Article here. Well-know Canadian journalist Barbara Kay's scathing criticism is aimed at Calgary Judge Peter McIntyre, who did not take the Crown prosecution's advice of 12 years and instead awarded only 18 months for murdering her two newborn children and attempting to murder a third. Excerpt:

'Cultural observer Joseph Epstein wrote a wonderful satirical column in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks about the “Good Intentions Paving Company,” a riff on the old cliché, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

The Good Intentions Paving Company does not confine its activities to the U.S. In fact, it had one of its representatives in Calgary this week, Judge Peter McIntyre, handing a sentence of 18 months in prison and three years’ probation to Meredith Borowiec, who admitted to throwing three newborn babies, successively over several years, into dumpsters immediately after birth. (Two died, the third was rescued alive).

Article here. Excerpt:

"A six-year-old boy who went to school with a bag of Mini Cheddars in his packed lunch has been suspended for four days after teachers said it contravened its healthy eating policy.

Riley Pearson, from Colnbrook, near Slough, was excluded from Colnbrook C of E Primary School after teachers discovered the snack and called in his parents.
After a meeting with headmaster Jeremy Meek, they were sent a letter telling them Riley would be excluded from Wednesday until Monday because he had been 'continuously breaking school rules'.
...
His mother, who lives with his father, airport worker Tom Pearson, said the 3ft 9ins tall schoolboy who weighs 3st 2lbs, eats home-cooked meals and plenty of fruit and vegetables at home.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A baby boy has been infected with neonatal herpes following a Jewish ritual circumcision in New York — the third such infection in two years tied to a controversial rite that involves the direct application of the ritual circumciser’s mouth to the baby’s genitals to suction blood from the wound.

The baby was treated for a genital rash five days after he was circumcised, according to a January 28 health alert issued by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He is still undergoing treatment and his current condition is unclear.

The department attributed the rash to the controversial circumcision technique, known as metzitzah b’peh, or MBP, which some ultra-Orthodox mohels, or ritual circumcisers, say is an essential component of the ancient religious ritual.

Fourteen babies have contracted herpes following MBP since 2000, according to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Two of those babies died and two more suffered brain damage.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Florida state lawmakers are proposing what has been called the “Toaster Pastry Gun Freedom Act” in an effort to protect schoolchildren from harsh punishment for fashioning their fingers or food objects into toy guns, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The Florida proposal asserts that “simulating a firearm or weapon while playing or wearing certain clothing or accessories is not grounds for disciplinary action or referral to the criminal justice or juvenile justice system.”

Among the actions that the Florida law aims to protect is “Brandishing a partially consumed pastry or other food item to simulate a firearm or weapon.”'

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Contrast: School rules against Md. second-grader suspended for gun-shaped Pop-Tart

Article here. Excerpt:

'Men will soon become the most disadvantaged group in the country when it comes to going to university, the head of UCAS predicts today.

Figures show that the gap between applications from women and men is rising sharply - while that between rich and poor students is narrowing.

The 15 January deadline for applications for university this autumn showed over 87,000 more women than men had applied, increasing the gap by 7,000 compared to January 2013. Women are now a third more likely than men to opt to go to university.

Meanwhile, applications from would-be students in disadvantaged areas are rising - with those from poorer families twice as likely to apply as a decade ago.
...
Professor Smithers put forward three main reasons why the number of applications from girls is soaring:

Story here. Excerpt:

'It has been in all the recent news--New Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) has announced a bill that would create a publicly accessible registry containing all the names of individuals who have been found to have committed an act of domestic violence. Gusciora believes that a public registry would reduce the number of instances of domestic violence by repeat offenders. The registry would be similar in nature to the sex offender registry established under Megan's Law.
...
But while not diminishing the seriousness of the issue, false accusations do happen. False accusations of domestic violence can be used as revenge, as a weapon in divorces, child custody, support and visitation battles. The consequences can be devastating, ruining a life, being evicted from one's home, losing custody, heavy fines, attorney's fees, and in some cases, jail. In many cases, the question of whether domestic violence has actually occurred comes down to he said/she said, and that frequently hinges on the credibility of the accused and the accuser. ...'

Story here. Excerpt:

'AN innocent man was attacked because his clothes matched the description a woman had made-up about her alleged rapist.

Johnathan Smith’s ex-girlfriend told him she had been raped and gave a description of her supposed attacker of the man’s clothes.

Smith then attacked a man he saw in the same clothes but she admitted she had made up the allegation.

Smith left her house around 1am on January 12, went onto Carmarthen Road and Smith, from Penrhiw Road, in Morriston, saw his victim with two friends waiting at a bus stop.

As he approached, his friends ran away, leaving the victim alone and he then also ran off, but Smith used a pedal bike to chase after him.

Article here. Excerpt:

'We need to be careful when we start singling out only one group of people based on their genetic code and demanding that they “respect” another entire group of people. The reasoning is quite simple: it’s mindlessly discriminatory. It also has the potential to turn into a condescending shamefest.

1. Not everyone in one group needs to be taught to respect others because they already do.
2. If we single out only one group to respect other groups, no one is teaching the others to respect that group.
3. Not every individual in any birthgroup is entitled to respect.

Of course, no one should disrespect someone based solely upon their being men, or women, or white, or black, and so forth. But teaching such values doesn’t mean we have to single out any of those groups, either.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Ben Kooy, 34, was arrested last Wednesday and charged with dragging a 17-year-old girl off a train around 1pm and into a toilet block where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
...
The Kellyville man was initially refused bail and spent four nights in custody but police found fresh evidence at the weekend and released him ahead of an appearance at Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.

The matter was adjourned for three weeks on Wednesday morning but later in the day the charge of sexual intercourse without consent was dismissed and an AVO* for the victim was withdrawn.

Mr Kooy's legal aid solicitor, Patricia Lyden, said fresh evidence ‘‘changed the situation dramatically’’. It is understood new footage discredited the girl’s story.
...
It is not clear if the girl will be charged with making false representations to police.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The college environment is “actively hostile towards men,” psychologist and author Dr. Helen Smith explained in a Tuesday interview with Forbes.

Smith has authored the book “Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and The American Dream — And Why It Matters,” and discussed the effect that overreaching feminism has on men with reporter Jerry Bowyer.

Bower stated that groups who see themselves as oppressed since the 19th century have blazed past a goal of equality to exact “comeuppance” on their oppressors, and American men bear the brunt of this attack. Smith agreed, recalling how she was taken aback by the modern feminist movement’s animosity toward men.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Local firefighters have adopted as one of their own a 9-year-old boy who died saving six relatives from a fire that destroyed his grandfather's upstate New York home.

A stream of cars and fire vehicles made its way Wednesday to St. John of Rochester Catholic Church for a funeral service for Tyler Doohan. The boy died trying to rescue his grandfather, who also died, along with another relative.

Tyler's mother, Crystal Vrooman, said her son was a "sweet boy" whose sense of humor made everyone smile.

"I wish you were here for me to hold you one more time," Vrooman said, choking back tears. "Rest in peace my beautiful angel. You're a hero, baby. You made me the proudest mother I could be."'

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From: Is masculine culture toxic for boys?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last week, Brandon Jones, Chair, Executive Committee, National Parents Organization of Washington testified in front of the Washington Senate Committee on Law & Justice in support of SB 5997, an act relating to authorizing the termination of all legal responsibilities of a nonparent if genetic testing shows by clear and convincing evidence that a man is not the genetic father of a child. Senator Jan Angel is sponsoring the legislation on behalf of Washington’s children and National Parents Organization of Washington.

Help our Washington affiliate pass this important legislation for children and fathers in Washington. On the Washington State website you may support this legislation, whether or not you live in Washington. Your message will be sent to every state legislator.

Article here. Excerpt:

'I admire Newsom for using her considerable talent to advocate for boys. But I worry that she is less concerned with helping boys than with re-engineering their masculinity according to specifications from some out-of-date gender-studies textbook. The trailer is suffused with males-are-toxic ideology but shows little appreciation for how boys’ nature can be distinctively good. The Mask You Live In is scheduled to be released later this year. Let’s hope there is still time for edits.

Here are a few suggestions:
1. Recognize that masculinity is more than a “mask”
The title and content of the film suggest that masculinity is a cultural creation. That is only marginally true. A lot of typical boy behavior, such as rough-and-tumble play, risk taking and fascination with gadgets rather than dolls, appears to have a basis in biology. ... A recent study on sex differences by researchers from the University of Turin, in Italy, and the University of Manchester, in England, confirms what most of us see with our eyes: with some exceptions, women tend to be more sensitive, esthetic, sentimental, intuitive and tender-minded, while men tend to be more utilitarian, objective, unsentimental and tough-minded. We do not yet fully understand the biological underpinnings of these universal tendencies, but that is no reason to deny they exist.
...

Article here. The Minneapolis Star Tribune never fails when it comes to parroting issues brought forward by women's lobbying groups. No exception here. Missing of course are any issues faced by men in the workplace, such as the fact that 90% of workplace fatalities are males, or a decent explanation of the so-called "wage gap." Excerpt:

'After nearly three dark years, the lights are back on at the Office on the Economic Status of Women in the Minnesota State Office Building. It’s co-convening the first Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Summit in a long while Thursday in St. Paul, and several hundred participants are expected.

Among the presenters will be House Speaker Paul Thissen, armed with an ambitious package of 17 bills comprising the Minnesota Women’s Economic Security Act of 2014. The speaker’s personal stamp on a set of initiatives is rare, and should serve to raise the package’s visibility and chances for enactment.

Story here. Excerpt:

'An Ottawa girl has been found guilty of 30 of 33 charges against her in connection with a prostitution ring involving teenaged girls.

Court heard the girl, identified as the ringleader of the group, used physical violence and verbal threats to force other teenaged girls into prostitution.

She pleaded not guilty in April 2012 to the 33 charges including assault, human trafficking, robbery and making and distributing child pornography.

A sentencing date has yet to be set and the Crown says it will seek an adult sentence.

Two other teens accused in the case pleaded guilty to several charges in September in a surprise about-face after having pleaded not guilty earlier last year.

The three girls, whose identities are protected under a publication ban were arrested in June 2012 in the Ottawa area.'