Article here. Excerpt:

'The jobs landscape is bleak for any unemployed American, but for black men it's virtually a desert.

For them, the Great Recession not only led to the largest increase in unemployment for any category of American worker, but it also is pinching a lot longer. About 1 in 6 black men over age 20 in the labor force is jobless – and that number has barely improved since the economic recovery officially began two years ago.

In Detroit, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Min­neap­olis-St. Paul, and several other US cities, Depression-era unemployment rates above 20 percent beset the black community, estimates one economic policy group, citing government data. Moreover, the problem may get worse because city governments, which traditionally employ many African-American men, are laying off workers to cope with budget shortfalls, say experts on black employment.'

Article here.

'NEW PORT RICHEY - They say boys will be boys, but Kris Bucher says not always.

"A guy not wanting to have sex with somebody -- that seems impossible. But I expect it," said Bucher.

Kris claims he was raped by his old girlfriend Jessica Fuller. She got pregnant and had their son Joshua. Kris was never a part of his son's life.

In fact, Jessica never asked Kris for help in raising their son, but after moving to Michigan the young mom fell on hard times and got government assistance. Now the state of Michigan wants Kris to start paying child support.

"I'm a victim of a crime. Why should I have to pay the perpetrator?" Kucher said.

Kris and Jessica met at Hudson High School. Kris says the two had a tumultuous relationship from the start. Jessica suffered a miscarriage at one point, and so they decided to avoid sex altogether.

But Kris says one night in the back seat of a friend's car, it happened.

Article here. Excerpt:

'South Carolina health officials are petitioning the federal government to overhaul its "discriminatory" Medicaid rules after a local construction worker was denied coverage for breast cancer treatments because he is a man.

Raymond Johnson, 26, found out about his cancer last month. He visited the emergency room after a pain in his chest became unbearable. He already knew he had a lump there but, "being a male," assumed it was a cyst.

When the tests came back, "I found out I had cancer."
...
But when Johnson, who is uninsured, applied for Medicaid, he was swiftly rejected. The reason? He is a man.

"To me it's really dumb. ... It's not as common as a woman having breast cancer, but we do have it," Johnson said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'After Norway adopted gender quotas for corporate boards — requiring companies to have boards of directors comprised of at least 40 percent women — large numbers of inexperienced people ended up as corporate directors. “A study by the University of Michigan found that this led to large numbers of inexperienced women being appointed to boards, and that this has seriously damaged those firms’ performance.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'So the critics didn’t waste much time. “Tim, why are men always portrayed as douchebags on sitcoms?” one asked.

“Well, that was the working title, actually,” Allen replied, drawing laughs. “Somebody’s already got it. Fox already got it.”

But seriously folks: “It’s the lowest common denominator, ” Allen said. “The great showrunner we have, Jack Burditt, called it, one day, Sitcom 101. When you don’t have material, you go to the lowest common denominator. I still do a lot of scatological humor, but I’ve risen it to a high art. [This gets another laugh]. Every guy on TV has a flannel shirt and a gray T‑shirt underneath, and he likes beer, and he’s got a much better‑looking wife than he deserves. It’s buffoonery. I’m going to go out on a limb and say we’re not going to do that on this show. The tide keeps it that way, but we’re not going to do that.”

Discussed here. It explains the rioting, but doesn't excuse it. Criminal acts have to be stopped and those responsible held accountable. But I would like to suggest that it is as criminal as rioting to systematically remove from a whole class of person their means of self-support and then ignore them when they seek redress for it. Today, it seems to be predominantly young black men. Tomorrow, it will be (and has already begun to be) young white men as well. After that, every man, young and old. Can a society really survive this kind to stress? Feminists seem to think so, as they have been working to disenfranchise males from their own societies now for decades. Excerpt:

'LONDON -- As political and social protests grip the Middle East, are growing in Europe and a riot exploded in north London this weekend, here's a sad truth, expressed by a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

Via email:

Within hours of approval of the budget deal last week, members of Congress headed home for their annual August recess. For lawmakers it's a time to meet with constituents and find out what's on persons' minds.

And right now our VAWA reform effort is on a roll. In just the past month:

Link here. Excerpt:

'A police sergeant shot a woman when she refused to drop a knife she was wielding after she had rammed another vehicle and attacked it with a pickaxe, a witness to the incident says.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the woman, who suffered a non-life-threatening injury when she was shot in the lower leg, is in a stable condition in hospital after what apparently started out as a wild domestic argument.

The incident unfolded at Epping in the city's north at about 12.45pm on Tuesday.

Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana told reporters that the woman had confronted a man after ramming his car head-on and slamming the pickaxe through its window screen.

A witness said she had then grabbed a long knife from the rear of her car and had started swinging it at the man.'

Report here. What isn't asked is why did all these guys need to get on antideps, etc. in the first place? I can imagine several factors, the lousy job market being a big one. Being an MRA however, you can bet I can think of a few more! [It's even higher for Iraq/Afghan war vets, too, as I am sure you already know, but this is so even for college students.] Report highlights:

Article here. Excerpt:

"Raymond Johnson, 26, was diagnosed with breast cancer about a month ago, after pain from a lump in his chest sent him to the emergency room.

Though Johnson has a job laying tile, he does not make enough to pay for the treatments out of his own pocket and does not have health insurance.

To make matter worse, Johnson was denied for a state program that provides medicaid for breast cancer patients. because he’s a man."

Originally posted here.

Members of UK registered charity NORM-UK (restoration and phimosis help) are assisting with the planning for a two-day conference being presented jointly by UK registered charity Genital Autonomy (working for male and female bodily integrity rights) and the Keele University School of Law, to be held on 31st August and 1st September. This will deal with the legal and human rights issues surrounding unnecessary genital surgery on children.

The details are on the following link:
http://www.genitalautonomy.eu/#/ga-conference-2011/4552998052

The conference programme is reproduced below.

We have an impressive selection of speakers including Gert Van Dijk who has drafted the position statement on male circumcision for The Royal Dutch Medical Association and Efua Dorkenoo who will be talking about female genital mutilation and human rights.

The conference will have breakout sessions where professionals dealing with these issues will be able to talk about policy development.

Just watched a program called "What's with Indian Men?" on Fox History & Entertainment. It's a highly sexist and anti-men show. Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=188546051185179

Two females, Indrani Das Gupta and Sugandha Garg, vent their personal sexist bias against men. It reinforces the stereotype against men. I have lodged a complaint against the show to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. I strongly encourage you to do so. The link for the online complaint form is http://ibfindia.com/onlineform.php

Paul Elam at "A Voice for Men" writes:

"[Vladek] Filler was exonerated of the false rape charges against him. He was, however, convicted falsely of assaulting his estranged wife, Ligia Filler, by putting a bruise on her arm. The court has scheduled Vladek’s sentencing hearing for August 10, 2011, at 9 am at Hancock County Superior Court in Maine, despite clear evidence that the assault conviction was based on fraud."

"We need people to demand justice for Vladek and his children – not more abuse and imprisonment."

"Respectful emails for Judge Robert Murray of the Hancock County Superior Court, who is presiding over the case, can be sent to free.vladek@gmail.com They will be forwarded to his office."

Chapter 7 (Spirituality) of The Masculinity Conspiracy is now online:
http://masculinityconspiracy.wordpress.com/book-chapters/chapter7a

This chapter examines how spirituality is mobilized in the conspiracy via two books: No More Christian Nice Guy: When Being Nice—Instead of Good—Hurts Men, Women and Children by Paul Coughlin, and The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine by Matthew Fox.

It shows how these books promote masculine spirituality as being defined by fixed characteristics. It then offers some different ways of thinking about spirituality in order to counter the conspiracy.

Article here. Excerpt:

'As the Obama administration prepares to withdraw the remaining US troops from Iraq by the end of this year, the White House projects over one million service members will be returning to civilian life and entering the workforce between 2011 and 2016. The White House wants to be sure these troops are given the opportunities for advancement and prepared for the challenges ahead.

President Obama will announce several steps to prepare veterans for their return Friday, including a proposal for career readiness training before they retire from the military--a sort of reverse boot camp. "The present structure of the military really requires intensive training on the front end, weeks of boot camp," one administration official said Thursday. "But one of the things we're finding is that there's not as much effort on the back end as those service members are separating and preparing to enter the work force."'