CT allows same sex marriage
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: USA Today
A sharply divided Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay couples have the right to get married, saying legislators did not go far enough when they approved same-sex civil unions that were identical to marriages in virtually every respect except the name. The 4-3 ruling will make Connecticut the third state, behind Massachusetts and California, to allow same-sex marriages, decisions that in all cases were made by the highest state court. The decision marks the first time that a court rejected civil unions as an alternative to granting gay couples the right to marry. (10/10/08)

Syria, Women miss out on property rights
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: IWPR
The ministry of social affairs and labour voiced concern about the issue in a study on female inheritance rights earlier this year. Residents of Deir al-Zur say the practice of cutting women out from ownership altogether is commonplace there, even though it violates Sharia or Islamic law, Syria’s inheritance law and the constitution. (10/10/08)

IL, residents shocked by rape hoax
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: South Town Star
Cathy Baumann, co-owner of Baumann's Bakery, immediately north of the T.J. Grinders sub shop in Palos Heights, said initially she was shocked to hear the report that a girl had been abducted from the store next door and assaulted. Friday afternoon, a Palos Heights police officer was dropping off fliers at businesses in the strip center that's home to Baumann's and T.J. Grinders, basically letting them know the report of the assault was a hoax. (10/11/08)

OH SC hears abortion case
Topic: Abortion
Source: AP
Ohio Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Tuesday that an abortion clinic's medical records on other patients are relevant to a lawsuit brought by parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion without their consent. Lawyers for the girl's family argued that the information they seek is necessary to prove that Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati had a pattern of violating Ohio's parental consent law and failing to report abuse. The unusual case pits a single plaintiff against the privacy interests of a decade's worth of patients. Planned Parenthood attorney Daniel Buckley says the clinic has a legal obligation to protect the privacy of its clients' records. (10/08/08)

McDonalds cuts off gay support
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Chicago Sun Times
After months of pressure from an anti-gay-marriage group, McDonald's Corp. has given up a director's seat and will stop sponsorship of a national gay business organization. Richard Ellis, who until last month was vice president of communications of McDonald's USA, has resigned from the board of directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, franchisees were told in a Sept. 23 memo. McDonald's USA, which had made a $20,000 donation to the chamber and became a 2008 chamber sponsor, said it would not sponsor the organization in 2009. Ellis, the company said, "made a personal decision to step down" from the board after he got a new position with McDonald's Canadian operations. "It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald's remains neutral on same-sex marriage or any 'homosexual agenda' as defined by the American Family Association," the memo said. (10/10/08)

Chicago to approve gay high school?
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Chicago Tribune
Pointing to studies showing that gay high school students are at greater risk of dropping out because of stigma and fear of violence, Chicago Public Schools leaders said Wednesday that they will recommend opening a campus aimed at these students. Final approval of the School for Social Justice Pride Campus, designed as the city's first school for gay, lesbian and transgender teenagers, along with 17 other schools, is expected to come Oct. 22 when the Board of Education votes. (10/10/08)

SF, smoking ads not free speech
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: NBC 11
Lawyers for the city of San Francisco told a federal judge Thursday that the city's ban on cigarette sales by pharmacies has nothing to do with free speech. Attorneys for the city made the argument in a brief filed with U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland to oppose a bid by Philip Morris USA Inc. for a preliminary injunction blocking the ban. Philip Morris, the nation's largest tobacco company, claims the ban violates its First Amendment right of free speech by putting an end to cigarette advertising and displays in the pharmacy stores. [Ed.: the "exception" for advertising which views ads as not deserving Constitutional protection is ridiculous. All speech is properly free speech.] (10/09/08)

Obama and the future of pregnancy centers
Topic: Abortion
Source: Life Site News
Pregnancy centers across the country that provide women with abortion alternatives could be shut down or face severe regulations if Barack Obama wins next month. That's because a bill targeting pregnancy centers could easily be approved in a pro-abortion Congress and land on Obama's desk. Obama has already promised pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL that he will be their lap dog in the White House and these are the groups leading the effort to pass the bill. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey reintroduced the bill in April in the Senate and issued a statement alleging that pregnancy centers mislead women by giving them information on abortion's risks and alternatives.[Ed.: such clinics should be "defunded" along with Planned Parenthood.] (10/09/08)

Issues surrounding leftover embryos
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Los Angeles Times
Many former infertility patients appear to be grappling over the fate of embryos they have no plans to use: An estimated 500,000 embryos are in cryopreservation in the United States. This unexpected conundrum often arises well after the infertility crisis has passed, triggering impassioned and highly personal debates about the science and ethics of human life. The discussion boils down to a fundamental question: What is this icy clump of cells smaller than a grain of sand? Across the country, people with less personal stakes in the matter are asking that question as well. Colorado voters will decide in November whether to amend the state's constitution to assert that an embryo is a person. (10/06/08)

Aussie Lesbian fertility bill passed
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: TV NZ
A lesbian feritlity bill has been passed through parliament in Australia. Attorney-General Rob Hulls said the legislation was good reform and he praised MPs and parliamentary staff for their conduct during a long and difficult sitting. "When we are dealing with social reform and particularly, obviously, conscience votes, there are always passionate views that are held on both sides of the house," he told parliament. (10/09/08)

Girl arrested for exploiting herself
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Classically Liberal
In Newark, Ohio a 15-year-old girl has been arrested by police on charges of child pornography. Both the girl and her victim have not been identified but they are one in the same person. Yes, police arrested the girl for sexually exploiting herself because she took a nude photograph of herself. She has been charged with the “illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and possession of criminal tools.” I assume the tool was the phone camera used to take the photo. The girl could be imprisoned and force to register as a sex offender. If she is forced to register the on-line listings will simply show that she had produced child pornography leading public readers to assume she had sexually exploited young children. Since being listed on these registries have lead to the murder of various individuals this arrest could eventually put the girl’s life at risk. All because she took a nude photo of herself. (10/10/08)

Domestic violence homicides and suicides
Topic: Men's Movement
Source: Men's News Daily
Author: Richard L. Davis
A recent report by the CDC “Surveillance for Violent Deaths — National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 States, 2005 (SVD), documents that approximately 30% of suicides are precipitated by problems between intimate partners that lead to fatalities. The SVD documents a domestic violence tragedy that remains largely unexplored. The SVD notes, that of the 16 reporting states, problems between intimate partners precipitated 2,301 of the male suicides and 439 of the female suicides. Twice as many females as males attempt suicide but the rate of completed suicides in the SVD report was nearly 4 times greater for males than females. (10/10/08)

Obesity is not child abuse
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Spiked Online
Author: Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick
The return to school after the summer holidays has already produced the first request from the child protection authorities for information about an overweight 15-year-old boy registered at my surgery in Hackney, London, whose family is now threatened with statutory proceedings. (10/08/08)

Who wears the pants?
Topic: Women's Studies, Scholarship, and History
Source: Wall Street Journal Online
Author: Megan Basham
A Pew Research Center study released a couple of weeks ago found that when it comes to decision making in the home, wives in a majority of cases either rule the roost or share power equally with their husbands, regardless of how much money the women earn. Of the 1,260 men and women whom Pew pollsters surveyed over the summer, 43% responded that the woman makes most of the major decisions for the family, with 31% saying that the couple makes most decisions together. There was a small difference (within the margin of error) between the control exerted by wives who earn more than their husbands and those who earn less (46% versus 42%). But in both cases, women wielded sole decision-making power far more than men did, indicating that what "father knows best" is when to defer to mom. (10/10/08)

CO gov opposes Amendment 48
Topic: Abortion
Source: Denver Post
For Gov. Bill Ritter, a self-described "pro-life" Catholic, Amendment 48 has created a quandary. Ritter opposes the issue on the November ballot, which would declare a fertilized egg to be a person, saying it is bad public policy that could endanger the health of women in Colorado. On the other hand, Ritter's opposition raises questions about his "pro-life" credentials. "He's in a dicey spot with Amendment 48," said Tom Hooyman, a professor of medical ethics at Regis University who holds a Ph.D. in moral theology. "It's clearly a pro-life amendment. For him to come out and oppose it, you have to say, 'What does it mean to be a pro-life Catholic?' " (10/08/08)

Did you know Fannie was black?
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: WorldNetDaily
Author: Greg Knapp
Obama has tried to present himself as a post-racial candidate. But the only people bringing race up in the selection are his Democratic supporters and the media. According to them, if you don't want to vote for Barack Obama, you are racist. If you question Obama's experience as a "community organizer," you are racist. If you have a problem with Obama's relationship with a white, American terrorist, you are racist. If you say Obama is looking a little bit skinny, you are racist. That last one isn't even a joke, although it sounds like one. (10/10/08)

Church and politics get a little testy
Topic: Abortion
Source: STL Today
Author: Bill McClellan
If you don't think that tempers are getting short as the election approaches, consider that Hugh McVey did something last Sunday that he would have once considered unthinkable. The former seminarian stood up in the middle of a sermon and challenged the priest. "I said, 'Father, Father. Are you really comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler?'" Moments later, McVey walked out of the church. (10/03/08)

How I weaned my son from Ritalin
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Author: Diana Appleyard
Earlier this year, Yvonne Dixon's 14-year-old son Jake turned to his mother during the car journey home from school and said calmly: 'If I was still on Ritalin, I think I would have killed myself by now.What is remarkable about Jake is that he appears cured. His mother doesn't think that is because he spent three years on Ritalin and a similar drug, dexanphetamin, but is down to old-fashioned discipline. 'I know some parents and medical experts may scoff, but I have seen a miraculous change in my son,' says Yvonne. (10/09/08)

EU court may pass on abortion again
Topic: Abortion
Source: Wall Street Journal Online
The European Court of Human Rights was established to uphold rights to life, privacy, freedom of speech, religion and the like. The court has one justice from each of the 47 nations that signed the European Convention on Human Rights. It rules on cases that applicants bring when they feel they cannot get adequate legal redress in their home countries. But for years the court has essentially turned a blind eye to Ireland's abortion laws, considered among the most restrictive in Europe. Critics say that helps perpetuate an inequitable patchwork of rules across the region. Regardless of which way the court ultimately rules, its delay highlights the complexity of what would seem a simple question: Aren't judges supposed to judge? (10/09/08)

I do not have to vote for Palin to respect her
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Women's eNews
Author: Jane Marcellus
Tina Fey of "Saturday Night Live" is a scream, but we have to sober up. I don't agree with Palin's politics, but I do respect her. After all, she's managed to live the feminist dream, even if she's not one. She's governor of a large state, has a husband who's clearly willing to do more than "help," a brother who teaches third grade. All in all, as a feminist I can salute all that, even if I wouldn't vote for her. (10/09/08)