Merry Christmas from MANN! Have fun, guys, or, try to anyway.

Article here. Excerpt:

'NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In a survey of a random sample of U.S. emergency physicians, virtually all said they believed that law enforcement officers use excessive force to arrest and detain suspects.

The sample included 315 respondents. While 99.8 percent believed excessive force is used, almost as many (97.8 percent) reported that they had managed cases that they suspected or that the patient stated had involved excessive use of force by law enforcement officers.

Nearly two thirds (65.3 percent) estimated that they had treated two or more cases of suspected excessive use of force per year among their patients, according to a report of the survey published in the January 2009 issue of the Emergency Medicine Journal.
...
Blunt trauma inflicted by fists or feet was the most common type of injury cited in cases of suspected use of excessive force, followed by "overly tight" handcuffs.

Most emergency physicians (71.2 percent) admitted that they did not report cases of suspected use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"In college, Pultorak earned the opportunity to learn more about ob/gyn care at a midwifery clinic along the Texas-Mexico border. He was the fist male nurse to attend Maternidad La Luz in El Paso, TX, and was very well accepted.

'They had never let a male go down to Texas,' Pultorak said, 'because they said the attitudes of the women giving birth were not supportive of having a male in on a birth or in on any examinations.'
...
'I know some male nurses are alienated or outcast, but I've never had that problem,' Pultorak said. 'I plan on staying at this hospital for as long as I can because I'm seeing so much and learning so much. I'm also having a great experience with the people I work with and my managers and educators on the floor. It's been more than I could hope for.'"

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Muslim woman who knifed her husband to death 33 days after their wedding to escape from her arranged marriage has been jailed for life by the Old Bailey.
...
Khatun then tried to cover up the murder, repeatedly lying to police and persuading a friend to give her a false alibi for the night of the killing.

When her alibi was exposed she said her husband had attacked her and she struck out in self-defence.

But the jury found her guilty of murder yesterday by a 10-1 majority and she was sentenced to serve a minimum of 17 years.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"...In the 80 years before the Obama administration, only the Kennedys brought a boy into the White House.
...
So why no modern manlings in the east wing? I have a theory, born of careful historical analysis and solipsism: It's impossible to be elected to the White House if you have young sons, because that would mean you have to campaign with them.
...
The Obama campaign was noted for its discipline, its rigor and its self control: three things most young boys are not noted for."

This is another example of boy-bashing. Having girls are described as an "asset" which means having boys is a liability. The author has only good things to say about girls and nothing good to say about boys. She is obviously irritated that past US presidents ever had boys, and somehow more recent presidents not having male children is somehow an improvement.

Video report here. Details are scarce. Can anyone post more info?

Story here. Excerpt:

'INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A suburban Kansas City woman pleaded guilty Monday to killing a woman whose sexual torture and suffocation were videotaped.

In a deal with prosecutors that allowed her to avoid the death penalty, Dena Riley, 42, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the May 2006 death of Marsha Spicer, who was suffocated during sex at an Independence apartment that Riley shared with her boyfriend.
...
As part of the deal, Riley was sentenced to life without parole for the murder charge and to eight additional life sentences and 239 years in prison for 25 other counts.

Earlier this year, Davis was convicted and sentenced to death for Spicer's slaying. He also is charged in the federal case.'

In 2008, the Violence Against Women Act was thrust into the national political arena. Selected as the vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden repeatedly highlighted his role in securing passage of the Violence Against Women Act. In addition, Republican nomination candidate Mitt Romney was asked at one campaign stop to state his views on bogus restraining orders.

By year's end, 2008 turned out to be a time of unprecedented success. Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting (RADAR), along with the VAWA Reform Coalition and other persons, notched impressive legislative victories, substantially expanded our media efforts, and broadened the coalition to reform the Violence Against Women Act.

This report is organized into three sections:

1. RADAR
2. VAWA Reform Coalition
3. Others' Activities

...

Please see http://mediaradar.org/alert20081222.php for the rest of the alert.

Via Marc A. Article here. Fred Sottile of Fathers4Justice Los Angeles, who is quoted, is also an officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men and a recipient of NCFM's Award of Honor for 2008. Nice going, Fred! -- Marc | Excerpt:

'A Task Force created to address alleged widespread problems in the state family courts system is taking flak from the same groups who have been calling for reforms.

As most of you know, we recently won the case of Woods v. Shewry, in which the California court of appeal recently held that excluding men from state-funded domestic violence services violates men's constitutional right to equal protection. Decision here (.pdf file). See also http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/wood101508.htm

However, in the same case, we lost the part on the exclusion of inmate dads from inmate parenting programs. So we filed a request for California Supreme Court review of that portion of the decision.

There are over 85,000 fathers in prison in California, and they are automatically barred from even applying for the inmate parenting program solely because they're fathers. These programs including residential housing, alternative sentencing, pediatric services, etc. for mothers with kids under 6 years old.

Story here. Excerpt:

'On Tuesday, the council will vote on changing the rules for youth sports so that any girl younger than 12 will have the chance to play in all-boy leagues if she and her parents desire.

"If the girls can compete and they're willing to compete, why not let them?" said Byrd, who said she was not allowed to play on the boys football team at Bassett Middle School.

"I don't think it's enough to just say that we're not going to do it because it's a rule we have," she added. "Let's think about what we're doing and why we are doing it."

City sports officials, though, said they are just following state and federal guidelines for girls sports, and that the rule is meant to encourage more girls to play sports.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"Modern schools are not suited to boys' personalities and learning styles. This can be seen from the time boys enter school, when many of them are immediately branded as behavior problems. The line of 10 kids who had to gather every day after school in my son's first grade class for their behavior reports--all boys. The names of kids on the side of the chalkboard who misbehaved and would lose recess--all boys. The kids as young as five or six who must be drugged so they will sit still and "behave"--almost all boys.

By any measure, our schools are failing our sons. Boys at all levels are far more likely than girls to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. By high school the typical boy is a year and a half behind the typical girl in reading and writing, and is less likely to graduate high school, go to college, or graduate college than a typical girl.'"

Story here. Excerpt:

'The number of male teachers in the United States is at a 40-year low. Out of 3 million teachers, only 25 percent are men, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

So what’s keeping men out of school?

Brian Nelson founder of MenTeach, a Minneapolis-based organization that seeks to encourage more men to become teachers, cites three reasons:

-- Stereotypes that men aren’t nurturing and can’t take care of little kids.
“Obviously, that’s not true. Men can be great fathers and can be nurturing.”

-- Fear of accusation of abuse.
“There’s a belief that men are going to harm children in school,” Nelson said. “The facts don’t bear this out. A child is more likely to be harmed in their own home than they are in school.

“Some men I’ve talked to who were falsely accused said it really destroys their reputation, even if it’s a false allegation. There’s something that hovers over them. ‘Maybe he did it but just got off.’ That keeps men away. Why would you want to go through that?”

Story here. Excerpt:

"A couple who had their children taken away from them for two years by social services after falsely being accused of sexual abuse have been awarded a six-figure compensation payout.

Tim and Gina Williams went through a 'total nightmare' of having their three young children placed in separate foster homes after being wrongly placed under suspicion by social workers.
...
They were today awarded an undisclosed sum in an agreed settlement at the High Court in Cardiff.
...
The Williams family also received a full written apology from Newport Council.

In his judgment two years ago, Judge Crispin Masterman criticised social services for failing to follow recommended procedures and not carrying out a proper assessment of the family."

Article here. Excerpt:

"David Cameron announced wide-ranging plans to tackle domestic violence today with a pledge that a Tory government would move swiftly to improve protection for women.

Domestic violence increases over Christmas and the New Year, when more alcohol is consumed, and the Conservative leader said that tackling it should be made a greater priority.

The Tories would create 15 more rape crisis centres, funded by £2.6million from the 'victim surcharge' that is imposed on criminals who pay fines."