Article here.

'Durban, Dec 22 (IANS) Believe it or not, men are allowed to take part in a South Africa harvest festival only if they are circumcised. This is an effort to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The annual 'first fruit ceremony' involves a bull that is beaten to death in a sacrificial ritual. This year some 10,000 males participated and all of them were circumcised. The men came from the KwaZulu-Natal region.

This year's event marks 20 years since the ceremony was revived by King Goodwill Zwelithini and one year since male medical circumcision was introduced in the province, government news agency BuaNews reported.

The king lays stress on medical circumcision as part of efforts to address the HIV/AIDS cases. Zwelithini again urged young men to live responsibly and continue the fight against HIV, poverty, drugs and alcoholism.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Conventional wisdom holds that boys excel in math and girls in reading. Truth be told, boys excel in neither, according to a report released this month by the Center for Education Policy. The report, which analyzes test results from 40 states, reveals that boys lag well behind girls in literacy skills - while only tying them in math.

That gap is why many colleges are overflowing with women, while guys are becoming scarcer and scarcer on campus.

American boys, we tell ourselves, must be falling victim to anti-academic influences: hip hop, mind-numbing video games and too much time watching SportsCenter.

But the issue is far more complicated. Earlier this month, results of 65-country comparison called the Program for International Student Assessment revealed that girls tie boys in math while soaring ahead of them by an astounding 39 points on reading skills. SportsCenter, last time we checked, has a limited audience in Albania, the country with the largest gender gap in reading.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The public watches the weather forecast everyday to see if we need a coat or an umbrella and we tend to believe what the forecaster tell us. But WABC weather girl, Heidi Jones, told police that she was a victim of rape as she was jogging in Central Park in September. Jones reported the rape because the same Hispanic man reappeared in November and sexually assaulted her. The police think that this weather forecaster should not be believed.

When she reported the two attacks the police found discrepancies in her accounts. Eventually, the 37-year-old Good Morning America weather girl allegedly admitted that she made the stories up.
...
A false rape claim is very serious and anyone who falsely accuses someone of this deserves whatever the law feels they should get.'

Report here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON -- Employers are looking for more highly educated workers, and the bulk of available jobs are in nursing and retail. One American demographic fits that bill.

Women will drive economic recovery in the U.S., according to a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch report. They tend to be better educated than men, and women tend to dominate the industries that are hiring the most workers.

Unemployment rates for last month show there are more out of work men, at 10.6 percent, than women, at 8.9 percent. However, the employment gender gap should disappear once the economy revs up, according to other economists.

"Men saw disproportionate job loss, so it makes sense they would have disproportionate gain," Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute tells the Huffington Post.

Shierholz says men dominate jobs related to construction and manufacturing, which took a hard hit during the recession.'

More from the it's-illegal-to-be-a-boy dept, here. Excerpt:

'DECEMBER 22--A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday for using a permanent marker while in class at his Oklahoma City middle school, a violation of an obscure city ordinance.

According to an Oklahoma City Police Department report, the boy was spotted “in possession of a permanent marker” by Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside. The 50-year-old educator told cop Miguel Campos that the student was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.”
...
Campos reported that he allowed Woodside, a seventh grade math teacher, to “sign a citation” against the boy, who was then transported to the Community Intervention Center, a juvenile holding facility. A police sergeant subsequently “booked the marker into the property room.”

A police spokesman referred to the student’s bust as a “citizen’s arrest” effectuated by Woodside.'

From SAVE:

Below is SAVE’s annual report for 2010 - WOW! Is everyone ready for 2011? VAWA is up for reauthorization!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A. WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA:
Website Development:
Did extensive upgrades and enhancements to the SAVE website: http://www.saveservices.org/

Social Media:
Established Landing Pages, detailed content, and Facebook/Yahoo pages for
1. Victims/Survivors
2. DV Service Providers
3. Policymakers
4. Persons Falsely-Accused
Website traffic averages close to 100 persons per day. Falsely-accused Facebook page has 3,000-5,000 Post Views per day.

B. PUBLICITY:
Campaigns:
April: Turning the Tide
October: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
November: Protect Victims: Stop Mandatory Arrest

Radio Interviews:
Held 40 interviews around the country – estimated listenership: 2 million persons

Press Releases:
Issued 4 press releases

Established the SAVE Award for DV Prevention – awarded to Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council

Link to article here. Excerpt:

'A gun-wielding woman burst into a North Carolina television station Tuesday forcing the evening newscast off the air, though no one was injured, the station said.

After a brief standoff with a police SWAT team that surrounded the building of ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV, the woman was taken into custody. ABC News said she had pulled out a gun and put it to her head, though police later learned the gun was not loaded.

A CBS affiliate in Charlotte, WBTV, identified the woman as Wendy Naidas.'

Ed. note: Also covered here.

A blog entry "Gather News Pokes Fun at Abused Man" is here and takes the reader through looking at a blogger's jocular approach to a news story of a woman setting fire to her boyfriend's crotch, and a few other examples from a different perspective. What if the target were a woman? Would it still be funny? The conclusion is that, of course, whatever is abuse when done to a woman or child, is also abuse when done to a man. Excerpt:

Transcript here. Excerpt:

'But let me just call woman number one. She met Assange at a seminar hosted by the Swedish Brotherhood Movement.

She is well-known in radical circles, and in college, was protege of the militant feminist academic holding the post on-campus of campus sexual equity officer - whatever that is.

In the past, woman number one has also had a blog posting that has since been removed called "The Seven Steps to Legal Revenge." That explained how a woman can use courts to get their - to get back on unfaithful lovers. "Step Seven" says go to it and keep your victim in sight. Make sure your victim suffers just as you did.

OK. So, here she is. We know who she is. She is a radical, uber leftist. She is at this panel where he has been invited to speak. Now, remember, this is in August. He was invited to be the key speaker at the seminar on war and the role of the media. This is about the time when Assange was threatening to release more confidential documents.

From A Voice for Men, here:

'In her 1989 book, Defining Rape, feminist author Linda Brookover Bourque argued for a shift in the burden of proof in rape cases to the defense, which would entail that the defense establish, with a preponderance of evidence, that it was most likely that a woman alleging rape against her gave clear assent to engage in sex. This argument is made on page 178 of her book.

This is not an argument in favor of men obtaining consent before having sex. No, she means to alter the principal of western jurisprudence in which the accused is innocent until proven guilty through evidentiary proceedings. Bourque proposes a new, improved system in which for accusations of rape, guilt is assumed by the court, and the accused must present overwhelming evidence of innocence.

Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly by unanimity, describes the principle of presumption of innocence as follows:

Full summary here. Considering that Fathers & Families had a 100% success record for the year of 2010 (with 5 out of 5 legislative goals accomplished), I eagerly anticipated their forthcoming announcement for their legislative priorities for 2011. Well, they just announced them, and it's an ambitious list. If you want to help them, you can either register as an activist and/or donate.

Here's a shortened overview of their 2011 legislative agenda:

1. Combating Parenting Time Interference [more]

2. Curbing Alimony Abuses [more]

Article here. Excerpt:

'DURHAM, N.C. -- A woman who authorities said falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape four years ago has been found guilty by a North Carolina jury of misdemeanor child abuse and damaging property.

A Durham County jury on Friday convicted 32-year-old Crystal Mangum of contributing to child abuse or neglect, injury to personal property, and resisting a public officer stemming from a February confrontation with her live-in boyfriend. Mangum was sentenced to time already served before she was released on bail earlier this year.

The jury deadlocked 9-3 on a felony arson charge, and Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones declared a mistrial.'

Article here. Looks like the online radical feminists are on the warpath (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to a couple of well-known political lefties, Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann, for their defense of Wikileaks' Julian Assange (Assange has been bogusly accused of sex crimes by two female groupies in Sweden, one of whom is a known radical feminist).

Story here.

'A woman who beat an eight-year-old girl with the metal end of a dog leash plans to become a midwife, the Adelaide District Court has heard.

Tara Jefferson, 20, has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing harm to a child.

The court heard she struck the girl in the face with the leash at least 10 times.

It was told Jefferson had a fight with the child's father and took her anger out on the child while she was caring for her.

The court heard the woman is now four months' pregnant and intends studying midwifery, but the criminal proceedings may affect her career prospects.

She will be sentenced next month.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Judge Quinn’s 31-page decision boils over with the frustrations of a family-law judge who is called upon time and again to referee bouts between couples who were once in love. He even takes a shot at family law itself, saying that spousal support is “the roulette of family law – blindfolds, darts and Ouija boards being optional.”

And he anticipates criticism of his tone: “The parties repeatedly have shown they are immune to reason. Consequently, in my decision, I have tried ridicule as a last resort.”

In a novel twist, Judge Quinn granted the wife, Catherine, sole custody of the feuding couple’s 13-year-old daughter. However, he ordered Larry to pay Catherine just a dollar a month in spousal support.