From Jeremy S.: GOOD GOD! How blatant is THAT? What an outrage! I was just going to ask for proof of this: "$25.00 goes to battered women's trust funds". I am stunned and outraged. I can only imagine what monies are transferred and to where in my own country. Everything is possible now. (Seriously this is not a joke.) I stand in disbelief and in renewed earnest solidarity with our American brothers. I need say no more. Let this tell the story.

37:1-12.1. Additional fee: '1. In addition to the fee for issuing a marriage license authorized pursuant to R.S.37:1-12, each licensing officer shall collect a fee of $25 from the applicants which shall be forwarded on a quarterly basis to the Department of Human Services.'

37:1-12.2. Trust fund to aid victims of domestic violence: '2. The Department of Human Services shall establish a trust fund for the deposit of the fees received pursuant to section 1 of this act. The moneys from the trust fund shall be used for the specific purpose of establishing and maintaining shelters for the victims of domestic violence, or a. for providing grants-in-aid to such shelters established by local governments or private nonprofit organizations;...'

Ed. comments: Of course the implication created by attaching a DV shelter-funding provision to a fee collected for marriage licenses speaks volumes of the prejudices underlying the conception of the regulation: that marriage leads to domestic violence so it is marriage that is to be taxed (at the relative rate of 830% as compared to the license fee without the surcharge: 25/3 = 8.33, or 830%). However research shows that such is not the case; DV can and does occur between unmarried and cohabiting and non-cohabiting people all the time. Yet it is marriage license fees are the things that get attached for this funding.

Story here. Excerpt:

'MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities say two professional wrestlers found dead in a low-rent hotel in the capital may have been drugged to death by female robbers.

Autopsies are being performed on the two midget wrestlers, one of whom went by the name "La Parkita" — or "Little Death" — and wore a skeleton costume in the ring. The other was known as "Espectrito Jr."

Authorities say two women were seen leaving the men's hotel room before the bodies were discovered.

Prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera said Wednesday that gangs of female robbers are experienced at using drugs to knock men out and rob them, but they may have used too strong a dose.'

Sydney Morning Herald has this report about an ad Microsoft pulled.

Basically, the ad shows a man surfing the net, then his wife pulling the laptop round to see what he's done. She's so horrified by what she sees (it isn't explained) that she pukes on the floor. He trips up in the vomit (slapstick, always funny when a guy gets hurt!) and then - just to make it absolutely certain that we know where the guy stands - she throws up all over him.

The ad doesn't explain what the guy was looking at, but the obvious intonation is that it is at the least hard core porn, if not child pornography. Queue actor who talks about surfing safe - followed by wife flirting with him.

The ad has been pulled already - but man it's horrific. I never liked Microsoft much but I own several laptops with Windows on it - be damned if I'll buy another, any company who paints me as a child porn pervert who's good for nothing but being vomitted on doesn't deserve my hard earned dollar....

Story here. Excerpt:

'Lori Drew, the woman convicted of using a hoax MySpace profile to harass a teenage girl to the point of suicide, was acquitted by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday, Wired reported.

Judge George Wu overturned Drew's guilty verdict, which was issued in November, saying that if Drew had been convicted of a felony in the case, she would already have been sentenced. But because she was convicted of three misdemeanors--a significantly lighter offense than prosecutors originally sought--the constitutionality of the guilty verdict was less clear.

Drew, a Missouri resident, had been convicted of three misdemeanor counts of "accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress," each of which could have resulted in a year of jail and a $100,000 fine. But she hadn't been convicted of conspiracy, a felony that could've led to up to 20 years in prison.

Last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the courts to dismiss the case because of the precedent it could set. "Criminal charges for a 'terms of service' violation is a dramatic misapplication of the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act), with far-ranging consequences for American computer users," the EFF said at the time, and argued that it could result in criminal charges for something as innocuous as a minor using the Google search engine.
...

From Marc A.: NCFM's San Diego Chapter, though NCFM President Harry Crouch, recently succeeded in getting the San Diego District Attorney to remove false, gender-biased material from their new police training video on domestic violence, such as the myth that domestic violence is primarily male-on-female and is a leading cause of death for women. The story, including a letter from the District Attorney thanking NCFM, is chronicled here.

Excerpt: "[NCFM] after being asked to review a new police training video sent a letter to the San Diego District Attorney showing that the video contained wrong and gender biased information, that is it was biased against men and perpetuated information detrimental to the community and police. Assistant District Attorney Patrick McGrath found that there were unverifiable statistics and agreed to have the video appropriately edited and re issued. He will be asking that the nine San Diego County police departments and Sheriff’s Office replace the first version with the second on departmental Intranets as well as for use in other trainings. . . . We believe this is the first time a law enforcement agency within the United States agreed that information contained in a domestic violence police training video was wrong and took affirmative and costly steps to correct it. . . . ."

The District Attorney's letter thanking NCFM can be viewed directly here (.pdf file).

Thank you Harry Crouch, the San Diego District Attorney, and all others who participated!

Article here. Excerpt:

'While both boys and girls face issues — in school and out — the problems affecting boys are serious and have not been properly addressed by policy makers, according to a new review article by psychologist Judith Kleinfeld. Among the results: high rates of functional illiteracy and a troublingly high suicide rate that's become even more pronounced in recent years compared to the rate among girls.

"Boys' issues are being neglected, whereas girls' issues have been addressed for over 20 years, with great success," said Kleinfeld, a professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. "Now it's time to turn our attention to boys."

Following concerns about psychological and educational problems affecting girls in the early 1990s, discussion of a so-called "boy crisis" emerged. Some publications claimed that boys were falling behind girls in school success and that feminist ideology was partly to blame for lack of attention on the issue.
...
"One [solution] is to create a national commission on boys, just the way national commissions on girls have been established," she said. Also, teachers should be alerted "to the particular problems boys have in writing, and also reading," she contends. Finally, we can "use the mental health professionals and especially school counselors who are on the front lines to identify boys who are at danger of suicide."'

Story here.

'(AP) A former Massachusetts schoolteacher who was found with a student at a West Virginia motel has pleaded not guilty to rape.

Lisa Lavoie, 24, was arraigned Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court in Massachusetts on three counts of aggravated rape and abuse and three counts of statutory rape.

Lavoie and a 15-year-old student were reported missing Feb. 16 and were found a week later. She was fired from her job.

Lavoie already pleaded not guilty in March to enticing a minor. Her attorney, David Hoose, says the new charges were not unexpected.

He says Lavoie is "very upset by the whole experience that she went through."

She is out on $25,000 bail.'

Site: http://www.nocirc.org/. Salient points:

"• No national or international medical association recommends routine circumcision.

• Only the USA circumcises the majority of newborn boys without medical or religious reason.

• Medicalized circumcision began during the 1800s to prevent masturbation, which was believed to cause disease.

• Today's parents are learning that the foreskin is a normal, protective, functioning organ.

• Today's parents realize circumcision harms and has unnecessary risks.

• Circumcision denies a male's right to genital integrity and choice for his own body."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Marilyn Milos, 69, of Forest Knolls was a nurse at Marin General Hospital in 1979 when she witnessed her first circumcision. The experience changed her life. After researching the procedure, she became convinced it was not only unnecessary but harmful. She says she was later fired from her job for sharing her opinions with patients and has spent the last 30 years crusading against circumcision as founder of the nonprofit National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers.

Q: What do you remember about that first circumcision?

A: As we walked into the nursery, the baby was strapped down to a plastic board. I called it "the rack" when I worked there. The baby was pulling against the restraints. Then the doctor started to cut and that baby let out a scream I've never heard come out of the mouth of a human, ever, and it became louder and louder. My bottom chin began to quiver and then tears poured over my eyes, and the doctor looked at my face and said, "There is no medical reason for doing this."'