Article here. Excerpt:

'On Tuesday, Feb. 19, two Nexus articles caught my eye. The first was titled “Campus, Community Groups Run Campaign Against Sexual Assault.” The second was a “Left Said” opinion piece on drone strikes. Although these two articles seem unrelated at first glance, a closer examination reveals a subtle and worrisome theme tying the two together.

In “Left Said,” Michael Dean wrote an article critical of American drone strikes in foreign countries. He criticized the racism implicit in our drone policy which allows the government to “reduce” the civilian death toll by writing off “combatants” as all young men killed by drones “who fit a certain phenotype” (i.e. who are Arabs).

Story here. Excerpt:

'Oh hai, Internet. This post is not an invitation to rage forth in the epic battle about circumcision. I am merely posing a question to you: is it kinda inappropriate for a nurse to write about your kid’s procedures on Facebook? A pediatric nurse in Spokane, Washington, wrote this on her Facebook page, which was apparently set to “public,” and somebody screengrabbed this joke about performing her first circumcision on a baby boy. (The reason it came to my attention is because she is now being lambasted by anti-circumcision activists.)'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women-only cars on Japan’s railways have existed in some form or other for more than 50 years, with “hana densha” (lit. “flower train”) carriages originally being introduced as a way of keeping female students safe from the advances of lecherous men during the peak hours. Now considered by many to be a vital part of many inner-city rail services, the train car closest to the driver’s cabin is often reserved for females only and is clearly marked both at boarding locations on the platform and inside the train itself.

Many unwitting foreign males have no doubt hopped on board these carriages during rush hours without realising it. Although foreigners usually escape relatively unscathed, when native Japanese men dare to cross that pink line and invade the sanctity of the josei senyou sharyou (women-only carriage), more often than not they are berated by the women on board until they alight or switch cars.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'If Judd decides to challenge Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat next year, Republicans and their well-funded super PAC allies have warned that Kentuckians will see and hear these comments over and over again on television and the radio.
...
- On fathers giving daughters away at weddings: “To this day, a common vestige of male dominion over a woman’s reproductive status is her father ‘giving’ away her away to her husband at their wedding, and the ongoing practice of women giving up their last names in order to assume the name of their husband’s families, into which they have effectively been traded.”
...
- On men: “Throughout history, men have tried to control the means of reproduction, which means trying to control woman. This president is a modern day Attila the Hun.”
...
“If she runs, I think that it would be a catastrophe for a lot of downballot races in Kentucky,” Jimmy Cauley, a Democratic strategist in Kentucky, told Roll Call recently.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The University of North Carolina has formally responded to allegations that an honor code violation was brought against a student as a form of retaliation for her speaking out about an alleged rape.
...
The university released its own statement after several media outlets (including Yahoo! News) reported that Landen Gambill—a sophomore who last spring reported being raped by a student she says is still on the school's Chapel Hill campus—was recently notified of the charge by the UNC Honor Court.

If found guilty, Gambill faces a range of sanctions, including probation, suspension or even expulsion.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"The determination of the House Republican leadership to block an inclusive, bipartisan Violence Against Women Act in favor of a narrow partisan bill that fails to protect all victims of domestic violence is nothing less than shameful.
...
Even in today’s polarized political climate, we should at least be able to agree that when we send our daughters and sons to college, they should be protected from stalking, violence, date rape, and sexual assault; that one-third of tribal women who have been the victims of rape or domestic abuse should have equal access to justice no matter where the perpetrator lives; and that domestic violence is still violence regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. The House should stop holding victims hostage.

It’s time for the House to stop playing politics with victims’ lives and pass the Senate version of VAWA.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For some ex-couples, the economy has made child support, alimony and other financial terms of divorce even harder to bear. And these fresh battles are adding urgency to an acrimonious debate over alimony reform in New Jersey.

Take Lynn Sebold, a 49-year-old mother of two teenage girls who earned six figures and owned a four-bedroom home in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards with her husband.
...
Sebold lost her well-paying sales job in 2011, and for the next 10 months she searched “diligently” for a job, she said. Last March she found one, but for almost half of what she had previously earned.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A father-of-three has set up a group for fellow dads to take part in activity sessions with their children. 

Lee Emmanuel, 26, has launched the Single Dads Society which will meet every month in Cricklewood.

Mr Emmanuel, who is studying health and social care at the College of North West London, said: “There’s nothing for men to do in the area with their children. When you go to soft play there are always a lot of women there and no men and it can be off-putting.

“The society will be a chance for dads to network with one another, make new friends as well as engage with their kids, have fun and learn new skills.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'CRESTVIEW — The days of a Florida ex-spouse potentially paying alimony even after death may end if reform bills working their way through the Legislature make it to the governor's desk.

"What we are talking about is trying to put fairness into the law," John Fromularo, Northwest Florida representative of Florida Alimony Reform, said while speaking to the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Government Issues Committee.

Alimony types include "bridge the gap," which helps the ex-spouse during a transition from being married to single; durational, from two years to the marriage's length; rehabilitative, paid until an ex-spouse is self-supporting; and permanent, Fromularo said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Great news!  Jeff Chafin won his case before the United States Supreme Court.  He won unanimously; every single justice voted for him.

Remember Jeff Chafin?  For a refresher on his case, go to my first post on him here (Fathers and Families, 11/3/11).  Here’s the Supreme Court’s opinion.

Article here. Excerpt:

'THE hapless, bumbling father is a stock character in product marketing. He makes breakfast for dinner and is incapable of handling, or sometimes even noticing, a soggy diaper. He tries desperately to hide the crumb-strewn, dirt-streaked evidence of his poor parenting before the mother gets home.

This is an image that many fathers who attended the Dad 2.0 Summit — a meeting of so-called daddy bloggers and the marketers who want to reach them — have come to revile. They are proud to be involved in domestic life and do not want to serve as the comic foil to the supercompetent mother.

In the past, consumer-product marketers weren’t all that concerned with what fathers thought — women, after all, make the majority of purchasing decisions for households. But men are catching up: In 2012 men spent an average of $36.26 at the grocery store per trip, compared with $27.49 in 2004, according to data from Nielsen. Companies see an opportunity to reach a new demographic.'

A little birdie told us that the House is expected to vote on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on Wednesday, Feb. 27 or Thursday, Feb. 28.  
 
We hope you'll be able to watch. Live proceedings are available on http://www.house.gov/.

Look for "Watch HouseLive."  
 
Then visit our Facebook page and share your observations. Or tweet your thoughts to @saveservicesorg.
 

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

Article here. Excerpt:

'The more I read, the more bizarre it got.

Story here. It's good to be the CEO... Excerpt:

'Last week, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer instituted a new company policy: As of June, employees may no longer work remotely from home...
...
Not that it’s a problem for Mayer, who personally paid to have a nursery installed next to her office. “I wonder what would happen if my wife brought our kids and nanny to work and set em up in the cube next door?,” a husband of an employee losing work-from-home privileges told Swisher. Another scolded, “When a working mother is standing behind this, you know we are a long way from a culture that will honor the thankless sacrifices that women too often make.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Welcome to the scorched-earth phase of the Democrats’ “war on women” campaign, and the beginning of a ruthless offensive to hold their Senate majority, and possibly to retake the House, in 2014.

Democrats have nearly perfected the following exercise in cynical electioneering: 1) introduce legislation; 2) title it something that appeals to the vast majority of Americans who have no interest in learning what is actually in the bill, e.g., the “Violence Against Women Act”; 3) make sure it is sufficiently noxious to the GOP that few Republicans will support it; 4) vote, and await headlines such as “[GOP Lawmaker] Votes No On Violence Against Women Act”; 5) clip and use headline in 30-second campaign ad; and 6) repeat.'