( WSRZ.COM) 14 July 2008

Authorities in North Carolina are examining the deaths of four men who were once married to 76-year-old Betty Neumar. Betty Neumar has actually had five husbands die on her, but they are only investigating four.  She’s currently being accused of hiring a hit man to kill her fourth husband, so authorities decided it would be a good idea to re-examine the deaths of her other husbands as well as her first child.

Neumar’s grandson got suspicious when she wanted to buy a life insurance policy on him with her as the beneficiary.  Al Gentry, one of the dead husbands’ brothers said of Neumar, “You can’t trust her. You can’t believe a word she says.”

(CNN) 17 April 2008:

An 8-year-old girl in Yemen was able to get a divorce from her husband, who is four times her age. The girl has also been removed from her father, who forced the marriage. What makes the story so unusual is that the girl took the unusual action of seeking out a judge on her own and filing for divorce on her own.

The judge terminated the marriage on the basis that the girl has not even reached puberty.

Her parents testified that they did not help her after she told them she was being beaten by her husband.

(DAILY TELEGRAPH) 17 April 2008:

New research shows that the stereotype of the confused little old lady isn’t all that accurate: it should be the confused little old man. The study found that more men than women in old age had cognitive impairment (memory loss and so on) and that it started at an earlier age as well.

Further proof that men are in fact the weaker sex perhaps. Although it has to be admitted that no wife would be surprised at the result: husbands can never remember anything, can they?

(THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD) 6 December 2007:

Traci Rhode spent two days in jail and will pay $10,000 for the crime of murder.

The jury that convicted the Fort Madison, Iowa, native of killing her husband in their Brownsville home four years ago also set her free Thursday, to the delight of her lawyer and the dismay of local prosecutors.  Ms. Rhode’s lawyers asserted that her husband died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while she was out jogging.

District Attorney Armando Villalobos was distraught after it was announced that the convicted killer would walk.

“We are obviously disappointed by the fact that a convicted murderer will be among us,” said Villalobos, whose office recommended 60 years in prison for Rhode.

Villalobos pointed out that people convicted of “lesser” crimes, such as theft or robbery, often serve harsher sentences.

(NEW YORK POST) 4 December 2007:

Page Six is reporting that Britney Spears made a 1 am booty call to K-Fed the when she was out clubbing for her 26th birthday last weekend.

“Spears wanted to call her ex-husband, Kevin Federline – but had to borrow Hilton’s cellphone ‘because she could not find her own,’ a source told our new Web site.

Spears invited Federline to join her at the club during the 1 a.m. call.

‘She begged him to come out with her,” a source said, “[but] “Kevin reminded her that one of them needed to be a parent and take care of the boys. Then she hung up on him. Kevin said she was drinking.’”

What parallel universe are we living in where K-Fed is the sensible one?

(THE DAILY TELEGRAPH) 25 April 2007:

Intriguing research into how to keep your husband from straying has been published by the University of New Mexico. The more children a marriage produces the less likely he is to stray.

There are two views as to why men do in fact conduct affairs or change partners. One is simply that variety is interesting while the other is that men invest less in physical terms in having children.

The new research rather turns both on their head. The more children there are in a relationship the less men are likely to stray from it. It isn’t just that with many children there isn’t time to stray, but that with many mouths to feed men become more paternal and comitted to the relationship.

Intriguing indeed, as the rise in divorce in recent decades closely tracks the fall in family size.

(REUTERS) 7 March 2007:

According to British journalist Tara Winter Wilson, Toxic Wife Syndrome is rampant and droves of gold diggers are prowling in search of rich prey to join the tribe.

Winter Wilson says the danger signals of a wife going toxic are all too plain:

– Quitting work to “care for the children” and then sends them to boarding schools as soon as they outgrow their nannies.

– Demanding a maid hired to work up to 14 hours a day six days a week.

– Hiring out the jobs of cooking, housework, and childrearing

– Living in the country, forcing her husband to endure a long commute into work every day.

(THE ATLANTIC) February 2007:

One of the more popular books this spring is by Joan Sewell.  She writes about the problems she faces because her husband has a much higher sex drive than she does. He wants to have sex as often as three times a month!

She describes the various compromises they have both made over the issue and explains why she thinks that many women have lower sex drives than men.

There is some interest in what she has to say, for instance the popular culture idea that women who are as eager for the physicality of sex as men causes problems for those like her with a low libido.

(REUTERS) 29 January 2007:

A Saudi couple have been forced to divorce against their will by a top court because of arcane tribal customs which allowed the woman’s family to seek a split, the pair’s lawyer said on Sunday.

Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said the court had upheld a ruling from a lower court and backed the divorce on the basis of the man’s family background.

“The appeals court in Riyadh has supported the divorce because of ‘inappropriate lineage’,” he said in a statement.

The family of the Saudi woman, called Fatima, began legal action in 2005, saying her husband was not of sufficiently prestigious tribal stock to marry her, and had lied about his tribal background.

(COSMOPOLITAN) January 2007:

Do guys with nerdy tendencies make better mates?  Being a good mate is more about compatibility and good communication than whether a guy was unpopular in high school.  But dorky and formerly dorky guys may be more likely to bestow appreciation on a partner because they haven’t always received a lot of attention from women.  They know what it’s like to be ignored, so they may be less likely to take their lady for granted.  It’s not at all unusual for nerds to become catches.  Guys who are cool in high school, however, tend to party a lot and skate by. Not ideal traits for a husband and father.