Article here. Excerpt:

'Nigerian authorities today began arresting gay men after legislation was quietly approved criminalising homosexuality and imposing prison terms up to 14 years for breaking the new law.

Several gay couples were taken into custody in the country’s majority-Muslim north, and rights groups feared that others would be targeted across the West African country.

Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law on January 7, but there was no public report of the new law until journalists obtained a copy of the act on Monday.

It prohibits homosexuals from even meeting in groups of two or more, bans marriage or civil unions between people of the same sex, and criminalises gay clubs and events.

Reuben Abati, the presidential spokesman, said Nigerians were happy with the new law. It makes Nigeria the 38th African nation to enact legislation persecuting gay people.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'...Small children -- let alone infants -- have no capacity to consent to the surgical removal of sound body parts. Secondly, there is no compelling medical need to cut off healthy genital tissue. The cutting of male or female genitals is a socially constructed practice often linked to group identity or religious doctrine.
...
Many Americans think of male circumcision as an issue of hygiene. Yet, this is not the case. The vast majority of men throughout human history have kept their intact penises clean without any extraordinary effort. Many Americans think that the foreskin, which is removed in a circumcision surgery, is useless skin. This is also untrue. It seems that with the acceptance of the routine cutting of infant penises, we also have cut the function of the foreskin from our consciousness. In an intact adult male, the foreskin is the most sensitive and erogenous 12-15 square inches of his body and it contains 10,000-20,000 fine touch nerve endings. It is not useless skin.
...
One can learn a great deal about cultural bias when comparing the traditions of male and female genital cutting.

Petition here. Really, if this had been a case of a female-to-male transgendered person being attacked by three boys, or if the attackers in this case were boys and not girls, does anyone imagine for a moment the DA would not be on them like white on rice? I sure don't. At the very least, defending oneself from street-thugs regardless of said thugs' gender is no offense -- unless of course said thugs are female and you have a penis, regardless of how you are dressed. Is to too much though to ask the question: "Why the hell are the attackers *not* being prosecuted?" Or is that just too radical an idea? Excerpt:

'My sister, Jewlyes Gutierrez, is a 16 year old teenager, who identifies as a transgender female. Her gender identity has caused her to be a victim of taunting, harassment, and bullying by her peers. On November 13, 2013, Jewlyes defended herself against three girls who were tormenting and then physically attacked her. This was captured on video and you can see Jewlyes trying to run away. The students involved were suspended but to our disbelief, District Attorney Daniel Cabral then filed charges against Jewlyes for battery - she's the only one charged.

Jewlyes should not be charged criminally. Rather, this altercation should be the responsibility of the school district, who should take proper action and implement the necessary resources to prevent incidents like these from happening again.

One of the girls who attacked Jewlyes had repeated bullied her - even spitting gum in her face. Jewlyes sought help from the assistant principal in fear of her physical safety but the issue was not properly addressed, no necessary action was taken by the administration. The bullying continued.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'President Barack Obama has set aside time Tuesday to personally endorse a new feminist agenda backed by noted Democratic policy experts Beyoncé, Jada Pinkett Smith, LeBron James and Eva Longoria.

They’re listed as contributors to the 391-page apocalyptic-sounding report entitled “A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink,” drafted by lead author Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan and ex-wife of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Shriver’s progressive analysis and government-centered recommendations aren't nearly as important as the document’s ability for Democrats to boost women’s turnout in the 2014 election.
...
“The ‘War on Women’ is just about the only tool in the Democratic arsenal for 2014,” IWF director of cultural programs Charlotte Hays told TheDC, because the crash of Obamacare and Obama’s lousy economy has done so much damage to women, men and families.
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The report calls for government to become a caregiver for women, by providing employer-paid leave for women, paid sick days for minimum-wage workers, uniform pay for men and women in similar jobs, and free child-care so that fatherless mothers can work minimum-wage jobs at $7.25 per hour instead of taking care of their children.

The report offers only a marginal role for men and boys, no support for marriage, and little or no role for the independent family that can birth and raise new Americans with minimal government participation.

The report begins by dismissing men; “In August 2012, my marriage ended suddenly after 25 years. It was a shock, but also a relief, because my husband had been angry for years. After he left, it was amazing how there was peace in our house again,” says the opening anecdote, which is followed by repeated demands that society be organized around the needs of women.
...

Story here. Excerpt:

'The decision by the party’s UK national executive committee (NEC) means Labour MSP Richard Baker, who is reported to have expressed an interest in Aberdeen North, will be free to seek selection in the constituency as a potential MP.

Scotland on Sunday revealed this week that North East MSP Baker, a director of anti-independence campaign Better Together, was considering leaving Holyrood for Westminster.

A meeting of Labour’s NEC in London today said that Aberdeen North, where sitting MP Frank Doran is retiring at the 2015 General Election, would be open to male and female candidates.
...
However, Labour is expected to select its candidate to fight the election in the constituency before the summer.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Facebook COO told USA Today: "I never imagined in a billion years (the book) would spark this amount of conversation ... The energy around college campuses is exciting -- it gives us hope for the future." Sandberg will visit many of the 200 schools in 17 countries with on-campus "Lean In" discussion circles to promote the second edition of the book, which features six additional chapters, including advice for "how millennial men can lean in." Welcome, fellas.

Sandberg's original book sparked a national conversation about whether workplace feminism is a luxury of the upper-middle class -- and we're thrilled she is now addressing the message to a demographic that can get a headstart engaging in a dialogue on these issues.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'An initiative by the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) pushing for women-only hours at one of the two on-campus athletic facilities has some students worked up about working out.

In a Facebook post last month, the RSU laid out its case for women-only workout slots. They wrote that many women feel uncomfortable exercising in the co-ed space for reasons ranging from Muslim women who will not remove their head scarves in front of men to women who the RSU argued have to endure “societal standards of beauty.”

The campaign prompted anger online. “I’ve never even stepped foot in the Ryerson gym, but this still pisses me off. What’s next, women only library hours?” wrote one commentator on Facebook.

“We all pay the same amount... so we should all have the same opportunities to use it and all be given the same amount of available time,” wrote another on the social news website Reddit.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Guys, we need to stop being ashamed of being men. Virtually every behavior that is natural to a man is now being criticized and we are made to feel ashamed about being our gender. Perhaps if we spent more time uplifting men instead of trying to annihilate masculinity, we’d have better men.

I recently posted this comment on a social network site. Not a huge fan of Men’s Health Magazine, but this ain’t bad advice: “You can’t be a topnotch man unless you’re deeply grateful. For what? Glad you asked. For the gift of your gender. For those muscles in your back. For those neurons in your brain. For your mirth. Your lust. Your courage. For your possibilities. A man in full appreciates the twist of fate that made him so strong, so cunning, so stalwart, so alert, so sexually skilled, so fully equipped, so good to go. Live the appreciation, by using it all.”

Story here.

'The White House says Maria Shriver on Tuesday will present President Barack Obama with a copy of her report on the economic status of women.

The report, "A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink," tells the story of the financial insecurity of America's families through the eyes of women. It finds that one-third of women are living near the brink of poverty despite making up half the U.S. workforce and two-thirds of the primary or co-breadwinners in their families.

Obama has been pressing Republicans to agree to extend unemployment insurance as he prepares to highlight income inequality in his State of the Union address on Jan. 28.

Shriver is a niece of President John F. Kennedy. She also is the wife of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Men from varied backgrounds and ages volunteer one hour a month to do something that at first took them out of their comfort zone – entertaining a roomful of youngsters at Elrod Elementary School by reading books aloud. Part of a program called “Real Men Read,” the eight men are among 300 who read to kids in the second, fifth and seventh grades in selected schools in Houston Independent School District.

Article here. Excerpt:

The University of South Australia has distanced itself from a proposal for a series of male studies courses, some of which were to be taught by hardline anti-feminist advocates.

The university has approved one of four proposed graduate courses, a certificate in male health and health promotion, which will begin online next month.

But an original proposal by one of the university's academics outlined three further certificates, including a course called ''males and sexism'', which named lecturers who have been published on radical men's rights websites.
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But National Union of Students president Deanna Taylor said it was concerning that the academic who founded the course, Associate Professor Gary Misan, was linked to the controversial Americans.

''It's a slippery slope once you open the door to people with these views and give them a platform … it's not long before proposals like the ones that were rejected actually get approved,'' she said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'My best friend died at twenty years old. He, like so many males, was set to explode; a bomb of manhood with a wick as short as impulse. He was taught only one game: breaking boundaries. In the end he broke his own. Game over.

Masculinity is killing us all. In men’s endless drive to prove themselves as real men, they must break boundaries as a matter of course. “Don’t do that” is simply an invitation. Each inhibition crossed is a further affirmation of manhood. There’s a reason why a certain major firearm company’s main marketing ploy revolves around convincing men that, without these guns, their “manhood cards” will be revoked. Like bombs, men don’t simply hurt themselves when they explode, but also whoever happens to be nearby. That’s the point.

Power is addictive. The more men taste it, the more they grasp for it and the more they cling to it. But masculinity kills them just as surely. Beneath the toxic exterior of ego, men need what all humans do: communion. There is no communion in violation. After all that can be violated is, what remains?

Yet, some men are different. Some men want back the empathy that was long ago stolen from them by the cult of masculinity.
...
My best friend died from manhood, as so many others do. Some die from abiding by it, but more die from it being used like a weapon against them (and too often, this is no metaphor). My friend ran his course of a fast and dangerous life, hurting others, but killing himself. There are many more like him out there, hurting and hurting just to try to feel alive. Those who could, rarely tell them to stop. Those who could, rarely show them another way.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Are school shooters and mass murderers born out of an aggressive emphasis on masculinity in our society? The trailer for filmmaker and feminist activist Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s new documentary, “The Mask You Live In,” would have us think so.

The recently released trailer has attracted 1 million views on YouTube. It argues that American boys are captive to a rigid and harmful social code of masculinity. From the earliest age, they are told to “Be a Man!” “Don’t Cry!” “Stop with the emotion!” and “Man up!” This “guy code” suppresses their humanity, excites their drive for dominance, and renders many of them dangerous. The trailer features adolescent men describing their isolation, despair, and thoughts of suicide, artfully interspersed with terrifying images of school shooters and mass murderers.

Article here. Excerpt:

'THE University of South Australia says its new course on male health has nothing to do with so-called extreme anti-feminist views, and contradicts claims in The Advertiser newspaper that two US-based men's rights advocates are involved in the course.

A spokeswoman for the university said a suite of male studies courses potentially involving both US advocates had been proposed by university staff in 2012, but had been rejected by the university in September that year following an academic review.

“Any future courses would need to go through the same formal approval process, in accordance with university policy, that involves consideration of academic merit and quality, and community benefit and viability,” the spokeswoman said in a statement to the HES.
...
The $1800 online certificate course in 'male health and male health promotion' is aimed at health and allied health professionals.

Story here. Another sad story about how women have it bad and we need to do more to empower and help women. Men, not so much. Excerpt:

'Although in recent decades women have made historic advances in nearly all areas of American public life, a staggering number of women across the country are still teetering on the verge of poverty and economic disaster, a new report released Sunday shows.
...
And yet despite the discouraging signs of economic gender inequality, "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink" features a wide range of potential remedies — from prospective policy initiatives to community programs. The authors of the report say that turning away from historical injustices and embracing a more equitable future will boost the U.S. economy.

One such recommendation that Shriver highlighted on Meet the Press on Sunday was for women to think of themselves “as providers, not being provided for.