Link here. Excerpt:

'Consumers have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) and its pharmaceutical company subsidiary, SkinMedica, claiming that the companies have misbranded and unlawfully marketed Tissue Nutrient Solution (TNS), a skin-care product line containing human growth factors obtained from human foreskin tissue which could increase the risk of cancer and pose other health risks, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, filed by consumer-rights law firm Hagens Berman in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims that for at least the past four years, SkinMedica has failed to disclose significant safety concerns associated with TNS products while marketing the products without appropriate government approval, proper labeling, or adequate safety studies.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A jilted doctor who paid a gang to chop off her fiance's penis has been jailed for six years, it has been reported.

Brazilian Myriam Priscilla Castro, 34, ordered the gruesome attack after her boyfriend, Wendel Souza, ended their relationship three days before their wedding.

Ms Castro, a respected doctor from a wealthy family in Juiz de Fora, southeast Brazil, is also believed to have paid for Mr Souza's house to be burned down and his car wrecked.

A court heard how three men, who claimed they were carrying out Ms Castro's orders, snatched Mr Souza the week after the planned wedding and used a knife to slice off his manhood.

Ms Castro's 76-year-old father is also accused of helping his daughter find and contract the men, who were all ex-convicts.'

In a MAJOR VICTORY for us, the Dept. Of Education has backed off their Affirmative Consent proposal.

The proposal (partners would be expected to give their explicit consent to sex every step along the way) is silly, yet potentially dangerous. We asked you to oppose it, and you did. Thank you.

Together, we made a difference. On April 2, the DED released its new proposal, and guess what is missing! That's right: Affirmative Consent.

Congratulations!

But we're not done yet.

Even though the committee didn't recommend including the "Dear Colleague" letter's preponderance of evidence standard as part of the rule, it's still a concern. Please ask DED Secretary Arne Duncan to replace the "preponderance of evidence" standard (51%) with "clear and convincing" (70-80%) level of proof.

Email Arne Duncan: arne.duncan-at-ed.gov

Thanks!

Teri Stoddard, Program Director
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
www.saveservices.org

P.S. If you live in California, contact your lawmakers to oppose SB 967. It's an Affirmative Consent bill!

Story here. Excerpt:

'Belfast Crown Court heard that Lisha Tait cried rape after being given the “cold shoulder” in a Belfast nightclub by a man she had a previous liaison with.

The 22-year-old, from Laurel Lodge in the Flush Gardens area of Lisburn, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The charge relates to making a false report and two false written statements to police on dates between July 6 and August 15, 2013 claiming she had been raped.

Crown prosecutor Simon Jenkins said the series of events began in the early hours of July 7 when police received a call from the Ambulance Service in relation to a distressed woman who claimed she had been raped outside the Odyssey complex in Belfast.

After making the claim, Tait was taken to the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Antrim, where she was examined.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A trainee barrister falsely accused her boyfriend of raping her 11 times in an attempt to get out of taking her law exams, a court heard.

Rhiannon Brooker, 30, alleged Paul Fensome had repeatedly assaulted her, leading to the 46-year-old being arrested, charged and held in custody for 30 days.

But detectives could not find any evidence he had carried out the attacks. It emerged that Brooker had used the allegations as ‘extenuating circumstances’ in a failed attempt to dodge her bar exams, a jury was told.

She is accused of making 11 false claims of rape and nine of assault, two of which alleged false imprisonment.

Prosecutor David Bartlett told Bristol Crown Court: ‘One of the reasons for her false allegations was that she was living an active social life and not doing the work required to pass.’

Story here. Excerpt:

'COOKEVILLE — What turned out to be a false claim from a woman saying she had been raped, tied up and left lying in a ditch prompted the lock down of an area elementary school Thursday afternoon.

Police responded to the 1200 block of West Broad Street around 1:20 p.m. Thursday after a woman called in stating “that she had been raped and was lying in a ditch,” according to a report by Sgt. Jeff Johnson.

A woman was located, partially clothed, stating that “a male subject dressed in full camouflage with a black mask over his face had pulled her down the embankment, over a five-foot fence and raped her,” the report states.
...
Detectives investigating the incident determined that the woman’s story “did not appear to be possible due to her physical condition,” the police report states. The woman, police say, suffers from mental illness and they ultimately determined that the rape did not occur and that there was no further threat to the community.

Story here. Excerpt:

Welsh Labour says it wants half its candidates for winnable seats to be women at the 2017 council elections.

The aspiration could mean the introduction of all-women shortlists to select candidates in some places.

The party stressed it would not impose an all-women shortlist where a sitting male councillor wanted to stand again.

Labour members voted unanimously to aim to achieve the 50% target at the party's Welsh conference in Llandudno last weekend.

Labour said it was wrong to say male candidates would be deselected because there is no preferential treatment for sitting councillors when choosing local election candidates.

Before assembly and general elections, party members are asked whether they want to nominate the sitting AM or MP again.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last week someone asked me a thought-provoking question about the dwindling engagement of young men in our educational system: did I believe that there is a correlation between the rise of women's access to education and the alarming increase in drop-out rates amongst young men versus young women today? [1]

My initial reaction was as you might expect: moderately incensed. After waiting centuries for access to the "hallowed halls of education," girls are now being blamed for the boys running away? I caught myself however, mid-outrage, as the word "competition" popped to mind. At first I thought, "Well maybe the boys just can't compete with the girls?" Then my more mature self kicked in, and I had to wonder if today's schools are in fact simply more "competitive" for all students. If so, in what ways might such changes be particularly impactful for boys?
...
In considering these added competitive burdens we have placed upon our girls and not our boys, is it possible that, in fact, it is our boys we have been failing all along?

Article here. Excerpt:

At national, state and local levels, experts resoundingly agree: Boys are falling behind in education.

The statistics add shock value. Nationally, 70 percent of D's and F's on report cards are earned by boys. Three out of four children diagnosed with learning disabilities are boys, and boys account for 90 percent of school discipline problems. While graduation rates are on the rise in Florida, boys trail girls in every racial group.

"The concept of a one-size-fits-all education is an outdated idea, and today we see that," said Joyce Swarzman, headmaster at the Independent Day School-Corbett Campus in Tampa and one of the experts featured last week at the Pinellas Education Foundation's fourth annual education symposium.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Cultural progressives often talk about something called “hegemonic masculinity.” By this progressives and feminists mean the standards we use to determine what an ideal man is in a particular culture. Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson, in The Gendered Society Reader, describe American hegemonic masculinity this way:

"In an important sense there is only one complete unblushing male in America: a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, father, of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent record in sports . . . Any male who fails to qualify in any one of these ways is likely to view himself–during moments at least–as unworthy, incomplete and inferior."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Even as pressure mounts on political leaders for addressing women's issues more efficiently, men's rights activists too have decided to put forth their demands in front of the parties. Four issues these organizations have been fighting since long have been put up as questions to major politicians, asking for their response on any suitable medium.

The demands/queries are related to domestic violence against men, shared parenting, gender-neutral rape laws and men's welfare in general. NGO Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), one of the NGOs working for men, has sought replies from several leaders including Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Jayalalitha, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Pawar. The leaders can respond using social networking platforms or media too. Apparently, Yadav has already shown allegiance to these organizations.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Pennsylvania woman claimed “crazy voices” told her to sit on her two children in a bathtub — drowning her 3-year-old son and leaving his 6-year-old brother critically injured, police said.
...
Schlemmer was arrested after she called 911 on Tuesday to report that she dragged the two unconscious boys — Luke, 3, and Daniel, 6 — out of the tub.

The deranged woman allegedly told Allegheny County investigators that she told the children to take off their pajamas and get into the bathtub after she put her 7-year-old son, who was not named, on a school bus about 8:40 a.m., court papers show.

“Schlemmer said after the boys got into the tub, she got into the tub ‘fully clothed’ and ‘crazy voices’ were telling her to push the boys into the water,” read a criminal complaint. “Schlemmer explained that at one point she [was] sitting on top of the boys while they were under the water in the tub.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'I keep getting asked, “What is going on in Illinois?” My answer, “A lot.” But I am sure most people really mean to know what is going on with our Shared Parenting Bill - HB5425. National Parents Organization wrote about it here.

A quick recap, HB5425: (1) recognizes that the involvement of each parent for equal time and not less than 35% of residential parenting time per week is presumptively in the children's best; (2) presumes parents to be fit; (3) requires parents to come up with a parenting plan within 90 days; if not, then the judge has 60 additional days and should award equal time unless it is not in the child’s best interest, then a minimum of 35% parenting time should be awarded to each fit parent; and (4) requires clear and convincing evidence to impose any restriction on parenting time.

Link here. Excerpt:

'A young mother from the US has been found guilty of beating her four-year-old son to death because she thought he was gay.

Zachary Dutro-Boggess died on August 16, 2012 after being beaten so severely his intestines tore.

After finding the toddler collapsed at the homeless shelter where the family had been staying, his mother, Jessica Dutro, 25, rang police.

Little Zachary was rushed to hospital where doctors diagnosed him with blunt-force trauma to the abdomen.

The injuries were so severe that they caused the little boy's bowels to tear.

Two days later he was taken off the ventilator and died.

In a Facebook message to her boyfriend, Brian Canady, 24, Dutro said the boy was going to be gay and it made her angry.

"He walks and talks like it. Ugh," she wrote.
...
Canady, who also participated in the beatings, managed to escape the murder charges by agreeing to testify against Dutro.

Dutro and Canady are still waiting to be sentenced.'

Sad and twisted account here. Excerpt:

'HAMILTON, Ontario - Evidence in the second-degree murder trial of a Fort Erie, Ont., woman accused of murdering her daughter wrapped up Thursday with the continued testimony of a psychologist.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations in early next week in the case against Roseanne Whalen, 25, who is accused of killing two-year-old Marissa on July 29, 2011, in Fort Erie.

Closing addresses by assistant Crown attorney Timothy Hill and Whalen's lawyer, Geoffrey Hadfield, are scheduled for Monday.

Marissa's remains were discovered in the fall of 2011 on Six Nations territory in Ohsweken.

Twenty witnesses testified in the trial, including Rainbow Hill, Whalen's ex-girlfriend who is currently serving time for her role in Marissa's death.

The jury heard the couple was living in Fort Erie when Marissa suffered a fatal injury while in the bathroom with Hill.