A report issued today by RADAR Services, "Are Abuse Shelters Helping the True Victims of Domestic Violence?" (.pdf file), reveals some disturbing facts about the country's 1,200 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 shelters because of they are victims of battering. Instead, shelters are filled with homeless persons and substance abusers. This makes it hard for true victims of domestic violence to get the help they need.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Sacramento mother convicted earlier this year of killing her 3-year-old son wanted a do-over, but a judge ruled Friday that once was enough.

No new trial for Carline Balbuena.

The judge's decision brought to a close – for now, anyway – an ordeal that began in November 2005 with the beating death of Keith Carl "K.C." Balbuena, a little boy with a winning smile and an agonizing, short life. The case graphically illustrated the vulnerability of a child in an abusive home, where both adults – a lovesick mother and violent boyfriend/roommate – had lied about his numerous injuries.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Snip, snip! No, that’s not the sound of your baby boy’s foreskin getting nipped—it’s the sound of Medicaid cutting the benefits that cover circumcision.

Thousands of male infants aren’t being circumcised this year because their states don’t cover the procedure. There are currently sixteen states that don’t cover circumcisions through Medicaid, which costs between $250 and $300 on average.
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Get it together, Medicaid. Forcing the next generation of men into a lifetime of smooth, unaltered genitals is no way to govern a nation. Our forefathers fought hard so that American men would have the sculpted penile curves of a Ferrari, and denying them that right is simply unconstitutional.*

*Yes, I'm being sarcastic. The style of one's genitalia is a personal choice and the debate on whether circumcision is beneficial or unnecessary continues. Do you believe circumcision is an outdated practice? Aesthetically pleasing? Mutilation? Share your opinion (nicely)!'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Matthew Hess, the group's president, argues that boys are being treated unfairly when it comes to circumcision.

Story here. Excerpt:

'New Delhi - A divorce cannot take away a mother’s right to be with her child and the custody cannot be called unlawful, a city court has held while quashing a man’s petition alleging that his estranged wife had illegally detained his son.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Rakesh K Sharma said that keeping the child is a mother’s “natural right”, and a court requires extraordinary reasons to disturb the guardianship. “The custody of a minor child by his mother, by any stretch of imagination, would not constitute any offence,” the ACMM said in his order on Thursday.

The court also held that a mother could not be called an offender even if she forcibly detains the child. In the present case, the man had demanded that a search warrant be issued against his estranged wife.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For the first time in several decades, the F word is back on the agenda. No, I don't mean that we are all debating the merits of yet another misogynistic chef, but that feminism is taking centre stage.
...
It is all about the boys,' she told me. 'They come first. And the boys don't want to know you if you don't sleep with them. They were all raised on porn, they all read lads' mags, they think that is what we should be like. We dumb ourselves down for them.
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I spoke to a 26-year-old male friend yesterday, and asked if he even knows where he stands. 'I find women competitive with each other, confrontational, liberated sexually, oh my goodness yes, but they also demand we pay for everything. We are not supposed to object to anything they do, how they dress, how much they drink. It's confusing.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'HAMILTON — A 39-year-old woman is facing two charges for allegedly having sex with two teenage boys over the past two years.

Tracy Conley, who lists addresses on Trenton-Franklin Road in Madison Twp. and Weeping Willow Drive in St. Clair Twp. in court documents, was indicted last month on two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony.

The charges allege that Conley engaged in a sex act with a boy between the ages of 13 and 16 on Dec. 31, 2007, and between May 15 and May 31, 2008. Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Greg Stephens said there are two victims.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Despite increasing concern, the gap has widened steadily this decade. By 2007, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a third of women ages 25 to 29 had bachelor's degrees, the highest proportion ever. For men, it was just over one-quarter, lower than it was in 2000.

Educators have not been able to agree on what causes this disparity. Guidance counselors who work with high school seniors have different theories, and many observe that boys sometimes take a lackadaisical approach to future plans.
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The trend is playing out in the gender ratios at many colleges. To maintain a balance between the sexes, some schools have worked hard to attract young men.

Seton Hill University in Greensburg is about two-thirds female. Though the former women's college began admitting men in 2001 and added a football team in 2004 to attract male students, it has yet to reach a gender balance.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Monroe woman, who said she was angry because her boyfriend wouldn't let her sleep, shot him with a small-caliber handgun, according to an arrest affidavit.

Charged with aggravated battery was Roshonda Anding, 21, of 3002 Burg Jones Lane. She remained in Ouachita Correctional Center on Saturday afternoon with no bond set.
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"Anding was cooperative," the affidavit said, and "only stated that she shot (the victim) because he was bothering her and wouldn't let her sleep."'

Reader Comment:

"I am pretty sure this makes me evil, but this story made me laugh so hard. I mean, doubled over laughing. The whole idea of her shooting him to get some sleep. Hysterical! Oh man, I think my express ticket to hell just arrived."

Article here. Excerpt:

'When it comes to the age-old question of men and women, their relative strengths and weaknesses, a strange species of madness seems to have recently taken hold. Everywhere, not only in the media but also in academic and political life, the complexities of gender have been ironed out, reduced to a series of reassuring but stupid assumptions. The female principle is essentially generous and virtuous; masculinity is its opposite: selfish, untrustworthy.
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The revered and apparently intelligent actress Meryl Streep has this week been speculating on why the film Mamma Mia! has become the highest-grossing release of all time in the UK. Me too: trapped on an aeroplane recently, I endured 30 minutes of the film's mindless feel-good guff before switching over to Hellboy II. It is popular, I concluded, for the same reason that Busby Berkeley films did well during the Depression: it offers fluffy, escapist optimism for hard times.

Article here. Excerpt:

'THE Australian Government is demanding a New Zealand surrogate mother pay child support for the baby she had for two gay Queensland men, amid accusations she abandoned it.

Her case has raised fears of financial clawbacks for other New Zealand surrogates, including an Auckland woman who is eight-months pregnant with a son to another gay Australian couple.

"She's told the couple they have to sort it out as there's no way she's paying," said the second surrogate, who declined to be named.
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Australian funding agencies Centrelink and the Child Support Agency confirmed they were likely to seek maintenance payments from a birth mother in New Zealand if the Australian birth father claimed benefits as a sole parent caring for their baby.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"Seeking treatment for depression is still taboo for men, while increasing unemployment places more men at risk. Illinois' unemployment rate climbed to 7.3 percent as the national unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in late last year.

And the unemployment rate for men has been higher than women in Illinois since 2005. The result is an increasing number of disenfranchised men in the Chicago area falling into depression.
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Can unemployment be connected to depression in men?

Absolutely. Men in our culture have been socialized to view their jobs as very important and, often, their self-definition is all wrapped up in work. If they’re out of a job, it’s a major blow to their self-esteem. Often that results in depression. There’s really no quick fix to the economic problems we face, and all of that affects human beings in a profound way."

Story here. Call this a hard earned victory for all women facing kitchen amenity discrimination. I wonder if Congress with pass the Equal Grill Act? Excerpt:

"State Attorney General Terry Goddard said Wednesday that his discrimination lawsuit against the club had been settled out of court. The settlement requires the club to allow women into its men's grill and men into its women's grill when both re- open next month after renovations.

The club issued a statement saying that the settlement doesn't mean it had agreed with the accusations and that it didn't accept liability in the dispute. But the club said it agreed to let both grills be open to all members and guests. Goddard said the men's grill has better amenities and is seen as a prime spot for business deals and networking.

The case was prompted by a complaint to the club's board by Logan and Barbara Van Sittert. The lawsuit says the couple, who declined to comment Wednesday, wrote to the board president asking that women be allowed in the men's grill."

Article here. Excerpt:

'"The Paycheck Fairness Act would address this reality [pay discrepancy] through a number of needed reforms," notes Hillary. "The Act would create a training program to help women strengthen their negotiation skills; enforce equal pay laws for federal contractors; and require the Department of Labor to work with employers to eliminate pay disparities by enhancing outreach and training efforts.

Interesting how it's automatically assumed any pay discrepancies are due to evil men discriminating against women.
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I've already been told by at least three small businesses that they won't hire a woman because it's too risky. I agree. Look at a woman wrong and you're accused of sexual harassment. Open a door for her and you'll get hassled into enrolling in a "sensitivity" course. Complain when she needs yet another day off to take care of her sick kid, and you're accused of gender discrimination. It sure is a whole lot easier to hire a man!

Article here. Excerpt:

"Some singles have taken themselves out of the running for love during this recession. Unlike couples and families, who may interact with each other more when they're housebound, the single-and-jobless are often isolated by cutting their entertainment budget. When there's no money to date, it means suffering through a drought that's both professional and personal.

According to job counselors, it's a problem that primarily affects heterosexual men. The US Labor Department has reported more men out of work, while the number of employed women continues to rise. Even though the stigma of unemployment has diminished during these bleak times, traditional gender roles remain: Men are supposed to pursue dates and offer to pay."