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grrrly news 9/28

September 28, 2003 06:11 PM posted by lisa : track it (0)

Senator Raises Concerns That US Not Spending Enough In Afghanistan
At yesterday's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the $87 billion supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) raised concerns about the $20 billion for Iraq's reconstruction compared to the $800 million for Afghanistan's. He questioned whether the United States should think about spending more money in Afghanistan than Iraq because Iraq and Afghanistan's populations are not much different and Afghanistan is a much poorer country.

Woman on Iraqi Council Dies After Ambush
One of only three women on Iraq's Governing Council died five days after her car was ambushed in an assassination attempt Saturday morning. The Governing Council issued a statement that Aqila Hashimi "fell as a martyr on the path of freedom and democracy to build this great nation."

Judiciary Committee to Vote on Far-Right Nominee Pickering
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for Thursday on the nomination of far-right Judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last year, the committee voted not to approve his nomination. Now, however, the committee has a Republican majority and is reconsidering this vote. The committee is expected to vote along party lines to send Pickering’s nomination to the Senate floor, the Clarion-Ledger reports. Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), who normally votes with the Democrats, announced last week that he will not oppose Pickering's nomination if it reaches the full Senate

Amina Lawal Wins Appeal Against Stoning
An Islamic appeals court overturned Amina Lawal's sentence of death by stoning for adultery. According to the Associated Press, the five-judge panel dismissed the sentence against Lawal because she was not caught in the act of adultery and was not given "ample opportunity to defend herself."

Sex Selection Goes Mainstream
Several times over the past few months, a small but striking ad from a Virginia-based fertility clinic has appeared in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times. Alongside a smiling baby, its boldface headline asks, "Do You Want To Choose the Gender Of Your Next Baby?"

Girls top of the class worldwide
Women have overtaken men at every level of education in developed countries around the world.
And girls are now more confident of getting better-paid, professional jobs than their flagging male counterparts.

Divorce Rate Hits All-Time High in Japan
Japan's divorce rate rose to a record high last year, reflecting an increasing number of middle-aged and older couples who are parting ways.
The number of divorces rose for a 12th straight year in 2002, according to recently released government statistics that provided the latest confirmation that the stigma long associated with breaking up is fading in Japan.
According to the nation's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, a record 289,836 couples divorced last year, up 1.4 percent from the previous all-time high of 285,911 in 2001.

Europe's looming Aids 'catastrophe'
The World Bank has said that it is imperative that governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia make a greater political commitment to avert a potentially catastrophic epidemic of HIV/Aids.

Woman who made fake rape claim jailed again
A Mason woman convicted last year of faking a rape claim is back in the Warren County Jail, charged with a probation violation.
Nicole Gilmore, 29, was arrested Monday after she failed to complete a court-ordered mental health program at the Talbert House in Cincinnati, court officials said. In April, Gilmore was ordered to complete the program, after she was rejected by the MonDay Community Correctional Institution in Dayton.

Sex, Drugs and Potholes of Good Intentions
'Run your own massage parlour/escort service from the comfort of your own home, and make mucho dinero! And it's all perfectly legal!"

Don't click that mouse. The above message is not spam. It's merely the latest news from Vancouver, your alien outpost by the bay.

At this moment, at least until it meets tonight and has a chance to reconsider, Vancouver council is the only jurisdiction in Canada to pass a motion allowing "sex-trade" workers to operate from home.

Sexism 'costs Arab economies dear'
Unreconstructed attitudes to women are restricting economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa, the World Bank has warned.
"No country can raise the standard of living and improve the well-being of its people without the participation of half its population," said Christiaan Portman, the Bank's chief for the region

Ban nears on partial-birth abortion
A ban on partial-birth abortion is well on its way to becoming law, both sides say, after the Senate yesterday cleared a key hurdle and sent the legislation to be finalized in a conference with the House.
"Now it goes to conference," said Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican and strong supporter of the ban. "We will get this ban done this year."

MPs vote to protect gays under hate law
MP Svend Robinson was celebrating Wednesday after the House of Commons voted in favour of his private member's bill to extend hate-crimes protection to gays and lesbians.

Should only healthy babies be born?
Medical science has advanced to such a stage that we are within a few years of being able to detect more and more diseases and disabilities in the womb.
Already some women found to have babies with abnormalities are under pressure to terminate.

Japanese Court Sentences US Marine For Rape
A Japanese court sentenced Lance Corporal Jose Torres to three-and-a-half years in prison for raping a woman in Okinawa, Japan. Torres was found guilty of beating and raping a 19-year-old woman on May 25 in an entertainment area near a US military base

Remarks by Clinton reignite Hillary buzz
Will she or won't she?
Bill Clinton tantalized a Democratic audience in California Tuesday night with a suggestion that his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has said she won't run for president next year, might change her mind after all.

State tops in release of sexual predators
Though its failed efforts to find a new Milwaukee home for Billy Lee Morford might suggest otherwise, Wisconsin actually has placed far more so-called sexual predators into neighborhoods than any other state, accounting for nearly a third of all people nationwide who have been released under similar laws.

500 paedophiles to be tracked by satellite tags
Paedophiles are to be electronically tagged in the UK for the first time in a move that could prompt a revolution in the treatment and monitoring of sex offenders.
A British company is to hold talks with Ministers in the next few weeks with a view to launching a Home Office-backed trial involving between 100 and 500 child sex offenders. It is also talking to government officials in the United States, Italy and Ireland and is to tag a number of paedophiles who have volunteered to wear the device.

Feminists catch heat for their politics
Though the major parties are vigorously wooing women's votes, this campaign season has not been easy for some leading feminist groups.

When the National Organization for Women sponsored one of the first forums for Democratic presidential candidates, only one of the top contenders showed up. In the latest blow, the New York Times a longtime champion of women's rights, dismissed as "silly" NOW's decision to endorse the lone woman in the Democratic race

Teenager dies after taking abortion pill
Holly Marie Patterson went to a Planned Parenthood clinic earlier this month to quietly consider ways to handle a life change she wasn't ready for. One week later, the 18-year-old lay dying on an emergency room table, the victim of complications after she took the abortion pill.

Church rewrites bible in feminist language
The German Evangelical Church is translating the bible using feminist language.
More than 50 translators are working on a new edition of the holy book.
They are rewriting passages which are seen to discriminate against women, and are also using "unbiased and just" language.

Politics win over principle
When Freud asked "What does woman want?" he was justifiably stumped.
Let me take a stab: Women want what women want when they want it. Exactly their way, to sum up. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Girlfight
The good news: According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the crime rate nationwide has hit a 30-year low. The bad news: Attempted rape is up. Realistically, females may have to learn to kick ass if they want a fighting chance.
"Women get intimidated and scared—when it comes time to bop someone, they can't do it," says Peggy Chau, director of Fighthouse, a 10,000-square-foot gym in Chelsea, where 14 different styles of martial arts are taught and the air resounds with grunts.

Dumb stereotypes take heart out of boys' hopes
Portraying men as cads or wimps empowers no one and only increases bitter social division, writes Andrew Bock

The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth
Ms. Seaman's current book, "The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women," is well timed to exploit the generalized confusion and anxiety recently generated among the millions of women who have taken hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in one form or another. Estrogens - "female hormones" - were prescribed for them as treatment for various peri-menopausal conditions, and also to prevent the onset of problems thought to be related to the internal hormonal environment.

The most powerful smiles in the world
All of Britain was buzzing last week after a tabloid published highly controversial photos – not of a topless supermodel or two female pop singers kissing or Prince William in a grass skirt but of angelic babies smiling in the womb.
The ultrasound images, taken between 26 and 34 weeks after conception, were released by Professor Stuart Campbell and widely circulated on the Internet via the Drudge Report.

The Radical Feminist Take-Over at the U.N
The USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll released this past week reveals that Americans believe the United Nations is performing poorly as a world peace organization. And 37% want the U.S. to slash its financial backing, which may exceed a mind-boggling $1.6 billion this year.
And once Americans find out how much the gender feminist agenda now pervades the UN, public support will continue to plummet. This is the alphabet soup of radical feminist thinking at the UN

More Rights for Women New Focus of AIDS Battle
As women overtake men among AIDS sufferers, a new initiative strives to battle the pandemic by buttressing women's rights in the areas of education, employment and gender violence.

Female Senators Tightening Grips on Their Seats
Female incumbent senators have tightened their grip on office, making it more likely that women will maintain their current share of representation in the Senate. And, a new photography exhibit of female senators opens its nationwide tour.

Report: Global Gag Rule Spurring Deaths, Disease
Opponents of the Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule, offer a first-hand look at the effects of the policy for the first time since the rule was reinstated more than two years ago.

A Question That Drives Saudi Women Crazy
How do Saudi women feel about not being allowed to drive? It's a common and aggravating question that opens up the sore subject of women's awkward efforts to be more independent in a kingdom that still confines Saudi women with 100-year-old rules.

Egypt's First Female Judge May Remain 'The Only'
Egypt appointed its first female judge, Tahani Al Gebali, this year. Good, say observers, however, they add, she may become a lonely pioneer unless the nation's prosecutors' offices--the training ground for most judges--hire female lawyers this fall.

Catholic Church Limits Use of Altar Girls
proposal drafted by the Vatican, but not yet approved by Pope John Paul II, suggests that altar boys should have preference over altar girls, reported the Washington Post.
Citing a leaked directive published in the Jesus Magazine, a Catholic monthly, the Post reported that the proposal calls for permitting altar girls to serve only when there is "just pastoral cause," a phrase not defined in the document

Women draft bill of rights in new Afghan constitution
A few Afghan women and girls were released from jail for a day to attend a recent conference on women's rights in the new Afghan constitution, and their stories brought home the need for change in a country where 95 percent of women are illiterate.
One of them, Eqlima, 16, said she had run away from her uncle's home in Kabul and had been picked up by the police in Kandahar. Brought to the conference, she fell into an exhausted sleep. When she awoke, she denounced the police for locking her up when she had committed no crime, and vowed to escape as soon as she could.

Girls Less Likely than Boys to Attend School in Developing Countries
The United Nations Children's Fund says more than 120 million children are not going to school. That's about one out of every six around the world. And, UNICEF adds that more girls than boys are not getting an education.

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