Taliban executes women in Pakistan
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: News.com.au
Taliban militants shot dead two women in the troubled north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar after accusing them of being prostitutes, police said today. The hardliners crushed the face of one of the women, apparently using rifle butts and stones, and left a note warning that others who engaged in "immoral'' activities would meet the same fate, they said. Police official Pir Dil Khan said the bodies were discovered today in the Naguman suburb of Peshawar, a conservative city near the Afghan border that has seen a rising threat from Islamists. (08/20/08)

False abuse tipper may testify v FLDS
Topic: Children and Family
Source: 9 News
The Colorado Springs woman who court documents indicate made false abuse allegations that prompted more than 400 children to be removed from a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) ranch, could be required to testify in the case against the church. Court documents list Rozita Swinton, 33, as a possible witness in the State of Texas's case against FLDS church members. (08/20/08)

Obama attacked on abortion record
Topic: Abortion
Source: New York Sun
The dispute flared again last week when a leading opponent of legalized abortion, the National Right to Life Committee, posted records from the Illinois Legislature showing that Mr. Obama, while chairman of a Senate committee, in 2003, voted against a "Born Alive" bill that contained nearly identical language to the federal bill that passed unanimously, including the provision limiting its scope. The group says the documents prove Mr. Obama misrepresented his record. Indeed, Mr. Obama appeared to misstate his position in the CBN interview on Saturday when he said the federal version he supported "was not the bill that was presented at the state level." (08/18/08)

Blood donation may become thing of the past
Topic: Abortion
Source: The Telegraph (UK)
An American team has found a way to turn the parent cells of other types, human embryonic stem cells, into significant quantities of functional oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Tests could start on patients by the end of next year and the advance holds out the promise that one day "blood farms" could provide a versatile source. The research, which appears in the journal Blood, was carried out by Advanced Cell Technology, Worcester Massachusetts, and its collaborators at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois, shows for the first time that the oxygen-carrying capacity of these blood cells is comparable to that of normal blood transfusions. (08/20/08)

Drs cannot refuse services to gays
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Earned Media
The Christian Medical Association CMA the nation's largest association of faith-based physicians, today assailed a decision of the California Supreme Court that would mandate the in-vitro insemination of an unmarried lesbian patient regardless of the healthcare professionals' ethical standards. CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens said, "This case was never about discrimination against patients on the basis of sexual choices; it was about discrimination against healthcare professionals on the basis of their sincerely held ethical standards. The physicians in this case had determined to only provide in-vitro fertilization to married patients. That's hardly a novel or extreme ethical position. (08/18/08)

Malaysia courts on trial
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: Bloomberg
The first time Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's former deputy prime minister, was accused of illegal sex with a man, the court proceedings so dismayed a Universiti Malaya law lecturer that he told his students to throw away their textbooks. ``What's admissible is irrelevant, what's relevant is not admissible,'' retired High Court and Court of Appeal Judge Shaik Daud Ismail said he told his class after the trial that convicted Anwar started in 1998. A decade later, with Anwar facing similar charges, Shaik Daud, 72, says Malaysia's judiciary still needs reform.``The system is crooked,'' said Shaik Daud, who calls himself politically independent. (08/20/08)

Abortion does not risk womens mental health
Topic: Abortion
Source: Web India
A comprehensive review of research, by the American Psychological Association (APA), showed no evidence that the majority of abortions cause psychiatric problems. According to previous studies, mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are more common among women who have had abortions. However, the APA report said that the findings of such studies were unreliable because they either failed to distinguish between abortions of wanted and unwanted pregnancies, or they did not consider factors such as poverty and drug use that raise the likelihood both of having an abortion and suffering mental illness. The new study found "no credible evidence" that single abortions could directly cause mental health problems among adults with unwanted pregnancies. (08/18/08)

Rape victim ordered to pay child support
Topic: Father's Rights
Source: Columbus Dispatch
A paternity test shows that the teen is the father of the baby born April 7 to Jane C. Crane, who was 19 when she became pregnant. Now, a judge has ordered him to pay $50 a month in child support and set visitation at seven hours a week. Crane, meanwhile, faces criminal charges. A Fairfield County grand jury indicted her last month on two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a fourth-degree felony. Conviction carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a requirement to register as a sex offender for 25 years. [Ed.: is there any way that State involvement could screw the situation up more than it has? Yes, by placing the baby in the baby in the misnamed child protective services.] (08/16/08)

Britain recruiting gay spies
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Yahoo Daily News
The chief executive of Stonewall, a gay rights lobby group, told the business daily it had been hired by the Security Service -- better known as MI5 -- to help the agency encourage more gay applicants for positions. "Historically, public services were delivered by the man from the ministry, who was white and heterosexual and got the 4:30 pm (train) back to Tunbridge Wells every afternoon," Ben Summerskill said. (08/17/08)

A lurid sex scandal for Malaysia
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: Time Online
The country of 27 million people is transfixed by a drama whose second act unfolded in June when the top opposition leader, 61-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, was accused of having sex with a 23-year-old male aide. It sounded very much like a case from 10 years ago, when he was imprisoned on a similar charge involving his driver. Anwar says both allegations were trumped up — the latest because he is running for parliament in a special election Aug. 26 that he believes will be his springboard to the premiership and the downfall of the long-ruling National Front of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. (08/17/08)

Groups wants to attack Obama on abortion
Topic: Abortion
Source: Raw Story
The Real Truth About Obama Inc., a group formed by anti-abortion activists, is trying to establish a Web site and air radio ads. But the group's attorney says his clients fear they will be prosecuted for breaking federal rules that restrict fundraising and advertising by political action committees, or PACs. U.S. District Judge James Spencer has scheduled a Sept. 10 hearing on a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department from imposing the restrictions. (08/17/08)

TX wants 8 sect kids back in custody
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Altoona Mirror
More than two months after being forced to return children from a polygamist sect to their parents, Texas child welfare authorities want eight of the youngsters put back in foster care. Individual hearings for the four mothers of the children, ranging in age from 5 to 17, are set to begin Monday. Child Protective Services has asked Texas District Judge Barbara Walther to return the children to foster care because their mothers allegedly have refused to limit their contact with men accused of being involved in underage marriages. [Ed.: so now the CPS claims a right to take non-abused children away from their mothers on the basis of her circle of associates?] (08/18/08)

The herd mentality lives and destroys
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Classically Liberal
Our species has the instinct of hyena. If we see one that is “different” that is considered a weakness. People start circling looking for their moment. They are like wild animals with a taste for blood. They can’t wait till they dig their teeth into the prey’s throat. And they find the whole escapade very entertaining. A second aspect of primitive evolution is that we are always on the look out for enemies. Some argue that we actually need enemies. This need for enemies has two consequences. One is that when a real threat exist we tend to exaggerate it. We get hysterical about some perceived danger and we go into panic mode. (08/20/08)

Iraqi women who fled to Syria
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: Women's eNews
Author: Dominique Soguel
In a series of interviews with Iraqi refugees in Jaramana, a predominantly Sunni and Christian suburb of Damascus, and Sayyida Zaynab, a primarily Shiite suburb, Women's eNews spoke with women barely eking out a living from low-income jobs, international aid and sex work. Women such as Mohamed Ali, whose husbands are dead, missing or disabled, were hit the hardest. Over 2 million Iraqi refugees are estimated to live in Iraq's neighboring countries, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. At least half now live in Syria. (08/10/08)

What about helping boys?
Topic: Gender Discrimination
Source: Press Democrat
Author: Joe Mantley
If girls are now the equal of boys in math, and that fact is due to the boost the schools gave to girls through teacher trainings, curriculum development, conferences, and programs for the girls themselves, then why are there not similar efforts to close the biggest gender gap of all in K-12 education -- language arts -- where boys are behind girls at every grade level? When girls were thought to be in trouble academically, we said "There must be something wrong with the schools," and we changed them to be more girl-friendly. But there is no similar push to assist boys academically. Instead, when boys don't do well in school, we blame the boys. (08/16/08)

Pakistan burn victims turn beauticians
Topic: Individualist Feminism
Source: Yahoo Daily News
In this popular beauty salon, Urooj Akbar diligently trims, cleans and paints clients' fingernails. Her face, severely scarred from the blaze that burned some 70 percent of her body, is somber. It's hard to tell if she's sad or if it's just the way she now looks. Liaqat and Akbar are among Pakistan's many female victims of arson and acid attacks. Such tales tend to involve a spurned or crazy lover and end in a life of despair and seclusion for the woman. The two instead became beauticians. (08/17/08)

Maureen Dowd, her mind is made up
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Pajama Media
Author: Taylor Marsh
To appreciate Maureen Dowd when she gets into her dirt dishing rants, you have to understand that her blasts come from sources she simply channels into clever bursts that are meant to sound definitive. She did the same thing with her book Are Men Necessary?, which basically boiled down to her walking around to a bunch of cubicles at the New York Times to get her friend’s opinions on whether women should bother with males. Never mind most of us answered a loud “affirmative” to that question a long time ago. (08/17/08)

Mommy will not help Dems on abortion
Topic: Abortion
Source: Denver Post
Author: David Harsanyi
Yesterday, a bevy of articles appeared alerting us to the fact that Democrats would offer a pointless embrace of maternity to soften the edges of the party's position on abortion. This, presumably, would grant many social conservatives the space they need to immerse in the warm and tender rays of Hope. Has anything changed policywise on the issue? Has Barack Obama's stance softened? Not yet. And why should it The right of a woman to choose an abortion is one of the tenets of the Democratic Party. A political body must take an inflexible position on occasion — or is "unity" just another word for "get me elected"? (08/17/08)

An abortion sets major milestone in her life
Topic: Abortion
Source: Women's eNews
Author: Joy Pincus
Monitoring a fetal anomaly left Joy Pincus hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. In the end she followed doctors' advice to have a late-term abortion. The decision is a milestone marking the unpredictability of life and the value of choice. She writes, "Knowing that something may or may not be very wrong with one's unborn children demands a precarious psychological balance. One has to walk a very thin line between expectation and resignation; simultaneously hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I walked that line as best I could." (08/14/08)

Afghan women blaze path in contemporary art
Topic: Individualist Feminism
Source: Women's eNews
Author: Aunohita Mojumdar
A group of Afghan women are defying convention by studying and producing expressive contemporary art. An exhibit of their work, now in Berlin, offers an abstract commentary on the restrictions that often govern women's lives. Unlike women's fashion or sports, which have attracted abundant media interest, contemporary art by Afghan women is something of a sleeper, even though it may represent a stronger challenge to conservative concepts of women's social place. (08/17/08)