Story here. Excerpt:

'Nancy Salas was idolized and adored by family and friends as a successful student about to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles. They didn't know she hadn't been enrolled since 2008.

Police say it was pressure from family and friends that prompted her disappearance and her claim that she'd been abducted at knifepoint.

"It's a tragic story," Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. "She didn't know how to handle it and she fled."
...
She told police she'd been abducted by a man at knifepoint during her run and was taken to Merced by bus and train, he said.

Back home in her parents' tiny living room late Thursday, a tearful Salas spoke to her family, friends and about 40 people who helped search for her. KMEX-TV was the only news organization allowed inside.

Story here. Good for them - don't wait on it. Go immediately for justice. Make teachers who think it's fine to abuse kids think twice. If they can't handle the job, they should quit. I do hope criminal charges will be brought against her as rapidly as civil ones are. The story:

'HOUSTON - The family of a 13-year-old whose beating by a Houston charter school teacher was caught on a classmate's cell phone video has filed a lawsuit against the teacher and the school.

Science teacher Sheri Lynn Davis was fired Monday night from Jamie's House Charter School. Her dismissal came after video of Reagins' beating became public.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday on behalf of Isaiah Reagins by his mother, Alesha Johnson.

His family says the boy suffered a black eye and other bruises. Johnson says she's taken her son out of the school.

Davis' attorney, Chip Lewis, says he and his client will have a Friday news conference.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A girl of eight yesterday said she had lied about being raped by two ten-year-olds.

The youngster told the Old Bailey she had wanted to play with the boys because she thought it would be 'fun'.

She said she made up the rape claim because she was worried she wouldn't get any sweets if her mother found out she had been 'a bit naughty'.

The boys, now aged ten and 11, are believed to be the youngest ever in Britain to face trial for rape.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"A schoolteacher has been fired after she brutally attacked a 13-year-old pupil in front of a classroom full of students, according to US reports.

Shocking video footage appears to show Sheri Davis dragging, kicking and slapping sixth grader Isaiah Johnson after squaring up to him as he cowered in a corner.

The alleged beating is thought to have lasted almost a minute and was filmed on a mobile phone by another pupils before being posted on YouTube.

Officials at Jamie's House Charter School, a centre for children with disciplinary issues in Houston, Texas, are reportedly 'horrified'.

The 40-year-old teacher has been sacked and bosses have apologised to the youngster and his furious mother, Alesha Johnson.

Police have been called in to investigate amid public outcry, which came after the video was obtained by Ms Johnson and aired on Houston's Fox News channel.

Story here. Excerpt:

'The venue he chose was one he knew well from his university days – a platform at Waseda subway station. Not long before, he had had a dreadful misadventure. At JR Shinjuku Station, he’d been jumped by two male university students whose female companion – all three had been drinking – accused him of groping her. They beat him and dragged him to a police station, where police interrogated him throughout the night.

Harada’s mother, so suddenly bereft of her only son, continues to seek eye witnesses at Shinjuku Station.

For nearly an hour after the police released him early on the 11th,” says Naomi Harada, 53, “my son wandered around central Tokyo. He is extremely nearsighted and wasn’t wearing his contact lenses, so he wouldn’t have been able to see much. He was studying English, and generally carried an IC recorder about with him. It was switched on. My son’s voice is on it, muttering something through tears. I can’t make out what he’s saying.”'

In this case, the teacher was female. Read the story. See how quickly such things spin out of control. And after half a million bucks to legal defense and two years under suspicion and scrutiny, finally she is found not guilty at trial, but of course will be suspect for life - just like any man in that position. Whether a man would have been exonerated under the same circumstances however is highly doubtful. Excerpt:

'Now that a jury has said “not guilty,” now that she is finally free of allegations of child abuse that have hung over her for two years, a former kindergarten teacher from Georgia can reveal that one of the three children who testified against her was her own daughter.

“My own daughter,” Tonya Craft confirmed to TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in New York.

From an IA newsletter:

'In late April, I spoke via conference call with Dr. Peter Kilmarx, Chief of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control, and several other officials from the CDC, to urge them to refrain from recommending routine circumcision for baby boys. I told them Intact America had a petition from thousands of you who felt the same way.

On May 6th, we followed up by sending 25,278 signatures to the CDC to drive home the message.

I want to thank you and the tens of thousands of intactivists who added your names to this petition calling for the protection of our baby boys.

It's not over between us and the CDC. We'll be in touch to let you know its response to our petition.'

IA's website is http://www.intactamerica.org/

Story here. First off, those not knowing what cerebral palsy is should read about it here, with an emphasis on reading about its symptoms. A person with a bad case of this is indeed subject to spastic and uncontrolled movements. If they result in embarrassing situations, then they do. People who have any understanding of this will know it and act accordingly.

But since the person in this case with the condition is male and the person inconvenienced and/or embarrassed (nay, *offended*) by the symptoms thereof is female, he is facing criminal charges for exhibiting symptoms of a nervous system condition over which he has no control.

Via Marc A.:

Canadian Senator Ann Cools was the first black women in the Canadian Parliament and did lots of work for battered women and gender equality. But, like Erin Pizzy, Patricia Overberg and many others, she eventually saw the myths, lies and distortions being propagated by the movement she was part of. Since then, she has spoken out for battered men for years. Here she is a few years ago talking to Toronto Police Services about how the domestic violence shelter movement is spreading myths, how in reality men and women initiate the violence at equal rates, and about gender-selective prosecution. Years ago, NCFM awarded Senator Cools its annual Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Men's issues.

----
Ed. note: Another YT channel highlighting men's issues holds this same video.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Let's say your son turns 18. He gets a job at the local carnival, running the ride where the kids lie face down and spin around till they shriek with delight (or puke). Before each ride he has to buckle the kids in so they don't fly out. But then -- tragedy strikes.

Oh, don't worry. Nobody goes flying. They're buckled just fine. But one girl does tell her mother, "He touched my bottom!"
...
The next day the police take him in for questioning. They ask him the same thing, this time with the videotape running. He gives them the same answer.

It is considered his confession. He is convicted of "Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child." He goes to jail for nine months. He is put on the Sex Offender Registry -- for life.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Kay McCaw was under unbearable pressure. She was going through a divorce, selling her home and working 16 hours a day.

'I was coming home from work, crying with exhaustion and stress, then pulling myself together and getting onto the computer until two in the morning,' says the 45-year-old from Frimley, Surrey.

'My job as a PA for an international tobacco company involved dealing with people across different time zones all over the world and there was no respite from the e-mails and faxes.
...
While it's well-known that job stress is linked to heart problems in men, as the Mail reported last week, researchers have found it affects women, too.

A Danish study showed that women in high-pressure jobs are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease, with those under 50 at greatest risk.

Stress is thought to have a direct effect on the heart rate. It's also indirectly linked to heart disease.

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Biased domestic violence arrest policies are violating the civil rights of innocent Americans and allowing abusers to go free, according to a report released today. The report, "Predominant Aggressor Policies: Leaving the Abuser Unaccountable?" charges such policies violate 14th Amendment equal protection guarantees and worsen the cycle of violence.

The analysis is published by SAVE – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, and is available online: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/Predominant-Aggressor-Policies [.pdf file]

The report analyzes domestic violence policies in 23 states designed to guide law enforcement personnel in arrest decisions. The document calls on states with predominant aggressor laws to repeal such policies.

Blog article here. Excerpt:

'Fathers & Families has co-sponsored and/or been instrumental in introducing and working for the passage of five family court reform bills in the current California legislative session. Our bills address child custody reform, child support reform, protection from family court financial abuses, and others. Below is our progress:

1) SB 1188–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent

2) SB 1355–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously

3) AB 2416–Passed Assembly by unanimous consent, passed Assembly Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent

4) SB 578–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee

5) SB 580–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee

These victories did not happen by accident. They are the result of months and years of planning and lobbying by Fathers & Families’ legislative representative Michael Robinson and assistant legislative representative Nicole Silverman.'

Story here. University of North Carolina researchers are investigating using ultrasound as a safe, reliable, reversible birth control method for men. Excerpt:

'Scientists are beginning tests to see if ultrasound can be used as a reversible contraceptive for men.

Based on early work, University of North Carolina experts believe a blast of ultrasound to the testes can safely stop sperm production for six months.

With a grant of $100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation they will push ahead with more clinical trials.

The researchers ultimately hope it could offer a new birth control option to couples throughout the world.

Lead researcher Dr James Tsuruta said: "We think this could provide men with up to six months of reliable, low-cost, non-hormonal contraception from a single round of treatment.'

Reviews by J. Steven Svoboda:

"The Emotionally Unavailable Man: A Blueprint for Healing"

The Emotionally Unavailable Man: A Blueprint for Healing. By Patti Henry. Highland City, Florida: Rainbow Books, Incorporated. 2004. 177 pp. (men's book) + 83 pp. (women's book).www.allbookstores.com. $16.95. Also available from same publisher as set of 9 unabridged CD's for $24.95.

Psychotherapist Patti Henry has finally written her first book, and it turns out to be good enough and different enough to justify being reviewed here despite its appearance in 2004. (Henry only sent me the review copy recently and I was previously unaware of this book.) "As a psychotherapist in private practice…" she writes, "men keep coming to my office, one after another, hurting, wounded… but mostly unhappy…. They feel like they are trapped, dying somehow. They feel like little boys in grown up bodies." As we read the book, we come to realize that virtually all men are in some ways emotionally unavailable.