Story here. Excerpt:

'Senate Republicans killed legislation Wednesday aimed at removing limits on how long workers can wait before suing their employers for pay discrimination.

Democrats, speaking to key constituencies of women, minorities and swing voters this election year, said they weren't finished trying to pass the bill.

"Women of America: Put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, suit up" and get ready to fight, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said moments after the bill's opponents denied supporters the 60 votes needed to proceed to full debate and a vote on passage. "The revolution starts tonight."
...
Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama swung through Washington to speak from short, prepared statements in favor of the legislation. It was the first time in months that both candidates spoke on the Senate floor, an indication of the bill's importance to voters the two are fighting for in their ongoing battle for their party's nomination.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Erin Toughill, a new star for "American Gladiators," allegedly beat husband Clark Bevans on their honeymoon. Always a bad sign.

Bevans, who filed a restraining order against Toughill last week, claims Toughill went "insane" with jealously, and accused him of being "a pedophile, sociopath and homosexual." Aside from allegedly beating him on several occasions, Bevans claims Toughill smashed the windshield of his RV. He also says Toughill "bodychecked, hockey style" a trainer at Gold's Gym he had dated years before.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"The first evidence that women can influence the sex of their child by what they eat before they become pregnant is published today.

The study, which links higher energy intake around conception to the birth of sons, provides the first explanation of why the number of boy babies is in decline in the west, suggesting it is the result of women consuming low fat foods and skipping breakfast, among other things.

...Dr Mathews says this could explain why over the last 40 years there has been a small but consistent decline, of about one per 1000 births annually, in the proportion of boys being born in industrialised countries, including the UK, the US and Canada.

..."This research may help to explain why in developed countries, where many young women choose to have low calorie diets, the proportion of boys born is falling," says Dr Mathews, adding that there is also a link between higher national incomes and fewer boys."

Remember this case? She was convicted for murdering her husband, a Marine, with arsenic. Well, they've let her out of jail after the D.A. retroactively dismissed the charges against her, thereby vacating the conviction. Story here. Excerpt:

'Sommer, 34, was first accused of poisoning her Marine husband, Sgt. Todd Sommer, with arsenic in order to cash in on his $250,000 life insurance policy.
...
After jurors heard the scientific evidence and stories about her frolicking with her husband’s Marine buddies on the night of his funeral, Sommer was convicted of first-degree murder last year and sentenced to life in prison.

But last Thursday, after Sommer had served 876 days, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis unexpectedly moved to dismiss the murder charges.

Over the past three weeks, a notable public faceoff occurred in the Washington Post.

An editorial (1) by David Levy, Executive Director of the Children's Rights Council, commenting on a recent tragic incident in Maryland, pointed out that child custody battles can incite domestic violence by driving parents "nuts."

The following week the Post ran an opposing editorial (2) by Joan S. Meier, faculty member at George Washington University Law School. The op-ed contains numerous one-sided statements and fabrications about child abuse. She repeatedly uses the phrase "dangerous fathers" and "violent and abusive fathers," without ever mentioning the problem of "violent and abusive mothers."

According to the US Administration for Children and Families:

Story here. And I thought we'd never see an interview with any of the adult male suspects in this case, much less one that doesn't immediately call for their executions. It does fall short of the highly sympathetic tone interviewers are giving "the mothers" in this whole thing. And predictably, the interview quickly turns to the subject of sex. Excerpt:

'Rodriguez conducted the interview Sunday night with three men whose children were among more than 400 removed by authorities from the sect's compound in a raid earlier this month.

It was the first time since the raid that any male members of the sect spoke with a member of the media.

In the wide-ranging interview, Rodriguez asked, “After all this, can you see why society looks upon you and says, ‘A girl who's younger than 18 shouldn't be married and having sex?’ Has this forced you to reconsider?”'

Story here. Excerpt:

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges.

The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses the agency of inadequately addressing a "rising tide" of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

But government lawyers say the VA has been devoting more resources to mental health and making suicide prevention a top priority. They also argue that the courts don't have the authority to tell the department how it should operate.
...
An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day, and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide, according to a December e-mail between top VA officials that was filed as part of the federal lawsuit.

"That failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides," the veterans groups wrote in court papers filed Thursday."

Chores for two: Why men don't pitch in. From the article:

"The fact that guys, when left to their own devices, rarely rush to offer more toilet-scrubbing and diaper-changing is not in itself surprising. As Martin Luther King Jr. once observed, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
...
"Yes, dear readers, it’s true: Maintaining some semblance of parity in your marriage requires you to deploy the same kinds of nasty tactics you swore you would never stoop to as a parent but nonetheless found yourself using the minute you actually had a kid. Bribery and punishment work; so do yelling and complaining. Threats are also effective, as long as everyone knows you mean business. With husbands, tender blandishments and nooky are particularly useful, as is the withholding of the aforementioned.
...
...Unfortunately, all too many women are still teaching their children that “woman is the nigger of the world,” as John Lennon and Yoko Ono put it so memorably in a song lyric years ago."

Article here. Excerpt:

"Picture a scenario where the male breadwinner of a family has lost his job but is so afraid to come clean to his loved ones that he carries on faking his commute to work, complete with business suit, tie and briefcase. It's one that has been imagined in various books and films - such as Falling Down, in which Michael Douglas plays a character who pretends to his mother that he still has a job to go to.

But could you ever imagine a woman behaving in that way? While the gender gap has been bridged in many areas of working life, experts say that when it comes to job losses, women are far better equipped than men to deal with the bitter blow of redundancy. And with forecasts last week predicting that the credit crisis could lead to up to 40,000 job losses in London's financial service sector over the next two years, it's a theory which many could soon find themselves putting to the test.

Story here. Excerpt:

'"We are officially launching an exciting new component of the United States Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program by welcoming this first group of boys into the program marking an important step forward in our effort to increase educational opportunities for Namibian children."
...
According to her the programme will over the next year support a total of 200 boys in grades 1 through 7. The boys in this program will receive school uniforms, school supplies, boarding and lodging fees, as well as counseling. "I'm very pleased that we have the opportunity to invest in the education of these bright young boys - who have worked so hard - that we help them succeed in school and move on to the next level of education. Helping girls and boys stay in school and do well in school prepares them to meet life's challenges. It also will help them contribute to economic development and the spread of democratic values in Namibia, and to become a positive influence for future generations," she said.'

Essay here. Excerpt:

"Jonah Bloom, the editor of Advertising Age recently took an outrageous position backing advertising that either severely denigrates men, pictures them as subjects for sexual or social abuse, or portrays them as fools in a world of wonderful women.

In his article "When It Comes to Whining About Ads, Father Knows Best", Bloom makes the grave mistake pontificating there is something wrong with real live men who object to men being generically treated like manure by writers unable find one ounce of respect for anything other than women. Perhaps Bloom would so ardently support agencies if they crudely portrayed women as brain-dead sex objects, or broad-brushed blacks with Klannish racist insults?

Mr. Bloom has an expensive lesson to learn. It should start by costing him his job. Both racism and sexism are unacceptable under any circumstances. Since Mr. Bloom has ardently endorsed sexism, Advertisers must call for him to step down."

Letter published here. Excerpt:

"The message is clear - men have improved a little, but still don't do enough, and women are still getting a raw deal.

This is an unfair distortion because it disregards the fact that men are usually their family's primary breadwinners, and often make great sacrifices in that role.
...
In the home, men generally do the more dangerous work such as fixing the broken roof tiles or fixing the plumbing, yet this is never included in the definition of housework - why?

Because it would reflect the reality that men do perform a lot more than the media wants to pretend we do - in order to please certain hostile groups with a clear agenda to demonise one sex in preference of the other. This man bashing is known as misandry.

This is the male variant of misogyny - a hatred of men, and is perpetuated in part by the media with its endless adverts filled with dumb, stupid husbands and reports which forget' to include various factors. It is high time men stood up for themselves and demanded to be treated fairly by the media."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A man's life was left in tatters by a woman who falsely cried rape.

Louise Ndikum spun a 10-month tissue of lies which ended with innocent Alexesi Chua having to appear in court.

He broke down in the witness box as he was forced to give evidence even though the single mum had admitted perverting the course of justice.

Ndikum –originally told police she had been raped in the street by a stranger. And when confronted by detectives she continued to lie – this time claiming she had been raped by a man in his house.

Ndikum admitted lying to police but maintained her charade until the bitter end at Portsmouth Crown Court."

Story here. Excerpt:

"Peoples Bank is offering a refund to people who donated to a fund for the woman who falsely claimed she was abducted and raped while running at Little Squalicum Beach last month.

Bellingham Police announced Wednesday that the woman fabricated the story.

The Squalicum Beach Runner’s Fund was established after the alleged March 2 incident by community members who wanted to supplement state victim assistance funds to help the woman cover her lost wages, living expenses and other costs associated with surviving the supposed attack."

Story here. Excerpt:

"As a surge in surrogate births sweeps the country - up 28 percent in the past five years - baby-loving city bachelors are getting into the act, finding egg donors, providing sperm and paying surrogates to give birth to their offspring.

James Shrybman, a surrogacy lawyer in Dickerson, Md., advised about 10 bachelors last year. Such clients were once "non-existent," he said.

New Jersey lawyer Melissa Brisman has helped at least five city men through the process in the past year."