Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe JIMMY CARTER SPEAKS OUT Belligerent and divisive voices now seem to be dominant in Washington but they do not yet reflect final decisions of the president, Congress or the courts, former President Jimmy Carter writes in The Washington Post. Advertisement "It is crucial that the historical and well-founded American commitments prevail: to peace, justice, human rights, the environment and international cooperation," he says. Formerly admired almost universally as the preeminent champion of human rights, our country has become the foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life, according to Carter. "We have ignored or condoned abuses in nations that support our anti-terrorism effort, while detaining American citizens as 'enemy combatants,' incarcerating them secretly and indefinitely without their being charged with any crime," he says. "These actions are similar to those of abusive regimes that historically have been condemned by American presidents," he says. Advertisement -- Has the United States become hypocritical in the area of human rights? -- Should former presidents weigh in on public policy after they leave office? NATURE OR NURTURE Thirty-nine-year-old Ward Weaver III was jailed in August on charges he raped his son's girlfriend. The bodies of Ashley Pond, 12, and Miranda Gaddis, 13, were found last week buried behind the one-story Oregon house Weaver rented. According to USA Today, when Weaver was a teen, his father killed a young couple and buried the woman in his backyard, sealing the grave with concrete. More than two decades later, Weaver is the prime suspect in a crime with the same grisly ending: the slayings of two young girls, one of them buried under a backyard concrete slab. Ward Weaver's father sits on death row in California for the double murder in 1981. Prosecutors say they'll seek an indictment. Weaver denies involvement in the killings. Nearly half of all inmates have close relatives who have been in prison, according to Justice Department statistics, but there is no consensus on why the proportion is so high. Some say poverty, dysfunctional homes, poor schooling, bad role models, lack of opportunities are to blame for repeated cycles of criminality in families. Advertisement According to David Comings, director of medical genetics at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., no single gene accounts for criminal behavior. "Social factors contribute, but to discount genes as a factor is probably being excessively politically correct" he says. -- Nature or nurture, or both? -- Ward Weaver did several interviews saying he was targeted because of his father's record. Do you think those allegations delayed police from searching under his concrete? MOMS IN THE DARK ON SEX OF CHILDREN Half of all mothers of sexually active teenagers mistakenly believe their children are still virgins, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota Adolescent Health Center. Study author, Robert Blum, calls the finding "stunning" but has no explanation as to why mothers so unaware, The New York Times reports. "Perhaps it's because they don't want to know or they're not so involved in the lives of their teens, we just don't know," Blum says. The report analyzed parental data only from mothers, because so few fathers responded no conclusions about them could be drawn, according to Blum. One of those studies, published in The Journal of Adolescent Health, involved 2,006 14- and 15-year-olds who reported being virgins at the start of a year in which their behavior was tracked for clues to factors that affect teenagers' choices about sex. Advertisement Another study finds close relationships with mothers seemed to discourage girls in junior high from sexual activity, however, the effect diminished with girls in 10th and 11th grade. -- Do parents want to know if their children are havng sex? -- What should parents do if they know their teens are having sex?
