Here's some more news on the draft topic: As this CS Monitor story from April tells us, women might be subjected to the draft as well as men. At least seven out of ten women oppose being drafted, and if it does go into effect, "the Swedish Constitution would have to be changed, since it now forbids gender discrimination except in the cases of military service or affirmative-action measures." However, the "quote of the week" goes to Annica Kronsell who said: "I think even the women who are very involved in equality issues have taken it a little for granted that men are involved in that sector...This is a little different because it's arguing not to have a right but to have a duty, an obligation."

The organization Feminists for Free Expression has publicly denounced the new Sexual Misconduct Policy enacted at Columbia University, saying, "As feminists, we of course applaud the idea of taking sexual assault very seriously and providing for its punishment. But in reading your 'Policy and Disciplinary Procedure,' we are dismayed by provisions that infantilize students by streamlining away both the protections for the accused and the accountability of the accuser" You can read their official statement here.

Lawrence Hellmann of the National Congress for Fathers and Children wrote a great book review of Warren Farrell's new book, Father and Child Reunion: How to Bring the Dads We Need to the Children We Love. Click "Read More" below to read the review and find out how to get a copy of the book. This would also be a great book to buy as a gift for family or friends! (or social workers, or politicians, or ...)

IHF sent in this article from the UK Times, bearing good news: that paid paternity leave equivalent to what mothers receive is expected to become law in the UK soon. From the article: "Britain now languishes towards the bottom of the European league in conditions for parental leave and the Green Paper will make clear that the status quo is not an option. Mr Byers has said that one of the five key objectives of the paper is to 'widen opportunities for fathers to play a greater role in home life.'"

The Washington Times printed this article about a false accusations case that the man is still serving time for. Apparently his ex-wife took the children and fled to New Zealand (illegally), confounding further investigation of his case. It's a situation in which the testimony of his children was obviously fabricated, and guided by the mother. It's a depressing story that has no closure.

Bill Kuhl submitted this St. Lois Post-Dispatch article and writes, "Did you know that women are allowed to serve on draft boards? The article gives a brief recent history of the draft. Did you know it was Carter who reinstated selective service registration? The main point of the article is that they are hunting for volunteers to staff draft boards now that board members terms are up. I can't help but wonder (perhaps
it's wishful thinking) that people see the draft as so blatantly dicriminatory that they don't want to be associated with it. It's a good, informative article."

Jim Castelli writes, "In this Boston Globe article, attorney Donnalyn Kahn joins ranks of female lawyers "choosing" to leave the insane work demands of Boston law firms. Ms Kahn describes the "harassment" of women who "choose" to work less than 60/70 hours a week. Over the last 30 years we have heard of the gender pay gap where women supposedly earn a fraction of men's salaries. Perhaps the pay gap is the result of women "choosing" to forego the life-shortening demands of a career which expects the sacrifice of life for the benefits of money. The real harassment in Ms Kahn's former work place is not the policies that caused her to leave but the views of society that force men to stay. At a time when the gender life gap shows that women now outlive men by 7 years, the question of the effects of work demands on men needs to be addressed. When will men get the same choice as Ms. Kahn?"

Deborah Watkins, President of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of NCFM is doing a project to "adopt" homeless men in the area. If you'd like to help contribute to the efforts of this group, click "Read More" below to read Deborah's message and info on who to contact.

The Ottawa Citizen printed a good letter recently by Joe Rade, who counters claims that Dave Brown's recent editorial on Bill 117 was overzealous. It's important to recognize what little public dialogue is going on about this law, and to bring it to people's attention. In today's fast-paced world, it is easy to let controversial issues slip by without comment. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. " (Edmund Burke)

This controversial article by Warren Farrell tells us how women's oppression has been analogized to black slavery, but how it is also true that men could be seen as "niggers" on the same level, even though the term has been used to imply a one-sided oppressiveness. As Warren puts it, "But what none of us realized was how each sex was the other's slave in different ways." Read it and judge the truth of it for yourself.

Richard Bygrave submitted his web site where you can read about the frustrating but all-too-typical problems he's had with the family court system in Canada. I'd like to see more dads putting their stories on the web, to create a kind of historical record of the injustice many men are dealing with today. Thanks for coming forward to publicly tell your story, Richard.

I received incredibly good news from Ed Bartlett of Men's Health America. Due to pressure from activists challenging the text of an NIH fact sheet that read, "Historically, research studies were conducted
only with men" has now been changed to remove that misrepresentation! You can view the updated sheet here. As Ed put it, "We have just landed a stone in Goliath's eye." Great job to Ed and his team! Now we can go a step further and try to get the NIH to actually change the underrepresentation of men in health research.

I was forwarded this message written by Warren Farrell: "...This Monday, December 4, I will be debating feminist attorney Liz Schneider before a live audience...It will be taped, on NPR, meaning, of course, a feminist moderator. Their audience will be at the Civic Center, from 7:30-9:00pm...Schneider favors clemency for women who kill husbands and say they were abused. My question: Do you know of any men's issues people, men who have been victims of domestic violence, or domestic violence against men advocates who could be audience participants? If so, would you ask them to contact Sheryl Flowers, the producer, at (202) 879-6784 or email her at sflowers@appcpenn.org? I have been assured by her she will accommodate the people representing men's perspectives."

According to a University of Michigan study, "men who lived in urban areas were 62 percent more likely to die than men who lived in suburbs, small towns or rural areas" What's interesting are the race and gender comparisons in this article. However, this study does seem a bit inconclusive. I believe we need to keep an open mind on this until more scientific studies are done. Scott's note: While I didn't see any direct gender comparisons in the article, the way it was worded suggested to me that women do not have a corresponding rise in mortality rate from city living - and this is why this is most newsworthy.

John L. writes "I found on USA Today this story from a London AP news release. In connection with World AIDS Day, the following statement was released: "The United Nations' message for the 13th World AIDS Day was that men must take responsibility for their behavior to help stop the spread of the deadly virus.'...'Men can make a particular difference - by being more caring, by taking fewer risks and by facing the issue of AIDS head-on,' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said." It appears men alone must take "responsibility" for their actions, the implication being that men are responsible somehow for this epidemic. The article also later singles out men as being disease vectors, while ignoring that virtually all infections of babies are transmitted from the mother, and that women can infect men from having intercourse as well. Statistics indicate that the majority of HIV carriers are women, and women are as likely as men to be unaware of the infection. Seems like more scapegoating of men to me."