Article here. Excerpt:

'As we arrive at the gut-wrenching first anniversary of Newtown Saturday, I teeter back and forth between sadness and anger. Sadness that 20 6- and 7-year-olds were murdered — along with a half-dozen Sandy Hook Elementary School educators — and anger that public officials and most of the media still largely ignore the missing component in the Connecticut tragedy: the gender of the shooter.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s urgent we implement gun control legislation and increase mental health services. Some states, including Colorado and Connecticut, have passed new gun laws, doing an end run around the National Rifle Association and their minions in Congress. And kudos to Vice president Joe Biden for shepherding $100 million in additional money for mental wellness programs. Still, like a two-legged stool, those efforts can’t stand up to this type of violence if we don’t add a third leg: male socialization.

Take this simple quiz. Don’t worry; you’re sure to get 100 since — spoiler alert — the answer isn’t “woman.” In the year since Adam Lanza began his rampage by murdering his mother, was it a man or a woman who killed innocent people at the Washington Navy Shipyard, the Boston Marathon, Santa Monica College, homes in Hialeah, Fla., Manchester, Ill., and Fernley, Nev.; a barbershop in New York’s Mohawk Valley; and Los Angeles International Airport? Get it?
...
In the 1990s I facilitated batterers’ groups working with lonely, isolated men who had been abusive to their spouses. While none was as mentally unstable as the mass shooters, all were products of the same male socialization.

Story here.* Excerpt:

'Two topless women stormed the stage of a German talk show on Wednesday in protest against the conditions of workers in Qatar who are building facilities for the 2022 World Cup.

The FEMEN activists ran onto the stage of a live football debate during a show hosted by Markus Lanz .

Footballs dripping with blood were painted around the edges of the protesters’ breasts. One of the women had also painted “Blut und Spiele” (Blood and games) on her body, while the other had “don’t play with human rights” written in English across her stomach.
...
Bodyguards tried to remove the women but talkshow host Markus Lanz intervened, telling the security staff to leave them.

Lanz interviewed one of the male demonstrators who said they were protesting against the “slavery” of workers in Qatar. Following the discussion the presenter urged FIFA to put pressue on Qatar to improve working conditions.'

Article here. Finally, a MSM article about boys and severe mental illness that isn't the typical lock-'em-up fare. Check out the stats re the number of boys in jail with mental health problems. Not only do men often get prisons while women get psychiatric commitments for the same offenses, but it looks like states also prefer to jail mentally ill boys instead of treat them. Excerpt:

'As the camera rolls, Stephanie calls psychiatric hospitals near her home in San Antonio. Repeatedly she is turned down. Nothing can be done for her son, she is told, unless "he is a danger to himself or others." It is December 2009, and Daniel's hallucinations last more than two hours.
...
Daniel is 14 now, and his mother no longer needs to convince doctors that he is mentally ill. He suffers from bipolar disorder with psychosis. In the past four years, he has been hospitalized more than 20 times.

But a diagnosis merely marks a beginning. Raising a child with mental illness is "a roller-coaster ride through hell," Stephanie says. She is engaged in an epic battle on multiple fronts.

What if Daniel has an outburst in public and is misunderstood? What if he succumbs to the voices? How can she help Daniel find joy?

And what about the rest of her family? They need her, too.
...
The only time mental illness dominates the national conversation is when something goes tragically wrong. But the dialogue doesn't last. It gets buried under arguments about gun control, video game violence and unheeded signs of trouble -- until there's yet another mass shooting.
...
She plays a video of Daniel enduring an episode of psychosis from May 1 of this year. His legs and arms shake while he sits on a picnic table in the backyard. He places his head between his knees. Then, he stands and paces. He swats the air. His head darts back and forth, as if trying to shake the demons he sees and hears.

Story here. If she were a he, he'd be fired immediately. And, why is there no mention of sexual harassment? Talking sexy even outside of earshot of anyone who cares, regardless of whether they object, is notoriously defined in campus "speech codes" as sexual harassment, punishable by dismissal. So what's the delay here? Excerpt:

'A veteran University of Colorado Denver administrator is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave for apparently operating a phone sex business at the same time she has been getting paid by the university.
...
The prospect that the CU administrator has been engaging in paid phone sex at the same time she is being paid to work by taxpayers has administrators concerned.
...
According to the woman’s daughter-in-law, there is good reason to be concerned.

“She does it while she is working at CU Denver,” said Blair Cooper, the administrator’s daughter-in-law.

Article here. Not a direct MR matter but clearly relevant. A major challenge to MR is getting the word out and getting people, especially men, aware of these issues. This article points out how often the direct approach to any cause is often paradoxically counterproductive to advancing it. If nothing else, it's food for thought, and MRAs may find it useful. Excerpt:

'Awareness campaigns get forgotten by the people who need them most

Article here. Excerpt:

'I agree with James Taranto that there is a war on men and it starts early, as he points out, as a war on boys. Christina Hoff Sommers has much to say about the topic from an educational standpoint in her revised edition of The War on Boys. Our schools keep boys confined, take away recess, and have adopted a feminized approach to schools to the point where it is mainly for those who conform, sit still, and like to follow rules.

Link here. Excerpt:

'Catherine M. Russell
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
National Democratic Institute (NDI) Offices
...
Let me commend specifically the important work that you are doing in the hard places. To IRI, thank you for the work you have done with your Women’s Democracy Network — to build the capacity of Syrian women in negotiation, leadership, advocacy, and other skills at this critical time for their country.

To NDI, thank you for the work you are doing in Afghanistan to help Afghan women be competitive in the upcoming elections -- through women’s campaign schools, one-on-one consultations with women candidates and developing policy working groups.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Nebraska Supreme Court prohibits Nebraska State Bar Association from using mandatory dues for anything other than regulation of the legal profession. Thus it may not use mandatory dues for lobbying. Regulation of the profession is defined as:

Article here. Excerpt:

'The number of parental child abduction cases has more than doubled in the last decade, new figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) suggest.

The FCO and charity Reunite say almost two children a day on average are taken out of the UK against a court order or without the consent of one parent.

There were 272 new parental child abduction and international custody cases in 2003-04, and 580 in 2012-13.

The FCO has released what is calls a "hard-hitting" film on the subject.

The film, Caught in the Middle, has been published on YouTube as part of a pre-Christmas awareness campaign to encourage parents to consider the "lasting damage" such abductions can do to children and families.

Sorry, this is the only online image that I was able to find. It was published across the nation today and the the Mankato Free Press. You'll know which cartoon when you see it.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A judge dismissed charges Monday against adventurer Aron Ralston, who was jailed after a domestic dispute in Denver.

"In an evaluation of the case, we determined there was no likelihood of conviction," said Melissa Drazen-Smith, assistant director of prosecution for the Denver city attorney's office.

Prosecutors are proceeding with similar charges against Ralston's girlfriend, Vita Shannon, who was arrested with him late Saturday at her home in Denver."
...
"Ralston told police that Shannon hit him twice in the back of the head with her fists during an argument. Shannon told police Ralston shoved her on the shoulder as he left her home, according to the reports. Police noted that the couple's infant daughter was present during the fight.

In April 2003, Ralston was descending a slot canyon when a boulder he was climbing on dislodged, crushing and trapping his right hand against the canyon wall. After five days, he broke his arm and amputated the limb.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'DENVER, CO -- The mother of a girl involved in the case of a 6-year-old Colorado boy suspended for giving a classmate unwanted kisses says the school did the right thing.

The girl's mother, Jade Masters-Ownbey, told the Canon City Daily Record on Wednesday that the school district did a "great job" protecting her daughter from repeated harassment from the boy.
...
The boy's mother, Jennifer Saunders, insists the punishment was too harsh.

"He is 6 years old, and that is absolutely ridiculous for him to have 'sexual harassment' on his record, even it is (only on the district's) record," she said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Hunter Yelton, the six-year-old boy who’s being portrayed as a “hopeless romantic” and “young Casanova” after his recent school suspension, will no longer have the offense of sexual harassment on his permanent record. Following negative press surrounding his two-day suspension from Lincoln School of Science and Technology in Colorado, the school reduced the offense on Hunter’s permanent record from “sexual harassment” to “misconduct” Thursday. Hunter’s seemingly innocuous crime? Kissing one of his classmates on the hand.

Jade Masters-Ownbey, the mother of the young girl Hunter kissed, felt his original punishment was appropriate. After all, this wasn’t the first time Hunter had been reprimanded for violating his school’s sexual harassment policy: he apparently had a history of pursuing this same girl, and had previously kissed her on the cheek. But Hunter’s mother, Jennifer Saunders, thought the school’s punishment was too harsh.

Story here.

'WINDSOR, Colo. - A Fort Collins woman who told police that a former co-worker drugged and kidnapped her from a Windsor parking lot in November now faces charges of lying to police.

Katherine Bennett, 20, accused Dustin Toth of luring her to a Safeway parking lot by saying he needed a friend to talk to about his upcoming deployment.

Bennett said when she got in Toth's car, Toth pulled a knife and threatened her.

However, the Coloradoan reports that Toth has been cleared of all charges and Bennett was arrested on a charge of attempting to influence a public official.

Bennett's arrest affidavit highlights says she changed her story many times and made claims that police later found to be untrue.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'His action was 100% innocent. He is 6 year old kid, what else you want to know. The way school over reacted was that necessary, is that a mature decision, this is what we expect from schools & there teachers. Do we see the true values of carring, love and compassion that teachers should have.'

Please, think and decide. Your action and support will help.