Apparently Elin and Tiger Woods are in the process of renegotiating their prenuptual agreement. The original prenup was worth $20 million, but this article reports that eventually she could receive a total of $75 million.

What exactly has Elin done that would entitle her to these astronomical sums of money? Their relationship looks very much like a financial transaction, and not a loving engagement between two people who want to make a life together. And why does Tiger Woods feel as though he needs to renegotiate the prenup? Isn't Elin already receiving an indecent and outrageous sum of money? Evidently Tiger wants to make it up to her, or keep her quiet, or something like that... How exactly is this any different from what Heather Mills did to Paul McCartney? She made off with about $50 million from McCartney. For what? What on earth makes these women entitled to so much money, money that they did not earn?

Article here. Excerpt:

'News outlets report on budget squeezes in Oklahoma and Florida and a proposed overhaul of student health insurance in Massachusetts.

Tulsa World: "Thousands of Oklahoma Medicaid patients would see benefits reduced as the state agency that manages the federal program grapples with required 5 percent budget cuts, according to a spending-cut proposal presented Wednesday to a House budget subcommittee. Proposals include limiting paid emergency room visits to three a year, eliminating outpatient adult therapies, such as speech and physical therapy, eliminating reimbursement for newborn circumcision and reducing the number of brand-name prescriptions from three to two for adults, said Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority" (McNutt, 12/3).'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Although the American Medical Association does not recommend routine circumcision as a procedure to prevent health problems, more than 30 percent of males and 3 percent of females are circumcised worldwide. In the United States and Canada, although there is little data on how many females are circumcised, it is estimated that three-fourths of males become circumcised in their infanthood or adolescence. Here, at least, that leaves the vast majority of males with a removed foreskin. In fact, most Washington University female students I’ve talked to have never seen an uncircumcised penis!

But let’s get back to the basics. In male circumcision, a physician surgically removes the foreskin of the penis, usually within the first few weeks of birth because doing this practice later is more likely to lead to complications. Male circumcision is a common religious practice across all monotheistic religions—especially Islam.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'South Africa's National AIDS Council (SANAC) raised the possibility of providing male circumcision services in 2007, but there was a lack of political support, according to Prof Helen Rees, head of SANAC's HIV Research Prevention Committee and executive director of the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg.

This time, the women's sector wondered how male circumcision would benefit them, and traditional leaders were worried that medical circumcision would conflict with the traditional circumcision that is part of young men's initiation rites for several ethnic groups in South Africa.
...
Prof Rebecca Upton, of the University of Botswana, told "a cautionary tale" based on research she conducted during a national campaign to promote male circumcision for HIV prevention. Many young men she interviewed said being circumcised was a free pass to having unprotected sex, while some young women believed that if their partner was circumcised he was likely to be HIV-negative.

Article here. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

'Social workers who deal with troubled families and vulnerable children should be paid more, a report said yesterday.

The proposal means that 'front line' social workers should be able to push their pay above the ceiling of around £35,000 and match the £50,000 available to the best classroom teachers and the best nurses.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls ordered the report in the aftermath of the Old Bailey trial of the killers of 17-month-old Baby P.

The higher pay should go to those who turn down desk-bound management jobs and build their experience in helping those at risk, the report said.

The proposals will also lead to the prospect of salary rises for social workers considered to be underpaid in some parts of the country.'

Just in from Marc A.: I'll appear tonight (12/1) with David Woods, the lead plaintiff in Woods v. Horton, on the national TV show "The Secret Lives on Women" on the WE channel on 12/1/09 and again on 12/22 and 12/29. The episode is called Husband Beaters.
...
Upcoming Air Dates:
Tuesday, December 1 at 10pm (Eastern US Time)
Tuesday, December 22 at 3am (Eastern US Time)
Tuesday, December 29 at 3am (Eastern US Time)

Story here. Excerpt:

'ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods will be cited for careless driving in a car crash outside his Orlando-area mansion, but will not face criminal charges, the Florida Highway Patrol said Tuesday.

Woods faces a $164 fine and four points against his driver's license, not close to enough to have it suspended. The citation closes the investigation of last week's crash.

The patrol "is not pursuing criminal charges in this matter nor is there any testimony or other evidence to support any additional charges of any kind other than the charge of careless driving," Sgt. Kim Montes said.'

Golf clubs through rear windows notwithstanding.

Story here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday unveiled a five-year strategy for fighting AIDS worldwide, shifting the focus from emergency response to sustainable programs in countries worldwide.

Marking World AIDS day, the administration of President Barack Obama outlined the next phase of the widely-hailed President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was launched in 2003 under then president George W. Bush.

"We're going to begin transitioning from an emergency response to a sustainable one through greater engagement with and capacity-building of governments," said Ambassador Eric Goosby, the US global AIDS coordinator.
...
"We're going to scale up highly effective prevention interventions like male circumcision, prevention of mother-to-child transmission," Goosby said. "We're going to work with countries to determine not just how many people are infected in their communities in their countries, but where the new infections are occurring," he added.'

Article here. Should I be surprised there's no amendment covering men's health? Excerpt:

'Sen. Mikulski, who's played a lead role in bringing women's health care to the forefront in the Senate, has introduced an amendment ensuring that all health plans cover women's preventative care - at no additional cost to women.

Thanks to anthony for the heads-up on this.

It seems someone has decided take up the issue of the decline of masculinity not so much in society but in men themselves. He discusses the drop in testosterone, among other things. The trailer is at http://www.anemasculatingtruth.com/.

I am looking forward to seeing the while thing. I don't know anything else about this film other than what is on the site.

Article here. Excerpt:

'No matter how we think boys ought to behave, society gives men, particularly white college men, license to do just about whatever they want. In the context of sexual assault and rape, 'he just got carried away' or 'he was drunk and wasn't thinking straight' are common refrains for perpetrators and those who defend them.

Applying that to say, an aggravated battery, may well be true, but no one would care. So what if you were drunk, you still beat someone, and in this country that is illegal. Imagine a defense for three guys who beat the hell out of somebody saying that assault charges were 'a gross exaggeration of alcohol-fueled hijinks.'

Rape myth number 2: Women lie

This thinly veiled statement is suggesting that the victim is lying, that something just doesn't add up. This is meant to play on the fact that despite progress in sex equality over the past several generations, our society still takes a man's word over a woman's.

Story here. Excerpt:

'CANFIELD — A month long rape investigation has ended after the victim recanted her accusation.
...
The accuser told the teacher she was attacked by a 16-year-old male juvenile in mid-August on the bike path in Canfield.

The case was closed Friday after the accuser admitted to police that she was not raped. She told detectives she and the teen boy were on the bike path together where they briefly engaged in consensual sexual intercourse.

The girl said she made up the rape allegation because she was angry with him for not wanting to be in a relationship with her, according to a police report.

No criminal charges will be filed, and the case has been turned over to the Canfield Juvenile Division for assessment of the filing of a false police report by the accuser.'

Story here.

'Police have found a young girl's claim she was sexually assaulted in a Christchurch cemetery was false.

She told them two men attacked her as she was walking through the grounds of Kendal School towards Waimairi Cemetery late last Monday night.

But police say they have found the incident did not happen the way they were told, and they are no longer looking for anyone in connection with it.

The girl will be referred to youth aid.'

Story here This dates back to November 17th but still very much relevant. Excerpt:

'LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The woman accused of trying to extort money from Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino was charged Wednesday with retaliating against the coach by falsely claiming he raped her.

A federal grand jury in Louisville brought four new criminal charges against Karen Cunagin Sypher, including retaliation against a witness.
The FBI, Louisville police and prosecutors have said there was no basis for her rape allegations. She said the coach raped her in a criminal complaint filed after she was indicted in May on charges of trying to extort money from Pitino.
...
The grand jury also added two intent to extort charges and a second charge of lying to the FBI.'

Original post on MANN re this story is here.