No study that I know of has said children raised by same-sex parents are worse off than children raised by opposite-sex parents. Conservatives may have made these claims and then shown studies about the benefits of two parents to one. But that is nothing more than a cheap bait and switch tactic. You shouldn’t fall for it.

Yes.

Testimony from a former guard at Guantanamo Bay. It’s difficult to blame the ground-level guys in this stuff. I blame the people who put in place the policies that allowed it to happen. Which is why they need to be held accountable.

Befehl ist Befehl

Bringing necrophelia and incest into this discussion is just going to confuse everyone.

Apparently in Kentucky you can change your geneder on your birth certificate so problem solved. Either that or you can deport them to Tennessee or Ohio.

That, by the way, is a brilliant observation! This is a notion that should be presented to recruits at the academy. If you look the other way or enable a crooked colleague, you are sliding down a slippery slope. You are no longer protecting the “sheep from the wolves,” you are just a different pack of wolves.

“That’s one reason Lopez decided to become a cop. She had no illusions she was going to save the world. But she remembered that Arlington police officer, and she wanted to make a difference.”

I found that part of the story moving, because I have been there. I grew up in a police family, visited the station now and again, and was treated very kindly by the officers I knew. By in large, they were good people in a less than ideal system.

I developed a balanced picture of the field , with the help of my father. When I decided to become a law enforcement major, he didn’t necessarily jump for joy, but he tried to be helpful and offered sage advice, such as, “first finish college” (so I did).

Veteran officers like my dad did not feel the need to get into foot pursuits every day, or act like cowboys. Indeed, they developed an understanding with the guys on the street because they weren’t “hard chargers,” in the parlance of my community. Unfortunately, this idea seems to be lost on too many officers of my generation. Becoming an ambassador for, and a servant of the community is becoming a played out notion for the “action cops” that demand so much attention these days.

So I survey the damage that has been done to policing by the “drug war,” the “war on terrorism,” and the notion that all risk can be eliminated and I am demoralized. After nearly a decade of educating myself, working in a related field, and studying the system, I just don’t think my heart’s in it anymore. I admire the courage of people like former Officer Lopez. I just don’t know if I want to go down the same hard road she did.

Anyone can use a “fact” to shore up their stumping for office or funds or whatever. The ugly reality behind bloated stats are stories like this. Reminds me of juking the stats, a la ‘The Wire’.

I feel I am a, very, conservative, Christian with charismatic beliefs. What I see with the above thing on gay adoption is a failure of self-righteous Christians. And what do they have to be self-righteous about?!

*How many, heterosexual couples, do I know, that are in second marriages (strike one-no divorce among real Christians) that would be considered unfit parents by the church? They have been sinning! Thus, broken the laws of God. Are they not continuing to do so, since divorce and remarriage is not allowed (in strict sects)? Is this any different than “illegal” than gay sex?

*How many “Christians” have sex out of wedlock, (strike two) before they become married the second or third time? Are they, not also, unfit? Did they not break the laws of God, like gays?

*How many, that live with a spouse, with their kids, under the same roof, before a second (or third or fourth) marriage (strike three-sex out of wedlock, again), that would be considered fit, by the church, to be adoptive parents? Most all of them, of course!

*At least Arkansas (right there with Kentucky) did address the unmarried couple thing. But, how does this determine whether or not the unmarried couple won’t actually supply a better environment than two, lunatic type, custodians, who are married? Granted they are having sex out of wedlock, but so did, all of, the “Christian” people, described above!

* How many kids, raised in a homosexual, two parent, environment, turn out to be “normal” heterosexual people, when grown? Most, I would dare to guess. How many kids turnout to be homosexual, or bisexual, when raised by heterosexual parents?

I find it hard to oppose gay people, when, supposedly, Christian people are just as unrighteous as anyone else. We are, allegedly, saved, not perfect! I guess if I really sat down and thought about it, I could think of enough reasons to fill a book, on why the gay people are, just as, acceptable as the heterosexual couple.

Hating gays sort of goes against the only commandment given to us “saved” people in the new testament. Since Jesus came to fulfill the law, he gave that commandment. “love your neighbor as yourself” Hate, for gays, has lead to the thought process in the opposition of their capacity to be good parents, ignoring the fact that two loving “parents” are in the child’s life!

And it goes against the grain of loving your neighbor as yourself.
If you actually did, you would not wish harm upon him. Denying the couple the joy of children (ha ha–are they crazy?!?! No. Really! Just kidding! I love my kids) is really abusive!

It is hard for me to judge gays, when “illegal” heterosexual and homosexual behavior has been rampant in the “Church” likely, for centuries! Christians are supposed to know about that scripture , as well…”Judge not lest you be judged”

I worked with gay people and they never, ever were anything other than good people, who I considered a little weird (my heterosexual opinion obviously) But good people, none the less!

Maybe I am just plain crazy, but the true meaning of Christianity does not seem to be represented by these “righteous” people.

I disagree with the law here, but do you really think it’s possible to get accurate research on that subject in the current acedemic climate?

Oh, wait, we already are.

That comment below the news item sums up why cops continue to get away with their abuses. Seems that “convicted felons” no longer have any civil rights that police or “right-thinking people” need regard.

It’s only when the completely innocent (Mayor Calvo for example) get the asp up where the sun don’t shine do people loudly object.

As you pointed out, kids tend to do best in families where they have a married mother and father. Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that both men and women need the example of an active mother and father because there are things they need from both of them equally while growing up.

In that case, maybe we need to start taking children away from divorced parents, widows and widowers, and women who have children out of wedlock.

Yes.

I do think that a household with a loving mother and father are ideal, but less than ideal does not mean necessarily harmful.

There are a lot of situations that are worse than being put into a home with two mommies or two daddies who wanted you, and belonging to the State and being shuffled around at their whim definitely qualifies as being a LOT worse.

I don’t mean to say I agree with them at all, mind you, only that to their mind it is not about hating the “sinner” at all, but about hating the sin and not wanting to submit a child to that.

There are no good cops. There are bad cops, and there are good people that get weeded off the force.

We need transparency and liability. We need to remove incentives for arresting people and add incentives for being a beacon of ethical behavior.

Consider this: What if SWAT teams used a similar points system? They would be benefited by breaking down as many doors as possible and doing as many searches as possible, legal or not, and bringing as many cops along as possible to share the assists. To support the gravy train, their superiors would set up ‘procedures’ and deflect suggestions of wrong doing from their officers. Sound familiar?

This would provide plenty of influences for a child to identify with someone; someone who, because of the closeness of the family unit, they can become intimately familiar with; and role-model. This is inherently difficult in same-sex couples when the child is opposite sex of the parents and REQUIRES the outside influences you speak of.

In the scenario you mentioned of two brothers raising children — the child would also likely see their “fathers” interact with adult females, therefore the young child, (if a girl), could understand she has a place to enter into in her parents world when she is ready to “grow up”. (Yet still, this scenario is no where close to “ideal”).

Early childhood development is an amazing topic. The AFFECT we have anytime we interact with a child is HUGE. One way or another, you are making a difference in that child’s life. Make it count!