Article here. Excerpt:

'Drunk-driving mom Diane Schuler's tale is tragic, but her behavior is more understandable than we'd like to admit
...
Diane Schuler was a mother of two small children who loaded her own kids and three others into her minivan for a long drive home from a camping trip. Small children, because they are so tied to our hearts, have the ability to drive us crazy with their complaints and carsickness and impatience. (Small kids are special in this regard.) Perhaps to fortify herself for the drive, Schuler reached for vodka and pot, substances she had probably used in the past. It may not seem obvious to someone who has never had a drinking problem, but for a woman whose most reliable support had become alcohol, it could make a kind of sad, twisted sense.

Article here. Excerpt:

'I don’t which infuriated me more: Bob Herbert’s sanctimonious Sunday column describing American society as “saturated with misogyny,” or the unusually thoughtless, “right-on” commentary that followed it. Herbert’s thesis echoes the drumbeat of self-pity that has been coming out of paleo-feminist groups and women’s studies departments for decades: America, in their view, is a country where “barbaric treatment of women has come to be more accepted,” where we are all so inured to the victimization of the female half of the population that we don’t even notice it anymore. ...

Story here. Excerpt:

'ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday.

Frank Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month. A judge ordered him jailed in June 2008 for failing to support his "son" -- a child who DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley.
...
When the child turned 2, Morrison applied for public support for the child. Under Georgia law, the state, can recoup the cost of the assistance from a child's non-custodial parent.

For 13 years, Hatley made payments to the state until learning in 2000 that the boy might not be his. A DNA test that year confirmed the child was not fathered by Hatley, court documents said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In case you missed it, my College Sports Council colleague Clay McEldowney had a fantastic op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post highlighting the disproportionate cuts being made to men’s collegiate sports programs due to the economic downturn and, you guessed it, Title IX. As Clay explains, the ax is falling regularly this summer, and when it falls, it falls hardest on men’s programs because of the quota enforcement of Title IX.

Clay also mentions a remedy that was put in place by the Bush administration but has been largely ignored by colleges and universities because of lawsuits threatened by women’s groups and the NCAA: surveys. Instead of using an arbitrary quota to see if schools are complying with Title IX, just ask the kids what sports they want to play and judge schools on the basis of the results.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women are still segregated into college majors that will lead them to careers with less pay than men, said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University at Marion.

"Gender segregation in college is becoming more influential in how men and women are rewarded later in life," Bobbitt-Zeher said.
...
"A lot of people look at data showing that women are more likely to go to college than men, and that women get better grades in college than men, and assume that everything is all right," she said.

"But this research suggests there are still problems for women that relate to college."
...
"There's been a lot of attention paid to the fact that women seem to be doing so well in college compared to men. But what people don't know is that education is playing a bigger role than ever in perpetuating the gender income gap," she said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Most boys aren't ready to compete with girls in a structured school environment as girls usually surpass the boys of this age in maturity by two years or more.

This is a significant gap, especially for boys who are often too immature for the school setting. Elementary school teachers will reveal that most discipline problems involve boys, who make up most of the children with academic deficiencies.

Much of what we do in elementary school classrooms is designed primarily for girls. The demands on students in terms of conduct, neatness, politeness and other such characteristics are really more geared to girls than to young, energetic boys.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'LEWISTON - It's the same at Lewiston High School as it is throughout Maine and the nation: Girls are outperforming boys.

More girls make the top 10. Girls dominate extracurricular activities. More girls go to college.

That worries Joan Macri, head of the high school's aspirations program, who fears that boys who skip college could be shut out of higher-paying careers.

One reason fewer boys go to college can be found in the student parking lot, Macri said. Boys are more likely to own cars and to get jobs to pay for them.

"They have to pay for insurance, gas, some make car payments," she said. "They get part-time jobs. A lot of money goes into their cars."

Learning can take a back seat to earning.

To change that attitude, parents of freshman boys are invited to a "Shifting Gears" meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the school. The guest speaker is Lynn Miller, an educator from the University of Southern Maine.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The resulting statistics are staggering:

— The average Russian drinks 50 bottles of vodka a year.
...
— The average Russian male lives to be 60 years old, dying 15 years earlier than his American counterpart. Russian women die 13 years earlier than American women.'

Relatedly, from Wikipedia:

Article here. And as usual, the claim is that women are underpaid relative to men, while also merely mentioning the fact that men tend to do the more dirty and dangerous jobs in society. Excerpt:

'Women are now in the majority when it comes to high status jobs - but men are still being paid far more for doing the same work, according to new research.

A study by Cambrige University, which found that more women than men are now employed as doctors, architects and lawyers, attributes the shift to improvements in education and a changing attitude to what is 'women's work'.

In the past, women were more likely than men to be in manual occupation, but as these types of jobs have declined, it is predominantly women who have moved into white-collar positions, according to the report authors.
...
The study, which also examined pay in 10 European countries, found that despite the elevation in job standards, women are still lagging behind in the salary stakes.

In this tough economic recession, states have to decide how to balance budgets and where to cut costs. Facing California's largest budget deficit ever, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to cut unnecessary state expenses, or at least expenses that haven't proved the money was making a difference.

A report issued by RADAR Services, "Are Abuse Shelters Helping the True Victims of Domestic Violence?"¹, reveals some disturbing facts about the country's 1,600 abuse shelters. Based on research studies, reviews of shelter websites, and interviews with former shelter residents and staff, the report reveals that only one in 10 persons are in domestic violence shelters because of they are victims of battering.

Gov. Schwarzenegger apparently felt politically safe cutting all state funding to domestic violence programs in the state of California. The federal government openly admits that the shelters it funds give no data at all on what they do, how they do it, who they provide services to, what those services are, who they reject, etc. They also have established no criteria by which to judge whether they actually reduced domestic violence or not.^2,3

Article here. Excerpt:

'ST. LOUIS, August 5, 2009 -- The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, site of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship last May and the upcoming U.S. Women's Chess Championship in October, will host the 10th United States Chess School from August 11 through 15 at its world-class facility at 4657 Maryland Avenue in the Central West End.

The U.S. Chess School, which is sponsored by Dr. Jim Roberts in conjunction with AF4C (America's Foundation for Chess), is devoted to developing the strongest young players in the country. Started in 2006, this 10th edition is the first exclusively for female players. Previous camps have been held in Kentucky, New York, Arizona, New Jersey and California.

Article here. Excerpt:

'ORONO - Boys go to college at a lower rate than girls. It's become a state and national trend, said a professor at the College of Education at the University of Maine.

"Lots of task forces are getting together to explore different reasons," said Rumford native Rich Kent, an assistant professor of literacy.

Kent serves on the Maine Gender Task Force which is exploring why girls are outperforming boys. The group will give its recommendations in June.

One reason boys' aspirations have fallen could be that boys learn better from hands-on lessons. Boys say they'd "rather be doing stuff" than sitting in English class, Kent said. However, he stressed it's important not to label all girls as compliant, all boys as antsy.

While the task force works on answers, teachers can help by not always assigning reading and writing materials. Some reading and essays could be decided according to students' interests. "I grew up in Rumford in love with ski racing," Kent said. He rarely if ever was assigned to read or write about skiing.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian teacher forced a student to smoke 42 cigarettes for four hours as punishment after a cigarette and lighter were found in his locker, a news report said Thursday.

A school official confirmed that the English teacher subjected the student to the unusual punishment, but said the teenager was made to smoke fewer than 42 sticks. He declined to elaborate.

He said the teacher was upset when she found her model student, Mohamad Alif Arifin, had a cigarette and lighter in his locker in the school in the northern island of Langkawi.
...
He said it was up to the state's education department to take action against the teacher.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The problem is most acute at primary level, where fewer than one in six is male. In an era when so many youngsters, sadly, do not have a father living in the home this is particularly depressing and worrying. In schools as a whole throughout Wales, women teachers outnumber men by three to one.

The question must be asked what effect the climate of suspicion which has hung in recent year over jobs which bring men and children together has had.

How many perfectly decent, honourable men have decided the prospect of a teaching career with its incipient risk of being wrongfully accused of something is simply a risk not worth taking?'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For decades, male-bashing has been deemed an amusing side show in the Battle of the Sexes. Some consider it funny when an advertisement depicts a man maimed by his girlfriend. Others will say an abused man simply had it coming. (Think former NFL star Steve McNair, shot four times in his sleep by a jealous girlfriend — but no one could bring themselves to call it "domestic violence.")

In recent years, gender supremacism has entered the mainstream of political discourse. Former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas once declared, "I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which a man structurally does not have."

And consider Hillary Clinton's remark, "Research shows the presence of women raises the standards of ethical behavior and lowers corruption." Thank goodness we have ethical paragons like Hillary to show us out of the wilderness.'