Animals Don’t Want to Eat GMOs, So Why Are We?

 

GMOs, also known as genetically modified organisms, are created by injecting the DNA from one species into another species, creating genetic combinations that cannot occur in nature or through typical crossbreeding methods. For example, genes from an arctic flounder (which has natural "antifreezing" properties that protect it from the frigid waters) may be injected into tomato DNA to make a new breed that is more resistant to frost damage. It sounds like a sci-fi movie, but it’s reality. And, according to the FDA, over 75 percent of processed food in the United States may contain GMOs. Foods with genetically modified ingredients don’t have to be labeled, though, so you’re probably eating them every day without even knowing it.

Animals Don’t Want to Eat GMOs, So Why Are We? | Healthy Child Healthy World

Trick or Treat? Halal or Haram?

 

Halloween originated 2000 years ago from the ancient Celtic pagans. They used to live in Ireland Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Cornwall and Britanny, also known as the six Celtic nations. Halloween symbolized the beginning of the ancient Celtic New Year. The Celts observed only two seasons in the year: summer and winter. Samhain (Scottish Gaelic spelling: Samhuinn) which literally means "summer's end" was an important festival celebrated on November Eve, the night of October 31st. It meant the beginning of the Celtic year, the close of the harvest and beginning of the season of cold and darkness. Some believe that the festival was held to honor the "Lord of Death". The Druids believed that on the eve of this Festival Samhain, lord of the death, called together the wicked spirits that within the past twelve months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals. Sacrifices and gifts were offered to the dead spirits because it was a pagan belief that on this one night the dead spirits visit their earthly dwellings. If they are satisfied with the offerings they leave you in peace or else cast an evil spell on you. After the Romans conquered Britain and with the rise of Christianity "Samhain" was changed to 'Hallowmas', or 'All Saints' Day' or 'All Souls Day' and is observed on November 1st to honor all Saints in heaven. It began on the evening of October 31, which was called All Hallows Eve.

iViews.com - Trick or Treat? Halal or Haram?

Breastfeeding and The Holy Qur'an

 

Most of us are intrigued by the connection between contemporary medicine and the holy Muslim book, the Qur'an, especially the analysis of hadiths and scientifically proven facts. There are a lot of misinterpretations and misconceptions between medicine and the Qur'an along with misuse from both medical and religious points of view. Therefore, it is very important to clear up the interconnectedness between the two. Topics of interest, which shall be discussed in this paper are 'mother and child', 'nutrition', 'medicine' and 'organ donation'.

iViews.com - Medical Issues and Qur'an

Coming soon to Europe: Chewable cholesterol drugs for children (like candy)

 

The European Commission has approved a chewable version of Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, for use in children over the age of 10.
Pfizer has announced that following this approval, it will apply for a six-month patent extension for Lipitor, which is the best-selling drug in the world.
Both the United States and the European Union offer six-month patent extensions as an incentive for drug companies to conduct safety and effectiveness tests of their products in children, which is not required by law. Based on Pfizer's tests of Lipitor in children, the United States has already granted such an extension and the European Union is expected to follow suit.

Coming soon to Europe: Chewable cholesterol drugs for children (like candy)

High blood pressure on the rise among young adults

 

Rates of high blood pressure have remained fairly steady over the past ten years in every category except one: young adults between the ages of 18 and 39. According to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), increasing numbers of young adults are developing high blood pressure, and more young people than ever are now taking blood pressure medication for the condition.

High blood pressure on the rise among young adults

9-Year-Old British Twins Become Youngest High School Students In History [Video]

 

Two 9-year-old twins in Britain are preparing to find out what high school they'll attend, making them the country's youngest high school students in history.

Paula and Peter Imafidon, dubbed “The Wonder Twins”, are known for their record breaking wit after becoming the youngest people to ace the University of Cambridge's advanced math test and soaring above their classmates. « Hip-Hop Wired

Interview With Raven Symone

Born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 10, 1985, Raven-Symone' Christina Pearman got an early start in showbiz when she was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency while she was still in diapers. After appearing in TV ads for everything from Cool Whip to Jello, she was invited to join the cast of “The Cosby Show.”  She’s best known for the Emmy-nominated comedy series “That's So Raven” on the Disney Channel where she played the title character Raven Baxter, a teenager who periodically has psychic visions of the future.
On the big screen, she was last seen starring in College Road Trip opposite Martin Lawrence where she played an overachieving high school student who decides to travel around the country to choose the perfect university to attend. Raven’s other film credits include The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Dr. Dolittle and Dr. Dolittle 2.
As for her musical career, she has released four solo albums so far, most recently "Raven-Symoné" on Hollywood Records. An innovative entrepreneur, she created a "how to" online destination for teens and ‘tweens, www.RavenSymonePresents.com.  The site features an easy to use video player and playlist where users can discover new content. The video clips feature Raven-Symoné personally demonstrating an array of useful tips and project ideas for her fans and supporters.
BlackNews.com - Interview With Raven Symone

Interview With Condoleezza Rice About Her New Memoir

Condoleezza Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama on November 14, 1954, the only child to bless the loving union of John and Angelena Rice. In spite of the considerable disadvantages she encountered just by virtue of growing up black in The South during the days of Jim Crow, she somehow managed to overachieve, first academically, and then career-wise.

In terms of credentials, she earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master’s from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981.

BlackNews.com

TV One Special "Let's Move With First Lady Michelle Obama" Focuses on Effort to End Childhood Obesity

First Lady Michelle Obama brings her personal effort to fight childhood obesity to TV One Friday, Oct. 29 at 10 PM ET with the premiere of the TV One original special, Let's Move with First Lady Michelle Obama. In a candid and enlightening interview with TV One's Washington Watch host Roland Martin that takes place on the White House grounds and by her hand-planted vegetable garden, First Lady Michelle Obama discusses the components of her signature initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation and the issues and challenges involved.

The First Lady tells Martin about the genesis of her awareness of the issue, which began with her own family's lifestyle, and advice and a cautionary word from her own children's pediatrician.

BlackNews.com

Willow Smith wanted to be like her famous parents

NEKESA MUMBI MOODY

When Willow Smith explains why she entered the music business, she talks about expressing her individuality, and wanting to help people with her message. But she also acknowledges that she wanted to be famous like her "mommy and daddy."

She's well on her way now. The 9-year-old daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith has become a viral sensation with her first single, "Whip My Hair." The official version of the video has gotten more than 7 million views on YouTube; there was even a popular video that mashed the song with Sesame Street's "I Love My Hair" video (which she laughed and called "very funny").

Willow Smith wanted to be like her famous parents

How to Survive a School or Workplace Shooting

What would you do if a shooting happened in your own school or workplace? It is a scary thought, but it is something that could happen to anybody. Having some ideas about how to respond beforehand could save your life.

How To Survive a School or Office Shooting on Howcast

Jack & Jill of Dayton's Beautillion Militaire

Hello Members and Subscribers,

Here is an excellent program for senior high school males presented by our community partner, the Dayton Chapter of Jack and Jill of America.

Visit our Web site, www bmtt.org

 

to find out about this excellent program.

An information session for parents of male seniors takes place Sunday, October 31 from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Sinclair Community College, Building 13, Room 207 (Rm13207).

If you live outside of Montgomery County Ohio, look in directory assistance to find your nearest chapter of Jack and Jill of America or visit their web site, Jack and Jill of America.

 

The BMTT endorses Jack & Jill of Dayton's Beautillion Militaire because of its rites of passage program and additional supports, which help to transition males from adolescence into adulthood. Rites of passage programs are routinely cited in scientific literature as supporting positive outcomes for Black males.

The BMTT supports our partner agency by helping to recruit eligible senior males into the program and by helping to raise financial support.

For more information contact Janet Bailey-Duncan by email.

BMTT Staff

Black Man's Think Tank, Inc.
P.O. Box 60638
Dayton, OH 45406

HMV voucher bribe for girls to have cervical jabs: Fury as NHS faces cuts

 

Teenage girls are being bribed with high street shopping vouchers to receive a highly controversial vaccine.

A health trust is promising them £45 in tokens for stores such as HMV, Argos and Debenhams if they agree to the cervical cancer jab, which protects against a sexually-transmitted virus that can cause tumours.

Opponents say the vaccine  -  dubbed the 'promiscuity jab'  -  encourages girls to have sex earlier than they would.

The 'Love to Shop' vouchers are being offered to girls aged 16 to 18 who have cervical cancer jab

HMV voucher bribe for girls to have cervical jabs: Fury as NHS faces cuts | Mail Online

Castellammare di Stabia in miniskirt ban as part of anti-social behaviour rules

 

A seaside city in Italy is set to put wearing mini-skirts and other revealing clothing on a blacklist of anti-social behaviours in a bid to help 'restore urban decorum and facilitate better civil co-existence'.

Castellammare di Stabia is trying to be the latest location in Italy to make use of new powers to crack down on a host of actions including street drinking, playing football in public places and blasphemy. Even sunbathing is on the list despite the city's coastal location.

Castellammare di Stabia in miniskirt ban as part of anti-social behaviour rules | Mail Online

What can be done to stop the black market trade of children in the People's Republic?

China's missing children - 101 East

Tens of thousands of children are abducted and sold in China's black market every year.

It is estimated that more than 70,000 children go missing in China every year, an average of 192 a day.

The most common cases occur in poor mountain areas where a family might sell a child for money or buy a son to carry on the family line, and in big cities where the children of migrant workers are usually targeted.

In a society that traditionally favours male heirs, it is often boys who are taken and who are then sold for adoption or to gangs of beggars.

Girls and women are also abducted and often used as labourers or as brides for unwed sons. - Al Jazeera English

Common Sense Internet Safety Survival Guide: Protecting Kids' Privacy Online

The Internet runs right through the middle of our kids' lives. It opens a world of entertainment and communication, but it also allows direct access to people and Web sites that can expose kids to age-inappropriate content and risky social contacts.

At Common Sense Media, we believe in media sanity, not censorship. And since we can't always cover our kids' eyes, we have to teach them how to see. The information here will help your kids stay Internet safe and smart. Click on the links below to find out what every parent should know about how our kids use the Internet.  Internet Safety Survival Guide

Arizona Teachers Sue to Protect Ethnic Studies

by Julianne Hing

On Monday, Tucson educators filed their long-awaited lawsuit against outgoing Arizona school chief Tom Horne and the State Board of Education to fight back against a newly passed ethnic studies ban.

HB 2281 was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer in May, and prohibits Arizona public and charter schools from offering courses that teach students to “resent or hate other races or classes of people.” It bans any course that “promote[s] the overthrow of the United States government; promote[s] resentment toward a race or class of people;” or “is designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or “advocate[s] ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” - COLORLINES

Study shows black youth are politically involved, disputes other stereotypes

Black youth say they are politically involved, critical of many messages in rap and skeptical of the idea that the country has entered a post-racial era. They also are socially conservative on political issues such same-sex marriage, said Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and lead researcher of the study.

Using survey questions and focus group discussions, the study provides new insights into a youth culture often criticized and frequently misunderstood. The study comes as attitudes among black youth are being examined in light of the election of President Barack Obama, which brought hope as well as disappointment for people who expected more change, she said.  Read more...

Related articles:

• Black youth are politically involved, shows study
• Black Youth Are Politically Involved, Critical of Rap Music

'The Daily Show,' Rolling Stone, and MTV: Obama's youth vote push

By Peter Grier

President Obama is going to appear on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart before the November elections. Last night the White House announced that Obama will tape a segment for the show on October 27. - CSMonitor.com

He who opens a school door, closes a prison. Victor Hugo

Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey

Milk - The RAW Truth

The FDA is the Enemy of Health

We now know who the enemy is and what they believe! The FDA has been trying to prevent Americans from purchasing raw milk through intimidation, store raids at gun point and legislation. The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund filed a law suit against the FDA several months ago on behalf of raw milk consumers in an effort to overturn the interstate ban on raw milk movement under CFR 1240.61.
It is truly sad to read as an American that believes in freedom and justice, that FDA greed and corporate cronyism at the highest levels has replaced the respect for health and freedom of choice. The FDA has just defined themselves as an enemy of freedom, an enemy of health, an enemy of whole unprocessed food, an enemy of nutrition and an enemy of prevention.

Milk – Read more….

Dogs reduce stress in autistic children and help curb problem behaviours, finds study

Dogs are known as man's best friend but a new study has found they can help children with developmental disorders as well.

Researchers from the University of Montreal, found specially trained service dogs could significantly reduce anxiety levels in autistic children.

The study, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, also found that pooches could help develop their social skills. | Mail Online

Healthy or harmful? The two boys who started weight training aged TWO

Tensing their muscles and snarling into the camera, brothers Giuliano, six, and four-year-old Claudiu are training to be the world's strongest boys.

The tiny muscle 'men' have been performing amazing acrobatic feats and lifting weights since they were toddlers.

Their father, 35-year-old Iulian Stroe, is determined to make them famous and puts them through a gruelling two-hour regime each morning. | Mail Online

Willow Smith plays with her hair in NY as her new video Whip My Hair goes viral

Her new music video has already had over 600,000 views online - and it only went up less than 24 hours ago.

But new pop sensation Willow Smith seemed less than enthused as the precocious nine-year-old left her hotel in New York City last night to grab a bite to eat.

The young pop star, who is the daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, fiddled with her hair and appeared shy as she walked along the side walk with a minder and chaperone. | Read & View more pics...

Whip My Hair

Forum targets plight of black youth

By Joe Lawlor

Locke said early childhood education is a key.

"If children are not reading by the third grade, we have lost them," Locke said.

White agreed, saying education needs to be improved.

"Most black children are two to three grades behind their white counterparts. Why do we tolerate this failure?" White asked.

Locke also talked about how some high schools have become "dropout factories." She said for many years schools tried to hide the dropout problem by using deceptive statistics, but she said the truth is that at some high schools more than half of the students do not graduate.

Crime was also a big issue.

Scott said the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world, and that black males are especially likely to be imprisoned. He said all that does is skyrocket costs for taxpayers and increase the likelihood of recidivism.

"There's no downside for politicians to have simple-minded crime policies," Scott said.

Scott said if the incarceration rate were reduced to be more in line with other countries, a lot more money could be funneled to prevention programs that would help stop crime from happening in the first place.  Read more...

President Obama’s ‘Conversation’ with Youth Covers Wealth of Current Issues

Posted by Stevie in The District

President Barack Obama spent an informative hour on Thursday fielding questions from a group of young people. ‘A Conversation with President Obama’ was a highly-publicized event that stretched across several platforms of media.

The live town hall-style discussion was held at the headquarters of BET Networks in Washington, D.C.  Television viewers were able to see the event across a range of Viacom media properties, including BET, CMT, MTV, Centric, and others.  An audience of 225 young people asked the president a range of questions, but the forum was also interactive. The event was streamed live over the Internet with the onsite hosts also taking questions from Twitter during the discussion.

The topics covered included a wide range of subjects, including hot button issues such as education and illegal immigration. Before discussing issues, the President shared his relief at the successful rescue of 33 miners in Chile earlier this week.  read more...

Feds announce funding for aboriginal youth organizations

Children of the Earth High School and several other organizations supporting young aboriginals will receive a total of $726,096 from the federal government.

James Moore, the federal minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and Shelly Glover, Tory MP for St. Boniface, said today that the funding will help strengthen the young peoples’ aboriginal identities and instill values, cultures and traditional practices.

"We are proud to support organizations that help young Canadians gain confidence and share positive stories about their culture," Moore said in a statement today.  Read more...

Black Youth Leadership Summit reveals troubling students' trends toward College preparedness

By Michael Martinez

It just takes one person to inspire students to prepare and apply themselves to go to college after high school.

That was the message to about 150 juniors and seniors at the Black Youth Leadership Summit, a recent gathering at the University of Nevada, Reno, jointly sponsored by the Washoe County School District.

But if many of the students who attended the summit were any indication, that inspiration to attend college must come much earlier than the senior year. Many of the students confessed to having no idea about taking entrance exams or the steps to take to get to college.

That trend was troubling, said David Gamble, the school district’s coordinator of diversity and equity programs.  read more...

Everloop: Social Networking Site for Youth

Everloop has arrived! We are currently in our open Beta phase and are thrilled to launch the first science social loop for The Mad Science Group on Oct. 1.

Built for tweens ages 8 to 13, Everloop is the next step beyond social networking, to what we call social looping, because tweens shouldn't be on open social networks. Everloop's innovative social looping platform--the first of its kind--creates a privacy loop around kids' connections, so tweens are free from anonymous intruders. They can participate in collaborative learning and school projects, share information about their sports teams and clubs, play games, customize their profile pages and communicate in real time with friends who are part of their loop. At Everloop, we recognize that tweens want to be online, and our goal is to get kids' online time focused on connecting with a purpose.

Through the partnerships we are signing, Everloop will be the platform tween groups use to actively promote, entertain and inform. Loaded with educational resources, entertainment opportunities and apps, Everloop will foster content sharing, innovation and entrepreneurial development.

Are you in the Loop? Sign up now at www.everloop.com

.

Ten Things Parents Can Do to Make Halloween Safer

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

"The Mentalist" Actor Tim Kang Tells Parents How They Can Build Safety into Halloween This Year

Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year for children, but sometimes the most hectic for parents. Nearly 94 percent of children between the ages of four and twelve participate in Halloween activities each year. Tim Kang, actor from the hit CBS show The Mentalist has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to help educate parents about what they should be telling their children to keep them safe. Parents need to take a moment to consider basic safety precautions that will make Halloween a safer night of fun.

• CHOOSE bright, flame-retardant costumes or add reflective tape to costumes and candy bags so children are easily seen in the dark. In addition, carry a glow stick or flashlight.
  
  
• PLAN a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Avoid unfamiliar neighborhoods, streets that are isolated, or homes that are poorly lit inside or outside.
  
  
• NEVER send young children out alone. They should always be accompanied by a parent or another trusted adult. Older children should always travel in groups.
  
  
• ALWAYS walk younger children to the door to receive treats and don’t let children enter a home unless you are with them.
  
  
• BE SURE children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.
  
  
• DISCUSS basic pedestrian safety rules that children should use when walking to and from houses.
  
  
• CONSIDER organizing a home or community party as an alternative to “trick-or-treating.”
  
  
• MAKE sure children know their home phone number and address in case you get separated. Teach children how to call 911 in an emergency.
  
  
• TEACH children to say “NO!” or “this is not my mother/father” in a loud voice if someone tries to get them to go somewhere, accept anything other than a treat, or leave with them. And teach them that they should make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming and resisting.
  
  
• REMIND children to remain alert and report suspicious incidents to parents and/or law enforcement.

“Child safety is vital year round, but Halloween is an especially important time for parents and children to pay extra attention to their surroundings and not let their guard down,” said actor Tim Kang a spokeperson for NCMEC. “Parents need to exercise a few basic safety precautions to help ensure that Halloween is both fun and safe.”

Download the Halloween Safety Flyer
English

 

• Spanish

 

Avg. US Teen Sends 3339 Texts/Month, Less Than Half In Youth

by Hayley Garcia

Stats aren’t always interesting. (social… eek!) But when it comes to phones and gadgets we love it. In a simple survey conducted by The Nielsen Company (marketing & research)  on over 3,000 teens and 60,000 cellphone subscribers, it was found that an average American teen (13-17) receives/sends 3,339 texts in a month, and less than half in their Youth (18-24) @1,630.

Little bit more into the stats, Female teens out-pass the male teens @ 4,050 and 2,539 texts per month respectively. 43% of the teens say, texting is why they have a phone, especially a QWERTY phone. Reason? 22% say that’s because it’s a lot easier than calling, 20% because it’s faster, and 78% because it’s a lot convenient at all times.  Read more...

Talking to death: texts, phones kill 16,000: study

Drivers distracted by talking or texting on cell phones killed an estimated 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

The estimate, one of the first scientific attempts to quantify how many people have died in accidents caused specifically by mobile telephone distractions, also suggests a growing number of these drivers are under 30.

"Our results suggested that recent and rapid increases in texting volumes have resulted in thousands of additional road fatalities in the United States," Fernando Wilson and Jim Stimpson of the University of North Texas Health Science Center wrote in the American Journal of Public Health.  Read more....

Why McDonald's Happy Meal hamburgers won't decompose - the real story behind the story

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Now here's the truly shocking part about all this: In my estimation, the reason nothing will eat a McDonald's hamburger bun (except a human) is because it's not food!

No normal animal will perceive a McDonald's hamburger bun as food, and as it turns out, neither will bacteria or fungi. To their senses, it's just not edible stuff. That's why these bionic burger buns just won't decompose.

Which brings me to my final point about this whole laughable distraction: There is only one species on planet Earth that's stupid enough to think a McDonald's hamburger is food. This species is suffering from skyrocketing rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia and obesity. This species claims to be the most intelligent species on the planet, and yet it behaves in such a moronic way that it feeds its own children poisonous chemicals and such atrocious non-foods that even fungi won't eat it (and fungi will eat cow manure, just FYI).

Care to guess which species I'm talking about? - the real story behind the story

Pfizer ends trial after widespread overdosing of children with psych drug

Drug giant Pfizer has canceled a scheduled clinical trial of its antipsychotic drug Geodon after the FDA accused it of subjecting child participants in a prior study to "widespread overdosing."

"After careful consideration, the company decided not to proceed with the study," Pfizer spokesperson Gwendolyn Fisher said.  Read more...

High Blood Pressure May Take Greater Toll On Youngest Black Children's Hearts

The study analyzed data from 184 children and young adults, 45 of them black, ages 3 to 20, treated at three hospitals for primary hypertension.

Black children were, overall, more prone to left-ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), a dangerous thickening of the heart muscle, one of hypertension's earliest, most insidious and most common complications, and the difference was particularly pronounced in those younger than 13 years of age, the researchers report.   Read more...

New Child Poverty Rates Available for States, Cities and Congressional Districts on the Kids Count Data Center

New Child Poverty Rates Available for States, Cities and Congressional Districts on the Kids Count Data Center

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center has been updated to include poverty data from the 2009 American Community Survey that was released on September 28 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Data Center for the first time breaks down child poverty rates by congressional district, highlighting those with the highest and lowest percent of children living below the poverty line. To see how all 435 districts ranked, visit the Quick Read | View Page | View PDF

.

KIDS COUNT Data Book (includes Ohio)

childrensdefense.org

The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a national and state-by-state profile of the well-being of America's children. The Data Book ranks states on 10 key measures and provides data on the economic, health, education and social conditions of America's children and families. This year’s KIDS COUNT Data Book essay, "Counting What Counts," calls for a "Data Revolution" to track progress and improve the lives of vulnerable kids. Visit the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center website to access the data book, view state profiles and read the essay.

Ohio's KIDS COUNT: 2008 Data Book
Ohio's KIDS COUNT: 2008 Data Book is a compilation of the most current and accurate data that tracks and compares the well-being of children in Ohio and its 88 counties. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT project has provided support for this publication. The data book contains important data regarding 14 key indicators of child well-being in the categories of economic security, health, education and safety. Each category features state and local information along with a summary of the trends for the child well-being indicators. Helpful charts provide a comparison of state and county data, with links to additional resources. Also included in each section are highlights of programs and promising practices being implemented to improve the well-being of Ohio’s children.

An added feature of the book is a focus on the Ohio implementation of Healthy People 2010 (HP 2010), the federal initiative in the United States that provides set objectives for measuring the health of the population. HP 2010 has twenty-eight focus area chapters that are intended to achieve two broad goals: increase quality and years of healthy life and eliminate health disparities.

A Renewed Warning on Toy that Explodes | OnSafety http://ping.fm/jEwNh

Children Getting More PTSD, Less TLC from Parents Returning From War

by Tom Henderson

Memories of war haunt not only returning soldiers, but also the children they thought they left safely at home.

Bumper stickers say insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children. Post-traumatic stress disorder works in reverse. Particularly in military families, children get it from their parents.

Isolation, depression and trauma are among the symptoms soldiers pass on to their kids, according to preliminary results from a Canadian study. - ParentDish

Boomerang kids: 85% of college graduates must move back home

 

Getting a degree used to be a stepping stone to limitless career opportunities. Now it's more of a hiatus from living under your parents' roof.

Stubbornly high unemployment -- nearly 15% for those ages 20-24 -- has made finding a job nearly impossible. And without a job, there's nowhere for these young adults to go but back to their old bedrooms, curfews and chore charts. Meet the boomerangers.

"This recession has hit young adults particularly hard," according to Rich Morin, senior editor at the Pew Research Center in DC.

Boomerang kids: 85% of college graduates must move back home

Heart attacks in youths: a fight against a silent killer of children

BY ROBIN ERB

Although sudden cardiac death is not limited to athletes, one of the department's efforts is aimed at high school athletes. Officials say some risks for cardiac arrest can be detected with more thorough screenings of athletes or a deeper examination of genetic history, said Debra Duquette, who directed the review for the health department.

The department is teaming up with the Michigan High School Athletic Association to get the prevention message out. More than half of Michigan's high school students play at least one sport, according to the MHSAA.

Read more: Heart attacks in youths

Epidemic? Half of US teens ‘meet criteria for mental disorder’

 

Around half of US teens meet the criteria for a mental disorder and nearly one in four report having a mood, behavior or anxiety disorder that interferes with daily life, American researchers say.

Fifty-one percent of boys and 49 percent of girls aged 13-19 have a mood, behavior, anxiety or substance use disorder, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

In 22.2 percent of teens, the disorder was so severe it impaired their daily activities and caused great distress, says the study led by Kathleen Merikangas of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). 

| Raw Story

Revealed: a disturbing portrait of inequality in British schools

 

The statistics are stark: boys are slipping behind girls in 11 out of 13 learning categories by the age of five; children from the poorest families are half as likely to achieve good GCSEs; black pupils of Caribbean descent are three times more likely to be excluded; four out of five young people with special needs are being bullied; between a quarter and a third of Muslim women have no qualifications.

After decades of reform, during which governments have tried desperately to address the social fault lines in British education, the problems persist.

In the space of 80 pages – one chapter of its groundbreaking report on fairness in Britain, due to be published tomorrow – the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) portrays an education system in 2010 that is deeply divided. The inequalities emerge at nursery, carry on into primary school and secondary education, and then university and beyond. Some relate to race, others to poverty, disability and the problems experienced by Britain's boys. | The Observer

THE 99

President Obama commends THE 99 for Spreading Tolerance

President Obama made a special mention about THE 99 superheroes and its creator, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, in his speech given recently at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship held in Washington. The President commended THE 99 for capturing the imaginations of young people through the message of tolerance. Entrepreneurs from all over the globe are attending the summit, including Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of THE 99 superheroes.
Click to see full White House video (16:17)

THE 99

"Divergent Social Worlds: Neighborhood Crime and the Racial-Spatial Divide"

by Ruth D. Peterson and Lauren J. Krivo with a Foreword by John Hagan

"Divergent Social Worlds: Neighborhood Crime and the Racial-Spatial Divide" highlights the continued pattern of structural inequality and residential racial segregation by illustrating how place and race are linked empirically as well as in the minds of the American public. Distinguished scholars Ruth Peterson and Lauren Krivo assert that there is a racial hierarchy structured in American society that serves to maintain white privilege and African-American oppression. Within this racialized social structure is a pattern of social and racial segregation that results in unequal access to resources, opportunities and exposure to crime that they coin the "racial-spatial divide." 

In their analyses, Peterson and Krivo use national, neighborhood crime data to offer a more nuanced approach to studying the social conditions that give rise to crime patterns across nearly 9,000 neighborhoods in 87 cities.  Overall, their findings reveal that neighborhoods are still primarily structured along racial lines among unequal groups and such residential disparities reproduce existing levels of privilege or disadvantage. Thus, there is an increased likelihood of crime in impoverished non-white areas where there are fewer opportunities and resources for residents.

Their results show that 60% of whites, 51% of blacks, and 33% of Latinos live in communities where the vast majority of their neighbors are of the same race or ethnicity.
On average, African-American communities experience violent crime at a rate five times higher than whites.  Violence rates for Latino and integrated areas generally fall between black and white rates and range on average between two and a half to three and a half times those of white communities. 

Peterson and Krivo's results also illustrate that racialized disadvantage accounts for variations in property crime among neighborhoods of distinct colors. In fact, rates of property offending are similar for neighborhoods when differences in city and local areas are controlled for.  Furthermore, they find that racialized circumstances are critical to understanding differences in violent crime rates. Specifically, residential instability, disadvantage and the percentage of whites residing in adjacent communities contribute to levels of neighborhood violence, although only disadvantage and white neighborhood composition account for the observed inequality of violent crime rates. 

More than 90% of white neighborhoods have a low poverty rate, but only 25% of blacks and Latinos live in similar areas. Moreover, most white neighborhoods are surrounded by neighborhoods that are on average 77% white while most non-white neighborhoods are near areas with less than 20% of whites nearby. 

Peterson and Krivo offer the following policy recommendations:
•    Change the deeply rooted social structure that overwhelmingly benefits whites and harms non-whites.
•    Address structural inequities in community conditions across neighborhoods of distinct colors.
•    Stimulate the economy of disadvantaged neighborhoods by increasing access to residential loans.
•    Consider a national system of reparations to build more equitable residential environments for areas of all colors.

The book is available at: http://www.russellsage.org/publications/100106.320118

 

.   

PROBLEMS CONTINUE FOR JENA SIX: DRUG BUST OR RACISM?

While Sheriff Scott Franklin of Jena, Louisiana says he is trying to rid his jurisdiction of drugs, critics say he has a vendetta against the town's black community for the local civil rights protests that won freedom for six black high school students who had been charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard brawl in 2009. 

As reported in Race-Talk

 

on July 9, 2009, over 150 officers from 10 agencies met and mobilized "Operation Third Option" with the goal of fighting drugs. Despite the fact that Sheriff Franklin spent massive resources for an investigation that lasted nearly two years, officers have yet to seize any contraband.  Working with District Attorney Reed Walters, Sheriff Franklin has been seeking maximum penalties for minor offenses in a town that is 85% white with only 300 black residents. Thus far, their efforts have almost exclusively targeted African Americans. 

Catrina Wallace, the sister of Robert Bailey, one of the "Jena Six," was a leader in the initiative to free the accused youth and organized protests and meetings for months.  She and her children were awakened with guns pointed to their heads and were held on a $150,000 cash-only bond although officers found no drugs or contraband in her home.  Furthermore, despite a lack of evidence, her car was also taken by police and never returned. 

Samuel Howard was sleeping nude when police raided his home at 5:00 a.m. and tasered him three times. They took him out of his house to a baseball field while he was still nude, where he spent another hour without any clothes, standing among other arrestees.  Howard said "The sheriff knows me.  We went to school together.  He knows I'm not a violent person."  Howard's home was badly burned during the raid as a result of flares that police used inside. 

Many of Jena's black residents claim that the DA, Sheriff, and editor of the local newspaper want revenge against black people who stood up and fought against unjust charges. The owner, editor, and publisher of the Jena Times

 

, the town's only newspaper, is Sammy Franklin, father of Sheriff Franklin.  A white-owned store near the courthouse sells T-shirts commemorating "Operation Third Option" with a design of a person behind bars.  Black residents of Jena say that an earlier version of the shirt featured a monkey. 

Marcus Jones, father of one of the Jena Six, has called for a federal investigation of the Sheriff's department and District Attorney's office. He said "This is racially motivated.  It's revenge.  Wouldn't none of this be going on if justice had been done the way it was supposed to have been."

Black Youth Leadership Summit reveals students’ trends http://ping.fm/ttv2v

Meeting of the Moms Wants To Stop Black-on-Black Youth Violence http://ping.fm/Ypbmw

Sick or Sick of School? Is going to School causing your childs sickness?

The Danger of Driving While Texting

Teens Opting for Obesity Surgery

Junk Food Makes Up Nearly Half of Kids' Calories

By KIM CAROLLO

If there were ever a reason to cut back on kids' consumption of cake, cookies, pizza and soda, nutrition experts say a new study highlights just how unhealthy young people's diets really are.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that nearly 40 percent of calories consumed by children ages 2 to 18 were empty calories, the unhealthiest kind of calories.

Half of these calories came from just six foods:
Soda
Sugary fruit drinks
Grain desserts, such as cake, cookies and donuts
Dairy desserts such as ice cream
Pizza
Whole milk, which is far fattier than skim. - ABC News

Community Voice program tries to reduce infant mortality among African-Americans

Bill DiPaolo

Community Voice, a five-week program in Palm Beach County, Florida, teaches how diet, exercise and behavior can reduce the high death rate among African-American infants.

Thirteen-year-old Jeremy Thicklin is on a mission to teach his friends how to prevent African-American babies from dying.
The slender eighth-grader at Roosevelt Middle School was one of 212 volunteers who graduated Saturday from Community Voice, a five-week program teaching them how diet, exercise and behavior can reduce the high death rate among African-American infants. African-American babies die more than twice as often before their first birthday as do non-Hispanic whites, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Community Voice program tries to reduce infant mortality among African-Americans. - WPHL

The Global Crisis: Gun Violence and Children - New America Media

Marian Wright Edelman

Recently, the United Nations expressed new concern about a crisis many Americans know little about: The use of child soldiers in global conflicts, especially in Somalia. Somalia, whose government collapsed in 1991, has been in a constant state of conflict and tension for years and still has no legally recognized government.
The United States joins Somalia as the only two countries in the world not to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty recognizing the human rights of children that UNICEF points out is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. One of the Convention’s provisions prohibits the use of soldiers younger than age 15 in conflicts.

The Global Crisis: Gun Violence and Children - New America Media