Neil Steyskal sent us this article from Newsweek and writes "Eleanor Clift is pushing the story about the pay gap widening. She slants it to imply that discrimination against women is increasing. But the feminists are smart enough to avoid making that claim explicit. It would look pretty silly. Still, this study will clearly provoke a lot of agitation, and probably some new laws. Let's hope someone objective can get at the study's details."

Wendy and I have both been inordinately busy in the past week, and it was decided that we would not come up with any particular topic for tonight's joint chat, which is held at the iFeminists chat room. So if you want to drop by and talk it up, about just about anything, feel free to do so. The chat normally begins at 9 PM EST.

Luek writes "Here
is another article about using the clinically unproven postpartum depression syndrome as a defense in a murder case. What is odd about this particular story is that the victims's parents are defending the perpetrator! They do not want her prosecuted. Maybe postpartum depression is contagious, like watching someone yawn then you automatically yawn too. Go figure!"

An Anonymous User sent in this article and writes "The wage gap between female managers and their male counterparts was even greater in 2000 than it had been five years earlier, according to a congressional study of 10 industries. Of course the headline was presented in an alarming regard, despite the the fact that women increased 29% in managerial positions, and outpaced men's earnings in three industries. The article does not make any distinction to hours worked (or God forbid productivity factors) but does relate family as a contributing factor. I'd like to see the data from this research, and find out who conducted the analysis of data." Neil Steyskal also sent in this Washington Post article on the same topic.

AFG sent in this story and writes "This is disgusting. Reuters (via Men's News Daily) reports that ALL mothers in Russian prisons will be granted pardons - no matter how serious their crimes. There is no mention of similar amnesty for male prisoners; in fact, the article does not even mention men at all." Thanks also to rparent32 who sent us this link on the same story.

zensmile writes "It is ironic that television always portrays men as the sexual protagonists in television shows involving schools. Here is a real life story about a woman who is the wrongdoer." The woman was quoted as saying to police about one of the accusers, "If he had been older I would certainly have had a relationship with him." Apparently this woman isn't particularly bright, either. The boys were 14 or 15 years-old when this allegedly happened. Thanks also to AFG for sending us this article on the same story.

ronn submitted this article from Fathermag.com. It's an essay on what I believe is the typical experience of divorced fathers, and is a good introduction to what father's rights is all about in that respect. For married dads that haven't gone through this yet, he points out that you are only "one decision" away from being in his shoes. The truth of this is often hard to swallow, but needs to be acknowledged. All dads are vulnerable, and they need to realize this and start supporting men's rights.

Glenn Sacks wrote another knockout article on the topic of Michael Jordan's divorce, which was initiated by his wife. The way the article opens is great - it really shows the double standard at play here. As Sacks writes, "In discussing relationships, American society has taken the immense complexity and difficulty of marriage and family life and reduced it to one simple rule--when in doubt, blame the man." Sacks points out several media stories on the divorce which prove this point. His article is also being featured on the ifeminists.com web site. Thanks goes out to ronn for submitting this as well.

The Men's Health Campaign to stop the media silence on the brutalization of Afghan men is currently in Phase II. If you aren't on the MHA mailing list, join here. There are currently four critical messages that need to be read: introduction, MHA Special Report Facts, MHA and NCFM Join Forces, and 9 Out of 10 Landmine Victims are Male. Let's make Phase II of this campaign just as successful as the first!

This article from Feminist Utopia attacks the gender feminist policies which have led to more funding for breast cancer research than prostate cancer research. It also provides a table of facts about various cancers and the differences in mortality for men and women. While I was collecting information to present here I happened to notice something else... men are infected with cancers that make up the majority of cancer victims at higher rates than women are. I will not speculate why that is, there is plenty of information available for you to investigate on your own. But it is a point worth making notice of.

Luek writes "This article is significant because of the way the state of New
Jersey seems to bend over backwards to make the sentence as easy as
possible for the female rapist. Ever notice that when boys are statutorily raped by females such as in this case it is rarely referred to as "rape" in the media? It is always, "endangering the welfare of a child" as in the recent Paula Poundstone whitewash or "aggravated(sic)sexual assault." This article illustrates the misandrous double standard when it comes to female sexual predators. They are viewed as having a mental illness whereas male offenders are moral bankrupts who should be put away for at least 20+ years."

Steve Burke submitted this story from Foster's Daily Democrat, describing a NH Senate bill that, if passed, will require men to sign consent forms when obtaining drivers licenses to be automatically registered with Selective Service upon turning 18. As the article states, so much for the "Live Free or Die" slogan. It's hard for me not to editorialize more on this here, so I'll refrain from further comment.

A bill in the Tennessee House of Representatives (filed for introduction on Monday) proposes to make joint custody of children the law in Tennessee, rather than creating a primary caregiver and visitation for the other parent. This PDF explains the details of the amendment. At its base, the bill says that joint custody should be the default judgment unless one parent is abusive. If a preponderance of evidence contrary to the abuse claims is not presented (guilty until proven innocent), primary custody will be given to the other parent.

Anonymous User writes "Am I the only one to be disturbed by this story? Testing of boys as young as 12? Is there any better way to prepare children for the notion that just by being born male, they are simply rapists-in-waiting? Aside from the implications for the children, what about the adults? If I refuse because I know I didn't do it and resent the implication, doesn't that put me under a cloud of suspicion? Or does everyone take the view that if you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear?" This is going TOO FAR. Men should be in open revolt for something like this. "Detectives are asking every male aged between 12 and 40 and living within 300 metres of the scene of the assault to take part in the screening." I've been told that this is a huge story on Scotland right now. Please, Scottish activists, don't let this happen!

AFG sent us this story from the UK Telegraph and writes "Recently, there has been discussion on this site concerning false allegations of rape. One gender feminist has posted that "women don't lie about rape". Well, here is another case that totally disproves her claim." The motive for the accusation was that the woman was upset for "having had an affair for the first time." The woman was sentenced for six months in jail for the false accusation.