Our thanks to Sean for this.

A short piece in Alexandra Frean’s column in today’s Times:

Where is Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, amid the political controversy engulfing her company? Walking in the Hindu Kush, perhaps? No, here she is writing a foreword to a book on the “WEconomy” (don’t ask) co-authored by Holly Branson, daughter of Sir Richard. “At Facebook,” Ms Sandberg writes, “we have posters on the walls that inspire us.” One of her favourites is: “Nothing at Facebook is Someone Else’s Problem.”

Except, of course, when the problem involves the systematic abuse of your product by foreign agents and $82 billion is wiped from your stock.

You can subscribe to The Times here.

We’re pleased to announce that Jordan Holbrook, a highly-regarded young British MRA, has agreed to speak at the conference. Details here.

Our thanks to Brendon Marotta for this. He will be present at the conference during the screening of the film, and will answer questions afterwards.

Our thanks to Alan for this. So long as the criminal injustice system subjects men to show trials in this area, there will be no (or very few) convictions. An extract:

Kate Bex QC, defending the father, suggested FGM was “predominantly perpetrated by female cutters [J4MB emphasis] on women” for reasons including “purification, honour and social acceptance”.

Our thanks to Mike P for this. An extract:

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggested the change in unemployment patterns between the sexes was down to a shortage of part-time jobs in retail that tend to offer opportunities to women.

Ian Brinkley, who is the acting chief economist at the CIPD, said: ‘Job growth has been stronger in areas such as manufacturing and construction, which are traditionally male-dominated areas of the economy, than it has in retail, which has previously provided a large number of part-time work opportunities.

‘If the Government wants to reverse this trend, [J4MB: Why would it want to? Because vagina?] they need to ensure that they are promoting flexible working so more women can get into the labour market – but also look at breaking down the barriers [J4MB: What barriers would those be?] to ensure that women can get into work right across the economy.’

Our thanks to Mike P for this. Men are, of course, never abused on Twitter, or anywhere else for that matter.

In December 2015 we were looking for a venue to host the 2016 conference. Amnesty International operated a venue which looked perfect, so we approached them. The staff refused to engage with us, on the grounds that Amnesty is a feminist organisation, J4MB an anti-feminist party. In essence, the staff were admitting that Amnesty doesn’t give a damn about the human rights of men and boys as a class. The story is here.

Our thanks to Mike P for this. The start of the piece:

Britain’s most senior family judge called for an overhaul of marriage law yesterday, saying people would one day laugh at the idea that a man had to support his ex-wife for life.

Sir James Munby called for equality for divorcees when maintenance payments are settled by the courts, highlighting ‘absurd’ divorce settlements that are unfairly biased against men. [J4MB emphasis]

Sir James, who is president of the family division of the High Court, also said cohabitees should have the same status as married couples, [J4MB: An outrageous suggestion, especially if the associated legislation were retrospective, prompting many greedy women to leave their partners, and steal the assets the men had inherited and/or worked for] and fault-free divorces should be introduced.

A tip of the hat to Karen Straughan for RTing this piece in Newsweek. The full article, emphases ours:

A court in Austria has ruled that transport ministry official Peter Franzmayr was discriminated against on the basis of his gender when a managerial role he applied for was given to a woman instead.

The case began in 2011, when the Austrian Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology led by Social Democrat (SPÖ) politician Doris Bures—currently the Second President of the country’s Parliament—decided to consolidate two departments and had to pick a new manager.

Three candidates came forward and were all judged to be highly-qualified for the role. Ursula Zechner, who then headed the rail regulator Schienen-Control, was ultimately offered the job over the other two male applicants. Franzmayr, whose application was rated 0.25 percent higher than Zechner’s, sued for gender discrimination.

The Federal Administrative Court ruled in his favor on Monday, the Austrian press reported, and instructed the State to pay him compensation worth €317,368 (nearly $390,000)—the difference between his current salary and the one he would have earned in the role plus damages and interest.

The court found a “discernible pattern, according to which [Zechner] was treated more favourably than the other candidates from the beginning,” it said in the ruling, quoted in AFP.

Bures defended her decision in a statement to the press. She said the appointment was “carried out according to the procedure prescribed by law,” but admitted that the “mass underrepresentation of women” played a role in the decision-making process. “I hope the current decision doesn’t call into the question the principle of encouraging the promotion of women,” she added.

After leaving the ministry, Franzmayr worked as a lawyer for four years before returning to the public sector as municipal director for the town of Wels in 2016. He was appointed to the supervisory board of Asfinag, Austria’s publicly-owned motorway network operator, earlier this month by Transport Minister Norbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

Coincidentally, Zechner also began a job at Asfinag earlier this month as a managing director “responsible for commercial matters,” according to the company’s website.

 

We’ve just posted this (audio, 26:28) on our YouTube channel. The presenter is the British anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota, 36. It’s well worth catching in full, there are some interesting contributions from American intactivists later in the piece. The pro-MGM bias is evident in the description on the BBC web page:

Male circumcision is one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures in human history. Around the world, 1 in 3 men are cut. It’s performed as a religious rite in Islam and Judaism; in other cultures it’s part of initiation, a social norm or marker of identity. Some individuals think it’s cleaner, sexier or safer. In this documentary, anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota explores the reasons we cut men. She meets people who passionately promote the practice – and others who protest against it.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, medical circumcision is endorsed in the fight against HIV – research shows it reduces the risk of a man getting infected if he has sex with an HIV-positive woman. More than 10 million men and boys have been circumcised so far; officials plan to reach another 25 million by 2020.

In rural Uganda, Mary-Ann visits a mobile clinic to watch 21-year-old Wajuli undergo the operation. She meets another young man in Kampala who reveals his regret about getting cut.

The United States is the only western country where most boys are circumcised for non-religious reasons – $270 million a year is spent on infant circumcision. In downtown New York, Mary-Ann meets ‘Intact-ivists’ who believe male circumcision is genital mutilation. She speaks to members of the public confronted with the protest, and interviews a leading US paediatrician who reflects on the reasons US doctors keep cutting.

With contributions from Uganda’s national VMMC coordinator Dr Barbara Nanteza, Dr Marc Cendron (Boston Children’s Hospital) and Georganne Chapin, Intact America.

We’ve put some commentary in the video description panel, along with links to William Collins’s “must-read” pieces on MGM.