Article here. Excerpt:

'Every year during the fall season, the most misleading, emotion packed headline in the U.S.A. reappears just like the 40 Atlantic salmon that return annually to the Connecticut River. "Women are paid 77 percent of what men make." Sub context: Pay discrimination reigns throughout the workforce. We must pass the Equal Pay Act.

Now this belief that women are paid less for equal work is one of the Ten Commandments of the progressive world. You cannot be a progressive if you do not believe in this mantra.

But is this mantra true?

The source of this annual headline is the Pay Gap report prepared by the Association of American University Women. Now I won't get into that perhaps the AAUW might be a wee bit biased in their conclusions.

So let's get into the nitty-gritty of the report, shall we? What exactly is being compared?'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) announced today a new scholarship sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company for high potential women in the food service industry. The annual Chris Lowe Scholars Award provides a $15,000 grant to an outstanding woman in the food service industry. The grant will cover attendance and accommodations to the WFF Executive Leadership Program.

The Coca-Cola scholarship honors Chris Lowe who recently retired from The Coca-Cola Company following a 23-year career that included serving nearly a decade as president of National Food Service and On-Premise for Coca-Cola Refreshments.

Article here. Excerpt:

'While the September jobs report released Tuesday was largely disappointing, it contained some good news for women, who saw the largest gain in public sector jobs in over three years.

Women gained 48,000 jobs in the public sector, reversing a trend that has made it harder for them to recover from the recession. It was the largest single-month gain for women since May 2010, according to an analysis by the National Women's Law Center, and put them far ahead of men, who lost 26,000 public sector jobs in September.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Natalie Portman says hitting Chris Hemsworth was "one small slap for womankind."

The actress, who reprises her role as Jane Foster in "Thor: The Dark World," gives the superhero a smack in the Marvel sequel.

At a promotional event on Saturday, Portman said that she channeled all her single girlfriends: "You hear all these stories about guys and it's just good to get a nice on-screen slap like 'you didn't call me back.'"

The intention may have been payback but, according to Hemsworth, the result was less so.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'My recent review of more than 400 academic, policy and practitioner texts on domestic abuse experienced by trans, bi, gay and heterosexual men established that there are significant barriers facing male victims who seek help. For example, a significant proportion of men in mixed-sex relationships do not want their abusive partner arrested and prosecuted and their care for the interests of their children is such that they do not want to risk their children's relationship with their mother being undermined by inappropriate state action whether by police, courts or social workers. There is also evidence that men in same-sex relationships may be reluctant to report the abuse they experience for fear of a lack of understanding towards themselves but also a fear of how homophobia might affect the treatment of their abusive partner.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Her novels are perhaps too racy to be considered as portraying a traditional view of romance.

But Jilly Cooper says modern women should be more willing to embrace the virtues of old-fashioned chivalry.

The best-selling author criticised women for being too quick to ‘put men down’ with a constant bashing that has left them ‘brow-beaten’.
...
She said it was a shame that modern couples rushed to have children out of wedlock. ‘Nobody seems to mention the word love any more. They just talk about having sex and women are having babies and not bothering to have husbands any more,’ she said.
...
Mrs Cooper has never shied away from taking a traditional view of relationships. In 1969 she wrote How To Stay Married, which controversially advised women to turn a blind eye to a husband’s infidelity.

In the 1990s she discovered that her husband Leo had enjoyed a six-year affair.

Article here. Excerpt:

'RAPE and sexual abuse remain two of society’s greatest shames. False allegations like those reported in today’s Oxford Mail do nothing to help society tackle such sick crimes.

Fortunately, we have come a long way from an infamous BBC documentary broadcast 30 years ago which showed a grossly unsympathetic interrogation of a rape complainant by Thames Valley Police officers.

The force says it is committed to helping women make complaints and bringing as many cases as possible to court to send out a real deterrent and message to victims that justice will be sought.
...
Firstly, it plays into a dangerous myth that a large number of rape claims are false, a myth that plagues complainants with self-doubt that their ordeal was somehow their “fault”. Secondly, it risks deterring women who are prepared to speak out because – no matter how sure they are of their case – they fear they will not be believed by police or jurors.

Article here. Excerpt:

'(OSLO) - At a meeting held 30 September 2013 in Oslo, the children's ombudspersons from the five Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland), and the children's spokesperson from Greenland, in addition to representatives of associations of Nordic paediatricians and pediatric surgeons, have agreed to work with their respective national governments to achieve a ban on non-therapeutic circumcision of underage boys.
...
Circumcision without a medical indication on a person unable to provide informed consent conflicts with basic principles of medical ethics, particularly because the operation is irreversible, painful and may cause serious complications. There are no health-related reasons to circumcise young boys in the Nordic countries. Arguments that may argue in favour of circumcision in adult men are of little relevance to children in the Nordic area. Boys can make up their own minds about the operation when they get old enough to provide informed consent.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'I don’t want to write a standard review of The Book of Jezebel: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Lady Things. It’s the new book by the editors of the feminist website Jezebel, and simply saying that it’s a very angry book — as well as being very funny in parts — isn’t enough. Because when you say feminists are angry, they respond that you are a “Frat Bro” or a right-winger, and the conversation stops. And a deeper analysis of feminist apoplexy is important because the rage of the Jezebels is indicative of a serious cultural problem that is potentially fatal for the United States, which has become a very, very angry country.
...
I bring up Bly because when reading The Book of Jezebel you are confronted not just with humor and a high level of intelligence, but deep, deep rage. Not anger — rage. It goes much deeper than politics, although in modern America politics is where this rage find its expression. Thus the malevolence towards “dead white males” and the liberal obsession with feelings and personal grievance. The bogus “war on women” is really nothing but liberal women acting out against bad fathers. The frightening thing about this rage is that it is insatiable even as it demands resolution through politics. Before the 1960s and the disintegration of the family, a political revolutionary would map out his plan for correcting the flaws he saw in the political system. Today’s radicals speak in tones that are more personal. Their opponents are not just wrong, or obstacles to get past to attain better living conditions — they are evil, they are guilty, and they are personally culpable for screwing our lives up. Politics can’t cure this wound.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'The appalling story of the suicide of a 12-year-old Florida girl who had endured months of vicious online and in-person harassment, and the arrest last week of two of her alleged tormentors -- ages 12 and 14 -- raises tough questions about bullying, the role of social media in children's lives, and adult responsibility. But the tragedy also reminds us of a basic truth often overlooked in our age of feminist consciousness: human cruelty knows no gender.

Link here. Excerpt:

'A gene important in skin tanning has been linked to higher risk for testicular cancer in white men, according to a study led by scientists from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford in England. Nearly 80 percent of white men carry a variant form of this gene, which increased risk of testicular cancer up to threefold in the study.

Video here.

"This is what a date would be like if men treated women with absolute equality..."

Article here. Excerpt:

'Governor Martin O’Malley has convened a Maryland Commission on Child Custody Decision Making. Maybe this is an indication that our Maryland government thinks there is a problem? We sure hope so.

The Commission is the result of HB687 passed during the 2013 legislative session. As part of the Commission’s work it is holding public hearings around the state. Please attend one of the Public Hearings and bring your ideas on how to make shared parenting the norm in Maryland.

National Parents Organization of Maryland worked to pass this legislation to begin the process of bringing shared parenting to Maryland. Maryland need not lag behind other states. Please let us know if you will be attending one of these hearings.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Deep in the underbelly of the Internet is a hidden corner known as the "Manosphere"— a collection of websites, Facebook pages and chat rooms where men vent their rage and spew anti-women rhetoric.

Protected by the anonymity of the Internet, men feel free to post hateful and violent comments. Posts such as "I really wouldn't mind shooting a [expletive] dead in the face, they are evil, all of them," and "Women are the natural enemies of men" are commonplace on sites like "A Voice for Men," a Manosphere blog run by Paul Elam.
...
But experts like Mark Potok, from the Southern Poverty Law Center, believe this rhetoric is problematic. "The Manosphere is an underworld of so-called men's rights groups and individuals on the Internet, which is just fraught with really hard-line anti-woman misogyny," Potok told "20/20."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Earlier this month the Council of Europe agreed on a nonbinding resolution in support of “children’s right to physical integrity.” The purpose was to reinforce the protection of children’s rights, oppose violence against children, and promote children’s participation in significant decisions that affect them. Forced genital cutting of male and female children was mentioned among examples of violations.
...
Days later, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with traditional Jewish groups, denounced the resolution. The ministry statement said the resolution “fosters hate and racist trends,” denied that circumcision causes any harm, and strongly objected to any comparison between cutting of male and female genitals.

Others called the resolution anti-Semitic, a violation of religious freedom, and a “thinly disguised attack” on European Jews. This predictable reaction calls for a response.
...
Here are some relevant facts.

* Jewish circumcision is not mandatory; it is a choice. Some Jews in North America, South America, Europe, and Israel do not circumcise their sons.

* Circumcision is a topic of debate in the Jewish community and has been questioned historically and in various Jewish publications in recent years.

* In actual practice, most Jews circumcise because of cultural conformity, not religious reasons.
...
It is possible to question the actions of a person or group without being categorically opposed to the person or group. Are those who question an American government policy anti-American? Questioning an action that one believes to be harmful is more likely to be motivated by good will than ill will.