Article here. Excerpt:

'A female FDNY recruit has graduated from the Fire Academy after her instructors fudged on her strength, agility and running requirements, insiders say.

Choeurlyne Doirin-Holder, 39, never achieved a passing score of 17 minutes and 50 seconds on the Functional Skills Test, a course of job-related tasks in full gear such as stretching hoses and dragging dummies, according to an FDNY source familiar with the training. She did not come in under 24 minutes in practice tests.

Doirin-Holder also failed to run the required 1.5 miles in 12 minutes or less — even after the running course was slashed by an estimated quarter-mile, the source said, alleging that the start and finish lines were moved to shorten the run.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia filed a $25 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone for an article the magazine published in Nov. 2014 that alleged seven fraternity members participated in the brutal gang-rape of a freshman girl as part of a hazing ritual.

The widely debunked and eventually retracted article “A Rape on Campus” by Sabrina Rudin Erdely garnered intense scrutiny after media outlets attempted to verify the story. Subsequent investigations found no evidence of a gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi house. Though Rolling Stone originally stood by Erderly’s reporting, in April the magazine formally apologized for the piece.

Article here. Excerpt:

'One story problem on an algebra test in Florida has parents questioning the school district’s judgement.

The Lee County School District in southwest Florida has raised the ire of some parents over their choice of test for an algebra class. The subject used in the set-up for the questions on the test was the late Maya Angelou’s life. What parents are objecting to is some of the parts of Angelou’s life they decided to highlight, they believe, are inappropriate not only for a math test, but for 8th graders.

One of the questions causing a stir is:

y=x+2
3x+6y=12

Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s _____ at age 8, which shaped her career choices and motivation for writing.

A. (0,2) Boyfriend
B. (4,6) Brother
C. (-3,-1) Father'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"Colleges and universities are institutions of higher education. They are not investigatory bodies, law enforcement professionals, nor are they a part of the judicial system established and guaranteed by our Constitution," said Tristan Daedalus, Salmon's spokesman. "The Safe Campus Act mandates that institutions of higher learning follow the same laws as off-campus landlords, religious institutions, private sector employers, and government agencies when dealing with the heartbreaking consequences of rape and sexual assault in our society."

He added: "The suggestion that university deans and professors are somehow better equipped to end sexual assault than law enforcement, judges, and juries is bizarre to say the least."

Article here. Excerpt:

'The University of Virginia and Virginia Democrats lobbied the Education Department to provide the school due process, something not afforded to its own students.

Specifically, the university wanted due process and fair treatment from the Education Department as it investigated the school for violations of the anti-gender discrimination law known as Title IX. But when the school conducts Title IX investigations of students accused of sexual assault, such due process is nowhere to be found.

It's a clear case of "due process for me, but not for thee."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Geoff was exonerated of any crime by police and the legal system and cleared after his daughter Tina Long – who waived her right to anonymity when he was convicted – admitted she had lied in court and made up the allegations.

He was released after wife Louise turned detective and went through all the evidence to expose what they call a web of lies by Tina Long, who confessed in court in January that she had lied.

Geoff, 67, said, “I cannot describe how it felt to stand and listen to my only daughter accuse me of paedophilia. I had been advised by my legal team to try to remain impassive when Tina was giving evidence. But inside I wanted to scream the roof off. This was my own flesh and blood.”

Although the court had ruled she would remain anonymous because of her age at the time of the alleged offence, Tina opted to write a magazine article telling in intimate detail the false tale of her supposed abuse.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Corporate America and the military are sexist and show racial bias, a leading businesswoman told cadets Friday at the Air Force Academy.

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the book "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," told a crowd of nearly 3,000 cadets that society tells women they are less competent and capable. She described the military as one of "the worst" organizations for bias during a 30-minute speech.

"Women and minorities face barriers white men don't face," she said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Family life is changing, and so, too, is the role mothers and fathers play at work and at home. As more mothers have entered the U.S. workforce in the past several decades, the share of two-parent households in which both parents work full time now stands at 46%, up from 31% in 1970. At the same time, the share with a father who works full time and a mother who doesn’t work outside the home has declined considerably; 26% of two-parent households today fit this description, compared with 46% in 1970, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Current Population Survey data.

In economic terms, families with two full-time working parents are better off than other families. The median household income for families with two full-time working parents and at least one child under 18 at home is $102,400, compared with $84,000 for households where the father works full time and the mother works part time and $55,000 for households where the father works full time and the mother is not employed. But as a new Pew Research Center survey shows, balancing work and family poses challenges for parents. In fact, more than half (56%) of all working parents say this balancing act is difficult. Among working mothers, in particular, 41% report that being a parent has made it harder for them to advance in their career; about half that share of working fathers (20%) say the same.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Södersjukhuset already runs a round-the-clock walk-in clinic for women and girls who have been sexually assaulted in the city, treating between 600 and 700 patients a year. Now, the hospital, which hosts the largest emergency care unit in the Nordic region, is opening its doors to men and boys who are victims of rape and sex attacks.

"We are happy that we now can finally open the first rape clinic for men following the rape clinic for women," Rasmus Jonlund, a press spokesperson for the Liberal Party, which led the campaign for the department in the Swedish capital, told The Local just ahead of the launch.

"It is the first in Sweden (...) We think it is the first in the world. We haven't found another from our research on the world wide web," he added.

The opening was also celebrated by the Liberal Party's centre-right Alliance partners in Stockholm City Council; the Moderates, which are the largest group in the capital's coalition, the Christan Democrats and the Centre Party.

Item here.

'Dear Judge Peeler, I feel that my mom should stay in prison because I seen her stab my dad clean through the heart with my sister in his arms. That took a big amount of happiness out of my and my sister’s lives… I think it would be better for me and my sister if my mom would stay in prison because I’m afraid of her. I have seen what she did to my dad.

— Bradyn Takach, age 10, in his powerful letter to Judge Robert Peeler, arguing against his mother’s early release from prison. Shannon Smith has served almost 6 years of her 10 year sentence for the death of Robert Takach. Smith’s hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The principal of the Noordgesig Primary School has been removed following a debacle involving 40 boys who were taken to an undisclosed location to be circumcised.

"I have taken the decision to immediately remove the principal from the school. There will be a formal disciplinary hearing for her and her two deputies," Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi told parents and residents gathered at the Noordgesig community centre on Thursday evening.

The crowd responded with cheers and applause.

Non-profit organisation Right to Care, which was involved in taking the pupils to a clinic the parents were not aware of, would also be blacklisted from entering any school premises.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The rape investigation of Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane ended Thursday, as Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III described the young woman’s claims as “this so-called ‘case’… rife with reasonable doubt.”
...
Despite Sedita’s strong statement that “physical and forensic evidence ... tend to contradict the complainant’s claims,” the accusation likely will continue to haunt Kane, affecting his reputation and potential for endorsements.

And some still doubt him. Once an accusation is made, it’s hard to take it back.

“The best thing for him to do is ... tell his side of the story to the extent that his attorneys will permit him given the possibility of a civil lawsuit,” said Stephen W. Bell, a partner and director of crisis and reputation management with Eric Mower + Associates in Buffalo.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A pre-med student attending college in California has penned a scathing review of the current climate surrounding sexual assault on college campuses.

The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote her essay in response to a public-health class assignment asking students to watch a video in which Emma Sulkowicz, the former Columbia University student who carried a mattress around protesting what she claimed was rape, discusses her mattress project. Students were asked a series of questions pertaining to the video, including "What do you think of her approach in responding to her case of rape?" (notice the absence of "alleged") and "Look into her story and see how her alleged rapist responded. How do you think the university handled this delicate situation?"

Article here. Excerpt:

'He is an award-winning combat photographer who stands accused of trying to pick up women in the public affairs office at MinotAir Force Base in North Dakota, and for that prosecutors wanted to put him in prison for 130 years.

The prosecutorial zeal was so great that an Air Force officer appointed to investigate the case said the piled-up charges were combined to “artificially exaggerate the criminality of the accused,” who often was simply “socially maladroit and crass.”

This is a glimpse into the new U.S. Armed Forces and its gender wars. It is a slice of military life stemming from the Pentagon’s order in 2013 to erase all sexual harassment and, to enforce it, staff the ranks with an advocacy bureaucracy to empower victims and make sure complaints are filed.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Carly Fiorina has previously described feminism as a "weapon used to win elections." Now, she's offering an alternative definition.

"Feminism began as a rallying cry to empower women – to vote, to get an education, to enter the workplace. But over the years, feminism has devolved into a left-leaning political ideology where women are pitted against men and used as a political weapon to win elections," the Republican presidential candidate wrote on Facebook Thursday.

Fiorina has frequently compared the familiar 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' philosophy, which she claims enabled her rise from secretary to chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, to contemporary feminism, which tends to emphasize instances of women's oppression and has developed a reputation of intolerance toward dissenters.