This story aired on Australian television last night, and I immediately wished I hadn't dignified it by watching it: here . (The main story is preceded by about 30 secs of advertising).

Excerpt from story tag:

'The kindest cut?
The complex debate surrounding male circumcision is back on the agenda and Monique Wright discovers the decision to snip or not to snip is not an easy choice for parents.'

Actually, 80+% of the world's parents are never confronted with any decision at all and the 'choice' for parents in Australia is only made difficult by the statements of discredited, publicity-drunk academicians like Brian Morris and profiteering doctors like Terry Russell.

From Jay H.: The National Women's Law Center provides a form to express one's support for the Paycheck Fairness Act 2009, a bill rife with bias against men here.

The nwlc.org website is on the first page of search results when searching Google for either "Paycheck Fairness Act" or "Paycheck Fairness Act 2009" or "women's pay". When searching for a variation of "fair pay" it is the first or second result.

The ACLU's frontpage provides a link to a nearly identical form with the description, "TAKE ACTION - Tell Your Senators to Support The Paycheck Fairness Act". Shouldn't we be asking for a similar call to action against this misguided bill?

Story here.

'The mother of a three-year-old boy whose body was pulled from an Oregon river hours before daybreak on Saturday was arrested and accused of dumping the boy and her seven-year-old daughter off a bridge.

Portland police said Amanda Jo Stott-Smith, 31, was taken into custody at a downtown parking garage.

Police said her car was on the Sellwood Bridge over the Willamette River moments before residents of the area heard the children's screams and a massive search was launched.

A resident who joined the search in his boat found the children nearly an hour after the screams were heard. Rescuers were unable to revive the boy. The girl was admitted to hospital.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Only 7% of men would be prepared to stay at home with a newborn baby if maternity benefits were replaced with parental ones, according to a survey.

Even fewer women - 4% - would hand over the role at home to the father, while two-thirds of working mothers said they only kept jobs out of necessity.
...
"And interestingly women who don't have children tend to continue earning virtually the same as men as they continue in their careers."
...
New mothers currently get nine months paid leave, six weeks at 90% of their salary and the rest at the statutory rate of £117.18 a week. Fathers get two weeks at the statutory rate.
...
The show's survey found that 54% of respondents thought men were the main breadwinners, although 67% did not think they should be.

Almost one in five women said they experienced sex discrimination at work, while twice as many men than women surveyed had asked for a pay rise in the last five years.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A report by a lobby group championing men's rights on Sunday said over 1.5 million in Kenya are victims of domestic violence daily.

The Maendeleo ya Wanaume organisation said even though they are battered by their wives, men find it difficult to report this to authorities for fear of social ridicule.

The findings show the campaign for the rights of the women has led to a reverse of the scenario and now men are at the centre of violence. The group carried out a survey in 40 selected districts in Kenya's provinces from August 2008 and has found out that between 1 and 1.5 million men are domestically abused by women daily.

The report shows that men have little say on issues that concern conjugal rights in their relationship and that women are the ones who determine when they should get intimate. In an apparent reference to the just-concluded sexual boycott called by a group of women activists, G10, the men said “this was equal to a domestic abuse against men.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In science, Japanese fourth-graders ranked fourth in performance compared to their international peers; eighth-graders ranked third; 15-year-olds ranked third. All three ranks represent performances significantly above international averages.

The only difference in average math performance between Japanese boys and girls was in the 15-year-old category, wherein boys outperformed girls by 20 points. The math gender gap has widened by 9 points since 2003.

Japanese 15-year-old girls outperformed boys in reading by 31 points. The reading gender gap has not narrowed since PISA began collecting data in 2000. It is currently more than 50 percent larger than the math gender gap.
...
52 percent of males and 38 percent of females enter universities in Japan. The international average is 50 percent of males and 62 percent of females.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Most societies all over the globe miss answering the most crucial question for men: What is our purpose in life?

Women do not have to face this question as they are the giver of life — with the exception of the growing number of women not willing to face motherhood and, sadly, including women not able to give birth. These women as well as men face the critical question of the purpose of their existence.

Video here. Caption: "Girls at a Spanaway, Washington school made a video showing ways to kill a classmate."

Only boys are violent or bully other kids. We all know this. So this can't possibly be right. There must be a boy behind it, controlling the girls' minds in some way. Yeah, that's it.

Let President Obama know that his nominee for the Supreme Court should be someone who understands equal rights is not a one-sided issue. Men's rights should not be left by the wayside.

You can contact the administration here.

I sent the following letter.

Mr. President,

One of the reasons I voted for you is I believe you are a wise, far-sighted individual with a firm grasp on what progress really entails. I urge you to strongly consider a Supreme Court Justice who is similarly far-sighted in the area of civil rights, specifically in the area of gender fairness. The women’s rights movement has achieved a great deal of progress toward gender equality in the law, in the workplace, and socially. However, we should not discount the equal importance of men’s rights.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A taxi driver falsely accused of rape could receive a five-figure compensation payout after winning a landmark victory.

Clive Bishop, 49, says his life was ruined after a drunken 17-year-old passenger claimed he attacked her.

Kirsty Palmer later admitted she made up the allegations and was jailed for ten months for perverting the course of justice.

When he applied for compensation, Mr Bishop described how months of living under a cloud of 'slurs and lies' had caused him enormous suffering.

But the foster carer was twice refused a payout by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority on the grounds he had not come to physical harm.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'BRITAIN’S second largest police force has been accused of discriminating against white men by setting itself targets to recruit and promote more black and female officers.

West Midlands police chiefs have pledged to increase the proportion of new recruits from “black or minority ethnic” groups to 12 per cent and women to 42 per cent.
...
The force has been warned it is walking into a potentially illegal and costly minefield of political correctness.

Former West Midlands police superintendent and city councillor John Mellor described the move as a terrible mistake.'

Just an alert, in case you're not already aware, that the Channel 7 Australia program 'Sunday Night' is about to air an incredibly biased segment promoting infant circumcision, 6:30 pm tomorrow night.

You can view a preview of the story here. Just scroll down and click on 'Play video' next to 'Sunday Night preview'.

It appears that the entire segment is going to be based around Brian Morris (http://www.circinfo.net/) and Terry Russell (http://www.circumcision.com.au/), with a few token opponents of circumcision tossed in and portrayed as outliers. And of course, there is the promise in the advertising that circum-fetishists will get to see at least one baby boy spread-eagled and cut.

It is perhaps noteworthy that journalist/presenter Mike Munro promoted similar rubbish in his previous channel 9 roles on 'A Current Affair' and '60 Minutes'.

Below I have described my preliminary objections to the current form of the “Paycheck Fairness Act 2009” (see full text here). The Act was passed by the House January 6, 2009, with a 256-163 vote. It is expected the bill will go to the Senate floor for a vote. Below are excerpts from the Act followed by my comments in bold.

___

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’.
I do not believe this description is appropriate for the following reasons:

1) The Act claims that “in many instances” wage disparities are the result of intentional discrimination. Wage disparities may occur due to other factors including individual free choice.

I wanted to bring to your attention a party being thrown Saturday, May 23, 2009, at the Playboy Mansion. They are currently charging $450 for women and $675 for men. This appears to be a clear violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act in California, which protects against discrimination based on gender.

The California Supreme Court has ruled that the Unruh Civil Rights Act outlaws sex-based prices at bars (ladies' nights): offering women a discount on drinks, but not offering the same discount to males. In Koire v Metro Car Wash, 40 Cal 3d24, 219 Cal Rptr 133(1985), the court held that such discounts constituted sex stereotyping prohibited by this Act.

You can find the full text of the Act here, reading in part:

Article here. I don't know about you guys, but I found the picture a bit disturbing. Excerpt: