Seems the faculty at Duke who rushed to condemn the LAX players felt it necessary to post a follow-up letter about it all. Does it include an apology? No. Does it include an acknowledgment of their own racism, classism, and/or misandry? Forget about it. The letter is at http://www.concerneddukefaculty.org/. However, the site is, as you can imagine, getting hit really hard as of this posting. I only just was able to load the page after several attempts. So, I am including it in its entirely under the "read more" section.

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As of 1-16-07 9:40 PM EST:
http://www.concerneddukefaculty.org/:

An Open Letter to the Duke Community

Article here. Excerpt:

"Once upon a time, there was a truth, universally acknowledged, that a man with a powerful job and a beautiful house must be in want of a wife – preferably of the trophy variety. Domesticated, docile yet dazzling, she was the perfect finishing touch.

Not any more. According to research to be published in the journal Labour Economics, the earnings gap between married couples is narrowing. While in the 1980s it was the case that the higher a professional man's salary the fewer paid hours his wife would put in, men today are more likely to want a dynamic high-flier, an equal who wows him as much in the boardroom as in the bedroom.

A victory for feminism? Sadly not. The reason for this change, sisters, is nothing to be proud of.

The NYTimes is reporting, in its usual fem-slanted way, that for the first time in recorded US history, 51% of the adult female population is NOT living with a husband (ie, either they are single or married but living apart for some reason). Article here.

It notes that 53% of adult men are married and living with their wives, but this is largely because of the fact that men die earlier than women overall and possibly due to the moderate general disproportion in the sex-ratio in the population (the article doesn't mention this but it would seem that it makes sense for it to be a factor).

My own take: The fewer marriages, the less work for divorce lawyers and the less chance a man has of being thrown out of his own home! How can you not like it? But anytime you have someone getting on your case about your single-hood (eg: parents, married friends, etc.), send them the link to this article. You can point out that married adults are now the exception, not the rule.

Story here. Excerpt:

"In a ruling sure to make philandering spouses squirm, Michigan's second-highest court says that anyone involved in an extramarital fling can be prosecuted for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
...
"Technically," he added, "any time a person engages in sexual penetration in an adulterous relationship, he or she is guilty of CSC I," the most serious sexual assault charge in Michigan's criminal code.
...
Definition (c) is the key:
Adopted by the Legislature in 1931, Section 520b of the Michigan Penal Code says, in part:
1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists:
(c) Sexual penetration occurs under circumstances involving the commission of any other felony."

How can a woman ever be guilty of penetration? I think we all know who will be persecuted and prosecuted with this law...

Story here. Excerpt:

"It seemed like a bad week for female educators in Utah — three of them appeared in court over charges of sexual misconduct with underage male students. For prosecutors, this is a simple matter. A crime is a crime."

"But for some people, the idea of a female teacher engaging in sexual activity with a boy does not strike them as criminal."

"People just do not view males as victims in these types of cases, and it's especially true when it's a female victimizing the male," Searle said. "Some people say, 'How were you a victim in something every boy dreams about?"

Story here. Excerpt:

"Police officers stormed into the house with guns pointed. "The first thing I thought was, someone's trying to break in our house," Matthew said. "And then there [were] police officers with guns pointed at me, telling me to get downstairs."

"Matthew did have an embarrassing confession. He had been sneaking peaks at adult erotic photos on the family computer. "I got the Web site from a bunch of friends at school. [It was] just adult pornography…Playboy-like images."

"Arizona child pornography laws are among the harshest in the country. As soon as Matthew was charged, he was put on virtual house arrest, and an electronic bracelet was attached to his ankle to monitor his movements 24 hours a day."

Story here. Excerpt:

"That is why Biden--author of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which created and funded federal programs to help victims of domestic violence--keeps thinking about new ways to reduce violence against women. And now with his party in power in the House and Senate, he is in position to find more support."

"Biden, an attorney, has written a bill that would create an electronic network of 100,000 lawyers willing to do volunteer work on behalf of victims of domestic violence. The bill would also set up a fund to help a separate group of lawyers--those who spend a majority of their time working on behalf of domestic violence victims--pay back their school loans."

Story here. Excerpt:

"Michael B. Nifong, the Durham district attorney, faxed the request to Jim Coman, head of the state attorney general’s special prosecution unit, today, the official said. Mr. Nifong decided he had no choice but to hand off the case because he faces a conflict of interest with ethics charges pending against him for his public comments on the case, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there has yet to be an official announcement of the request."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A criminal defense attorney has been arrested on a disorderly conduct charge involving kissing as a crime.
...
Crozier said the video will prove he meant nothing sexual by the kiss, which he described as a peck on the cheek. He says the incident is an example of political correctness run amok.

'It was a Christmas greeting. I had no intention to annoy or harass anybody,' Crozier said. 'Every one of us knew we were on camera. This was a peck on the cheek. That was the extent. There was nothing here that was weird or sexual.'"

Story here.

Excerpt:

"If the law is gender neutral why do just 7% of fathers get custody of their children following a divorce? Many fathers believe the law is prejudiced against them, and Bob Geldof even went as far as calling it “state sanctioned kidnapping”. The situation is compounded by the lack of practical advice and guidance for dads to support them in their ‘new environment’. Most turn first to a lawyer, which often comes at a high price and with low reward.

Steve Davies is a divorced father who was forced to face these challenges back in 2000. He was so frustrated by the lack of support that he decided to write The Divorced Dad’s Handbook (published on 8th January 2007 by HowToBooks). The book introduces some stark and shocking facts about fathers’ relationships with their children post divorce, for example, 40% of all fathers lose contact with their children within two years."

Pychologist Professor Martin S. Fiebert created a long Web page a while back, which is a compendium of nearly 200 studies (as of December 2006), analyses and reviews showing that males are abused as often (and sometimes more often) as females. But this page was always so difficult for me to read. So I compiled it all into a database, and made it searchable.

Check it out:
http://www.dvstats.com/

John Dias

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Ed. note: BRAVO!!! Thanks, John!

Story here. Status quo affirmed! Excerpt:

'LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Even though a paternity test ruled out Anthony L. Parker as the father of a child in a child-support dispute, he still has to pay support owed the mother before he took the test, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The court reversed a decision by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mary Spencer McGowan and sent the case back to her to determine the amount Parker must pay.

The opinion, written by Associate Justice Donald L. Corbin, said state law and prior court cases make it clear that an "acknowledged father" cannot be relieved of past-due child support.

State law only speaks to a man's future child-support obligations once that person has been found through testing not to be a child's father. And Associate Justice Robert L. Brown said in a concurring opinion that the court was "legislating by inference."'

Story here. Excerpt:

"The Swiss government has stymied plans by Economics Minister Doris Leuthard to introduce five days' paid paternity leave in her department with immediate effect.

In a statement on Wednesday the cabinet said it wanted to have the same rule for all ministries – currently only two days is allowed – putting its colleague's plans on ice.

As part of her agenda for 2007, Leuthard, who took up her post in July, announced on Monday that a raft of family-friendly measures would be introduced immediately within the economics ministry.

This included new fathers being able to take five days' paid and 20 days' unpaid paternity leave."

Story here. Excerpt:

"Bulgaria has decided to create a DNA database of all fathers in the country in an attempt to make it easier for courts to rule in fatherhood cases."

Story here. Excerpt:

"The defense motion filed Thursday includes the investigator's report of the Dec. 21 interview, during which she made several other changes in her account of the March 13 party where she and another woman were hired to perform as strippers.
...
But the defense motion said the accuser's cell phone records show that she was on her phone during part of the time she now says she was attacked. Records also show Seligmann received a call on his cell phone during that period, the defense said."