Article here. Excerpt:

'“She’s just livin’ the dream.”

That’s the text that I received from a woman friend this morning in regard to the grisly Catherine Kieu Becker story out of Garden Grove, California.

Ms. Becker allegedly served her estranged husband a drugged meal. When he passed out, she tied him to the bed and waited for him to regain consciousness. As he watched in horror, Becker allegedly cut off his penis with a knife and put it down the garbage disposal.

She is being held on $1 million bail on charges of “aggravated mayhem” that could land her in prison for life.

Her statement to law enforcement at the scene: "He deserved it."

As I surf around cyberspace and listen to the comments of some of the women I know, there are jokes and laughter. Of course, some women are appalled and shocked, but many more find the mutilation to be a source of amusement.

Personally, I am disgusted and furious by the double standard.

Article here. Excerpt:

'There are a few things women have to give up - and one of them is sexism.

I'm not talking about being the victim. I'm talking about being the perpetrator. It's something that's become known as "reverse sexism", or more over-dramatically, "man bashing". This is when women denigrate, mock or objectify men or otherwise treat them in such a way that, if the roles were reversed, feminist groups would be up in arms.

A case in point that has long annoyed me is the phrase "all men are bastards". It's a phrase emblazoned on T-shirts, desk diaries, posters, calendars and is even the name of a knife block in the shape of a man with knives stabbing through it.

Article here. Excerpt:

'VinProfessor said, “Why do people think violence against men is funny, but violence against women is horrifying?” Fnordian72 said, “Couldn't be.... SEXISM.... could it?” oneoarout said, “When a puppy is beaten, we're horrified. When a rat gets stepped on by a cow, we laugh. Get it?” Bubba01 said, “Because men do most of the violence, and reversals are funny. Also, it's either laugh or scream . . .” JustinCase4u said, “Because men usually deserve it ... however nobody deserves what happened to this guy unless you molested a bunch of children.”

NoSaint1 said, “Nobody would be laughing if it was a man who mutilated a woman's clitoris! It is really sickening how men are treated by women and the media. She'll get a fraction of the time in jail that a man would get. Just watch and see.”'

Article here. Extremely disappointing. He mentioned false accusations but only spoke about a man falsely accusing his wife. His only comments about men were them being the sole abusers. Excerpt:

'Phil McGraw, host of the talk show "Dr. Phil," made his debut on Capitol Hill Wednesday, testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to review the 1994 Violence Against Women Act .

It seems that the authors of this 'study' obtained access to NIH grants by making a commonsense and fairly mundane public health message (eating fruit and vegetables is good for you) gender specific. Link here. Emphasis added:

'From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Teenage girls shouldn’t have to worry about hypertension. But an eating pattern created to control hypertension seems to help them prevent excess weight gain, too.

At Boston University Medical Center, Jonathan Berz looked at 10 years of national survey data on about 2,300 girls, starting at age 9.

Berz says girls who ate closer to the National Institutes of Health’s DASH plan – which stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension – tended to gain less weight. But he says:

``This sample of American girls were not eating nearly enough fruits and vegetables. And increasing the amount of these foods, plus whole grains and low-fat dairy, is likely to result in less weight gain.’’ (9 seconds)

Article here. Excerpt:

Artcile here. Excerpt:

'LOS ANGELES — Men who are diagnosed with cancer are more likely to die from the disease than women, due to a higher initial risk and later detection, U.S. government research showed.

The National Cancer Institute study looked at a database of 36 different types of cancer from 1977 to 2006.

It found the highest male-to-female mortality rate ratios for cancers like lip, where 5.5 men died for each woman patient, and esophageal, where 4 men died for each woman patient.

For lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths for both men and women, the research found 2.3 male deaths for each female death.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON - (AP) -- An overwhelmingly female jury with little interest in baseball will decide whether former pitching star Roger Clemens lied to Congress when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs.
...
The two sides threw out the maximum number of 20 people before the jury of 10 women and two men along with four alternates were seated. The jurors themselves were not told who among them are alternates but they were told to avoid news and sports programs. To keep the panel from encountering the dozens of journalists at the courthouse, the judge told them they will meet off site each day, ride a bus to a back entrance and use nonpublic corridors. They will be served breakfast and lunch in what was once a judge's chambers so they don't have to use the cafeteria where reporters, attorneys and Clemens himself take their meals.'

From SAVE via email:

Cue lights and cascading drum roll...SAVE has now released the Partner Violence Reduction Act (PVRA): http://www.saveservices.org/pvra

After years of discussion and debate, it's now a reality...the Partner Violence Reduction Act will amend the Violence Against Women Act so all victims are served, false accusations stop, and the discrimination comes to an end.

And as luck would have it, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, July 13, beginning at 10am Eastern time, about the Violence Against Women Act.

One of the featured witnesses will be -- you guessed it -- Dr. Phil of Oprah Winfrey fame! You can watch the live Webcast here:

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3d9031b47812de2592c3baeba61af68b

Story here. Excerpt:

'A campaigner for fathers rights has started a hunger strike on the Prime Minister's doorstep.

Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) founder Matt O'Connor has started the strike outside the Oxfordshire home of David Cameron and it is expected to last "weeks", a F4J spokeswoman said.

The 44-year-old, from Andover in Hampshire, is demanding that Mr Cameron honours pre-election pledges made to the organisation about ensuring that grandparents have a right to see their grandchildren and for a legal assumption of shared parenting.

He also wants Mr Cameron, a father of three, to retract comments he made to a newspaper describing some dads as "runaways".'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A woman was in custody Tuesday for allegedly poisoning her estranged husband, cutting off his penis with a 10-inch kitchen knife and throwing it in the garbage disposal.

Lt. Jeff Nightengale said the crime occurred Monday night at the man's Garden Grove home. According to authorities, this was the first time police have ever been called to the home. No neighbors reported any signs of fighting or screaming.

Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, was booked for aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning, and spousal abuse. She was being held at the Orange County Jail.'

Build public awareness and put pressure on lawmakers by signing the SAVE's petition to enact the Partner Violence Reduction Act . SAVE would like to get 1,000 signatures in the first month, and 3,000 signatures eventually.

The Partner Violence Reduction Act:

1. Gives first priority to real victims and reduces false allegations by constraining definitions and distinguishing between an allegation and a judicial finding of domestic violence.

2. Makes the law gender-inclusive and removes discriminatory policies.

3. Seeks to protect and restore families when the abuse is minor.

4. Removes harmful mandatory arrest, predominant aggressor, and no-drop prosecution policies, thus helping to restore due process.

5. Allows legal assistance to be provided both to the alleged victim and alleged offender.

6. Improves the accountability of domestic violence organizations.

7. Curbs immigration fraud.

Story here. As usual, reverse the sexes in this story and you can't imagine there being so much hilarity to be had. Excerpt:

'A Russian man who tried to rob a hair salon ended up as the victim when the female shop owner overpowered him, tied him up naked and then used him as a sex slave for three days.

Viktor Jasinski, 32, admitted to police that he had gone to the salon in Meshchovsk, Russia, with the intention of robbing it.

But the tables were turned dramatically when he found himself overcome by owner Olga Zajac, 28, who happened to be a black belt in karate.

She allegedly floored the would-be robber with a single kick.

Then, in a scene reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, police say Zajac dragged the semi-conscious Jasinski to a back room of the salon and tied him up with a hair dryer cable.

She allegedly stripped him naked and, for the next three days, used him as a sex slave to 'teach him a lesson' - force feeding him Viagra to keep the lesson going.'

This guy wanted to dump his girlfriend, but she told him she was pregnant - and, if he didn't marry her, she'd have the baby. Knowing that would mean 18 years of slavery, she told him his only option was to marry her. Amazingly though, a judge actually lets the guy off the hook when he comes to the court and asks for a divorce. And women wonder why guys are avoiding marriage... Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Unlike Sarah Palin, who has brandished the feminist moniker and spoken of an “emerging conservative feminist identity,” Bachmann told me in an interview Tuesday that she wouldn't call herself a feminist—instead, she simply described herself as “pro-woman and pro-man.” When I pressed her on the matter, the Minnesota congresswoman said she sees herself as an “empowered American.”

Bachmann seemed loath to engage in the kind of girl-power rhetoric utilized by Palin and Hillary Clinton, who both invoked the perennial—and so far unbreakable—presidential glass ceiling.