The National Post reported here that Boris Becker, three-time Wimbledon champion, is demanding that his wife return his two children now in the U.S. back to Germany, and is working to obtain sole custody of them. There are also financial issues why Beckher's ex-wife wants to stay in the U.S. - if the divorce proceedings are done in the States, she could receive up to $75M of Mr. Becker's fortune, as opposed to a mere $3.8M she'd get if they were finalized in Germany. There are lots of interesting dynamics involved in this case.

Speaking of activism projects. :) The NCFM letter writing committee this month is protesting the involvement of Patricia Schroeder, a feminist politician, who has recently joined the head of the Association of American Publishers, which puts out many public school texts. Schroeder is very active in promoting the wage gap myth and other issues in gender politics that have been harmful to men. Note that you don't need to be a member of NCFM to participate in the letter writing committee - all are welcome. Click here for more info on where to write and how to participate.

The Men's Activism News Network wishes everyone a great and prosperous New Year, and welcome to the new Millennium! ( yes, the 21st century starts this year, not last year, despite the media circus we had). Please consider making some resolutions to participate in activism projects and pay close attention to your health this year - let's use 2001 as an opportunity to make great strides for the cause of men's rights and dignity!

Salon.com printed this article about a Massachusetts court case that could expand the "Battered Woman" defense to include attacks against third parties. Before, the argument was only used in cases were the woman attacked her abuser. And as we know, there is no "battered man" defense, due to the lack of recognition of domestic violence against men. The legal trend toward creating these kinds of excuses for murder is also disturbing.

BusterB writes "Elizabeth Nickson of the National Post writes about how wonderful Canadian men are. Apologies to the fellows south of the border and over the ocean, who don't fare so well in her opinion piece. Although I can't vouch for what she says about men in other countries, I agree with her assessment of Canadian men. What she forgets to mention, though, is that Canadian men are so nice because Canadian women are, as an acquaintance once put it, so macha. We men are easy to get along with because we're surrounded by nasty women and are accustomed to abuse." Update: The link has been fixed.

There is good news to follow up to the recent story about Terry Johnson, who was convicted of sexual assault due a videotape of the victim's accusations, which was shown in court even though the alleged victim has publicly recanted the accusations. Thursday, the NH Supreme Court ruled that the videotape should not have been used as evidence in the trial. Johnson will get a new trial, and it is unlikely he can be convicted with the victim still recanting the accusations. Foster's Daily Democrat had the latest news here.

As sad as it is to say this, any man who is going through a divorce or will be doing so soon should read this. The Washington Post printed this article, which is a series of tips on what to do in the event of parental child abduction, and what information you'll need on hand to try to stop it before your children are taken abroad. With so much at stake in a situation like this, it is better to be safe than sorry, and to be prepared.

Ian Murray wrote an article for Jewish World Review that debunks the three statements that President Clinton recently made, that "In America today, domestic violence is the number one health risk for women between the ages of 15 and 44 ... Every twelve seconds, another
woman is beaten. That's nearly 900,000 victims a year." It is of course very damaging to have the US President making these false claims, and all the more important to have the true facts ready. Bookmark this article!

This article from the New York Times (free registration required) is about the disappointments many women are experiencing as their "biological clocks" run down and they still cannot find a man (breadwinner) to marry and have children with. "'There are no normal men,' [a woman] complained...'They've all got an inferiority complex because they can't earn enough money to support a family. All of them live with their mothers. They all earn 1,000, 1,500 rubles a month,' $35 to $55, roughly. 'Who would want to bear a child with a man like that?' she asked." There's more than a bit of irony in this quote, in several ways. I'll leave it to you to interpret it. :)

"A Ghanaian woman whose campaign against her deportation from the United States became a rallying point for prominent American women, including Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem and Julia Roberts, has been exposed as an impostor and faces prosecution for fraud." The story is from the UK Guardian and can be read at this link. She had used the argument that if she were returned to Ghana, she would face female genital mutilation. But it was a lie.

Don Feder in his latest column for Jewish World Review writes about the new movie What Women Want. The movie, of course, is degrading to men and features a feminist utopia where Mel Gibson puts aside his traditional masculinity for the traits of a female-worshiping lapdog. As Feder puts it: "Like most of today's movies about relationships, What Women Really Want is relentlessly anti-male. Men are dense. Men are crude. Men are self-centered. Men just don't listen." There's no need to support male-trashing movies such as this, and I'd be wary of anyone who enjoyed it.

Backlash.com is reporting that Steve Blake, president of R-KIDS of Minnesota, is currently in prison for failure to pay child support. However, Steve claims to have paid his required $750/month payment and has begun a hunger strike to draw attention to his injustice. I plan to follow up on this story for further developments. I have no contact information for people to call at this time.

Related to the recent ABCnews story about a boy who could face felony charges for slapping a girl's butt, this story from The Tennessean is about a girl who could face discipline charges for sexually assaulting two other girls. While this does bring up the issue of sexual assault/abuse by women, I really think we should leave kids out of it. Click here to read the story.

Here's a great move for men's health that could hopefully be imitated by other states: New York recently passed a law requiring the coverage of prostate cancer screening by insurance companies. Ed Bartlett's post to the Men's Health America list can be read here. Please take a moment to sign up with Ed's list if you care about men's health issues!

I received a couple of anonymous submissions about coverage of the recent report on the fragility of boy's health. The story was also distributed on Yahoo! News and also ABCNews. Although I'm glad to see this get more media attention, I have to wonder if it's being done to encourage the need to "resocialize boys" under the stereotype that masculinity is toxic.