Dear Brothers,

The latest Issue of WILL magazine has been uploaded to the website.

WILL Magazine Volume 1 Issue 6 has been given a makeover and contains articles by reputed members of society. The main focus of this issue is Female Literacy in India.

http://thewillfoundation.webs.com/documents/January.Volume1.Issue6.pdf

[Alternate download from here.]

We at TWF hope you find it an informative read.

Kindly let us know your feedback.

Thanks & regards,

Anwar H. Danish

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Concord woman who claimed that her boyfriend had died of medical problems pleaded no contest Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter for smothering him with a pillow, a killing her attorney portrayed as the act of a domestic violence victim.

Dava Alizabeth-Ann Steen, 47, was sentenced to six months in jail, which she can serve at home while under electronic monitoring, said her attorney, Public Defender Robin Lipetzky.
...
Steen was initially charged with murder. Judge Garrett Grant of Contra Costa County Superior Court sentenced her to six months at a hearing in Martinez on Wednesday as part of a plea deal.

Lipetzky said Steen wanted to "address the issues in her life that gave rise to this situation in the first place, which includes a long history of domestic violence in a relationship in which she was the victim and (Bennett) was the batterer."'

Tom Martin, the man suing Europe's largest Gender Studies department, at LSE, for sex discrimination in its taught Masters degrees (court date on March 13th), will be discussing the problem of sexist elements within feminism at a public debate at one of London's other elite universities, UCL, at 7:00 PM on Tuesday 28th February, 2012. The debate will take place in Room 309 of the Roberts Building, on UCL's campus. If you would like to attend, then you must email sexismbusters-at-hotmail.com to book your place in advance.

Media practitioners interested in doing a news story or documentary, including filming events at the debate, and around the court case with Tom, should also email sexismbusters-at-hotmail.com.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In her annual State of the Judiciary address, Leigh I. Saufley announced that, effective immediately, bail commissioners may not set bail in domestic violence-related cases unless they have access to the defendant’s criminal history in Maine.
...
Bail commissioners sometimes don’t have that information because of varying legal interpretations, technological limitations, law enforcement staffing limitations and miscommunication, according to Saufley.
...
If a bail commissioner does not have a defendant’s criminal history, the defendant will have to remain in jail and appear before a judge within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, Saufley said at a press conference after her speech.
...
The chief justice’s action raised concerns among criminal defense attorneys.
...
The president of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also expressed concern about Saufley’s directive.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Charles M. Blow aims to provide readers with a “teachable moment” regarding the suspension of the CNN commentator Roland Martin after a gay rights organization complained that his Super Bowl tweets advocated violence against gays (“Real Men and Pink Suits,” column, Feb. 11).

Noticeably absent from Mr. Blow’s and others’ commentary was any criticism of the numerous graphic acts of violence — slaps, head butts, kicks, punches — depicted against heterosexual males during the Super Bowl commercials in the interest of humor.
...
We should condemn all public endorsements or mockeries of violence. Our rebuke should not turn on whether the victim is heterosexual or homosexual, male or female, or a member of a group to which we belong, but whether there was an offense made against a person’s human dignity. Unless we, as a nation, hold ourselves to such a standard, we will only substitute one brand of social injustice and bias for another, and compromise our moral authority.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The executive order signed by LePage on Wednesday would create a task force to study the viability of using technology such as electronic monitoring to better track abusers and keep victims safe. That task force would report back by the end of 2012.

LePage said the proposals announced on Wednesday would create additional deterrents for abusers but would not solve the problem.

He said all Mainers, and men in particular, need to do their part to make domestic violence socially unacceptable.

Cain agreed.

“The bills today are a starting point for the work that lies ahead. It is simply not enough to increase punishment for this kind of crime after it happens,” she said. “We must also work together on comprehensive domestic violence prevention resources and treatment for battered women and their families.”'

Relatedly, wonder if there will be focus on this woman, too?

The diminishment of the Y chromosome happened early on, then leveled off, according to this study. Excerpt:

'But the latest study says the Y's shrinkage occurred in the very distant past and the chromosome has been wonderfully stable for millions of years.

The human genome has 22 pairs of chromosomes plus one pair that determine sex. If you are a female, you get two X chromosomes, and if you are male, it's an X and a Y, whose all-important sex-determining region accounts for the sperm and testes.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A group of female Democratic legislators in the Georgia House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would ban men from seeking vasectomies.

"Thousands of children are deprived of birth in this state every year because of the lack of state regulation over vasectomies," said bill author Yasmin Neal in a statement. "It is patently unfair that men can avoid unwanted fatherhood by presuming that their judgment over such matters is more valid than the judgment of the General Assembly, while women's ability to decide is constantly up for debate throughout the United States."

The proposed legislation is a response to HB 954, a bill sponsored by Republican Doug McKillips that seeks to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Current legislation prohibits abortions after the second trimester, or approximately 24 weeks. The measure, which has been moving quickly through the House, is intended to prevent late-term abortions on fetuses that proponents say can already feel pain at 20 weeks.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati man has been ordered to apologize to his estranged wife on Facebook after a post he wrote last year.

Court records indicate that Mark Byron was found guilty of civil domestic violence against Elizabeth Byron in June 2011, and Elizabeth Byron was granted a temporary protection order.

The records indicate that Mark Byron posted a comment to his Facebook wall in late November that stated "if you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband's life and take your son's father away from him completely -- all you need to do is say that you're scared of your husband or domestic partner and they'll take him away!"
...
On Jan. 25, magistrate Paul Meyers ruled that Mark Byron violated the protection order and sentenced him to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
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Meyers ruled that Byron could not shut down his page during those 30 days and had to grant friend status to his wife or someone of her choosing to monitor the page.'

Link here. Excerpt:

'The Minister with responsibility for Male Health, Warren Snowdon, has announced 31 Men’s Sheds across Australia will be helped to fit out their buildings, purchase tools or supplies and to run programs to spread health messages.

Mr Snowdon said the Australian Government is committed to improving the health of Australian males by finding ways to make the health system more responsive to the specific and unique needs of males.

“Sheds are playing a key role in strengthening communities and in promoting the physical and mental health of males, we have committed $3 million of our $16.7 million National Male Health Policy to the Australian Men’s Shed’s Association to help support sheds, and $250,000 each year for three years in direct financial assistance for Men’s Sheds around Australia.

'This past Saturday SAVE launched our Accusing U. campaign at the International Students for Liberty Conference in Washington D.C. It was a complete success -- the room was filled to capacity, barely leaving room to stand. Several students volunteered to become Campus Coordinators.

If you received our last E-lert, you are aware of the government's effort to remove the presumption of innocence from persons accused of rape or sexual assault on college campuses.

SAVE is working tirelessly to expose and expel this new Directive -- and we invite you to get involved. We have just set up a new Facebook page for persons falsely accused of sexual assault: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Falsely-Accused-of-Sexual-Assault/349737661704751

Drop by, like a comment, join the conversation, recommend us to a friend! For more information, visit http://www.accusingu.org/

Sincerely,

Tom Lemons, Director of Special Events
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
www.saveservices.org

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Consider academia. Every university has a women’s department; almost every one has PC policies such as campus codes that preclude sexual jokes and comments; professors are suspended or fired for expressing the wrong views of gender in class...the list of institutionalized ideology rolls on and on. One problem with institutionalizing an ideology or idea is that it lives on almost through inertia far, far longer than it could survive a free market process of open debate and analysis. Once a gender feminism professor gets tenure, for example, that position is occupied by her ideology for the next 20+ years. It doesn’t matter that her ideas have been discounted by the general public or the political tide has turned. She has tenure. And remember almost every professor within women’s departments, political science, etc. who has received tenure in the past 2 decades or so needed to toe a PC line. Thus the struggle goes on even though the battle has been won.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Gloria claims her clients -- and women at large -- should have the right to exercise their free speech however they like ... especially since there are laws in place that prevent them suing an unfaithful ex.

She's referring to what are called "Heart Balm" laws -- laws that abolish the ability of one to sue over breach of a promise to marry. And while the laws are gender-neutral, Gloria argues they unfairly protect men ... because men are more likely to cheat than women.

Gloria claims women should have the right to sue ... because they are disproportionately affected by a cheating man than vice versa -- insisting men typically occupy the power position in relationships ... with better jobs, more money, etc.'

Article here. The comments challenge Hillary Clinton's hypocrisy when it comes to circumcision. Excerpt:

'U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that there is no cultural justification for female genital cutting, a practice that is sometimes referred to as female circumcision.

Secretary Clinton says governments and non-governmental organizations are making progress toward ending female genital mutilation, or FGM, by reaching out to those who still practice it.

In those societies, it is often justified as a way to protect a girl's purity and cleanliness. Although Clinton said many cultural differences must be respected, this is not one of them.