I'm going away for the weekend, and I wasn't able to find any stories to queue up to have posted over this weekend, so this site will remain as it is until Sunday afternoon/evening. See you then!

Last week I reported on the shaky rape allegations made against a former student of Aberystwyth University in Britain. His trial is now over, and he was found not guilty after the jury deliberated for 41 minutes. This UK Telegraph article (courtesy of IHF) gives details of the acquittal and the disturbances that this young man had to deal with by being accused of such a serious crime.

BookPage is featuring an interview with Christina Hoff-Sommers, author of the new book The War Against Boys. It's not a strict Q+A format, but the interviewer includes several direct quotes from a phone conversation she had with Sommers. It includes suggestions to how to be an advocate for your son(s) in school and I particularly liked the quote: "If you are a mother of sons, as I am, you know that one of the more agreeable facts of life is that boys will be boys."

Ace submitted this link to a UK Times article outlining changes to UK rape laws. The most disturbing change is that by default any woman who is intoxicated would not be able to give consent. I think there is a big difference between forcing a person to have sex and having a few drinks with someone and then mutually deciding to have sex. In fact, the latter is quite a popular past time among both men and women! But here's a thought: if both parties are intoxicated and the woman files a rape charge, why shouldn't the man be able to as well?

Although a bit old, this opinion article from the Denver Post makes some good points about the way the 'deadbeat dad' frenzy has little basis in fact. He refers to the recent Massachusetts child custody ruling that alternates the custody schedule for each parent every year, and mentions something I was unaware of - that hunting and fishing licenses are now being revoked for being in arrears on child support in some states.

An anonymous reader sent in the following media release from the Student Guild Council at the University of New South Wales, Australia. It outlines a proposal for a 'men's issue' of the magazine Tharunka, and outlines in explicit detail that "white, heterosexual male" perspectives are not considered legitimate for the publication. Read on for more details... Update: I have received a response and have updated information on the comment board.

A new study done by Statistics Canada was released yesterday, showing that men and women were abused at about equal rates for several kinds of violence. Canadian women's groups are up in arms about this, of course, and The Toronto Star printed this article which outlines the study's findings and the complaints of many feminists who obviously feel threatened to let go of any part of their "victim status". The report shows violence against women has been declining significantly, at a much higher rate than violence against men has been declining. Peter Dudley submitted the primary source for the study here.

Imo Bethere submitted this link to John Leo's latest Town Hall column, and writes, "Please read this entire article. The anti male stuff is such an ingrained part of our culture that few seem to question it. Good to see a conservative columnist exposing this travesty." I agree. Leo's a great asset to the men's movement, despite the fact that he doesn't seem keen on men's rights groups. He introduces a lot of people to the issues we work on, many who might not receive exposure to them otherwise. Update: an anonymous user sent in this link, from a 1998 issue of USNews. It's the exact same article. Interesting...

Fred comes out with guns blazing in his recent column from FredOnEverything. He gives a pretty scathing critique of feminism and the notion that boys are "dumber" than girls. To do the latter, he looks at the highest acheivers on standardized tests and finds that they are overwhelmingly male. This is indeed true, but I hope it won't overshadow the fact that the average boy (that is, most of them) is in need of a lot of help in school. His writing is pretty brazen, and I was a bit hesitant to post it to this site. However, I'm sure it will be of interest to some readers, but be warned: Fred is very conservative philosophically and politically.

Yet another round of Ed Bartlett's "Men Deserve to Live" action alerts has been released from Men's Health America. Please join us in promoting men's health by working to get the Men's Health Act of 2000 passed. Click "Read More..." to learn more.

The Toronto Star printed a fairly pro-male story recently, redefining fatherhood. It talks about how fathers want to and are getting more involved in their children's lives, and how little support there is for fathers, particularly in social services. Mention is made of the positive effects that involved dads have on their children's lives, and quotes are included from father's groups in Canada and the U.S. It's a good read.

Two men have been cleared of rape charges in a Massachusetts trial where it was discovered that tape recordings presented during the trial were fabricated. One of the 'vindicated' men was quoted as saying, "These allegations cost me my job and damaged my reputation. I have no faith in the legal system when an innocent guy can be put through all this." Welcome to the United States, where one is guilty until proven innocent, especially in cases such as this. The Taunton Daily Gazette printed the story here.

The Boston Globe printed this article about the rise in DNA paternity testing and its social effects. The tone of the article is almost alarmist, suggesting that thousands of children are going to end up in poverty if men are given the choice to decline parenthood to children that aren't theirs. I think most women know who the real father of their child is or could be, so what's the problem? If mothers are dishonest about naming the father of the child, it should be they who are seen as responsible for ruining support for the child.

Some more Aussie news: The Sydney Morning Herald reports in this article that New South Wales women's prisons are overflowing with women, and some Parliament members are calling for measures to be taken to stop women from being sent to prison. Fortunately, the government is not looking favorably on these suggestions, and is opposed to compromising justice standards. With a forty percent increase in female prisoners over the past six years, something's got to be done, but siphoning female criminals through hostel programs is certainly not fair to society. It's surprising to see how sympathetic the plight of women in this situation is portrayed, and contrast it to, for example, the situation of black men in American prisons.

More news on the male birth control pill: it could be here in 5 years, according to this article, by The New Zealand Herald. The article gives more info about the pill and the researchers working on it, and takes a few jabs at men as liars. Apparently it's believed that most women won't trust a man who says he's "on the pill". Perhaps it's because deep down they know how often women have defrauded men into paternity by lying about birth control usage?