Langur Monkeys

By eliminating infants in the troop that are unlikely to be his own, a usurping male hastens the mother's return to sexual receptivity and reduces the time that will elapse before she bears his offspring.

Casey Anthony

While the media circus that surrounds the coverage of the Casey Anthony case continues to magnetize society, the issue of filicide and the sacred role of mothers is brought to the fore. Filicide is defined as the act of a parent killing his or her own child. Ms. Anthony's trial is currently in progress but may have already been adjudicated in the court of public opinion. Whether or not she is getting a fair trial remains to be seen. But the explosive bombshells emanating from courtroom testimony are damning. Up to this time, the public has been painted a portrait of a woman who had been viewed as an unfit parent. Is there any empathy for this embattled mom?

Perhaps, in the face of all of the fascination with this case of alleged filicide, the conscious public would seek to redirect its sights to the human face of this tragedy. The young and helpless are often the pawns in the grown-up rules of warfare. They do not possess the ability to chart the course of their lives and fend for their survival. It is the age of filicide and unfortunately it is the offspring that are the prey.