Article here. Excerpt:

'For the first time in U.S. History a generation of sons will have less education than their fathers while girls are graduating from college in record numbers. Women have also become a majority of the workforce.

Many believe the gap is beginning at a young age. Stereotypes, lack of support programs and education are several of many factors hindering boys' progression, experts say.
...
In the last three decades, hundreds of federal programs and initiatives have been created to help girls continue and finish their education. But no such programs exist for boys, according to Dr. Warren Farrell. He is part of the effort to change that, with the Proposal for a White House Council on Boys to Men. The commission identified five areas of problems at crisis level: education, emotional health, physical health, work and father involvement.

Article here. Excerpt;

'A domestic abuse charity in has turned the sentimentality of Valentine’s Day on its head with a campaign that highlights the darker side of love for some women.

New Zealand’s Women’s Refuge is placing Valentine’s Day cards with a traditional exterior and a sinister message inside in retailers in Auckland and Wellington.

According to Women’s Refuge, some regions of New Zealand saw a near 100% spike in the numbers of women seeking help over the Christmas period for violent abuse, with a 12% increase last year in the numbers of women and children using their safe houses.

“We designed the campaign to encourage conversations and help those suffering to make a change,” said Livia Esterhazy GM at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Det Sgt Chloe Webber said there were "many factors at this time" which may lead to a relationship becoming abusive.

Calls about domestic abuse last year fell 18.5% around Valentine's Day, but she said the warning was a "timely reminder".

Det Sgt Webber said: "Valentine's Day can be extremely special for some people but unfortunately for others this is not always the case.

"There are many factors at this time which affect relationships, such as high expectations, stress, and financial pressure which may lead to a relationship becoming abusive."
...
A spokeswoman said: "There is no statistical evidence which suggests Valentine's Day is a pinch point for people."

Det Sgt Webber said the drop in reports over Valentine's Day "may have been because of the awareness campaign in the last couple of years".

She said: "Three or four year ago we had anecdotal evidence from officers of an increase in domestic violence over the Valentine's Day period.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'President Obama has a warning for America's men: don't forget today is February 14th.

"Let me start with a quick public service announcement to all the gentlemen out there: today is Valentine's Day. Do not forget," Obama said during remarks Tuesday. "I speak from experience here. It is important that you remember this."

"And go big. That's my advice," the president added.'

Via email:

This week SAVE is introducing a new campaign to combat the Department of Education's Directive regarding rape and sexual assault on college campuses across the nation.

The DED has lowered its standard of what constitutes probable cause when an allegation of a sexual assault is reported. Here's an example; if you have a drink with a woman and then become intimate, you are now at risk of being charged with rape if she later regrets her decision.

Accusing U. is a new campaign developed by SAVE, aimed at reversing the government's directive and educating students across the country on this new assault on students' rights.

Please sign our petition, join the Accusing U. Facebook page, and pass along this information to any college students you know! Visit the Accusing U. webpage: www.accusingu.org

Sincerely,

Tom Lemons, Director of Special Events
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
tlemons-at-saveservices.org
www.saveservices.org

Article here. Excerpt:

'Like countless men who have been circumcised, I’m angry about what was taken from me. If I could go back in time to the moment before this was done to me, I would use any means necessary to stop it. I wish there’d been a law against it. I’ve spent many nights ruminating in grief. I know other men like me who have sunk into deep depression while wrestling with the pain of this violation.
...
While circumcision may not reduce a man’s desire to make love to himself, it irrevocably reduces his capacity to experience sexual pleasure. ...
...
From where I sit, arguments like Goldstein’s sound like hate speech. If a man said he needed to cut off part of a woman’s genitals in order to make her “more like a man,” he’d rightly be ostracized. Why do we, as a progressive community, let this kind of dehumanization of men go unchallenged? Yes, male violence against women is a huge social problem and must be addressed. Inflicting irreversible harm onto our innocent sons’ genitals is not the answer.

From the author of these articles:

Here are some new articles on Jewish Intactivism that I've published this year. Please like them on Facebook and Google+, and share and promote them on Tumbler, and your other social networks.

+++++++++

Peaceful parenting: The Intactivist Movement Within Judaism
http://www.drmomma.org/2011/10/intactivist-movement-within-judaism.html

Jewish Voices: The Current Judaic Movement to End Circumcision: Part 1
http://www.intactnews.org/node/104/1311886091/jewish-voices-current-judaic-movement-end-circumcision-part-1

Jewish Voices: The Current Judaic Movement to End Circumcision: Part 2
http://www.intactnews.org/node/105/1311886372/jewish-voices-current-judaic-movement-end-circumcision-part-2

Jewish Voices: The Current Judaic Movement to End Circumcision: Part 3
http://www.intactnews.org/node/112/1313862929/jewish-voices-current-judaic-movement-end-circumcision-part-3

Jews Speak Out in Favor of Banning Circumcision on Minors
http://www.intactnews.org/node/103/1311885181/jews-speak-out-favor-banning-circumcision-minors

Article here. Excerpt:

'It is with equal measures of regret and optimism that I announce Glenn Sacks’ decision to resign his post as Executive Director of Fathers and Families. Fathers and Families grew faster during the past three years under Glenn’s leadership than it has at any point since I helped found it 14 years ago. To my personal regret, Glenn has decided to move on. (see Glenn’s statement below).

Beginning five years ago, I sat with Glenn and his family in his California back yard, trying to cajole him into joining Fathers and Families. I knew I was talking to a special talent. As a journalist and blogger, Glenn had amassed the biggest audience in the world on gender-related issues as seen from the male point of view, including reform of the family courts. He wrote and spoke with precision, a solid grasp of the facts, balance, and with respect for both men and women.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Douglas — author, columnist and cultural critic — first garnered attention in 1994 when she published her book, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. Today, she continues to analyze the normalization of anti-feminism and the mixed messages women receive in mass media.

“Effectively feminism has been … vilified in the media,” Douglas said. In fact, feminism in the media is the “ideological equivalent of anthrax,” she said.

Douglas said a stigma still exists around feminists, who are dismissed as social pariahs and wrongfully cemented as extremists and man-haters.
...
According to Douglas, women’s achievements are overrepresented in the media as a way to promote fantasies of power. These attempts are transparent, she said, because gratifying images of success “mask how much still remains to be done for women.”

This is a response to the document “Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Programs: Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership or Investment Interests” [regulations.gov Docket No. CMS-2011-0191, FR Doc No: 2011-32244] ( http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CMS-2011-0191-0001 ).

The deadline for submissions is 17 February 2012.

This submission can be made by anybody from any country around the world.

Instructions:

Download and save the document from the following link (Click 'Download Now', Wait for the counter to reach zero and then click 'Download file now'):

http://www.4shared.com/office/eVb3mSuY/CMS-2011-0191_17February2012.html

Go to the following regulations.gov submission page:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=CMS-2011-0191-0001

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Court of Appeal last week heard an appeal concerning the contact arrangements for a son conceived by IVF treatment. The child lives with his mother and her lesbian partner. The father, who had been married to the mother in a 'marriage of convenience', is seeking staying contact and holiday contact with the boy, now two years old.

The mother claims that prior to conception the father had agreed that the mother and her partner would be primary parents of the child. It was agreed, she says, that the father would not seek to enforce his 'paternal rights'. The father claims that he was more than a mere sperm donor and wishes to play a fuller role in the boy's life.

Alex Verdan QC of 4 Paper Buildings, for the father, urged the court not to allow the father's relationship with his son to 'wither on the vine' at the current level of contact. Charles Howard QC of 1 king's Bench Walk, for the mother, warned that emotional damage could be caused by 'shuttling' the son between two homes and that such an arrangement had never been agreed.

Last month the CDC released its National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. The media coverage stressed the harm to women from intimate partner violence. A lot of the controversy surrounds its expanded definition of rape to include sex while high or drunk. But in the meantime, nobody noticed the data it hid about male victims of physical violence.

I've put up an article on http://batteredmen.com/NISVS.htm to refute that. My summary highlights the data they hid:

According to a 2010 national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Justice, in the last 12 months more men than women were victims of intimate partner physical violence and over 40% of severe physical violence was directed at men. Men were also more often the victim of psychological aggression and control over sexual or reproductive health. Despite this, few services are available to male victims of intimate partner violence.

Article here. Excerpt:

'To address these shortcomings, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments has developed the Partner Violence Reduction Act, which amends and strengthens the current Violence Against Women Act (6).

"The New York Times editorial calls on Republican lawmakers to 'explain to voters why they refuse to get behind the federal fight against domestic violence and sexual assaults.' But victims of domestic violence are demanding that Times editorialists go beyond partisan posturing, and ask why so many VAWA programs aren't meeting basic expectations of accountability and effectiveness," according to SAVE spokesman Philip W. Cook.'

From Marc A.:

If you have specific instances of discrimination against male DV victims by any government-funded DV program anywhere in the U.S., I encourage you to send all evidence you have to the following federal agencies as a complaint, and state that this violates United States Code, Title 42, Section 3789d(c)(1)*. Give them as much evidence as you can. They are supposed to investigate it. I made the complaint about a year ago and after many months they wrote back saying "insufficient evidence" and that they would need more info such as dates and times of the discrimination, names of the programs and contact info, names and contact info of witnesses, documents or records, and a detailed chronological narrative. I'm going to send another complaint with more info, but I encourage others to do the same. The more the better.

You can send the complaints by email, mail, or both. Send them to:

Office of Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
810 7th Street, NW
Washington, DV 20531

Article here. Excerpt:

'BOZEMAN, Mont. -- An MSU men's group says they're disappointed but not surprised by a lack of attendance at their "Men's Issue's" event, Thursday night.

The MSU chapter of the National Coalition for Men organized a symposium to raise awareness of problems in men's lives.

The group geared the event towards fraternity students at the college and invited speakers to talk about things like men's rights when it comes to sexual misconduct investigations on-campus.

No one showed up to the event but organizers say the lack of attendence is not due to a lack of interest.