Via email:

"I've been seeing this television commercial for a new TV show set to air this fall on the CW television network called "Vampire Diaries". In the commercial a man asks a woman for a kiss, then the woman hits the man. She is then referred to as "spunky" for hitting him.

To add to the apparent unapologetic attitude of the network in airing a commercial depicting violence towards men, CW actually named this particular promo commercial "Spunky". Appalling. So if a man hits a woman it's shameful but if a woman hits a man, she's spunky... gotta love that."

Ed. note: The slap is at around 00:23 in the commercial. Comments to the studio can be submitted via their site here.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Having reached the age of 38 without meeting Mr Right, Karen Shefras decided to become a mother by using donated sperm.

As a result, Karen, who runs her own company, has never met her ten-month-old daughter's father. The closest she came to him was at the clinic where five of her eggs were injected with sperm donated by the dark-haired and intelligent businessman.

'Ideally, it would have been nice to have met a man and had a baby the conventional way,' says Karen, now 41. 'I always pictured myself getting married - but it just didn't happen.
...
But the most telling thing of all is that Karen still hopes to meet 'Mr Right' - a positive sign at least that having a baby without a man does not remove a woman's emotional need for a life partner.

'I really do hope a man comes along,' she says. 'I can't see myself without a man for ever.'

In the end, perhaps the truth is that, for complete fulfilment, women need both a partner and children.

Article here. Excerpt:

'British police inspectors have been building a massive, secret database containing personal information on thousands of otherwise innocent political activists, an investigative report revealed Sunday.

"The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor 'domestic extremists', the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime."

The UK paper added that the term "domestic extremist" has no legal basis, but is instead intended to tar those who may have participated in something so benign as civil disobedience.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A woman convicted of killing her husband by tying him to their bed and stabbing him almost 200 times will get a new punishment phase because of ineffective assistance of counsel in her trial, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Susan Wright deserves another opportunity to convince a jury that she deserves a lenient sentence.

Her attorney, Brian Wice, said jurors should have heard from certain witnesses, including Jeffrey Wright's former fiance and an expert on battered women syndrome.

If her attorneys can convince a new jury that Wright killed in “sudden passion” her punishment would be capped at 20 years.

If jurors decide against sudden passion, she could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
...
“I'm ecstatic,” Davis said. “I'm very happy she will have a new sentencing hearing and, hopefully, obtain some justice.”'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Houston Police Department has created new investigative unit to handle domestic violence crimes.

The unit, dubbed the Special Crimes Division, will focus on domestic crimes against women and families.

The division is comprised of the department's Family Violence Unit and the Sex Crimes Unit, which were both previously part of the Homicide Division.

“We believe this realignment of resources, coupled with additional allocation of personnel, will assist us in our efforts to help people victimized by theses types of violent crimes,“ Chief Harold Hurtt stated in a news release today.
...
“I salute Chief Hurtt and the Houston Police Department for creating this division that will better serve and protect our citizens,“ Lykos stated in the department's news release. “This initiative will reduce violence, ensure compassionate assistance to victims, and enable more effective prosecution of predators.“'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the city’s rich history of fraud schemes, the cases described this week by the city’s Department of Investigation would not seem to rank up there with mortgage scams or fake Medicare patients: Six women were accused of posing as victims of domestic violence to gain subsidized housing.

Such cases are so rare, and the issue so sensitive, that city officials and advocates for domestic violence victims said that they are not usually on the lookout for fraud when people come forward with claims of abuse.
...
No documentation is required to prove abuse, said Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for the city’s Human Resources Administration, which operates domestic violence shelters.

At the shelters, employees occasionally discover that women have exaggerated their abuse, but they are not forced to leave the facilities, Ms. Brancaccio said.
...
That said, the system is not “set up to catch people,” she said, adding that she has never encountered a case of fraud.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'DISGRUNTLED Eastern Cape traditional leaders want the Health Department to relinquish all powers vested in it to save initiates’ lives during the forthcoming summer initiation season.

The traditional leaders recently launched a bid to have the Application of Health Standards in Traditional Circumcision Act amended.

About 54 boys died and 13 others lost their genitals because of botched circumcisions during the winter circumcision season in Transkei.
...
Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) provincial secretary Chief Xolile Ndevu said this week the leaders wanted “complete power” to drive the tradition.

According to the Act, traditional surgeons and their attendants cannot perform circumcisions unless they are approved by a medical officer appointed by the department. No initiation school may operate before obtaining permission from the local medical officer.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Teenage boys are over represented in stand down and suspension rates, less likely to gain university entrance than their female classmates and more likely to leave school before 17, a Ministry of Education report says.

The report, “Boys’ achievement: A Synthesis of the Data”, gives a number of examples of this discrepancy between the sexes including that as many as 72 per cent of all suspensions and stand downs in 2006 were boys, and that 10 per cent more girls will gain university entrance than boys.

The answer, the reports says, involves ensuring male students are “engaged in, and excited by, their learning, and able to achieve their full potential”.

A new initiative from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) aims to address these concerns and the discrepancy between males and females in education by reaching out to male students in year 10, before they lose interest.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A JOB-SEEKER claims he was refused the chance to apply for a job because of his sex.

Former construction worker Rob Stevens was told there was "little point" applying for a part-time sales assistant position at Hobbs womenswear because he is a man.
...
His wife, Sally, 41, said: "My husband went into Hobbs to pick up an application form and was asked who the form was for.

"When he replied that it was for himself, he was told that there would be little point as they normally employ women.

"When he said that this was discrimination, he was asked to leave the shop.

"The Hobbs website says they are an equal opportunities employer – this is clearly not the case."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'BUENOS AIRES – A 42-year-old man spent 20 months in a maximum security prison accused of raping his daughter, but the girl repented and confessed that she lied when she accused him, the press said on Friday.

The prosecutor withdrew the charges and the court released the defendant, after his daughter, now 19, repeated that she had lied, something that she had already said during the initial investigation, but her statement was not admitted because of the possibility that she had been pressured by the family.

Defense attorney Claudia Mirele said in a statement published in the Buenos Aires daily Clarin that the girl lied as a reprisal against her father for being “too strait-laced.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Apparently, the writers at The New York Times don't read the front page of their own newspaper. Rather than delve into the hard hitting questions facing the nation such as what to do about the increasing instability in Afghanistan, the strategy to repair a still lackluster economy or how much debt we really are poised to pass onto future generations, one Times journo decided to explore the real hand-wringer of the day that's keeping Americans awake at night: is there too much testosterone in the White House??

Story here. Excerpt:

'ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Friends of an Albuquerque Public School teacher facing rape charges over her relationship with a 13-year-old student were divided in their emotions Thursday with some offering messages of support and others expressing disgust.

Kristy Sanchez-Trujillo, 33, was charged with three counts of rape after she allegedly admitted to police she had sex with the boy in her car in or near Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque's West Side.
...
Sanchez-Trujillo was a teacher at Jimmy Carter Middle School in northwest Albuquerque and taught a hip-hop dance class after school.

Detectives said they don't think she was sexually involved with any other kids.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Prosecutors in New York say a devoutly religious Muslim woman, Rabia Sarwar, slashed her husband's neck after he introduced her to booze, pork, and miniskirts.

Sarwar's defense lawyer says his client was "emotionally abused" and forced to violate her religious beliefs.

Sarwar is free on bail after appearing in a Staten Island court Thursday on attempted murder and other charges.

Her lawyer, Joe Licitra, said Sarwar's husband "got her to drink alcohol, eat pork" and wear clothing that violated her Muslim beliefs.

Sheikh "Eddie" Naseem, who has surface wounds on his neck, face and hands, said his wife needs psychological help. Licitra said Sarwar was previously treated for depression.
...
Said Naseem: "There was no gun pointed to her head to do these things."'

From a Facebook announcement (all hyperlinks herein added):

Arcadia University's theater department is putting on a special performance of The Exonerated to benefit the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. This unique play delves into the lives of 6 men sentenced to death but later exonerated for crimes they did not commit. A light reception and talkback featuring David Rudovsky and exoneree Edward Baker are part of the evening. Tickets can be purchased exclusively online at www.innocenceprojectpa.org.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Mount Vernon, NY -- Police in Mount Vernon say a naked, and emotionally disturbed woman repeatedly slammed her baby's head into the sidewalk.

It happened around 1:40 Friday afternoon outside East Lincoln Avenue.
...
The 6 month old baby was then rushed to Mount Vernon Hospital, and later transferred to the Westchester Medical Center trauma unit .

He is currently in critical condition.

The baby's mother was taken into custody.'