Story here. Excerpt:

“An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.”

“Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop to urinate, authorities said.”

I can’t help but wonder if NASA has become desperate to find qualified females to fill token slots on their shuttle missions? How else could this “Astro-Nut” have been able to pass muster? Presumably, candidates are subjected to psychological tests to determine their fitness. Were there no signs of problems when she was evaluated?

It's no secret that the Violence Against Women Act often ignores civil liberties and discriminates against male victims. But everyone assumed that at least VAWA was beneficial to women.

RADAR's latest Special Report, "Has VAWA Delivered on its Promises to Women?," reveals this belief may be false.

Packed with DoJ statistics, scientific studies, and actual examples, the report dissects, analyzes, and explodes the myth that VAWA is good for women.

The Special Report documents that:

Essay here. Excerpt:

"It seems that nothing will ever satiate the activist’s desire to unbalance the playing field as they have “championed blatant favoritism toward mothers in child custody disputes, often to the point of vilifying fathers” which has resulted in a stance best described as “maternal chauvinism.”

"Are women treated as objects in our society? Of course not, the only justification for such thinking arises from their often being handled like religious relics. Pleasing them and meeting their needs is now the basis of our societal structure along with our domestic laws, consumer goods, and perhaps television"

Story here. Excerpt:

"The number of male students is dwindling quickly enough that SPC recently created a support group, tentatively called Men on the Way.

Through tutoring, scholarship counseling and maybe even social outings, Men on the Way is aimed at increasing the college's male enrollment."

Article here. Excerpt:

"Nationally, there is a huge gender gap dividing the ranks of public school teachers, according to 2005 figures from the National Education Association. Of the 3.7 million teachers today in the United States, just 25 percent are men, a number that has stagnated for years despite efforts to increase that percentage."

In accordance with our grassroots awareness campaign, here is another fact.

FACT 2: The following is an excerpt from the Education section of the CSM's first biennial report:

The challenges that boys face in school can be traced back as early as prekindergarten. A 2005 Yale University report showed that nationally, boys are 4.5 times more likely than girls to be expelled from
prekindergarten programs. Also noteworthy in this study is the observation that "The increased likelihood of boys to be expelled over girls was similar across all ethnicities, except for African-Americans, where boys accounted for 91.4% of the expulsions." (Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Systems. Walter S. Gilliam, PhD, Yale University Child Study Center. May 2005 Report.)

Like many other educational issues where boys are at a serious disadvantage, these facts are often overlooked by policy makers and the media. Compiling and promoting this information is another reason the state needs to keep its Commission on the Status of Men alive.

A Divorced Dad goes to see his kids for a day of fun. But then...

Click here or here.

Can you relate to this man’s plight? Are you a noncustodial dad? A noncustodial mom who deals with the exact same things? Is your husband or wife going through this? Do you have a son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, friend or coworker who you suffers the same injustices?

If you click the second link above you can watch the short film Any Dad produced by Rich Farr of Krights, a well-known family law reform advocate. Any Dad is receiving positive reviews on current TV.

The more “Greenlights” you give it, the closer it gets to number one. At this time it is the number 11 position! Please take the time to register and vote. You can help get this accurate and moving film on television.

Thanks to Marc A. for letting us know about this.

Significant exposure for DV equity advocates in California here (.pdf file).

The Capitol Weekly is *the* newspaper of politics and government in California. Kudos to all involved, and a note of thanks to the reporter who wrote it can't hurt either!

A 45 year-old woman with a 25+ year record of domestic violence, child abuse, disturbance, and other 'petty' charges killed her 19 year-old son Thursday. Police "said there is no indication the argument was physical before the stabbing." Full story.

Notice there's no mention at all of any involvement with the local DV agency, "Tessa" (formerly The Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence) -- a supposedly award-winning organization with programs that serve as a model for other such agencies around the country, according to their website.

Interview with Warren Blackwell, an innocent British father who spent over three years in prison on trumped up charges of sexual assault as the result of a false accusation by a woman called Shannon Taylor, who has a history of mental illness and convictions for dishonesty. He talks about his experiences and offers advice for other men.

No end to what will be done to and what people will believe about men and fathers. Disgusting! Read here. Excerpt:

'Last year in Australia, amendments were made to family law to support children's rights to contact with both parents after divorce, changes which included extra protection for children from violence. Yet these welcome changes are under attack from women's groups afraid the new laws will undermine the licence given to mothers to shut fathers out of children's lives.

The cries of alarm began long before the changes made it into law. Look at the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, which makes clear its position on the irrelevance of fathers with its insulting slogan – "Half the couple, twice the parent".'

Story here. Excerpt:

"The new Women's Aid campaign, showing celebrities made up to look as though they have been battered, literally hits you in face. Honor Blackman with her eye bruised and bloodied. Fiona Bruce with her mouth puffed up and swollen.

It says, loud and clear, that domestic violence can happen to anyone. Even the rich, powerful and famous can fall victim to a man's fist."

Read the comments. They show a surprising awareness of domestic violence against men. The article and the campaign, however, do not.

Story here.

How many years in prison would a father have received if the circumstances were reversed?

Excerpt:
"A woman convicted of letting her three young children drown in a car that sank in a lake was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Amanda Hamm, 30, was convicted in December in the deaths of Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 1, who were trapped in the car in Clinton Lake in 2003. She was cleared of first-degree murder charges that would have sent her to prison for life."

The New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men (CSM), the first state commission of its kind in the United States, is set to sunset (expire) in September of this year. Legislation is currently entering the NH House which would remove the CSM's sunset provision and add state funding. Currently, the CSM is prohibited from receiving any state funds, while the NH Commission on the Status of Women receives approximately $120,000 annually, allowing them to have a full-time staff member and budget for research projects.

Passage of this renewal legislation is expected to be difficult, as opponents of the CSM's work are well-entrenched in the NH political system. Furthermore, there is a worrisome lack of awareness about the Commission's work, something which we ask for your help in changing. Read More to continue...

Story here. Excerpt:

"India has made history by sending the first all-women police unit to serve with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia.

The 103-member contingent, which arrived in Liberia yesterday, will help strengthen the rule of law and maintain peace in the West African country. The contingent also has 22 men but they would engaged in logistic work and not participate in operations.
...
The Indian women "are the right people at the right time to come here now," said Malor. "They are professional, skilled, capable, and they will be able to do the job just as well as their male counterparts are already doing on the ground if not better in some instances."'