Article here. Excerpt:

'The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently vacated alimony and child support components of a judgment because the Probate and Family Court judge made a number of errors. The case should warrant reduced alimony and child support obligations in other cases with similar facts.

Video here. Excerpt:

'Demonstrators outside a men’s rights talk given by Warren Farrell* at the University of Toronto clash briefly with police and campus security, resulting in one arrest.
...
A talk inside the J.J.R MacLeod building by Warren Farrell sponsored by UofT campus group “Men’s Issues Awareness at the University of Toronto (MIAUT)” brought out protestors in front of the Medical Science Building.

The Ryersonian live-blogged the talk inside while Toronto Police kept 100+ people company outside in the entranceway in front of the Medical Science Building.'

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* Link added.

An opportunity that might appeal to appropriately qualified readers to try and steer NIAID towards more productive areas of research than circumcision-as-an-AIDS-preventative. Link here. Excerpt:

'DIRECTOR, Basic Sciences Program, Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH, HHS

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is seeking an exceptional and visionary leader to be director of the Basic Sciences Program (BSP) in the Division of AIDS (DAIDS). The director is responsible for planning, implementing, and directing an extramural program of basic and applied preclinical research supported by grants and contracts to advance research on HIV pathogenesis, immunology, and the epidemiology of HIV disease, as well as drug discovery and development. The director formulates an overall scientific agenda for basic research in HIV/AIDS, recommends resource allocation among competing initiatives, and continually assesses and reorients program activities and priorities to be responsive to changing research needs or redefined policies. ...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Standing nearly 6 feet tall and weighing about 230 pounds, 23-year-old Willie Wiltz may have been an imposing figure, but his mother said he was a "big boy with a big heart."

But that large frame hid something that ultimately killed him.

Wiltz was a victim of domestic violence, and a few days before Valentine's Day 2011, Wiltz, an athletic young man who enjoyed playing basketball, was gunned down as he attempted to leave his home in San Bernardino during an argument with his girlfriend, Ebony Davis.

"I didn't think it would ever come to this," said Wiltz's mother, Darlene Young of Los Angeles.

She said her son had told her about some of the incidents of abuse, but he always told his mother not to worry and that he could take care of it.

Vid/story here. Excerpt:

'“I Didn’t Do It” told the story of Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton. Thompson wrongly accused Cotton of raping her in 1984, though she didn't do it on purpose. She was certain Cotton was her attacker -- and convinced two juries he was.

Cotton was sentenced to life behind bars in North Carolina in both his trial and a retrial; in the latter trial, a second victim claimed he'd raped her as well. Ronald maintained his innocence throughout.

Eleven years into his sentence, he asked for new DNA-testing technology to be used -- and was finally proven innocent and released in 1994. Investigators -- and Thompson -- were blown away by the news. She and Ronald met after his release so she could apologize, and broke down in each other’s arms.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Malawi Government launched a year ago what it called “voluntary male circumcision programme” with an aim of circumcising 2.1 million males by 2016. The goal of the programme is to reduce HIV infections among sexually active males.

So far, the Malawian Ministry of Health announced that only 15,000 males have come forward and went through the knife. This number represents only 0.7% of the targeted population, which indicates that something must be wrong somewhere in the process as the programme now nears one year mark.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Henry Chimbali, points to a number of factors that contributed to the slow pace of the programme. He blames 'house-keeping' issues such as policy, scale up plan of the campaign, communication plan and human resources as the main contributing factors to the slow pace.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The head of Girlguiding UK says that no boys should be allowed in, despite girls being allowed into the Scouts.

Since 2007, girls of all ages have been allowed to join UK Scout groups, which traditionally were only for boys.

However the Guides don't allow boys in and the new head of the organisation, Julie Bentley, says that's the way it should be.

We asked you what you thought. Here's a selection of some of the comments sent in.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In announcing her plans to continue leading the Democrats in the House, Nancy Pelosi stressed this morning an unusual but critical and easily overlooked political force in resolving the fiscal cliff: gender diversity.

“As we move forward to debate our economic and fiscal challenges in the weeks and months ahead, one thing is clear — our economic agenda and choices will be viewed through the perspective and eyes of our nation’s women,” the California congresswoman said at a Wednesday news conference, flanked by other women Democratic lawmakers.

It’s a sign of how identity politics will come into play as Washington scrambles to address the economically toxic mix of tax hikes and spending cuts that are slated to begin next year. Rather than accepting a changing of the guard, Pelosi — with more than a decade of time in congressional leadership — decided to highlight how she embodies an increasingly diverse caucus.'

The race/gender composition obsession seems endless. I honestly think if Minnie Mouse wanted to run for office vs. Sam Rayburn, Wasserman-Shultz would endorse the mouse. Video here. (For those unfamiliar with it, EMILY's List is a PAC that supports only female Democrat party candidates who support a pro-choice abortion position.)

Article here. Excerpt:

'David Petraeus' cheating was somewhat, if not entirely predictable. As Lisa Belkin points out, the Men Behaving Badly phenomenon is quite common when it comes to politics: FDR, JFK and Slick Willie Clinton are three egregious examples.

It isn't just that male politicians who sleazy, but women in general are expected to stay attractive in middle age, whereas men don't have to because they still call the shots. I hate to say this but as soon as I saw Petraeus' wife's picture I said to myself: "poor thing, a once-attractive gal, who has gained weight and looks somewhat frumpy can expect that her famous husband's eyes will wander when he comes into close contact with a younger woman."

Story here. Excerpt:

'A disturbing case out of Canandaigua*. A teacher is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. Investigators believe the relationship lasted for several months. Officers say the most recent incident happened last weekend.

44-year-old Lisa Footer has been charged with sex abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.

On her teacher web page, Lisa Footer says it's her 22nd year of teaching and she's determined that it will be her best. Obviously it isn't turning out that way as she stands accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student who attends Canandaigua Academy.

Footer is charged with three misdemeanors: sex abuse, forcible touching and endangering welfare of child. She was arraigned Tuesday night. According to police, she was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student.

"NBC's White House corespondent Chuck Todd Discussing Nancy Pelosi running for Minority leader again." Video here.

Article here. Excerpt:

Few would dispute the intentions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as it applies to sports. To prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, the law requires all institutions receiving federal funding to provide equal opportunity in athletic participation.

But a new study, based on participation data and the hypothesis that women are inherently less interested in sports than men, asserts that Title IX might be taking the wrong approach.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Back in the late 1970s, as an undergraduate at Princeton, I auditioned to be the loudspeaker announcer during halftime at football games. It would be, I thought, a great gig: sitting in some box talking into a microphone, narrating the funny skits the band performed on the field. I made it to the final callback, but in the end the judges gave the slot to a guy. They told me afterward that it was just too hard to imagine a woman's voice coming out of a loudspeaker at an Ivy League stadium. That was what the 1970s and '80s were like, for women: opportunity and setback, goofy small disappointments along with important big ones. We were there, but they didn't want anybody to, you know, hear us.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Pelosi's wind-up was epic. For nearly 10 minutes, she praised her fellow female members and admitted that "we want more." She emptied the cliché-o-matic, talking about the need to "reignite the American dream" and work "for a healthy nation, a healthy political arena, a healthy planet." Finally, after cable had cut away, she announced that she'd "made the decision that some of you might have some interest in." She was running for leader again. Her team of women burst into cheers.