Story here. Excerpt:

'A dad whose newborn son was given up for adoption by the birth mother — without his knowledge — is seeking $130 million in a lawsuit testing the boundaries of a biological father’s rights in Utah.

The adoption of Jake Strickland’s son just after he was born Dec. 29, 2010, was illegal and done “through gross misdirection and … clandestine conduct,” claims the suit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Utah.

Strickland alleges the mother, Whitney Pettersson, conspired with the adoptive parents, the adoption agency and attorneys to give up the boy — named “Baby Jack” in the suit — without allowing him to seek custody.

The complaint also strikes at Utah's parenting laws, accusing them of being “pro-adoption and anti-birth father.”'

Video report here. (Ed. note: NSFW, since it shows Femen members topless.) Description:

'The Paris-based sextremist group Femen says it's against the sexualization and objectification of women.

But to achieve this goal, its members go topless in front of the cameras and shout political slogans decrying organized religion, political tyranny, homophobia, and sexism.

So have Femen members become sex objects even though they so vehemently declare that they're opposed to patriarchy?

This is one of the questions explored in a BBC Newsnight documentary, which takes viewers inside a Femen boot camp.

Check it out by watching the video above. It's one of the more thought-provoking examinations of Femen that you'll find on the Internet.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Playing varsity sports in high school appears to be an important link to health after age 70, according to a new study by Swiss and U.S. researchers.

Researchers examined the backgrounds, behaviours and personalities of a group of men over 70 who had previously passed a strenuous physical exam more than 50 years earlier when they were screened for military duty in the U.S.

Though the study is limited in variety — for example, the subjects are all men from the U.S. and from a narrow social and ethnic group — it marks what researchers say is the first long-term study of childhood exercise and its correlation to health over a long period of time.
...
In total, 712 Second World War veterans, averaging age 78, participated in the study. They had answered the survey back in 2000 but the data was not analyzed until 2012.

Article here. Excerpt:

'I regret not getting married when I was young. More specifically, I wish I had focused on the marriage factor, asking myself what I wanted more: a career or a family.

Unlike my mother’s generation where gender roles were uniquely defined and respected in America, the 1960s feminist movement and the offspring of liberalism has led to the death of masculinity in America today.

Gender roles have eroded to non-existence.

Starting in elementary school, teachers are drowning boys in “sensitivity,” turning men into little ‘sissies’. “They are making a toxic environment for boys. Primary education does everything in its power to turn boys into neuters,” asserts anti-feminist Camille Paglia in a recent interview.

She is absolutely correct. These same little boys grow into adults who suppress their manhood to live in a politically correct prison with “no models of manhood,” adds Paglia.'

---
Ed. note: Kris, a new year's present for you. :)

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Florida woman was arrested early Saturday for battering her live-in boyfriend after he refused to “cuddle” with her when they went to bed, police report.
...
The couple subsequently quarreled, a deputy reported, “over Henry refusing to ‘cuddle’ with Shavonna when they went to bed.” The argument “turned physical when Shavonna grabbed Henry by the shirt, causing it to tear.” Price then attempted to leave the couple’s Bradenton residence to “prevent any further argument and Shavonna didn’t want him to leave.”
...
Rumph, pictured above, was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery and booked into the county jail, from which she was released Sunday.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'‘I’m so lucky to have a mummy and daddy,’ she said, hugging me. As I cuddled her back, I felt a terrible stab of guilt in my stomach.

For Ruby nearly didn’t have a daddy. For the first two-and-a-half years of her life, I did everything I could to scupper her relationship with her father.

In a fit of selfish pique, I attempted to come between them and deny them the right to love each other.

It was the most spiteful thing I’ve ever done.

Thank God her father, James, fought me all the way and dragged us through the hell of solicitors, legal bills and finally to the Family Court, where he won access to his little girl — access that was his by right.

He never gave up. Such is the testament of his love for Ruby. And for that, I will never be able to thank him enough.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'State lawmakers in both chambers are considering a plan to make the adoption process quicker and less expensive for adoptive parents, a goal anti-abortion advocates outlined earlier this year, but some involved in the process say the plan is unnecessary.

A pair of bills in the House and Senate would increase the state adoption tax credit to $10,000 from $1,500, shorten the time line for finalizing an adoption and give birth parents notice of their rights early in the process to help prevent birth parents from claiming children after the child has been placed with an adoptive family.
...
Both bills shorten the amount of time before an adoption is finalized to 60 days from one year and reduce the time a birth father has to register with the state and preserve his right to consent to the adoption to seven days from 30 days.

Story here. Excerpt:

'VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - A suicide bomber set off a blast in the entrance hall of a Russian train station on Sunday, investigators said, killing at least 16 people in the second deadly attack within three days as the country prepares to host the Winter Olympics.

Authorities said the attacker detonated a shrapnel-filled bomb in front of a metal detector just inside the main entrance of the station in Volgograd, a busy hub north of the violence-plagued North Caucasus region on Russia's southern fringe.

Islamist militants in the North Caucasus have carried out a long string of attacks since President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. They now confront him with his biggest security challenge, threatening to disrupt the Olympics that start in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 40 days.

Footage shown on TV captured the moment of the blast, as a massive orange fireball filled the hall of the stately, colonnaded station and clouds of grey smoke poured out of shattered windows.
...
The federal Investigative Committee and other officials initially said a female suicide bomber had blown herself up after a police officer started to approach her near the metal detector because she looked suspicious.
...
It said authorities had identified her as a resident of Dagestan, the province adjacent to Chechnya and now the center of a long-running Islamist insurgency, and the widow of two militants who were both killed by Russian security forces.
...
Interfax cited law enforcement sources as saying authorities believed the attacker was a man who brought a bomb into the station with a rucksack. Some bombs carried by female suicide bombers have been set off remotely by male accomplices.

Story here.

'A woman in Canton admitted to police that she replaced the liquid in bottle of eye drops with bleach, knowing that her husband would use the drops.

He didn’t suffer permanent injury, but his 35-year-old wife is facing domestic violence charges due to the incident which happened on October 12.

The couple apparently have ongoing domestic issues and it fairly certain this will not ease the road to wedded bliss.

Police also confirm that the woman admitted to placing an ad on Craigslist to pay someone to assault her husband.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'If you have been following education hot button issues for any length of time, you've likely read about the nationwide push to better encourage girls in areas like science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The thought is that by showing young women that these topics are just as appropriate for them as their male peers, more women will find lasting careers in these traditionally male-dominated fields.

I'm all for more women in the STEM workplace but with all this focus in one area, are educators neglecting an even larger gender gap issue?

Aticle here. Excerpt:

Story here.

'South Carolina authorities say a 44-year-old woman angry at a man for returning home without beer on Christmas beat and stabbed him with a ceramic squirrel.

The Charleston County Sheriff's office says in a report that deputies found a man covered with blood when they arrived at Helen Williams' North Charleston home early Wednesday. She told investigators the man fell and cut himself, but couldn't explain why her hands and clothes were also bloody.

Deputies say the man said Williams was so angry when he returned without beer because stores were closed on Christmas Eve that she grabbed a ceramic squirrel, beat him in the head, then stabbed him in the shoulder and chest.

Williams was in jail Friday and charged with criminal domestic violence. It wasn't known if she had a lawyer.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A local rabbi is being sued after allegedly botching a bris, the traditional Jewish circumcision ritual, and severing a newborn boy’s penis.

The incident detailed in the lawsuit happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill within the last year.

The Jewish circumcision ceremony was performed by Pittsburgh Rabbi Mordechai Rosenberg – who is also a mohel.

Sometime during the bris, according to the lawsuit, Rosenberg severed the baby boy’s penis.

The baby was rushed to Children’s Hospital, where doctors performed emergency microsurgery.

“If your finger, your thumb was cut off and was put back on, that is pretty exciting,” said renowned UPMC plastic surgeon Dr. Joe Losee.

Dr. Losee was not involved in the boy’s treatment and he can’t talk specifics.

This is a response to the document “Human Tissue Intended for Transplantation” [OMB control number 0910-0302, Docket ID FDA-2013-N-0797-0003].

The deadline for submissions is 3 January 2014.

This submission can be made by anybody from any country around the world.

Instructions:

Download and save the document from the following link (Click 'Download'):

http://www.2shared.com/document/WX8SRAgQ/FDA-2013-N-0797-0003.html

Go to the following regulations.gov submission page:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2013-N-0797-0003

Click 'Choose files' to upload the saved document from your harddisk. Optionally, fill in the name fields. Check any boxes under the name field which apply to you and complete any required fields. Click 'Continue'. On the next page, click the box next to 'I read and understand the statement above' and then click 'Submit Comment'.

--------------------------------------------------

In case anyone experiences problems with the above 2shared link, the full-text of the response document is below, which you can copy/paste into the wordprocessor of your choice and upload to regulations.gov:

Response to “Human Tissue Intended for Transplantation” [OMB control number 0910-0302, Docket ID FDA-2013-N-0797-0003]

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback to “Human Tissue Intended for Transplantation” [OMB control number 0910-0302, Docket ID FDA-2013-N-0797-0003]. This response document will briefly address the ethical and safety concerns associated with utilitising foreskin-derived ingredients in medical and cosmetic products.

Ethical and safety concerns associated with utilitising foreskin-derived ingredients in medical and cosmetic products

Story here. Excerpt:

'When Samuel Gerome Dye got the news, he says he went crazy with joy: He ran, he danced, he screamed, he sang in the street.

And then Dye made a beeline for Utah, driving nonstop from Dallas through a blizzard in New Mexico and arriving last Friday to retrieve his 2-year-old son, whom a judge in Utah’s 4th District Court decided last week had been improperly placed for adoption here in July.

On Saturday, Dye and his son Samir traveled home together, putting miles and a nightmare behind them.'