Duthie On...

In answer to a request from a Democrat in western Pennsylvania to "stop these abortions," Obama reportedly said : "Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information." "punished with a baby?" Could it be, perhaps, that part of the reason folks like Obama and...

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The intrusion of the state into the family continues unabated : As doctors struggle to eradicate polio worldwide, one of their biggest problems is persuading parents to vaccinate their children. In Belgium, authorities are resorting to an extreme measure: prison sentences. Two sets of parents in Belgium were recently handed five month prison terms for failing to vaccinate their children against polio. Each parent was also fined 4,100 euros ($8,000). And if you don't think it can happen in the U.S...

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This is just plain outrageous: They’re watching you right now. They counted every beer you drank during last night’s Red Sox [ team stats ] game. They see you sneaking out to the garage for a smoke. They know if you’ve got a gun, and where you keep it. They’re your kids, and they’re the National Security Agency of the Nanny State. I found this out after my 13-year-old daughter’s annual checkup. Her pediatrician grilled her about alcohol and drug abuse. Not...

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You gotta figure Al's not thrilled with this , three days before the Live Earth carbon orgy: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The 24-year-old son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested for drug possession on Wednesday after he was stopped for speeding in his hybrid Toyota Prius, a sheriff's official said. Al Gore III -- whose father is a leading advocate of policies to fight global warming -- was driving his environmentally friendly car at about 100 miles per hour on a freeway south of Los Angeles...

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Excerpt: Not only do I believe that trying to take the wildness out of boys is a doomed social experiment, but I'm certain that genetic scientists will eventually discover that males carry the Cowboy Gene. That's my name for whatever is responsible for all the wrestling in my house, and the dunking during bath time, and my 5-year-old's insistence on wearing his silver six-shooters to Wal-Mart in order to protect our grocery cart. I only pray that when the Cowboy Gene is discovered, some well-meaning...

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[2nd in a series] Kids will do most anything to avoid getting in trouble. Playing dumb is one way they attempt to do this. Another means for evading responsibility is blaming others . Growing up an only child, I was unable to take full advantage of this technique, which works best when you have a younger sibling. Break a lamp? No problem, just blame your little brother. This phenomenon was explored recently in the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons , which features a bad guy who says: Let’s see, take...

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Being a parent, you start to notice the origins of certain types of behaviors. Kids aren't stupid, and like most of us, their gut instinct when they get in trouble is to figure out how to avoid responsibility for what they've done. This is the first in a series of posts on the rules by which they do this. The first rule of evading responsibility is to play dumb . If you're a parent, you've experienced this. Your kid pinches their brother or sister, who starts to cry. You scold the older sibling and...

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