The Rocky Mountain News reports a crusader against ladies nights has won in a civil rights complaint against a Denver nightclub. However, the report says "state officials said rulings regarding discrimination in public accommodations apply only to the target of the complaint, not to all similar businesses."

There is an interesting case in Canada with a former Olympic gold medalist who has been acting strange lately, and who is now charged with an abduction related to violating her ex-husband's visiting arrangements, a story which has pretty much gone under the radar in the US, while it's front page news here in Canada.

On the heels of cartwheel celebrations over the ascension of Speaker Pelosi comes this latest from the NY Times, via a New Republic senior editor, castigating the Dems for being "too macho".

I don't recall the The Times or TNR castigating them for being "too fem" a few years back.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows; it also makes for some pretty bizarre editorials, too, especially when it's that peculiar brand known as "gender politics". In the mean time, issues get lost in the shuffle and other issues (eg: father's and men's rights) never get a chance to make it to the stage. Bread and circuses!

Story here.. Excerpt:

Fathers from all backgrounds want to help raise their children, and great programs show them how, writes Andrea Gordon

...

"Every week, dads in their teens and early 20s meet for an evening to shoot some hoops or play floor hockey, hare a meal and talk about what's going on in their lives.

For Billey and his children, the benefits of a father support network are huge. It's provided companionship, a chance to blow off steam through sports, and valuable advice.

This wouldn't surprise Ed Bader of Thornhill. The retired family therapist, former priest and grandfather was something of a pioneer in the [Greater Toronto Area] in promoting the father's role. In 1999, he launched Focus on Fathers, which offers free courses in York Region for new dads and immigrant fathers and, this year, teenage fathers. He says modern fathers are "negotiating new turf," often without role models. So mutual support is critical."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A SENIOR judge from a village near Melksham has been singled out by the pressure group Fathers 4 Justice in a campaign targeting judges they believe are treating dads unfairly.

The Judgebuster Campaign has singled out 10 judges who they label as Britain's worst judicial offenders'.

Their personal details, including addresses, have been published on the internet."

Story here. Excerpt:

"NEARLY ONE-THIRD of the time, the man identified as the father of a child is really not.

According to findings being recorded at ChemScreen Laboratory Services Incorporated each month, in 31 per cent of the cases where the man has been named as father, he is not.

An average of eight to ten queries regarding fatherhood are made each month.

Manager of the lab, Tricia Boyce, who said it had been open "four to five years", added there were "a lot of people" unsure who the father of a baby was.

However, she said, what was interesting was that all the men seeking paternity tests were anxious that the result showed that they were indeed the child's father.

"Some of these men have built up a relationship with the child and may not want to do it, but still need to be sure," she said."

ABC's News Show "Primetime" has been awarded a "RADAR Accuracy In Journalism" award for its December 26th, 2006 story Turning the Tables: How Do People React When There's Abuse in Public, But the Gender Roles Are Reversed.

The story took a look at what happens when women abuse men. A video segment consisting of two trained actors in a city park was filmed to document public reactions to female-on-male violence. Reactions by the public were limited to the extremes. 163 passers-by were indifferent. Four women sent an emissary to talk with them, but left after the actress said, "This is not your business". However, one of the women did report it to 911. In contrast, another woman made a fist as she walked by, muttering, "Good for you. You go, girl!" (See video here).

This morning I woke up and listened to the news on the radio. After this, the usual annoying commercials came on. I was appalled to hear the latest one for V8 vegetable juice.

This radio commercial starts with a husband and wife apparently in some sort of courtroom. An incident is recalled where the wife couldn't get the husband to eat healthy, or to eat vegetables or drink V8, so the wife bopped the husband on the forehead.

This is accompanied by a comical "bop" sound used in previous V8 commercials - except that in those the person who "could have had a V8" slaps themselves on the forehead. The female judge then asks the husband what vegetables he has had recently, and he replies “Oysters." The judge then asks the man to approach, which is followed by the sound of her bopping the man on the forehead, and the comment "You could have had a V8!"

Ha ha, very funny (not).

The silly thing is that I, for one, already eat healthy foods and have been buying a large size V8 once a week. Unless the commercial is retracted, I will find another brand of vegetable juice to purchase in the future.

Well someone has to say something about this 800-lb. gorilla in the room...

Unless you have been without modern communications of any kind for the past several months it will be no news to you that Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives yesterday.

Those who read MANN with a less-than-sympathetic eye to MRAs may be quick to assume that the objection most MRAs have to Pelosi's ascension to the Speakership is that she is a woman. The problem is not that she is a woman; it is that she is a feminist. She and fellow travelers (such as Lousie Slaughter) are now in a position to pursue long-desired legislative agendas that are not likely to be in the interests of men and particularly, men-as-fathers.

The great part about this is that it's not even one of the three, "accused". Just wait until THEY file suit. Duke University is in deep trouble and deservedly so... story here. Excerpt:

'(01/04/07 -- DURHAM) - A former Duke Lacrosse player has filed a lawsuit against the University saying he was failed by an professor because of his membership on the lacrosse team.

Kyle Dowd filed the lawsuit Thursday against against Duke University and visiting associate professor Kim Curtis. Dowd, who graduated with David Evans in May 2006, was not indicted in the rape case but says that Professor Curtis gave him and another lacrosse player in class a failing grade in class as a form of retaliation after the Duke Lacrosse scandal broke. The two players were apparently receiving passing grades until the scandal, and Duke University revised their grades upward months after graduation.'

If you would like the Premier Edition, end of the year "wrap up", please visit this link and request a copy or go to http://www.safe4all.org/ to download a copy from the SAFE website.

Let's hope for a productive New Year!

Lee Newman
Executive Director, SAFE International
Director, SAFE-NH

The original dontmarry.com website, which failed due to various DOS and TOS attacks, is back up at:

www.dont-marry.com
www.dont-getmarried.com
www.dontgethitched.com

Regards,
Lee Raconteur

Seems they couldn't wait to get chopping... story here. Excerpt:

'Growing numbers of Ugandan men are being circumcised, after medical research showed it could halve the HIV infection rate among heterosexual men.

A Ugandan paper reports that last year of 2,500 people circumcised at various clinics, half of them were male adults, compared to less than 400 in 2005.'

Suppose if some UN study concluded that FGM reduced the spread of HIV, there'd be extra clinic hours open for that, too? Would there ever be such a study? Answers: No and no.

Thanks to nbdspcl for mentioning http://womensinfidelity.com/ in a comment in a recent post. I have never seen the issue addressed seriously like this anywhere else. Anyone read the book? Don't forget to read some of the posts on their message board. Anyone doubting this issue is real, just put on your reading glasses.

My own take on this issue is that marital/LTR infidelity has been with us since the dawn of humanity. It will always be with us, for many reasons. I am making this post not to be picking on women as a group on this topic, as infidelity is an equal opportunity employer! I am pointing the site out because too many people think that 'tis only men (or largely only men) who do not keep faithful to partners when infidelity exists, and this just ain't true!

I wouldn't blame them for not accepting this "invitation". I wonder if it comes with a paid scholarship and public apology from the president/chancellor? Story here. Excerpt:

'RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Duke University has invited two of the lacrosse players accused of sexual assault to return to school as students in good standing, a defense attorney said Wednesday.

Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann had been barred from attending class during the fall semester while their case made its way through court. The third player charged in the case, Dave Evans, graduated in May, the day before he was charged with raping a stripper at a team party in March.'