Tony Delgado directed me to this article from Excite News which is about a man who was convicted for domestic violence because he accidentally knocked off his wife's glasses while driving. His wife didn't want to press charges, but the police went ahead and did so anyway. He had to be pardoned by the Ohio governor to avoid being deported from the country. Tony writes "The same reasons that immigration offices are trying to use to avoid deportation of women are now used to enforce deportation of men. This doesn't surprise me, but unfortunately it is yet one more example of how biased American society is becoming against men. Apparently police departments in our country must think that women are sacred and untouchable, not even touchable by mistake."

The New York Law Journal is reporting that a group of employees at IBM who worked in a particular "clean room" and now have cancer are suing IBM and the manufacturers of several chemicals used in the clean room for damages. All of the men are under the age of 30, and two of their coworkers have already died of cancer. The article quotes the lawyer defending the men as saying, "What makes [this case] unique is that this is the first time anyone has taken on the computer industry." For the sake of men's health and to decry the disposability of men working at dangerous jobs, be it in a coal mine or a "clean room" with toxic chemicals, I hope this suit succeeds and makes a statement (and they don't just take a settlement out of court).

This announcement from the Men's Health America list states that an international journal on the topic of men's health is being formed. "The Men's Studies Press will launch a new multidisciplinary and multicultural academic journal in the winter of 2002 devoted to the subject of men's health. The International Journal of Men's Health will publish peer-reviewed papers addressing all aspects of men's health." There are editorial positions open for the journal, and contact information is provided in the announcement.

Rand writes "Here's a review of a book that shatters the myths and feminist propaganda that women did not play a role in slave ownership or were more compassionate to their slaves. Click here to read the review." Honest research into this part of history will eventually force feminists to admit that women have been just as tyrannical and unjust as men through the times.

This is both incredible and disturbing...a 14 year-old, very articulate boy from Canada has created a web site about how divorce and the family court system harms children, including a letter he wrote to a Court Justice. He is also keeping an on-line diary of his hunger strike, which he started on January 1. If this is real, I'd imagine the local media must be covering the story. I'm in the process of getting in touch with the boy and will try to find. out. Update: This is legit, folks - the Calgary Herald had a front page story yesterday that can be read here.

Recently a father from Britain lost a court case where he was forced to pay for his teenage daughter's tuition to attend one of the most expensive private schools in the country (the father was quite wealthy, and was paying for her to go to a cheaper private school, but did not want to pay more). It was recently discovered that the Child Support Agency recommended that Nicole, the daughter, sue her father for the money, rather than having her mother sue so she wouldn't have to pay legal expenses. The UK Sunday Times has the story here. This is probably the most direct and indefensible attack on the family I've ever seen by a government agency. I hope this stirs up some controversy in Britain, and gets some more talking going over here.

Bill Kuhl wrote in about his thoughts regarding Montel Williams and his talk show. Bill believes that Williams has generally been an open minded and supportive public figure for men's issues by the way he handles gender on his program. I'm not too familiar with talk shows personally, but I don't recall ever hearing about pro-male issues (including Choice for Men) being discussed on any other TV talk shows (with one or two rare exceptions). Perhaps his program is targeted to more male viewers, which is probably a significant difference from other talk shows. Click "Read More" below to check out Bill's thoughts, and feel free to express your own opinions in the comment board for this story.

Marc Angelucci wrote an article for UCLA's Daily Bruin on the topic of men's health and the amount of neglect the NIH has given it. It's an excellently written piece with tons of statistics. He even put a plug in for this web site. Thanks Marc!

This article from the Australian Sydney Morning Herald talks about the wide discrepancy in causes of death between men and women in the 25 to 39 year old age category. The article seemed like a positive one if it weren't for the pervasive highlighting of the increased rates of death for unmarried men. While I know this information is true, the tone of the article almost suggests to me that the author may have certain intentions by writing it (i.e, to perpetuate the myth that men must have the "civilizing" influence of a wife to be healthy). Still, it has some useful statistics in it from Australia.

I came upon this news and opinion article which explains various methods of male contraception that have been tried and are being tested. It also explains how the fear of lawsuits and other factors has lowered the size of the potential market for a men's pill in the short term. While it was written last April, it's still an informing read, so please take a look at it.

An Anonymous Reader submitted this article by Cathy Young in today's Boston Globe. In it, Young discusses the recent Massachusetts court decision to expand the "battered woman syndrome" defense to allow victimized women to kill others (in this case her son) and get away with it. She gives examples of other cases where fathers are given harsher sentences for not stopping the abuse of their children by the mother, and also double standards in drug sentencing for accomplices based on whether the person is male or female.

Kathleen Parker's latest column in Jewish World Review is on the topic of the boy who is facing criminal charges for slapping a 13 year old girl's behind. Parker dug up some new facts which I found interesting: "This time, everyone's a little bit wrong and a little bit right.
What's wrong is the assumption that the offending boy is an
innocent...This is his second brush with a girl's behind and his fifth with the New Mexico DCYF...What's right about the case is appropriate concern that this boy could end up spending two years in juvenile detention for what amounts to aggressive bad manners and a history suggesting that he needs more help than punishment."

I received this press release from the Men's Health America list, stating that a new study on sexually transmitted diseases sponsored by the NIH is excluding black males. Ed Bartlett is calling this "Tuskgee II," referring to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study which denied treatment for almost 400 black men. The list posting includes an address to write to and protest this racial and gender discrimination.

Marc Angelucci writes "The Washington Post repeated the wage gap lie again, saying women are "second class citizens" and that they "earn three-quarters of what men earn for every hour worked and . . . hold only 5 percent of top-level jobs." Of course, we also know men make over 90% of workers in 24 of the 25 Worst Jobs in the Jobs-Related Almanac (factoring pay, stress, danger, etc.). For further refutation of this myth, Scott Garman prepared some info here, which includes a link to a Detroit News editorial. Some have already responded by writing the Washington Post. I hope they print."

Marc Angelucci writes "On Sunday, 1/7, I petitioned at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Burbank, California for a men's studies book section, like the one which exists at Borders Bookstore. After three days of petitioning I've got about 800 signatures. But on Sunday, after one hour (and 60 signatures), I was asked to leave. Even though two managers at the Burbank store gave me written permission to petition, the national store in New York called the Burbank store and told a higher up manager (John) to get security and make me leave. Evidently they don't like their customers expressing their views about the store's poor coverage of men's issues in their gender studies section. I'll be back next week at another Barnes & Noble bookstore in Los Angeles where there is a public sidewalk outside the front entrance (rather than in a private mall) so I can assert a 1st Amendment right to speak based on the public forum doctrine. I'll mail copies of the signatures to B&N when I have 1,000 of them, and for each 1,000 thereafter. I'm averaging 250 signatures a day, but I'm alone and very busy. At this rate it could take forever, but I'm not stopping. A few letters and phone calls to them always helps, though." Please click "Read More" below to read where to send your letters, e-mails, or phone calls to.