Children of Lesbian Parents May Do Better Than Their Peers

In a new study published in Pediatrics journal, researchers Nanette Gartrell and Henry Bos found that “children in lesbian homes scored higher than kids in straight families on some psychological measures of self-esteem and confidence, did better academically and were less likely to have behavioral problems, such as rule-breaking and aggression.”

The data was taken from “planned lesbian families”, or households where both mothers identified themselves as lesbian and went through artificial insemination.

The study also found that “children in same-sex-parent families whose mothers ended up separating did as well as children in lesbian families in which the moms stayed together.”

One theory presented was that lesbian parents tend to be very involved in their children’s lives, although that is not exclusive to lesbian households. Parenting that involves communication about social differences and prejudices are more of a priority in same-sex families which also may influence the findings.

Gartrell is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco and a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bos is a behavioral scientist at the University of Amsterdam. Both have been studying gay and lesbian families for 24 years.

Posted by:

krysten

This Ish is McCrazy.

What ever happened to our food just containing FOOD???

According to a recent article on CNN.com, McDonald’s chicken McNuggets (why do I feel the need to put caps on that word?) contain some stunning ingredients in addition to the “all white meat chicken”.

Ever heard of dimethylpolysiloxane? No? What about Silly Putty? Well, if you chow down on some Putty, not only would be gross, you’d also be ingesting one of the nugg’s ingredients.

But let’s not stop there. Does tertiary butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) ring a bell? Does nothing for you, right? Me neither. Don’t worry, if you get a big enough dose, you’ll never forget it.

“TBHQ is a preservative for vegetable oils and animal fats, limited to .02 percent of the oil in the nugget. One gram (one-thirtieth of an ounce) can cause ‘nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse,’ according to ‘A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives.’”

I don’t know about you, but I love having a sense of suffocation when I scarf down a meal.

Thanks to JSuh at HeadCount for Tweeting this beauty. Follow them on Twitter: @headcountorg

Posted by:

Sean Gardner

New Big Boi – Streaming Now

What are you listening to today? Thought so.

Head over to his MySpace to give Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty a listen: http://www.myspace.com/bigboi

Summer has officially started.

Now we’ll just wait impatiently for that next Outkast record.

Posted by:

Sean Gardner

Does Chris Brown Deserve Another Chance?

There is no denying that this young man is talented. But does he deserve a second chance? He’s clearly struggling with his past (or he is the greatest actor in the music industry.) Maybe if he can just stay away from Young Money and stop going ballistic on radio DJs, perhaps people will start to believe that he is actually sorry.

Video of Breezy’s BET performance after the jump.
… Continue Reading

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Biko Baker

Can I Borrow A Dollar?

In 1992 Common dropped his debut album titled “Can I Borrow A Dollar?” You may be asking the United States Senate that very question.

If you’re unemployed in America and haven’t already lost your jobless benefits, you could be next. For the third time, the Senate rejected a bill that would have extended unemployment benefits for workers.

Past extensions allowed people to collect income support for up to 99 weeks. Today, without extensions, the money stops when the worker finishes one of the four tiers of emergency benefits being funded by the federal government.

In Nevada where I live, we currently lead the nation in unemployment at 14%, with the city of Las Vegas at 14.2%. Many of my neighbors are losing hope, as an estimated 65,000 unemployed workers in the Silver State are directly impacted by the bill’s loss.

What can I say to the single mother who was laid off by Station Casinos 12 months ago and is trying to find a job to put food on the table, keep the lights on and a roof over her child’s head? Or what about the brotha who worked hard in construction to build a multi-million dollar real estate project on the Las Vegas strip but was laid off once the building was complete, only to find that there are no jobs left?

With no extensions, no more pennies to pinch, empty pockets are left without any solutions.

So, can I borrow a dollar?

Posted by:

krysten