According to the new law, tenants of working age who receivehousing support will lose 14 percent of their benefits if they haveone spare room, and 25 percent if they have more than one. Critics,who dubbed the measure the ‘Bedroom Tax,’ have argued that thedefinition of ‘spare’ is narrow and contentious.“The government is saying they won’t have a tax on bigmansions, but they are having a bedroom tax on the poorest peoplein the country,” MP Helen Goodman told RT.Campaigners gathered across Britain to rail against the law,which they say targets the most vulnerable.”This is a cruel policy that primarily hits single parents,and the adult disabled,” Huffington Post reported, quoting theprotest’s national organizer, Eoin Clarke. “Even children deemeddisabled but not ‘severely’ so, are affected. Carers, theterminally ill, battered wives and husbands are allaffected.”The ‘Bedroom Tax’ is expected to affect 660,000 people when itis enacted next month.RT spoke with Brian Ryder, who suffers from osteoporosis andcannot work, and is one of thousands who will find themselves in aCatch-22 next month. Under the new law, Ryder will lose £50 of hishousing benefits every month – money he needs for food and heating.Otherwise, he would have to move out of the apartment where he hasbeen living for 14 years. He has asked to be provided with asmaller apartment, but was told that none were available.“People are being told they should move to a smaller flat,but in my constituency there are fewer than 100 places people couldmove to and that’s fairly typical across the country as awhole,” Goodman said.The government has argued the proposal is “an excellentpolicy which will lead to more efficient use of taxpayer-subsidizedhousing.” … Read More
The AP reserves the terms husband and wife for heterosexual couples only
In an internal memo obtained by Jim Romenesko, the Associated Press reminded its staff that editorial guidelines reserve the terms husband and wife for heterosexual unions only, except in certain cases:
“Our view is that such terms may be used in AP content if those involved have regularly used those terms (‘Smith is survived by his husband, John Jones’) or in quotes attributed to them… Generally AP uses couples or partners to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages.”
The distinction seems odd, and frankly unnecessary, considering that married gay couples are legally husbands and wives just the same as married straight couples. “Partner” makes sense when a couple, gay or straight, isn’t married, but to distinguish a wife from a “wife” is just strange.
‘The Sisterhood’: These Pastors’ Wives Head To Church For A Christian Sex Therapy Session (VIDEO)
Domonique gathered the women of “The Sisterhood” for a sex therapy session. But these are all pastors’ wives, so it was a Christian sex therapy session. And yes, that is a thing.
It turned out to be an animated session, as well, with plenty of callbacks from the parishioners as if it were a church service.
“We gotta keep it hot and poppin’ the bedroom. Amen. Can I get a witness?” the therapist asked the assembled women. Of course, she got plenty of them.
Brooke Shields To Join Lifetime’s ‘Army Wives’ And More Casting News
Brooke Shields will join Lifetime’s “Army Wives” for Season 7, the network announced Thursday.She’ll star alongside other new faces for the upcoming season, including Ashanti, Torrey DeVitto and Elle McLemore, while former series regular Kim Delaney will depart the show.According to the Lifetime release, Shields will portray brash and brilliant Air Force Colonel Katherine “Kat” Young. A crack C-17 pilot who can hold her own in the boys club atmosphere of the military, she’s hardly touched down in her new assignment at Joint Base Marshall Bring before she clashes with Army General Michael Holden (Brian McNamara). Never one to step away from a fight, Kat is a fierce advocate for the Air Force as she and Holden jockey for their respective branches at the highest levels of power on base. Only after their initial skirmishes does Holden learn of Kat’s tragic past, discovering they have more in common than he thought. Read More…
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‘Sister Wives: Secrets Revealed’: The Browns Discuss Why Each Wife Has Her Own Home (VIDEO)
After the third season finale of “Sister Wives,” the Brown family reconvened for “Sister Wives: Secrets Revealed.” They took a look back at the season, and answered some of the unanswered questions that cropped up as their lives unfolded on television.One topic discussed was why the Browns have separate houses for each of Kody’s four wives. As Kody explained, “I want them to have their autonomy,” So that one wife isn’t being stifled by the relationship inside a home with another wife.”Janelle agreed, saying, “I actually don’t think that sharing a kitchen means that we’re together. I think that together, for us, means we cooperate in raising the children.”Read More…
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‘My Three Wives’: Joe Darger Is Married To Twin Sisters And Their Cousin (VIDEO)
After introducing themselves to America on “Sister Wives,” the Darger family stepped into their own TLC special with “My Three Wives.” Like the Browns, the Dargers are a polygamist family. The major difference is that all three of Joe Darger’s wives are related, and two of them are twin sisters.Darger started by courting his first two wifes — who are cousins — simultaneously. The three of them got married on the same day. It wasn’t until years later that he married his third wife, the twin sister of one of his first two wives.”We always tell him you have a 50/50 chance if you guess,” the twins joked.Read More…
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‘Sister Wives’: First Wife Meri Pressured By Kodi, Teen Daughter To Have Another Baby (VIDEO)
One of the things that Kody Brown has enjoyed about his polygamist lifestyle is the large family he has. But while he’s had seventeen children across four wives, his first wife Meri has only been able to have one, and she’s wrapping up high school. So, on the latest “Sister Wives,” Kody again brought up the discussion of trying for another baby. As he explained, the clock is ticking.Fourth wife Robyn, who recently had a baby of her own, offered to be the surrogate for Meri, but Meri wasn’t sure she wanted to jump back into babyhood. But then her teen daughter, Mariah, started putting pressure on her. She told her mother that while she loved her half-siblings, she’d always wanted a full-blooded brother or sister. She even said she prayed about it all the time.It was a lot of pressure for Meri, who insisted she needed time to think about it. And she was still thinking about it as the episode ended, leaving fans wondering if she’ll take Robyn up on her offer.Read More…
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