• Former Royal Marine and “naked rambler” Stephen Gough has been threatened with life behind bars for repeated indecent exposure. Gough has spent the last seven years in and out of prison for public nudity. Yesterday he was informed that if he got dressed, he would be allowed to go free. Gough refused the offer. “Essentially this is about individual freedom and people’s tolerance to other people being different. I understand a lot of people will disagree and have strong feelings about it,” he said. • Deborah Mullen, wife of the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff issued a reminder to the military: when working to prevent military suicides, don’t forget the wives. Army wives are often just as afraid to seek counseling as their husbands, and too often they believe seeing a therapist would have an adverse effect on their spouse’s career. • D.C. tourism officials are naming Dr. Ruth the city’s honorary secretary of the Department of Love and Relationships as part of a “stimulus plan” for the tourism business. For the month of February, Dr. Ruth will hold the fictional office, which officials say they hope will help spark some new romances in the capital city. • 70% of the students learning ESL in Massachusetts are women, according to Diane Pourtnoy, director of a non-profit group. The reason is not simply a “gender gap” thing, says Pourtnoy, but has to do with certain attitudes about language and masculinity. Men are often seen as too busy providing for the family to have time for school. • British lawmakers will vote later this month on a law that would ban anyone under 18 from climbing into a tanning bed. A study published earlier this year found that 6% of kids aged 11-17 had used a sunbed. • After years of campaigning, the Women of Steel have been recognized for their efforts during the war. Four former factory workers traveled to London to accept their place on the roll of honor. The representatives were just a few of the thousands of women who worked in the steelmills, only to be fired as soon as men returned home from war. • A fun-sounding study found that boys are willing to work longer at a video game to win a soda than girls. The lead author of the study says the results reveal a relationship between gender and the desire for caffeine. • A group of Korean former “comfort girls” have held protests for the last 900 weeks in a row, demanding compensation for the years they spent enslaved in brothels during WWII. More than 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines were forced to work as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers both before and after the war. • Breastfeeding may be linked to improved mental health, says a recent study. Mothers who breastfeed past the age of six months have a greater chance of having healthy, happy teens. • A recent report projects that, in the next eight years, female-owned small businesses will be responsible for creating one third of new jobs. In addition, they found that female-owned businesses are better to work for, and tend to provide better health care and place a greater emphasis on the happiness of their employees. • Caster Semenya‘s coach told the Associated Press earlier today that Semenya will be allowed to compete internationally, however, lawyers say that this is not true. As of now, there has been no official IAAF statement to address whether or not Semenya will be able to continue competing. •
