Feminist objections to stimulus content lead to strange funding priorities

Article here. Excerpt:

'...feminist leaders complained that rebuilding roads and bridges would employ working-class men, who have borne the brunt of the recession, rather than women or the “sexually diverse.” Unemployment is very high among transportation and construction workers, who are overwhelmingly male. The vast majority of people who have lost their jobs in the current recession are male — 82%. But the stimulus package is not aimed at helping them. In response to demands from feminist leaders, the Obama Administration rewrote the stimulus package to largely exclude them, as Christina Hoff Sommers has chronicled at length.

Like0 Dislike0

Germany: Why Women’s Shelters Are Hotbeds of Misandry

Article here. Excerpt:

Like0 Dislike0

UK: Dad's clean-up mission for fathers' rights

Story here. Excerpt:

'A NO-NONSENSE Heathfield father is threatening to cause havoc in court in a bid to change the law.

Jason Sands, 37, is Sussex spokesman for New Fathers for Justice, a controversial group dedicated to campaigning for improved rights for fathers in the settlement of child custody.

The group have grabbed media attention by organising demonstrations around the country dressed as super-heroes and Mr Sands is currently working on his latest stunt, entitled Clean Up Family Law.

Dressed as Batman, Mr Sands is planning to attend law courts across the region carrying a cleaning in progress sign and a vacuum cleaner.

He warned: "I have asked around and they can't stop me entering. Once I'm in I'll plug it in and start cleaning."

Like0 Dislike0

Protecting Fathers' Rights in Move-Away Petitions

Article here. Excerpt:

'California law has long favored awarding primary custody of children to mothers over fathers. This disturbing trend only has served to undervalue the important role fathers play in their children's lives and reinforce outdated gender stereotypes that mothers are best-suited for raising children.
...
Fathers contesting a move-away petition may be granted increased visitation time with their children or the court may even award custody, either temporarily or permanently, to the father if the mother follows through in her decision to move.

Generally, to win a change in custody, the father must be able to prove that the move is a detriment to the child. In the LaMusga case, the California Supreme Court held that the impact of a move on the child's relationship with the father is a relevant factor in determining whether the move is a detriment to the child and may justify a change in custody.'

Like0 Dislike0

Dirty little secrets of domestic violence programs

Article here. Excerpt:

'When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut funds to California domestic violence shelters recently stories of battered women and children filled the news. Oakland television station KTVU ran a story about "women and children," never once mentioning male victims. Like stations around the state, and around the country, CBS5 did the same.

News reports featured three dozen noisy people lining a street in Watsonville protesting budget cuts to the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center and Women’s Crisis Support~Defensa de Mujeres. We listened to female victims.

We heard about women's advocates and community leaders gathering in San Jose to protest a cut in funding for Asian Americans for Community Involvement in San Jose, Community Solutions in South Santa Clara County, Support Network for Battered Women in Sunnyvale and San Jose's Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. And we listened to female victims.'

Like0 Dislike0

Woman accused of making false rape accusation

Story here. Except:

'Magistrate Priya Beharry granted $60,000 bail to a woman accused of knowingly providing the police with false information that she had been raped.

It is alleged that on May 20 at Georgetown, Plachette Ross, a sales representative of 24 Prospect, East Bank Demerara, knowingly gave to Sergeant Cedrick Gravesande; a police officer, certain information namely that she was raped intending thereby to cause Gravesande to arrest the man.

She pleaded not guilty to the charge of giving false information when it was read to her on Friday in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.'

Like0 Dislike0

Woman Confesses to False Rape Charge

Story here. Excerpt:

'William McCaffrey has spent the last four years in prison, serving a 20-year sentence for a rape the victim now says never happened.

Biurny Peguero, now married and using the last name Gonzalez, accused McCaffrey of raping her in September 2005, and he was convicted by the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. But in March, Gonzalez confessed to her priest, and later to her attorney, that she had fabricated the rape story, according to reports from The New York Times and the New York Post.

Gonzalez initially accused McCaffrey of raping her while on the way to a late-night party. According to the Post, Gonzalez now says she lied about being raped because her friends were angry with her for stranding them without a ride when she went off to the party with McCaffrey.
...
Gonzalez now claims the bites and scratches on her body at the time of the alleged rape were caused by her friends, who physically assaulted her in their anger over being stranded.'

Like0 Dislike0

UK: All-women shortlist for Vale causes row

Story here. Excerpt:

'A ROW has blown up after it emerged the Labour candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan in the next general election will be chosen from an all-female shortlist.

John Smith is standing down after representing the constituency since 1997.

Last night nine women who have applied for the vacancy met local party members in advance of a selection contest next month.

A female member of the Vale of Glamorgan party wrote to the Echo saying: “I know there is a silent majority of local Labour members who would oppose the imposition of a women-only shortlist for the selection of our candidate to replace John Smith. It is what I can only describe as bullying tactics from the National Executive which forced the local party to succumb to this policy.'

Like0 Dislike0

Ireland: 'We've won major battles but the sex war isn't over'

Article here. Excerpt:

'It hasn't always been sunshine and lollipops in the Emerald Isle. No, despite our oft-quoted Proclamation, we weren't quite so keen to 'cherish all the children of the nation equally'; and up until 1983, children were put clearly into two distinct camps. Legitimate and illegitimate. Yes, if your parents conceived without bothering to cement their relationship with vows first you were legally a bastard. Sins of the fathers and all that. It was the late Nuala Fennell, as a junior minister with responsibility for Women's Affairs and Family, who succeeded in gaining support to remove this hideous law.
...
Is it time to introduce quota legislation? I think so. Until we do, political groups will continue to discriminate against women in their ranks and 'women's issues' -- essential for a fair and just democracy -- will be given lip-service. Men will not willingly cede power or opportunities to women, no matter how talented or capable women prove themselves to be.'

Like0 Dislike0

Cops say Clarkston teacher sent nude photo to student, 14

Story here. Excerpt:

'A topless photo of herself and sexually explicit comments were among the 50 or so text messages a Clarkston teacher sent to one of her special education students over the course of a year, police said Friday.

Now, Michelle Simonson, 28, of Oxford Township is facing felony charges of enticing a minor for immoral purposes and distributing sexually explicit material to a minor.

She resigned her position in the Clarkston Community Schools on Friday and is expected to appear in an Oakland County court in the coming weeks for a preliminary examination.

If convicted, Simonson could face up to four years in prison.

She is the latest female teacher in metro Detroit to be accused of preying on a male student — a crime experts say is being reported more often.'

Like0 Dislike0

Girls rule; boys trail

Article here. Excerpt:

'Academically, girls are outperforming boys in subjects from kindergarten through high school, a four-year review of test scores shows. In some subjects, girls have the boys beat by at least 10 percentage points.

“We recognize this is an issue ... but the answers we’re looking for don’t just jump out at us,” said schools Superintendent Jim Scales. “What we have seen is not disastrous, but it’s enough to be concerned about. Right now, we don’t have any prescription for trying to overcome it.”

And though the problem starts in elementary school, statistics show that there is a domino effect as fewer young men graduate from high school and college.

“Males become less and less represented the farther up the degree chain you go,” said David L. Wright, chief policy officer for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. “And if that’s true, it puts Tennessee in an even tougher spot in competing for those higher knowledge jobs.”'

Like0 Dislike0

UK: Special courts for women who are victims of domestic abuse

Article here. Wait until you see the picture in this article! Excerpt:

'ONE-STOP courts to help survivors of domestic abuse are to be rolled out across the country to encourage women to prosecute abusers.

For the first time, women who give evidence against violent husbands will be able to start divorce and child custody proceedings straight away.
...
Nicki Norman, deputy chief executive of the charity Women's Aid, said: "Taking action against an abuser and having to attend court can be very traumatic, especially when there are divorce or custody proceedings to cope with as well.'

Like0 Dislike0

BBC: Caution over domestic abuse alarm

Story here. Excerpt:

'An organisation which helps women suffering domestic abuse says it has concerns over a new alarm scheme being used for the first time in Wales.

Welsh Women's Aid welcomes the Telecare scheme piloted on Anglesey, but it is worried the use of operators speaking to sufferers will stop women using it.

Victims press an alarm alerting staff who decide if they should call police.

Anglesey council said calls would be recorded and the service would be expanded if it proved successful.
...
They are given alarms which if activated, trigger a silent telephone call to the Gofal Môn control centre in Llangefni.

The operator will speak to the victim via a telecom system fitted into their home and call the police on their behalf if necessary.'

Like0 Dislike0

Revocation hearing held for convicted Ala. teacher

Article here. Excerpt:

'MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- State officials have taken another step in their bid to stop a convicted teacher from continuing to draw her full salary and benefits while she is imprisoned and appealing her federal conviction for enticing a child for sex.

Charlene Schmitz, 56, is the first teacher in Alabama to continue getting paid under the state's tenure law after being convicted and put behind bars.
...
"We think it's important that this case is looked at carefully. As of July she has been paid $140,000 and she has not provided any service to the state of Alabama since August of 2007," he said.

Schmitz is serving a 10-year sentence at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla. She was imprisoned following a February 2008 conviction of using a cell phone and a computer to entice a 14-year-old boy for sex. She still faces state charges of rape and sodomy in Washington County for allegedly having sex with the student as many as 10 times in 2007.'

Like0 Dislike0

Region's reaction to teacher sex scandal telling

Article here. Excerpt:

'The sex scandal headlines that stood out in papers all across the West Florida region this past weekend were a shock to many. Two Jay High school teachers were charged with three counts of unlawful sex with minors. In 2008, nearly 500 of these cases were reported across the United States.

Many had to take a second look after hearing the news out of Jay. Not only were they two local teachers, but both were female. Several people can recall the Mary Kay Letourneau case in 1995. This was one of the most well known cases still to this date.
...
Unlike Jernigan, Veronica Steele of Milton said that insecurity, not discipline is to blame. “I think the reason these things happen is because people are insecure of themselves and have a low self esteem.”

Like0 Dislike0

Pages

Subscribe to Mensactivism.org RSS