Story here. Excerpt:

'Representative Jackie Speier (inset), a Democrat from California, is calling on NASCAR to suspend alleged domestic abuser Kurt Busch ahead of Sunday's season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch's ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll made the domestic violence claims in court earlier this week.

"I am disappointed to see that NASCAR and Stewart-Haas Racing have not taken any action. Your response to these serious allegations has been totally inadequate," Speier wrote in a letter to NASCAR President Mike Helton and the owners of Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, Sports Illustrated reports. The congresswoman's demands, though, didn't sit well with NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sweden has become known as a country committed to gender-equality causes, as seen in the 2012 stir caused when the Swedish affiliate of Toys R Us began advertising using gender-neutral toy catalogs that deliberately mixed and matched outside the traditional boy/girl toy schism, or when some of the nation's movie theaters and TV channels began issuing ratings indicating whether or not films being shown passed the so-called "Bechdel Test."

Article here. Excerpt:

'So how are things going for feminism? Well, last week, some feminists took one of the great achievements of human history — landing a probe from Earth on a comet hundreds of millions of miles away — and made it all about the clothes.

Yes, that's right. After years of effort, the European Space Agency's lander Philae landed on a comet 300 million miles away. At first, people were excited. Then some women noticed that one of the space scientists, Matt Taylor, was wearing a shirt, made for him by a female "close pal," featuring comic-book depictions of semi-naked women. And suddenly, the triumph of the comet landing was drowned out by shouts of feminist outrage about ... what people were wearing. It was one small shirt for a man, one giant leap backward for womankind.
...
It seems to me that if you care about women in STEM, maybe you shouldn't want to communicate the notion that they're so delicate that they can't handle pictures of comic-book women. Will we stock our Mars spacecraft with fainting couches?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Russell Crowe famously sparked a heated Twitter debate in 2011 when he declared the practice of circumcision 'barbaric and stupid'.

Now, the 50-year-old antipodean actor has taken to social media once again to discourage the use of the procedure by showing his support for a mother trying to stop the circumcision of her son.

On Wednesday the Hollywood heavy weight retweeted a link by activism account Caprica Is Burning which is raising awareness and funds for Heather Hironimus who is fighting a court battle in Florida to stop her four year-old son Chase being circumcised, as reported by YouCaring.'

Story here.

'Matt Taylor is one of the European Space Agency scientists who helped land the Philae spacecraft on a comet this week, the first time such a feat has ever been accomplished. But all anyone seems to want to talk about is the shirt he chose to wear, featuring pictures of scantily-clad women, during an interview with Nature Newsteam.

After receiving a barrage of criticism for what many described as “sexist” attire, Taylor delivered a tearful, public apology during a live stream broadcast on Friday.

“The shirt I wore this week, I made a big mistake,” Taylor said, starting to break down as he spoke. “And I offended many people. And I’m very sorry about this.”

Reporting on the story for CNN, Brooke Baldwin said, “The guy helped land a robot on a comet, I think he could find a new shirt,” adding, “Let’s move on.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Paul Elam, the founder of men’s rights group and human garbage army A Voice for Men, wants women to just leave men alone already because women are always getting in the way and then society can’t be excellent! (Men are excellent at excellence, but women are never doing excellent things, obviously.)
...
There’s just a different way that men do things with each other, and it results in excellence,” Elam said on something called the ManStream Media. “In civilization. In the aqueducts being built. To people landing on the moon and cures being found to disease.”

“I’m sorry, ladies,” he continued, “but if we want society to advance, we need to leave men alone to do their work — to do their thing and be with each other to get things done. Because that’s how it works.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sigh. A new current has developed in the polluted ocean of online videos. If you're a Facebook user, you'll have noticed it: it involves women, and men, and the former being incessantly harassed by the latter.
...
Depictions of decent men have now become strikingly absent online. The overall suggestion is that men are guilty until proven innocent; this only reinforces gender stereotyping.

Indeed, we have reached a stage where feminist sites like Jezebel run stories like “How to kick men in the balls: an illustrated guide”, confirming the impression that the internet hates men. Misogynist trolling by horrid little men is a huge concern, but the answer is not to alienate the rest of us.

Story here. Actually safe for work. Most Femen-related stories are NSFW. Excerpt:

'Femen, the women's rights group known for topless protests, took their act to a new level of provocation on Friday with an explicitly sexually suggestive demonstration in front of the Vatican.

In what they described as a protest over Pope Francis's upcoming visit to the European Parliament, three members of the group appeared on St Peter's square wearing only leather mini-skirts and flower garlands in their hair.

Two of them had "Keep it Inside" written on their backs - a slogan apparently related to what followed.

After bending forward, the women dropped down on to all fours, all the time appearing to simulate anal sex with a crucifix.
...
It was not immediately clear if the activists would face any criminal charges.

According to the group, the protest was organized because they regard the Pope's November 25th visit to the European Parliament as an attack on secular principles.

Article here. Poor kid, accused by a crazy woman, then grilled for hours until he made a "confession." No corroborating evidence. His parents put out $200,000 in legal fees. Excerpt:

'Prosecutors dismissed charges Thursday against an intern at a pricey preschool who was accused of molesting 13 children.

Malthe Thomsen, 22, was cleared before a packed courtroom by prosecutors who said that “after a careful and thorough investigation” they decided they “could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
...
The allegations by the co-worker, Mariangela Kefalas, would not bring him down, he said.

“I won’t let one person and a crazy justice system ruin that,” he said, telling reporters that he has pending job offers from supporters at home.
...
Kefalas first reported the allegations to her bosses, who cleared Thomsen internally after interviews with staff and observations.

After she was let go, she went to police with her story about Thomsen.

Story here. Excerpt:

'NOVEMBER 12--The viral video claiming to show a series of men plotting to take advantage of a drunk Los Angeles woman was staged by the clip’s creators, who fed lines to the purported predators, dupes who thought they were appearing in a student film, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The video, “Drunk Girl In Public,” is described as a “social experiment” by creator Stephen Zhang, 20, who apparently sought to ride the coattails of the 35 milllion-view Hollaback! video showing a woman being peppered with catcalls as she walked across New York City.

Zhang’s video, shot on Hollywood Boulevard, has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times since it was uploaded to YouTube on November 8.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A woman in the audience at an American Film Institute (AFI) screening of Mr. Turner at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood responded in an unusual fashion to a man who asked her to turn off her cell phone—she maced him. 
...
Unaware that the cell phone user was a woman, the man reportedly said, "Excuse me, sir." Ignored, the man repeated his request several times. Finally, fed up, he tapped her arm, whereupon she went ballistic.

An eyewitness reported, "She stands up and starts cursing, saying 'You hit me, you hit me, I'm going to call the police.'" The woman reportedly turned on her flashlight app and directed the light into the man’s face. She followed that by threatening to mace him, and indeed, maced him.
...
Interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter, the American Film Institute simply stated, “There was an incident, and it has been handled, and everyone is OK."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'As the Justice Department investigates 50-odd universities for shrouding rape accusations, we face a major progressive shift in sexual politics on campus. Meanwhile, the National Coalition for Men (NCFM) is toiling to reverse this trend by using male victimhood as a weapon against female accusers. Some state chapters publish headshots of women on a page that reads “false victims”—i.e. where rape reports have been dismissed by a college disciplinary board, or where the sheriff’s department isn’t buying a woman’s story. Harry Crouch, the NCFM president, says his coalition’s brief includes helping victims, protecting the falsely accused, and unseating the “men’s violence industry.” This last catchphrase is Crouch’s way of saying that domestic violence is massively over-reported and that “often the woman initiates violence herself.”

Story here.

'An Indiana woman who sliced an 18-year-old's penis with a box cutter won't be serving any time in jail.

Bonita Vela attacked her daughter's boyfriend after she believed he molested her two-year-old son.

Vela and two men reportedly held the teen in a neighbour's house, who then told the teen he had to choose between his penis or his life.

NYDailyNews reports that Vela pleaded guilty to confinement and battery in Johnson County Court and was sentenced Thursday to 10 months of home detention with an ankle bracelet.

She claimed she only wanted to scare the teen and that he cut himself when he tried to knock the blade from her hand.

According to a police report, she told the teen if he "didn't have anything to hide then he should let her cut him and that regardless of what happened he was to leave and never come back."

The 18-year-old filed a complaint saying he never touched the toddler.

Vela admits her suspicions developed after she had smoked marijuana.'

Nov. 11 was Remembrance Day in the UK and Canada and a tremendous art installation of 888,246 ceramic red poppies was launched in the moat of the Tower of London to honour those who sacrificed themselves in WWI - as 2014 marks the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of that conflict. [In French, known as "La Guerre Mondiale".]

It was an amazing visual display. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Swept_Lands_and_Seas_of_Red

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON / November 12, 2014 – A national opinion poll has revealed the vast majority of persons are opposed to laws that seek to mandate how persons give consent to sexual relations. When asked whether the government should have the “authority to determine how partners give their consent to sex,” 85% of respondents answered ‘No.’

In late September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a controversial Affirmative Consent bill requiring that all California college students give their ongoing “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary” consent during the course of having sex. Similar laws are being considered in other states.

The survey was conducted October 27 – 28. Over 600 persons participated in the telephone poll. The respondents consisted of 55.6% males and 44.4% females. Detailed findings can be viewed here: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/affirmative-confusion/survey/findings/