After several tries at various voting modules (I cannot believe the large number of COMPLETELY USELESS Drupal modules there are out there and the number that simply do not work or break your site... oy veh...), I finally found a simple, no-dependency thumbs-up/thumbs-down voting module. I ask that you vote a story as Like if you think it was a good story to include on the site, and Dislike if you think it was not. Vote more, please, on the matter of whether the story seemed valuable to you as an MRM-related matter, rather than on the content itself. For example, let's say I post a story that links to an article filled with misandrist BS. The content, you may find unlikable. However it may be that also in your opinion, it was good that I posted it. So in that case, click Like. As a counter-example, say I post a story about penguins. And, you like penguins. So you like the content. But is it relevant to the MRM? As nice/cute as penguins are, as a topic, they are not MRM-relevant. So in that case you'd vote Dislike.

Have the logo restored. Got our story view settings right so you can see most stories up-front without having to click 'Read more'. I got ambitious though and went a bridge too far; I installed a voting module and that whacked the new theme. I will have to try re-installing the theme tomorrow. In the mean time I set the site theme to the default "Garland" and that seems to have made it readable.

Thanks for bearing with me during this joyous "upgrading" experience.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A married Bible teacher was arrested and fired for allegedly having sex with a student, police said.

Suzanne Owen, 35, was charged Thursday with custodial sexual battery after allegations she had a sexual relationship with a student enrolled at Evangelical Christian School in Fort Myers, Florida, The News-Press reported.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said the educator, who taught Bible and Spanish classes, exchanged text messages with the minor for several weeks before they had intercourse.

She was arrested Wednesday just days after the pair reportedly met up off campus to have sex. It’s unclear how authorities became aware of the alleged misconduct.'

Article here. A lot to unpack about this story told by the scribe. I post it here as an article of interest. Excerpt:

'A 3,000-year-old Egyptian papyrus is being reassessed in the wake of a raft of claims accusing powerful men of rape and sexual assault.

It describes a litany of morally corrupt actions by the chief master craftsmen Paneb, who oversaw construction work on the pharaohs' tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Among them are attacks on and the 'debauching' of a string of women in Thebes in 1200 BC, now within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor.

Experts are revisiting the text, contained on a script known as Papyrus Salt 124 held by the British Museum, to examine ancient cultural attitudes to sexual politics.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the past decade, feminism has been hit with some serious backlash — and it’s not just coming from men. Many women are against it, too.
...
"There are struggles women are facing, like how do we make time for career advancement and a family and a personal life. Their argument is that women were never supposed to be doing that anyway. For them this idea of returning and fighting against feminism is that they’re empowering women to do what they want,” McKeon said.

That notion manifests differently in the various women McKeon spoke to. Some, like Holly Connors, who runs the Modern Day 50s Housewife Blog, think women should revert to their perceived 1950s roles. The creed on her Web site states, “My humble service to my family is my greatest contribution for my life.” Connors claims that feminism forced families to become dual income and she feels “feminists look on women who want to be stay-at-home moms with disgust.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'At the Massachusetts State House Tuesday, hundreds of college students — some of whom have experienced sexual violence — demanded action be taken on bills that would give more rights to sexual assault survivors on their campuses.

These bills are promising to those who have been traumatized by these experiences and are seeking justice for their assailants. The current guidelines advising colleges on how to handle sexual assault cases, which were proposed by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, seem to favor the accused and reverse years of legislative progress made by the Obama administration. These new bills, which are only applicable on the state level, can at least stand with victims and assure them of their rights in court.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Ulster and Ireland rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding have been sacked, a month after they were found not guilty of raping a student at a house party in Belfast in 2016.

The Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby made the announcement in a statement on Saturday morning.

"Following a review, conducted in the aftermath of recent court proceedings, the Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby have revoked the contracts of Patrick Jackson and Stuart Olding with immediate effect," it read.

The alleged victim, then 19, said she was raped by Jackson at his home and forced to perform a sex act on Olding.

The defence argued that the woman made false rape allegations because she regretted having group sex with the men and feared it may have been documented, and they were acquitted at Belfast crown court in March.

Two other men, friends of the Ulster stars, were also acquitted on separate charges, including exposure and perverting the course of justice.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The women behind the slowly growing number of ride-hailing apps catering to female passengers and drivers say the hurdles they've had to overcome to get their services on the road demonstrate exactly why they're necessary in the first place.

Women from Halifax to Vancouver Island have tried to launch female-only alternatives to services such as Uber and Lyft, but most have run into barriers ranging from municipal regulations to societal attitudes.

The founders of the handful of such services currently operating say they're experiencing incredible demand from women seeking a greater sense of safety in their daily travels.

They say it's common for women to feel uncomfortable riding alone with strangers, but some recent high-profile cases involving sexual assault allegations against drivers have further highlighted the need to provide an alternative.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'On April 10 -- Equal Pay Day -- Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., tweeted out her support for an end to differential pay for men and women.

Her tweet said, "It’s completely unacceptable that, on average, American women only earn 80 cents for every dollar a man earns for doing the same job. And the #paygap is even greater for most women of color. #EqualPayDay"

But there’s a problem: The statistics showing that women earn 80 percent of what men earn are overall comparisons and do not specifically compare men and women occupying the same jobs.

After we reached out to Smith’s office, she sent a new tweet to correct her earlier misstatement.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of M Street in Georgetown, The Wing offers women of the District a space to work in no-man’s land.

The Wing – a co-working space exclusively for women with perks and amenities for its annual members – opened its doors Thursday in a 10,000 square-foot office building at 1056 Thomas Jefferson St. NW. The shared space offers a variety of areas for working, a cafe, an all-female author library and an art gallery featuring female artists.'

Also see: Are women-only members’ clubs sexist?

OK, looks like the old Slash-Blue theme (the one MANN was using) is not supported under Drupal 7. Downer. Good news is the current theme is sort of kind of close to it, though a bit less sharp around the edges and the blue isn't as dark. Still, it's not bad. Next step is to re-add the actual MANN graphics. I'll leave that for tomorrow or at worst, this coming week-end.

Hey, I got a day job and all. Just sayin'.

If anyone has suggestions for a new theme that looks more like Slash-Blue and is Drupal 7-compatible, feel free to post in Comments.

Article here. Excerpt:

'1) Our culture preys relentlessly on a boy's weaknesses.
...
2) There is a catastrophic lack of male role models.
...
3) The eduction system is designed for girls.
...
4) Masculinity is denigrated.

You might think we've already done enough to these boys. We've made our point. We've shoved sex in their face, deprived them of role models, and forced them into an education system that treats their personality as a disease. But we are not satisfied. Finally, in case any have survived the gauntlet, we attempt to bury them in self-loathing.

Femininity is attacked in our culture as well, but not nearly so explicitly or directly. Nobody would ever call femininity itself "toxic" or "fragile." Nobody talks about female "privilege," even though, as I have demonstrated, females enjoy many unique privileges. Nobody would label all women "dangerous" or "potential monsters to be feared." These are the special denigrations reserved only for manhood.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Now a survey conducted by Champneys Health Spa suggests that more than 50 per cent of married women prefer to spend time with their best friends as opposed to their husband.
...
Basically, men need to do better and be more accommodating and considerate of their wives wants and needs. It's a story old as a time that is no less depressing to hear in 2018.'

MANN uses Drupal, a site configuration/management and theming package. It's open-source. Like all software of any complexity, it comes with bugs. It also comes with "undocumented features", etc. In this case, this version has managed to whack the theme (page coloring/layout) of the site. This newer version of Drupal also does not support voting/polls with the same module as previously. First thing's first, however: Getting the theme restored. Then I go for restoring voting/polling.

I was fine with the old version of Drupal. My site host company however was not and they got on me about "upgrading". This is the result. :)

So I'll get our theme restored as soon as I can. Just not tonight, it's late. BTW, this version of Drupal will nag you when you log in to set your preferred time zone. Just FYI.

Article here. Excerpt:

'So what’s the solution? How do we engage men in discussion when the loudest voices are MRAs like former Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes’s Proud Boys or the more innocuously named Canadian Association for Equality?

“The reason MRA groups are successful is they have some really valid points around parental rights and alimony,” says Jake Stika. “Broader societal systems have changed but the justice system hasn’t, so MRAs view it as a zero sum.

Based in Calgary, Stika is the co-founder and executive director of Next Gen Men, a non-profit aimed at developing better men through youth and peer engagement, education and empowerment.

“For us, we acknowledge those are real and pressing issues, but we approach it from a ‘rising tides lift all boats’ point of view,” Stika continues. “We need more women in leadership and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math studies) just as much as we need more men in early childhood education and caregiving roles.”