Tirryb writes "News.com.au reports here that ADHD drugs have caused serious health problems in children as young as 3. Of course it's 'children' and not 'boys', I wonder what the percentage of prescription boy to girl is..?

Excerpt:

Documents obtained by The Australian reveal that almost 400 serious adverse reactions have been reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, some involving children as young as three.

Cases include the sudden death of a seven-year-old, and a five-year-old who suffered a stroke after taking Ritalin. Children also experienced heart palpitations and shortness of breath after taking Dexamphetamine.

Others taking Ritalin or Dexamphetamine - the two most commonly used ADHD drugs - experienced hair loss, muscle spasms, severe abdominal pain, tremors, insomnia, severe weight loss, depression and paranoia.

Almost 60 of the adverse-reaction reports dating back to 1980, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, involved children under the age of 10."

Roy writes "Wendy McElroy writes an objective piece about several current cases in the legal system that affect fathers' rights, mostly related to child custody in divorce and reproductive choices or lack thereof. One of the most important cases comes up this week – "On March 28, the New York State Assembly's Children & Families Committee is scheduled to hear Bill A330 on shared parenting. The bill seeks to establish "the presumption in matrimonial proceedings for awarding shared parenting of minor children in the absence of an allegation that shared parenting would be detrimental to the best interests of the child." (It’s interesting that the bill’s language requires merely an "allegation" to derail presumption of shared parenting. Women’s divorce lawyers will be found negligent if they do not tell their client to make a false accusation of domestic violence against the soon-to-be-ex-husband. This in no way advances fathers' legal standing, unless a test of proof is required for allegations.)"

Ragtime writes "I'm really not sure what I can add to this bit of horror. -- Four-year-old Jandre Botha disobeyed an order to call his mother's lesbian lover "Daddy''. So the lover, Engeline de Nysschen (33), viciously assaulted Jandre while demanding that he must call her "Daddy". Jandre died from his injuries, which trauma expert Professor Mohammed Dada said were similar to those of a person who had fallen from a double-storey building. -- Appalling story here."

This is so sick and is fodder for so much thought and commentary on so many levels, I am at a loss for where to begin. Suffice it to say, I can only imagine the scars both kids will carry around, how it may affect them and their relations with others as they grow up, and marvel at the kind of dementedness of perspective the so-called "adults" have evinced.

Return of the King writes
State Sen. Ada Smith was accused in a criminal summons Thursday of throwing hot coffee into the eyes of a former staffer. Smith, a Queens Democrat, faces a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault, according to court records."

The only good news about this story is that is seems to be all over the news today. I wonder what sort of Chicago-like "He had it comin'" excuses will get made though?

Anonymous user writes "A UK teacher is suing her school for sexism over a noisy chair. Just... wow. I can't even tell you what I think of this. Switch the genders on this one is all I can say."

AngryMan writes "A former prostitute who murdered her elderly husband after finding he was not wealthy has been jailed for life. She was violent towards him during the 2-year marriage, and eventually killed him with a kitchen knife. She will serve at least 12 years. Story here."

Seems Belarusian police think women are not as responsible for law-breaking than men. While at once anyone not being hauled off for the "crime" of objecting peacably to election results is a good thing, it isn't good that only some people seem to be worthy of this indulgence over others for no other reason than the content of their pants. Article here. It closes with:

According to an opposition presidential candidate who arrived at the square, all the women were allowed to leave.

So, I guess it's not so bad then, right? Wrong.

Anonymous User writes "She has sex with four students under 16 and gets '4 to 20 years.'

Teacher tries to use the same defense that Debra Lefave used too. Interesting quote: "Debra LaFave, a Florida teacher facing similar charges avoided prison this week. What was different?"

Uhm, she was a pretty blonde..."

DADS UNITED DEMO - Friday 16th June
2006

Click "Read more..." for details.

Craig writes "From 'The Sun' on Tuesday 21st about 'wondermums'. Six mothers from across the UK and Ireland have been nominated as wondermums-except one of the mothers is actually a single father of two nominated by his kids. Read about and vote for the nominees here.

It's nice to see positive recognition for fathers for a change, especially single fathers. I voted for the father and I hope others will do the same."

Surprising, in a positive way, this article from MSN.

John Doe writes "Kathleen Parker reviews some recent NY Times articles on the decline of fatherhood. Excerpts:

'...men are necessary, if not to certain women, then certainly to children, who, despite the creative inventions of many modern mothers, seem to love their daddies.

A society in which women are alone, men are lonely, and children don't have fathers is nothing to celebrate. And a future world filled with fatherless children - bereft of half their identity and robbed of a father's love, discipline and authority - won't likely be a pleasant place to live.'

Column here."

Joanna Grossman, a FindLaw commentator and legal professor, defends the status quo re the lack of parental rights for men here. Needless to say, the arguments she uses as well as the ones she cites that the Supreme Court has used to deny men equal protection are laughable but alas, all too common. Mysteriously, the message board link at the bottom of the article leads to a page-not-found type of error. I submitted a note telling them it was broken; we'll see if they fix it!