In some very disturbing news, police in Britain have been given permission to keep DNA samples and fingerprints of people involved in crime investigations and who were not convicted. Previously, the samples had to be destroyed if the person was innocent. IHF (now AngryHarry) submitted this UK telegraph article. The systematic collection of DNA samples from the population will undoubtedly change the way law enforcement is done, and this is one step closer to a police state where authorities can know with certainty if you've been somewhere or touched something.

ZDNET printed this story about the wage gap in the Information Technology (IT) field. According to the article, women's salaries equal men's when they first enter the industry, but as men and women gain experience, the wage gap widens. But the author indicates the fallacies of the study, saying "It is impossible to say why male techies earn more than their female counterparts as both groups gain experience; statisticians did not inquire about the potential salary drag of extended maternity leaves, salary negotiating skills, job tenure or alternative compensation such as stock options."

Jim Gard writes "My divorce has been extremely bitter costing thousands of dollars, great amounts of time from work, and constant attempts of alienation on the mother's part. The bottom line is, enjoy your kids and stay neutral concerning any Mom comments. Your children will appreciate it. For all of the Dads who need something different to do with their daughters during an extended vacation, please visit my web site at this link. My two daughters, ages 10 and 4 and I traveled the nation by train. We did the same over Christmas, this time heading up the east coast." Thanks for the submission, Jim - I enjoy posting information such as this which is definitely of interest to fathers. I'm sure young boys would also enjoy trips like this as well.

Adam has organized a new activism project, especially for those from the UK. The largest bookstore in Britain is called Foyles and it has only two shelves of men's studies books compared to the 25-40 shelves devoted to women's studies, and that's including "lesbian studies" and subtopics of women's issues. So I'd like to start a campaign to enlarge the men's section to the same size. That means trying to convince the store to carry every major men's studies book that exists. Check out our Activism Projects page for a suggested letter format and info on how to participate.

An Anonymous Reader sent in this link to a superb opinion article by Raymond Saulnier. Saulnier works with a battered men's help line in Maine and wrote an article on the unaddressed problem of battered men, and how almost no one is talking about the recent Jonesboro murder in terms of domestic violence. From the article: "If a battered man approaches a battered women's agency for emergency housing, he will be referred to a homeless shelter...Advocates for male victims are few and far between. This mirrors the plight of the battered women a generation ago."

Earlier we had reported on the illegal imprisonment of Steve Blake, the president of the Minnesota chapter of R-KIDS. He had begun a hunger strike on December 23. I just received an e-mail from Scott Booth, who has informed me that Steve is no longer on a hunger strike, but he is still in jail, and they are working on getting him out. Scott told me that if there is anything else that can be done, I will be notified. Keep an eye on this site for further details.

An Anonymous User writes "This tennis player claims that his sperm was stolen. Of course the journalist treats this as a joke. Imagine if a woman was complaining that she was impregnated against her will - would the journalist treat it as a joke too?" Click here for the story from the Sydney Morning Herald. According to Becker, the woman impregnated herself after having oral sex with him. This could raise some male reproductive rights issues as well - we'll see.

Clayton Giles has ended his hunger strike today at 1 PM. You can read his press release here. He also announced that he will be walking and bicycling his way from Calgary, Canada to Washington, D.C, along the way gathering stories and signatures from children who want the family courts to change the ways they treat children as property, and to support joint custody. He plans to meet with the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the U.S. If you can donate any time or resources to his efforts, contact information is given in his press release.

Tony Delgado submitted this article from MSNBC on the facts about male vulnerability to health risks. Tony writes "What I don't like about this article is the obviously insulting tone that the journalist Linda Carrol uses in the introduction part of the article. It is the typical anti-male, pseudo-journalism than the media is so happy to publish these days. I think this article deserves complaints on the MSNBC message board." Linda's e-mail is lcarrolljag@mindspring.com. I think Tony is using a lot of restraint in his description; I found the entire article to be one of the most condescending articles about men I've ever read.

In a controversial move, the British Government has eliminated the law allowing no-fault divorces. "the Government said it was not convinced "that removing fault grounds will substantially influence the way parties conduct themselves throughout the divorce process". A spokesman for the Lord Chancellor's Department added: "The reduction of acrimony and the adoption of a more conciliatory approach to divorce may require a cultural change beyond the realms of legislation." You can read the UK Independent story at this link.

The Washington Post had an article on Title IX recently, and the ways it has negatively impacted both male and female athletes. "At JMU and on other campuses, students and faculty alike have a seemingly genuine desire for fairness. But no one questions the twin logical fallacies that underlie the current implementation of Title IX: that the failure of women to participate in sports at the same rate as men means that something is 'wrong,' and that achieving proportionality means everything is 'right.'"

Dadsdivorce Magazine has some useful information for fathers who are being blocked from accessing their child's public school records. You can read the guidelines for obtaining legal access to them here. Your rights are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

There was a concise but relevant article in the February 2001 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "After narrowing throughout the 1980s, the so-called gender wage gap actually widened a bit in the '90s, with women earning only about 75 cents for every dollar that men make. But that doesn't mean that wage discrimination is rampant, or that it even explains why the gap exists."

There's an interesting article by Maureen Freely about replacing the women's unit with a "gender equity unit" in the UK, while looking at one of the major men's issues, namely the lack of parental rights. While she does believe a few feminist myths, (i.e, men had all the power while women were the second sex, etc.) she does seem sincere about making men equal in the article, which you may read by clicking here.

The London Free Press had an opinion article on the topic of boys being taught that masculinity is toxic at school. The author frequently quotes Christina Hoff-Sommers' latest book The War Against Boys, and insists that we need to start treating boys with more respect and to understand the different conditions under which boys thrive on in school.