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'WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration will put women and girls first in the fight against AIDS.

Rodham Clinton addressed an international AIDS conference in Namibia by video hookup Wednesday.

She says her government will prioritize preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, and work to ensure girls are not forced into prostitution or early marriages.

Africans have welcomed the election of Barack Obama, who has roots in Kenya and is America's first black president. But Africans also have applauded George W. Bush, Obama's predecessor, for an AIDS campaign launched in 2003 that expanded AIDS prevention, treatment and support programs in 15 hard-hit countries, 12 of them African.'

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'TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Don't automatically blame mom: A crying, colicky baby can be just as much the result of dad's state of mind, Dutch researchers report.

Other studies have found that depression among mothers can be related to excessive crying or colic, a common problem with newborns, but the researchers said that little was known about whether fathers' emotions and behavior also have an effect.

"Up to now, almost all attention went to the prenatal effects of maternal depression on child development, leading to the development of detection and treatment programs that focused on mental well-being of mothers," said lead researcher Dr. Mijke P. van den Berg, a psychiatrist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam.
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"This study demonstrates in a paradoxical way the importance of fathers, in that fathers' measurable depression during pregnancy is a risk factor for excessive infant crying at 2 months of age," Shaw said.

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"How harassment over child custody and child support eventually killed my brother who had preleukemia. It is a sad Father's Day this year.

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'Well, that didn't take long. With the unfortunately predictable political sex scandals continuing to grab headlines in the MSM, and the astonishing amount of commentary on them, I'm only surprised that a blog like this one from former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino in the National Review didn't come out earlier (National Review, 6/25/09).

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'On June 20th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release describing a new "public service campaign...promoting fatherhood." The press release directs readers to the website www.fatherhood.gov, and breathlessly promises a public service announcement by none other than President Obama himself. Needless to say, that was an offer I couldn't refuse.

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'Not too long ago I reported on a 12-year-old Canadian girl whose father had grounded her because she had disobeyed him by spending too much time on the Internet. Her being grounded meant that he refused permission for her to go on a class trip. She sued him and won. The Canadian court ruled that his punishment was too severe. At the time I said that I hoped the judges had given the dad their home telephone numbers. That way he could call them to ask their permission the next time she wanted to go to the movies or to a sleepover.

Now there’s this piece out of India (Indian Express, 6/21/09). It reports that a 12-year-old girl has filed suit against her father under that country’s Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act. What brutality did he commit against his daughter? He sent her to a school of which she does not approve.

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'WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

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'Abused women living in a YWCA facility in North Toronto say they've been forced to share showers with transsexual tenants and cope with frequent, violent behaviour from others living there.

Residents in the four-storey residence and shelter for victims of domestic abuse told the Sun repeated complaints about physical assault, harassment and verbal abuse have been downplayed, if not outright ignored by the YWCA.

"One woman on the third floor was wielding a knife to other people living on the floor and it took three years to evict her," a tenant told the Sun. "They tell us we have to show compassion."

YWCA staff have refused to call police following complaints of violent altercations, and told residents they have to call authorities themselves, according to women who live in the building.'

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'Amnesty International has installed a new anti-domestic-abuse ad fixture in Hamburg, Germany which is equal parts clever and shocking: when you look at the photo, it's a smiling couple; when you look away, it's a dude punchin' a lady.

The billboard works by scanning its proximity with an eye-tracking camera, which triggers an image switch on the display panel when it senses someone looking at it. The change only occurs after a brief delay, so that observers understand what's going on, and get the message.'

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Ed. note: You can contact AI via web form here.

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'A federal judge dismissed a woman's lawsuit that claimed Nashua Police falsely imprisoned and wrongly prosecuted her over a rape complaint.

Monique Harrington had claimed a male acquaintance raped her in June 2003. When she filed a complaint three months later, Nashua Police determined the charge was false, and Harrington ultimately admitted it was untrue.

Nashua Police then charged the woman with making a false report, but Harrington was acquitted in a 2004 jury trial. Harrington responded by suing the city of Nashua, Nashua Police and a police detective, claiming her constitutional rights were violated and she was maliciously prosecuted.'

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'The U.S. Department of Education has announced $2.4 million in grants to 13 groups to help high school girls in math and science, including $163,559 for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The four-year grants came on the 37th anniversary of Title IX, which helps to stop discrimination against women in education, including athletics.

"These grants go hand-in-glove with our efforts to improve equity and access for women and girls in the classroom and on the playing field," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

Under the grant, Pittsburgh Public Schools will track 348 female students from grades 9 through 12 as they complete math-rich career and technical education programs.

The district is partnering with Smart Futures and the Carnegie Science Center's Girls, Math & Science Partnership.'

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'U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in the 37 years since Title IX was passed, female participation in college athletics is up from 15% to 43%, and the number of female high school athletes has grown from 300,000 to nearly three million.

Duncan also announced $2.4 million in grants for 13 organizations to support projects that will help high school girls gain higher proficiency in math and science, according to a White House press release.

"These grants go hand-in-glove with our efforts to improve equity and access for women and girls in the classroom and on the playing field," Duncan said. "While much has been accomplished since Title IX was enacted, we must continue to push for further progress. The Obama administration strives to remove the obstacle of gender discrimination as a way to increase access to college and careers for all students."'

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'Farrah Fawcett will mostly be remembered as a Charlie’s Angels chick and a pinup girl, but her performance in the Burning Bed was a durable, yet regrettable legacy. Sadly, the 1984 made-for-TV movie that portrayed premeditated murder as not only excusable, but heroic, won’t go with her.

Of course, Fawcett herself should not blamed for the establishment of a myth that propelled a skewed view of domestic violence into the forefront of public consciousness. She was, after all, only an actress playing a part, and playing it well.

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'SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Police in Salem have accused a sixth-grade teacher of sexually abusing a boy for four years, beginning when he was 13.

Police say the victim, now 21, reported the abuse in May.

They say he was not a student of 46-year-old Susan Alderson of Salem, who was arraigned yesterday on charges of rape, sodomy and sex abuse.

An official of the Silver Falls School District says there's no reason to believe any students in the district were involved.'