Story here. Excerpt:

'Four killers carried out the “extraordinarily callous, violent and brutal” murder of a Harold Hill teenager after the sister of one wrongly claimed he had raped her, a court heard today (Tuesday).

Luke Harwood, 18, was punched and kicked to death by the gang, from Romford, who planned to slice off his fingers and pull out his teeth so the body could not be identified, the Old Bailey was told.

The victim had the misfortune to move into a council house in Crow Lane, where the gang all lived when Alice Hall - who made the false allegation - was there, the jury heard.
...
The victim, who was 5ft 7ins tall and weighed just seven stone, was taken to a stream where he was finished off on the bank, the court was told.
“His facial skeleton was crushed. They then concealed his body by covering it with a mattress and other items,” Mr Denison said.

The following evening the alleged killers returned to the scene.

Article here. Excerpt:

'...From the simple fact of breaking up with a man and not informing him of the existence of his child or, if he learns of it somehow, saying it’s another man’s, to surreptitiously placing the child for adoption, to refusing or limiting his visitation, to child abduction, to false claims of abuse, to maternal gatekeeping, to parental alienation, mothers maintain all but complete power over a father’s ability to have a relationship with his child and, of course, the child’s ability to have one with its father.
...
Needless to say a society like ours that comes between its fathers and their children is a society that is asking for trouble.  It’s a society that is begging for more crime, more drug and alcohol abuse, more unemployment, and the like.  As I say so often, someone should inform our legislatures and judges.  Everyone knows but them.'

Link here. Excerpt:

'Pregnant South African women are deliberately drinking large quantities of alcohol to harm their unborn babies in a bid to earn more welfare money.
...
"If I don't drink this, I'm like someone who is sick," one mother told Sky News.

"I can't sleep and I can't think straight but when I have this then I am better and I can do anything."

The addictive milky brown brew is made from yeast, water and battery acid and is sold in illegal drinking houses called 'shebeens'.
...
The World Health Organisation reports there has been a spike in the area of children born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) since 2002.

The irreversible symptoms mean children suffer from speech problems, physical deformities, learning difficulties and behavioural issues.

Families receive 250 South African rand ($28) per child, per month but a disabled child brings in 1200 rand a month ($134) – a "lucrative" income.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON -- If or when the Pentagon lets women become infantry troops – the country's front-line warfighters – how many women will want to?

The answer is probably not many.

Interviews with a dozen female soldiers and Marines showed little interest in the toughest fighting jobs. They believe they'd be unable to do them, even as the Defense Department inches toward changing its rules to allow women in direct ground combat jobs.

In fact, the Marines asked women last year to go through its tough infantry officer training to see how they would fare. Only two volunteered and both failed to complete the fall course. None has volunteered for the next course this month. The failure rate for men is roughly 25 percent.
...
Changing the rules for a potential future draft would be a difficult proposition.

Article here. Excerpt:

As with many extremist political ideologies, the increased visibility and popularity of Men’s Rights Activists (or MRAs) such as Buchanan can be attributed largely to fear. Fear, paranoia, and hatred. Fear that white working class men are set to become a "minority" (David Willetts this week confirmed this by comparing them to other "disadvantaged groups"); paranoia that such disadvantages are caused by the increasing emancipation of women, out there, spreading their tentacles, passing exams, and taking the world by storm, like the demented harpies that we are; and hatred of those women, with their vaginas and their soft smooth skin and their Child Support Agency. The bitches.

Article here. Excerpt:

'For boys, the road to successful manhood has crumbled. In many boys' journey from a fatherless family to an almost all-female staff elementary school such as Sandy Hook, there is no constructive male role model.
...
Adam Lanza is reported to have gone downhill when divorce separated him from his dad. Children of divorce without enough father contact are prone to have poor social skills; to struggle with the five D's (depression, drugs, drinking, discipline and delinquency); be suicidal; be less able to concentrate; and to be aggressive but not assertive. Perhaps most important, these boys are less empathetic.
...
It's time we go beyond fighting over guns to raising our sons. With one executive order, President Obama can create a White House Council on Men and Boys to work with the Council on Women and Girls he formed in 2009. Why? No one part of government or the private sector has a handle on the solution.

Even though the 112th Congress adjourned without reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA is still very much in the picture.  

As you may remember, last year the Senate passed their reauthorization of VAWA, S 1925. Not satisfied with the Senate's bill, the House passed their own version.  

Then we had a standstill. There were reports that they were trying to come to a last minute agreement, but it didn't happen. 
 
Immediately following the adjournment, supporters of S 1925 started pressuring the House to vote on the Senate version of VAWA.  But why should they? They've already approved a reauthorization of VAWA - HR 4970.

We believe that if people in the Senate sincerely want to pass VAWA, they should put HR 4970 to a vote in the Senate.

Please call House Speaker John Boehner TODAY.

Call:  202-225-6205   
Say: "Do not agree to the ridiculous demand to schedule a vote on the Senate VAWA bill, S. 1925."

We have worked hard to reform VAWA. Let's not let all of our hard work go to waste!     

Article here. Excerpt:

'Happy New Year! Arizona’s law, SB 1127, went into effect on January 1st. It requires the court to adopt a parenting plan that provides for both parents to share legal decision-making regarding their child and that maximizes their respective parenting time.

Arizona’s new law still requires judges to make decisions based on the children’s best interest, but their best interest now includes maximum time for both parents, although the new legislation does not specify the amount of time a child should spend with each parent. It does emphasize three aspects to contact with both parents: Frequency, Meaningfulness, and Continuity.'

Story here. I find this article of interest because it argues against the theory of the "demonic male" among apes. I have literally seen the argument made that men make lousy parents because male lions or polar bears allegedly kill their young. But such killings among apes, at least, are apparently rare--as is other war-like behavior. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

'Judge Bucci of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas recently barred a man from disclaiming paternity over a child, pursuant the common-law doctrine of “paternity by estoppel.”

In January 2012, the plaintiff, who is the mother of a 4-year-old girl, filed a complaint for support in the Berks County Domestic Relations Office, seeking financial support from her estranged husband, the defendant.

The man challenged the complaint and filed a petition for special relief, seeking an order for DNA testing to disestablish paternity.

According to the court’s opinion, the parties agreed that the girl was conceived and born during the marriage but is not the biological child of the man.

The court found that the girl child was, in fact, the product of an extramarital affair. Although the man suspected infidelity, according to the court’s opinion, the mother concealed the affair and assured the man that he was the biological father.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Rosin: What young people learn in church can no longer be reconciled with the realities of their lives. Yet men and women alike are finding it immensely difficult to accept their changed roles. This is why marriages are failing, and mothers are raising their children alone. Many women would rather remain alone than marry a man who can't contribute anything to the family's income.
...
SPIEGEL: That sounds very optimistic. But in your book, you describe couples for whom the fact that the woman was suddenly earning more money than the man caused considerable tension.

Rosin: That's true. These arrangements are so new that both men and women often have mixed feelings about them, and you don't have to dig very deep to find those feelings. I think one young man from Canada put it very well when he told me that theoretically and politically he believes in the idea of a househusband 100 percent -- he just doesn't want to be one himself.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Yesterday, a record 20 women were sworn in to the U.S. Senate. To mark the occasion ABC’s World News With Diane Sawyer had all of the female senators on for a group interview. One of the major topics of the discussion was the belief of many of the senators that they achieve better results than their male colleagues on a variety of issues including the budget, immigration reform and climate change. Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow got the ball rolling when she suggested women are more inclined to get results by working in a bipartisan manner.
...
Maine Senator Susan Collins took the argument a step further by saying if women were in charge of the Senate and in the White House there would be a solution to the budget debate that has gripped Washington.

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anti-violence advocates are disappointed after the 112th Session of Congress ended without hammering out differences in the Senate and House versions of the Violence Against Women Act renewal. Last-minute talks between Vice President Joe Biden and House Leader Eric Cantor failed to resolve differences in provisions regarding immigrants, Indians, and lesbian/gay victims of intimate partner violence.
...
"The rhetoric has been over-the-top and personal attacks only serve to harm relationships that are essential for political compromise," explains SAVE spokesman Steve Blake. "As we move into the next session of Congress, SAVE hopes all key stakeholders can work together to develop a better law that will protect all victims."

Article here. Excerpt:

'TOPEKA, Kan. — The state agency seeking child support payments from a Topeka man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple says one of the women “clearly deceived” the department.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families in a court filing Wednesday also called into question the validity of a sperm donor contract between William Marotta and the couple, Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer.

Marotta’s attorney called the agency’s filing “offensive.” Phone calls placed to the women Thursday afternoon weren’t immediately returned.

Documents show Schreiner indicated she didn’t know the name of the donor or “have any information” about him in her application for child support.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Over three years ago, a well-intentioned, 46-year-old race car mechanic in Kansas donated his sperm to a lesbian couple seeking to conceive a child. A written agreement that waived the donor's parental rights and financial obligations was executed between the parties at the time of delivery. However in October, Kansas filed a petition to have the donor legally declared the father of the three-year-old child and held responsible for support payments under state law. Citing a 2007 case before the Kansas Supreme Court, lawyers for the donor argued that their client bore no parental responsibilities because of his agreement with the couple. The case attracted national attention this week with the announcement of a January 8 hearing. As an unexpected result, thousands of unmarried men with illegitimate children and mounting child support debt filed motions Thursday to have their statuses changed to "donor," and their financial obligations overturned.'