grrrly news 2/13/05
Current Events
Lawmakers probe women-in-combat policy
A House of Representatives committee is looking into the issue of whether or not female service members are being put in land combat positions in Iraq despite Pentagon rules forbidding the practice.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says his panel has ordered an investigation into current practices involving female soldiers in the Army.
A new front in abortion battle
The next step in abortion opponents' efforts to scale back abortion rights was taken in Congress last week with the introduction of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act.
Like the last battle -- the 108th Congress's ban on the procedure some call partial-birth abortion -- the legislation is designed to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, even as Roe v. Wade remains law.
The legislation would not ban any procedures. Instead, it would require doctors to tell women considering abortions who are 20 weeks pregnant or more that "there is substantial evidence" that the fetus will feel pain. The doctor would then have to offer the woman anesthesia for the fetus as part of the abortion
Police defend prostitution tactic
Metro police spent almost $120,000 over a three-year period to foster encounters, mostly skin-on-skin, between confidential informants and prostitutes in an effort to further Nashville's crackdown on the illicit sex trade.
Confidential informants pocketed more than $70,000 of that, with the rest going to providers of sexual services, according to police records from 2002 to 2004.
Feminine males 'more attractive'
Men with feminine faces will be luckier in love as most women are attracted to them rather than masculine men, Liverpool University scientists say.
Gays lobby for marriage over civil unions
Not only is a promising lawsuit for full marriage moving through courts, but Connecticut is far ahead of the nation in supporting marriage equality
Male Body Images Suffer in Western Societies
Western men have a much more distorted view of their own bodies than men in Taiwan, according to a new study.
Dean elected as Democrat leader
The US Democratic Party has chosen the former presidential candidate Howard Dean to be its new party chairman.
'Religious abuse' at Guantanamo
Terror suspects held at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being subjected to routine religious humiliation, some detainees claim.
Iraqi election results unveiled
The full provisional results of last month's national elections in Iraq are being announced.
Budget Proposal Cuts Billions From Medicaid
The proposal for the federal budget for 2006 released this week contains billions of dollars of cuts in Medicaid funding and a restructuring of the health care program that would put millions of American women at risk.
Women Lose With Social Security Reform
Women live longer, earn less and fill more caretaking roles than men. For all these reasons they have a lot to lose if Social Security is changed, says economist Heather Boushey. So who would win? Wall Street brokers spring to her mind.
Traffic to Web Site Soars after Summers' Gaffe
The backlash to Larry Summers' belittling comments about female scientists has been a boon for a new Web site that encourages students and professors to check out the under-representation of women on their own science faculties.
California Sues U.S. Over Budget's Abortion Ban
California is challenging the Weldon amendment passed with this year's spending bill. The amendment allows the federal government to deny funds to states that require medical professionals to provide abortions or abortion referrals.
In perhaps the best Black History Month event so far, subversives are gathering in living rooms across America Tuesday. Their plan: to watch "Eyes on the Prize,'' the epic 1986 documentary series on the civil rights movement, which has been banned from television and video stores because of rights restrictions on archival material used in the documentary.
What happened to the women held at Abu Ghraib? The government isn’t talking. But some of the women are.
Some Iraq veterans are returning home, only to face homelessness and mental problems. Meanwhile, the VA is MIA.
Women learn better in single-sex groups
One of the world’s top business schools, the IMD in Lausanne, has decided to organise a course restricted to women participants – with encouraging results.
Women Around The World
U.N. Sharply Rebukes Iran Over Women's Rights
The United Nations on Sunday painted a damning portrait of women's rights in Iran, saying they had insufficient right of appeal against violence and were being sentenced to death on flimsy evidence.
Saudi, Gulf Women Disagree Over Segregation Issue
As is normal with conferences and other events in Saudi Arabia, the sexes were segregated at a workshop which concluded on Tuesday at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU). The reason for the workshop was to find ways to implement Crown Prince Abdullah’s document on higher education.
The sexual segregation annoyed a number of women participants from neighboring Gulf countries. The Gulf women refused to join their colleagues in the women’s section and remained with the men.
Rwandan denies genocide charges
Defence lawyers for the first woman to be charged with genocide at the international tribunal for Rwanda have begun presenting their case
'Cannabis gran' remains defiant
The woman known as Britain's "cannabis gran" explains why she eats marijuana five times a day - and why she'll keep on doing it despite the threat of a jail term.
The price of beauty in South Korea
The South Korean capital, Seoul, has a reputation as the place to go for a nip or a tuck. But despite being an unregulated industry, thousands seem willing to risk injury in pursuit of a perfect body.
Arrests in Malaysia migrant probe
Malaysian police have arrested a number of government officials on suspicion of selling residency permits to criminals involved in people-trafficking.
Abortion Debate Divides Australian Government
A push by church leaders to limit access to late-term abortions in Australia split the conservative government on Wednesday, prompting Prime Minister John Howard to call for calm on the issue.
Mirza makes Indian tennis history
Teenager Sania Mirza completed a superb week at the Hyderabad Open by becoming the first Indian in history to win a WTA singles title.
Sex ban on DR Congo peacekeepers
UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been banned from having sex with locals after claims of widespread abuse of women and girls.
Women 'driving UK DIY industry'
Women have more DIY projects planned than men and are now driving the home improvements sector, a new report says.
FGM in Kenya: Outlawed, Not Eradicated
Djibouti has just ratified the African Union's Maputo Protocol banning female genital mutilation. But activists in Kenya, which outlawed FGM in 2001, warn that the engrained cultural practice is easier to outlaw than to eradicate
HONG KONG's subway operator is being urged to run women-only train carriages following a claim that as many as nine in 10 female passengers are groped, a media report said today.
Health
In rural Mozambique, savvy marketing of a condom brand has slowed HIV infection rates
South Carolina Supreme Court shoots down wrongful life claim
Patients can successfully hold their physicians responsible for many things when it comes to medical liability, but there's one area where the courts have been extremely reluctant to let patients go: A claim for wrongful life.
Judge rules test-tube embryo is a person
All Alison Miller and Todd Parrish wanted was to become parents. But when a fertility clinic didn’t preserve a healthy embryo they had hoped would one day become their child, they sued for wrongful death.A judge refused to dismiss their case, ruling in effect that a test-tube embryo is a human being and that the suit can go forward.
US, UN Treaty Writers Weigh Abortion Ban for Disabled:
U.N. diplomats drafting an international treaty on the rights of the disabled debated a possible ban on the abortion of fetuses with disabilities in an emotional negotiating session that ended on Friday.
A working text of the convention would prohibit the termination of a pregnancy in the case of a fetus with a disability in countries where abortion was otherwise legal.
HIV parents 'limit child kisses'
Many parents with HIV limit physical contact with their children because of fears they will pass on the virus or catch an infection, a US study says.
Spray to boost female sex drive
A spray that helps increase women's enjoyment of sex has undergone successful trials.
Business and Financial
Bubble bursts for HP's Carly Fiorina
It is a fate that can beckon those considered to rank among the world's most powerful.
African American Women Gaining in Biz Starts
The number of firms owned by African American women is growing four times the average national rate. Analysts say entrepreneurship is the next frontier for these women. They have degrees, work histories and, increasingly, management and sales experience.
Fiorina's ouster gets mixed reviews
Carly Fiorina's ouster from Hewlett-Packard Wednesday wasn't totally unexpected, but for some it was a disturbing end to an otherwise encouraging chapter in U.S. women's corporate progress.
Latinas share business success, lead trend in growth
The number of businesses owned by Hispanic women grew by 39 percent nationwide, to an estimated 470,344, in the five-year period that ended in 2002. That compares with about 9 percent growth for other businesses, according to the Center for Women's Business Research, which draws its estimates from U.S. Census data.
Women share business experiences
Female business owners got together Thursday for the National Association of Women Business Owners conference.
Women promote construction careers
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter 256 of the National Association of Women in Construction started an educational program a few years ago that has been adopted nationally by the NAWIC Education Foundation to promote careers in construction.
Science and Technology
Dolly Scientist Gets Human Cloning License
The scientist who attracted the world's attention by cloning Dolly the Sheep is about to take another major step for medical research: cloning human embryos and extracting stem cells to unravel the mysteries of muscle-wasting illnesses like Lou Gehrig's disease.
Harvard President Puts New Spotlight on Old Problem
Women make up only about one-quarter of the science and technology workforce, although they received more than half of the bachelor's degrees, 44 percent of the master's and 37 percent of the doctorates in 2001. The proportion of women in computer science fields dropped from 30.5 percent in 1983 to 27.2 percent in 2002.
World of technology not the dominion of men
When Targus Inc. contemplated designing laptop bags for a female customer, it went straight to the source: women who work for its longtime corporate clients.
Voices
In an excerpt from 'Can't Stop Won't Stop,' author Jeff Chang looks at hip-hop feminism, neo-soul as marketing strategy and the endless cycle of cool.
Ayn Rand Introduced Me to Libertarianism
It was Ayn Rand and FEE’s founder Leonard Read who changed the course of my life. The reason: Both of them emphasized the fundamental importance of moral principles in political and economic analysis. When it came to moral principles, Rand and Read did not deal in shades of gray but rather in black and white.
Whatever friends and family might say about a wedding, you could usually count on the Church of England to approve. God knows, it's tried hard enough to boost the flagging number of nuptials, from jostling for position with florists and bridal shops at the UK Wedding Show to giving its blessing to remarried divorcees.
Gloria Feldt on why she’s stepping down after nine years as president of Planned Parenthood
Religion
The Rev. Judith Taylor of Christ Church Unity in Quincy views the prejudice as part of the calling.
"Jesus couldn't even preach in Galilee — they ran him out of town," she said. "Nowhere in the Bible does it say a woman cannot be a (pastor). God created men and women equal."
Horror novel assails Mormon treatment of girls and women
Horror comes in all forms. Sometimes it is in events too horrible to endure, sometimes in harsh realities of daily life.
Anglicans fret over divisive issues
The Church of England's general synod, meeting on 14 February, will consider changes that could fundamentally change the church.
The Next Generation
Teen sex increased after abstinence program
Abstinence-only sex education programs, a major plank in President George W. Bush’s education plan, have had no impact on teenagers’ behavior in his home state of Texas, according to a new study.
Get the girls on course - Lora
The 35-year-old professional claims that despite the efforts of the various organisations, not enough is being achieved at grassroots level.
Lora, who is today in Australia after competing in last weekend's Samsung Masters in Singapore, says that women's golf needs greater exposure at all levels.
Program promotes sciences for girls
Going to college and taking difficult math and science courses can be fun. That's the message University of Texas at Arlington faculty members hope to communicate to 13- and 14-year-old girls.
Differences: The ways male and female athletes learn and play require that coaches tailor their instruction accordingly.
At science day, girls research their options
Marybeth Miceli said she was told by one of her college professors that women don't belong in science.
Now, several years later, Miceli, 27, is one of 35 engineers working for Lucius Pitkin Inc. of New York City.
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