Ched sent in this story from the Boston Globe about a man who was found guilty for armed assault with intent to murder and armed robbery, but the judge apparently disagreed with the jury's decision and has pretty much openly stated that he feels he is sentencing an innocent man: "This is the most difficult moment I have been faced with during my legal career,'' [Judge] Murphy said. ''I am mindful of the possibility that I am sending an innocent man to jail.''" The man was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The question is: why???

Men who don't pay child support are neglectful and irresponsible, right? Right? Not necessarily so, according to this article on Salon.com. Specifically, this article deals with the problems generated by the perception that low-income black fathers "don't care about their children," and reveals that other circumstances often contribute to the non-payment of child support. Unfortunately, the author's article does claim that Men, women, liberals and conservatives all feel fairly comfortable in reviling deadbeat dads. I think "all" is too general a term here. Anyone else?

Although the Men's Activism News Network is attempting to restrain from posting too many Andrea Yates stories (Texas mother who drowned her five children), the latest news in this case is too important to the men's movement not to post. According to this AP story on Excite News, prosecutors in the Yates case will, indeed, seek the death penalty. Whether you are pro- or anti-death penalty, this news is important because it demonstrates that these Texas prosecutors are willing to pursue sentencing for a woman just the same as they would a man.

This story in the Financial Times explains how some first wives of rich Russians are attempting to change divorce laws so that their former husbands must continue to support them after divorce. The women claim that their rich husbands' dumping of them for younger women "is a social problem" and that legislation must be enacted to deal with it.

This story on Excite News reveals that some Orthodox Jewish rabbis in Jerusalem are threatening to instruct male observant Jews in the Israeli army not to serve in fighting units if the military continues to use women in combat roles. Orthodox soldiers have been complaining about serving with women because Jewish law "prohibits contact between men and women who are not married or related." The observant soldiers, who also make up a small part of the army, say they encounter women through work in cramped tanks, physical training exercises and sleeping in mixed quarters.

The reduction of 200 collegiate men's gymnastics programs to 21 since the introduction of Title IX is a major topic at this year's U.S. Gymnastics Championship, according to this article on Excite News. The article goes so far as to describe it as "an epidemic." Some colleges are trying harder to equalize things, though. "We've added five women's sports so we don't have to cut any men's sports," said Miles Avery, the head coach at Ohio State, which won the NCAA championship this spring. "Every athletic department can't do that, but that is the way it was intended. To add opportunities for women, not curtail opportunities for men."

Well, we're back... I'll be glad to post a summary of what has gone on, but due to the server's problems we've had these past couple of days, I'm very far behind in my work right now. Those of you that are observant, you'll notice the server is running on port 81, and the domain www.mensactivism.org is automagically translated into mensactivism.org:81. The bottom line is, we're back up and running.

This story on Fox News details some of the debate surrounding current talks about human cloning, an act the U.S. House of Representatives has already voted to ban. Although this story doesn't say so, the technique used to clone humans is strikingly similar to the technique recently used by an Australian researcher to develop mouse embryos without sperm. The greatest difference is that the somatic cells in the Australian experiment came from two different adults. The HR bill specifically bans the reproduction of humans via somatic cell transfer, which means the Australian research, though not technically "cloning," is included in the ban. The Fox News article also describes some interesting biological problems with somatic cell transfer, including the production of a more rapidly aging animal.

This article is a must read for those of you who are trying to make sense of the whole ADHD/ADD debate and try to answer that question of "does it exist?" Geoff Metcalf interviews psychiatry-abuse crusader Don Pierson to get the full lowdown on the facts you won't hear in the media, such as the fact that we could easily have another Thalidomide incident on our hands. I'll leave you with this quote from the National Institute of Health in 1998 "We don?t have an independent valid test for ADHD. There are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction. Existing studies come to conflicting conclusions as to whether use of psycho-stimulants increases or decreases the risk of abuse and, finally, after years of research and experience with ADHD, our knowledge about the cause or causes of ADHD remains speculative."

Speaking of Stephen Baskerville, the Alliance for Non-Custodial Parent's Rights has got their hands on the the full story of what really happened, with all the correspondence involved, so click on all the links to discover the full story. Seeing as how this has national attention, I would advise you to read up on their talking points before responding.

Wendy McElroy's weekly Fox News column explores why feminists are silent about adultery in the case of Gary Condit (and Bill Clinton) when they are so vocal about every other ill they often associate with marriage. McElroy rightly condemns "gender feminists" for their hostility toward marriage as patriarchal oppression, and offers some excerpts from said feminists' writings about adultery. Given the unsophisticated level of commentary offered by the leading feminist periodical is it any wonder that NOW has nothing useful to say about Condit's conduct? The gamut of the Ms.-advice on adultery runs from "accept it" to "get busy," from "I don't know" to sexual mutilation. Indeed, one feminist threatens to "hack off" her husband's penis if she caught him committing adultery.

This story in Christian Science Monitor tells the tale of a young man whose mother, exasperated with his poor grades and knack for getting in trouble, finally sent him to a private military school. After running away five times (in four days), the youth realized the hardships his mother was facing to put him through school and buckled down. He is now a Rhodes scholar and has developed a program he calls STAND (Students Taking A New Direction). The program teams other troubled youths with college students for tutoring and mentoring. For all the trouble young men are experiencing in education these days, it's good to see a story turn out like this.

A Washington couple falsely accused of raping a child has won a large judgement, according to the story in the Washington Times. Just as important, though, are the remarks their attorney makes about how easy it is for a case like theirs to get so far in the justice system. "There is no doubt that child sex abuse happens, and it is tragic," said John Stocks, an attorney who represented the Simses and three other defendants during the trial. "It is also tragic that people can be falsely accused of crimes and to go that far in the system without the checks and balances ferreting them out."

Bill Fortune from Domestic Solutions of New Hampshire, a consumer protection and advocacy group for people seeking solutions to relationship issues, is working on a project to get legislation passed in NH that would give people alternatives to divorce, particularly if they have young children. The idea is to refer couples to a form of relationship therapy friendly to both men and women, which is based on the work of Dr. Harville Hendrix (see this site for more info). The idea has received attention from UNH's Family Research Laboratory, which would be willing to study the effectiveness of the program if funding can be obtained. Bill is very interested in your input, and I'd encourage you to contact him if you have further questions. By clicking Read More below, you can view excerpts from a letter he wrote to President George Bush. Bill's e-mail is: indust.consult@rcn.com.

This story on Excite News not only reveals the surprising fact that men's gymnastics is the most successful sport ever on Southern Illinois University's campus, but also details the bittersweet tale of a reunion of the athletes who did the university so proud before Title IX destroyed the program more than 10 years ago. Mitchell is still baffled by the administration's questionable decision for a sport that costs little to run. "It was a dynasty." Mitchell said. "When you have a dynasty, it's unfortunate that the administration could not see the light.".