Click here to check out the latest DesertLight Journal e-zine. This one includes news of a new group to combat false child abuse accusations, important news about the cyberManbooks e-publisher, the Unity Wall, which offers and outlet for people to tell their stories about unjust child support, and more. Trudy Schuett also announced that the DLJ web site is visited by people in 30 countries. Keep up the great work, Trudy!

ronn submitted this story about a woman who stabbed her two year-old son about 30 times with a butcher knife, killing him. However, the murder charges have been dropped after four psychiatrists found the woman to be mentally ill, with a rare disorder called Addison’s disease. I did some searches on the internet for Addison's web sites and found that while depression can be one of the symptoms of the disease, it is not generally considered to be the cause of severe mental problems. The woman was sentenced to "up to" 360 days in a mental health program.

After extensive investigation into the suspicious network activity on Mensactivism.org today, I have determined that our intrusion detection systems found a false positive. So there's no need to worry - the "cyber grrrl 3l337" hackers from N.O.W. haven't gotten us yet. :) Still, I have taken additional precautions and will be monitoring the server closely for further suspicious activity over the short-term future.

ronn sent us this disturbing story where a man was stabbed below the ear by his girlfriend when he didn't propose to her on Valentine's Day, as she was expecting. ""The suspect wanted the victim to marry her and he was not at that point in the relationship at the time. So, she allegedly stabbed him right below the right ear lobe," said Sgt. Robert Douglas of the Oklahoma City Police Department."

garypc writes "The New York Times Magazine has an excellent article about how young females are just as aggressive as young males, but that they are aggressive in a different way called "relational aggression." I felt it gave a very fair minded insight into how young males are not more malicious than than young females. It brings a reasonable voice to the discussion of gender differences."

Marc Angelucci writes "California Assemblyman Rod Wright, who represents the Los Angeles area and has written a letter of support for a County Commission for Men, just introduced Assembly Bill 2240, an anti-Paternity Fraud Bill that would, among other things, protect a man from being forced to financially support a child that is not his. The L.A. chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men had a part in writing the bill and will team up with the Northern CA chapter to support it. Read the bill for yourself and, if you live in CA, submit a comment to the author. And be sure not to miss the amendment to section 7574(a), which adds the following to the list of groups who *must* be consulted about the voluntary paternity declaration form: "father's rights advocacy groups"!"

ronn sent us this Ottawa Citizen story which includes suggestions from a coroner's jury report from a domestic homicide/suicide case: "Men should be electronically shackled with a global positioning device when they are accused of violence against a woman, and their names should automatically go into a database of abusers without waiting for a conviction." Apparently most of the Toronto newspapers has responded positively to this news, according to Dave Brown. Brown is also the the same writer who told us about Bill 117, which would transfer the property of those accused of domestic violence to the alleged victim, before a trial is held. What on earth is going on in Canada?

JohnnyMan writes "Lifetime TV is of course the TV channel "for women" and it often carries the usual feminist propaganda against men. However, this week they are bumping up that propaganda. They have already started the attack against men with a whole evening of movies (Three in a row - Sun 17th Feb) with the usual feminist themes. The theme of these movies is always the same: Women are victims and men are evil villains. To go along with the movies are TV commercials telling women that they are victims of rape and domestic violence. Sunday Feb 17th on Lifetime TV was certainly the most intense man-hatred I have seen on TV for a long time. Please call your cable company and complain about lifetime's anti-masculine activity." JohnnyMan's comments continue - click Read More below.

Here are some very non-PC links about Ritalin and ADD/ADHD. To start with, here's Part 1 and Part 2 of an interview with Peter Breggin, who's most well known for his anti-Ritalin stance. He also has a web site with some very interesting things to tell about psychiatric drugs such as Ritalin, Prozac, Adderall and many others, so I would advise you to have a good look. Lastly, here's an interview with Fred Baughman, who spent 35 years as a child neurologist, with some interesting comments. He also has a web site.

ronn submitted this article from BBC News. The article talks about a small-scale study which found that domestic abusers had a problem with the response of the vagal nerve when stressed. This problem would then imply that those who suffer from it would have less control over aggression. The authors of the study were careful to point out that the results were not conclusive, probably because a finding like this would have nothing to do with abuse stemming from the oppressive hegemony of men over women. I also find it curious that the study didn't include women, and whether women could have this disorder in similar numbers as men.

Michael Skinner is an artist who has dealt with severe physical and sexual abuse as a child, as well as PTSD and depression as an adult. Yet he uses his music as a means to heal and rebuild himself and others who share his experiences. Mike recently created a web site to
promote his music, his advocacy, and to be a resource to provide information and help regarding the issues and concerns around childhood sexual abuse and the long term effects of this abuse. The various resources and links listed will help lead to other resources, especially for males, as this is a subject most are uncomfortable discussing. Sadly, it is a distasteful subject that has caused severe damage and harm to many in all walks of life.

Glenn Sacks wrote an article about V-Day, Eve Ensler's V-Day: For Women, Afghanistan is Everywhere, which debunks many of the statistics commonly used in the campaign. This is one incredibly useful resource to have handy. Also, tonight Glenn will discuss his recent column Shouldn't Men Have a Choice, Too? on the Stacy Taylor Show, on KOGO 600 in San Diego, starting at 8 PM PST. His talk will coincide with tonight's MANN chat on reproductive rights, so if anyone in the San Diego area can log in and let us know how he's doing in real-time, that would be great!

Intrigued by Wendy McElroy's column on male suicide a few weeks ago, the Toronoto Star decided to take its own look at the rate of male suicide and divorce in Canada. McElroy herself is quoted in the piece, and the men's movement is mentioned prominently. The author also interviewed men who have considered suicide in response to unfair child support payments. "There has been very little research to find out how alienated men feel after a complicated divorce and after losing custody in courts. But when you go through the research that's there, you come across story after story about men who wrote notes about their divorces or were clutching court orders while they committed suicide," says McElroy, whose anthology Liberty For Women: Freedom And Feminism For The 21st Century, will be published this year. We should extend both the Toronto Star and Wendy our thanks for continuing to shed light on this issue.

Tonight's Mensactivism.org on-line chat will be on the recent passage of a Georgia bill which will outlaw paternity fraud, giving men the right to stop paying child support for children that they were tricked into believing where their own. We'll be discussing overall issues related to men's reproductive rights and invariably many unrelated topics too (as usual, :). Join us at 9:30 PM EST tonight (2/20) in the MANN chat room.

Wendy McElroy has announced that there will be a book discussion on Daphne Patai's Heterophobia starting up tomorrow at iFeminists.com. Her iFeminists bulletin board announcement can be read here. Note that she will be giving away free books to random participants, so why not check it out? As Wendy writes, "Reading the book is a definite plus ;-), but lurkers are welcome."