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.
...
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.
...
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."

Article here. Excerpt:

'Men are two and a half times more likely to file for bankruptcy than women, possibly because they are less efficient at running their finances, according to research by Tenon Recovery. More than 430 of the 600 bankruptcies handled by Tenon last year involved men. The firm said anecdotal evidence suggested women were less likely to fall into insolvency because they were more efficient at tasks such as keeping financial records and collecting payments.

"Women's strong organisational skills could go some way to explaining why they are better at managing their finances than men,' said Carl Jackson, head of Tenon Recovery.

More women are losing their jobs in this recession than in previous slumps. But research by NatWest and Everywoman has found that female business owners are more likely to take a structured approach to running a firm, with 55% following a business plan, compared with only 34% of men. They are also more willing to take advice. Both of these traits could help female businesses survive the crunch.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'When Hilary Black ditched her boyfriend two years ago she didn’t exactly expect sympathy – she was, after all, breaking his heart – but she assumed her girlfriends would rally round, assuring her she’d done the right thing.

Instead her decision was met with gasps of surprise and barely disguised disapproval. The boyfriend concerned was rich, you see. Very rich. “One of my friends actually said, ‘Are you crazy? This guy could take care of you for life!’” says Black.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Arriving in stores this month are "The Boys' Book of Survival: How to Survive Anything, Anywhere" and "The Girls' Book of Glamour: A Guide to Being a Goddess."

This newfound embrace of "la difference," as the French say, can be traced to the astonishing international success of 2006's "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by British authors Conn and Hal Iggulden.

The book - which instructs boys in manly pursuits such as building treehouses, skipping stones and learning Latin - was catnip for conservative critics with ears for Christina Hoff Sommers' argument in "The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men" that modern American educational theory is inordinately troubled by blossoming masculinity, with the practical consequence that boys are disadvantaged in classrooms.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'MANILA, Philippines—A high-ranking Vatican official currently in Manila has warned of the erosion of manhood and the “crisis in fatherhood” that have resulted in millions of children worldwide without a father or enjoying emotionally healthy relations with one.

German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum,” the Vatican dicastery (or administrative agency) on charity, aid and relief, blamed “gender mainstreaming” and “radical feminism” for attacking biological manhood and insisting that “sexual roles are learned.”

He said men are demeaned and what is held up as an ideal is a man who is feminized and emasculated, one who, in a European study, is held up to be “a sweeter man.”
...
Cordes said statistics around the world “confirm that today the self-understanding of manhood and especially fatherhood is in crisis.”
...
Some newspapers hailed this as ‘the end of fatherhood.’”

Story here. Excerpt:

'Unprecedented plans to give bureaucrats the power to revoke people’s driving licences and passports without going through the courts will be unveiled this week.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell will announce the far-reaching proposals on Tuesday as part of a new crackdown on absent fathers who refuse to pay for the upkeep of their children.

Officials in charge of pursuing them for child maintenance arrears would win the right to bypass judges and ban them from driving or travelling abroad at the stroke of a pen.
...
But in December 2007, the respected Lords’ constitution committee warned that giving State officials the power to cancel passports would be a ‘serious’ curtailment of long-standing freedoms.’

It added: ‘The freedom to travel to and from one’s country is a right of great significance and should only be curtailed after a rigorous decision process.’

Story here. Excerpt:

' A BBC personality has shattered her ex-boyfriend's life by falsely accusing him of rape.

The woman, who has broadcast to television audiences of millions, accused him of raping her 40 times throughout their two-and-a-half-year relationship.

He was arrested, held in a police cell and handcuffed as police searched his flat for evidence of his crime. But she retracted her allegation weeks later, and the officer investigating the claims described them as 'inconsistent' and 'not credible'.

Despite the lack of evidence, the incident remains on the Police National Computer thanks to a legal loophole, which campaigners say is blighting the lives of falsely accused men.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In Agent Provocateur's most racy advertising campaign yet, model-of-the-moment Rosie Huntington Whiteley gives her on-screen lover an adults-only lap dance.

The nearly three-minute film culminates in her thumping her boyfriend across the face to remind men not to forget Valentine's Day.
...
Huntington Whiteley proceeds to tie him up, faux bondage-style, before blindfolding him with a black tie.

With the sound of his heavy breathing in the background, the girlfriend marches over and punches him in the face.

'This will teach you to forget Valentine's Day,' she says, and then marches off.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'CHEERS erupted from the public gallery at Doncaster Crown Court after a teenager was cleared of rape charges.

Dean Bunn, aged 19, broke down in tears and had to be helped from the dock when he was overcome by emotion at the end of his six-month ordeal.
...
Mr Bunn, of Pickering Road, Bentley, was first arrested in early July when he went to a police station after seeing a cordon thrown around the alleged crime scene next to Bentley railway bridge.

He told police he had had sex with a woman in bushes at the bottom of the bridge embankment, but said she instigated it – something he maintained throughout two trials.
...
A second trial, in which the 36-year-old woman who had cried rape gave evidence by video link for a second time, concluded yesterday with Mr Bunn's acquittal.

In his defence he said he had been walking from a pub at Carcroft to town when he met the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on Bentley Road near the bridge. He had never met her before.

Story here. Excerpt:

'CLEVELAND - A mother charged with aggravated murder in the bathtub drownings of her two daughters was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.

A three-judge panel in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court determined that 23-year-old Amber Hill suffered from a severe mental disorder when she drowned her daughters on Oct. 1, 2007.

"The court concludes she did not know the wrongfulness of her horrific acts," said Judge John Sutula.
...
"Now my daughter can get some help," she said. During the trial, Hutchins had testified that she wanted to take her daughter to a hospital for mental health counseling before the children died.

Mack said Hill had since been medicated and was functioning well.

"She was a good mother," said the defense attorney Myron Watson. "She cared for those children. Those children were the center of her life."'

Story here. Eureka! A win for the good guys! If you can find the judges email address send her kudos. Heck if I knew where I would send her flowers. Way to go judge!!!! Excerpt:

'In a stunning and unusual family law decision, a Toronto judge has stripped a mother of custody of her three children after the woman spent more than a decade trying to alienate them from their father.

The mother's "consistent and overwhelming" campaign to brainwash the children into thinking their father was a bad person was nothing short of emotional abuse, Justice Faye McWatt of the Superior Court of Justice wrote in her decision.

The three girls, ages 9 to 14, were brought to a downtown courthouse last Friday and turned over to their father, a vascular surgeon identified only as A.L.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Federal Prosecutors say an alleged sexual assault and attack in the Waldo neighborhood was staged.

Federal prosecutors charged Julie Bernet, 39, of Bucrys, Mo. And Gordon Reabe, Jr., 33 of Lee’s Summit, Mo. with wire fraud on Thursday.

Court documents say Bernet and 23-year old Lindsey Crawford offered to pay Reabe $100,000 to duct tape them and assault both women inside Carwford’s garage on Nov. 25, 2008.
...
Prosecutors say the women hoped the attacks would force a higher settlement of their sexual harassment lawsuit against a former employer.

Bernet and Crawford filed the lawsuit against former employer Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City last year, citing gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation.

Court documents indicate Bernet ran across the street to a neighbor’s house, claiming two masked men attacked them the home minutes after Reabe assaulted them.'