Vic writes "This is one of several articles in British Newspapers today that announce Labour's plans to introduce female-only shortlists in choosing MPs to feature in British Parliament as a means of "positive discrimination" against men to bump up the numbers of women in parliament. Is there any such thing as "positive discrimination"? - I'd like to know what others think, and would it lead to less able MPs standing in parliament? Is this cynical Blairite vote-catching in the same way Labour has a Minister for Women but not for men?"

Tonight's Mensactivism.org chat will be a continuation of last week's discussion on the male-only military draft. Based on the great turnout we had last week and the depth of the discussions, this topic is worthy of another chat session. To participate, click here for our on-line chat page and log in tonight, 10/3 at 9:30 PM Eastern Time.

Cheddah submitted this Boston Globe article and writes "A prenuptial agreement might not be upheld because the woman may have been under "unfair" circumstances when she signed it - MA Probate and Family Court Judge Catherine Sabaitis ruled that the agreement was not fair and reasonable, noting that Susan DeMatteo did not fully explore her options. ''I think this is a pivotal case for prenuptial agreements,'' said Mark T. Smith, one of Marty DeMatteo's lawyers. ''If this decision is upheld, then it is essentially going to make prenuptial agreements unenforceable.''" The ex-wife is complaining that her $35k/year alimony, house, car, and other benefits aren't satisfactory. The ex-husband also didn't earn his wealth - it was inherited. I think this is an obvious case of greed to the extreme.

Trudy Schuett's excellent DesertLight Journal e-zine has reached issue 13, and can be read at this link. As October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the focus is on the domestic abuse of men, with several interesting essays. Trudy's also been heading a campaign to get the media to cover battered men - click here for a letter template and how you can participate.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and, as many of us suspected, male victims are being ignored. This Web site focuses on Domestic Violence Awareness month as a time to acknowledge only female victims. This organization may benefit from a little enlightenment by some of our folks who are familiar with domestic violence against men.

This press release documents Australia's first 24-hour helpline for men. The helpline has been established to help men cope with stress, depression, and other problems. "If this service saves one life, connects one child with its father or better, helps families deal with separation, it will be extremely worthwhile," Mr Anthony said.

This article in the Moscow Times reports that DNA paternity testing is becoming a common solution for everything from visa applications to custody battles. The article also hints at how common paternity fraud may be in Russia. As strange as it may seem, some Western studies suggest that one out of every 10 children is not the biological offspring of the man officially recognized as the father.

Scott Haltzman, MD writes "Felice J. Freyer, medical journalist for the Providence Journal, interviewed me about my perspective on men's role in relationships. As a psychiatrist specializing in husbands, I have long felt that men are held to a female standard in marriage. Freyer states: "As Haltzman sees it, men are naturally--indeed biologically--inclinded to express themselves in action rather than words." The journalist, on the other hand, reports the men she knows "have trouble shutting up.""

This surprising article on Excite News claims that men who snack heavily on calcium foods like cheese, ice cream, and milk, may be at greater risk of developing prostate cancer. A high calcium intake, particularly from dairy products, may suppress blood levels of vitamin D. Besides serving as an important nutrient, vitamin D is a hormone that may protect against prostate cancer by preventing the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, Dr. June M. Chan, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. Other researchers say evidence for the link between calcium and prostate health is debatable.

This men's health article on Excite News claims that Tai Chi Chuan may be helpful in boosing older men's circulatory systems. "From the perspective of health promotion, Tai Chi is a suitable exercise for the elderly," Wang said. "It is a low-technology approach to conditioning that can be implemented with minimal cost and can be promoted easily in the elderly population owing to its slow and structured movements."

This column on Excite News supports changing the male-only status of the U.S. Selective Service. This author portrays The Draft as discriminatory against women rather than discriminatory against men (which I feel it is). Otherwise, he makes several good points about looking at the differences between individuals, not the differences between men and women. But there are differences within any group of men, and there are situations that certain men shouldn't be in. Not all men, simply by virtue of being men, are suited for any and every position in the military. Decisions about which men are suited for which position often are made on a case-by-case basis; it should be the same for women.

After one fertility ethicist reported that it is OK for couples to choose the sex of their children under certain circumstances, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine issued a statement saying the ehticist's comments were taken out of context and that ASRM does not support sex selection. This story on Excite News says, however, that fertility clinics are already using the previous statement as a "go-ahead" to offer sex selection services to the public.

This story on Excite News reports that a new study on gender and ethnic stereotypes in education prove that such stereotypes can influence a child's performance in class and on tests. Surprisingly, both boys and girls between 8-10 years of age performed better when they were told that their sex was "better" than the other. Researchers chalk this up to that specific age group, when each sex fears "cooties" from the other.

Under certain circumstances, says a fertility ethicist, it is OK for a couple to use invitro fertilization to choose the sex of their child. According to this article on Excite News, the ethicists say it's OK as long as the couple already has children of the opposite sex. Other ethicists were surprised by the decision, calling the selection of sex the start of a discrimination slippery slope which will end in selection of color, intelligence, etc. In other words, a lack of diversity.

Neil Steyskal sent me this USA Today article, which announces that about 80 percent of the people who died in the WTC attacks, particularly those who died in the building, were men. "Eight of 10 were men, the average age was 40, and many were parents. "We saw the deaths of a lot of young fathers and fathers with young children," says David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, a think tank on family issues. "It makes the whole thing that much more tragic."" Indeed it does.