Article here. Excerpt:

'Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed into law Senate Bill 557, giving biological fathers some rights to their children, even if the mothers were married to other men at the time of a child's birth. The previous 1956 law presumed that a woman's husband is the father of her children, making the husband responsible for their support and denying parental rights to the biological father.

Lawmakers recently passed four bills extending rights to biological fathers. In a statement, Governor Snyder said "children thrive with parental involvement" and said “the legislation promotes increased involvement by making it easier to recognize biological fathers.”'

Article here. First thing they think of is to use it to get the father of the fetus to start paying for the mother's decision to have the baby. I know this is a tough issue for many of us. Point is, as long as a man has no post-conceptive reproductive rights, why should he be legally on the hook for a decision which is not his but entirely hers, yet even before the infant is born? Excerpt:

'It is an uncomfortable question that, in today’s world, is often asked by expectant mothers who had more than one male partner at the time they became pregnant. Who is the father?
...
Besides relieving anxiety, the test results might allow women to terminate a pregnancy if the preferred man is not the father — or to continue it if he is.

Men who clearly know they are the father might be more willing to support the woman financially and emotionally during the pregnancy, which some studies suggest might lead to healthier babies.

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

WASHINGTON / June 19, 2012 – Over a year after the Department of Education issued its controversial sex assault policy, the federal agency has yet to respond to concerns about civil rights violations. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments renews its call to the federal agency to safeguard students’ rights rather than seek to curtail them.

The policy was issued by the Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on April 4, 2011 without prior opportunity for public comment or debate. On August 24, 2011, SAVE sent a letter to the DED requesting that the policy be rescinded: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/OCRLetter.pdf

Article here. Politics aside, I really can't blame the guy for seeking asylum considering he's doomed if he faces the Swedish sex gestapo. Excerpt:

'LONDON — WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange has taken refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, seeking asylum in a long shot move that would see him trade the glare of an often-hostile British press for the comforts of a small Latin American nation governed by a friendly leader.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the leftist government of President Rafael Correa – an administration often at odds with Washington – was weighing the request. He did not indicate when a decision might be made.

Article here. Excerpt:

'I've always said that it's a generally fantastic experience to be a man in our culture. This is because, in comparison to women, we men get way more room to be ourselves or do what is most comfortable for us. One of the areas in life where men are most coddled is in how we are permitted to emotionally express ourselves.

Specifically, I am talking about the excuses that women make for men who lack emotional follow-through. For me, emotional follow-through is about the capability to completely and clearly express emotions or emotional responsibilities -- whether that means someone apologizing in a heartfelt way, expressing affection, etc. I'm not talking about extraordinary expressions of emotion; rather, I am addressing the most basic forms of emotional follow-through like, "I love you" and "I'm sorry."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'With such an emphasis on the underrepresentation of women in math and science, it's important to remember that this is not the whole story. From the picture groups like the AAUW paint, one might expect that our colleges and universities -- and especially the academic sciences -- remain openly hostile toward women. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. Today, women earn more bachelor's degrees (57 percent), master's degrees (59 percent) and now PhDs by a small margin than men. What's more, roughly 50 percent of medical school students are female; and veterinary classes are (on average) comprised of 75 percent women.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Five years ago, five-week-old Holden Gothia was sleeping inside the suburban Houston apartment he shared with his parents when he was castrated by his own mother who was high on drugs.

Katherine Nadal claimed the family dog tore off her son’s genitals but a jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to 99 years in prison in August 2009.
...
He has had a number of medical issues and has undergone surgery on his left foot after his mother's attack left him with a severed artery, but, for now, Holden is unaware of the true extent of his injuries.

‘I think in his mind, genitals are something he gets when he gets older and the response to that comment is, “you're exactly right, you will, when you're older,” which is not untrue,’ Patches DeShazo, his paternal aunt and legal guardian, told Fox News.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A US lawmaker who says she was barred from speaking in the Michigan House because Republicans objected to her saying the word "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation performed The Vagina Monologues on the Statehouse steps — with a hand from the author.

Eve Ensler, whose groundbreaking play about women's sexuality still packs theaters 16 years after it debuted, oversaw Monday night's performance by Democratic state Rep. Lisa Brown, 10 other lawmakers and several actresses.
...
"If we ever knew deep in our hearts that the issue about abortion ... was not really about fetuses and babies, but really men's terror of women's sexuality and power, I think it's fully evidenced here," Ensler told The Associated Press by phone Monday before arriving in Lansing.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Fathers of America, you may consider yourselves indispensable, but a new survey says you're only worth about one-third as much as mom around the house.

In fact, you are not even keeping up with inflation.

Insurance news and data website Insure.com released its annual Father's Day Index on Monday, an attempt to calculate the value in wage terms of the work a father typically does around the house.

The value this year was some $20,248, about $1,000 less than the inflation-adjusted value of 10 years ago.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'From the loving, engaged portrayals of fathers featured in recent popular movies like “The Descendants,” “Moneyball” and “A Better Life” — all three performances were nominated for Academy Awards — one might conclude American dads are culturally valued.

Look again. The mothers in these films are comatose, divorced or dead. It’s no coincidence. From Atticus Finch to today, there’s an unspoken Hollywood rule that fathers can’t shine too brightly in the face of active mothering. Dads are more likely to be accorded respect when they are “coping” — in effect, when they are surrogate mothers.

Sadly, it is not only in Hollywood where fathers get the short end of the stick. The culture reflects a painful and pervasive social reality: For all we talk about the value of fathers, we have been devaluing and discarding them for decades.

We must first diagnose this cancer. Then we must systematically work to cure it.

Article here. It shows up in a UK paper but it's about US trends. Excerpt:

'Not too long ago, a father who chose to stay at home with kids while his wife went back to work after childbirth was something of an anomaly, opening the doors on countless Mr Mom jokes, but nowadays, a growing numbers of dads wear the moniker as a badge of honor.

Nationwide, the number of stay-at-home fathers - while still relatively small - has more than doubled in the past decade. There were only about 81,000 Mr Moms in 2001, or about 1.6 per cent of all stay-at-home parents.

By last year, the number had climbed to 176,000, or 3.4 per cent of stay-at-home fathers, according to U.S. Census data.'

Article here. Wonder if there's one for moms, too? Excerpt:

'The federal government Web site www.fatherhood.gov offers a wide range of “tips” and resources for teaching men how to be a father, including “father-child” videos on healthy eating, teeth brushing and hand washing.

The taxpayer-funded website, launched during the Clinton administration, is a project of the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, which is a part of Health and Human Services’ Office of Family Assistance. The site links to the videos on the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Psychiatric Research Institute’s Web site.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Here's a great Father's Day thought: Men and boys need help. They've become more self-destructive, more apathetic about success and more violent. Fewer are moving on to higher education, and boys and men alike are being outperformed in school by girls and women.

On this day, Fathers Day, the culture continues to redefine masculinity, but struggles to know what it means to be a "real" man. Meanwhile, the bashing of the traditional male role continues without surcease.

A case in point: CBS' Sunday Morning on Sunday celebrated Fathers Day by asking in its lead piece: "As gender roles change, are men out of step?" It's a scatter-shot piece, badly in need of focusing by a skilled editor, and it never really answers the question. Yet not a single defender of traditional role of men and fathers appeared to suggest why boys and men have gone off the rails. Instead, there is the demeaning reference to "out-date He-Man ideas."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Boys from white working-class families are growing up with no hope of a decent education or career because of an ‘anti-school culture’, the head of Ofsted warned last night.

Sir Michael Wilshaw says generations of children in deprived areas are doomed to underachieve, thanks to an erosion of traditional community values and parents failing to set boundaries.

The chief inspector of schools said white boys from poor families were worst affected and achieved the worst results aged 16 at school.'