Article here. Excerpt:

'Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Susan Faludi examined the issue of modern feminism yesterday at the Moritz College of Law.
...
Faludi started her lecture by acknowledging that the feminist movement has made progress by putting more women into higher education and specialty fields like medicine. According to Faludi, women comprise 60 percent of undergraduate and master's degree enrollment.

"You always hears about the firefighters and policemen after 9/11, but you never heard anything about the nurses who were taking care of all the injured people." Berberich said. "That kind of sexism is very subtle and subversive.
...
"Women's issues aren't just women's issues; they're society's issues," Faludi said. "The success of any political realignment in the U.S. has to be based on the success of the feminist agenda."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'An 18-year-old woman who twice falsely reported being raped by an unknown black man pleaded guilty to mischief Thursday.

April Ibbotson, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to mischief by misleading police to believe she had been sexually assaulted June 21 and again July 24, both times in Owen Sound.

The claims prompted a week's worth of wasted investigative time, assistant Crown attorney Michael Martin said. The allegations also came within weeks of the near-fatal beating and stabbing of a black man wrongly accused of rape in downtown Owen Sound in late July.

...
Ibbotson's first false accusation occurred June 21, Martin said. She contacted Owen Sound police at 11 p. m. and reported that she had been approached from behind along 3rd Avenue West and was dragged near a fence at about 9:30 p. m. that night. She alleged her underpants were taken down and she was sexually assaulted.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In divorce, that decision is often the source of the most mean-spirited, painful fight. If you thought the mommy wars were bad, this related war - call it the spousal support slaughter - is worse.

Some men receive spousal support, of course, but in the vast majority of cases - at least 99 per cent, family lawyers say - women do. As the most contentious issue in divorce, it is where the choices that people and their former spouses made about how to manage their family are addressed - and not always fairly.
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But ironically, what is a victory for women's choices and an important effort to address the feminization of poverty post-divorce is also, in many cases, a harmful disincentive for women to find identity, meaning and self-sufficiency through work.

It is both an advancement and a regression, if taken too far, for women's issues. But few in the legal community are willing to publicly discuss the politically sensitive topic.

Article here. Excerpt:

'There is little prospect of returning to the cheap food regimes that characterized the world prior to 2005 anytime in the foreseeable future. So far, the food crisis has pushed an estimated 75 million people into chronic hunger since 2005.

Women and children, particularly girls, have been hardest hit by the food crisis. In part, this disproportionate impact is because women in poor rural communities have less access to resources, transportation, and communication networks. Any effective resolution to the food crisis - and to reinforce food security more generally - must incorporate an understanding of this differential impact on gender roles.
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Women and children (especially girls) are more vulnerable to food, fuel, and fertilizer price increases, and to rural poverty generally, than men. This is, of course, not intended as gender one-upmanship; men also experience hardship caused by the marginalization of rural societies.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Don't look now, but there is someone, someone nearby, waiting to steal (or at least borrow) your spouse from right under your nose.

What is the good news? Or even just the new news? Turns out infidelity is an equal opportunity employer; women are turning to men who don't belong to them in record numbers according to a poll by Women's Health magazine in the November issue. That's right, ladies. If the stats are to be believed, your sisters don't consider that cutie with the ring-finger tan line so off-limits.

The study found that 46.3% of women admitted they'd been involved with a "taken" man. Of those, one in four said he was the boyfriend or husband of someone she knew; 40% stated it bothered them, but not enough to put on the brakes, and 27% said that commitment was his responsibility, not hers.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In his new book, the felicitously named journalist Guy Garcia has decided to act as ambassador from Mars. The news from Planet Dude ain't good: Women now outnumber men at American universities. In cities such as New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago, women outstrip men in earning power. Men's health is in decline, compared with women's; women are buying guns; more women than men initiate divorce; more women than men voted in the presidential election. Women are even taking over pornography.

The Decline of Men is a jeremiad (unkind persons might call it an extended whine) on the state of maleness in the 21st century. Once men ruled all they surveyed: women, children, livestock, land. Male genitalia conferred power, at least over most other mammals in the immediate vicinity. Life was good. Everybody had a well-defined, biologically driven role to play. Then things went weird: Women started demanding their rights. Worse, they wanted men to talk to them!

Article here. Excerpt:

'A slumping economy affects our lives in many ways And this week's question comes from someone who says he's doing his best to stay out of jail and support his kids.

Marshall Coe of Monticello wants to know what happens to your child support payments when you lose your job because of the economy.

Marshall's not alone in this situation. Forty-two percent of parents who pay child support are behind on their payments according to the Office of Child Support Services. Not all because of the economy, but the office says its something they're seeing more of.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For most of history the penis has been seen as the chief qualification to succeed to a throne, become world leader, CEO, government bigwig, and religious leader. Until very recently, the same was true of armed soldiers, the exception in history being that of the Amazons, a fierce tribe of warriors with vaginas who, it has been said, liked to hand any male enemy his genitalia in a wooden bowl.
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No, hating men and their anatomy is not my problem. My problem is with society at large, which seems to think that, even if a person is an incompetent cretin, if that person has the right appendage, he deserves all the marbles in the game of life.
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History is full of people with penises who totally screwed up the world.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A MONSTER who helped rape a 12-week-old baby walked free from jail yesterday after serving just 30 months of a five-year sentence.

Depraved Tanya French, 21, sparked outrage in 2006 after it emerged she attacked the tot while lover Alan Webster filmed it on video.

She and Webster, 42, were both jailed for raping the baby while babysitting in Hatfield, Herts.

A family source said last night: “The idea of French being out and able to rebuild her life is sickening. Angry does not even begin to describe how we feel.
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Last night the Ministry of Justice insisted the law required them to release French because she had served half her sentence.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- A 32-year-old Central Florida teacher who admitted to having sex in her home with a 16-year-old boy who was her former student was sentenced on Monday to two years of house arrest and eight years of probation.
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"Somehow it's become OK for a female teacher to have sex with a child with no punishment, while a man would go to prison," Assistant State Attorney Amy Chandler said.

The judge said Joel's remorse and the fact that the incidents were isolated factored into his decision.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The mother of Shannon Matthews went out shopping for a satellite navigation system on the night her daughter was reported missing, it emerged in court.

Karen Matthews admitted shopping in a supermarket, but denied buying beer hours after her daughter failed to come home, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Ms Matthews, 33, and Michael Donovan, 41, deny kidnap and false imprisonment over Shannon's disappearance.
...
Mark Goode said he was delivering a bed to Moorside Place and heard Mrs Meehan say: "Don't say nowt, just keep your mouth shut. They'll never, ever find out."

Mr Goode said Mrs Meehan looked like she was "panicking".

The prosecution alleges Mr Donovan kept Shannon drugged and imprisoned in his flat as part of a plan he and Ms Matthews had to claim £50,000 in reward money.

The trial continues.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"A lesbian soldier last night celebrated winning almost £200,000 compensation after being subjected to a lewd campaign of sexual harassment by a male sergeant.
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Her award easily outstrips the £161,000 offered to double amputee Marine Ben McBean, who was hailed a 'real hero' by Prince Harry. Her compensation was branded 'obscene' by one Forces organisation.

Shaun Rusling, of the National Gulf Veterans' and Families Association, added: 'We don't agree with anyone being picked on but it is just Miss Fletcher's feelings that have been hurt. She will get better. You do not get better when your arms and legs have been blown off.'"

Story here. If I was a betting man, I would say these women spend six months at Guantanamo and receive counseling. Excerpt:

'BAGHDAD — Eighteen young women purportedly belonging to a suicide bombing network in northern Iraq surrendered to U.S. forces on Wednesday, a top U.S. commander said.

The number of bombings carried out by women has spiked this year even as overall violence has declined, and Hertling said Wednesday's surrender would deal a significant blow to recruitment efforts.

U.S. military figures show 31 attacks by 35 female suicide bombers so far this year, compared with eight in 2007.

Hertling said the cleric approached U.S. forces earlier this week to tell them about a group of 21 women who were part of a suicide bombing network. On Wednesday, 18 of the women surrendered and signed a form promising not to conduct attacks as part of a reconciliation program, Hertling said.

"This will significantly affect at least part of the female network cells in the northern area of operations," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'LOS ANGELES (AP) - A jury has convicted a Missouri woman of three minor offenses for her role in an Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide.
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However, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count. The disposition of that count was not immediately clear.

Prosecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to harass Megan.'

MSN strikes again! Check your pulse, fellas. If you have one, you are a cheater, 100% for certain. Read all about it here. Excerpt:

'When you're dating a guy, you can forgive him for some indiscretions, but it's nearly impossible to turn the other cheek if he strays. Well, Cosmo did some investigating to ascertain the traits that may make men more likely to cheat, and some of our findings were surprising eye-openers.

But before you freak, realize that just because he possesses characteristics of a mangy scoundrel doesn't mean he's actually cheating on you. "You have to listen to your gut as well as read the clues," says Gary Aumiller, Ph.D., a psychologist and coauthor of "Red Flags! How to Know When You're Dating a Loser." Run through this list of wandering-eye warning signs to see if your partner is predisposed to prowl... and find out how you can deal.'