This story provides partial transcripts regarding Ken Buck's decision not to prosecute an alleged rape. Similar stories have also appeared in the Huffington Post and Salon (though I don't have links to those stories.)

Ken Buck is the Republican candidate for the Colorado senate seat. His opponent is Democrat Michael Bennet. Apparently, someone from ProgressNow tracked down the alleged victim in this case and obtained a recording she made of her interview with Buck.

Given the totality of the evidence, Buck decided not to prosecute. He also consulted with members of the Boulder DA's office, who concurred with his decision. He told the alleged victim the jury would likely view this as a case of "buyer's remorse." That last comment has stirred a lot of controversy and Buck's being accused of being "insensitive" to women.

The story raises issues that are of likely interest to readers of this forum.

Tom Jacobs has a nice article about confronting sexist language. Please feel free to link - Janice

Excerpt:

'A woman who bristles when a male friend or colleague uses sexist language has to make a quick decision: Call him on it, or not? Although she might be personally offended, she may be reluctant to speak up, anticipating his response will be dismissive or defensive.

Research just published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests such fears may be overblown. It describes a carefully structured study in which college-age males are confronted over the use of sexist language — and respond with heightened sensitivity regarding gender issues.'

It's all just a big joke to yahoo7. Link to article here. Excerpt:

'An Adelaide woman who killed her husband after trying to set his penis on fire has been found not guilty of his murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

A Supreme Court jury, after deliberating for nine hours over two days, ruled Rajini Narayan guilty of her husband's manslaughter after clearing her of murder in a majority verdict, Adelaide Now reports.

Nayaran, who threw petrol and a lit candle on the back of on Satish Narayan, said she was only trying to burn the tip of his penis, and she had no intention of killing him.

Satish died 20 days after his wife confronted him about a suspected affair in their Unley home in December 2008.

The prosecution argued the affair, and two decades of beatings, were the motivating factor in the crime - a claim Narayan denied.'

There's always someone else to blame...

Link here. Excerpt:

'A mother has given evidence that she choked and hit her five, small starving children if they tried to get food because she was scared of another woman who hated them.

The mother has admitted she watched her five kids, aged four to seven, beg for dog food because they were so hungry.

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was giving evidence in a Supreme Court trial in Adelaide of three men who are accused of mistreating the five children from late February 2008 to June 2008.'

Link here (.pdf document).

The Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital continues to host the following pamphlet of after-care instructions for the infant-only plastibell circumcision device, despite a ban on cosmetic circumcision of infants in South Australian public hospitals, in effect since 2007.

Excerpt:

'Plastibell
Is commonly used in infants 6 months and younger. A plastic ring is tied around the foreskin and the excess skin is trimmed. The ring separates and falls off after approximately 10 days.
...
PLASTIBELL CIRCUMCISION: No special dressing is required. A dark brown or black ring around the plastic ring is normal, which will disappear when the ring falls off. The plastic ring usually falls off after 2-8 days. If the plastic ring has not fallen off within 10 days take your son to your local doctor. Some bruising and swelling is to be expected.'

Within the next week all the miners who have been trapped underground for over 2 months in Chile will hopefully be rescued. Miraculously it appears that there will be no loss of life and, hopefully, no lasting physical effects, although the psychological effects of being trapped for so long may take longer to come to terms with. We frequently refer to the sacrifices which men make by undertaking hard, dirty and often dangerous jobs and the fact that well over 90% of all workplace fatalities are men. It is high time that we recognised these men in the same way that women are fond of recognising their achievements. The men's movement should designate the anniversary of the date on which the last miner is freed as the day on which we recognise these men. What better day to choose than the anniversary of an event which could so easily have been an appalling tragedy, but which will now be a cause for celebration?

Malcolm - Cardiff, Wales

(Submitted and published originally as Letter to the Editor on www.glennsacks.com)

Story here. If a person intends to drug another person for "nefarious reasons" they usually do so very selectively and not in a way likely to draw attention to what they are doing. Dumping a desultory drug into a general mix of booze that a mix of people has access to just doesn't fit the M.O., yet the very first thing they can come up with is that this was an attempt to create a mass-drugging for "date-rape" purposes. The police "caught" one couple in the act of having sex someplace in the house only to find out that they are in fact a couple and undrugged. Other than that, they have nothing else to say but that some jerk/jerks spiked a common source of drinks. And the immediate suspicion? An attempt to drug females for the purposes of raping them.

Blog entry here. Excerpt:

'I realize that few of the readers of this blog would be watching "Teen Mom" on MTV; however, if you caught the September 28th episode when Amber beat the crap out of her ex-fiance Gary, you would realize why this episode is so important in at least making an attempt to expose the blatant domestic violence against men.

Story here. Excerpt:

'An Alabama city is coming under heavy fire from some local residents for celebrating a convicted sex offender – a female teacher who admitted to raping a 15-year-old male student – as its "Person of the Month."

The controversy involves Pelham, Ala., a city of approximately 21,000 people, which is honoring Emily Morris for promoting a fundraiser at the city's high school to help battle cancer.

But just five years ago, when she was a resident of Pelham, Morris was arrested on a variety of charges for allegedly having intercourse with a teen boy at Leeds High School where she taught. The state of Alabama has listed her as a sex offender.

Now, the former instructor who avoided a potential 20-year jail sentence by pleading guilty to second-degree rape in exchange for one year behind bars and four years probation, is featured as "Person of the Month" in the June edition of Pelham Magazine, the official publication of the city, which is mailed out to local residents.'

Someone had recently told me that bogs on men's rights and anti-Feminism are gaining popularity in Sweden. I asked if there were any Swedish blogs with postings in English and I got some examples including PelleBilling.com. The blog owner is an M.D. in Sweden and has been on TV, done interviews, and given lectures on men's issues. His post, here, succinctly brings large and historical issues to the individual level in a very useful and widely applicable way. Excerpt:

Had a reader mention it via email tonight, so in case you don't know about it, it is found here.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last week Stacy Bannerman, well-known advocate for military families, published an article titled, “Husbands Who Bring the War Home:” Author of When the War Came Home, Bannerman has been credited with helping to secure passage of the Military Family Leave Act in 2009.
...
As a columnist who specializes in the field of domestic violence and who has spoken with countless victims of abuse, I found myself feeling increasingly unsettled as I worked my way through her engaging yet enigmatic essay.

Of course by the end of this story we're supposed to pity the woman who abandoned her child but continued to collect child support from her ex-husband while he raised the child. Excerpt:

'"She abandoned us," my client had told me. She was never the kind of woman you marry, he'd said. He should have known. They'd been married less than a year when she packed her clothes in a single cardboard box and drove off, leaving him. Leaving their infant daughter.

I really can't think of anything to write for this video.

Via email:

This is a masterpiece of DV misinformation, on the surface claiming to praise men, but essentially ignoring the existence of male victims. Note that she never refers to “Good Women” who take a stand against female abusers.

Here’s her email if you want to point out the bizarre logic: randy-at-randysusanmeyers.com, or post your comment on the Huffington Post. Excerpt:

'Where are the signs in the men's rooms asking: Are You Hurting The Woman You Love? Underneath those words there could be a number to call -- a hotline where men can learn to change -- because the way I see it (even in my most hopeless moments, like when I read about an 80-year-old woman being raped by a gang of young soldiers) we can learn to be better.