Magic Statistics

An addictions survey in 2005 showed that 21 percent of Yukon residents smoke pot, the highest (no pun intended) rate in the country, and 50 percent above the national average of 14 percent.  A prevention consultant with the Yukon government’s Addiction Services office was recently interviewed about the current state of scientific knowledge about cannabis. It’s not the benign recreational drug it was once thought to be.

New studies have indicated marijuana is physically addictive, heightens cancer rates and risks to mental health and impacts short-term memory, [Sandy] Bowlby said.
. . .
There seems to be a perception that pot is a safe drug, Bowlby said. Recent studies, however, have indicated it can be physically addictive. In the past, marijuana has been regarded as a drug that is not physically addictive.

Research done in more recent years, Bowlby said, has shown heavy pot smokers who quit suffer from anxiety, sleeping problems and have shown anger issues while their bodies are getting rid of the drug.
. . .
While Bowlby stressed pot may not be a gateway drug for everyone, it has been shown the younger a person starts smoking weed, the more likely he or she is to become addicted to it or move on to other drugs.

The 12-page public report on the 2005 Yukon Addictions Survey can be downloaded here (pdf).

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A British family-court magistrate who says he was compelled to resign because his Christian convictions do not allow him to comply with the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) has taken the Lord Chancellor to court.  An Employment Tribunal considering the case has received testimony from Professor of Medicine Dr Dean Byrd regarding the state of scientific research on same-sex parenting.  Here’s some of what he had to say.

Advocacy groups argue that there are no differences between children raised by same-sex and those raised by opposite-sex parents.  The studies on same-sex parenting are quite limited and quite limiting.  They are basically restricted to children who were conceived in a heterosexual relationship whose mothers later divorced and self-identified as lesbians.  It is these children who were compared to divorced, heterosexual, mother-headed families. A better comparison would have been with children in intact families because the research is clear that children in single parent families are at risk for a variety of difficulties including juvenile criminal offenses, mental illness and poverty.  The logical conclusion is that children from both of these family forms are at risk for a number of problems.

Studies of children raised by male couples are virtually non-existent.  The few available studies are either anecdotal in nature or so plagued by methodological flaws as to make them simply invalid from a scientific perspective.
. . .
The Stacey and Biblarz (2001) meta-analysis repudiated over 20 years of research which claimed to show no difference between children raised by homosexual parents and those raised by heterosexual parents.   This research clearly demonstrated that lesbian mothers had a feminizing effect on their sons and a masculinizing effect on their daughters. Boys raised by lesbian mothers behaved in less traditionally masculine ways, and girls, particularly “adolescent and young girls raised by lesbian mothers, appear to have been more sexually adventurous and less chaste.”  [footnotes omitted]

Dr Byrd discusses several scientific studies of children raised by same-sex parents and concludes that the research conducted thus far indicates that children raised by homosexual couples tend to fare no better than children raised by divorced heterosexual parents.

More studies are required but, in the meantime, the available evidence speaks against allowing homosexual couples to become adoptive parents.

The full text of Dr Byrd's testimony can be downloaded here as a Word document.

h/t: Anglican Mainstream

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A Baptist church in Gaza has become a hostage of the on-again, off-again civil war between supporters of Fatah and supporters of Hamas.  Fatah’s Palestinian Authority police seized the Gaza Baptist Church's six-storey building yesterday.

President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller says, "They've taken it over as a military out-post in their gun battle with the Hamas. This situation is just terribly tragic because for so many Christians that remain in Gaza, this was their only bright light. This was their hope."

That hope has turned to questions, Moeller says. "They're wondering what's becoming of that building as it's now being used by the forces of the Palestinian Authority and of course it'll make it a target for Hamas attacks."

Fatah authorities forcibly took over the building, however no one was injured. According to Moeller the Palestinians are losing a lot. "It's a six story building that houses not only the church, but a mammogram clinic. On the ground floor, there's a public library and then there's a hostel for people who are visiting."

The church has been struck in the past; the library has been torched three times.

Unfortunately, there's no hope in sight.  Moeller says in every sense, this is a civil war. "Half of the population of the Palestinians support Fatah. The other half of the population supports Hamas. And, all of the Christians are caught in the crossfire."

The occupation occurred after the ninth truce between the two forces was declared on Sunday evening, 4 February.

May God protect the building and the people who work and worship there.

h/t: Persecution Blog

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Buddhist monk embraces condoms

h/t: Big News Network.com - Breaking Religious News