Story here. Excerpt:

'The Egyptian parliament passed a law Sunday adding 64 seats reserved for women to the lower house of the legislature. The quota creates 32 new constituencies with two seats each for women candidates only. It will take effect during next year’s elections and raises the number of seats in the People’s Assembly from 454 to 518.

Egypt's Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mufid Shehab stated that the law "ensures parity for women and promotes their role in society, as stipulated by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Egypt has signed," reported Agence France Presse. Shehab also indicated the law will be effective for just two five-year parliamentary sessions in hopes that after that period, the number of women in parliament will increase without affirmative action.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'As the New York Times reported yesterday, Judge Sotomayor has informed the Senate that (in NYT’s phrasing) the Belizean Grove, the “all-female networking club” she belongs to, “did not discriminate in an inappropriate way.”
...
As Jennifer Rubin points out, the “we let the guys come to party” defense “is reminiscent of the ‘we let women be social members’ excuses that exclusive men’s clubs routinely gave for decades—and which were scorned by women’s groups.” Further:

[T]he line about “no one ever asking to join” is rich. Certainly if one declares the organization to be “all men” or “all white” or “all anything” those not in the “all” group are going to be dissuaded from seeking membership. Isn’t the mere statement of exclusivity enough to raise concerns?'

Article here.

'The Moscow metro is not going to follow the example of Beijing authorities to introduce women-only carriages to prevent the sexual harassment of women.

“We have never considered such a question,” the chairman of the press service of the Moscow metro, Pavel Sukharnikov, told RIA Novosti.

The official added that there were no complaints from female passenger of the metro. However, this subject receives a lot of attention on the Russian Internet. Many bloggers write on their web-pages that every woman was subjected to sexual harassment in public transport at least once in her lifetime.

Psychologists say that public transport provides a perfect environment for that: many people, availability and an opportunity to avoid punishment. Up to 40 percent of female passengers of the Moscow metro were subjected to sexual harassment.
...

Dmitry Gayev, the chairman of the Moscow metro, previously said that there would be no VIP carriages in the underground. The idea to introduce such carriages appeared in St. Petersburg.

Story here. Excerpt:

'TOKYO (Reuters) - Many women taking the crowded train in Tokyo opt for women-only carriages during the rush hour to avoid gropers.

Now, for fear of being accused of groping, some are asking for carriages reserved for men as well.

Ten shareholders of Seibu Holdings, which runs trains in the Tokyo area, have petitioned for carriages reserved for men.

"There have been many cases of groping, as well as false charges of groping, on Seibu Railway," the shareholders said in a notice seeking a vote at the company's annual meeting next Wednesday.

"While measures against groping, such as setting women-only carriages, have been effective to a certain extent, no measures have been taken against false charges of groping... In the spirit of gender-equality, a male-only carriage must be introduced."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'SEATTLE - A 12-year-old girl could face criminal charges after hitting a boy with a backpack at school.

That boy was knocked unconscious, but the girl claims the real crime is relentless sexual harassment at school.

Yesterday, 12-year-old Mark Smith was hit in the head with a backpack that some say was filled with rocks. He fell to the ground and lost consciousness after hitting his head. "I heard a thump and then I heard another thump and I woke up in a hospital bed," the sixth-grader said.
...
She says the incident came only after suffering a year's worth of relentless sexual harassment and bullying by boys at Seattle’s Denny Middle School. She says she had to stand up for herself.
...
Alexis Austin now faces a possible 90-day suspension from school, which would take effect next fall.

Police plan to send the case to King County prosecutors to see if they want to press charges.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'There is much criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act. Some authors and experts are now calling the act No Child but Boys Left Behind Act. As a male teacher in the education system, I feel it is decidedly not male friendly. We can debate whether the gender bias is intentional later.
...
Peter West believes schools fail boys for many of the same reasons I see boys fail Boys are in perpetual motion. They are aggressive, even when young. Classrooms are not places of toleration for kinesthetic behavior. We expect even normal boys to sit still for long periods. Aggressive play is involved in young males sense of mastery, a critical part of their development. This is normal male behavior yet in classrooms there is little toleration for it.

When boys are boys we often tend to bring on the medication, not to address behavioral deficits, but to handle our desire for sedate managed classrooms.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'GENEVA — A woman was convicted on Wednesday of murdering one of France's richest men by shooting him four times while he was dressed in a latex suit and tied up in a chair during a sex game.

A 12-member jury at Geneva's Court of Assizes found former mistress Cecile Brossard guilty of killing her lover Edouard Stern four years ago. Brossard, 40, admitted killing the banker but said it was because he enraged her by suggesting she was a $1 million prostitute.

The jury accepted the prosecutor's assertion that it was murder, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The sentence is expected Thursday.
...
"I am not a thief. I am not poisonous," she told the court. "I am just desperately in love with a man and I will be forever."'

Also via ACFC's recent update email. Link here. From the note:

'Two years ago this August in conjunction with the Family Preservation Festival in Washington DC, ACFC hosted an event at the National Press Club promoting Angelo Lobo's documentary Support: System Down. One member of the panel was John Cole who relayed his Virginia child support experience.

John's battle with cancer ended last week with his passing on June 11th. As you watch his video note the fact that even though John and his ex had reached an agreement over his support the state would not honor their agreement and continued to hound John, now literally to death....

John's story is preceded by comments of another Shared Parenting warrior who past last year minister Ron Smith. Thanks to William Wagener for posting this video.'

Via ACFC's recent update email. Link here.

"We are meeting near you soon!

* June 19, 2009 - Springfield - Fatherless Day Rally in Springfield IL.
* July 18-19, 2009 - 2009 Family Preservation Rally, Washington DC

Come out and spend a little time with us."

Article here. Excerpt:

'Hey, dads, what you sow now, your daughters will reap later.

How a woman feels about herself as a woman goes back to how dad treated his little girl, report experts.

"Behind every great woman, you will find her dad" -- that's if he was an engaged, present, involved dad, says Dr. Mary Jo Rapini.

"If dads are able to admire their daughters achievements, character and interests and not their looks, the daughter will grow up to be confident and self assured. She will choose men who treat her with the same admiration and respect as her dad did," adds Rapini, a psychotherapist and author.

According to Rapini, a dad has so much power over his daughter.

"If he gives her gifts and focuses on her looks he will raise a girl who is more materialistic and thinks love and affection comes in a gift box.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Police are considering charging a Markham, Ont., woman with public mischief after she told police her infant son had been abducted in a parking lot by a stranger, when he had just been taken by her husband.

The woman and her husband made a trip to a Costco store near Highway 7 and Woodbine Avenue this morning and got into an argument in the store's parking lot. The man left in the car, with the couple's one-year-old son in the back seat.

The woman called police at 9:40 to report a carjacking and child abduction. She described the abductor as an Asian male in his early 20s with dark, black hair. What she didn't tell them was that he was her husband.'

"...after man drove off," reads the headline. How about "Woman faces charges of filing a false abduction report against her husband, motivated by desire to get back at him after they had a row in the parking lot"

Article here. Few other articles I have read point out the no-win situation men in modern societies face when it comes to place in society/gender roles. Men who do what they have been told to do since childhood about being less aggressive or ambitious, less motivated by sex-seeking in relationships, doing things that are less stressful than the traditional male roles require, etc., suddenly get criticized and minimized for it. However if they go back to being the way they were before in these areas, they will also get criticized and minimized. There's no winning for losing.

I can't blame these guys in Japan for taking a vastly different path than their fathers and grandfathers took. The result of doing so means a longer, healthier life and no worries about wives getting a divorce inside a day and taking off with the kids, a process that is, believe it or not, much easier for women to engage in in Japan than in the US, Canada, or Britain. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Family roles have changed substantially since the 1950s. Mom now works outside the home. And dad is expected to be more involved in raising the kids. But as parental roles and responsibilities become less defined, psychologists question: Are there essential characteristics of fathering versus mothering?

FIU’s Fatherhood Lab explores these issues and Psychology Professor Gordon Finley, who runs the lab, focuses specifically on how divorce impacts fathers and the development of their children. Finley has found that a father’s role is unique and far too often neglected by the family court system.

Using questionnaires and a retrospective technique in which he asked 1,989 young adults to think back on their relationship with their fathers, Finley found that children of divorce really miss their fathers. According to Finley, they are denied a relationship with them because of present-day family law and court practices.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Though abortion is controversial, few believe that women should be compelled to bear and be responsible for children who were conceived as a result of a criminal act, such as a sexual assault. Yet numerous courts have ruled that boys must be held responsible for the children they involuntarily fathered in their early teens as a result of a criminal act--statutory rape by an adult woman.

For example, in 2004 a Michigan appeals court ruled that a man who had conceived a child with an adult when he was 14 must pay her child support. Though the court acknowledged that the sex act which produced the child would have been a crime under state law, they decided that the case should be resolved "without regard to the fault of either of the parents."

Story here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is defending her membership in an elite all-women's club, telling senators the group doesn't discriminate unfairly by gender and involves men in many of its activities.

Her explanation came in a letter submitted Monday evening to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which also included copies of several rulings, briefs and speeches the judge had not previously given the panel.

GOP senators had requested the material and questioned Sotomayor's membership in the Belizean Grove, a group of prominent professional women, because federal judges are bound by a code that says they shouldn't join any organization that discriminates by race, sex, religion, or nationality.'