Nightmist writes "According to this article from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, new information indicates that the number of elderly men in this country is on a sharp increase. Men are starting to live longer, catching up to women in lifespan. It suggests that the growing population of elderly men may start to experience some of the frailty generally associated with elderly women now that men are living longer. Also, the number of elderly men is increasing more than the number of elderly women."

This article from the Boston Globe (by Cathy Young) outlines a Judiciary hearing in which argument were heard to reform the Abuse Prevention Law, which covers domestic violence restraining orders. "While many see the well-intentioned law as a necessary shield for abused women, there is mounting evidence that it is often used as a sword in messy domestic disputes." Young cites several examples of non-violent men who were thrown in jail for making a phone call to their child on the wrong day of the week, and similar situations. Some were even pushed to suicide after being alienated and mistreated for so long. How can this happen? Young writes, "Blame the mentality that it's best to err on the side of safety for women, even if it means trampling on the rights of some innocent men." No kidding.

Nightmist writes "A big part of me would love to see a day when women must register as well. This article on Excite claims the men who do not register are "missing opportunities." To quote: "But even more tragic is that our experience shows the young men most likely to miss the message are the very men who may stand the most to gain from these opportunities.""

AngryHarry submitted this article from the UK Telegraph, about a woman who threw her 10 month old daughter out a third-floor window to "get her own back" on her boyfriend during an argument. The child was killed. "[Helen] Patterson, 23, of Newcastle upon Tyne, denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. [The prosecuting attorney] said the Crown had decided to accept the plea following reports from psychiatrists that she was suffering from depression and other mental problems."

Anonymous User writes "In the current issue of The Women's Quarterly (an IWF publication), Charlotte Allen offers her considerable wisdom on men, women, and marriage, in a generally negative review of Laura Doyle's recent book, The Surrendered Wife."

frank h writes "This link describes an Islamic celebrity who claims to have performed over 106,000 circumcisions. The story can be read here." There are a lot of references about how circumcision is the "rite of passage" that makes boys into men, but I know quite a few circumcised older males who are certainly not men. The tension between the religious tradition and individual rights continues on...

Nightmist writes "Christian Science Monitor is running a two-part series on the gender gap at the college level. Part One partially examines the dilemma university administrators are facing as the lack of males on campuses cause both male and female students to transfer to other, more balanced institutions. Part Two, which will appear May 29, examines the origins of the gender gap in K-12."

The Massachusetts News reported in this story that Steve Basile of the Fatherhood Coalition has directed a study in the state about domestic violence and 209A restraining orders. His work, which will be presented at the UNH International Family Violence Research Conference in July, demonstrates that men are no more violent that women and that a significant bias by the courts exists against men who try to obtain restraining orders against their violent partners. The article also mentions that Jane Doe, a DV group which opposes the research, went though great lenghts to attack and stop the research from happening.

Marc Angelucci writes "Our very own Glenn Sacks printed an article in the UCLA Daily Bruin today responding to several opinion pieces that attacked the ad placed by the Independent Women's Forum. He reiterates the points he has repeatedly made in prior articles about "1 in 4," the wage gap and other myths that campus feminists just cannot seem to let go of. The ad has really caused furor at UCLA, but of course, not enough factual dialogue as usual. If Glenn Sacks' article doesn't change that, I'm not sure anything else will."

David Byron sent me this story from the National Review. It covers the news about the full-page ad that the Independent Women's Forum has put in several college and university newspapers, which outlines the "Ten Most Common Feminist Myths" and the reasons they are misperceptions. Christina Hoff Sommers said in response to the outrage related to the ad: "This is a common response, hysteria and irrational reactions...Free and open discussion doesn't exist in most academic forums. Instead of research or debate, they hold rallies and protests - not exactly the most reasonable way to spark discussion."

Elliot Zaret from TheGuyCode.com sent me this story from MSNBC News. It's an editorial about the latest way fathers can be alienated from their children - the substitution of "virtual visitation" for real visitation when the mother wants to move away. Brock Meeks will have none of it, and sharply criticizes the practice: "the courts believe such herky-jerky videoconferencing sessions are the next best thing to throwing a Frisbee in the park with dear ol' Dad..."This will be another tool for judges to further distance fathers from their children's lives," Stuart Miller of the American Fathers Coalition told the Associated Press." Meeks ends the article with statistics about the prevalence of physical punishment by mothers - which will certainly result in a barrage of hate mail. Perhaps you could write to Meeks and express your support for his courage.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend A Conference on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse in Portland, Maine on Friday evening. The event was sponsored by the Maine Battered Men's Helpline and the Bangor Daily News, and was superbly done. Speakers included David Burroughs, Mary Cleary, Cathy Young, and Richard Davis. Click "Read More" below to view a summary of the event and see some photos that I took (with a very cheap digital camera, I might add).

Spartacus submitted this ABCNews story and these excerpts: "Hoping for a slice of the competitive, upscale divorce market pie, Brookman Solicitors, a London law firm has released a campaign featuring a poster of a packed designer suitcase with the caption, "Ditch the Bitch."
Another poster, this one aimed at women, showed a woman in her underwear lying face down on a bed. It reads: "All men are Bastards."...for some women's rights groups, the real villain in this case was the ad campaign. "This is offensive terminology and very derogatory to women," "The heart of the problem, some legal experts feared, was that the British legal tradition was going down the "American road," with aggressive, confrontational campaigns virtually encouraging people to get divorced"

frank h and Nightmist both had news to submit about the recent U.S. Census report. frank h sent in this article from the Washington Post and writes "This U.S. Census report says that single-parent families led by fathers are in the increase. Note that it also says that fathers tend not to seek child support for fear of losing custody." Nightmist wrote "The New York Post ran this commentary, which asserts that there is both good news and bad news from the results of the 2000 Census. Good news? Men are catching up to women in numbers. Bad news? Single motherhood is up 21% while two-parent househoulds are up only 7%."

Trudy W Schuett writes "A hint for some of us activists from Sam and Bunny Sewell: Recently we have been sending
the below notice to City Councilmen, County Commissioners, law enforcement agencies,
churches, etc. We access a women's shelter web page in Anytown, USA. If that web page
contains the usual lies, we start bombarding community leaders with this short note. We
are not sure how much good it does, but boy do people respond!" Click "Read More" below for the notice.