Article here. Excerpt:

'Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Obama's advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton's foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.

Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops.'

The bright side is, maybe New York will finally get a real second senator now. :-|

This article dates back to June, but the relevancy cannot be overstated. Excerpt:

'Tim Russert’s untimely death from a sudden heart attack reminded me of the dramatic 50+-year-long gender disparity against men in health care research and outreach. Many more men than women die of sudden heart attack and at an earlier age than do women of breast cancer.

Indeed, sudden heart attack is the #1 cause of premature death among men over 40. Yet, more money per capita is spent on breast cancer research.

And regarding outreach, there are a trivial number of prostate cancer ribbons compared with the number of pink ribbons against breast cancer. And have you ever seen even one ribbon against sudden heart attack?

More broadly, men die 5.3 years younger than women, and spend their last decade in worse health. There are more than four widows for every widower.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Parents are increasingly turning to private education for their girls as an antidote to a society dominated by "Botox and bingeing" and to protect them from the coarsening of society.
...
Vicky Tuck, principal of Cheltenham Ladies College, said that parents today were anxious that their daughters were growing up too fast, and worried that they were being exposed to many negative influences.
...
Ms Tuck said that girls often preferred a single sex education for personal reasons. "They do say that it helps not having boys around either mucking about or making them worry about their appearance; that they can compartmentalise their lives," she said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Suicide experts are warning that the current economic turmoil is driving an increasing number of white men to severe depression and suicide.

The SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) reports a marked increase in volumes of distress calls, particularly white men aged between 40 and 50 who are considering taking their lives.

Now the group, along with other experts, is becoming increasingly concerned that the looming festive season, during which suicides usually spike, will drive even more men over the edge.'

Article here. Another sexist, anti-men verdict. Excerpt:

"NEW DELHI: Husbands paying monthly maintenance to cover food, clothing and other expenses of estranged wives may now have to shell out a great deal more. For, the Supreme Court has ruled that maintenance should include provision for a house akin to the husband's.

"Maintenance, as we see it, necessarily, must encompass a provision for residence," said a Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma, ruling in favour of Komal Amma from Kerala who struggled to find a house for herself after estrangement."

Men now have to provide houses for females. How sexist can it get?

Story here. Excerpt:

'OCALA — An Ocala woman who claimed she was raped on Aug. 6 while walking along Southwest 32nd Court is being held in Pennsylvania on charges of making up the story.

Marion County sheriff's officials say Sandra Lawrence, 41, made up the bogus rape because she'd had unprotected sex that day with a 16-year-old boy and wanted a morning-after pill.

Lawrence allegedly claimed a Hispanic man dragged her into the woods and raped her, setting off a major law enforcement manhunt.
...
Lawrence was being held on charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor; tampering with or fabricating physical evidence; tampering with a victim, witness or informant; making a false report to law enforcement officials; and giving alcohol to a person under 21.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'FORESTHILL, CA - A Placer County woman is under arrest after allegedly dousing her boyfriend with gasoline and setting him on fire Friday morning.

The woman, identified as 21-year-old Traci Nicole Gilson, apparently grabbed a container of gasoline that was inside a Jeep, poured some of it onto her boyfriend and lit him on fire, according to Placer County Sheriff's investigators.

"When he fled the vehicle he was in fact on fire. His clothing was on fire," said Placer County Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Walsh. "The driver, who had gasoline on him, fled the vehicle into the forest here and then fled down the roadway. He was found by paramedics some ways down the road."

The victim is identified as Allan Lane Scott, 19, hospitalized with severe burns to his hands and the front of his body. He's listed in fair condition at the UC Med Center in Sacramento.'

I saw Changeling not too long ago and overall I think it was a very good movie from a lot of angles. However there was a scene wherein a character, Dr. Earl Tarr (played by Peter Gerety), a psychiatrist, states:

"Very likely his abductor thought it appropriate. After all, circumcision is hygienically sound. Must have been quite traumatic at the time. No wonder he's submerged the memory."

The script is available here (.pdf file); see page 32 of the file. Granted, his character was an antagonist, and the times (the late 1920s-1930s) the movie is set in are portrayed overall as still being rather backward in many ways. Nonetheless, this is a popular movie currently in theaters and this line from it offers MRAs an opportunity to write letters -to-the-editors pointing out the line in this movie and how it is both false and, unwittingly perhaps, encourages this barbaric practice.

Story here. Excerpt:

'STUART, Fla. — Investigators were searching Saturday for a teenage girl they say stabbed five others during a melee that ensued after a high school football game in southeast Florida.
...
The girls' wounds were in the leg, shoulder, forearm and hand. One person involved was Tasered by a deputy. The girls stabbed were taken to a hospital.

Another person was bitten by a police dog and one woman was arrested in a series of unrelated fights that involved around 30 people outside the school, Irons said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Early indications that men might dominate the hierarchy of Obama administration have women’s groups worried, even as a growing chorus of advisers reportedly pushes Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of state [sic].
...
The Obama transition team asked NOW to send suggestions of qualified female candidates, according to Gandy.
...
The backlash from women’s groups may have pushed Summers off the short list for Treasury secretary. Only 33 women have held Cabinet or Cabinet-level appointments, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Bill Clinton holds the record for female nominees, appointing 14 during his two terms in the White House. He’s followed by George W. Bush, who put eight women in top-level posts.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Experts say the case is emblematic of a broader crisis. Recent statistics record more than 100 cases of maternal filicide — mothers murdering their children — since the end of 2005, including six in September this year. Although the proportion of Japanese aged 14 and younger has been steadily shrinking in the past decade, the number of filicides has stayed roughly constant.

The cases feature a wide variety of motivations and triggers. Many, however, feature persistent theme: young mothers feel acutely isolated from their community and receive no support from uninvolved or abusive husbands. Usually they are too ashamed to seek treatment for their depression. In a moment of quiet desperation, they are driven to kill.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Young women have been trained in their dozens to become suicide bombers in one Iraqi province in an attempt to reverse an improving security climate and derail talks about an upcoming security pact, Iraqi officials believe.

The assessment follows the latest lethal blast on Sunday at a checkpoint outside a hospital in Baquba, which is believed to have been carried out by a girl as young as 13. Pathologists and police are still trying to determine her exact age and identity.

The girl's death has taken to 27 the number of female bombers from the province of Diyala, 37 miles (60 km) north of Baghdad, in the past 18 months and has led to an urgent Iraq-wide security review, which is likely to involve more intrusive searches of women at checkpoints.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sjoberg painted the clear picture that when it comes to war, women are still seen as these naturally nurturing, domesticated and inferior people who need protection.

Instead of taking this stereotypical viewpoint, Sjoberg said, "As women's freedoms increase, so will their violence." They no longer need to be looked at as people who need protection, she said, adding that, in fact, others may need protection from these women.

Sjoberg said that when women engage in violence, they are often portrayed as one of three things: mothers, monsters or whores who have no agency in their violence. Instead, their violence is always attributed to some sort of emotion or problem, never just because they are strong-willed women fighting for their rights. If it's a woman engaging in violence then popular culture always attributes her violence to some sort of disorder or emotional breakdown.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Indianola, Ia. - Shannon Michelle Rew faces up to 10 years behind bars and a lifetime as a registered sex offender, but the 37-year-old Indianola mother of three is unapologetic about her sexual relationship with a teenage boy.
...
Rew, who pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of third-degree sex abuse, said she and the boy "cared a lot about each other" and "kind of let emotions just take over," which prosecutors say led to an ongoing relationship that included pornography, explicit text messages and a sexual encounter in her van while she was free on bond.
...
People who are charged with crimes try "to make excuses to justify their crimes and take the focus away from what they did wrong under our laws by focusing attention on the victims," he said. "She took advantage of an emotionally unstable individual. That's what a criminal does. He or she takes advantage of someone who is vulnerable or in a fragile state."'

International Men's Day was first celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago on November 19, 1999. Other countries probably observe different days, but celebrate? Not yet. This is changing as India and Australia observing International Men's Day on November 19th.

An Australian Non-Governmental Organisation has decided to celebrate International Men's Day on November 19th. Excerpt:

"One of the promoted themes for the celebration of International Men's Day in Australia is honour and sacrifice, a theme that resonates with Aussie men, particularly as this date coincides with a major loss of male lives in the HMAS Sydney naval tragedy.

Having International Men's Day in November also ties in very well with Movember - a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men's health.'