Press release here. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The federal government spends $76 million a year for domestic violence education programs, but 90 percent of the claims made in these programs are one-sided, misleading, or completely untrue, according to a new report from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The report, "Most DV Educational Programs Lack Accuracy, Balance, and Truthfulness," compares validated scientific research with the claims made by leading abuse-reduction groups: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs

The SAVE report highlights three offenders:

1. The American Bar Association frames its discussion of domestic violence with the broad claim that "2 to 4 million American women are battered every year." But the dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work derides that statistic as a "factoid from nowhere."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A bill making its way through the Missouri General Assembly would allow adoptions to go through without paternal notification.

House Bill 1258 is based on a case that went before the Missouri Supreme Court in 2007. The legislation would allow adoption without a father's consent, if he had not developed a "consistent and substantial relationship with the child."

The bill defines a relationship as:

1. Consistent prenatal financial support;
2. Consistent payment of prenatal and natal medical care for the mother and baby;
3. Consistent child support payments commensurate with his ability to pay;
4. Consistent contact and visitation with the child; and
5. Assistance with educational and medical care of the child
...
The bill passed in the House 126-15. It was read in the Senate, and referred to committee.

Link here. Excerpt:

'Male teens who were sexually abused are more likely to have unsafe sex, a new study finds.

University of British Columbia researchers analyzed data from more than 40,000 American and Canadian male high school students who were surveyed between 1986 and 2011.

Compared to those with no history of sexual abuse, young males who were sexually abused were five times more likely to cause teen pregnancy, three times more likely to have multiple sexual partners and two times more likely to have unprotected sex, according to the study published online and in the June print issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.'

We'll be meeting on Capitol Hill Friday morning for a day of lobbying, followed by a get-to-know-each-other dinner.

On Saturday we'll enjoy the conference, have lunch, and participate in our June Domestic Violence Legislative Project (DVLP) meeting. DVLP: http://www.saveservices.org/dvlp.

Meet your fellow advocates, activists and citizen lobbyists. Learn from the experts. Get hands-on training. Feel empowered!

Visit the SAVE website for more information about this year's conference: http://www.saveservices.org/dvlp/annual-conference-2012

Start making plans now to attend. Register early, as space is limited. To register, email info-at-saveservices.org.

I can't wait to meet you all!

Sincerely,

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

Article here. Excerpt:

'Actually, what we find weird is that someone who claims to be a “feminist, a writer, and a gentlewoman of fortune” who refuses to be labeled as some sort of damsel in distress has absolutely no problem making up stereotypes for Mr. Gosling before having met him.

In an email to The New York Observer (sent before the Gawker piece), Ms. Penny wrote about that fateful meeting:

"Lucky or not, I feel it’s some sort of karmic retribution for my having spent so much time cackling at the ‘manarchist Ryan Gosling’ meme. I have no idea if Mr Gosling is actually a manarchist, but he’s clearly a decent sort of person, and looks rather dashing in double denim."

Link here. Excerpt:

'A Queensland man has lost a bid to gain full responsibility for his ex-girlfriend's unborn child.

The man, who cannot be named, had applied for an injunction from the Family Court of Australia to stop the 16-year-old girl from terminating her pregnancy and to get full custody of the child once it was born.

He also wanted to ensure the girl told him when she went into labour and that he was given permission to visit the hospital, the Daily Telegraph reports.'

As a follow-up to this item, I received the following in reply to my letter to the D.A.:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6th, 2012

KELSO, WA - Cowlitz County Prosecutor Sue Baur will not be filing perjury charges against Cassandra Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy recently claimed she lied in 2001 as an eleven-year-old victim when she testified against her father, Thomas Kennedy in a jury trial. The jury convicted Mr. Kennedy of three counts of Rape of a Child in the First Degree. Her recantation was found to be enough to warrant an order for a new trial, but was not determined to be the truth.
There is a misconception that Mr. Kennedy would not have been released unless he was found innocent. This is untrue. He has never been found innocent of the crimes of Rape of a Child.

Petition here. Excerpt:

'Taylor Bigler, Entertainment Editor of The Daily Caller has written an article about the sexual mutilation and abuse of a man at the hands of his ex-girlfriend. In writing this article, Ms. Bigler somehow found this man's horrific injuries which may have caused permanent damage and the crime committed against him by his ex-girlfriend to be a humorous and positive event. If the genders were reversed and a man ripped the breast from a woman's body, would Ms. Bigler have made comments such as "As if this story isn't already good enough...." Good enough? So Ms. Bigler finds some good out of this poor man's sexual mutilation. http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/06/angry-ex-girlfriend-goes-ballistic-rips-off-mans-scrotum/

We ask that Taylor Bigler resign from The Daily Caller or be fired by them. Nothing short of Ms. Bigler's resignation or firing will suffice.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'To the great delight of the vast majority of men, it appears the days of women setting their sights on marrying ‘above themselves’ are over.

The attractions of the Mr Darcys of this world are waning as women become better educated and better paid, research has found.

Indeed modern women could hardly be further from the likes of Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet and her scheming to net Mr Darcy – not just the man she loved but, crucially, a wealthy aristocrat.

Analysing how female aspirations have changed over the past 50 years the researchers found women in their late twenties and early thirties are increasingly marrying ‘beneath themselves’ by opting for men of lower social classes.

The study by the Institute for Public Policy Research adds weight to the idea that today’s economically independent women are freer to marry for love rather than to further themselves.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, a mother of two, believes women should marry women. In exceptional circumstances, they can marry men, she said during a recent Makers interview (excerpt embedded above).

“The most important thing — and I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it a hundred times — if you marry a man, marry the right one,” Sandberg said. “If you can marry a woman, that’s better because the split between two women in the home is pretty even, the data shows.” She didn’t elaborate on her source.

Unlike men, women feel guilty for working full time, according to Sandberg. Furthermore, they are liked less the more they succeed. That’s something that needs to change.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Of course, it was a man who sued the Copenhagen Bella Comwell for its “Bella Donna” floor dedicated solely to rooms for women guests. The hotel, which has decided to challenge the decision by the Danish Gender Equality Board, reports full occupancy for the “ban men” floor. So do other hotels that declare men unwelcome on specific floors in Australia, as well as various cities in the U.S., Singapore and Dubai.

I’ve never stayed at such a hotel, but it’s hard to find fault with the idea of a secure-access floor served only by women, offering white, king-sized beds, fresh flowers, bowls of green apples, fashion magazines, complementary natural-beauty products, steam irons, ionic hairdryers, satin-padded hangers and an emergency kit with nylons and other items that one may have forgotten. Not to mention fine chocolates, smoothies and wine by female winemakers in the mini bar. All that for about $50 extra or at no charge? Check me in, please.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'(JTA) -- A New York mohel who performed the circumcision of one newborn who died of herpes and of three other infants who contracted the disease apparently tested positive for herpes, The New York Jewish Week reported.

Yitzchok Fischer, who was ordered in 2007 to stop the circumcision ritual of metzitzah b’peh, in which the mohel orally suctions blood from the circumcision wound, refused, however, to submit to a DNA test to determine if he is a match to the viruses found in the babies.

The Jewish Week reported April 6 that a copy of the 2007 New York State Department of Health order obtained by the newspaper through a Freedom of Information Law request said that he tested positive for an infection that he was "capable of communicating to others."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'HARTFORD, Conn. — Victoria Steele saw her daughter on the day she was born, and was not allowed to see her again for five years.

Steele, just 18 at the time, was wanted for violating the terms of her supervised home release on a robbery charge. She was sent to the York Correctional Institution directly from the hospital. The state placed the baby with her paternal grandparents, who spoke only Spanish and never brought the child to visit in prison.

"I was so depressed," said Steele, now 45, of West Hartford. "I was emotionally, mentally, and physically lost. I had no I idea how to connect. It was like losing my child. I lost her. There were no support services in prison."'

Link here. Excerpt:

'My name is Peter. In August 2012 my the 6 week old little boy was subjected to circumcision.

He was circumcised for no medical reason, without his consent and without my consent as his father.

* In my view, society (or a parent) has no right to subject an infant to surgery without medical reason. An infant's body does not belong to parents, he is only in their custody until adulthood.

* My son was circumcised without my consent as father. My son had a natural right to expect that he would have my protection, care and authority. I had a natural right to give him that care, protection and authority. As you will read, every politician, every bureaucrat and the medical regulators are of the mind that the circumcision of my little boy was none of my business.
I DISAGREE.

For a doctor to take the decision to circumcise an infant without the informed, considered consent of both parents represents a blatant moral and ethical failing. If the doctor's decision is defended in law, the act becomes one of state sanctioned bastardry.

Article here. Excerpt:

'(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, leading in the polls among women voters, said on Friday he wants to help working women fight discrimination and juggle the demands of motherhood but stopped short of making promises on gender equality if he wins re-election.

At a White House event on women and the economy, Obama noted "there has been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately," a nod to the emergence of contraceptive rights, working women and all-male establishments as heated issues in his race for re-election in November.

"But I do think that the conversation has been oversimplified," Obama said. "Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way."'