By Christy Barritt

Komen Still Supporting Planned Parenthood

After making headlines in January for cutting ties with Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced the following month that it had revised its grant-making policy in support of the world’s largest abortion provider.

Komen founder Nancy Brinker said in a statement, “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.” She also emphasized that none of the decisions made were done for political reasons.

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, issued a statement concerning this blow up.

“What happened this week was nothing short of a thuggish shakedown campaign by Planned Parenthood against the Susan G. Komen Foundation,” said Ruse. “Planned Parenthood acted as if the Komen Foundation had to give them money or they would be destroyed.”

He encourages pro-lifers to cease their support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Secondhand Smoke Still a Problem

Though fewer kids and teens are being exposed to secondhand smoke while riding in vehicles, the rate of exposure still elicits concern.

Researchers for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey for the study. The survey was conducted nationwide among more than 20,000 kids, grades six through 12, between the years of 2000-2009.

During the study period, fewer students reported being exposed to secondhand smoke while in the car. The number dropped from 48 percent to 30 percent overall. Still, close to one-third of the students in the survey said they’d been in a car with someone who was smoking in the past week, an alarming statistic when considering the effects of second-hand smoke, which include asthma and respiratory infections.

Researchers are pushing for more states to ban smoking in cars carrying kids. Four states already have the law in effect: Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine and California.

HUD and Homosexuals

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced new regulations that will ensure that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary, made the announcement at the annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Baltimore.

The new rules prohibit “inquiries regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” by owners and operators of HUD-assisted housing and HUD-insured housing. The definition of family will also be widened to include LGBT families.

The case originated in Michigan where a 2007 report showed evidence that nearly 30 percent of same-sex couples were treated differently when attempting to buy or rent a home.

Terror Hot Spots

As a part of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, researchers mapped all events considered terrorism that occurred between 1970 and 2008. Their conclusion showed various terrorist “hot spots” across the country.

Researchers from the University of Maryland and University of Massachusetts-Boston found that a third of all terrorist attacks during that time frame took place in five cities: Manhattan, New York; Los Angles, California; Miami, Florida; San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C.

They also revealed that terrorism is more widely dispersed than thought, and that every state had experienced some form of terrorism. Not all terrorism attacks are by groups deemed “religious.” Many were done by radical environmental groups or groups with political agendas.

 Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons. 
www.christybarritt.com