Trudy Schuett's popular DesertLight Journal has released a new edition, which can be read at the usual spot. Announcements in this issue include the upcoming launch of male-friendly e-publisher cyberManbooks, progress on a Commission for Men in Los Angeles county, Tom Smith's (AUM) take on the men's movement, and more. Enjoy!

Calls from divorced fathers flooded NewsTalk 550 KFYI (Phoenix) radio phone lines during Glenn Sacks' two-hour appearance on the Charles Goyette Show on Tuesday, February 5. Glenn and Charles discussed the discrimination which men routinely face in family court. Callers shared their horror stories about Move Away Moms, blocked visitation, false accusations, parental alienation syndrome, and the struggle of divorced dads to remain fathers to their children. To listen to the entire show (minus news and commercials) go to Glenn's website here.

The citing of women for baring their breasts and men for shouldering women who bare their breasts has incited a Texas woman to organize a protest, according to this story on Fox News. Although the story is more about a woman's right to bare her breasts than anything else, the protest organizer made several interesting comments about men: "I'm not any kind of topless dancer or porn star," Estes said. "It's not a sexual issue. It's just insulting that they say men can't control themselves in the presence of a bare breast." She also points out that it is drunkeness which causes fights, not breasts.

warble writes "In this Fox News article, we hear of yet more stories of false allegations, seizures of children, the denial of all constitutional rights, and other effects of that the feminist have when legislatures pass their brand of child protection laws. With the new laws, the CPS has successfully created a "...Soviet-style snitch network." That network consists of every public institution where we find children. It is a tragedy that America fails to realize that good families are having their children seized simply because a man changes a diaper in a park."

Ganglion42 sent in this story which states that a family court judge flipped a coin to decide which parent would have their children over Christmas. Ganglion42 writes "Finally! A judge who does something where she can't be accused of bias!" In a situation where both parents have an equally good case for visitation, I don't mind this much at all, given that other options are generally so biased against men.

donaldcameron1 submitted this article from the National Post regarding a recent Appeals Court decision in the Yukon about what constitutes harassment. The court claimed that "an "objective" standard must be met so the "words convey a threat of serious bodily harm to a reasonable person," rather than someone simply feeling afraid. This is good news, since it makes it much harder for a woman to make a false harassment claim against a man by inventing perceived threats. After all, just the existence of men today seems to threaten women, or at least the radical feminists would like us to think so.

Dr. Scott Haltzman will be hosting a presentation on Valentine's Day next week, at the Providence, RI Marriott hotel. His talk is titled, "Give Cupid a Chance: Five Relationship-Boosting Ways to Shoot Love’s Arrow Back Into the Heart of Your Marriage." Dr. Haltzman is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Brown and runs the SecretsofMarriedMen.com web site. He has a very pro-male perspective, and best of all, the presentation is free! Look here for more info on how to pre-register.

This dating advice column on AskMen.com examines the problem of "marital fraud," and how men have become easy pushovers for women in the dating game. One reader writes in with this horror story: Fifteen months after buying a house (of which I was the sole mortgage holder), six years of marriage, and two toddlers, I arrived home from work one day, only to be arrested on phony domestic abuse charges. (In my state, this is the only way she could have me removed from the home). This was done with the full support (both emotional and financial) of a meddling mother-in-law. And with the prospect of a fairly large divorce settlement dancing in her head, she was even quoted by mutual friends as being "better off financially without me than with me!"

It's happened again. This story in the L.A. Times reports on Bruce Godschalk, who was imprisoned 15 years ago for allegedly raping two different women. DNA testing on samples from the rape kit and Godschalk have exonerated him. But [the prosecutor] said he would not release Godschalk immediately, maintaining the samples may not be from the rapist and that he cannot discount Godschalk's taped confession. Godschalk's advocates say the evidence more than points to his innocence.

Will Johnson writes "Daphne Patai has written an excellent expose of the Sexual Harassment Industry created by academic feminists for the express purposes of proving "male wickedness" and "women's victimhood", "bringing men to heel", driving a wedge between men and women, and in the end "dismantling heterosexuality." iFeminists.com will begin a discussion of Heterophobia: Sexual Harassment and the Future of Feminism on Wednesday, February 20 at the iFeminists Writers and Writing forum. A longer description of the book and discussion schedule are found here.
A good review of the book was written by Brian Carnell. Finally, click here to read an interview with the author Daphne Patai."

Del Parker submitted this article from TooGoodReports, which discusses the federal government's use of databases to track details about the lives of its citizens. So why is this related to men's issues? Well, the key argument being put forth to promote these systems is that they will be used to track "deadbeat dads." It's always nice to have a scapegoat that everyone hates in order to implement freedom-usurping surveillance systems, and apparently "deadbeat dads" seem to be a universal group that lawmakers can target.

Adam sent us this press release from the MA Fatherhood Coalition and writes "This has been coming for some time now, and if anything, it's going to take much courage for this to come together and be effective. By participating, men basically say goodbye to their old lives and hello to being a criminal, or at least to having a criminal record where there was none before. The feminist campaign to criminalize all men is underway at full steam. In my opinion, this shows the time for making drastic changes is well past, and is upon us." It's important to note that this group has tried legal means to have the support guidelines changed, and the new CS guidelines were not changed in favor of the testimony of over a hundred fathers and supporters during public hearings last year on changing the guidelines.

ronn submitted this story from AlterNet, which examines current media violence against men by women and wonders: "What are these women so angry about?" Michelle Goldberg attempts to point out the hypocrisy of women wanting to be sexual predators and punishing men for the same thing. This new wave of violence against men is no longer about empowered heroines protecting the world from metaphorical rapists and pillagers. This is about raw, crazy, Fatal Attraction-style vengeance. But in this era of the swinging single girl, of hook ups and friendly fucks and Sex and the City, what exactly are women getting revenge for?

Bledso writes "This is another condescending article that would never have been printed if the genders were reversed. Notice the wonderful credentials of the first "expert". the article lashes out at human men quite a bit because, apparently, the Australian bowerbird must keep a clean nest, have sharp feathers, and be sensitive to attract a mate. The "expert on human and animal behavior" claims human males are incapable of sensitivity, among other things.

Captain Pistachio submitted this article from U.S. Air Force News and writes "With all the recent articles about male/female double standards in the military I thought this might be Illuminating." The article is two years old, but it is enlightening because it states that men and women have the same standards for crunches (based on age instead of gender), but that women have lower standards for push-ups (based on age and gender).