Press release here. Excerpt:

'The human rights group Intact America (IA) is urging policy makers attending the 2012 International AIDS Society Conference in Washington, DC, 22-27 July, to halt the rollout of mass circumcision campaigns, calling the plan exorbitant, dangerous and unethical.

“The promotion of male circumcision sends the wrong message, creates a false sense of protection, and places women at greater risk for HIV. Men are lining up to be circumcised in the belief that they will no longer need to use condoms,” said Georganne Chapin, Executive Director of IA. “It’s extremely disturbing that scarce resources would be squandered on this prevention method when new research shows that the other proven prevention and treatment methods reduce transmission far more effectively. Medical resources need to be devoted to antiretroviral drugs, condom programs, education, and vaccines.”

Editorial here. Robert Dewey was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 16 years in jail. Apparently, the state of Colorado has no laws that require compensation. In fact, he was released without even minimal cash or shelter. Just released. Men, of course, are more likely than women to be accused and convicted of a crime. Excerpt:

'The result — and it's a rare one — could be that someone is falsely imprisoned. When that happens, we think the state has a duty to compensate the individual.

Such is the case with Robert Dewey, incarcerated in Colorado for 16 years for a murder he didn't commit. There was no prosecutorial misconduct or other malfeasance. The system just ended up with the wrong man, as recently proven with DNA evidence.

Until that time, Dewey was a lifer. There was no point in teaching him job skills — he was never getting out. He also sustained a painful back injury in prison that still impedes his ability to do manual labor.

Here is the latest of a few stories I've come across about men in their 20s saving the lives of their girlfriends and dying in the process in the Aurora movie massacre:

'(CNN) -- Great evil often brings out the best in good men, men like Todd Beamer on Flight 93, Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy in Afghanistan, and now the Aurora three -- the three young men, each in different parts of theater nine, who gave their lives to protect their girlfriends.
...
These men were three of the 12 innocent people killed early that morning. Their incredible sacrifice leaves us asking: Why? Why would a young man with his entire life ahead of him risk everything for a woman he has no legal, financial or marital obligations to?
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Confession: I'm a little bit/very charmed by chivalrous, gentlemanly men. As long as it's not some sort of agenda-laden, playboy act, I find certain gestures touching. Like bag carrying, or a door held open. (Unless I'm not even close to the door yet, so I have to hurry awkwardly along while the guy's just standing there, waiting.)
...
More recently, US television presenter Laura Schlessinger announced that: "Chivalry is largely dead, and feminism is the murderer". Campaigning for a resurgence, she urged women to "enjoy being a woman and let men treat them as such", and men "to be old-fashioned gentlemen".'

Article here. Excerpt:

'(BOSTON) - Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., executive director of the Circumcision Resource Center and author of Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma, is concerned about the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC starting July 22. He says it offers a one-sided view by promoting male circumcision to reduce HIV transmission in Africa.

"There is nothing scientific about a process that excludes opposing views. Circumcision advocates are afraid to debate circumcision critics," states Goldman. "This shows up at professional conferences where critics are not provided equal opportunity to participate. The fear of open discussion was also apparent when two circumcision advocates refused to debate me on two different radio talk shows." He also notes that circumcision advocates tend to be circumcised and have personal, political, and financial conflicts of interest connected with circumcision.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The extent of this cutting, which "has no health benefits", involves removal of "healthy and normal female genital tissue" and is associated with ideas about "unclean" sexual parts, is immaterial. "It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death."

Article here. Excerpt:

'Prudie seems offended by Confused's desire to set ground rules in her own marriage. Lots of couples find a mutually comfortable level of implied consent for drunk sex, but that isn't working for Confused and her husband.

Confused is not the bad guy. She's a survivor who needs her partner to be extra careful about a kind of sex that most people in committed relationships would take in stride.

We don't have to blame her husband or label him as an abuser. Although, as the person who (inadvertently?) traumatized her in the first place, he should be gracious about accomodating her idiosyncratic needs.

This is a problem to be solved by negotiation, not recrimination.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed into law AB 1807, protecting child custody rights for military parents. Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, introduced the legislation to protect our military parents.

Fathers and Families has lobbied and advocated for the rights of our military in child custody. This legislation is another success.

When a divorced couple shares custody of a child and one of the parents is deployed due to military orders, full custody of the child is given temporarily to the non-deployed parent. Often, when the deployed parent returns, a custody battle ensues.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'HOUSTON—The mother charged in the beating death of her 4-year-old son was allegedly upset that the boy wet himself, according to CPS and court documents the I-Team reviewed.

Vastie Coleman, 27, was being held without bond Tuesday in the Harris County Jail for allegedly killing Kyron Barnes.

The boy’s two surviving sisters described routine whippings by their mother in court documents. One of them told investigators Coleman used a cord to whip Kyron, because "the belt was broken because mom kept whipping the kids so hard it broke into pieces."'

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'This year, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is once again up for reauthorization, but this newest version of VAWA — loaded up with even more leftist provisions — has hit a snag. First signed into law in 1994 with bipartisan support and reauthorized in 2000 and 2006, the legislation has become both a failure and a boondoggle — lining the pockets of feminist groups, vastly expanding federal, state, and local bureaucracies, and becoming riddled with fraud.

This year there are competing bills in the House (H.R. 4970) and Senate (S. 1925), and in a climate of debt, deficit, and government waste, the legitimate bone of contention is how best to reform the law that has spawned dozens of failed programs. VAWA created a bureaucratic nightmare that targets the wrong women — those claiming nebulous "psychological harm" — instead of actually helping battered women. In addition to not helping the women it is supposed to serve, VAWA has morphed into a rigid, inhumane law enforcement tool that hurts and denigrates men.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'HIV-AIDS is affecting black gay men in the United States on a scale unseen among any other group in the developed world, said a report issued Wednesday ahead of the International AIDS Conference.

So grave is the crisis that in some US cities, one in two black men who have sex with other men are HIV positive, according to the report from the Black AIDS Institute, the only national HIV-AIDS think tank focusing on African Americans.

"AIDS in America is a black disease, no matter how you look at it," its president and chief executive Phill Wilson, who is himself HIV positive, said ahead of Sunday's opening of the six-day global conference.

"The best lens through which to figure out what AIDS looks like in America is to look at AIDS in black America," he said in an interview, adding that it was time to "jump-start a new conversation... and build a robust response" to the crisis.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'As concerned citizens of the world well know, the Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is currently inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, in London, England, having gone there to ask for political asylum. I want to add my voice to the many people of conscience around the world in urging President Correa of Ecuador to grant political asylum to Julian Assange.

The British courts shamefully refused Mr. Assange’s appeal against extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning accused of sexual molestation. No criminal charges have been made against him. Mr. Assange has said he is willing to answer questions relating to accusations against him, but only in England. He has good reason not to want to be extradited to Sweden, as he could find himself imprisoned in solitary confinement, and then very likely extradited to a U.S. prison.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Who would leave a little girl behind to be raped? Pretty much no one. It’s inconceivable. So what happened with the boy? Was there some kind of repulsion that took hold of McQueary, something about a man and boy, some kind of homophobia-inflected disgust? Or do we imagine that, on some level, boys can take care of themselves and be strong? This is why so many male survivors of rape feel plagued by guilt: They’re ashamed to be victims because they don’t feel entitled to be vulnerable. This boy was vulnerable, and he needed a protector. Mike McQueary failed him.

I don’t know where this victim is, but I hope he has the courage to come forward. If I could speak to him, I’d say, “We support you, whoever you are. We stand with you. And this time, we won’t walk away.”'

We recently surveyed registered voters across America to see if they agree with recent reforms to the Violence Against Women Act. We specifically asked about reforms to stop waste, fraud, discriminatory practices, and false allegations.

Over-all findings:

1. Stop waste and fraud - 69.5%
2. Stop discrimination - 65.9%
3. Stop false allegations - 63.5%

The survey shows strong support for reform among key voting blocs including women and young people. One notable finding: About 7 in 10 persons who are a victim of domestic violence or who personally know an abuse victim support the proposed changes.

Survey methods and detailed findings: http://www.saveservices.org/campaign-2012/national-survey-on-vawa-reform/