Story here. Excerpt:

'LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—A seething Rick Pitino said he could stay on the sidelines no longer.

The Louisville men’s basketball coach said video aired Wednesday of a police interview with a woman at the heart of sex and extortion scandal surrounding Pitino revived a “total fabrication of the truth.” In it, Karen Cunagin Sypher accuses Pitino of sexually assaulting her, an allegation she brought to police after she was accused of trying to extort millions from the coach. Prosecutors did not pursue charges against Pitino.

Against his lawyer’s advice, Pitino said he felt he needed to speak out.

“Everything that’s been printed, everything that’s been reported, everything that’s been breaking in the news on the day Ted Kennedy died is 100 percent a lie, a lie,” Pitino said in a hastily called news conference. “All of this has been a lie, a total fabrication of the truth.”'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Girls swept the board in national curriculum tests for seven-year-olds, beating boys in every paper – reading, writing, speaking and listening, maths and science.

The biggest gap was in writing, where one in four boys failed to reach the standard expected, compared with just 13 per cent of girls.

Overall, the results showed a one percentage point improvement in writing this year from 80 per cent to 81 per cent – but a one per cent slump in maths to 89 per cent. Reading, and speaking and listening, remained the same at 84 per cent and 87 per cent respectively – as did science at 89 per cent.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, described the decline in maths scores as "a blow to ministers who have been targeting resources in order to improve performance". He added: "The Government should be especially ashamed of the fact that one in four boys failed to master basic writing skills by this age."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Let's face it: sometimes men make better single parents than women. Some researchers even believe that this is almost always true, as single men are better able to impart such things as empathy to their children than women (Father and Child Reunion). With all of the hooting and hollering for women's rights that has gone on over the last few decades, the time has come for the lack of consideration of the rights of men to be noticed and changed. Recovery is definitely one of these areas, at least in the city of Louisville, and single dads need to be afforded the same opportunities to parent as women.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Doctors have long known that women are nearly twice as likely as men to die in the first month after a heart attack. But a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked behind this statistic to discover that gender may not directly influence survival outcomes after a heart attack.
...
Among all the studies, women died at a 9.6 percent rate compared with a 5.3 percent rate for men in the first month after a heart attack. Yet the study pointed out key differences between men and women in these statistics.

Women were having heart attacks at an older age than the men. Women were also more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure while men were more likely to smoke, to have had a previous heart attack and have a previous bypass surgery.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"Police are hunting a group of women they believe are responsible for an attack on a man during a night out.

Today detectives released CCTV footage showing six female suspects, all believed to be in their twenties.

The 38-year-old, who was left with a broken ankle and stiletto-shaped wound on his head, had been on a night out with his girlfriend at the time of the unprovoked assault in Liverpool."

The fairer sex, my big fat hairy butt!

Last week the mayor of Milwaukee was injured while intervening between a drunk man and his daughter's grandmother.¹

ABC's Milwaukee affiliate, WISN, followed up with a story that asserted, "domestic violence situations are, by far, the number one reason that police officers are wounded on duty," and quoting "domestic violence experts" to back up this bit of received wisdom.²

There's just one problem with this claim – researchers who studied this very question³ found it wasn't true. They found that domestic disturbance ranked fourth in the ratio of assaults to calls or service, but only fifth in the ratio of injuries to calls for service. In other words, he rate of injury from domestic disturbance calls was lower than the rate from four other types of calls.

Also via Jeremy S.:

Personally I still absolutely do not believe or accept that parental alienation is "gender neutral". I think that this is simply a position of convenience and 'politically correct' expediency and that Parental Alienation is still overwhelmingly rooted in female action. However this TV appearance and presentation by Dorcy Russel on the subject itself is very encouraging.

Via Jeremy S.: This is must-see.

"A cry for help from SecondClassCitizen.org, dedicated to an old friend.

This story is far too true, and far too common. Soldiers returning from war, only to be oppressed by the same system they swore allegiance to protect. This film chronicles the last day in the life of one soldier - or many - as countless veterans every month end their lives in desperation."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Linda Bollea Sues Hulk Hogan for Her Harley, Wants Him in Prison

Just a few weeks ago, Hulk Hogan and the mother of his children Linda Bollea finally reached an undisclosed divorce settlement that they were both satisfied with, and Pop Tarts was assured Bollea was particularly delighted with her prominent payout. But is the former pro wrestler not living up to his legal word and giving his ex the agreed-to goods?
...
Consequently, Bollea is not only demanding her money and motorcycle, but now wants him to cover all the transport and attorney fees she has incurred, and if he still refuses to comply, has filed a request to have Hulk "incarcerated."
...
A rep for Hogan told Tarts that the "Hogan Knows Best" star has done no wrong and is "absolutely complying with the terms of the marital settlement agreement."

"Linda will receive everything she is entitled to under the agreement as soon as it is available to give to her," the rep said.'

This is a reprehensible and disgusting YouTube video of a new circumcision device. I'm somewhat embarrassed to even submit it. However, I think 'shock value' might sometimes be a necessary tool. I can't even think of a descriptive excerpt.

Plastibell Infant Circumcision Surgical Procedure

Ed.: It's so disturbing you have to log in and confirm your birth date. I looked at the video poster's user page and it does not seem to me he or she is advocating for circumcision, but simply supplying video information about it. (In fact the text for the user entry was taken from Wikipedia and is decidedly anti-circ in its tone). Videos may well be the best way to get people to make up their own minds and once the evidence is seen, well, I have a feeling I can guess what new opinion will be formed.

Article here. Excerpt:

'ATLANTA - Circumcision, which has helped prevent AIDS among heterosexual men in Africa, doesn't help protect gay men from the virus, according to the largest U.S. study to look at the question.
...
Circumcision "is not considered beneficial" in stopping the spread of HIV through gay sex, said Dr. Peter Kilmarx, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, the CDC is still considering recommending it for other groups, including baby boys and high-risk heterosexual men.

UNAIDS ... promote[s] circumcision ...as an important strategy for reducing the spread of the AIDS virus. There hasn't been the same kind of push for circumcision in the [US].
...
"...It's possible the government won't make recommendations but instead will promote an education campaign for parents about the procedure's potential benefits and risks, he added.

Article here. Excerpt:

'We now know that penile cancer is only slightly more prevalent in the uncircumcised, and routine circumcision is not the best way to go about preventing it, just as routine double mastectomy in women who are done with breastfeeding (and thus have no remaining physiological need for their breasts) is not a good approach to preventing breast cancer -- which is much more common than penile cancer. We also know that the human papilloma virus (HPV), which also causes genital warts, is the most important risk factor for cancer of the penis -- and genital warts are more easily contracted by circumcised men. Moreover, penile cancer is much less prevalent in countries like Denmark, where circumcision is uncommon, compared to the United States, where between 50-60% of males are circumcised.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'LAWS protect girls from genital surgery but parents wanting to circumcise boys can "go around willy-nilly chopping up bits of their sons", a state children's commissioner says.

Tasmania's commissioner for children Paul Mason and the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute have embarked on what they say is the largest review into the legalities of male circumcision in Australia's history.

Mr Mason said a critical issue for any non-therapeutic circumcision is whether parental consent is sufficient to protect a surgeon from legal action if the child's genital autonomy is thought to have been infringed.

"The only thing that protects a doctor from an action for assault or a civil prosecution is the valid consent of the patient," he said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"The responses to the Center for Disease Control's proposal this week to require all American boys to be circumcized are predictably hysterical. Hundreds of commenters wrote into the New York Times today to complain about "child abuse" and "genital mutilation" and one "religious sect's agenda of control" (i.e. Jews). Subsequent news stories refer to the "controversial procedure" and quote CDC epidemiologists carefully measuring their words.

But the procedure is only "controversial" because people have emotional, psychological and religious reactions to it. Scientifically speaking, it's not remotely controversial. The anti-circumcision sites always refer to the American Academy of Pediatrics' 1999 policy statement on circumcision, which declined to recommend the procedure. But that statement was issued before the most compelling studies emerged about the role circumcision plays in reducing the risk for transmission of HIV and other STD's."

Article here. Excerpt:

"I've had a bumpy ride as a single gal and have dated many guys who weren't worth my time. But that doesn't mean a girl can't be a dud, too! Case in point? That tragic and terrible VH1 show "Megan Wants a Millionaire," about a girl who's just looking for a rich guy to pay the bills.

For all you men out there, check out the 12 signs that you may be dating a loser. See someone you recognize? If you're smart, you'll lose her.

1. Dirty-flirty double standard: She flirts with dudes in front of you, shamelessly. Then, she gets super mad and makes a scene if you so much as give a cute waitress your order.

2. She needs to do everything with you: It's one thing to share experiences, but it's another thing to need someone to hold your hand all the time. When it goes beyond wanting to spending time together to demanding it constantly, you have to wonder, what's her problem?'