Article here. Excerpt:

"The Kingston university has hired student facilitators to step in when they overhear homophobic slurs, remarks bashing women or racially tinged insults, along with an array of other language that could be deemed offensive.
...
'If people are having a conversation with offensive content and they're doing it loud enough for a third person to hear it ... it's not private,' said Jason Laker, dean of student affairs at Queen's.
...
Patricia Gurin, professor emeritus of psychology and women's studies at the University of Michigan, is one of the founders of the intergroup dialogue concept.
...
She said that facilitators who haven't been trained properly could end up reinforcing defence mechanisms of privileged students.

"White males say 'This is more white-male bashing.' What are they learning from that? Reinforcement of defensiveness rather than opening up and exploring is the consequence."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'SALISBURY, Md. — A Salisbury Christian School music teacher was arrested on sex offense charges this morning after law enforcement officers were notified of an improper relationship with a former student, police said.

Carole Leigh Mayers, a 41-year-old Eden resident, is charged with five counts of third-degree sex offense, five counts of fourth-degree sex offense, five counts of child abuse and perverted practice, according to police.'

Story here.

'A former Elmhurst College student has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying a police report.

Investigators say 19-year-old Safia Jilani reportedly told them she was attacked in a campus bathroom last month because she is Muslim.

After an investigation, police say Jilani made up the story. She has been expelled from the college. Her attorney said Jilani is in treatment but would not discuss details.

She could face three years in prison if convicted.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'OLATHE, KAN. -- An Olathe junior high school student could face sexual battery charges after allegedly giving a school social worker an "inappropriate" hug, police said on Tuesday.

According to Olathe Police, a school social worker at Chisholm Trail Junior High School told an assistant principal that the boy, 13, hugged her in a way that she thought was inappropriate.
...
"The report has been taken and the incident was documented and it has been forwarded to the district attorney's office," said Sgt. Johnnie Rowland of the Olathe Police Department. "They will review it and decide from that point what action should be taken."

Nicole Littler from MOCSA, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault says some teens don't understand sexual harassment, and she urges parents to talk to their children about it.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'SAN ANTONIO — A 27-year-old woman has been arrested on charges of distributing harmful material to a minor after a 14-year-old's parents found a topless photo of her on his cell phone.

Victoria Ann Chacon, a former middle school teacher, allegedly met the boy at their church, where she was a Sunday school teacher. Authorities at Somerset Independent School District said they found no evidence of any inappropriate relationships with students; the 14-year-old attended school elsewhere.

The boy's parents called police in March after finding racy letters in which Chacon professed her love. The boy initially refused to give a statement about the relationship, the arrest warrant says.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

'York, Neb. — Attorney General Jon Bruning says he’s dedicated to preventing domestic violence and will ask for legislation next year that would require high school classes on the subject.
...
“I was shocked to see how much domestic violence, date violence, is happening at the high school level and even at the middle school level,” Bruning said. “I want the Legislature to pass a law, this coming year, that will help bring that to a stop. I will be asking for that bill, and I want it passed.”
...
The Rhode Island law requires all school districts to have a dating violence policy. It also requires annual dating violence education for students in the seventh through 12th grades, through the health curriculum.'

I just hope these classes present both sides of the issue.

Today is the day to celebrate! It is International Men's Day. The idea of an International Men's Day was initiated at the UN by Mikhail Gorbachev.

First celebrated on November 19th, 1999 in Trinidad and Tobacco, India did so for the first time in 2007 and then again in 2008. Abhinav Bindra was the first individual Olympic gold medalist from India to put his support behind it. The reasons why we need this day are succinctly put here.

Australia is celebrating this day as well, with Dads4Kids taking the lead.

How is this day being marked in India?

Story here. Excerpt:

'When Walter Andre Sharpe Jr. signed for a certified letter from Dauphin County Domestic Relations in 2001, he didn't know he was signing on for a seven-year nightmare.

Since then, the Philadelphia man has been thrown in jail four times, lost his job, become estranged from his four children and spent more than $12,000 to support the child of another man.

It finally stopped in May 2007 when a judge reversed a finding that he was the father.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Police say a 35-year-old Worcester woman raped and abused her teenage niece, forcing her to be a live-in housekeeper in what police are calling a sick, real-life “Cinderella” story.

Mara L. Escobar pleaded not guilty yesterday in Central District Court in Worcester to two counts of child rape, five counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault and battery on a child causing bodily injury and one count of domestic assault and battery.

The alleged victim, now 16, was reportedly beaten with thorny rose stems, assaulted with frozen hot dogs, slammed against the floor and kicked and punched in the eye on numerous occasions starting in 2005 while living at Escobar’s home, according to court documents.'

Where has Ms. Banks been, hiding under a rock? This comes as no surprise, really. Excerpt:

'More than 10,000 teenage girls and young women took part in an anonymous survey over the summer on TyraShow.com, the Web site of “The Tyra Banks Show.” Survey questions focused on sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, as well as drinking, drugs and violence among females. Here are some findings from the survey:

* On average, girls are losing their virginity at 15 years of age.
* 14 percent of teens who are having sex say they’re doing it at school.
* 52 percent of survey respondents say they do not use protection when having sex.
* One in three says she fears having a sexually transmitted disease.
* 24 percent of teens with STDs say they still have unprotected sex.
* One in five girls says she wants to be a teen mom.
* About 50 percent acknowledge that they’ve hit someone.
* One out of three teens has tried drugs.'

Via J Swanson: Our fine hard-working musician brother in arms Joakim Ramstadt in Sweden has produced a new video and MP3 file for our general 'enjoyment' and for wide distribution. The latest is "The Eyes of my Child" which I believe is equally as good as his original "A Crime to be a Man"; links to both videos are hereunder.

Music being one of my passions beyond my FR activities I especially enjoyed these and they come highly-recommended. There is no doubt that apart from being a good Father our brother is also a brilliant musician. The songs are licensed to Joakim as performed by his band "Tequila Sunrise" and he wants you to know that he will send you a free copy of the MP3 and or the video (19MB) if you want it. Personally I have opted to receive just the MP3 files because one can view the video at the links hereunder.

For the past several weeks, an organization called The Family Place has been running ads on in the Dallas area buses featuring young children.

In one ad a young boy says when: " I grow up I will beat my wife." Another ad features a young African-American girl who says "when I grow up my husband will kill me".

Glenn Sacks has led the charge against these ads. You can check out his efforts at http://glennsacks.com/dart.

These ads create many problems, not the least of which is that they misrepresent the true nature of domestic violence.

Featuring a young girl with this message that her husband will kill her when she grows up implies that domestic violence is widespread especially in marriage. But census statistics show that domestic violence rates in marriage are around 0.2%. See http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/table/wommar.htm.

And depicting this young girl as African-American stereotypes African-American boys as future abusers.

Story here. Excerpt:

'MAUSTON, Wis. - A woman accused of helping her religious leader hide a decaying corpse on her toilet so they could continue collecting her Social Security was convicted of a misdemeanor in a deal for her to testify against the leader, a prosecutor said Monday.

Tammy Lewis, 36, of Necedah, pleaded no contest to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350 in a plea bargain that defers prosecution of more serious charges. Juneau County Circuit John Roemer ordered her to pay the fine within 60 days or serve a seven-day jail sentence.
...
"We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey," Southworth said. "We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her."

A deferred prosecution agreement calls for Lewis to continue to receive mental health treatment and testify against Bushey in a trial set to begin in April, the prosecutor said.'

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. :-|