Sydney Morning Herald has this report about an ad Microsoft pulled.

Basically, the ad shows a man surfing the net, then his wife pulling the laptop round to see what he's done. She's so horrified by what she sees (it isn't explained) that she pukes on the floor. He trips up in the vomit (slapstick, always funny when a guy gets hurt!) and then - just to make it absolutely certain that we know where the guy stands - she throws up all over him.

The ad doesn't explain what the guy was looking at, but the obvious intonation is that it is at the least hard core porn, if not child pornography. Queue actor who talks about surfing safe - followed by wife flirting with him.

The ad has been pulled already - but man it's horrific. I never liked Microsoft much but I own several laptops with Windows on it - be damned if I'll buy another, any company who paints me as a child porn pervert who's good for nothing but being vomitted on doesn't deserve my hard earned dollar....

Story here. Excerpt:

'Lori Drew, the woman convicted of using a hoax MySpace profile to harass a teenage girl to the point of suicide, was acquitted by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday, Wired reported.

Judge George Wu overturned Drew's guilty verdict, which was issued in November, saying that if Drew had been convicted of a felony in the case, she would already have been sentenced. But because she was convicted of three misdemeanors--a significantly lighter offense than prosecutors originally sought--the constitutionality of the guilty verdict was less clear.

Drew, a Missouri resident, had been convicted of three misdemeanor counts of "accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress," each of which could have resulted in a year of jail and a $100,000 fine. But she hadn't been convicted of conspiracy, a felony that could've led to up to 20 years in prison.

From Marc A.: NCFM's San Diego Chapter, though NCFM President Harry Crouch, recently succeeded in getting the San Diego District Attorney to remove false, gender-biased material from their new police training video on domestic violence, such as the myth that domestic violence is primarily male-on-female and is a leading cause of death for women. The story, including a letter from the District Attorney thanking NCFM, is chronicled here.

Article here. Excerpt:

'While both boys and girls face issues — in school and out — the problems affecting boys are serious and have not been properly addressed by policy makers, according to a new review article by psychologist Judith Kleinfeld. Among the results: high rates of functional illiteracy and a troublingly high suicide rate that's become even more pronounced in recent years compared to the rate among girls.

"Boys' issues are being neglected, whereas girls' issues have been addressed for over 20 years, with great success," said Kleinfeld, a professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. "Now it's time to turn our attention to boys."

Story here.

'(AP) A former Massachusetts schoolteacher who was found with a student at a West Virginia motel has pleaded not guilty to rape.

Lisa Lavoie, 24, was arraigned Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court in Massachusetts on three counts of aggravated rape and abuse and three counts of statutory rape.

Lavoie and a 15-year-old student were reported missing Feb. 16 and were found a week later. She was fired from her job.

Lavoie already pleaded not guilty in March to enticing a minor. Her attorney, David Hoose, says the new charges were not unexpected.

He says Lavoie is "very upset by the whole experience that she went through."

She is out on $25,000 bail.'

Site: http://www.nocirc.org/. Salient points:

"• No national or international medical association recommends routine circumcision.

• Only the USA circumcises the majority of newborn boys without medical or religious reason.

• Medicalized circumcision began during the 1800s to prevent masturbation, which was believed to cause disease.

• Today's parents are learning that the foreskin is a normal, protective, functioning organ.

• Today's parents realize circumcision harms and has unnecessary risks.

• Circumcision denies a male's right to genital integrity and choice for his own body."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Marilyn Milos, 69, of Forest Knolls was a nurse at Marin General Hospital in 1979 when she witnessed her first circumcision. The experience changed her life. After researching the procedure, she became convinced it was not only unnecessary but harmful. She says she was later fired from her job for sharing her opinions with patients and has spent the last 30 years crusading against circumcision as founder of the nonprofit National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers.

Q: What do you remember about that first circumcision?

A: As we walked into the nursery, the baby was strapped down to a plastic board. I called it "the rack" when I worked there. The baby was pulling against the restraints. Then the doctor started to cut and that baby let out a scream I've never heard come out of the mouth of a human, ever, and it became louder and louder. My bottom chin began to quiver and then tears poured over my eyes, and the doctor looked at my face and said, "There is no medical reason for doing this."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'THE death toll in the Eastern Cape’s winter circumcision season has risen to 24, the provincial health department said today.

Spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said four youths had died in the Eastern Pondoland region in the past 24 hours.

Two of them had been attending legal initiation schools, the others illegal schools.

The situation in the region had prompted local State doctors to go out in teams with police to treat youths at the schools, Kupelo said.

“They say they can’t watch these boys dying any longer. The situation is very bad in that part of the province.”
...
Circumcision-related deaths are usually as a result of septicaemia from infected wounds, or dehydration, which happens when initiates are denied water by their carers.

Eleven unregistered traditional surgeons and nurses have been arrested this season. – Sapa'

Story here. Am I the only one who thinks using the slang term 'butt' is a bit inappropriate considering the seriousness of the accusation? Excerpt:

'ALLEN, Texas - A former teacher at Allen’s Lowery Freshman Center faces formal charges for allegedly burning a 14-year-old mentally disabled boy on the buttocks with a cooking pan.

A Collin County grand jury indicted 45-year-old Susanne Means earlier this month on injury to a child charges.

Police said Means was a special education teacher at the freshman center in March when the incident allegedly happened.

The mentally disabled boy’s father told police his son had two 12-inch circular “scald” marks on his buttocks. The boy said Means had burned him with a hot pan, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Encouraged and surprised by the success of a one-day men's health clinic in Windsor, health care professionals say more similar programs are needed in the community to screen men for cancer, diabetes and other illnesses.
...
The clinic, the first of its kind in the community, was staffed by two SCHC physicians and two oncologists from the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre, as well as other SCHC staff and volunteers from the Windsor and Essex County Prostate Cancer Support Group. They offered screening for prostate, testicular, colorectal and skin cancer, as well as testing for diabetes and high blood pressure, among other chronic conditions. The initiative was supported by the cancer centre's foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

'Most hookers spend only a few hours or days behind bars when they're busted. Twenty-eight-year-old Tiffany Ann Moore of Knoxville may end up spending the next three to 15 years in a state prison cell for the crime of selling her own body.

Moore differs from most of the 525 other known prostitutes arrested in Knox County over the past five years in one significant way: she is HIV-positive.

Moore's medical condition means that when she turns tricks for a living she's committing a felony called aggravated prostitution. Women without HIV face misdemeanor prostitution charges that often add up to no more than probation and a fine.

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Male and female perpetrators of domestic violence exhibit similar levels of controlling behaviour. This is one of the findings of a study presented at the British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology annual conference 23 June 2009 at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
...
"Men and women perpetrators of domestic violence were found to have very similar levels of financial control, sexual control and intimidation in relationships. This leads us to believe that we can't only attribute controlling behaviour to men."
...
"The results of this study tell us that we need to challenge some of the assumptions around domestic violence if we are to really tackle the issue and develop programmes that prevent continued violence, one such assumption is that controlling behaviour in relationships is unique to men."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Too many unemployed guys have stopped hunting for jobs. Too many fathers know the names of the attendants at the golf course, but not the names of their children’s friends.

Too many Casanovas want sex without commitment or the emotions that come with intimacy. And too many fellows brag about having a mistress and a wife or a “baby mommy and a bizzybody” as another popular song promotes. proclaims. These are not the actions of men. These are the behaviors of boys and “shawty don’t need no” boy.