Article here. Excerpt:

'That’s the question Sen. Maria Cantwell is posing following the Italian murder conviction of the former University of Washington student.

The year-long murder trial of the 22-year-old has caused an international media frenzy.

The senator argued in a statement released Friday that the Italian prosecution “did not present enough evidence” to convict Knox of the murder of her housemate, and said she would convey her concerns to Secretary of State Clinton.

During our “This Week’ interview airing Sunday, Clinton told me she'd be happy to meet with Sen. Cantwell but she hasn't expressed any concerns to the Italians about Knox ... here's our exchange:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: "Do you share her concerns about this trial?"

SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: "George I honestly haven't had time to even examine that. I've been immersed in what we're doing in Afghanistan. Of course I'll meet with Sen. Cantwell or anyone who has a concern but I can't offer any opinion about that at this time."

Article here. Bizarre. But when kids see it on TV without condemnation (but loads of canned laughs), no surprise, they think there's nothing wrong with it. Excerpt:

'It's a disturbing game with devastating consequences, and a new WTHR survey suggests it is rampant in Indiana schools.

"Ball tapping" is the act of intentionally hitting or kicking a male in the genitals. Earlier this month, an Eyewitness News investigation showed the game has become commonplace in some area schools, resulting in serious injuries for students.

As part of the investigation, WTHR also conducted a statewide survey of school nurses. The results are in, and they show the problem of ball tapping is more common and widespread than many school officials had realized.
...

Article here

'An unmarried German man has struck a blow for fatherhood, winning a landmark legal decision on his right to see his daughter. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Horst Zaunegger, whose former partner refused him access to their teenage daughter when the couple split up and she moved away.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party has put forward legislation that would see women make up half the figures in France's leading boardrooms by 2015, under a bold plan to impose gender equality on the male-dominated business world.

In a bill submitted to the French parliament this week, all companies listed on the Paris stock exchange would have to ensure female employees made up 50% of their board members by 2015. If passed, a gradual implementation of the law would see businesses obliged to have women in 20% of board seats within 18 months, and 40% within four years.

Jean-François Copé, president of the majority UMP party, said it could give a "much-needed electro-shock" to the French corporate world, long considered a bastion reserved for the male elite in which only 10.5% of board members in CAC 40 (French stock market index) companies are female.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The police on Friday arrested a Brooklyn woman and accused her of taking extraordinary measures to exact revenge on her philandering husband and his pregnant paramour — including tricking the woman into taking a drug that induced early labor, and then trying to get nurses to feed the infant a strange substance disguised as breast milk.

According to law enforcement officials, about two months ago, the woman, Kisha Jones, 38, discovered that her husband was having an affair with a younger woman who she believed was carrying his child. Furious, Ms. Jones, who lives near Brownsville, somehow obtained a doctor’s prescription pad, the officials said, and used it to order a prescription for a drug that would induce an abortion.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- An Italian jury has found American student Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito guilty in the stabbing death of British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years.

Both were convicted on all charges except theft and together must pay 5 million euros ($7.4 million) to the victim's family. In addition, Knox must pay 40,000 euros ($60,000) to a man whom she falsely accused of the killing.

Knox, wearing a lime jacket, her hair in a single braid, began to sob -- her sniffles and sobs punctuating the otherwise silent courtroom -- as the judge read the verdict quietly, without expression.'

Article here. On a personal note, I recently had a PSA test as a preventive measure because several men in my family have died of prostate cancer. My health insurance did not cover the test and I ended up paying $300 out of pocket. As it turns out, I had a fairly common condition called asymptomatic prostatitis. Without the test, I never would have known. Fortunately, a couple weeks of antibiotics and I was fine. My point is this, what about the guy who can't afford $300? Untreated prostatitis can lead to Benign prostatic hyperplasia -- a life long condition. I guess male reproductive organs have little value. Excerpt:

'The Women’s Health Amendment would require health plans to cover comprehensive preventive care and screenings that address women’s unique health care needs without cost sharing. Currently, coverage of comprehensive preventive health care is not guaranteed at zero cost sharing under the bill — for example, regular well-women visits, breast exams, and contraceptive services are not required to be covered at zero cost sharing.

Article here. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'His story is a cautionary tale, Matlack says, and it's one he shares in a new book, "The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Frontline of Modern Manhood," (The Good Men Foundation, Boston), a series of essays by Matlack and 30 other men, who bare their foibles - and their souls - in heartfelt musings about their experiences as fathers, sons, husbands, fathers and workers.
...
"Men generally have not talked about this. Women, with their more advanced emotional vocabulary, are better at it," he said. "I don't want to scare men off - they're not going to end up on Oprah Winfrey's couch - but, if you talk about what it's like to be in Sing Sing, in Iraq, guys sit up and take notice. It's liberating to figure out what's important. Stop being silent about this.
...
"That's what has happened to men. They don't have the ability to tell the truth. Look at [Bernard] Madoff, at [David] Letterman; you can name 100 men who don't know how to tell the truth," Matlack said. "That's what happened to me. I was unable to tell my own truth.

School Newspaper Opinion Piece: Male Role Conditioning Exploits the Lives of All American Men. Excerpt:

'Names of the dead from the War on Terror are displayed on the hallway walls of Valley College’s Behavioral Sciences building, but those names are just the tip of an iceberg that shows the role of men as the disposable sex in American society.
...
Men are approximately: 94 percent of industrial accidents and deaths, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Men are approximately 80 percent of suicides, according to the Center for Disease Control. Men are approximately 76 percent of homicides, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Men are approximately 93 percent of the prison population, according to “The Sentencing Project.” Men are also a significant percentage of domestic violence victims, according to the DOJ and CDC.

George Cook of www.letstalkhonestly.com asks the question what if the Tiger Woods situation were reversed. Would it be funny if Tiger had beaten his wife with a golf club and then she crashed her car getting away from him. He also why he believes this double standard is very dangerous not only to men but to women. Watch the 2 minute commentary.

Apparently Elin and Tiger Woods are in the process of renegotiating their prenuptual agreement. The original prenup was worth $20 million, but this article reports that eventually she could receive a total of $75 million.

What exactly has Elin done that would entitle her to these astronomical sums of money? Their relationship looks very much like a financial transaction, and not a loving engagement between two people who want to make a life together. And why does Tiger Woods feel as though he needs to renegotiate the prenup? Isn't Elin already receiving an indecent and outrageous sum of money? Evidently Tiger wants to make it up to her, or keep her quiet, or something like that... How exactly is this any different from what Heather Mills did to Paul McCartney? She made off with about $50 million from McCartney. For what? What on earth makes these women entitled to so much money, money that they did not earn?

Article here. Excerpt:

'News outlets report on budget squeezes in Oklahoma and Florida and a proposed overhaul of student health insurance in Massachusetts.

Tulsa World: "Thousands of Oklahoma Medicaid patients would see benefits reduced as the state agency that manages the federal program grapples with required 5 percent budget cuts, according to a spending-cut proposal presented Wednesday to a House budget subcommittee. Proposals include limiting paid emergency room visits to three a year, eliminating outpatient adult therapies, such as speech and physical therapy, eliminating reimbursement for newborn circumcision and reducing the number of brand-name prescriptions from three to two for adults, said Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority" (McNutt, 12/3).'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Although the American Medical Association does not recommend routine circumcision as a procedure to prevent health problems, more than 30 percent of males and 3 percent of females are circumcised worldwide. In the United States and Canada, although there is little data on how many females are circumcised, it is estimated that three-fourths of males become circumcised in their infanthood or adolescence. Here, at least, that leaves the vast majority of males with a removed foreskin. In fact, most Washington University female students I’ve talked to have never seen an uncircumcised penis!

But let’s get back to the basics. In male circumcision, a physician surgically removes the foreskin of the penis, usually within the first few weeks of birth because doing this practice later is more likely to lead to complications. Male circumcision is a common religious practice across all monotheistic religions—especially Islam.'