Article here. Excerpt:

'It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector.

Dozens of quangos [link added] and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are “whiter than white”, “gentleman’s agreement”, “black mark” and “right-hand man”.
...
Many institutions have urged their workforce to be mindful of “gender bias” in language. The Learning and Skills Council wants staff to “perfect” their brief rather than “master” it, while the Newcastle University has singled out the phrase “master bedroom” as being problematic.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A 22-year-old East Stroudsburg University student admitted lying about being raped at knifepoint on campus Aug. 13 because she was not doing well in school and having personal problems, state police at Fern Ridge said.

The woman initially said she was walking to her car in the parking lot at 11:15 a.m. Aug. 13 when a man with a knife grabbed her from behind, forced her into the bushes and raped her. She has since recanted her statement and said the problems she had been having led her to file a false report, according to police. Police will now see if she should be charged with filing a false report to law enforcement.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'As a 2007 Department of Education and Science report, Sé Sí – Gender in Irish Education, points out, girls have been outscoring boys in English and Irish since the 1930s. What has changed is the extent of the difference. However, girls also now do better than boys in so-called “non-traditional” areas such as maths and the sciences. Applied maths was the only maths subject in which boys outshone girls in the 2009 Leaving Cert.

Some people frame the discussion in terms of gender wars, as proof that men are now becoming the oppressed species. Others wonder what the fuss is about. Is this not just a good news story for girls? Or is the “feminisation of education” a genuine concern?

Story here. Excerpt:

'OTTAWA — The mother of an autistic boy says he continues to suffer from severe emotional trauma after his school bus driver allegedly threatened to cut his head off with an axe, according to documents filed in court Tuesday.

The boy’s mother has filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the bus driver, the driver’s employer and the school board for the “serious and permanent consequences” sustained by the boy, including post-traumatic stress disorder, a statement of claim said.
...
After the boy began crying, his bus driver, Ariette Schoorl, threatened to cut off his head if he didn’t stop, according to the plaintiff’s claim. “The defendant then proceeded to remove the emergency axe located on the bus to further emphasize her threat,” the document said. “The incident terrified (the child).”

Article here. Excerpt:

'Pregnant teens are nothing new, but the behaviors leading to it and society's attitude are surprising sexuality educators who have been working in the field for years.

"Girls are getting more like boys in terms of their behavior and their attitudes about sex. They're getting to be more aggressive and more liberal," said Joe Fay, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and a sexuality educator for 32 years.
...
Teen pregnancy has become acceptable behavior by a society that to some degree even enables it, said Holly Gould, who works with teen moms in her job as director of Education Leading to Employment and Career Training at the Crispus Attucks Association in York. The program is funded through the state Departments of Education and Public Welfare.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A founder member of the Fathers 4 Justice protest group has won an eight-year battle over access to his daughter.

Jonathan Stanesby, 44, was jailed for two months last year for climbing on to Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman's roof dressed as a superhero.

He also cuffed himself to ex-Children's Minister Margaret Hodge to protest that he could only see his daughter one weekend every two weeks. But following an agreement with his ex-partner, he has now obtained joint custody of his daughter.

Stanesby said yesterday: "My daughter is now living with me half the time and she's chuffed - it's what we've always wanted. I'm obviously elated but I'm also very bitter about the whole experience. It destroys your life. I'm still paying fines, I'm still in debt, and I'll probably never be able to go back to the work I loved now that I've been to prison."

Story here. Excerpt:

'A clause of the recently approved Domestic Violence Bill 2009 that allows punishment of six months or a fine of Rs50,000 to those who file false complaints came under severe criticism at a national consultation here on Thursday.
...
Demanding complete repeal of this new addition by the government, civil society activists expressed the fear that the clause would transform the bill, formulated to provide relief to women, into another Hadood ordinance. “This would mean that practically no aggrieved party, victim or complainant will ever file a case in fear of reactionary punishment to them,” said Maleeha Zia of Aurat Foundation. She was speaking at the ‘National Consultation on Domestic Violence Bill 2009’ organised by Aurat Foundation.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Domestic violence victims will be able to get greater protection from courts in England and Wales from next month.

Judges will have powers to impose restraining orders on abusers charged with any offence - even if they are cleared but still considered a threat.

Victims are currently often forced to go through civil courts to secure such an injunction even if, for example, a partner is convicted of assault.
...
From 30 September, anyone still considered a threat at the end of a criminal case - regardless of the charge or result - may be made subject of an order.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A WOMAN who triggered a major investigation after claiming she was the victim of a sex attack in Carlisle has been charged with perverting the course of justice.

The 22-year-old is expected to appear in court following an alleged sexual assault in Cavendish Terrace, Stanwix, on January 4.

She answered police bail yesterday

The charge against her states that between January 3 and March 21, with intent to pervert the course of public justice, she made a false allegation that she was subject to a serious sexual assault which instigated a major police investigation during which four people were arrested.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Three days after releasing e-mail messages described as the "tip of the investigative iceberg" and publicly demanding that the woman suing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger abandon her case immediately, Roethlisberger has filed a motion to dismiss the claims against him, support by a 43-page legal brief and 29 exhibits.

We've obtained a copy of everything that has been filed. (And, consequently, the hard drive on the official PFT Commodore 64 is now full.)

Put simply, the attack against the plaintiff is among the most aggressive I've seen in nearly 18 years of practicing law.
...
Roethlisberger requests that the plaintiff be required to submit to an "immediate medical examination," alleging that "there is no question that Plaintiff is unstable mentally."

Story here. Excerpt:

'A former Helper Junior High School teacher charged with having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old male student paid her victim between $1,400 and $1,500 after the encounters, court documents allege.

New details about the relationship between Melissa Ann Andreini and her alleged victim emerged from a probable cause statement recently filed in 7th District Court.

According to the statement, the victim's mother confronted Andreini at Andreini's home in Helper on July 3 after finding out the teacher was supposedly having sex with her son. Andreini admitted to the boy's mother that she had sex with the teenager on several occasions at her home, according to the statement.'

Video report here. Caption:

'Woman admits to killing a Phoenix man in a wheelchair because she thought he was a police informant.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A woman charged with trying to extort $10 million from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino may be so mentally incompetent that she does not understand the legal proceedings and may not be able to assist in her own defense, federal prosecutors said Friday in asking a judge to order a psychological exam.
...
Sypher has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of trying to extort money from Pitino and lying to the FBI. She is accused of demanding college tuition for her children, that her house be paid off and $10 million in exchange for keeping quiet about allegations involving Pitino.
...
Prosecutors also asked Simpson to issue a protective order barring Earhart and Sypher from making public any evidence or statements turned over in the case. The motion did not blame Earhart, and he said he still has not received evidence from prosecutors in the case.'

Story here. A North Carolina dentist was found not guilty by reason of SELF DEFENSE in the death of his wife. The jury found that she tried to kill him with a spear (weapon of choice for wild savages)and he killed her to save his life. Some good news for a change from the state that gave us the term of getting "Nifonged" by the judicial system. Excerpt:

'MOCKSVILLE, N.C. -- Kirk Turner, the dentist charged in the 2007 stabbing death of his estranged wife during a confrontation at their farm, has been found not guilty by a Mocksville jury Friday.

Turner’s attorneys argued that the man was defending himself after Jennifer Turner attacked him with a seven-foot spear. Deliberations started Thursday morning around 10 a.m. and ended that day around 5 p.m.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For 20 years Steven Barnes has relived one day over and over in his mind; the scenes sometimes unfold like a filmy, disjointed dream, and sometimes with a stark and painful furor.

It was the day he was arrested, at age 23, for a crime he did not commit.

“When they came to arrest me I was screaming and freaking out saying I didn’t murder nobody,” said Barnes, who is now 43, and was released from prison last November just a few days after his conviction was overturned.

His conviction hinged on what he calls “junk science.” In 1989, Barnes was convicted of raping and strangling to death 16-year-old Kimberly Simon on the evening of Sept. 18, 1985, in Marcy, N.Y. The case against him relied heavily on forensic evidence and he spent nearly 20 years in prison.'