Free Republic

It is likely that some of you are rejoicing at the election results. As the parent of a 14-year-old son, I am filled with fear and trepidation at the results of yesterday's election. Americans have proven that they prefer as their president a deserter to one who volunteered, served his time and chose to exercise his first amendment rights when he returned to the "land of the free". They have said that pre-emptive strikes are the new way to go - that might DOES make right. They have adopted the cheerleader mentality. "Yea, yea, we are great! Give us war...

The marriage seemed to come loose at the seams, one stitch at a time, often during the evening hour between work and dinner. She would be preparing the meal, while he kept her company in the sun room next to kitchen, usually reading the paper. At times the two would provoke each other, as couples do - about money, about holiday plans - but those exchanges often flared out quickly when he would say, simply, "O.K., you're right," and turn back to the news. "Looking back, instead of getting angry, I was doing this as a dismissive way of shutting...

Latchkey nation: Home alone in America Why is the mental health of America's children declining so precipitously? Isn't it obvious? Sunday, November 14, 2004 BY MARY EBERSTADT If there is one subject on which doctors and teachers and other experts involved with children would agree, it's this: Over the past generation, the number of American kids diagnosed with mental disorders has exploded. In January 2001, the Surgeon General issued a report declaring that the United States faces nothing less than "a public crisis in mental care for children and adolescents." Similarly, the National Mental Health Association estimates that one in...

It happened without warning, early one day last summer as they prepared to go out. Gloria Rapport's husband raised his arm to her, fist poised. "He was very close to striking me," she said. What had provoked him? "Nothing," she said. "I asked him to get in the car." Mrs. Rapport's husband, Richard, 71, has Alzheimer's disease. His forgetfulness and confusion began about nine years ago, not long after they married. More recently, emotional troubles have loomed. Anxiety came first: he suddenly feared being left alone in the house. Outbursts of anger followed. The man she had always known to...

NEW PALTZ - A group opposed to same-sex marriage is raising money for a roadside billboard that will proclaim homosexuality is not an innate characteristic but a lifestyle that can be left behind. The billboard, to be placed on the south side of state Route 299 in New Paltz, will feature a black-and-white photograph of Stephen Bennett, who says he was a homosexual before a religious conversion enabled him to become straight. His wife and two children also are in the photo, which carries the caption, "Wonderful husband. Loving father. Former homosexual. Jesus Christ changes lives." The billboard is part...

<p>The American Psychiatric Association (APA) wisely rejected the recommendation of some psychiatrists at an APA symposium held in San Francisco on May 19 that pedophilia be removed from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Several categories of mental illness were debated for possible removal from the upcoming annual edition of the manual. Among other illnesses suggested for removal were exhibitionism, transvestism and sadomasochism.</p>