Stephen Jacobs submitted this article on a surprising finding: an overwhelming majority of statutory rape convictions are made against Latino men, including those who are successfully married and raising a family. The convictions often tear families apart, and it seems that in Latino culture, having young girls married at an early age is commonplace. There is considerable contempt for men in the article: "'Sure, there are those cases where there's a baby and the father is sticking around and paying the bills and nobody wishes he was reported,' [Santa Clara District Attorney] said. `But you don't know how long he will be there.'"

An Anonymous Reader writes: "I know you're not trying to advocate presidential candidates with your site, but I thought this was relevant: Ralph Nader was recently attacked by Patricia Ireland for not being outspoken on women's rights. The SF Gate printed this story on it, then the next day printed this one where Nader rebukes Ireland, saying NOW has not focused on many of his consumer issues which are very relevant to women. BUT, here's what I find most interesting: he's not willing to stoop to the level where he panders to feminists on issues like domestic violence and eating disorders. It seems like he's implicitly saying that he knows it's a load of BS." Note: The Men's Activism News Network does not officially endorse any presidential candidates.

Robert Cunningham has submitted another story (way to go Robert!) on father's issues. It's from The Philadelphia Inquirer, and can be read here. It focuses a lot on the organization Fathers' and Children's Equality (FACE), and the ways they are helping divorced fathers out in a very biased family law system.

George writes "I found this article about programs being started in several states of the U.S. to help fathers in prison have more interaction with their children. It's perhaps a bit different from the typical article on fathers, but it's kind of encouraging in that these men may now be better able to fulfill at least somewhat the role of father in their children's lives. The new programs reportedly are already promoting better behavior among participating inmates."

The Men's Health America list reported that the University of Virginia School of Medicine received a $20M grant to be used for prostate cancer research funding. The grant was from the estate of the late Paul Mellon. You can read a news report on the donation here.

Robert Cunningham also wanted to bring attention to the Lone Fathers Association of Australia, which is an organization devoted to helping fathers regain custody of their children and promote equal protection of fathers in family court. Aussie dads will definitely want to check it out.

Robert Cunningham wrote in to tell me about this Detroit News story by Cathy Young (an incredible asset of ours). She addresses the criticisms of the recent Men's Health article on anti-male colleges, and gives some good examples of instances where men are demeaned and also censored when they question facts or challenge generalizations in Women's Studies classes.

I received this from the Men's Health America mailing list: the General Accounting Office released a report which outlines the research inequities between men's and women's health, showing exactly how under funded and underrepresented men's heath is. Click below to read the press release.

And more news from IHF: this UK Telegraph article looks at the suicide rates for British college students and found a disturbing rise in the rate over the past several years. Thankfully, the article acknowledges the prevalence of male suicide, stating that the male suicide rate is about three times higher than women. Yet the two examples of suicides they mention were of young women. We have the data, but when are people going to realize: men aren't killing themselves because they've made their patriarchal societies so great for themselves - they have valid problems and issues and they need to be addressed.

IHF submitted this story from the UK Telegraph. It's on fathers in Britain asking for paternity leave, and includes statistics supporting the need for paternity leave. The bottom line: men want paternity leave and many will make use of it. So why continue the discrimination? Here is a slightly older link to a story on the proposed government plan for paternity leave, which would allow two week's paid leave for fathers immediately after the child is born.

Adam H submitted this link to an LA Times article on gender preferences in the US presidential election. It's an interesting analysis of voting dynamics in this election and what influences them. Note: The Men's Activism News Network does not officially endorse any presidential candidates.

I think this article from The Denver Post will speak to a lot of single dads out there. It talks about the lack of recognition that many women do walk out on families, and the lack of organizations to lobby for single father's needs. It also speaks of the chaos that is created when many of these women come back a few years later and regain custody of the children, destroying what stability was rebuilt by the father after the abandonment.

An anonymous reader sent in this link to Kathleen Parker's latest column, where she shares some thoughts on the recent marriage of Gloria Steinem. Her conclusions on Steinem's philosophy: "Choice is always good, as long as it's a woman's." I couldn't have summed it up better myself.

The National Post printed a story on new research on the effects of divorce on children in their adult lives, and the findings are again disturbing. A greater likelihood to divorce and to use drugs are only two of the findings, and the psychological effects also last into adulthood, making it harder for adults of divorced parents to form intimate relationships. Details on how the study was done suggests that this is going to have a profound effect on the way sociologists view divorce.

Betsy Hart from Jewish World Review wrote this essay on the recent news that Al Gore is going to give women "equal pay for equal work", which as most of us know already exists. Her debunking of the wage gap myth is quite simple, and shows just how political and irrational the topic is. Anyone interested in researching this topic further might also be interested in some resources I collected together at this web site.