Story here. Excerpt:

'COLUMBIA, S.C. — The mother of a 7-year-old boy who claimed a carjacker killed her son was arrested Monday and charged with murder in her son's death, Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis said.

Amanda Reagan Smith was arrested nearly three months after she told authorities that a knife-wielding carjacker forced her to drive to a secluded, wooded area in Greenville on Aug. 12. Once there, she said the carjacker locked the car doors and pressed a pillow to the face of her 7-year-old son.

"Investigators have concluded that Amanda Smith is responsible for the death of her son," Loftis said during a news conference in Greenville. "We are confident that we have the suspect in jail now."'

Folks, we need to fight this. Release here. Excerpt:

'BIDEN/LUGAR Introduce the International Violence Against Women Act Groundbreaking Legislation Integrates U.S. Efforts to End Gender-Based Violence on a Global Scale

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the theme was "It's Time to Tell the Truth about Domestic Violence." And this year 10 organizations came together to assure the truth would ring loud and clear throughout the land.

During October these groups arranged for 1 gigantic billboard, did 2 days of lobbying, released 3 reports, participated in 4 rallies, issued 6 press releases, fostered the publication of 9 editorials, distributed information via flyers and displays 9 times, published 18 letters to the editor, and stimulated 22 articles and interviews.

WOW!!

During the course of the campaign Fox News 2 in Detroit aired a segment on October 22 titled, "Men Also Suffer from Domestic Violence."

The Christian Science Monitor (and many other newspapers) published letters to the editor on male victims.

The blogosphere was buzzing, as well:

Article here. Excerpt:

'But the debate is still churning in feminist circles, where some women's activists said she had every right to invoke sexism and gender stereotypes as a defense on the campaign trail — and predicted that this tactic will prove effective against fellow Democrats and against a Republican, if she is the general election nominee.

“It goes beyond logic — it’s a gut response,” Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said of the spectacle of Clinton onstage confronting seven male rivals and two male moderators at a debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday night."'

Article here.

It has been found that women are twice as likely to be absent from work as men. This is mostly due to child care, however studies show that doesn't account for all of it. The real answer is still unknown. However that doesn't stop the author from chalking it up to something else.

You guessed it. Sexism.

Don't hesitate to sound off the message boards. A few women are waving their feminist flags high along with a good dose of man bashing.

This bill was recently introduced. This is a good opportunity for activism indeed-- write your rep! Excerpt:

'Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress expresses support of the States passing joint custody laws for fit parents, so that more children are raised with the benefit of having a father and a mother in their lives, careful to protect victims of domestic violence, abuse, neglect, children from potential kidnapping by a parent.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A columnist for that newspaper asserted that grown-ups were teaching children to fear men in an effort to keep kids safe from abusers and would-be abductors.

That paper noted that children who get lost in public places are encouraged to look for a "low-risk adult" — such as a pregnant woman, or a mom pushing a stroller — to help them. It pointed out that airlines place unaccompanied minors with female passengers, not male ones.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON -- A prominent feminist, allied with the presidential campaign of former Sen. John Edwards, accused Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday of "disingenuously playing the victim card" by infusing her campaign with messages about gender.

"When unchallenged, in a comfortable, controlled situation, Sen. Clinton embraces her political elevation into the 'boys club,' " Michelman, the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, wrote in a posting on a blog of the liberal group Open Left.

"But when she's challenged, when legitimate questions are asked, questions she should be prepared to answer and discuss, she is just as quick to raise the white flag and look for a change in the rules," Michelman said. "It's trying to have it both ways."'

[Michelman's bio/fem-creds can be found here. Google her name to get more info.]

Covered in Sacks' most recent newsletter. Excerpt:

'The Shull case and the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision are an infuriating example of how lightly our legal system takes false accusations against men. In this case, everyone agrees that Judge Shull was placed in a very difficult situation, and that he had to make a tough call where children could have been in imminent danger. Nobody even disputes that he got it right--and yet it doesn't even matter.'

Article here:

The ART bill required sperm donors to add their names to a register enabling their children to make contact once they turn 18.

The bill isn't all bad. The bill doesn't require donors to have actual contact with the kids. It gives donors say in how their donation is used, who can receive it, etc. Still, their expectation that donations won't drop is unlikely to be true. They don't seem to be talking about revealing existing donors, just future ones when they donate, so let them reap what they sow.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Dwayne Dail was sent to prison 18 years ago, convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he had never met. At the time he was in a relationship with Lori Michaels, who would give birth to his son, Chris, shortly after he was sent to prison.

Recently DNA evidence exonerated Dail. He was innocent after all. Having been cheated out of his son’s childhood I suspect Mr. Dail was quite happy when Chris, now 18, moved to Florida to be with his father. Under state law he can receive compensation of $20,000 for each year he spent in prison while innocent or around $360,000 in total.

Now Lori Michaels reenters the picture filing a law suit against Dail for back child support. And her attorney is the law partner of the man who prosecuted, and convicted, Dail for the crime he did not commit. Dail said: “To use our son as a pawn in this painful way is an attempt to blame the failures of her life on me. It is beyond my understanding and belief that someone could stoop so low.”'

Story here.

So much for Oprah's utopian school for girls. I suspect this woman will eventually be on Oprah's show while both women share tears. It should be a touching moment. Excerpt:

'A police spokesman, Supt. Lungelo Dlamini, said the 27-year-old woman, a former dormitory matron at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, was arrested on Thursday by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit.

"Several charges including alleged assault, indecent assault, criminal injury and soliciting underage girls to perform indecent acts are being investigated against her," Dlamini said.

At least seven victims have submitted statements, he said.

The woman was being held by police and was expected to appear Monday in Sebokeng magistrate's court, south of Johannesburg, he said.'

Transcript here.

Notice during this Q&A session the interviewer mentioned the longevity gap. Hillary ignored the fact and kept rambling about the health care needs specifically for women. Another interesting quote was Hillary's claim that women suffer from severe depression twice as often as men. [Does anyone have info. to refute her claim?] We all know men are much likely to commit suicide. I'm not a psychiatrist, but I would think severe depression causes suicide and suicidal ideations. Whats Hillary's plan? The US already spends a disproportionate amount of health care dollars on women. Will this increase during her administration?

Quote Hillary: "Insurance companies will no longer be permitted to charge large premium differences based on age, gender or occupation"

When Hillary mentions gender, she is referring to women. Wait a second, men already pay higher premium rates for health insurance. This is because we have a shorter life span. Maybe the reason is because men's health means very little when compared to a womans.

Story here.

Was the boy actually arrested as the title suggests? My prediction: She'll receive 6 months in prison and 3 years probation. Excerpt:

'Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman said Kelsey Peterson, a 25-year-old sixth-grade math teacher and basketball coach at Lexington Middle School, was arrested in Mexicali. The boy was turned over to family members who had traveled to Mexico, Waterman said.

Peterson and the boy fled after police began investigating whether the pair had an intimate relationship, authorities said. Court documents said the boy was last seen Oct. 26.

A judge issued an arrest warrant Monday charging Peterson with kidnapping, child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.'

Article here . Excerpt:

'The Human Tissues and Embryos Bill, to be announced in the Queen's Speech next week, will give both women in a lesbian relationship the legal status of parents when one of them gives birth following fertility treatment.
...
The Bill lays down that where two women are in a relationship and one has fertility treatment in order to conceive then the partner should be treated as the other "parent" even if they are not in a civil partnership. In those circumstances no man — such as the sperm donor — can be treated as a father, the Bill says, to avoid a child having three legal parents.
...
The Bill says that where there is reference to the father of a child such as on birth certificates this is to be read as reference to the female parent who did not give birth.'