Article here. Excerpt:

'The workplace cultural practices more often preferred by men have largely been replaced by approaches more often preferred by women. Individual initiative is now usually deemed inferior to teamwork, competition often replaced by collaboration, "push through to get the job done" with "process feelings," decision-making by leader with decision-making by committee. Men are more likely than women to throw all of themselves into work than to demand worklife balance, for which they are often dubbed with pathologizing monikers such as "workaholic" and "unable to relax" rather than "heroic" for being so contributory, even if it costs them their life. Men die 5.2 years earlier than women, a major cause being stress-related illnesses such as heart attack and stroke.

Link here. Excerpt:

'Many key factors predicted men's return to hospital. They were 72 percent more likely to return if they were unmarried or retired, 64 percent more likely if they had not seen their family doctor since their discharge and 53 percent more likely if they were depressed.

"Our findings raise the possibility that social isolation -- as illustrated by the positive association with being retired or unmarried, and [having] symptoms of depression -- may be important factors to target for intervention," wrote Dr. Suzanne Mitchell, of the department of family medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues, in the release.

The researchers noted that previous studies found that men's social isolation tends to contribute to poorer health results for them, and that women are better at using health services.'

On Wed., April 18, Vice President Joe Biden was broadcast live via streaming video on the White House website to promote the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (S. 1925). Biden has let us down in the past when it comes to recognizing all victims of DV, but I remained hopeful.

I watched, and counted, to see if the VP would acknowledge male victims. These men, known as the "hidden side of domestic violence" are the hidden half of DV.

I wish I could tell you that things have improved. I wanted so badly to tell you that abused men have finally gotten the recognition and respect they deserve, that now they will truly be helped.

But, I can't.

The only time the Vice Pres. mentioned men was when he described perpetrators of intimate partner homicide and honor killings, perpetrators of physical, financial and mental abuse, and perpetrators of rape and stalking. He talked about boys, but only to say that we should teach men and boys not to abuse women and girls.

Change.org petition here. Excerpt:

'In 1978 I was found guilty for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Linda Jo Edward in Texas. I was sentenced to death row. I was innocent.

In 1999 I was proven innocent through DNA testing -- after over 20 years on death row.

The case against me was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. Over the years, every piece of evidence used to convict me was revealed to be bogus.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the prosecution had suppressed evidence that showed I was innocent in order to build their case against me.

Thirteen years after my innocence was proven and I was released from prison, the state of Texas still has not judicially exonerated me.

Article here. Excerpt:

'One of Australia's largest companies is making it easier for new parents to juggle work and family: Starting this week, new moms who return to work at the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) will get double pay for their first six weeks back after maternity leave.

"Yes it's generous, but we're a business and it is about making sure we get quality people coming back to us," IAG chief executive Mike Wilkins told the Sydney Morning Herald.

IAG already offers one of the most generous maternity leave policies in the industry -- 14 weeks of paid time off after giving birth or adopting a child. Their six-week "welcome back bonus" is on top of that -- and in addition to an Australian government policy that gives new parents up to 18 weeks pay at minimum wage or a $5,400 "Baby Bonus" per child, whichever is greater.'

By: Leslie S. Arenson
Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd (http://www.dadsrights.com/)

Some parents have estranged relationships with their children. Whether it is because they made bad decisions, they have been alienated by the other parent, because of geographical constraints, because they were in the military and separated from their child for a long period of time, or other reasons, there is no better time than the present to take the first step. Some parents might be afraid of being rejected by their child, but children need their parents. Taking the first step to reconnect can sometimes be the hardest, but it is also the most important.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Department of Labor’s Time Use Survey, for example, finds that the average full-time working man spends 8.14 hours a day on the job, compared to 7.75 hours for the full-time working woman. Employees who work more likely earn more. Men working five percent longer than women alone explains about one-quarter of the wage gap.

There are numerous other factors that affect pay. Most fundamentally, men and women tend to gravitate toward different industries. Feminists may charge that women are socialized into lower-paying sectors of the economy. But women considering the decisions they’ve made likely have a different view. Women tend to seek jobs with regular hours, more comfortable conditions, little travel, and greater personal fulfillment. Often times, women are willing to trade higher pay for jobs with other characteristics that they find attractive.

Article here. Excerpt:

'For all the analysis of Mitt Romney's struggle to attract female voters, little has been made of the other gender gap -- President Obama's difficulty in attracting male voters.

While Romney's deficit among female voters is deeper, the incumbent president has faced his share of trouble winning over the other 49 percent of the population. The president's approval ratings since the beginning of his term demonstrate this reality. He fares consistently better among women, consistently worse among men.

When pitted against Romney, the Republican presidential front-runner, the trend holds. Romney often captures the men, while Obama wins the women.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has responded to news of the collapse of her support amongst Australia’s voting public with an air of denial that has even stunned her harshest critics.
...
Senior federal Labor MPs are warning Ms Gillard that she needs a strategy to win back the hearts and minds of middle Australians, especially males, otherwise Labor faces being decimated at the next federal election.
...
And a policy that has received little news media coverage but has caused significant grass roots upheaval has been the recent 2011 Family Law amendments, which have effectively dismantled Australia’s popular and broadly successful shared parenting laws, and replaced them with what is largely perceived to be anti-male, anti-fatherhood policies, many seeing this as Gillard cowering to feminist ideologues.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A John Lewis sales assistant claimed she had been raped because she was so embarrassed about a sado-masochistic sex session, a court heard.

Kirsty Sowden, 21, met her victim online after advertising herself as a 'BDSM princess' - standing for Bondage, Domination and Sadomasochism - on a no-strings attached website.
...
But Sowden, who was trying for a baby with her boyfriend at the time, was so guilt-wracked that she called police shortly afterwards and told them she had been raped.

Police eventually untangled the dominatrix’s web of lies and charged her with perverting the course of justice. The investigation had already cost nearly £14,000 and wasted a staggering 376 hours of police time.'

Article here. Vice President Joe Biden shows his disregard for the civil rights of men once again. Excerpt:

'Vice President Joe Biden suggested on Wednesday that the GOP’s opposition to the Democratic version of a domestic violence bill will give the green light to male violence against women.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed in 1994 and was reauthorized in 2005. Approval of an updated law is stalled because Republican and Democratic senators disagree over what provisions should be added to the law.

“Just ask yourself, what message does it send to our daughters, to every women imprisoned in their own homes … if the law is not reauthorized,” Biden declared today at a White House meeting of feminists and groups that are funded by the law.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Indiana’s new state law lowers the cutoff age for children receiving child support from 21 to 19. It exempts support for education expenses and provides an exemption for a child who is incapacitated. Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said the law takes effect July 1 and applies to all child support orders.

Warrick County Superior Court Judge Robert Aylsworth said Enrolled Act, Senate Bill 18 shift of the emancipation age to two years earlier is "an enormous change" that's going to result in a surge of petitions seeking to modify support orders. “I think we are going to see a run on the courthouses.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CBS St. Louis/AP) — A prison inmate in South Dakota is suing a hospital for performing a circumcision on him nearly 30 years ago.

Twenty-eight-year-old Dean Cochrun is imprisoned at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls for kidnapping. He’s suing Sanford Hospital, previously known as Sioux Valley Hospital, for performing the circumcision when he was an infant.

Cochrun says in a complaint filed Friday in federal court that he was “recently made aware of the fact that I had been circumcised,” and that the procedure has left him feeling inadequate and unable to fully enjoy sex.'

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Applauded for Principled Stand on VAWA Bill

Washington, DC/April 18, 2012 – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison recently announced her support for an alternative to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill S. 1925, which had been introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. The Texas senator’s announcement has earned her praise from advocates for victims of domestic violence.

In a letter to the Des Moines Register, Sen. Hutchison outlined a number of objections to S. 1925 and indicated that she is working with Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar on an improved domestic violence bill. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120406/OPINION/304060009/-1/SPORTS12/Grassley-plan-will-strengthen-anti-violence-law-women

Article here. Excerpt:

'Justice Department officials have known for years that flawed forensic work might have led to the convictions of potentially innocent people, but prosecutors failed to notify defendants or their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled.

Officials started reviewing the cases in the 1990s after reports that sloppy work by examiners at the FBI lab was producing unreliable forensic evidence in court trials. Instead of releasing those findings, they made them available only to the prosecutors in the affected cases, according to documents and interviews with dozens of officials.

In addition, the Justice Department reviewed only a limited number of cases and focused on the work of one scientist at the FBI lab, despite warnings that problems were far more widespread and could affect potentially thousands of cases in federal, state and local courts.'