I could not believe this one when I saw it!

Top House Democrats on Tuesday slammed insurers who claim that domestic violence is a pre-existing condition that can be used to deny coverage to battered women.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those targeting the coverage practice.

They pledged to incorporate a ban on the practice in the health care reform legislation winding its way through Congress.

Forty-two states have passed such a prohibition, according to a recent report from the National Women’s Law Center. Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and the District of Columbia have not, however.

“Think of this,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “You’ve survived domestic violence, and now you are discriminated [against] in the insurance market because you have a pre-existing medical condition. Well, that will all be gone.”

The ban would be part of a broader prohibition against the use of pre-existing conditions to deny care, a component of all the reform bills now under consideration.

via Democrats vow to ban domestic violence as ‘pre-existing condition’ – CNN.com.

My wife and I are actually thinking about homeschooling our two boys this year.  Our youngest, David, just seems to need it and we feel like he might do better through homeschooling. Our oldest, Cole, wants to eventually overtake Tiger Woods on the PGA tour and wants to be homeschooled so he can practice and play golf more (which I’m all for an easy retirement plan!).

So…we have no idea where to start in terms of finding the best curriculum for our kids. I’ve talked a little bit with a friend about Sonlight, but I’m just not sure where to turn to figure out the best homeschool plan. Your help would be greatly appreciated, so any comments are welcomed with open arms!

Sermons and smackdowns vie for supremacy in the universe of Tyler Perry, the creative impresario who presides over an expanding kingdom of black entertainment. Movie audiences who soak up the church-scorning bile of Madea, the bad-tempered, big-boned matron who could flay you with her tongue from the other side of a football field, also bask in the lessons in Christian forgiveness and redemption that Mr. Perry deploys as sentimental buttresses to her towering irreverence.

via Theater Review – ‘Tyler Perry’s The Marriage Counselor’ – From Tyler Perry, Couples Therapy, for Better or Worse – NYTimes.com.

If you think marriages are in trouble, then what better way to make an impact than creating your own marriage movement.  I read this gem on the Smart Marriages email list and thought I should share it with you:  Continue Reading

Scott Stanley is one of the most respected marriage and relationship experts in the world.  Check out what he has to say about cohabitation (from the Smart Marriages email list): Continue Reading

I just received this email from the Marriage CoMission:

Our friend, colleague, and fellow champion for marriage, Dr. Stephen Judah, passed away peacefully on Friday evening, ending his short battle with esophageal cancer. We honor his faithfulness, integrity, passion for his work and devotion to his family.

Please be in prayer for his wife of 37 years, Sharon, and their daughters and sons-in-law, Heather and Daniel Wood, Hillary and Graham Rouse, and Holly Judah.

Donations in honor of Steve may be made to the Healthy Marriage Collaboration, of Central Ohio at 1085 Pauline Avenue, Columbus, OH 43224 (for more?information, visit heathymarriagecolumbus.org) or Upper Arlington Lutheran?Church.

For more about Steve?s brave battle with cancer, please visit, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stevejudah

Stephen, we miss you but take comfort with the knowledge that this is your homegoing.

Diane Sollee, Director of Smart Marriages, had this to say about Steve:

I just received this notice from the Marriage Comission and want to share it
with the Smart Marriages list. Stephen has been a vibrant force in the
Marriage Education movement, in the Ohio Marriage Education movement, and in
our Smart Marriages Coalition. He presented in Denver and was very much
looking forward to presenting his Essential Disciplines model in San
Francisco. He will be missed by so many. – Diane

I’ve been completely unsure and slightly negative toward the latest vaccination called HPV. Of course this is the one for little girls from age 9 to 26 that helps prevent cervical cancer (which is caused through sexual activity).

I’m not a doctor, but something just doesn’t sit right with me and the fact that 100% of all girls are being asked to take it. Do not forget that Merck recently had to pull all of its arthritis medicine off the shelves because it caused major heart issues.

Check out this young woman’s site for HPVTruth.org:

What’s the Truth About HPV and The Cervical Cancer Vaccine?

I’m a young woman concerned about my health, about preventing illness, and about the well being of young women everywhere. With these concerns in mind, I looked into Merck pharmaceutical company’s new product, Gardasil, a vaccine that claims to prevent cervical cancer by preventing infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Experts say HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that may cause some forms of cervical cancer. The concept behind the Gardasil vaccine is that if women avoid HPV infection, they will avoid developing the forms of cancer HPV is thought to cause.

Gardasil works by introducing ?dead? HPV virus into our bodies through series of three injections that cause us to produce HPV antibodies. It is believed that these antibodies will protect us from contracting HPV if it is passed on to us during sexual intercourse.

After reading up on HPV and Gardasil, I have a lot of questions. For example: