This New York Times article talks about the reasons that people divorce. It shatters misconceptions such as men initiating divorce most often or women leaving primarily to escape abusive relationships, and reveals the deepest link: child custody laws. The author discovered that women initiate divorce more often than men do because they don't fear they will lose their children in the divorce.

A woman from California gave her 10 year old son to someone she met on the internet because she "could no longer cope with his misbehavior." A police officer involved in the case is quoted as saying that the problems were "really typical 10-year-old stuff." Now that normal behavior of boys is becoming inconvenient for modern parents, and drugs like Ritalin are so popular to tranquilize them with, should it be a surprise that some people are just not willing to deal with boys at all? Click here for the Associated Press story.

US News has another great column by John Leo, where he talks about the crisis we face regarding young boys and education. He makes references to the research in Christina Hoff-Sommers' latest book, The War Against Boys, and talks about recent events such as the new sexual harassment guidelines set up in the Manhattan Chelsea school district, which apply to kids as young as 4. As usual, Leo puts out another great pro-male article.

ninemsn news from Australia printed this story that a female social worker, 46, had sex with one of her 15 year old clients, and when they were caught on one occasion, later filed a false claim of sexual assault. Kind of a sick irony, considering it was the boy who was raped by definition in this circumstance.

I'm proud to announce the second feature article posted to The Men's Activism News Network (really the first since my major public announcement). Ronald Burke has written an excellent essay on the topic of male reproductive rights, focusing on the Constitutional issue of equal protection. Click "Read More..." below to read the entire essay. And feel free to send me any essays you've written for future features!

No, this article has nothing to do with relationship or sex tips for men. It's an intro to a USA Today article by Gregg Zoroya, which looks at male roles in some recent movies that have received positive responses from women. It talks about what women find admirable and attractive in these portrayals of masculinity. It sounds to me like women want some pretty idealistic and selfless men. Could they perhaps be expecting more of men than of themselves?

The State Council of France has revoked the license required for the new movie "Rape Me" to be shown in French theaters. The plot is described as "a kind of hard-core 'Thelma and Louise' in which two young women very graphically sleep and murder their way across France." The decision to revoke the film's license was made after family-values campaigners lobbied the State Council and complained that the film was inappropriate for minors 16-18, while the film was only rated for children over 16. ABCnews has the report here.

Sportserver printed this article which says that Fred Lane's wife, who fatally shot him just a few days ago, had also fired a gun in their home two weeks before the incident, and that Lane's father told him to "get the hell out of there now". The article also discusses other disputes that Lane and his wife had been having. This is certainly a tragedy that sheds light on the complexity of domestic violence.

According to this Associated Press story, President Clinton has commuted the sentences of 4 women convicted and doing time for drug crimes. The reason for doing so: the women received much harsher sentences than the men which were also involved. Now, it does seem to be true that in this case these women were given unfair sentences (by comparison to the men's sentences), but you can almost feel an uprising of a new feminist myth: that women receive harsher punishment than men for the same crimes. Please do what you can to head off this myth as soon as possible; efforts made now will make a much bigger impact than if we let it slide for awhile.

In a bizarre bit of news, a female student has admitted in court to holding Germaine Greer (a well-known feminist) captive in Greer's home and harassing her. The punishment? Two years of probation. I don't think I need to raise the obvious question: what would have happened if the student were male? I'll leave that to your own imagination. An ABCnews report of the court verdict can be found here.

Edward Bartlett from Men's Health America has drawn up an action plan to get Rep. Randy Cunningham's Men's Health Act of 2000 passed. Click "Read More..." below to read the action plan and find out how to sign up to receive action updates via e-mail. As Ed puts it, It's incredibly important that we get this bill passed, for one simple reason: Men Deserve to Live.

This Salon article by Cathy Young covers an interesting topic - women who are actively fighting for father's rights. Young tells stories about second wives, mothers who feel children should have the right to spend more time with their fathers, and other women who are interested in obtaining equality for fathers in family court. Kind of long, but full of interesting info about how some women are fighting for father's rights.

The Washington Times printed this article a few days ago, which reports that some researchers on divorce and family issues recommend that a reduction of the divorce rate should be addressed as a national issue. With suggestions on how to reduce divorce, they list many benefits to society that may result. It's hard to deny that divorce today in the U.S. is often done too readily, and particularly without regard to the effects on children. An interesting read.

Indianapolis Colts running back Fred Lane has been fatally shot by his wife in a domestic dispute. Despite the fact that police have indeed determined that it was Deidra Lane who shot him, they have not as of this posting pressed charges. Anyone who cares about domestic violence against men should be up in arms, and writing letters to their local newspaper. You can read the Associated Press story here. News submitted by c4m.

The UK Times reports that a man who was accused of rape had the charges thrown out of court after producing tapes of phone conversations with his accuser where she pleaded for him to renew their relationship. Read the article here. The details of the investigation are disturbing - the police expressed no interest in hearing the tapes, and when they finally did so, continued to prosecute him. He also lost his job because of the accusation.