equalitarian62 writes, "J. C. Penney has a TV commercial for its "One Day Only Sale." This ad shows a man that has been left alone with his young son. The man appears to be overwhelmed as the
household falls apart, and he wonders when his wife will be coming home to sort things out. Meanwhile, his wife is having a terrific time at the sale. The ad ends with the message "Don't worry Dad, it's only one day." I find this ad to be demeaning to men and fathers in that it portrays them as incompetent at running a household and caring for children." Go to the Read More section of this story to view equalitarian62's letter and contact info for J.C. Penny.

Marc Angelucci writes "In this article, the L.A. Times says that California's new child support collection program is a success because a study shows that it "more than doubled the average amount brought in" and because it fostered "cooperation" between father's rights groups and child support advocates." The author does use gender-neutral language. But he only quotes from state officials and a child support advocacy group, never from a men's rights group. Had the author consulted and quoted a men's rights group, then we might also have read about things like biased custody and support awards, excessive enforcement, the system's failure to enforce visitation and ensure that support is spent on the children, or how custodial mothers receive higher support awards than custodial fathers even when all other factors are equal. Please write to the editor at letters@latimes.com."

I found this article a while ago, it's an opinion piece by Debra Dickerson on the state of affairs between black men and women, and it's brutally honest. To tell the truth, it did seem that she blames the nearest man, but she seems to take it back. There are some conflicting messages here, but perhaps that's because she's speaking from the heart? I don't know - read it and decide for yourself.

AFG sent in this story and writes "For the last little while, the Toronto Transit Commission has had a "request stop" program for women on buses in between 9pm and 5am. This safety initiative (scroll down on the web page) allows for a woman to request to be let off a bus in between designated stops. While such a program is helpful, men are not given the same option, despite the fact that, in many ways, they are more likely to be the victims of violence/assault."

This story in the Chicago Daily News once again highlights the fact that women are, often, given lighter sentences than men for similar crimes. In this case, a woman who abducted her child from the father 10 years ago was sentenced to probation for it. Ever though everyone agreed the crime was "horrible," the father agreed to the sentence because he wanted the long, drawn out legal proceedings over. The kidnapper had accused the father of child abuse and absconded with his little girl in 1991. Standing in court, in an anguished voice and bordering on tears, Reichart read a statement condemning his ex-wife as being a "pathological liar."

frank h writes "This story is a reflective on the William Kennedy Smith rape trial and acquittal in 1991. I don't remember much about the trial, but based on what I read here, the acquittal seems justified. However, what I really want to point out is that the defense used an interesting tactic to "...get around [rape shield] laws "by using ordinary language" that contingently constructs, rather than merely reflects," issues of consent, force and sexual history..." I submit this because it seems to me that this is the dawn of the new assault by the feminists on the due process afforded men accused of rape. This is something we ought to watch and react to if it happens. Perhaps we ought to take some pre-emptive action and write, including a copy of this and any current articles on false accusations, to legislators at the state level."

Tonight's joint Mensactivism.org/iFeminists.com chat will be on the controversial topic of prostitution. To my understanding, Wendy McElroy's views are that prostitution in general is not demeaning or oppressive of women, but there are many other issues to discuss as well. Join us at the iFeminists.com chat room at 9:00 PM EST tonight (1/6) for what is sure to be a lively discussion/debate!

Neil Steyskal and cheddah both submitted this story. Cheddah writes, "Here is an interesting story from one of Boston's leading misandrists, Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe. She complains about women's interest in ''Kate & Leopold'' where a man is depicted as having virtue and honor. Ellen seems disappointed that the media has allowed men to be portrayed as masculine heroes that "protect us (women) ... from powerful men." It is disappointing that anytime this woman rants over men, the Boston Globe and Boston.com put her articles in high profile spots."

David Compas writes "I just learned of this Journal article yesterday via a talk radio program. The article is, "The Importance of Father Love: History and Contemporary Evidence". Most of us will need to utilize an inter-library loan service to retrieve the full article. The summary states: "...the influence of father love on offspring's development is as great as and occasionally greater than the influence of mother love." Will this kind of information ever make the mainstream press?"

jaxom writes "The problem of elderly women living alone, dying, and then not being discovered has mostly been eliminated. Elderly men still die alone, as this story shows. Interestingly, the deceased has left an estate, rumoured to be large, to the people of Prince Rupert: The very people who ignored him."

Jim Castelli sent in a summary of a recent ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on the paternity status of posthumously conceived children. Jim claims that the court's ruling is actually an important breakthrough in legalizing men's reproductive rights. Click Read More for his letter, which was also submitted to The Boston Globe.

Jason Leatherman wrote a good review of Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Men. I think there's a strong tendency in the men's movement to stress out about many of the things we see every day (I know I do), so a book of this nature is most welcome. Click Read More below to read Jason's review.

cheddah reports that his local Ames department store has indeed removed the boy-bashing stickers from its vending machines, as promised. A sincere thank you, cheddah, for starting this whole thing and to everyone who wrote to Ames in protest!

This article on Yahoo! News is interesting because not only does it affirm that children conceived through artifical means after their father's death have inheritance rights, but it also stipulates that the mother must prove 1) that the dead man is the child's genetic father, and 2) that the dead man had agreed to conceive and support the child prior to his death. Although posthumous conception is a touchy subject, the court's decision in this case sounds fair to me.

frank h writes "I'm submitting this link, which is the links page of a website maintained by a woman named Trish Wilson. She's mounting her own pro-feminist, anti-father campaign to stop the Bush administration from closing several offices fo the Women's Bureau at the Department of Labor. Other topics she's written on are of "interest" as well. As Sun Tzu says: know thine enemy as thyself. I found this page by following a link from at Men's News Daily. A proper response from us might be to send some letters to Dubya in SUPPORT of closing those offices."