Story here.

More on this disturbing charge against two 13-year-old boys facing possible jail time for an innocent teenage action. The outcome could require these boys the injustice of registering as life long sex offenders. Apparently, the junior high school students would innocently "smack" other students on the backside, a ritual other girls have admitted participating in. Excerpt:

'The boys spent five days in a juvenile detention facility and were charged with several counts of felony sex abuse for what they and their parents said was merely inappropriate but not criminal behavior.

But the boys, if convicted at an Aug. 20 trial, still face the possibility of some jail time or registering for life as sex offenders.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The victim incorrectly identified Briscoe. He refused a plea deal offering 20 years in prison. And then he was convicted, sentenced in his mid-20s to 45 years behind bars.
...
By then Briscoe had done 24 years behind bars and been denied parole because he refused to express remorse for a crime he didn't commit...

Two months before the parole hearing, two DA's investigators showed up at prison and handed Briscoe an envelope. In it was a long, white swab used for DNA sampling.
...
"They said in 24 hours we'll be back with the results. And the results were beautiful," he says.

He was free the next day.'

Essay here. Excerpt:

"Great, so if big-brother is a chivalrous fellow who treats men and women differentially under the law and elsewhere, now what? This is where differences of opinion are likely to burgeon (and perhaps political affiliations as well). Are women coddled too much, or are men punished too severely (generally speaking)? In other manner of speaking, should we lock women up and throw away the key like men are often treated for certain crimes? Or, should we send more men into counseling/psychological services instead of prison in an attempt to garner more empathy/sympathy for men in a similar way that women are sometimes treated?"

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative is one of President George W. Bush's efforts to shore up families through marriage and parenting programs that help parents, especially men, overcome barriers to supporting their children financially and emotionally.

An estimated 47% of U.S. children live in homes without their fathers, according to the department.

"If you look at some of the statistics -- they're earth-shattering," said Tara Wall, a spokeswoman for the office in Washington, D.C.

"In 1960, fewer than 10 million children did not live with their fathers. Today, the number is nearly 25 million. A third of these children won't see their fathers at all during the course of the year."

Children who grow up without their fathers are far more likely to fail in school, engage in criminal activity and abuse alcohol and drugs, according to human services department and numerous studies.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"I don't think anyone will deny that girls are academically superior as a group. Girls are more academically powerful. They make the grades, they run the student activities, they are the valedictorians."

Christina Hoff Sommers, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was explaining how she came to worry deeply about boys. In the book-lined parlor of her suburban Washington home, she ticked through a familiar but disturbing indictment: More boys than girls are in special-education classes. More boys than girls are prescribed mood-managing drugs. This suggests to her (and others) that today's schools are built for girls, and boys are becoming misfits. As a result, more boys than girls drop out of high school. Boys don't read as well as girls. And America's prisons are packed with boys and former boys.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Michel Kazatchkine, the executive director of the Global fund, a leading international health agency, also called For increased funding.

"I believe that the evidence is overwhelming for the efficacy of circumcision," Kazatchkine told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the meeting. "And if countries come to us ... I see no reason at all why we wouldn't fund that."'

The Caledonian Record, a newspaper that covers parts of New Hampshire and Maine, just printed two replies, here and here, to the White Ribbon Campaign's and Jackson Katz's anti-male sexism and misandry. These men go around misframing partner abuse to be primarily male-on-female, putting feminist ideology over social science so that female violence and male victims remain swept under the rug. They get away with it by playing off stereotypes and ignorance, and because very few people challenge them publicly.

Story here. Excerpt:

'DURHAM, N.C. - Disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong acknowledged Thursday there is "no credible evidence" that three Duke lacrosse players committed any of the crimes he accused them of more than a year ago, offering for the first time a complete and unqualified apology.

"We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."

Nifong's apology came as a judge began considering whether to hold the former Durham County district attorney in criminal contempt of court for his handling of the case.'

From the looks of the article, mothers are losing their children to adoption agencies for no good reason. There are two fathers mentioned if I remember correctly.

But I also know thousands of men lose their kids to vengeful mothers too. For some reason, its never an epidemic unless the female is on the losing end. I wonder if it will sink in that what these mothers are going through, men have been going through it since the start of radfem leadership.

Excerpt:
"Six weeks ago, the Mail told how social workers tore a baby from her loving family to put her up for adoption. Since then, scores of parents have contacted us with horrifying stories of children stolen by the state. How dare the courts continue to gag them?
...
This sweeping shake-up in social policy was designed for all the right reasons: to get older children in care homes into happy new families with parents.

Op-ed here. Excerpt:

"Is work/family balance a "women's issue"? I suppose men just love slaving away 12 hours a day in mind-numbing jobs and cramped cubicles so they can come home to their bitter, exhausted wives and already-sleeping children.

Did I miss the memo that humans are now able to asexually reproduce? Otherwise I would assume reproductive rights also affect men - who, I was under the impression, often play a somewhat vital role in procreation.

And on the flip side of the coin, is "the war on terrorism" -don't even get me started on those semantics - a "men's issue"? Were the 160,500 American women who have served thus far in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East since 2003 merely playing dress up?"

Can any of you guys verify the "160,500" statistic?

Article here. Excerpt:

'When activists want to make the case that their society is riddled with sexism, the first statistic they typically serve up is the one comparing earnings: In most Western countries, working women earn significantly less than working men.
...
The idea that factors other than discrimination drive pay discrepancy got a boost this week from across the Atlantic. On Wednesday, the European Commission released a new report showing that, despite Europe's progressive politics and famously intrusive workplace regulations, women still earn 15% less than men on average -- virtually unchanged from the 17% figure of 1997.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A WEALTHY retired builder won his appeal today over a court ruling that he must pay more money to the woman he divorced nearly 30 years ago.

Dennis North, 70, was ordered last year to pay his first wife, Jean £202,000 by a family judge who heard she had "fallen on hard times" after embarking on a lifestyle she could not afford.'

---
Ed. note: This is a follow-up to a piece posted June 28, 2007 here on MANN.

Article here. Excerpt:

"A U.S. health expert urged governments worldwide Tuesday to endorse circumcision to slow the spread of HIV, saying men without the procedure have a greater risk of contracting the virus from infected female partners.
...
Robert Bailey, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois, said studies in Africa showed that uncircumcised men were 2 1/2 times more likely to contract HIV from infected female partners, though many health officials were still unclear about its benefits."

I think the professor should be taught about its strong drawbacks. Very likely, he was mutilated himself as a child and has no idea. Sad, yet another victim who supports what made him a victim.

Story here. Excerpt:

"The two boys tore down the hall of Patton Middle School after lunch, swatting the bottoms of girls as they ran -- what some kids later said was a common form of greeting.
...
Now, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, both 13, face the prospect of 10 years in juvenile detention and a lifetime on the sex offender registry in a case that poses a fundamental question: When is horseplay a crime?
...
The outlines of the case have been known. But confidential police reports and juvenile court records shed new light on the context of the boys' actions. The records show that other students, boys and girls, were slapping one another's bottoms. Two of the girls identified as victims have recanted, saying they felt pressured and gave false statements to interrogators. "

The article is here. Excerpt:

'A judge ordered an Orange County man to continue paying $1,250 a month in alimony to his former wife — even though she's in a registered domestic partnership with another woman.

State marriage laws say that alimony ends when a former spouse remarries. So Ron Garber thought he was off the hook for the payments when he learned his ex-wife, Melinda Kirkwood, registered her new relationship under the state's domestic partnership law.'

She's in a new committed relation (could this also have something to do with the marriage breakup?) and still gets support from her ex. What a deal!

At least it is alimony which is deductible for the payer and taxable for the payee.

Interestingly, the comments lean towards support for the ex-husband. Now remember this is in left-leaning San Francisco.