Story here. Excerpt:

'A report out of the state of Oregon reinforces the results of a CBS News investigation from last November that found high rates of suicides among those who served in the military.

The state health report, “Violent Deaths in Oregon: 2005” found 18 to 24-year-old male veterans had the highest rate of suicide among all males in the state from 2000 to 2005 – almost 5 times higher than non-veteran males the same age. (The bar chart above shows the figures.)'

Story here. Excerpt:

"A Florida grandmother was arrested Saturday after police said she beat her grandson at a busy intersection so badly that the child lost consciousness, WESH.com reported.

Dolores Henderson, 55, was described by witnesses as beating the 2-year-old as she was pushing him in her stroller and slamming the child into the curb, WESH.com reported. As officers arrived at the scene, police said the woman was continuing the beatings.

“As he drove up, he saw her hitting the child in the head,” Cocoa police spokeswoman Barbara Matthews told WESH.com. “She was slapping him with her open hand," Matthews said. "The officer described it as looking like a rag doll. She threw him back in the stroller and started to hit him again.”

As if anyone needed further evidence that when you marry someone you are placing the disposition of everything you own or ever worked for into the hands of two other parties: your spouse and the state -- read it here.

Wonder what the court's "administrative fee" will be for this one? Probably go into the millions of GBPs. Excerpt:

'Mills, 40, smiled as she left London's Royal Courts of Justice with her entourage. McCartney, 65, did not attend, although he was in court to face his estranged wife every day last week.

Media reports have suggested McCartney offered his wife around S$50 million and that she was seeking at least double that amount.
...
The couple married in June 2002 — four years after the death of McCartney's first wife, Linda — and their daughter Beatrice was born in October the following year. They announced their separation in 2006, and McCartney filed for divorce alleging "unreasonable behavior" by his wife.'

DADS ON THE AIR

http://www.dadsontheair.net/

Local Sydney Time: 10.30am to 12 midday Tuesday 19th February 2008
USA Eastern time: 6.30pm to 8pm Monday 18th February 2008
USA Pacific time: 3.30pm to 5pm Monday 18th February 2008
UK GMT time: 11.30pm to 1am Monday night (Tuesday morning) 18th February 2008

2GLF FM 89.3 in Sydney
and ONLINE via live streaming at http://www.893fm.com.au/
or in MP3 format at http://www.dadsontheair.net/

THE WOMAN RACKET

With special guests

* Steve Moxon
* John Flanagan

Article here. Excerpt:

"Casting your eyes over this year's roster of film award contenders, you'd be forgiven for wondering why women, more than ever, have been relegated to the margins. The stories Hollywood wanted to tell last year were about fathers and sons, the American west, and machismo run amok.
...
Where are this year's The Queen, Erin Brockovich, Far From Heaven, The Hours? Even this year's Chicago? Oscar-watchers can only point to the best picture nominees Atonement and Juno as examples of female-led cinema, and neither of these will quite do.
...
It does seem that Hollywood has been overwhelmingly working out maleness issues, rather than feminine ones - whether it's rampant capitalism (There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton) or essays on violence (No Country For Old Men, Jesse James) or paeans to male solitude (Into the Wild)."

---

Via email:

August 7th 2008 12 Noon - Lansing Capitol Lawn - Lansing, MI.

There will be a media frenzy over the excitement surrounding the 2008 departure for the 758 mile Equal Parenting Bike Trek... Lansing, Michigan to Washington, D.C.

We are very excited to announce that Dance4Equality will be at the departure for the 2008 Equal Parenting Bike Trek. This will be at the Lansing Capitol on August 7th 2008 12 Noon.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Saudi Arabia must create laws to protect women from violence and also allow them to play a bigger role in society and the workplace, the United Nations said on Thursday.

"The lack of written laws governing private life constitutes a major obstacle to women's access to justice," said Yakin Erturk, the U.N.'s human rights expert on violence against women.

In a statement she called on Saudi Arabia to create a legal framework based on international human rights standards, including a law criminalizing violence against women.

That would also include a family law on marriage, divorce and minimum age for marriage, said the Turkish sociology professor...

"The need to address women's rights will grow increasingly urgent as the voices of women in Saudi society are heard," she said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"I think for a lot of men, they just feel so much pressure it really sucks all the enjoyment out of it; it's sort of like your wedding day in a lot of ways," said Lisa Daily, a Sarasota-based dating expert and author. "I think for a lot of people it's a sort of do-or-die day, and instead of judging the relationship on a whole, we judge it on a night, and there's a 15-step process and if you get any of them wrong you're in big trouble.
...
The pressure on men comes from many sources, including the advertisements of jewelers, greeting card companies, florists and chocolate makers. But Daily said the expectations of wives and girlfriends fuel the process.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Hurling legends Joe Deane and Tomás Mulcahy along with broadcaster and rugby pundit George Hook will front a gala charity function in Cork later this month to help raise funds for the clinic.
...
It will raise funds for the MUH’s Men’s Health and Prostate Cancer Fund, as well as raising public awareness of men’s health issues.
...
About 1,150 men develop prostate cancer each year in Ireland.

The figure is similar to the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Prostate cancer is responsible for 500 deaths annually or 11% of all cancer deaths among men.'

Video here. Caption:

"A woman brought her ex-boyfriend's dog to be "axed" for a Valentine's Day promotion."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A sheriff's deputy who was videotaped dumping a paralyzed man from a wheelchair onto a jailhouse floor has been charged with abuse of a disabled person, a sheriff's official said Friday.

Surveillance footage from Jan. 29 shows Hillsborough County deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones, 44, dumping Brian Sterner out of his wheelchair and searching him on the floor after he was brought in on a warrant after a traffic violation."

Marshall-Jones is charged with abuse of a disabled person, a third-degree felony, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee.

If convicted, she could be sent to prison for five years."

I don't watch much TV, and only happened across this series at a friend's house. I don't even have cable. Anyway, an HBO series called "In Treatment" is not only really well-acted and -written, but the infidelity of women is shown without flinching. And better yet, you can watch it for free on HBO's web site. Well worth the time.

---

Ed. note: I can vouch for this endorsement. Great show, one of the few I'll watch myself.

Story here. Excerpt:

'"In spite of the impressive progress, I regret to report that the overall situation of children affected by conflict remains grave and entirely unacceptable," Coomaraswamy said.

She urged the Security Council, charged with investigating the use of child soldiers, to expand its focus to other issues affecting youngsters, starting with systematic sexual violence.
...
The council expressed concern at "the widespread and systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, in particular girls, in situations of armed conflict" and called on all parties to take special measures to protect girls and boys from sexual and gender-based violence.'

Why is the word "boys" mentioned just once in this article, and only in the cited paragraph above? Otherwise it's all "child" and "children".

And for 'recruit' read 'forced'; for 'military service' read 'slavery'.

Robert Pedersen will be on the radio show "The Message" with Richar Farr! February 15th 2008 -- This Friday 9:15 PM EST, 6:15 PST

You can hear this live on your radio in Las Vegas, Nevada and parts of California.

If you live elsewhere you can listen LIVE on KRights Radio.

Robert will reveal a secret detail of the 2008 Equal Parenting Bike Trek departure from Lansing, MI! August 7th 2008 12 Noon - departure of the 758 mile Equal Parenting Bike Trek from the Lansing Capitol. The media and supporters will fill the Lansing Capitol Lawn simply to see what Robert will reveal on this Friday's interview.

List of Media Coverage for the 2007 Equal Parenting Bike Trek here.

I'm seeing more and more articles about how men are staying away from marriage -- or even from women altogether. Here's one that I bumped into on Craig's list, of all places. This guy sums it up pretty well in the following passage:

"All the great advantages of the women’s liberation movement have created an environment which, frankly, does not leave men with much. We can’t flirt with women at school, college or at the office anymore, because one man’s “flirting” has become another woman’s “sexual harassment” and the punishments for such transgressions are not only severe, they’re permanent—crippling a man’s career and prospects thereof.