Free Republic

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, is to lead his fellow Anglo-Catholics from the Church of England into the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Herald will reveal this week. Bishop Burnham, one of two "flying bishops" in the province of Canterbury, has made a statement asking Pope Benedict XVI and the English Catholic bishops for "magnanimous gestures" that will allow traditionalists to become Catholics en masse. He is confident that this will happen, following talks in Rome with Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Kasper, the Vatican's head of...

THESE are the generations of cosmetic medicine: First came the “medical spa,” or medi spa, offering dermatology services in a retail setting. The medi spa begat the dental spa, bringing tooth bleaching to storefronts nationwide. The dental spa begat the podiatry spa. And now comes the first medi spa in Manhattan wholly dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman’s genital area. Phit — short for pelvic health integrated techniques — is to open this month on East 58th Street.

The domestic violence industry operates under the cloak of secrecy and anonymity, maintaining such policies are necessary to shield victims from their abusers. But every now and then a crack appears in the façade, revealing a sordid panorama of corruption, fraud, and abuse. On February 28, 2007 the Naples, Fla. citizenry opened their morning newspapers to the jolting headline, “CEO Out at Women’s Shelter: Investigation into Battery Complaint Prompts Departure.” Over the next several months,...

Advocates of even mild feminism were thin on the ground in 19th-century Egypt. But in 1899, the Cairo newspapers announced the appearance of at least one citizen who held outlandishly modern opinions on the subject. His much-reviled book, The Liberation of Women, created a controversy that remains alive today in certain corners of Islam. The heretic in question, Qasim Amin (1863-1908), a young judge from a prominent family, was hard to ignore. He was well connected among Egyptian intellectuals and a founder of Cairo University. He based his argument on patriotism. As a nationalist, he insisted that the independent Egypt...

Wenza Ali Mutlaq walked a bit uncertainly up the long street near the main government offices here on June 22, the hot wind stirring her heavy black abaya. She passed the concrete barricades put up to ward off suicide car bombers and made her way alone, almost haphazardly. Suddenly, a police car zoomed in. A policeman got out to talk with her. And then their lives were over — torn apart, along with 14 other people, by the huge blast of fire from her concealed explosive vest. Ms. Mutlaq, who was in her 30s and whose attack was captured on...

What do you call a man who sermonizes about the evils of paying women less than men but allows that very practice in his own office? While a certain unflattering noun would leap to the mind of most, we can now apply a proper one: Barack Obama. Although the Illinois senator has vowed to make pay equity between the sexes a priority in his administration, it has been revealed that he doesn't practice what he preaches. Writes CNSNEWS.com: On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator...

The idea that girls are the victims of “sex discrimination” in American schools is so preposterous, it is barely worth discussing. But it seems some people are still determined to believe it. A few weeks ago, the American Association of University Women, a 127-year-old organization that in recent decades has evolved into a feminist advocacy group, released a report declaring that it had debunked the “myth” of the “boy crisis” — the troubling trend of American boys falling far behind girls academically at every level of education. The AAUW announced that the boy crisis was “a fabrication of people who...

New research says women bitterly regret one-night stands. But the emotional damage can go deeper than you think... Aisling Aisling, 28, regretted every second of her one-night stand, saying she felt "used and cheated" When seen in the cold light of the morning after the night before, what had seemed like a rather thrilling idea at the time suddenly felt anything but for 28-year-old PR executive Aisling. At the party where they'd met, the prospect of a no-strings, one-night stand with a handsome young man had felt sexy, slightly dangerous, liberating and a salve to the ego following the end...

In countries of the Third World, you often find American men in their fifties or sixties who have wives twenty or twenty-five years younger. In my considerable experience, they seem happy together. However, the arrangement upsets people back in the US. Why, I wonder? A couple of upsettances are common. The first, from feminists, holds that the man is exploiting the woman sexually (a flattering thought to a man in his sixties; more likely, she wishes he were) or that he wants a docile and pliable woman. The view springs from the common notion among American women that a female...

For more than a decade, Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody has delighted in leaping through the doors of military planes and plunging into the night with a parachute on her back. A master parachutist and a former battalion commander, General Dunwoody handled logistics for the 82nd Airborne Division in Saudi Arabia during the first gulf war. As a three-star general, she has flown to Afghanistan and Iraq to ensure the steady flow of ammunition, tanks and fuel to the troops. But one of the biggest joys of her 33-year military career has been jumping out of airplanes and into roles...

Stubble is the way to win a woman’s heart, a study has shown. Researchers found that women are more attracted to men with stubbly chins than those with clean-shaven faces or full beards. Women participating in the research rated men with stubble as tough, mature, aggressive, dominant and masculine - and as the best romantic partners, either for a fling or a long-term relationships. The findings of the experiment, carried out on British women aged 18 to 44, could explain the appeal of actors such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt who cultivate their unshaven look. The explanation for the...

It is widely reported that women suffer depression at twice the rate of men. Apparently, more women are clinically depressed than ever before. On the assumption that these assessments are true, the question anyone interested in the subject -- which means anyone who cares about any woman -- asks is, why? In a recent column I offered one explanation -- the impossibly high expectations for happiness that feminism created for many women. There are other possible explanations. One is the way in which many girls have been raised. As every wise person and wise culture in history has known, it...

While the vice presidential slot may be John McCain’s best means of wooing those Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters who remain loath to embrace Barack Obama, the Republican party is a thin source of politically viable women, leaving McCain with few top-tier options. The most-mentioned potential running mates — former Republican candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty — are all men. Yet no clear front-runner has emerged, and there are at least three women McCain might select to fill out the ticket. All three would mark a symbolic turn away from Vice...

In a historic appointment, President Bush selects Lt. Gen. Ann Dunwoody to direct the Army Materiel Command. WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday nominated a top logistics officer to be the first female four-star general in U.S. history, tapping Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to head the command responsible for supplying the Army with all its equipment. Dunwoody's selection as chief of Army Materiel Command comes nearly 11 years after the first female three-star general was appointed, as head of Army intelligence, and 38 years after the first two female Army one-stars were named. -snip-

Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:42:32 AM · Presumptive Democratic nominee Barak Obama today made a surprise visit to Sweet Apple, Ohio, where he addressed an enthusiastic crowd of Hillary Clinton supporters about his vision for an Obama presidency. The appearance is seen as part of an initiative aimed at reaching out to disgruntled female Clinton voters, and gives a preview of what the electorate is likely to likely to hear from Senator Obama at next Friday's public rally appearance with Mrs. Clinton at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. Video here.

American Judaism has a boy problem. After several thousand years in which women were relegated to the sidelines of worship and community leadership, scholars and denominational leaders now say that women are significantly outnumbering men in numerous key segments of non-Orthodox Jewish community life. At the Reform movement's seminary, 60 percent of the rabbinical students and 84 percent of those studying to become cantors are female. Girls are outnumbering boys by as much as 2 to 1 among adolescents in youth group programs and summer camps, while women outnumber men at worship and in a variety of congregational leadership roles......

What women really want: a touch on the arm By Laura Clout Last Updated: 1:42AM BST 21/06/2008 Scientists have come up with a winning formula for men wishing to seduce women, and it has nothing to do with cheesy chat-up lines or good looks. Research shows that a man can significantly increase his pulling power by simply catching a woman's eye and lightly touching her arm. A study at Aberdeen University found that two-thirds of women agreed to dance with a man who rested his hand on her arm for a second or two while making the request. When the...

When It Comes to Brains, Size MattersIn a study of 200 university students, the researchers found that women and men performed similarly on tests of language and reading skills. Differences in brain organization between men and women may be driven by sex differences in brain size, they said. “People have said women have relatively larger language areas of the brain,” said Christine Chiarello, UCR professor of psychology. “In none of our language tasks were women better than men. When you account for differences in brain size between men and women there are few differences in the relative size of areas....

The domestic violence industry is reeling from a recent series of high-profile scandals, leaving abuse workers to wonder how things could have possibly gone so wrong. First the Sex. Recently a woman described her stay at an abuse shelter. In shocking detail, she recounts how threats and bullying had become commonplace among the shelter residents. Once a resident punched her forearm, screaming at her, "bitch!" One night another woman assaulted her, injuring her back and forcing her to seek medical attention. The woman also recounted lesbian advances by a shelter employee. "If you become her girlfriend, you will be treated...

Walk the halls of the computer science buildings on college campuses across the United States and you'll notice a peculiar thing: there are very few women. At a time when women are swelling enrollments in many other university departments, computer science is conspicuous for its lack of female students. Worse, percentages of female bachelor degrees earned in computer science are falling-down to 25 percent in 2004, the latest available figures, from a high of 37 percent in 1984. And all this is occurring at a time when National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to encourage women in the computer sciences --...

We live in times when blatant immodesty is rampant. Everywhere we are bombarded with intimate sexual details of the lives of strangers.... It is human nature to oscillate from one extreme to another. Lady-like clothes have been replaced by either scanty attire or boyish sportswear, as Genevieve Kineke ponders in her book The Authentic Catholic Woman: The everyday dress of women should work to their advantage and call to mind the inherent dignity of a child of God. There is tremendous latitude in style today, but few current fashions really flatter women. From the nearly indecent clothing once restricted...

HEY!!! What about "The Avenue"/"Avenyn" in Gothenburg (second largest city of Sweden) and Tylösand beach in the nearby Swedish West Coast city of Halmstad?? Like a certain Per Gessle of Roxette, - remember the hit "It must have been love (but it's over now)" feautured in Pretty Woman? - a native of Halmstad, put it: "The West Coast girls are the best thing on Earth!" The artricle: A survey by Traveler's Digest, a US travel magazine has made a list of the cities that are home to the world's most beautiful women. Stockholm came out on top. Rejecting the notion...

According to Frank Rich Women should all hate Senator McCain for the following: TEN years ago John McCain had to apologize for regaling a Republican audience with a crude sexual joke about Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno. Last year he had to explain why he didn’t so much as flinch when a supporter asked him on camera, “How do we beat the bitch?” But these days Mr. McCain just loves the women. ...How heartwarming. You’d never guess that Mr. McCain is a fierce foe of abortion rights or that he voted to terminate the federal family-planning program that...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., promised today that he would increase the numbers of women in government if he is elected president. "I assure you, with confidence, at the end of my first term you will see a dramatic increase of women in every part of the government, in my administration," McCain said. "I look you in the eye and I promise." McCain was answering a question at a "virtual town hall" meeting, which his campaign promoted as an opportunity for presumptive Republican presidential nominee to reach out to independents and Democrats, and aimed at former supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton....

Here is China's secret formula for topping the Olympic medal tally: two X chromosomes. In China, it's the women who have traditionally racked up the medals. At the 2000 Games in Sydney, the Chinese women won five more gold medals than the men. In Athens in 2004, the women won 19 gold medals, while the men won 12. By comparison, American women accounted for 12 of the nation's 35 gold medals in 2004. Although many Chinese athletes have yet to qualify for their 2008 Olympic berths, women are widely expected to outdo the men again this summer. Wrestling coach Zhang...

Eight years after the Sydney Olympics Hadi Souan Somayli still finds it hard to talk about the 400 metres hurdles final. He led for 399 metres but at the finishing line US sprinter Angelo Taylor surged forward to take gold. When I suggest we watch the race together his face darkens. It is not until he shows me his Olympic medal that his mood lightens. "This is special not just for me", he says. "It's special also for my country because this is the first medal that we won in the Olympics." Somayli is going to Beijing as director of...

Bikinis and other sexy stimuli can make men more prone to seek immediate gratification — leading to blown diets, budgets and bank accounts, new research suggests.In the study, detailed in the Journal of Consumer Research, men alternately fondled t-shirts and bras (which were not being worn during the test).After touching the bras, men valued the future less and the present more, said lead researcher Bram Van Den Bergh of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Viewing ads with women in bikinis had the same effect.

Any list of the best places to work is sure to include cool favorites like Google. The U.S. military? The sacrifices and risks required of its members seem to make it an unlikely pick. But new research suggests that it may well belong on such a list, particularly for minorities and women. The members of those two demographics in the military consistently rate their jobs as more satisfying than white males do, according to new research in this month's American Sociological Review. Much like Manning's military experience, the study of over 30,000 active duty personnel suggests that the armed forces'...

After a nightmare evening trapped between two egos, Sabine Durrant set out to discover when and why men started boring for Britain Recently, at a friend's 40th birthday dinner, I sat between an advertising executive who expounded on his son's musical talent and academic promise, and a commercial lawyer who was keen to drum home the possessive in the phrase "my team". 'There seem to be genuinely primitive pairings between vivacious, chatty women and men who are the opposite' By pudding, I wanted to push back my chair and introduce them. "John, meet Josh. You've a lot in common. He's...

Al ASAD, Iraq – Video is available of Lioness Marines conducting security measure tactics at entry control points and traffic control points to deter the use of females for terrorist acts as well as an increase in cultural sensitivities. Footage includes female Marines from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) and other MNF-W units learning culturally sensitive methods for searching female Iraqis at security checkpoints including female Marines loading and firing weapons, practicing searching methods and using techniques on female civilians. For access to the video, contact the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System by calling (678) 421-6604 or online...

ARAB JABOUR — She wears a head scarf and long robe covering her from shoulder to toe; only her hands and face are visible. Yet despite her traditional clothing, Maha Aziz Abass Al-Jabouri is working hard to cast aside the stereotypical role of women in the Arab Jabour region. Abass, a language teacher at the al-Hamza School, is one of several women in the village of Alemia who work to empower women in the area. “Before, our future was farming. Now we want jobs like the women in the city,” Abass said. As the Rasheed Women’s Council representative from Alemia,...

ANAH — The usual droning of sewing machines was absent at a textile factory when Marines with the Iraqi Women’s Engagement Team, Detachment 1, Civil Affairs Team 5, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, met with local female workers to discuss working conditions and other city matters. The IWE team had also visited the city of Rawah the previous day in an effort to give the females of that area an ear to listen too. “The goal of the IWE (program) is to give the women a chance to get together and discuss community concerns,” said Capt....

Power Mrs. du Toit Or… “The things your mother should have told you… if she’d known about them.” I want to settle an age old question: “Who Wears the Pants in the Family?”

During the Northern Iraq Women’s Conference, held in the Professor Sa’ad Conference Center in Irbil, Iraq, June 4, women from the northern provinces gathered to discuss major issues affecting the Iraqi women today. Although women spoke one of three languages, they were able to effectively communicate with each other through interpreters. Photo by Spc. Karla Rodriguez Maciel. IRBIL — Many women of Iraq have endured violence, poverty and suppression due to their environment throughout the years. However, more and more women, each day are taking a stand into stopping this trend. Influential women of the northern Iraq provinces, members of...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The mother's voice lacks emotion as she recalls how her daughter became a suicide bomber. art.car.cnn.jpg A woman used this car in a February 13 attack in Iraq. "God willing, she went to heaven," her mother says. "She wanted to die in the name of God," she says on a videotape, her face peering out from under a dark brown head scarf. "She told me she is sick of this life. ... So she spoke about the Americans. I told her, 'Where will you get Americans?' She said she will go after the Americans."

Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 1:49AM BST 03/06/2008 Neolithic age men fought over women too, according to a study that provides the most ancient evidence of the lengths men will go to in the hunt for partners. Many archaeologists have argued that women have long motivated cycles of violence and blood feuds throughout history but there has really been no solid archaeological evidence to support this view. Now a relatively new method has been used to work out the origins of the victims tossed into a mass grave of...

...If it's any consolation to Senator Clinton, she's not the only female to find that social progress is strangely accommodating of old-time sexism.... There's a lot of that about. Sex-selective abortion is a fact of life in India, where the gender ratio has declined to 1,000 boys to 900 girls nationally, and as low as 1,000 boys to 300 girls in some Punjabi cities. In China, the state-enforced "one child" policy has brought about the most gender-distorted demographic cohort in global history, the so-called guang gun — "bare branches." If you can only have one kid, parents choose to abort...

CAIRO, Egypt May 31, 2008, 12:47 pm ET · Muslim extremist women are challenging al-Qaida's refusal to include — or at least acknowledge — women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam. In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters. His remarks have since prompted an...

Women lawyers might have more opportunities to get into a law firm but they remain less likely to be promoted to partner, according to a U.S. study. Researchers from the University of Iowa found women who practiced in a firm for five or more years were 13 percent less likely than men to make partner -- even if their qualifications were equal and regardless of whether they had children. The study was based on data collected from two groups of Michigan Law School graduates -- the classes of 1972-78 and 1979-85 -- who completed surveys one year, five years and...

The Vatican declared today that any women who attempt “ordination” or any bishops who attempt to “ordain” women are automatically excommunicated from the Church by their actions. The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is said to be absolute, universal and immediately effective. The decree which was published in the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, comes in the wake of several women attempting to be “ordained” as Catholic priests. The most recent attempt to ordain a woman occurred on May 4 in Winona, Minnesota when Kathy Redig, participated in a ceremony of ordination.

The rumor is a big possibility she's being looked at.A tipster sent us word that John McCain’s VP advance man Arthur Culvahouse has been spotted in Juneau, Alaska. There’s only one reason he would be there - to meet with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin about the Vice President position. This comes on the heels of McCain’s Memorial Day weekend barbecue attended by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former White House budget director Rob Portman, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. Supposedly that was in informal...

"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen." —Ann Coulter, Oct. 2 New York Observer With Hillary Clinton still the leading Democrat in the race for president, a lot of news stories over the next year will discuss women voting patterns. Some women may well vote for Mrs. Clinton, even if they disagree with her policies, simply because she is a woman. Terms like "historic" will be thrown around a lot,...

Barack Obama’s favorability ratings among white women have significantly depreciated in recent months, particularly among Democrats and independents, posing an immediate obstacle for the likely Democratic nominee as he moves to shore up his party’s base. According to a new report by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, half of white women now have a negative perception of Obama. Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion. In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably while 56 percent had a positive perception of the likely Democratic...

ARLINGTON, Va., May 28, 2008 – Duty, courage, camaraderie and sacrifice are on display at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial here. Navy Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Gustavo Santa, a Gulf War and Iraq war veteran, took his children Justin, 8, and Megan, 10, to see “The American Soldier: A Photographic Tribute to Soldiers and Marines” exhibit on display at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, May 26, 2008. The exhibit is on display at the memorial through Labor Day. Defense Department photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The...

Are women really discriminated against in politics? Sen. Hillary Clinton surely thinks so. Indeed, she believes this year's presidential campaign has shown that sexism limits women's influence in politics. She claimed last week that "every poll I've seen shows more people would be reluctant to vote for a woman [than] to vote for an African American." It's possible that Democrats are particularly sexist, but with women making up the majority of voters, one would think that politicians were ignoring women at their own peril. In 2004, women made up 54 percent of voters. At least through early February of this...

Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta clearly define the status of Persian women and reveal that at a time when many women in the world were deprived of their basic rights, Persian women enjoyed social and legal freedom and were treated with great respect. Avestan texts mention both genders asking them to share responsibility and make decisions together. They are equally praised for their good deeds rather than their gender, wealth or power. “Whoever, man or woman, does what Thou, O Ahura Mazda, knowest to be the best in Life. Whoever does right for the sake of Right; Whoever in...

ARLINGTON, VA., May 26, 2008 – A group of past and present military women gathered at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery here today to commemorate fallen comrades and celebrate women’s contributions to the nation’s defense. Retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Anna Der-Vartanian, left, shakes hands with retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeanne Holm during a Memorial Day ceremony held at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 26, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. WIMSA’s annual...

Medics in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Saturday that they had seen a surge in violence against women in May, with both so-called "honour" killings and female suicides on the increase. "At least 14 women died in the first 10 days of May alone," a doctor told AFP in the region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah. "Seven of them took their own lives, the other seven were murdered in still unexplained circumstances" -- apparently the victims of "honour" killings. "Over the same period, we recorded 11 attempted self-immolations. These women were so desperate they set fire to themselves," the doctor added,...

Why are twenty-first-century women reclaiming a derogatory term? In 1980, Rabbi Jacob Rader Marcus, an octogenarian scholar of Jewish history, decided to title his new book about Jewish women in America “The American Jewess.” His publisher, Ktav, told him that was out of the question because the term “Jewess” was, well, offensive. Marcus, more concerned with historical truth than political correctness, didn’t really care. He compromised on the title, calling his study The American Jewish Woman: 1654–1980, but refused to remove the term from his text. “Many Jews today deem it a ‘dirty word’ and avoid it," he writes in...

Nothing frustrates grievance peddlers more than a rival victim group threatening their turf. Regardless of any official mission statement, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) exists to complain about how unfair the world is for women and to leverage sympathy into favors from government or academia’s power brokers. One recent AAUW publication depicted college women under siege from ubiquitous sexual harassment; another lamented how women earn less than men — even though their own research showed that individual choices, not discrimination, were mostly to blame. But AAUW’s bread and butter has been complaining about how women and girls are...