time-tested. They assume they know everything and yet know nothing. President Reagan rightly observed: “It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.” These liberals, like so many other liberals, personify...

Seven Books to Share with Children for Lent and EasterMaura Roan McKeegan It is winter as I write, and the snowflakes outside my window awaken in my mind a scene from Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen.Little Gerda is searching for her lost friend, Kay, who is trapped in the Snow Queen's Palace. Nearing the end of her long, arduous journey, she finds herself "without shoes or gloves, in the middle of the freezing icebound Finmark."When Gerda tries to run forward towards the Palace, an army of snowflakes arises in front of her. They grow larger and larger, and she...