Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teens who experiment with marijuana may be making themselves more vulnerable to heroin addiction later in life, if the findings from experiments with rats are any indication. "Cannabis has very long-term, enduring effects on the brain," Dr. Yasmin Hurd of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health in an interview. Whether or not trying marijuana is a 'gateway' to use of so-called harder drugs like heroin and cocaine has been hotly debated, she and her colleagues note in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. To investigate whether pot smoking...

A new study finds that unborn babies regularly exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb are much more likely to have behavioral problems as young children. The study, detailed in current issue of the journal Child Development, is the first to show a link between smoking during pregnancy and child behavior problems in the first years of life. The researchers found that 2-year-olds whose mothers were exposed to cigarette smoke while pregnant were nearly 12 times more likely to show clinical levels of behavioral problems compared to their unexposed peers. The researchers looked at 93 children between their first and...

Study Claiming Biological Basis for Homosexuality “Absolute Rubbish”: NARTH Psychiatrist TORONTO, Ontario, July 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent study suggesting that homosexual orientation results from biological factors in the prenatal environment is based on severely flawed research and biased assumptions, a leading Canadian psychiatrist has charged. Researchers at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, conducted the study entitled “Biological versus nonbiological older brothers and men’s sexual orientation.” The study suggested that male same-sex attraction results from an immune reaction on the part of the mother to the presence of the male child in her womb, a reaction the study’s...

Pennsylvania officials just announced success with their program to re-establish the state’s bald eagle population. But it’s a shame that such welcome news is being tainted by oft-repeated myths about the great bird’s near extinction. In its July 4 article reporting that the number of bald eagle pairs in Pennsylvania had increased from 3 in 1983 to 100 for the first time in over a century, the Associated Press reached into its file of bald eagle folklore and reported, “DDT poisoned the birds, killing some adults and making the eggs of those that survived thin. The thin eggs dramatically reduced...

Klein slams Al Gore interview on oil sands JIM MACDONALD Canadian Press EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has criticized former U.S. vice-president Al Gore for comments he made in a magazine interview in which he attacked the massive oil-sands industry in northern Alberta. Mr. Gore told an interviewer in the latest issue of Rolling Stone that oil-sands processing is a huge waste of energy and creates an eyesore on the landscape of Western Canada. “For every barrel of oil they extract there, they have to use enough natural gas to heat a family's home for four days,” Mr. Gore...

In the latest media frenzy, cellphone use has been traced to lightning strikes. Owners of the portable phones are being warned that holding these devices in a thunderstorm will increase the chances of their being killed, if they are struck by lightning. Explanations offered are that the metal of the phones, held directly to the ear, can lower the contact resistance of the skin and provide an increased conduction path for large currents. This latest scientific media analysis conflicts however, with the recently proven theories that lighting strikes can be conclusively demonstrated to be directly linked to underwear use. The...

The most amazing thing about Godless is the amount of intellectual meat Ann Coulter has packed into its pages. Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter (Crown Forum, 310 pages, $27.95) What's most amazing about Ann Coulter's book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, is the amount of intellectual meat she packs into 281 breezy, barb-filled pages. Among the topics the blonde bomb-thrower discusses in some depth are the following: liberal jurisprudence, privacy rights and abortion, Joe Wilson's modest career and inflated ego, and the solid record of failure in American public schools. The topics of Intelligent Design and Darwinism,...

“Secondhand smoke debate ‘over.” That’s the message from the Surgeon General’s office, delivered by a sycophantic media. The claim is that the science has now overwhelmingly proved that smoke from others’ cigarettes can kill you. Actually, “debate over” simply means: “If you have your doubts, shut up!” But you definitely should have doubts over the new Surgeon General’s report, a massive 727-page door stop. Like many massive reports on controversial issues, it’s probably designed that way so nobody (especially reporters on deadline) will want to or have time to read beyond the executive summary. That includes me; if I had...

SACRAMENTO - Should it be illegal for parents to smoke in the car while their children are in the back seat? One day after the U.S. Surgeon General released the most damning study yet on secondhand smoke, a state Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that would allow police to stop drivers guilty of puffing in the confines of their car when a child passenger is secured in a safety seat. If the measure becomes law, violators who smoke a "lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette containing tobacco or any other plant" would receive a warning on the first offense, and...

BERLIN - A German businessman has founded an airline dedicated to smokers. Smintair, or "Smokers' International Airways," aims to cater for smoking passengers, particularly from Asia, who feel they have been squeezed out of the market. Its first aircraft are due to take off in October on a route between Dusseldorf and Tokyo and are expected to serve mainly Japanese businessmen. ......... "It disturbs me that I pay a lot of money for a ticket only to be told what I can and cannot do," he said.

Below is an eight page review of information on the subject of "global warming," and a petition in the form of a reply card. Please consider these materials carefully. The United States is very close to adopting an international agreement that would ration the use of energy and of technologies that depend upon coal, oil, and natural gas and some other organic compounds. This treaty is, in our opinion, based upon flawed ideas. Research data on climate change do not show that human use of hydrocarbons is harmful. To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide...

"Climate Catastrophe Cancelled: What You're Not Being Told About the Science of Climate Change" Part 1 (4:20 minutes) Windows Media (4.76MB) | Quicktime (9.52MB) Part 2 (6:21 minutes) Windows Media (16.3MB) | Quicktime (14.2MB) Part 3 (3:26 minutes) Windows Media (7.82MB) | Quicktime (7.59MB) Part 4 (5:10 minutes) Windows Media (12.4MB) | Quicktime (11.4MB) Part 5 (5:02 minutes) Windows Media (5.45MB) | Quicktime (11MB) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Climate Experts Speak Out in New Video - Science underlying Kyoto Protocol seriously flawed OTTAWA, April 13 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, researchers at the University of Calgary, in cooperation with the Friends of...

A man's sexual orientation may be determined by conditions in the womb, according to a study. Previous research had revealed the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he is to be gay, but the reason for this phenomenon was unknown. But a Canadian study has shown that the effect is most likely down to biological rather than social factors. The research is published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It is now firmly established, repeated ad nauseam in the media and elsewhere, that the debate over global warming has been settled by scientific consensus. The subject is closed. It seems unnecessary to labour the point, but here are a couple of typical statements: "The scientific consensus is clear: human-caused climate change is happening" (David Suzuki Foundation); "There is overwhelming scientific consensus" that greenhouse gases emitted by man cause global temperatures to rise (Mother Jones). Back when modern science was born, the battle between consensus and new science worked the other way around. More often than not, the consensus of...

A man's sexual orientation appears to be determined in the womb, a new study suggests. Past research by Dr. Anthony F. Bogaert of Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario and colleagues has shown that the more older brothers a man has, the more likely he is to be gay. But it has not been clear if this is a prenatal effect or a psychosocial effect, related to growing up with older male siblings. To investigate, Bogaert studied 944 gay and straight men, including several who were raised with adopted, half- or step-siblings or were themselves adopted. He reasoned that if...

Many organizations including the cell phone industry often downplay the risk of cell phone radiation to the brain. Results from short-term studies were used to convince consumers that use of a cell phone is not associated with brain tumors or cancer, which only develop decades after exposure. To be fair, no one knows exactly how much harm a cell phone can do to a person. However, one thing for sure is that the radiation from a cell phone is harmful. It is only a matter of how much. There is no denying that. Recently, new media has reported a study...

A new Canadian study suggests a male's sexual orientation is influenced by so-called nature as opposed to nurture. Researchers at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., found evidence that the more biological older brothers a man has, the more likely he is to be homosexual, findings which suggest a man's sexual orientation is genetically determined. The study says "prenatal mechanism (s) ... affect men's sexual orientation development," which means sexual orientation may be the result of biological processes that occur in the womb. The study's author, Prof. Anthony F. Bogaert, explored the causes behind what is called the fraternal birth...

This flies in the face of such challengers as professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia who said: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention." Famed climatologist and internationally renowned hurricane expert Dr. William Gray of the atmospheric-science department at Colorado State University went even further, calling the scientific "consensus" on global warming "one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people." ......

NEWS ADVISORY, June 20 /Christian Newswire/-- Britain’s renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking told a recent Hong Kong news conference the human race must “spread out into space for the survival of the species.“ He cited “sudden global warming, nuclear war, or a genetically engineered virus” as threats that could wipe out humanity at any time. “As dire as Hawking’s concerns may be, humanity’s plight is actually worse,” says astronomer Hugh Ross, founder and president of the science/faith think tank Reasons To Believe (www.reasons.org). “But,” he adds, “that is not to say the human race is without hope.”  Ross explains, “It’s important to...