Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2012-11-11 02:08
Article here. Excerpt:
'"We are worried about these results," Christina Sandström at the agency told The Local on Thursday.
“We have known for a long time that girls have better school results than boys. What is new is that the results are increasing. There has always been a gap, but now it is bigger,” Sandström explained.
On Wednesday, Skolverket published the school results of this summer’s ninth-year students. These results showed that girls’ school results were an average of 223.8 (out of 320), whereas boys scored an average of 199.5.
The statistics also showed that more girls qualified for high school (gymnasiet) programmes than boys.
Skolverket concluded that though results are improving for most student groups, boys with a foreign background and boys with less educated parents are actually performing worse.
“I do not begrudge any success for the girls, but it would be terribly serious to lose a generation of boys and immigrants,” Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) told the TT news agency.'
Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2012-11-11 02:03
Article here. Excerpt:
'EDINBURG, Texas (CN) - A doctor botched a circumcision of a 4-year-old boy so badly that the boy pleaded to "just cut it off and (he) can be a girl," the parents claim in court.
Rafael and Vanessa Deleon sued Dr. Jennifer J. Garza, of McAllen, in Hidalgo County Court. They claim they learned from specialists that Garza over-cauterized the penis to try to stop the bleeding, damaging their son's urethra and requiring reconstructive surgery to close the holes.
But after the 90-minute surgery, the Deleons claim Garza told them, "'the circumcision was successful.' She also told them that 'there was a little bleeding, but that she and her staff were able to stop it,'" according to the complaint.
Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2012-11-11 01:06
Article here. Excerpt:
'Halle Berry just lost big in court -- a judge has ruled she cannot permanently move her 4-year-old daughter to France ... TMZ has learned.
Halle had been fighting tooth and nail with her baby daddy Gabriel Aubry to bring Nahla to Paris, where Halle wants to live with her fiance Olivier Martinez.
Halle argued the L.A. paparazzi scene made life in California too dangerous for her and her daughter -- but today the judge in the case ruled in favor of Gabriel, refusing to let Halle jet to France with their kid.'
Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-11-10 20:27
Article here. Excerpt:
'The Secretary of State job requires both tenacity and restraint, both of which may be difficult for a man's unique chemical constitution. The male hormone testosterone, while responsible for such wondrous miracles as back hair and upper body strength, is also responsible for an increase in male aggression, anger, and even violence. Diplomacy is a difficult enough task without having to temper a man's natural tendency to throw chairs through windows when angered by gridlock.
Further, it's a well-known fact that men's lack of intuition and emotional intelligence has translated into a troubling inability to cry under appropriate circumstances. War, death, and destruction are horrifying realities that Secretaries of State from Madeleine Albright to Condoleezza Rice have had to face, and an insufficient emotional response to tragedy will reflect poorly on our country. Do we want our allies to think we're a bunch of callous jerks who are totally unmoved by the death of innocents?'
Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-11-10 20:22
Article here. Excerpt:
'Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts has dismissed the idea of quotas to boost the number of women in the boardroom as "dangerous", despite growing evidence of discrimination in the business world and the prospect of just two female chief executives in the FTSE 100 next year.
Asked if she was in favour of the imposition of quotas, Ahrendts said on Wednesday: "I'm not. I think it's dangerous … Whether it's countries or companies, it's about putting the best person in the job who can unite people and create value. A man could do this job just as well as I can."
The American, who took the helm at the British fashion brand six years ago, added that it was not an issue that she fretted about: "I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this, what with three kids, running the company and being flat out busy."
...
Pointing to the growing number of female university graduates, Ahrendts suggested it was just a matter of time before the gender balance improved.'
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-11-10 04:06
Article here. Excerpt:
'For months now we’ve heard about the “War on Women” that’s sometimes called the “Republican War on Women.” While close inspection of the claim reveals the WOW to be little more than an election-year bid to keep female voters in the Democratic fold, there is a real war on women and up until this year, it’s been bi-partisan. It’s called the Violence Against Women Act.
How could VAWA, long touted by the domestic violence establishment as vital to women’s welfare, in fact be anti-woman? Let me count the ways.
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-11-10 04:03
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-11-10 03:57
Story here. Excerpt:
'FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Two female Army officers testified Wednesday they provided nude photos to a general facing sex crime charges.
A married captain testified that Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair repeatedly asked her to send him nude photos of herself, which she said made her uncomfortable. Eventually, she said she placated the married general by sending him downloaded pornographic photos of other women cropped so that their faces weren't visible.
The testimony came during the third day of a hearing at Fort Bragg to determine whether Sinclair will go on trial for multiple criminal charges including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct and adultery, which is a crime under the military justice system. The allegations against Sinclair involve relationships with five women other than his wife.
Sinclair served as a deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan until he was relieved of his duties in May amid a criminal investigation and sent back to North Carolina.
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-11-10 03:53
Story here. Excerpt:
'Ariel Winter, the 14-year-old actress who portrays Alex Dunphy on TV’s ABC comedy hit “Modern Family,” was ordered removed from her family home yesterday based upon allegations of emotional and physical parental abuse. Court papers were filed accusing the teen’s mother, Crystal Workman, of "ongoing physical abuse."
Submitted by Broadsword on Sat, 2012-11-10 03:42
Article here. Excerpt:
'A man who spent almost four decades in prison for killing two people in the Arizona desert today pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder and will go free.
...
The 77-year-old Macumber, who had no history of violence, was convicted in the 1970s in one of the most sensational murder cases in the history of Arizona. Macumber was twice sentenced to life in prison for killing Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop, both 20 years old, and leaving their bodies in the desert. In total, he has served 37 years.
On May 24, 1962, the young couple was found shot and killed next to their car in an area now near Scottsdale. The case went cold for 12 years until Macumber's wife, Carol Kempfert, went into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office department where she worked and told her supervisors that her husband had confessed to the murders. Macumber was arrested a week later.
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-11-10 02:55
Story here. Excerpt:
'WASHINGTON - The CIA director Gen. David H. Petraeus said he was resigning because he had exercised "extremely poor judgment' in conducting an extra-marital affair.
In a statement to the CIA workforce, Petraeus wrote, "Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the president to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."
"Dave's decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation's most respected public servants," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement, according to Reuters. "From his long, illustrious Army career to his leadership at the helm of CIA, Dave has redefined what it means to serve and sacrifice for one's country.".
Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-11-10 01:26
Article here. Excerpt:
'In America we have the blessings of free speech, fully protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution. The roots of this special right do not trace back to England, but to the Christian ministers who evangelized the colonies, creating the Great Awakening. To this day England and the rest of Europe do not protect a constitutional right of free speech. Some remarks in Western Europe can cause the speaker to be imprisoned.
Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-11-10 01:01
Article here. Excerpt:
'The number of stay-at-home dads has doubled in the past decade, partly due to the economy. But rather than bumbling through an awkward shift brought on by circumstances, the stay-at-home dads I know seem to be taking it all in stride. Thriving, even. Seriously, stay-at-home dads, your ability to just ease into the primary caregiver role like it's a job folding sweaters at The Gap is making the rest of us look bad. At least Michael Keaton's Mr. Mom had the courtesy to feed the baby raw chili and overflow the washing machine.
Today's SAHD's make parenting seem too easy and fun. And that's no good for me or my stay-at-home mom job security.
Submitted by Mastodon on Fri, 2012-11-09 20:57
Article here. Excerpt:
'Is there a wage gap between men and women? Despite the rhetoric, there is little, if any, difference between salaries for men versus women. This truth has been uncovered by an American Association of University Women (AAUW) Study, an organization which seeks to advance "equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research."
Submitted by Mastodon on Fri, 2012-11-09 20:51
Article here. (Get around login by pasting the URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/business/global/british-panel-opposes-quotas-to-place-women-on-boards.html into Google and clicking "Google Search", then click the first hit in the search results). Excerpt:
'LONDON — As the debate in Europe widens over the merits of female quotas on company boards, a parliamentary committee in Britain plans to stake out its position: not so fast.
A report to be released Friday by a House of Lords committee concludes that such quotas would “generate negative perceptions amongst women and business leaders” while failing to address the “root causes” of inequality. Quotas, and penalties to enforce them, should be considered only as a last resort, the report says.
The findings come as little surprise. The British government has led opposition to a push by the European Commission to legislate on the issue.
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