Free Talk Live

The US army general, David Petraeus, made clear today that he would not be bound by Barack Obama's promise to start withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan by July next year.
In his first interview since taking command of Nato troops in the country less than two months ago, the top general said he could foresee circumstances where conditions would make it impossible for him to recommend a reduction in forces.

Children raised by lesbian parents fare as well as they would in heterosexual households, new research suggests.
The finding, which comes from a review of essentially all studies on the topic of same-sex parents and the health of their children, helps to tease out politics and science on this highly divisive issue. In general, kids in both heterosexual and lesbian households had similar levels of academic achievement, number of friends and overall well-being.

Former CIA Director David Petraeus’ resignation today, following his confession of an extramarital affair.
...
Petraeus was scheduled to testify before the House and Senate Intelligence committees on Thursday regarding the events surrounding September 11, as Congress gears up for a week of hearings related to the attack.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/petreaeus-resigns-benghazi-timing-2012-11...

Three parents were arrested last week because their children had been truant too many times, officials said Wednesday. The consequences for parents arrested for their child's truancy include up to one year in county jail and/or a $2,000 fine for each child not in compliance. "Sometimes we have to reinforce the idea that it is a crime to not send your child to school," said Chief Deputy DA Karen Bell. "We don't want to take that route, but some parents force our hand and give us no other choice but to file criminal charges."

A national Amber Alert was issued Wednesday for two Tampa-area boys after they were abducted by their "anti-government" parents, deputies say. A grandmother was tied up at a Tampa home Wednesday morning and the two children in her possession were taken by their parents in what investigators are calling a parental abduction/kidnapping. The parents are considered armed and dangerous. According to investigators, the couple lost custody of the two boys after an "anti-government" rally in Louisiana. The father was charged was possession of marijuana in the presence of the children.

When will parents learn? You don't know what's best for your kids - the government bureaucrats do. At least Chicago is thinking of the children by banning kids from bringing school lunches from home. Whew!

Let’s not pretend that the intelligence community is too ethically pure to use sex to get close to a subject. The only thing that would be unprecedented (as far as we know) if Petraeus’ mistress, Paula Broadwell, turned out to be an agent is that the tactic would be used on one of their own.

A family in Williamson County, Austin have lost custody of their 7-year-old son as part of a Child Protective Services investigation because the parents taught their children to mistrust the government, an action that deemed them to be “unsuitable parents,” according to charges leveled by police officers in CPS documents.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said that's indicative of a larger issue in Detroit, where the lack of making parents accountable for their children partly is blamed on elevated truancy and dropout rates, as well as a recent rash of violent crimes involving teens.

Worthy has a new idea she hopes will fix the problem: Jail parents for up to three days for repeatedly missing scheduled parent-teacher conferences.