Article here. Excerpt:

'I think we need a Title IX for Boards of Directors.

Last month, the business group CED issued an urgent plea for increasing representation of women on corporate boards. The blue chip panel wrapped its message in God, Flag, and U.S. Competitiveness. But the organization pulled its punches when it comes to getting the job done. Rather than call for a clear test, like the Title IX equivalent of equal expenditures, we are left with the hope that enlightened boards will lead the parade. Meanwhile, we are being beat to a pulp by our competitors -- France and Norway, among others, require boards to step up their game. To make their numbers, corporations in these countries have begun to poach the U.S. field of experienced, board-ready women. It's a little like American women moving from California to Rio to get a chance at beach volleyball.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Are times changing in the patriarchal society we live in? Has feminism smothered and surpassed the brotherhood, leaving them floundering and forgotten about on the sidelines? A true feminist would hope not, as (contrary to sloppy stereotypes) feminism is about achieving true equality, not the oppression of men.

A while ago, I wrote about how austerity in Britain is hurting women the most. Since then, things haven't got better, they've got worse. The British government is inflicting yet more pain on women in Britain by disregarding and debasing issues such as abortion, rape and domestic violence. Ruthlessly slashing the already frail budget from women's services, culling child benefit, housing benefit, child tax credits and cutting 40 per cent - £350m ($550m) - from Legal Aid's already meagre budget - these are just a few stomach-churning indications of how women in Britain are being forced into a further state of vulnerability by those in power.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the constantly progressing and deteriorating and rapidly revolving kaleidoscope of misunderstanding and disgust and hunger that constitutes gender relations in the twenty-first century, a new gesture has emerged to define us: the sneer, the female gaze of contempt.

Feminine contempt is suddenly everywhere, subtly and invidiously panoramic, in public life and in private life, in the bedroom and on television and in bookstores and on the campaign trail. The sexuality of the moment is all about contempt. In Lena Dunham's hit show Girls, which has succeeded so admirably in providing American critics with a moment of convenient generational definition, the men are pitiable and grotesque. Whether rough or tender or vanilla, they fail. In Sex and the City, the women commoditized men, often in the most banal way, but at least they liked what the men had to offer: cocks and money and status and sometimes even support. ...
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Here are the top five things men should not do when going through a divorce.

1. Do Not Move Out of Your House: Chances are you are getting divorced because you cannot stand living under the same roof as your wife. However, until a court says otherwise, the house you are living in still belongs to you so you are still allowed to live there. You will continue to contribute to the household expenses while the divorce proceedings play out. If you move out, you will have to support two households -- the one you are living in and the one you moved out of. Living together may not be an ideal situation, but it is the most cost-effective.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The freedom of companies to appoint directors solely on the basis of merit is a cornerstone of capitalism. That cornerstone is slowly but surely being removed in the name of an innocuous-sounding initiative, ‘improved’ gender diversity in the boardroom (‘GDITB’).

The British government continues to bully major companies into appointing more women to their boards with threats of legislated quotas if they don’t do so ‘voluntarily’...
...
So what does the available research tell us? Only two independent studies show a causal link between gender diversity in the boardroom (GDITB) and corporate performance, and in both cases the link is negative. The first study was carried out by two academics at the University of Michigan, Kenneth Ahern and Amy Dittmar, and the latest draft was published in May 2011. The report’s full Abstract:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in San Francisco overturned the sexual assault conviction of a Las Vegas man named Calvin O. Jackson who has spent more than ten years in prison for a crime he may not have committed. The court held that Mr. Jackson was wrongfully prevented from presenting evidence at his trial that the woman who accused him, Annette Heathmon, had made other false claims of prior sexual assault against him. The court explained: "Jackson's defense was that the assault never took place and that he and Heathmon engaged in consensual sex. He contended that Heathmon used the police as a means of exercising control over him whenever they argued, and that her allegations against him were fabricated in this instance, just as they had been in prior instances when the police were called to respond to her claims." We offer no commentary,and we provide the following excerpt from the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.'

Last year Roxanne Jeskey of Bangor, ME admitted to killing her husband Richard. A detective's report detailed the injuries: "These included nose fractures, loss of an eye, rib fractures, rectal incised wounds, and internal hemorrhage from an instrument(s) pushed through his scrotum into his abdomen. Further, Mr. Jeskey was strangled with sufficient force to break the hyoid bone of his neck."

According to the 2012 report of the Maine Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel, women committed 5 out of 13 domestic violence homicides in recent years. That's nearly half, so you'd think that the Maine Coalition To End Domestic Violence (MCEDV) would present a balanced picture of DV. Not so.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A mother has been arrested after admitting to police she burned her 15-month-old son's genitals with a hair straightening iron.

Jodi Rock, 19, from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, remains in jail on $200,000 bail after she was charged with felony injury to a minor child.

Her son has been taken into state custody.

According to the three-page arrest affidavit obtained by Tulsa World, Rock told investigators while she was straightening her hair, she touched her hand to the iron then she took and closed the iron’s clamps on the toddler’s genitals.'

Article here. Reminds me of a story I read some time ago about a group of pregnant women in Mexico who robbed a bank. Seems they did some homework and learned that under Mexican law, a pregnant woman could not be jailed (well, that was the law at the time-- by now they may have changed it). I kid you not. So they knocked over a bank knowing full well they'd be turned loose if caught. Anyway, article excerpt:

'The laws governing street stops are blind to gender. Male officers are permitted to frisk a woman if they reasonably suspect that she may be armed with a dangerous weapon that could be used to harm them. A frisk can escalate into a field search if officers feel a suspicious bulge while patting down the woman’s outer layer of clothing or the outline of her purse.

Last year, New York City police officers stopped 46,784 women, frisking nearly 16,000. Guns were found in 59 cases, according to an analysis of police statistics by The New York Times.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The New York Times reports that "Obama Travels to Colorado With Appeal to Women."

Mr. Obama will be introduced on Wednesday afternoon at the University of Colorado in Denver by Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law School graduate who earlier this year became the face of women’s reproductive rights after Congressional Republicans blocked her from testifying about insurance coverage of contraception. The conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh later referred to her as a prostitute; he apologized after a furor caused some corporate sponsors to defect from his program.

Mr. Obama’s emphasis on reproductive rights suggests an effort to solidify his backing among women, who are the mainstay of his support and offset his weakness among white males.

Yet, Obama's decision to bring the war on women to Colorado might seem a little odd. After all, earlier this year, Colorado's state senate rebuked Obama's White House for paying male employees more than its female employees.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Of the 5,696 students enrolled at Quinnipiac in 2009-2010, roughly 62 percent were women. A strict reading of Title IX would require that women occupy 62 percent of all varsity sports positions offered by the school.

Under the school’s calculation, women held 62.27 percent of all varsity spots, including competitive cheerleading and track.

In contrast, Judge Underhill’s calculations found that women athletes held only 58.25 percent of varsity sports positions.

In affirming Judge Underhill’s ruling, the appeals panel agreed that a 3.62 percent disparity between female enrollment and female varsity athletes is substantial enough to violate Title IX.'

Link here. Excerpt:

'* Veterans were more likely than nonveterans to report having two or more chronic conditions.

* Veterans reported serious psychological distress more often than nonveterans; but less than 5% of both veterans and nonveterans reported serious psychological distress.

* Veterans had work limitations more often than nonveterans.

* Veterans were more likely than nonveterans to have health insurance.

The well-being of military personnel and their families is a topic of growing concern in public health. The effects of military service on physical and psychological health, especially after extended overseas deployments, are complex. There may also be long-term consequences of military service for the health and health care utilization of veterans as they age. Today, over 12 million men aged 25–64 in the United States are veterans, representing 15% of the total U.S. male population at those ages.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Kids Go Wild recently opened in Sparkhill, Birmingham, and boasts it is the first soft play venue in the country for just mothers and children. Staff at the business openly tell men they are not allowed in and a flyer posted to homes in the city reads: 'Ladies and children only. No boys over nine allowed.'
...
The Birmingham Mail reported that a woman who claimed to be the manageress, but who refused to give her name, defended the policy.

She said: 'It's a predominantly Asian community around here and we're catering for that. It's a cultural thing.

'It's not that men are an issue - ladies are more comfortable around women.

'We've had ladies coming in and they've not questioned it [ban on men]. They've been asking for it for a long time.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Increased “gender equity” in higher education is a long-time goal of feminists. Their new target is science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM disciplines.
...
But as President Obama recently said, “Title IX isn’t just about sports.” It also applies, he said, to “inequality in math and science education, and a broader range of fields including engineering and technology.” In short, the president wants to see more women earning STEM degrees.

Soon afterwards, the White House issued new guidelines for the enforcement of Title IX with particular emphasis on ensuring “equal access to educational programs and resources in STEM fields” for women.

Specifically, there will be a new initiative involving several agencies, intended to clarify schools’ “compliance obligations and ways to improve access and outreach” in STEM.

The question is: Where will that lead?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Norway's ombudsman for children's rights has proposed that Jews and Muslims replace male circumcision with a symbolic, nonsurgical ritual.

Dr. Anne Lindboe told the newspaper Vart Land last month that circumcising boys was a violation of their right to decide over their own body.

"Muslim and Jewish children are entitled to the same protection as all other children," Lindboe said, adding that the practice caused unnecessary pain and was medically unbeneficial.

Lindboe, a pediatrician, was appointed ombudsman in June. Her predecessor, Reidar Hjermann, proposed setting 15 as the minimum age for circumcision. According to Jewish religious law, Jewish babies must be circumcised when they are eight days old.'