Article here. Excerpt:

'On Tuesday, November 12, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the selection of four family courts to participate in the “Family Court Enhancement Project.” The purpose of the Family Court Enhancement Project is to alter family court practice and procedures when domestic violence and/or child abuse is alleged in child custody proceedings. The courts are located in Illinois, Oregon, Minnesota and Delaware.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Since the 1970s, family life in the UK has changed dramatically. Increases in relationship breakdown, remarriage and repartnering have seen us move away from the traditional, two-parent nuclear family and towards more diverse forms of family life.

As a consequence, there are more children living apart from a parent than ever before. ONS figures show that the number of single parent families has increased from 8% in 1971 to 26% in 2011. It is estimated that up to 97% of single parents are mothers, which means that a large number of fathers are non-resident.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Monmouth MP, who chairs Westminster's Welsh affairs committee, spoke of his experience meeting some of the losers from the policy for a recent BBC Wales programme.

Today, he told the House of Commons: "I think it's absolutely outrageous that so many young men in our society feel they can go out, get women pregnant, allow them to have children, make them bring them up by themselves often on benefits and then just disappear.

"It is utterly shocking and I hope that the ministers will take note of this and get hold of some of these feckless fathers, drag them off, make them work, put them in chains if necessary, make them work and make them pay back to society for the cost of bringing up the children they chose to bring into this world."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Westminster College announces a generous $1 million gift from Ann and Anthony (Tony) Merritt to establish the Tony and Ann Merritt Single Mother Scholarship Fund, the Merritt Athletic Excellence Fund and the Merritt Endowed Athletic Fund.
...
Throughout his career, Merritt truly believed that educating women and mothers provided benefits for everyone in the family. “Tony wanted to help single moms achieve their dream of an education because he believed that helping the mother positively impacts the children,” said Ann Merritt. “Additionally, we also wanted to provide a gift that would help Westminster grow its sports programs to a level of excellence that mirrors its academic programs.”

Article here. Excerpt:

Children of single mothers will not be required to mention the name of the father in government forms in Maharashtra, once the women's policy is approved by the state. Ujjwal Uke, principal secretary of Women and Child Development Department said the draft policy says that in government forms, children of single mothers will have the option of mentioning the name of father or mother or both.

Story here.

'Juneau Police are looking for a 36-year old woman who allegedly stabbed a boyfriend early on Monday morning. The incident happened in a travel trailer on Sherwood Lane in front of at least two witnesses. The woman was apparently upset about the end of a domestic relationship and immediately left the scene after the stabbing.

Juneau Police Lieutenant Dave Campbell says they’ve recovered the knife, but they’re not publically identifying the woman since she has not been arrested or charged yet.

The 46-year old Juneau man went to the hospital for treatment of a 1 1/2 inch stab wound to his left forearm. The injury was not considered to be life threatening.

Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the case.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'An amendment that would allow governments to dissolve companies that do not adhere to a gender quota system of 40% in senior positions has been passed by the European Parliament today.

Another amendment passed will mean that the under-represented gender in the European Union will be given preferential treatment in the recruitment, selection and appointment of non-executive directors.

All 21 of UKIP’s amendments were rejected by the European Parliament. These included provisions such as an opt-out for member states and stopping any possible sanctions on companies.

UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall said: “This legislation is barmy and confirms once more that Euro-fanatics have very little economic sense about them.

“These people seem determined to bring about tokenistic positive discrimination which may lead to businesses that don’t comply being shut down across Europe.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Pat Hussey, the mayor of Tralee, said Fine Gael’s “ridiculous” gender quotas could lead to many situations where “you could have a fantastic candidate overlooked for someone who doesn’t know anything at all about politics”.

He said he was in favour of increasing female representation in politics but “they have families and if they want to be politicians they’ll have to pay exorbitant money into creches* — it’s all wrong”.

Mr Hussey, Jim Finucane, Pat McCarthy, Mairead Fernane, and Grace O’Donnell put their names forward for the Tralee Electoral Area convention on Friday.

It was announced at the meeting that the gender quota directive would be implemented, meaning at least one of the three candidates going forward would have to be female.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Here's a national story with especially strong (and troubling) relevance for folks living in Central Florida.

CNNMoney points out that men, who lost about 6 million jobs during the recession, have gotten only about 70 percent of them back. Women have fared much better.

You can probably guess the industries where most of these missing jobs are from: Construction and manufacturing.

Construction was battered worse than any other industry during the recession. CNNMoney says it accounted for almost 25 percent of all job losses.

It certainly got slapped around here in Central Florida. Construction employment was cut in half, plunging from 92,000 in 2006 to 45,000 in 2011. It's crept its way back to about 47,000 today.

The chief economist for Associated General Contractors calls them the "1 million missing men."'

Press release here. Excerpt:

'Members of the anti-circumcision activist group INTACTION picketed outside the home of Susan Blank, M.D., chairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Circumcision.

The Intaction picketers are demanding the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force retract it’s recently released report (Pediatrics Vol 130 No 3 Sept 2012 "Circumcision Policy Statement") that promotes infant circumcision. Thirty-seven physicians from prestigious medical societies in seventeen European countries recently authored a strong rebuke of the AAP 2012 Circumcision Policy Statement. ...

Article here. Excerpt;

'I always thought that if I had a son I would not circumcise him. I felt the need to challenge this Jewish tradition. It felt like quite a brutal decision to take on behalf of my newborn son, for a covenant that I did not believe in. (I am secular but very culturally identified.) But when I found out that we were going to have a baby boy, the sudden emotional desire to have him circumcised was immediate and very strong.
...
So now I faced what felt like a huge decision, the idea of not circumcising my son. Jude, who is also Jewish, was clear it was something she did not want. For her, cutting off any part of her son’s anatomy for an ancient ritual meant nothing. So why did it all change for me, the moment I found out I was having a baby boy?

It was a very personal and emotional response. I felt by not circumcising my son, I was effectively cutting off (pardon the pun) his connection with a 5000-year-old cultural history. For thousands of years Jews have performed this ritual as the first and important means of identifying with our tribe/community. So as a self-identifying Jew, the idea of not doing this for my son created a lot of anxiety and confusion in me.
...
I researched the medical pros and cons. There seemed to be no health benefit enough to justify circumcision. The one strong argument I found is about the transmission of STDs among heterosexuals, including HIV, being lower in circumcised males. This might be a good argument for circumcision in a country that has an AIDS epidemic in its heterosexual population, but in the West today we do not face such a situation. And sensible safe sex education and practice has worked well as a preventative measure against sexually transmitted disease.
...

Story here. Excerpt:

'An angry mother and her friend both punched a woman who they said had just admitted having sex with a 15-year-old boy, a jury has been told.

The mother said her teenage son, who previously denied having sexual contact with Kylie Fiona Henry, burst into tears when she again asked him whether anything had happened between them.

“He said, `yes, she forced me’,” the mother told the South Australian District Court on Wednesday.

Henry, 40, a former primary school canteen manager of Ingle Farm in Adelaide, has pleaded not guilty to rape and to an alternative charge of unlawfully having sexual intercourse with a person under 17 in 2011.

The Crown has alleged Henry forced herself on the boy when she moved from the couch to the floor where he had been lying while watching TV in her lounge room.'

Article here.

'Presenting feminist radical Gloria Steinem with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Wednesday, President Obama said that Steinem “changed how women thought about themselves.” He also labeled her a “game-changer,” a “disrupter,” and a “champion noticer.” Obama stated, “She’s alert to all the ways, large and small, that women had been and, in some cases, continue to be treated unfairly just because they’re women… because of her work, across America and around the world, more women are afforded the respect and opportunities that they deserve.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'Most people want to earn the big bucks, and for a lot of people working at the mines is a good way to make that happen.

It’s pretty hard to get a job in the mines though, especially at the moment, so how would you feel if you opened the paper and saw an ad for women-only truck driving jobs?

One company has made news headlines because its now allowed to do just that and advertise 50 women only positions.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A BIDEFORD man has appeared on ITV’s This Morning speaking of the trauma he went through after falling victim to false rape allegations.
...
Last month, 25-year-old Loder appeared at Exeter Crown Court where she was jailed for two false allegations of rape.

Loder originally said she had been raped in an alley way in Bideford by two strangers, but after police failed to find any forensic evidence she changed her story and said she had been raped by Fran Syvret in her own home.

But her story fell apart after Mr Syvret showed police photos and a video on his phone which proved Loder had willingly had sex with him.

However, Loder had already spread her lies around Bideford, and Fran and his ex-partner at the time Jane, began to receive a torrent of threats.'