Article here. Excerpt:

'Stories of Turkish girls forced into arranged marriages in Germany are well known. But hardly anyone talks about the men who are forced into marriage -- sometimes harassed, blackmailed or beaten.

Azad will never forget that day in September 2005. It was the day of his wedding in Stuttgart, but for Azad it was filled with hours of shame. "It's really bad, when you have to force yourself to have sex with a relative," says the 20-year-old Kurd. "It's sick. With my first cousin."

When Azad was 16, his parents informed him that he was to be engaged to a cousin from eastern Anatolia, who was also 16. When he refused, his mother threatened to commit suicide. "You will find me hanging from a rope in the basement," she said. At 17, Azad and the cousin were married in a civil ceremony during a family vacation in Turkey. When he was 18 his bride came to Germany, and ornate wedding invitations were sent out. The wedding ceremony took place in a midrange hotel in southwestern Germany. "It was pure horror," says Azad.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"Harriet Harman's husband has told how he thought his house was being burgled when two fathers' rights activists dressed as superheroes climbed onto the roof.

Speaking at the protesters' trial, Jack Dromey said he thought Fathers4Justice campaigners Jonathan Stanesby and Mark Harris were trying to break into his house.

Trade unionist Dromey, 60 - who has taken part in numerous political protests himself - said the invasion of his home 'was a matter of alarm and continuing distress'.

The Labour Party Treasurer and husband of the Labour deputy leader went on to criticise direct action on people's private homes as 'out of bounds'.

Jonathan 'Jolly' Stanesby, 43, and Mark Harris, 49, who are both from Devon, scaled Mrs Harman's three-storey home in south-east London on June 8 this year.

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Are males becoming an endangered species?

That's the question scientists and researchers have been pondering since alarming trends in male fertility rates, birth defects and disorders began emerging around the world.

More and more boys are being born with genital defects and are suffering from learning disabilities, autism and Tourette's syndrome, among other disorders.
...
High miscarriage rates and a unusually high number of children suffering from asthma were also noted by researchers.

Although the link between pollutants and human reproduction has not been firmly established, there is growing evidence that the birth sex ratio can be altered by exposure to certain chemicals, such as dioxin, PCBs and pesticides. Brophy said studies done in the United States, Japan and Europe seem to support the theory that the so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals have a particular effect on males.'

Not only a news article... it is very pertinent to our cause. Article here. Excerpt:

'USA 2008 – Estimates on citizens falsely prosecuted for criminal offenses each year range from 12% to 35% according to qualified statisticians. This is an alarming, factual occurrence – one which should be dealt with sooner than later, but will probably be much later. To ignore or postpone an appropriate response to this travesty of justice allows the criminal justice system to nibble away at our rights as citizens living in a free society. Eventually, the apathy will lead to a pandemic of innocent victims suffering under the boot of despots, because no one will be left to give a damn.

Some readers will wonder, "What's the point here?". The point is that it was unthinkable that a "cross-dressing" man could run for public office and win. While it is true just from everyday observations that women still enjoy a far wider array of dress and deportment options than do men, it is a sign of progress to see that despite the widespread acceptance of "cross-dressing" styles allowed to women and the opposite level of acceptance for men, at least one man can have the cajones to do what this one is doing and also get elected to public office. Excerpt:

'Meet Stu Rasmussen, he's the mayor-elect of Silverton, Oregon. He's also a tranny.
...
Rasmussen actually says he is straight and has a girlfriend. He is just partially a woman. He has no plans to change his gender, but he does have breasts. Stu says he identifies most with heterosexual men, but adds "I just like to look like a female."

...it looks like Rasmussen is the first transgendered mayor in the United States. He'll be governoring in a dress and high heels.'

Who doesn't remember the woman in Plano who violently ripped the arms off her 10 month old baby and got a slap on the hand in a "rehabilitation center" (i.e. spa)? Yeah, well, as expected, she's being released. Excerpt:

'DALLAS, Texas -- A woman who killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms with a kitchen knife is being released from a state mental hospital.

Dena Schlosser killed her baby, Maggie, in 2004 and was found not guilty by reason of insanity two years later during a second capital murder trial.

She'll be released into outpatient treatment within the next month, Collin County prosecutor Curtis Howard told The Dallas Morning News in Friday's online edition.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Dr Catherine Hakim argues that existing legislation has already eradicated sexism against women, and that the remaining gender pay gap is down to the different career choices made by men and women.

She accuses feminists of peddling "myths" about the extra hours put in by women and their thwarted career ambitions to justify "futile and perverse" attempts to help them balance work and family life.

And Dr Hakim, a senior research fellow at the London School of Economics, warns that any further strengthening of equality laws on employment – for instance by forcing both mothers and fathers to share parental leave – risks damaging the career prospects of men.'

Article here. Maybe next year they'll have 'National Women Shovel Snow Day'. Excerpt:

'Non-cooking men, should you be game to celebrate National Men Make Dinner Day, here are the ground rules, as paraphrased from the official holiday Web site:

- Dinner must be made from a "published" recipe from either a cookbook or the Internet. The recipe should contain a minimum of four ingredients and use at least one cooking utensil other than a fork. Check the above mentioned Web site for some deliciously simple recipes.

- Man must do all the shopping for any ingredients that aren't already in the kitchen.
...
- Man is responsible for setting table nicely with candles, as well as cleaning up the kitchen as he goes, clearing the table, and loading the dishwasher.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Sarah E. Ellison, a 31-year-old woman who ran a day care center at her Fort Meade home, was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges that she repeatedly molested a 14-year-old boy.

Ellison is the first Maryland woman indicted for sexual abuse of a minor under the two-year-old Project Safe Childhood Program, a partnership among state, local and federal officials designed to combat sexual exploitation of children.

According to the two-count indictment, the boy attended a middle school with Ellison's two stepchildren, whom he considered friends. He would sometimes hang out at her house after school because of the relationships. Between November 2005 and June 2006, the indictment alleges, Ellison and the boy had sexual contact by "touching each other between 10 and 20 times and, on occasion, mutually masturbating each other."

Story here. Excerpt:

'Larry Summers, President Clinton's last treasury secretary, is reportedly at the top of the list of candidates being considered to fill the role of chief financial officer of the government.

And he probably should be.

Summers' economic credentials are sterling -- an undergraduate degree from MIT and a doctoral degree in economics from Harvard. He has written influential academic papers, became one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history at the age of 28 and served as chief economist of the World Bank. He even worked as an economic adviser in the Reagan administration.
...
After leaving Treasury in 2001, Summers became the president of Harvard. His tenure there was marked by a series of controversies.

The most damning was when he said basic genetic differences between the sexes may be one reason why fewer women succeed in math and science careers.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Eastern Cape - The Department of Health will soon provide private wards in hospitals throughout the Eastern Cape Province to accommodate patients who are admitted to hospital due to botched traditional circumcisions.
...
"The young people who undergo circumcision are the future of this province and if we want to grow the economy of this province, we need to make sure that they return from the circumcision schools healthy," she said.
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This follows the death of four boys after being rescued from various initiation schools in the province.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'They may not know it, but these men are what academics call "difference" or "cultural" feminists, believing that women deserve equal rights not because, as humans, they are basically the same as men, but because of their differences--and even that those differences in some ways make women superior.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Bowie woman has pleaded guilty to leaving her 14-month-old daughter in the back of a hot SUV.
...
Fortlage faces up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine at sentencing in January.

Her attorney said Fortlage didn't realize the girl was still in the car when she parked at the mall. He said after an investigation, Child Protective Services only recommended that Fortlage take a parenting class, which she has completed. She still has custody of all three of her children.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A former University at Buffalo student has recanted her story about being kidnapped and raped last December on the North Campus in Amherst, university police said Wednesday.

Detectives had been investigating the case but found no witnesses or evidence, UB Police Chief Gerald W. Shanley Jr. said.

“There was nothing to corroborate the victim’s story, and she would not do any follow-up interviews with us,” Schoenle said.
...
Criminal charges for making a false report will not be filed, according to Schoenle.'