by Laura Dean at Huffington Post | July 30 2009 The Feminist Majority Foundation and the Afghan Women’s Mission are locked in a bitter controversy over what’s best for the women of Afghanistan. The two groups are natural and historical allies. But the Feminist Majority has now endorsed President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan — arguing that the administration’s new strategy is necessary to prevent the return of the brutal oppression of women by the Taliban regime.

Iran police end graveside rally (The World) TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian police fired tear gas and beat anti-government protesters with batons to disperse thousands attending a graveside memorial today for victims of post-election violence, witnesses and state television said. Police beat protesters in Iran as memorial held for victims of election violence (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News) TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian police fired tear gas and beat protesters to disperse thousands chanting “Neda lives!” Thursday at a memorial for victims of post-election violence held at the gravesite of the woman whose death made her an icon of the pro-reform movement, witnesses said.

By Ben Protess, Huffington Post Investigative Fund, and Emily Witt, ProPublica When a woman is raped, police turn to scientific evidence-semen, blood and tissue samples-to identify her attacker. The evidence is collected through a medical exam of the victim, who is not supposed to pay for this crime-solving process. But 15 years after Congress passed a law to ensure that rape victims would never see a bill, loopholes and bureaucratic tangles still leave some victims paying for hospital ex

By Ben Protess, Huffington Post Investigative Fund, and Emily Witt, ProPublica When a woman is raped, police turn to scientific evidence-semen, blood and tissue samples-to identify her attacker. The evidence is collected through a medical exam of the victim, who is not supposed to pay for this crime-solving process. But 15 years after Congress passed a law to ensure that rape victims would never see a bill, loopholes and bureaucratic tangles still leave some victims paying for hospital ex

Salon has a great post by a doctor about medical quackery at the Huffington Post , where a columnist recently suggested colon cleansing could treat swine flu . This is the downside of HuffPo’s open, unpaid model — and culty recruiter. Arianna Huffington is famously aggressive about recruiting bloggers from her persona life; in 48 hours last year she invited “someone at a book signing… a fifteen-year-old lecture attendee; a bookstore owner; the Asperger’s-afflicted teen-age son of a radio d.j.; a woman…

The Brothers Emanuel: Ari (L) – Rahm (R) July 31st, 2006 – Hollywood, California: At a time of escalating tensions in the world, the entertainment industry cannot idly stand by and allow Mel Gibson to get away with such tragically inflammatory statements. People in the entertainment community, whether Jew or gentile, need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line.

Quote: Pepin Tuma, 33, was walking with two friends along Washington’s hip U Street corridor around midnight Saturday, complaining about how Gates had been rousted from his home for not showing a proper amount of deference to a cop. “We’d been talking about it all day,” said Tuma. “It seems like police have a tendency to act overly aggressively when they’re being pushed around,” Tuma recalled saying. Then the group noticed five or six police cruisers surrounding two cars in an apparent traffic stop on the other side of the street.

Porn star Stormy Daniels’ potential senatorial campaign was rocked yesterday by an explosion that blew up her political advisor’s car in New Orleans, according to “The Huffington Post” . The advisor, Brian Welch who happens to be a celeburant.com family friend , was not injured in the explosion. In surveillance footage aired on TV affiliate ABC-26, a man is seen opening the drivers’-side door, throwing an object in the car and the vehicle exploding.