I've come across this e-groups message asking a very important question, one that goes right to the heart of the men's movement: namely at what point do boys become "non innocent" and therefore expendable? And why is half of humanity left out of that infamous saying "women and children only"? It's quite a question, and I doubt we'll find an easy answer.

Mexican legislators have reversed a law which would lower sentences for men convicted of rape if said rape was "provoked." This story on nj.com fills in the details. Although I, personally, disagree with most rape provocation theories (I control my penis), this article does prove that women's groups hold a tremendous amount of power all over the world, and that lawmakers will cave for whatever their demands may be.

We've missed announcing the past couple editions of Schuett's DesertLight Journal, but this is to let you know that issue number 12 has been released and can be read on-line here. The e-zine covers a couple of interesting editorials related to the terrorist attacks last Tuesday.

Comedian Paula Poundstone has been relieved of three counts of "lewdness" charges against her and has pled no contest to child endangerment, according to this report on Excite News. She's been slapped with five years probation (she could have received 13 years and four months in prison). She will also not be allowed to care for any more foster children, and the two foster children previously under her care will not be returned to her. She may regain custody of her adoptive children, however.

Catherine Harris wrote an article about choice for men that was printed on the RITRO (Real Insight Through Raw Opinion) web site. She discusses equality, what it means, and how when it comes to reproductive rights, men and women don't have equal rights. "Men have no reproductive rights, and for women that fight for true equality this fact should shoot up a red flare. Equality is not about domination, which is what many women are looking for. Equality is about having equal rights along with the equal responsibilities." It's great to see more articles like this coming from women.

This column by The Guy Code's "Commando Dad" is a heart-wrenching look at a divorced father's pain as he attempts to reach out to his eldest son, who will soon be leaving for bootcamp. Commando Dad chronicles the letters and e-mails never acknowledged, and one horrible moment when his own son tells him he has "nothing to say to you." It's a gut-twisting look at what befalls man after divorce. It's sad and depressing, but a must-read.

I added a new poll today, one I've been meaning to add for a while which was suggested to me by Rams. Hopefully, it will help people pause and think about their answer, and whether they're happy about it and want to change it. I know I was pretty disappointed about my own answer when I stopped to think about it.

After some significant editing, the final versions of the domestic violence awareness flyers have been posted to Mensactivism.org. Download them, distribute them, and do something to help raise awareness of abused men! Click here for the flyers. Update: The Q&A flyer was updated around 9 PM Eastern Time on 9/17 - please download the new version if you grabbed them earlier!

Mike Franco of The Fatherhood Coalition wrote an excellent letter countering the "deadbeat dad" smokescreen, it's hard hitting and well written. Go to Massnews letters and scroll to the end of the page and read his letter titled "Column in MetroWest Was Wrong" the last paragraph is a real "I felt that from over here" moment in my opinion, you'll understand when you read it.

This commentary on prison rape by the National Catholic Review may represent the first time media has acknowledged the existence of Human Rights Watch's recent report on male rape in prisons. The author of the commentary is horrified by the report. By allowing rape to go on, the “correctional” authorities ensure that prisoner violence is contained within the cells. Frustrated prisoners are permitted to release aggression on condition that they direct it against other inmates, not the authorities. That the victims, who comprise as much as 20 percent of 2 million inmates held in U.S. prisons and jail, live in perpetual fear is also conducive to control. Divide and conquer is the name of the game; the fact that it amounts to horrendous violations of human rights does not really interest the prison authorities.

Obviously, the media has been focused pretty exclusively on the terrorist attacks against the U.S, and consequently, news on men's issues has been pretty sparse. Thus the fewer number of postings per day on this web site. But, I have an important announcement coming up that the domestic violence awareness flyers will be released on Monday!

This cautious article from InteliHealth describes some research recently that is showing that boys are entering puberty sooner than they were in the past, with black boys even earlier. The article mentions a couple of potential flaws with the research, but suggests that this is definitely a valid issue to look into. As boys enter puberty sooner, they are at higher risk for some kinds of hormonally influenced diseases, such as testicular cancer. It would also suggest that sex education should begin sooner as well.

Disturbing news about Ritalin as this quote tells us "a recently concluded study at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) not only confirms the similarities of cocaine and Ritalin, but finds that Ritalin is more potent than cocaine in its effect on the dopamine system" there's alot more reading in the article for your interest. If you have trouble reading it, copy and paste it into notepad if need be. On a side note don't forget to check out Changing children into drug addicts? where this issue is continued in a similar style.

Tom Golden from Webhealing.com pointed me to a magnificent essay written by Sheridan Hill. Hill writes about her discovery and acceptance of domestic violence against men and women's violence. As a self-described feminist since she was 14 years old, Hill was able to openly examine the research and statistics about DV and learned that the feminist doctrine about DV was incredibly harmful to men. Toward the end of the article she also acknowledged the problems boys are facing in school. I was struck by how useful this kind of testimony is to getting the message out to feminists, and hope that more women will come forward and speak out like this.

I found the following two articles from Wired News off of the Slashdot site. I think they are certainly of interest to us, as the men's movement is quite dependent on the internet and secure communications will be very important to us. This Wired article describes how Senator Judd Gregg from NH wants a global ban on encryption systems that don't have a "back door" for the government to use to monitor your communications. In another Wired article, a bill allowing FBI wiretaps of a person's internet communications without a warrant has just been passed by the Senate! What we will inevitably see in the upcoming months are blows to people's civil liberties which are unprecedented in our country's history. Click Read More for some of my thoughts on this.