Female Servicemembers Talk About The Mental Toll of War

By January, 2008, the Pentagon reports that more than 182,000 women will have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the surrounding region — about 11% of U.S. troops deployed. USA Today tells their story of service and the painful readjustment after coming home in this article. They deserve not just our "thanks for their service" but top-quality continuing care.

Child's Eye View of Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

Margaret McKeehan talks about her personal experience with modern school and community sex education in the Bible Belt in this article at AlterNet. Her intelligent description, and her assessment of how it affected her, is well worth reading.

Activist Father Turned In By His Family

Aaralyn Mills, daughter of civil rights leader James Bevel, and much of his extended family brought the father to court recently in Virginia, charged with sexually abusing her. Why the family took action, their story, and the results of the trial are all explained in this Washington Post article.

Think Again About "Colon Cleansing"

Boston Globe health writer Judy Foreman talked to GI specialists and alternative medicine writers to get a balanced view on the Internet-driven urging to remove toxins from the body by chelation therapy, and flush out our intestines with cleansing fasts and products.

Cell Phones Fuel "Honor Killings" in Iraq

Traditional morality is back in Iraq with a vengeance now that the secular government of Saddam is gone, and modern technology is at it's service. In 2007, cell phone photos of at least 350 girls and women were used as evidence of impropriety, leading to "honor killings" as retribution, reports UK's The Independent.

Probiotics - What Are You Really Buying?

Probiotics, "good bacteria", are big business now, and the claims of what they can do for you are getting bigger too. Not just good digestion, but a strengthened immune system, even "myriad health benefits". Sort it out with this article from the LA Times.

Nicaragua's Total Abortion Ban - Update

PBS's Frontline reports on the dire situation for pregnant Nicaraguan women now that all abortions are banned, even to protect the mother's life, and penalized by jail for both doctor and patient. The article also explains the pre-election alliance of Church and candidates that made the ban possible.

Expansion of Domestic Trafficking Law Proposed

"The House version of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA, also HR 3887), passed in 2007, redefines trafficking to include many domestic prostitutes. If a similar bill is passed in the Senate and becomes law, it will mean that [sex workers] would be treated as crime victims deserving of resources and institutional support, rather than as criminals." More on the pros and cons of this legislation from AlterNet.

Irena Sendler, Holocaust Rescuer, Dies at 98

Roman Catholic social worker, Irena Sendler, used her position as head of a children's bureau in Poland to smuggle Jewish youngsters to safety, with the help of some 30 other women volunteers. This tribute to her WWII innovation and bravery appeared in The New York Times.

Viagra "Helps" Men, Annoys Women

Lois Rogers for The Mail Online reports that viagra, with an estimated 27 million users, has changed men's lives. What about women? Not only does Viagra not work for women, half of the men who get prescriptions for Viagra don't refill them because their partners don't like it. For more of the women's side of the story...

High-Profile Challenge to South Korean Adultery Law

You can get two years in prison for committing adultery in South Korea, a law which is now being challenged by the high-profile scandal of two popular married television stars. The husband has pressed charges against his wife for adultery, and she's claiming the law is unconstitutional. For more, see The New York Times.

Home Microdermabrasion Kits - How Good Are They?

Janet Cromley, for the LA Times, evaluates three at-home skin buffing kits, at three price points, to compare them to pricey dermatology office treatments. Read the review and comments from dermatologists on pros and cons.

Double Honor Killing in India A Source of Pride

Northern India was the site of a multiple honor killing (one victim was pregnant) recently. The couple were from the same village and therefore considered to be related, violating caste and custom traditions. The Reuters article also explains the power struggle for control of land which additionally motivated the murders, which will not be prosecuted.

Why Do Pregnant Women Get Morning Sickness?

Researchers are wondering if morning sickness may be a protective for mother and baby, and how this might work. Read more in this LiveScience interview with evolutionary biologist Samuel Flaxman.

Florida Woman Gets 7 Years for Keeping A Slave

Middle school teacher (at least until she was convicted) Maude Paulin brought a 14-year-old Haitian orphan to the US and kept her as confined as unpaid labor for five years. UNICEF reports that up to 17,500 people are brought into the US each year as slaves. Read the Time Magazine article for more.

35 One-Minute Weight Loss Choices

Prevention Magazine's Linda Mooney has put together something I thought impossible - a really useful article on small changes to promote weight loss. Example: Blot your pizza with a napkin to soak up oil and calories.

Women the Key to Rwanda's Economic Revival

The Washington Post reports that fourteen years after the Rwandan genocide, women survivors are astonishing Africa and the world with their entrepreneurial skills. With the death of so many men, women, who previously had low social status and could not inherit property, are changing the nation. Grameen Bank, which gives microloans to women worldwide, reports similar results in Asia, India, and Latin America.

Child Labor Fuels China's Prosperity

Residents of Southwestern China say "children as young as 12 have been recruited by child labor rings, equipped with fake identification cards, and transported hundreds of miles across the country to booming coastal cities, where they work 12-hour shifts to produce much of the world’s toys, clothes and electronics". Details in these two articles in The New York Times on the Chinese labor rings, and on Chinese child slavery.

Brazilian Women Must Have Beautiful Bodies or Else

Brazil's market for fitness gyms, cosmetics and plastic surgery vies with that of the United States, where incomes are 14 times higher. These expenditures are hugely out of proportion because, as global news service IPS reports, Brazilian women depend on body perfecting services to climb social and economic ladders and compete successfully in markets, from employment to romance. Perfection has become the new normal.

Abusers Get Custody of the Kids in US Family Courts

Alison Bowen reports in New York Family Courts are giving abusers custody of the kids 37% of the time. Studies in Arizona and Massachusetts, and informal questioning of professionals in the rest of the country show the same thing - unsupervised, unregulated Family Courts failing to protect battered women and exposing children for years at a time to the batterer. Read more in Women's eNews.