Story here. Excerpt:

"The defense challenged the veracity of the woman’s claims about her behavior during and following the alleged rape. She told the panel she had not resisted or cried out during the alleged assault, and instead had pretended to be asleep because she had been frightened of Merwin. The woman later testified, however, that she also got up after the alleged attack, then returned and talked to Merwin, and accepted a ride home from him the following morning."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A woman who fatally stabbed her millionaire psychotherapist husband, whom she met as a 14-year-old girl in treatment, was sentenced Friday to 16 years to life in prison for murder.

Susan Polk received the maximum sentence after acting as her own lawyer in a trial permeated with theatrics, including discussion of her psychic powers and cross-examination of her own sons. An attorney representing her Friday said she planned to appeal."

Story here. Excerpt:

"Mary Winkler, 32, is charged with first-degree murder in last year's shotgun slaying of her 31-year-old husband, Matthew. Prosecutors have refused to give a motive for the shooting, but Winkler told authorities she shot her husband, a Church of Christ minister, after a night of arguing over finances and other family matters."

This evening I made a few changes to the software that runs news.mensactivism.org. We are now using image-based captchas for new user accounts and anonymous article submissions. These are those annoying dialogs where you have to type in the hard-to-read text from an image to confirm that you're a human being.

Unfortunately, a good deal of fake user accounts and spam article postings are sent in to us every day, and we need to do something to stop automated bot programs from deluging us with bogus accounts and stories. Logged-in users will not have to go through this system - it's only for people creating new user accounts or submitting news stories anonymously.

Anyone who has legitimately created a new user account which hasn't been unblocked should send a short email to admin@mensactivism.org, and we'll enable your account. Otherwise, in about a week or two I'm going to start culling dead accounts that have never been logged into.

Other related site updates might fix some comment posting bugs that have been reported to us recently. Enjoy.

Story here.

It has become so easy for women to use the "insanity card" to escape jail time. Messages from a goose? Are you kidding me? Excerpt:

'A 53-year-old woman who claimed she received spiritual messages from geese before allegedly stabbing her toddler granddaughter to death was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.

A judge ordered Carol Lynn Pappas committed to the state mental health hospital, where officials will decide "when and if she will ever be released," said Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for the district attorney.'

This from Barbados and this from Switzerland.

Looks like the machinery is in gear and soon sporting events will also double as campaigns against men, all in the name of fighting a problem that may exist in some places, just not at football games nor to the extent feminists would have you believe. Seems to me just another veiled attack on space men enjoy just to continue the assault on our senses.

We received the following article submission from Michael Geanoulis, Sr:

A revealing research paper on domestic violence (DV) published in the Florida State University Law Review provides a promising new twist to a thorny problem - assuming, of course, it can overcome stereotypcal attitudes and get the attention it deserves.

According to author and Indiana School of Law Professor, Linda Kelly, women can be batterers. Men can be victims. And abuse by females needs to be eradicated, as well as abuse by males. (Kelly, L, Disabusing the Definition of Domestic Abuse: How Women Batter Men and the Role of the Feminist State; Fla. St. Univ. Law Rev, Vol 30:791)

It will be interesting to see how Kelly's 65 page paper is received, as she treads on ground long held sacred and untouchable by women's rights goups, who, according to Kelly, have been influencing every
states DV policy using double standards and biased data which discriminate against men. (read more to continue...)

Here is a new law enacted in Mexico where it criminalizes refraining from sex with your wife. Excerpt:

"Mexican men who display extreme jealousy or avoid sex with their wives could be tried in court and punished under a new law, the special prosecutor for crimes against women told a local newspaper on Friday.
...
Perez Duarte said indifference, jealousy or lack of love were crimes against women just as much as physical violence."

This photo says it all.

Before you look, be advised, it isn't pretty. It's a wedding photo wherein the groom is an Iraq vet who, it appears, had a bomb blow up in his face. He will I am sure be getting plastic surgery as time goes on, but the picture today is heartbreaking.

Story here. Excerpt:

"The woman who was discovered living with her three daughters in a house filled with feces and other filth in Lindenhurst has been ordered to appear in court after her estranged husband asked a judge Thursday to have the children removed from her custody.

Food, clothing, shelter, heat -- I just want to make sure they're safe," said Ray Young Jr., who has been in a divorce battle with Deborah Young since 2003.

According to documents provided by Quatela, Deborah Young has accused her husband of sexually abusing first one daughter in 2004 and another in 2005. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services ruled that both allegations were unfounded."

Read it here. Mr. Cooper is stunned at the number of women in prison and how so many of them are mothers, etc. Not a word about fathers in prison or the difference between how male and female prisoners are treated. He even points out how the prison he visited seemed more like a commune for women and children rather than a prison! Feel free to comment, folks! Excerpt:

'I'm not sure what I expected for a story about women in prison, but I have to say right off the bat that I had no idea it would be about mothers and their children. I was surprised to find that the majority of women behind bars are mothers who are very often the primary caretaker for their children. I hadn't thought so many children would be affected. I also had no idea that, according to the Women's Prison Association, 5,000-10,000 women enter prison already pregnant each year. Pregnant women are just not the visual that comes to mind when thinking about women behind bars.'

NYTimes reports on the latest incarnation of we-deserve-it-all-and-our-way-too feminism. MRAs and fathers could take a lesson: organization and collective action are the key to successful lobbying. Alas the sad truth is that it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, if what you want is fair or not to someone else-- squeaky wheels get the grease... and the money, and the attention, etc., etc. Of course it also helps to have chivalry working for you, too. Excerpt:

'A generation of mothers who are largely perceived as postfeminist in every way, from sex to economic discrimination, has begun a consciousness-raising that is almost old-fashioned were it not for the technology involved. Raised to believe that girls could accomplish anything, these women have reached parenthood, only to find they faced many of the same pay, equity and work-family balance issues that were being fought over decades before. From that awakening, they say, has come the inkling of a new movement.

It is with a deep sense of gratitude I can report that HB 704, to renew the NH Commission on the Status of Men (CSM), passed its first test with flying colors. The CSM is due to expire in September of this year, and this bill extends it indefinitely. The bill passed the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee on Thursday with a 15-to-1 vote in favor of the bill. Not only that, but members of the ED&A Committee have expressed strong and sincere concerns that the Commission continue its work, and are likely to play an active role in promoting it further. I'd like to profusely thank everyone who sent the ED&A Committee e-mails asking them to support the bill.

Our work is not over yet, though. In order for the Commission to receive funding, its fiscal note of $60k/year must pass the House Finance Committee. I'll post details about that effort when I find out when we can expect the bill to move into that Committee.

Thanks to Marc A. for the heads up on this story. Good work, F4J! Excerpt:

'“THREE men dressed as cartoon character Fred Flintstone evaded tight security and scaled Stonehenge in the latest protest by protest group Fathers 4 Justice.

“They climbed the ancient monument at 9.15 am today and unfurled a banner with the message ‘Drag the family courts out of the Stone Age.’'

Story here. Excerpt:

"A woman was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with parole for killing her 3-year-old developmentally disabled foster son by binding him in blankets and tape and leaving him inside a closet for a weekend."

"A day earlier, jurors convicted Liz Carroll, 30, of murder and other charges. Under the life sentence for murder, she has no possibility for parole for 15 years. Some of the other sentences must be served consecutively."