Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2015-01-19 10:31
Article here. Could've written this one myself! Excerpt:
'Hillary can’t win, and that’s why she won’t run. She may not know that yet herself, but a lot of Democrats want her because she’s all they’ve got. The Republicans are counting on her to run because they think she’s the candidate they can beat in what looks from here like it could be a Republican year.
Lady Macbeth has the resume that makes her plausible, which a lot of pundits and normal other people confuse with “inevitable.” Everybody recognizes her name. She doesn’t hear the music but she recognizes the words and knows policy, and likes to talk about it. She’s a woman, and that should help with the ladies. (It might hurt, too).
She has had to carry a lot of Bubba’s baggage, and people usually pity the wronged wife. Nobody is comfortable as the object of pity, but political widows have often exploited it. Political wives, not so much. Hillary has successfully used it, probably because she has thrown the occasional lamp. People like people who fight back.
...
Against every positive, there’s two or three negatives. Everyone has a list. Many women like her, some women worship her. Most men despise her. She reminds them of their ex-wives. Life is not fair. Men, a wise man said, are assumed to be competent until they prove otherwise; that was Mr. Obama’s good fortune in 2008, when nobody looked at him closely. Women are thought to be incompetent until they prove otherwise, as many women in politics and business do every day. Getting credit is not easy.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2015-01-19 10:19
Article here. Excerpt:
'Nowadays, you can’t suggest that a woman watch her drink, avoid getting blackout drunk or to walk in well-lit areas without being accused of victim-blaming. But why is it okay to claim that students falsely accused of sex crimes somehow deserved to be falsely accused?
The most recent example of this form of victim-blaming, where the men who were falsely accused are the real victims, can be seen in the University of Virginia’s ham-handed response to an uncorroborated but explosive allegation of a brutal gang rape at one of its fraternities. U.Va. responded to the allegation by banning Greek social activities until Jan. 9, and only allowing fraternities and sororities to resume such activities if they sign new contracts. Those contracts are of course much more stringent for fraternities and have led to two campus organizations refusing to sign.
And remember, those new contracts were announced after the Washington Post discovered significant faults in the original rape allegation. The fact that the accuser made up a story about having a date or even being invited to a fraternity party by that fantasy date should have made U.Va. officials think twice about rushing to judgment and condemning Greek life on campus.
The university still wants fraternities to sign the agreements and accept punishment, even though local police found “no substantive basis” for the allegation that the rape in question occurred at Phi Kappa Psi. Instead of punishing just Phi Psi without evidence, U.Va. decided to punish all fraternities without evidence — the stated reason being that past behavior at fraternity parties warrants such restrictive punishment.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2015-01-19 10:16
Article here. Excerpt:
'An autistic student, previously expelled from his college for mistakenly hugging a stranger, has been reinstated.
Brian Ferguson, a 20-year-old with autism attending special-needs classes at Navarro College in Texas, had been expelled for sexual assault. But what he did that constitutes sexual assault will leave you scratching your head.
Ferguson is 6’5” and gives hugs to his friends with a kiss on the top of their head since he towers over them. A week ago, that got him expelled. The problem arose when Ferguson thought he saw a woman he recognized and gave her one of his trademark greetings — except that the woman was a stranger.
"And then [the school] labeled it 'sexual assault' because of the kissing,” Ferguson’s mother, Staci Martin, told NBC. “They said a kiss is considered an assault."
...
When she found out that Ferguson had been expelled over the incident, she thought it was "ridiculous."
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Mon, 2015-01-19 01:27
Article here. Excerpt:
'Common understandings of rape tend to involve force, coercion, or victims who are passed-out drunk. Many students have come forward in recent years to share such experiences. Last summer The New York Times published a front-page article on an alleged rape at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in which several people looked on as a football player assaulted a young woman bent over a pool table.
Other cases are less clear. Sexual interactions can be ambiguous, especially if students have been drinking but aren’t incapacitated. Research shows that women engage in sex they don’t want for a variety of reasons—including to avoid conflict, because they don’t want to be labeled a tease, and because they feel obligated. A response to the Total Sorority Move story on the website Her Campus says rape is "a big word," but "‘less rapey’ situations" should still be acknowledged.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-01-18 05:18
Article here. Excerpt:
'Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced that Christine Quinn [link added], former City Council speaker and, more recently, face of the Women's Equality Party [link added], "is the newest member of the Cuomo administration."
Quinn will serve as "special advisor" to the administration.
She'll be part-time until her Harvard fellowship ends in April, and full-time thereafter. A Cuomo spokeswoman said she did not immediately know how much she will be paid.
Quinn will help Cuomo take "affirmative consent"—a "yes-means-yes" standard for sexual activity at college—statewide. Late last year, SUNY adopted "affirmative consent" at his suggestion.
"It has to be an affirmative consent by the woman," Cuomo said today, at a press conference held at New York University. "The female has to affirmatively consent to any sexual acts."'
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-01-18 05:14
Story here. Excerpt:
'New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today a proposal to expand the so-called "yes means yes" legislation to protect college students against rape.
Cuomo proposed a law to extend protections against sexual assaults that are already in place on the campuses of the state's public colleges and universities to the state's private schools.
"One out of four women will be a victim of a sexual attack during their academic years," Cuomo said today at a news conference at New York University. "That is breathtaking."
The rule, which is already in place at the state-funded State University of New York (SUNY) schools, creates a safer environment for students by outlining expectations of responsibility, he said.
Former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, now a special adviser to the governor's office, said the new law will give every school in New York a uniform definition of consent where "yes means yes"--requiring participants to explicitly agree to any sexual activity.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-01-18 03:37
Article here. Excerpt:
'First came mansplain, a word to describe male windbags who can't help but preach at women. Then we got manspread, the habit some men have of taking up too much space in public places. And now we have manslam, "the sidewalk M.O. of men who remain apparently oblivious to the personal space of those around them ," as well as "manterrupt" and "bropropriating."
Oh man. Enough.
It's time to stop man-izing all problematic behavior.
Beyond the obvious reason — that it's annoying as hell — there are a number of reasons everyone, feminists included, should start blanket-banning these words from their lexicons.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-01-18 03:34
Article here. Excerpt:
'The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is $34.4 billion in debt, but it somehow managed to scrape up more than $75,000 to fund an advertising campaign in New York City aimed at instructing male subway riders to keeps their legs together while sitting.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the MTA "hired Edison Lithograph and Printing Corp. to print thousands of posters and placards, which will appear in 2,600 subway cars" to the tune of $76,707 taxpayer dollars. ...
In a press release, the MTA announced that the new program "highlights behaviors that are both encouraged and discouraged for the benefit of everyone," and that "the messaging largely reflects complaints and suggestions from riders."
Other MTA-funded ads promoting good etiquette will discourage people from "primping" on public transportation, blocking doors, and using safety poles for performance purposes.'
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-01-18 03:25
Story here. Excerpt:
'Members of a fraternity kicked off the San Diego State University campus for allegedly waving sex toys at anti-rape demonstrators said Thursday that the charges were exaggerated, based largely on an 18-year-old member's "immature and stupid" actions.
The school's Delta Sigma Phi chapter was suspended last month for at least two years after the anti-rape activists alleged frat members waved dildos and shouted obscenities during a November demonstration. The university also charged the fraternity with alcohol and hazing violations. The fraternity's national office didn't defend the SDSU chapter.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by el cid on Sun, 2015-01-18 02:35
Editorial here. It urges that child support go to the kids instead of to the government. Gosh, what a novel idea. I'm no fan of the current child support system, but at the very least the money should go to the kids, not some bureaucrat. Excerpt:
'It may come as a surprise to some, but that isn't the case in Colorado now. The child support money goes into the greater government maw — not to the typical mom getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) who is raising kids alone.
...
First, it would directly increase the meager household income for these single-parent families. These are the poorest of the state's poor families.
Second, it would help strengthen ties between the kids and their biological parents.
Non-custodial parents would have an additional incentive to pay child support if they knew it would go directly to their children and not into a big, amorphous government pot.
Third, there is a question of fairness. If a father is paying child support, the child should benefit. It's that simple.'
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-01-17 08:08
Article here. Excerpt:
A legion of the politically correct who make a living from the alleged oppression of women were gleeful and almost goofy with proofiness this week. The incident is a window into how statistical myths are created.
Charles Seife, a journalist and a professor at New York University, coined the term proofiness as a corollary to an earlier term coined by comedian Stephen Colbert: truthiness. Truthiness was defined as "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true." It became the American Dialect Society's 2005 Word of the Year because it embodied a cultural zeitgeist that haunted the socio-political narrative of our time.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-01-17 08:02
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-01-17 07:51
Story here. Excerpt:
'A student with autism has been kicked out of college for sexually assaulting another student. The vile act that caused the student to be kicked out?
A hug and a kiss on top of the scalp (something Joe Biden did recently) after mistaking another student for one of his friends.
Student With Autism Kicked Out of College
A Waxahachie man who has autism was kicked out of college classes because he mistakenly hugged a woman he did not know and kissed her on the top of her head, according to the man’s mother.
Brian Ferguson, 20, was attending special-needs classes at Navarro College’s Waxahachie campus when he thought he recognized a young woman in the hallway, said Ferguson’s mother, Staci Martin.
The woman, who has not been identified and could not be reached for comment, turned out to be a stranger.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-01-17 07:32
Article here. Looks like the lies and attendant craziness got on a plane for London not long ago and promptly began doing their best at doing their worst. Excerpt:
'A third of female students in Britain have endured a sexual assault or unwanted advances at university, stark new research conducted for The Telegraph shows.
It comes as new legal guidance warned that universities and colleges across the UK could be breaking the law by refusing to investigate allegations of indecent assault or rape, believing that it is purely a police matter.
Gender violence campaign groups warned that academic authorities are creating an “environment of impunity” on campus by refusing to step in to protect women from assault. The Telegraph is planning to highlight the issue in a series of articles.
Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-01-17 07:24
Article here. Excerpt:
'The journalists at Charlie Hebdo are now rightly being celebrated as martyrs on behalf of freedom of expression, but let’s face it: If they had tried to publish their satirical newspaper on any American university campus over the last two decades it wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds. Student and faculty groups would have accused them of hate speech. The administration would have cut financing and shut them down.
Public reaction to the attack in Paris has revealed that there are a lot of people who are quick to lionize those who offend the views of Islamist terrorists in France but who are a lot less tolerant toward those who offend their own views at home.
Just look at all the people who have overreacted to campus micro-aggressions. The University of Illinois fired a professor who taught the Roman Catholic view on homosexuality. The University of Kansas suspended a professor for writing a harsh tweet against the N.R.A. Vanderbilt University derecognized a Christian group that insisted that it be led by Christians.
Like0 Dislike0
Pages