In case you've been living under a rock, here's a story about the infamous Andrea Yates (mother who drowned her five children in the family bathtub). Her trial has started. According to her lawyer, she didn't understand the wrongfulness of her actions when she murdered her kids. It should be remembered that Yates herself called police and her husband to report her own crime. The jury is made up of eight women and four men. In an attempt to show that Yates knew what she was doing, the prosecution pointed out that she complied with instructions from police who arrived at her home, made contact with them and had no problem understanding directions. Yates also apparently admitted to officers that she had been considering killing her children for two years "because they weren't developing correctly."

It's always upsetting when someone makes a false accusation of rape, but it's really disturbing when attorneys are caught doing so. This was the case with a young Australian lawyer, whose name is not being released, who pleaded guilty to making six false reports to the police, which included two occasions of her impersonating a child making a rape accusation against a man. "The woman...claimed that a mental condition triggered by memories of sexual abuse as a child had caused her to make the false reports." Fortunately, the Victorian Supreme Court ruled that her law certification should be revoked. The story can be read here.

Cathy Young has joined Wendy McElroy in denouncing the attempts to change Valentine's Day into a day of remembering violence against women (known as "V-Day"). Young's Boston Globe story explains how the Vagina Monologues and similar events are sexist and paternalistic with their focus on violence against women, and how they contribute to an atmosphere of distrust and antagonism between the sexes.

ronn sent us a press release regarding a web site called the Unity Wall. "The Unity Wall, an online, interactive Memorial Wall has been released as a testimonial to those who have been hurt by the current unfair child support laws. It resembles a simple wall of granite with names inscribed on its surface. Each name is a hyperlink to a web page written by that person, telling their own story of the pain these laws have caused them. The Unity Wall contains the names of fathers who have lost custody of their children only to find themselves victims of a divorce industry that profits from of their suffering." You can submit your story to the Unity Wall, which I encourage people to do.

Dean Tong had an article printed in NewsMax which discusses mistaken cases of child abuse. Tong gives a few examples of mistakes made in these cases that put innocent men and women behind bars, and he believes that these mistakes are becoming dangerously common. "What we don't know in alleged child physical and sexual abuse cases is coming back to haunt us. Social workers, police officers, therapists, guardians-ad-litem, lawyers, judges, teachers and legislators need a wake-up call that all is not well in America's child protection system. And the errors committed are hurting the very individuals we are trying to save from harm, our children!"

Ellen Makkai wrote an article for WorldNetDaily which explains the need for fathers in the lives of children, and the risks people take when they voluntarily have children without father involvement. What I found most disturbing in the article was a quote of a 1999 N.O.W. legislative report which said, "There is very little in the way of scientific evidence that supports the assertions about the consequences of 'fatherlessness' and about the need for father involvement ... in fact, the evidence is heavily weighted in the opposite direction. Makkai then goes on to debunk this idea with the rest of her article. She definitely deserves some e-mails of support for this.

Luek submitted this link and writes "I just found this excellent "pro-male" legal services site by Trial Consultant Kenneth R. Pangborn, that has some very good general information for men explaining just what legal ramifications you will face if ever falsely accused of rape, harassment, child or spousal abuse. And most important, how to fight back! One good point that is brought out on this site is that men tend to trivialize and downplay any false accusation brought against them and presume that the "system" has build-in safety mechanisms that will automatically vindicate them. Nothing could be farther from the truth! With misandry-focused legislation like the infamous "VAWA ACT" becoming the social trend, it is best to dust off the old adages: "To be forewarned is to be forearmed." "Knowledge is power, so get empowered!""

The Independent Women's Forum reports that a group of students at Penn State have created "The Penis Monologues" as a counterpart to the Vagina Monologues. "'The Penis Monologues' celebrate penises. It's all penis, all the time." In other news from the IWF, SheThinks.org is promoting a Take Back the Date initiative to remind people that Valentine's Day is about romance, not violence. They have an interesting PDF of an ad they placed in various school newspapers that can be downloaded here.

Subversive pointed us to this article from the Detroit Free Press. It tells the story of a male high school cheerleader who is currently banned from participating in certain competitions. He has an attorney who is considering filing a Title IX lawsuit. Subersive writes "Manchester High School (Michigan) sophomore Andrew Coutts said, "I think this is unfair. Girls are allowed to be on the wrestling and football teams, but boys can't do cheerleading. I want to be treated fairly.""

Get a load of this, it's a BBC Talking Point article asking will men take the pill? It would have made for quite a good discussion, if man hating and hypocrisy didn't run rife through it. Anyway, Here's another article saying most men "would take the pill" given the chance. Y'know, when I was a kid, I never imagined giving the nearest man a say in family planning would be such a bitterly fought thing, did you?

Deacon sent us this article from Fox News and writes "In an effort to prevent sexual harassment lawsuits stemming from failed office relationships, employment lawyers in Pittsburgh are creating contracts that prevent workers involved in a failed relationship with a co-worker to press harassment suits. However, that also means that all office relationships are documented."

ronn submitted this story from the UK Times which is an excellent article on boys' issues. Libby Purves confronts stereotypes about boys and explains what they need but are not getting from society today: boys need challenge, boys need men, and boys need love and respect. Purves ends the article with an appropriate remark: "if we let the Lost Boys proliferate, their wasted lives and sadness will haunt us all...Berating them as thugs or tittering at them as sex maniacs is not the answer."

Glenn Sacks discussed his Valentine's Day article, Should Men Still Be Expected to Pay for Dates? on St. Louis radio Thursday. Callers male and female agreed that it is time for change and that men and women need to start splitting the check. Glenn was on the George Noory Show on KTRS AM 550. Audio of the show will be available on Glenn's website soon.

The UK Guardian has an article here which reports that family court judges are beginning to educate people about the problems divorce causes in an attempt to be more equitable and reduce the number of fathers who picket in front of their homes. This kind of court reform is very powerful coming from inside the system itself, and proves that men's voices can no longer be ignored so callously.

Dean Tong writes "For those father's/men's rightsters who reside in the Los Angeles area, I'll be on KABC-AM 790 w/Al Rantel next Wednesday
February 20th at 9 p.m. PST. We'll be discussing the evolution of false/unfounded child abuse and domestic violence claims. In addition, I'll comment on the Danielle Van Dam kidnapping case."