We must never permit the voice of humanity within us to be silenced. It is man’s sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man.
~Albert Schweitzer
Teenagers who identify as “evangelical” or “born again” are highly likely to sound like the girl at the bar; 80 percent think sex should be saved for marriage. But thinking is not the same as doing. Evangelical teens are actually more likely to have lost their virginity than either mainline Protestants or Catholics. They tend to lose their virginity at a slightly younger age–16.3, compared with 16.7 for the other two faiths. And they are much more likely to have had three or more sexual partners by age 17: Regnerus reports that 13.7 percent of evangelicals have, compared with 8.9 percent for mainline Protestants.
Interestingly, while the evangelical teens more likely to have multiple partners at an early age, they are also the least prepared and ill-informed:
The results play out in the usual 19th-century way. When evangelical parents say they talk to their kids about sex, they mean the morals, not the mechanics. In a quiz on pregnancy and health risks associated with sex, evangelicals scored very low. Evangelical teens don’t accept themselves as people who will have sex until they’ve already had it. As a result, abstinence pledgers are considerably less likely than nonpledgers to use birth control the first time they have sex. “It just sort of happened,” one girl told the researchers, in what could be a motto for this generation of evangelical teens.
Yep, that abstinence-only plan is really something, isn’t it? Tell me again why it’s still being funded? But I digress…
In an effort to help teenage boys better target their efforts, the article also goes on to tell which religion is more likely to engage in oral sex…
I would also blame it on the belief that women should be submissive and dumb. Teach your daughters to speak up for themselves. Teach you sons that men are people.
Norway’s Arctic city of Tromsø is playing host this week to a large group of international climate experts and environmental advocates, who literally could see ice melting in unusually warm weather. Dire reports of climate change rang out once again.
Many believe the damage to the planet has already been done. The speed at which polar ice is melting in Greenland alone has doubled in just the past two years, scientists said, meaning enormous quantities of fresh water will alter the Gulf Stream and life in the seas.
At least 150 cubic kilometers of ice will disappear this year, according to the latest United Nations report on climate change.
“What worries us is the tempo at which the ice is melting,” said Pål Prestrud of Cicero, the center for climate research at the University of Oslo. The melting rate has accelerated quickly, he said, “and this will have consequences for hundreds of millions of people.”
Ice, snow and climate change are closely linked. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow investigates those linkages. It also presents information on the trends in ice and snow, the outlook for this century and beyond and the consequences to ecosystems and human well-being of these changes. It covers all parts of the cryosphere (the world of ice): snow, land ice, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow was written by more than 70 scientists from around the world.
China has unveiled its first national plan for climate change, saying it is intent on tackling the problem but not at the expense of economic development.
The 62-page report reiterated China’s aim to reduce energy use by a fifth before 2010 and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
But it also repeated Beijing’s view that responsibility for climate change rests with rich westernised countries.
The report comes ahead of a G8 meeting that will focus on global warming.
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has set the stage for a frosty Group of Eight summit this week by launching broadsides at the West over missile defence, Kosovo and democratic standards.
Putin will meet U.S. President George W. Bush and other world leaders on Wednesday when they assemble in the German Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm for their annual G8 meeting.
Putin signalled he would arrive at the summit in combative mood, in an interview released on Sunday in which he reserved his most uncompromising language to lambaste the United States over its plans to build a missile defence shield in Europe.
He also indicated he would not shy away from fights with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her criticism of his human rights record and British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the politically-charged murder of a former Russian spy.
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A senior Iranian official dismissed as a “joke” a U.S. plan to set up a missile interceptor system in Europe to counter threats from Iran.
The United States wants to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12. It says the system would counter threats from so-called “rogue states” like Iran and North Korea.
But Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by IRNA news agency late on Sunday as saying Tehran did not have missiles with that reach and it would not target a trade partner anyway.
“The range of Iranian missiles cannot reach Europe and it’s surprising that they don’t know such a thing,” Larijani said.
“In addition to that, Europe is our biggest commercial partner and basically what is the logic for us to do such thing (as target Europe)?” he said.
He described the initiative as “the joke of the year” and added: “These days Americans make such jokes a lot.”
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will not beg world powers for its right to develop nuclear technology and has shown it will not retreat from the “field of danger” to protect such rights, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday.
The defiant remarks by the Islamic Republic’s highest authority come two days ahead of a summit of the Group of Eight top industrialised nations that is expected to include discussions about the row over Iran’s nuclear programme.
World powers have demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment, a process Western nations say Tehran is mastering so it can build atomic bombs. Tehran insists its plans have purely civilian goals and has refused to halt the work.
“Do you think the Iranian nation will beg for reaching its nuclear rights so that bullying powers will accept this? … No, this is not the spirit of a free and independent nation,” Khamenei said in a televised speech.
Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium to make fuel for nuclear power plants under international treaty. Western nations say it needs to convince the world of its peaceful goals before it can enjoy that right.
A few days ago some Adolph Eichman documents surfaced in Argentina. First, was a Passport issued by the Red Cross which he used to enter Argentina. Also there was a document from Mercedes Benz , where he was working. Those papers were donated to the Holocaust Museum
A 6-foot-tall kangaroo that surprised residents as it bounded about five miles through rural central Indiana during the weekend died Monday after authorities used a tranquilizer dart to capture it.
To those for whom such huge figures are meaningless, Oxfam offers some graphic illustrations. Last year, the rich world spent three times more on bottled water ($58bn) than it did on aid to Africa ($18bn). We spent 10 times more on military expenditure ($1trillion) than we did on aid globally ($104bn).
We Britons spent almost twice as much on champagne and other wine last year as we did on aid. The French spent more on perfume, German women more on shoes, Italians more on ice cream and the Japanese spent more on luxury goods such as Gucci bags and Prada sunglasses than their governments did on the world’s poor.
Despite the Gleneagles promises, global aid actually fell in 2006 for the first time in 10 years. Aid to Africa has grown only 2 per cent since 2004.
from Slate on teens, religion, and sex:
Interestingly, while the evangelical teens more likely to have multiple partners at an early age, they are also the least prepared and ill-informed:
Yep, that abstinence-only plan is really something, isn’t it? Tell me again why it’s still being funded? But I digress…
In an effort to help teenage boys better target their efforts, the article also goes on to tell which religion is more likely to engage in oral sex…
Haha.
And the irony.
Good you’re back. I was just about to prepare one, when I saw your post.
I thought it was pretty funny. Bet the evangelical parents aren’t too happy. 🙂
It’s hard to find any interesting news this morning…I mean, Paris Hilton goes to jail, the debate was last night, yada yada yada.
I would also blame it on the belief that women should be submissive and dumb. Teach your daughters to speak up for themselves. Teach you sons that men are people.
Climate experts sound new alarms in Tromsø
Link to UNEP’s page with all relevant links to the report and press releases:
Global Outlook for Ice and Snow
More bad climate news:
China unveils climate change plan
Get ready for some fireworks.
Putin bashes West on G8 summit eve
And related to this:
Iran calls U.S. missile interceptor plan a “joke”
Iran says will not beg for its atomic rights
And this is what the hard line, macho “do as we say, not as we do” gets us. Only an idiot would expect a different response.
A few days ago some Adolph Eichman documents surfaced in Argentina. First, was a Passport issued by the Red Cross which he used to enter Argentina. Also there was a document from Mercedes Benz , where he was working. Those papers were donated to the Holocaust Museum
No one has picked up on this breaking news…Skippy the bush kangaroo escaped!
I can’t do link thingies, but I saw this on http://www.sfgate.com. Here is the money quote:
Oh how sad. Skippy the Kangaroo died.
Poor Skippy. What will blogtopia (ysctp) do?
l have it on good authority, straight from the
….er….skippy, hisself…that it’s a classic case of mistaken identity:
no, not our skippy. another kangaroo named skippy.…
whew!
lTMF’sA
clik images for info
Sad, sad, sad!
The true value of what the G8 gives in aid