Story here. Excerpt:

'CHICAGO - Family members arranged a meeting at an undisclosed location between investigators and a married woman from Illinois whose disappearance on Christmas Eve prompted a $250,000 search.
...
Cell phone records indicated Solanki had left voluntarily with a 23-year-old male friend from California, authorities said earlier Friday. Mayberry did not know whether the friend, Karan C. Jani, had returned with Solanki.
...
Solanki's husband, who lived with his wife near suburban Des Plaines, was not aware of her friendship with Jani, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told reporters.

...
Dart said authorities did not know how Solanki and Jani met, but the cell phone records suggested they had been in contact for about a year.

Anu Solanki called a friend Monday afternoon and said four men were following her, then called back saying they were not following her anymore, relatives have said.

If you read nothing else to celebrate the New Year, check out this link.

The MR movement turned out in force with letters to the editor of the newspaper in LaCrosse, Wisconsin -- interrogating to the max the misandrist and gender-biased policy of letting women out of jail... because they are women.

Really read these dozens of posts and take some heart that MRAs are starting to hit the mainstream radar screen!

(And BTW -- a lot of you MANN guys are "guilty" of sending in your comments, because I have parsed your writing styles and can identify you at any airport.)

Good work!

And the story defends her actions! Excerpt:

"When it comes to Mama Lucy, Kenyans have a male chauvinist view of how a First Lady should behave. Nobody ever asks themselves why she slapped Musyimi. Nobody asks why Mama Lucy visited the offices of the Nation Media. Do we know what pressures she works under? Why are we against her freedom of expression? Don’t we as human beings have the right to be angry?

THERE WERE ALWAYS ALLEGATIONS that during his rule, Kenyatta whipped his ministers and yet that was never an issue. We do not recall President Kibaki being criticised by liberally using the word pumbavu (fool). When will these double standards end?

It is arguable that when women beat up men they are doing so in self-defence. The collective violence that is visited on mothers, sisters, daughters and wives must be resisted. Mama Lucy has been a victim of violence by men and she has the right to defend herself."

A confessional essay truly worth reading. Excerpt:

"I had become a fat, unpleasant, middle-aged princess because I had refused to grow up. Sure, I had taken on grown-up responsibilities (marriage, career, house, motherhood) but at the core of my psyche was a 13-year-old girl who stamped her feet and whined when she didn’t get her way. Of course, I had stopped whining years ago but I simply replaced the whining with emotional manipulation and ornery bitchiness. No wonder I was still single and my two teenaged sons spent all their free time with their father... being a dilettante feminist, I swallowed the standard line that women can have it all... I had lots of blame to dole out. There was no way that the current state of my life was the result of my decisions. My single girlfriends all told me that, many, many times over copious cocktails in sundry singles bars. I read a lot of women’s magazines and the advice I got said pretty much the same thing - a woman is never to blame... Looking back in brutal honesty, I was a stark, raving bitch."

Not content to arrest men for wearing speedos in a McDonald's, law enforcement now has to start luring them into sexual situations in parks and arrest them. Story here. Excerpt:

'Robin Garrison, an off-duty 42-year-old firefighter, was walking in Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio, in May when he saw a woman sunbathing topless under a tree.
...
Eventually, she asked to see Garrison's penis; he unzipped his pants and complied.

Seconds later, undercover police officers pulled up in a van and arrested Garrison; he was later charged with public indecency, a misdemeanor, based on video footage taken by cops who were targeting men having sex or masturbating in the park. While topless sunbathing is legal in the city's parks, exposing more than that is against the law.

...
At Garrison's trial, his attorney argued that it was a case of entrapment. "Columbus police utilized this topless woman to snare this man," said Sam Shamansky. "He sees her day after day. He's not some seedy pervert."

I find this to be very encouraging news. Someone is actually looking at how certain interactions ACTUALLY affect boys, and not just making assumptions based off of some notion of political correctness. Article here.

'Playing with toy weapons helps the development of young boys, according to new Government advice to nurseries and playgroups.

Staff have been told they must resist their "natural instinct" to stop boys using pretend weapons such as guns or light sabres in games with other toddlers.

Fantasy play involving weapons and superheroes allows healthy and safe risk-taking and can also make learning more appealing, says the guidance.'

National Fatherhood Summit
Jan. 4th 2008 Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan - Release Date: 12/28/07

2008 National Fatherhood Summit - Jan 4th 2008 - 8:30am-4:30pm

Location: Abundant Life Ministries, 1725 Division SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Contact Information: Minister Ronald Smith 616-301-1515

Numerous elected officials, authors, religious leaders, family preservation organizations, experts, advocates and a Michigan District Court Judge will be speaking at this historic event!

The Jan 4th 2008 National Fatherhood Summit will bring together husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and grandparents in an effort to begin the New Year recognizing the need for repair of fatherhood nationwide. The 2008 National Fatherhood Summit is the first event leading up to the 2nd Annual Family Preservation Festival which is to take place on August 15th-17th 2008 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

We need to fight for equality of everyone, and MRAs know that better than anyone else.

It's saddening, then, to see the rules put in place that limit women's freedoms in some countries. It's equally saddening when men's freedoms are limited. Add to that the burdens of legal responsibilities solely put upon men in many countries, and the perception from the West that only women are oppressed, and you have the perfect storm.

Western women and men speak out for women's rights in other countries. They complain that women can't vote, that women can't drive, and women can't leave the house without a man. I always have had a great deal of sympathy for those women, and I continue to, but this Letter of the Day in the National Post opened my eyes to burdens that men suffer in those countries. We only hear one side of the story.

Letter of the Day in the National Post here.

An excerpt from the article: "Over the past several decades, feminist leaders like the late Betty Friedan, who was a founder of the National Organization for Women, and Gloria Steinem of Ms. magazine fame have decried the roles of women as mothers and housewives, suggesting they are forms of sexual exploitation. The modern feminist movement, as a result, has placed a higher value on women's place in the working world -- and its influence has had far-reaching consequences.

For example, Joseph D'Agostino, vice president for communications at the Population Research Institute, sees feminism's influence on nations' birth rates. He notes that modern societies now are organized around economic production, not the production of the next generation of human beings. The result? D'Agostino says feminism "destroys" every single society it touches.

Via Greg Andresen:

MELBOURNE COMMUNITY CONSULTATION EVENT

With Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination

Have your say on building a fair and equal society for women and men in Australia.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission invite you join HREOC's new Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, Elizabeth Broderick, for a community consultation.

This consultation is part of Commissioner Broderick's national Listening Tour. The Listening Tour is an opportunity for people all over Australia to make their voices heard on the issues that matter to them.

Via Marc A. Article here. Excerpt:

'EVERY Saturday evening, a group of male victims meets outside a courthouse here to swap stories about vicious wives tormenting them under India's pro-women laws.

The men, members of the Save Indian Family Foundation, believe they have been at the receiving end of vengeful women for long enough and are campaigning for "men's rights".

At the last weekly support meeting, Avinash Datta, 32, related how his wife threatened to have him and his elderly mother thrown into jail by falsely accusing him of demanding more dowry after their marriage two years ago.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Wisconsin man accused of causing his pregnant girlfriend's abortion by spiking her drink with RU-486 (the "morning after" pill) is being prosecuted under the Wisconsin fetal homicide law that classifies unborn children as potential crime victims.
...
"All preborn children deserve equal protection under the law, without exception," she added. "Ironically, under Wisconsin law, if the woman had taken RU-486 by her own hand, there could be no charges. God willing, more law enforcement officials will work to protect the lives of preborn children in our state, wanted or unwanted." '

Wisconsin is one of 37 states with a "fetal homicide" law. Under the 1998 law, anyone who attacks a pregnant woman and injures or kills her fetus could face life in prison.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Schools have been told to encourage boys to play netball and take dance lessons in the name of equality.

Thousands of schools are being forced to ensure that pupils are more "gender balanced" as part of discrimination legislation introduced this year.

They must also ensure more girls study traditionally masculine subjects such as science, while increasing numbers of boys take options such as drama or dance..."

...Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "It doesn't make any sense to promote things to boys that they don't want to do, simply so you can tick a box on a form."'

Cover graphic here. Article here.

Here is the letter I sent Psychology Today about the December cover (their letter submission form is here):

"Dear Editor,

The December cover was blatantly sexist and portrayed men as disposable objects. It showed a woman who was proud of herself for disposing of a man. Because the man was lying on the ground after falling, it implied that violence against men is not only acceptable, but something desirable.

Perhaps you think I lack a sense of humor? My sense of humor in these matters has steadily declined as I've become aware of the perfuse portrayal of men as buffoons, lazy bums, disposable objects, and objects of violence in the media. Many of these are supposed to be funny. Such portrayals of women would never be tolerated, nor should they be.

"Assume the Position . . . You Fit the Description"

A new study reveals hatred towards black men both on and off of the college campus. The study also concludes that "black misandry" -- wherein black men experience discrimination simply because they are black men -- is more hostile than that directed at other groups.

The study states: "The present study examines the experiences of 36 Black male students, in focus group interviews, enrolled at Harvard University; Michigan State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Illinois; and the University of Michigan. Two themes emerged: (a) anti-Black male stereotyping and marginality (or Black misandry), which caused (b) extreme hypersurveillance and control. Respondents experienced racial microaggressions in three domains: (a) campus—academic, (b) campus—social, and (c) campus—public spaces. Black males are stereotyped and placed under increased surveillance by community and local policing tactics on and off campus."