Although I know quite a bit has been written lately about the San Diego suicide of Derrick K. Miller, I felt that something from a media perspective needed to be added to the discussion. As a police reporter for a newspaper in Franklin, Tenn., I covered all kinds of horrifying stories, including one which is remarkably similar to Miller's. Here are my thoughts on how the media should follow up on Miller's story. This column will also appear on ifeminists.com. Special thanks to Wendy McElroy for continuing to run my column.

Marc Angelucci writes "The Los Angeles Times printed a long, front page article that focuses on the question of whether a child should stay at home when a mother is abused by a father - not one word about mothers abusing fathers and whether the kids should stay home in that situation. I'm so sick of this that I called the news editor, who surprisingly called back saying "you have a point" and said he'd speak to the editors. It would be nice if he heard from others too. You can leave him a message by calling 213-237-7000 and asking for news editor Dean Bachi. Also, the reader's representative is at 877-554-4000, and the editor's email is letters@latimes.com. Thanks!"

ronn pointed us to this story from the Ottawa Citizen. Dave Brown writes about the experiences of fathers in the family court system, and finds that for most fathers, you're better off avoiding going to court when it's at all possible: "The best way to deal with the legal industry is to avoid it. It should not be regarded as a justice system. It is an industry that provides incomes for its insiders and, as an industry, its raw material is us." Until the family courts regain a semblance of fairness, I have to admit that he's right.

DaveW writes "This editorial in The Women's Quarterly of the Independent Women's Forum thoughtfully discusses some the issues involved in the Supreme-Court-forced introduction of female cadets at Virginia Military Institute."

Luek writes "Here is a budding neo-feminist breaking gender barriers once the domain of males: "The elementary school student (9 years old) sic was charged last week with fourth-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor, and three counts of risk of injury to a minor, a felony, said Manchester police Sgt. John Maston."" This isn't something you see reported on very often, and it's encouraging to hear that the police seem to be taking this seriously.

ronn sent in this article from Canada's Independent magazine. The editorial is an interesting reflection on the white ribbon campaign currently going on in Canada to protest the Marc Lepine shooting, and the dynamics surrounding gender, violence, and perception. Stephen Roney points out the fallacies and hypocrisies of presuming that violence against women is more important than other forms of violence, and makes several observations about current events which tie into this theme.

Luek writes "Journalist Glenn Sacks has written and posted an article about the high rate of male suicides based on the tragic death of Mr. Miller on the courthouse steps January 8th." Thanks also to ronn for submitting this link from the Union Tribune, which published Sacks' article. This definitely is a topic that should get people's attention and get them to start asking why this is becoming such a trend. How can people continue to ignore the suicide of men and fathers?

frank h writes "I picked this up from Men's News Daily, and I'm surprised that someone else has not already submitted it. Margery Landry should go down in history as the first gender terrorist. Notice the arrogant, "you ain't got nuthin on me!" look on her face. What will be REALLY sickening is if she gets away with her crime, especially after she was identified by her victim."

Our newest feature article, again by columnist Glenn Sacks (we would definitely have this guy on payroll, if we had a payroll), covers the issues of fatherhood, the risks that men take for the sake of their families, and refutes the idea that mothers are the only ones that make sacrifices for their children. Sacks' writing comes from his own experiences as both a construction worker and as a full-time father, and this unique perspective is very useful to apply to this topic. See the Read More section below for another knockout article by Glenn Sacks, which was also printed in both the San Fransisco Daily Journal and Los Angeles Daily Journal. ronn and tparker also deserve credit for submitting this story to us.

Wendy McElroy writes, "Join us this Sunday (1/13) at 9:00 p.m. EST in the jointly sponsored ifeminists.com/mensactivism.org chat room where we will be discussing the upcoming 29th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Has it been a "success," or a moral travesty? I have extreme reservations about the Court decision that built reproductive rights on shifting sand and some ifeminists are actively pro-life. We'd like to hear from men as well who are too often left out of the abortion dialogue."

zerostress writes "Here is another example on how sexist and degrading comments are routinely uttered against men in our society by member of its intelligensia. This article from the site of Ski Canada tells how a woman professor at the University of Manitoba,
Terri Fuglem, said Tuesday that women who frequent the downtown area will be at risk from "testosterone"-driven males if a new entertainment complex is built in Winnipeg."

Neil Steyskal had a letter printed in the Dallas Morning News in response to the recent decision to deport Arabic men. The letter can be read here. Thanks, Neil!

LadyRivka writes "This article describes the cultural phenomenon known as "masculophobia", or fear of the masculine or of men. The author contends that this fear exists not only in women, but in men who buy into feminist stereotypes and/or "typical" male gender roles." I read this on the NCFM e-mail list a while back, and it is a great essay. Definitely a keeper.

Neil Steyskal submitted this article from the New Scientist about a new method for performing vasectomies. Currently only performed on dogs, the system uses blasts of ultrasound to heat the vas deferens, closing it off without having to perform any minor surgery. This method could also be very useful in developing countries where sterilized equipment is hard to come by. But Neil asks, "are they reversible?" The article doesn't mention this.

Steven Jones writes "The Federal government is deporting 6000 Arab males in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But not one female. [Some believe that] Islam calls for believers to strike out at non-believers. It does not say that only male Muslims should do this. While [some believe] Christianity says to "turn the other cheek," Islam calls for "an eye for an eye" which is the reason violent attacks on seemingly innocent people are considered justified. We may very well see women being recruited for further attacks in the future. But for now, the story of the mass male deportation is here." I added the qualifiers in brackets because I know many religious followers both faiths find these interpretations debatable.