Story here. Excerpt:

'When turning to the United States, she argued that American society "needs to reorient our social expectations and the signals we send" about the value associated with different kinds of degrees.

She said that it is time to "redefine higher education" so that more see the value of non-bachelor's-degree programs. "Just because a job requires certain technical skills and not a bachelor's degree" should not lead to a devaluing of those jobs or the relevant training, she said.
...
As she frequently does in her public appearances, Clinton spoke of the importance of providing full educational opportunities to women all over the world. But while she noted considerable progress in the United States in the availability of educational opportunities for women, she drew attention to inequities. She noted that women make up a majority of undergraduates, but only a small minority of those majoring in computer science.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Casey Neff, the manager of Fado Irish Pub, reportedly "sent an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian, women’s lacrosse coach Karin Brower Corbett and Penn’s Athletic Department, among others, claiming that a group of 50 people under the lacrosse team’s reservation did considerable damage to his business.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The good news, trumpeted in Women’s Work, the latest report from the Pew Economic Mobility Project, is that dramatic increases in women’s labor-force participation have boosted the “financial security and mobility” of millions of families across America since 1970. The bad news is that growing economic opportunities for women have not translated into more family income for poor and working-class families at the lower end of the income ladder. That’s surprising, because up and down the income ladder, women have been bringing home more bacon since the 1970s, as the figure below illustrates.
...
One reason that lower-income families are losing economic ground is that gains in women’s income have been offset by declines in marriage among the poor and working class. As the figure below indicates, more than half of these families are headed by just one parent—typically a single mother. Lacking the income of two parents, or the income of a father, these single-parent families are much less likely to reap the benefits of increases in income that have accrued to today’s working women. This is one reason why single-mother families are much more likely to be struggling to make ends meet. Indeed, one recent estimate found that the median income for married families in 2012 was about $81,000, compared to about $25,000 for single mothers.
...

Is this an April Fools joke? Excerpt:

'A new burial area for lesbians only is being inaugurated this weekend in a two-century-old cemetery in the German capital.

A 400-square-meter (4,300-square-foot) area of the Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery, established in 1814 in central Berlin, will be reserved as a graveyard for up to 80 lesbians, said Usah Zachau, a spokeswoman for the Safia association, a national group primarily for elderly lesbians.

The association said it had created a burial area to be inaugurated Sunday, as a space "where life and death connect, distinctive forms of cemetery culture can develop and where the lesbian community can live together in the afterlife.
...
A spokesman for the Berlin Lutheran church said the agreement with the women's group comes as part of the church's efforts to "revitalize its cemetery grounds by cooperating with other groups."

Story here. This story shows very clearly that child support enforcement is not about finding rich guys with offshore bank accounts who refuse to meet their obligations. It's more like modern slavery. Excerpt:

'Back in December over 90,000 people in New Jersey saw an end to their unemployment with the expiration of federal emergency benefits. This was the highest share of any state. Another 89,000 New Jersey residents are also set to lose their benefits during the first six months of 2014 as 63 weeks of unemployment is shrinking to 26 according to a report published by the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee.

For the Bergen County Jail this means big business.

In Bergen County being unemployed may get you thrown in jail. Bergen County residents [Ed.: read "residents" and all subsequent similar references as "divorced dads", and it will be far more accurate] who are jobless and have fallen behind on child support or alimony payments face indefinite incarceration in the Bergen County Jail’s “Work Release” program.

Brought before a judge every two weeks unemployed parents incarcerated in the “work release” program are required to report their efforts in finding a job. Being unemployed in Superior Court in Bergen County is considered to be by choice and puts you in contempt of court.

For the long term unemployed this may mean a long term in jail.

Parents incarcerated in the Bergen County Jail’s “work release” are required to pay the County of Bergen $ 10.00 per day for “room and board” - $50 per week. For some an additional $70 per week is due to the County for a GPS tracking bracelet.

Article here. Excerpt:

'New data showing that thousands of children—including a disproportionate number of boys and black children—are suspended from school before reaching kindergarten have researchers and policymakers asking tough questions about pre-K discipline, and highlighting programs that help keep challenging children in preschool.

The notion that preschool pupils even face suspension surprised some, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who called the data "mind-boggling" at a press event March 21 where he rolled out comprehensive U.S. Department of Education data on a broad range of P-12 indicators, including discipline.

Story here.

'A reported sexual assault at Michigan State University never happened. Campus police tell wilx.com the woman who claimed two men attacked her at the corner of Beal Street and West Circle Drive on March 23 has admitted she made it up.

They aren't saying why she did it or if she'll be charged with filing a false report.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'On Friday, I attended a lecture by professor Janice Fiamengo at the University of Ottawa. Her lecture was a critique of modern feminist ideology, it’s foundations, exaggerations, distortions and misandry. It was a perfect example of what Barbara Kay is talking about.

It may have seemed controversial to some, but the floor was to be open to all questions after the event. Before we even started, a plethora of ideological feminist fascists decided that it was their right to shut down freedom of speech. Campus security gave us another room, but a few of them again had to be removed. Although Ms. Fiamengo completed most of her lecture, the event ended early because one of the protesters pulled the fire alarm. These people were shown every consideration and invited to participate. The lecture was well researched and thoughtfully presented. They chose to remain ignorant. They knew nothing about the subject.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Senate Bill 291 would allow victims of domestic violence to be awarded exemplary, also called punitive, damages. Under current Louisiana law, punitive damages -- meant to punish and deter the offender -- are awarded only in drunk driving cases that result in an injury and in statutory rape cases.

The damages recipient would have to prove the actions of the perpetrator represented "a wanton and reckless disregard for the rights and safety of a family or household member" and also resulted in "serious" physical injury and/or "severe" mental injury.

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: teristoddard-at-saveservices.org

WASHINGTON / April 1, 2014 – SAVE, a victim-advocacy organization, is charging the “affirmative consent” policy being proposed by the U.S. Department of Education, and being considered by legislators in several states around the country, will not help victims. Instead, the unproven policy is likely to end up harming rape victims, SAVE says.

Recently the Department of Education (DED) proposed a new regulation mandating “affirmative, unambiguous, and voluntary” consent between college students desiring to engage in sexual relations: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2012/vawa-2draftregs.doc

“Affirmative consent” means both parties would need to give their explicit, verbal consent at every step in the process of engaging in sex, according to a bill recently introduced in California: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB967

SAVE urgently requests policymakers to consider the reality of a serial rapist in search of a victim:

First, there is no plausible reason to suppose that a legal requirement for “affirmative, unambiguous, and voluntary” consent would in way thwart the assailant.

Next, affirmative consent policies would dramatically expand definitions of sexual assault, resulting in many more persons demanding services. So rape victims will find it more difficult to get help.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Campaigns targeting young women to warn and protect them against unwanted sexual encounters are prevalent, and often a hot topic for parents raising girls. As these campaigns educate teens and young adults about sexual aggressors, boys and men are most often framed as the perpetrators.

However, a report published last week in the journal “Psychology of Men & Masculinity” sheds light on the pressures that young men also face when it comes to sexual relationships. According to the report, 43 percent of high school boys and college-aged men reported having an unwanted sexual experiences, with females as the lead perpetrators in sexual coercion.

Article here. Excerpt:

'TV sitcom king Chuck Lorre [link added] has a message for men everywhere. He wants them to know that their "tribal blooddrenched reign is over" because women now have access to the birth control pill.

This message was delivered to America on the "vanity card" that appeared at the end of the March 31 episode of his Anna Faris sitcom vehicle, Mom on CBS.

A "vanity card" is a message Lorre places at the end of each episode of his various sitcoms, a practice he has indulged since the 1990s. Some are meant to be humorous quips, but most are filled with Lorre's personal political commentary and meant to decry the actions and ideas of those he opposes.

At the end of Mom, Lorre wanted to express his prosaic Hollywood hate for men, his celebration that their "reign" was over, and his 100 percent support of women and their access to contraception.

You can't make this stuff up. Excerpt:

'Global warming isn't just going to melt the Arctic and flood our cities—it's also going to make Americans more likely to kill each other.

That's the conclusion of a controversial new study that uses historic crime and temperature data to show that hotter weather leads to more murders, more rapes, more robberies, more assaults, and more property crimes.

"Looking at the past, we see a strong relationship between temperature and crime," says study author Matthew Ranson, an economist with the policy consulting firm Abt Associates. "We think that is likely to continue in the future."

Just how much more crime can we expect? Using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's warming projections, Ranson calculated that from 2010 to 2099, climate change will "cause" an additional "22,000 murders, 180,000 cases of rape, 1.2 million aggravated assaults, 2.3 million simple assaults, 260,000 robberies, 1.3 million burglaries, 2.2 million cases of larceny, and 580,000 cases of vehicle theft" in the United States.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Texas woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend with her stiletto heel at least 25 times was defending herself from yet another instance of abuse at the hands of the man she is accused of murdering, her attorney said at her trial's opening arguments today.

Ana Trujillo, 45, is on trial in the death of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Dr. Alf Stefan Andersson.

The prosecution today told jurors of the couple's contentious relationship in which Trujillo had a history of being angry with Andersson

Prosecutors have alleged that the Houston woman stabbed her already injured boyfriend to death last year by sitting on him and striking him in the face at least 25 times with her stiletto heel.
...
Trujillo, a mother of two who’s out on bail, has pleaded not guilty. She was acting in self-defense, her attorney, Jack Carroll, said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dar Place was two feet away when his friend and fellow soldier took his own life during the Gulf War. Two decades later, like so many other veterans, Place is still haunted by the plague of suicide in the military.

“I personally saw my driver after Desert Storm in his tank put a gun underneath his mouth and pull the trigger, while I was no further away from him than I am from you right now,” Place told the Washington Free Beacon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He was one of the dozens of activists with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) who planted thousands of flags to honor veterans who had killed themselves.