A generation from now, the first half of the 21st century will be looked upon as the era in which women finally achieved a balance of power in boardrooms, legislatures, universities and other centers of influence.  Mark it down, it is going to happen.

Already women hold the power in most consumer purchasing decisions.

Female purchasing power dominates in the obvious places such as grocery stores, drug stores and malls. But they also control the market for cars, durable goods and homes.

The force that is going to guarantee a fundamental shift in power is the rise of women in the "brain race." Forty years ago men received 57 percent of all college degrees awarded in the US and women received 43 percent. Today the numbers are reversed. In advanced degrees, the story is even more compelling. In 1972 women received 44 percent of graduate degrees. This year they will receive 60 percent.

The challenge (in reality, the opportunity) for every institution of size is to get ahead of this curve.  Those organizations that do a better job of recruiting and advancing women will have an enormous competitive advantage in the not too distant future .

The nation's fertility rate has slipped below replacement levels partly because of the recession and a decline in immigration. The drop in U.S. births to their lowest level since 1920 is sounding alarms about the nation's ability to support its fast-growing elderly population.Continue reading here

Pets have truly become like children. In a letter posted on her Facebook page, Fiona Apple writes "I can't come to South America. Not now...[My dog] has Addison's Disease, which makes it dangerous for her to travel since she needs regular injections of Cortisol, because she reacts to stress and to excitement without the physiological tools which keep most of us from literally panicking to death...If I go away again, I’m afraid she'll die and I won't have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out. Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes to pick which socks to wear to bed. But this decision is instant. These are the choices we make, which define us." Read the full letter in this Huffington Post article. 

Some of New York City's landlords and property owners are incorporating dog-friendly amenities including puppy playgrounds and doggy doors as well as day-care services for pets, according to this New York Times article.

The wife of France's new president is concerned with preserving her independence while supporting her partner, according to this New York Times piece.

The percentage of first births to women living with a male partner jumped from 12% in 2002 to 22% in 2006-10 -- an 83% increase, according to this USA Today article.