From Marc A.: Two months ago NCFM co-sponsored the San Diego premier of the film, "Support? System Down" by filmmaker Angelo Lobo. The theater was full, mostly with unfamiliar faces. Now it's playing in New York City's Millennium Film Workshop on 9/19 and 9/20. NCFM president Harry Crouch is interviewed in the film. Thank you, Mr. Lobo and all who helped on this! Article here. Excerpt:

'LOS ANGELES, Sept 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Why do so many people, including adult children of divorce and members of the military, find themselves involved in family court or child support proceedings? How does the family court/child support system affect today's society and U.S. taxpayers?

Is the current system broken?

Article here. Excerpt:

'As puberty kicks in, scientists believe they may start to see sons who’ve inherited the problems of their fathers, an issue that many couples may not have considered in their quest to have children.

“This is the generation we’ve created,” said Dr. Tommaso Falcone, who chairs the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Cleveland Clinic and directs the Reproductive Endocrinology Research Laboratory. “We may have tens of thousands of boys born with infertility.”

Genetic fallout for ICSI sons is still a largely unexplored issue in the field of infertility, which affects an estimated one in eight couples in the United States, or about 7.3 million people, according to RESOLVE, a national infertility group. Up to 40 percent of cases are attributed to problems with the man, including damaged sperm, low sperm or no sperm at all.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The state is warning parents delinquent on child support payments that they risk losing drivers licenses, professional licenses and hunting and fishing licenses if they don't pay.
...
More than 7,000 licenses were revoked last year for failure to pay, and there are more than 20,000 licenses currently at risk. Professional licenses that could be revoked include those of registered nurses, real estate agents, security guards and teachers.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'NEW DELHI: This is one rule that could turn women in India Inc green with envy. The Centre has not only increased maternity leave for its employees to six months but has also cleared paid leave for two years to take care of children.

The order, effective from September 1, increases maternity leave of women employees from 135 days to a cool 180 days for each of their two children. From now on, women employees can take paid leave up to two years (730 days) during their career for "taking care" of their two children without affecting their seniority.'

Note that no such privilege has been extended to men employees. Talk about gender equality!

Story here. Excerpt:

A male delegate at the Republican National Committee's convention was drugged by a date rape drug, yet is quoted pointing out the fact that he is single (to deflect the notion that he deserved it). The female attacker also robbed him of $50,000. Excerpt:

'MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police are trying to find a woman who apparently drugged a Republican National Convention delegate and robbed him of about $50,000 worth of jewelry, cash and other items in his hotel room.
...
"As a single man, I was flattered by the attention of a beautiful woman who introduced herself to me. I used poor judgment. If there is any good that can come from this humiliation, it is to caution others that date rape drugs can be used on men, too," he said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'NEW DELHI: The latest Kitply commercial, in which a wife slaps her husband on their wedding night because their bed made from ordinary plywood kept creaking, has not gone down well with men organisations, who feel that the ad and its likes promote domestic violence. They have complained to the Advertising Standards Council of India asking it to ban the commercial.

“It’s a derogatory commercial, which promotes physical, emotional and financial abuse of men. Kitply may consider it a joke, but violence is not funny; be it against a man or a woman. We are sure you would find the same commercial with reversed roles revolting and so, we urge you to revoke the commercial immediately and take strong legal actions against those who promote domestic violence,” said Save Family Foundation (SFF), an organisation for harassed men, in its complaint.'

It's election season and politicians are looking for votes.

One way to convince politicians that the politics is on our side is to show them the votes they will get by supporting a given policy. RADAR has calculated that 13.5% of likely voters, or 16.5 million voters, think the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the intrusive state-level domestic violence laws that flow from it are deeply flawed [cite]. The tables at the bottom of that page [cite] show how we calculated the numbers and the number and percentage of voters in each state.

People adversely affected by VAWA, and their family members, represent a cross section of the electorate and very often feel so strongly about what happened to them that any promise to fix VAWA would override all other issues, and could well be the factor that determines which candidate they vote for.

Please contact candidates from both parties.

Story here. Except:

'Juneau, Alaska—Nine days ago, we explored whether Governor Sarah Palin had knowingly made false accusations against Alaskan State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a bitter custody battle with Governor Palin’s sister, Molly McCann. Based on the public records available by internet, our conclusion was that we couldn’t reach a conclusion.
...
Court records show that Judge John Suddock was concerned about persistent attacks on Trooper Wooten by Palin and members of her family. The Judge told them in October, 2005 (when Palin was still a private citizen), “Disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse.”
...
In summary, we still do not know whether Governor Palin knowingly made false accusations against Trooper Wooten. But it is clear that she and her family persistently attacked the Trooper’s reputation over a period of at least three years, during which the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Public Safety Employee’s Association, and the Court had all found that most of the accusations were unsupported.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The first children to be abandoned at hospitals by caregivers under a new Nebraska "safe haven" law are a teen and a tween.
...
Saturday, a 44-year-old woman said her 15-year-old nephew had behavioral issues that were too much for her. A mother dropped her 11-year-old boy at another hospital that same day. She claimed she could no longer care for the child.'

Story here. Exceprt:

'A young Manhattan mother who allowed her lesbian lover to beat their 22-month-old son to death will serve more time in prison than the tot's killer.

Zahira Matos, 24, was sentenced Monday to 20 years to life behind bars - at least five years more than her lover - for staying silent about the savage beating.

Carmen Molina, 36, pummeled Yovani Matos so fiercely in September 2004 that she split his liver and fractured his leg. Both women were convicted of murder - Molina after pleading guilty last year and Matos after being found guilty earlier this year.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'For years, the Great Blue Heron Charity Casino in Port Perry, Ont., had a simple policy when it came to cleaning the casino's bathrooms - male employees cleaned the men's rooms and female staff the women's.

That might have remained the case were it not for Joanne Seguin, a part-time washroom attendant who complained that the policy was discriminatory. Her complaint has turned into a five-year battle and so far she's winning.

Last year, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered the casino to give her back pay plus $10,000 for "loss of dignity." The company appealed, but an Ontario court has now upheld the tribunal's decision, although it ordered a review of the monetary award.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Rotorua man's former partner has admitted gathering false evidence which led to his being jailed for rape before a court quashed his conviction.

Robert Sutton, who owns the Happy Angler store at Mourea, spent 10 months behind bars after being convicted in October 2005 of two violent rapes he says he never committed. He was released following a successful appeal and feels the wheels of justice are finally starting to turn in his favour.

The main complainant in the case against him, his former partner Marion Anne Carter, has this week admitted her role in Mr Sutton's wrongful conviction, pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A woman slit the throats of her two children and then stabbed them to death after an argument with her husband in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district, police said Saturday.
...
"Savita slit the throats of her two children and then stabbed them to death," Javed Khan, a police officer, told IANS on the phone.

She had an argument Saturday morning with her husband over money matters, he added.

"Savita was mentally disturbed. After her husband, who is a taxi driver, left the home following the dispute, Savita killed her two children," Khan said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Long Island woman who poisoned a housemate by putting eye drops in his iced tea - a dirty trick depicted in the hit movie "Wedding Crashers" - was sentenced yesterday to three years' probation for the sickening assault.
...
"It's not fair," said Gentissi, who had also accused Anzalone of killing his Chihuahua, Gucci.

"This is a woman who tried to poison me. She should have been charged with attempted murder. We were hoping she was going to get a strong sentence."

Anzalone's lawyer said her client was only protecting her unborn child, because Gentissi - who had lived with her and her then-husband, Christopher, in North Bellmore - refused to stop smoking around her while she was pregnant.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'According to Debrett's, the bible of etiquette, political correctness is slowly strangling chivalry.
...
'Of course women don't need men to open doors. But at the same time, a little bit of chivalry is nice - and people need help knowing how to strike the balance, because the boundaries have become blurred.'

'Help a woman with her heavy bags, offer her a seat on the train if she is elderly or pregnant, stand when she enters the room. These are good manners and should come out instinctively rather than contrived gestures that feel outdated and oppressive.'