Canada's Governor-General (our appointed head of state) made a visit to Afghanistan yesterday too visit the troops for Women's Day.

After the photo op she "jokingly" told the male soldiers that they should "get down on their knees and pay tribute to women soldiers".

http://www.metronews.ca/story.aspx?id=34774

The GG has a blog with forums that users can post comments on here:

http://www.citizenvoices.gg.ca/en/forums/

Don't bother looking for a men's section to leave a comment on. Only "women", "general" and "belonging" appear to apply. But there's plenty of threads started relating to men's issues in those.

This is a surprisingly balanced story (in a US newspaper) on India's new DV law.

I sent this mail to Ms Jaisingh who drafted this law, and is quoted in this news item. Let's see if she responds to my mail!

"Dear Ms Jaisingh:

I read your comments on India's DV law in this US
newspaper http://www.centredaily.com/220/story/35314.html This is what you say about the law Despite a few flaws, say lawyers like Ms. Jaisingh, crimes against women have always been dramatically higher than those against men. "The aim of this law isn't to go against men," she says. "It's to stop violence in homes."

Just two questions:

Full Story.

She had taken the team to two Final Fours, was 90-14 as LSU's head coach, and making "close to $400,000 a year" (plus post-season bonuses). Excerpt:

'BATON ROUGE, La. -- Pokey Chatman resigned as the head women's basketball coach at Louisiana State on Wednesday after the university became aware of an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship between Chatman and a former player on Chatman's team, sources told ESPN.com.

The university, the sources said, learned of the relationship from an employee within the basketball program. It was unclear when the alleged improper conduct took place. '

The news link is here. Ends with a slogan,
"We bear the double burden and that is why our day is also double."

Article here. Excerpt:

"Police said Lauren Jones, 24, of Sarver, Butler County, admitted to giving birth to the newborn in the basement of her mother's home, and then stabbing it in the throat afterward."

Ridiculous case about a woman suing after she was injured while holding a door open for someone. Excerpt:

'A woman who was injured while holding open the door for customers at the Edwardsville Pizza Hut filed a personal injury suit against the restaurant and the man to whom she extended the courtesy.

Amanda Verett claims she was walking out the door of Pizza Hut on Feb. 12, when she held open the door to allow herself and co-defendant Clarence Jackson to exit.

"Jackson grabbed the door in such a fashion that it caused the door to suddenly and sharply move," the complaint written by Edwardsville attorney Tom Maag states.

Verett claims she was injured as a result of the sudden and sharp movement of the door.'

Thanks to Deb C. for the heads-up on these two vids:

"Anti-male laws regarding DV":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-6ArB3Db9I

"Why men should not get married":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaF1dSDTw4k

What is so great about these vids is that they were made by a young man. It shows he is aware of these issues and isn't going to let himself get fooled.

Want to save these to hard-drive? The how-to is here.

In response to an inquiry, we copied the guidelines for submissions from the old site archives here to the Freq. Asked Questions menu item (look to the left under "Main Menu" for this link).

Also, please when submitting a question to MANN admins, use the admin@mensactivism.org email address. This allows us to respond directly to you and also to respond faster, as well as guaranteeing that the entire MANN admin team will get to read your note.

Yes that's right. Raping. R-A-P-I-N-G. Not "abusing", not "contributing to the sexual experience of a minor", not "making happy time with little Timmy", or one of the other ridiculous charges that come up when it's a female perpetrator. Article here. Excerpt:

"Marcia Amsterdam, 30, was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, according to a statement released by the special commissioner of investigation for the New York City School District"

The following excerpt is from Sen. Joe Biden's latest letter to Congress soliciting support to fully fund the 2008 VAWA budget, at over $1 BILLION!

"In 2005, Congress reauthorized the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which both continues successful and lifesaving programs and crafts new initiatives to end sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking. While the federal fight to end these crimes is over ten years old, our resolve must not fade. Nearly 25 percent of u.S. women report that they have been physically assaulted by an intimate partner during their lifetimes and 1 in 6 have been the victims of attempted or completed rape.

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health care services. In fiscal year 2008, we must remain committed to ending domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Accordingly, we urge you to fully fund the VAWA programs in the Department of Health and Human Services at the authorized level of $320 million and fund the Department of Justice VAWA programs at the authorized level of $683 million."

This year's congress will focus on the theme 'Boys and the Boy Crisis' Visit http://www.trueequality.com/ to read about it. Early registration for the congress, including the three pre-conference workshops to be given by Matt O'Connor of F4J, Glenn Sacks and Warren Farrell, can be done here. This year's congress is going to be great! Register early for savings, and block the July 13-14 weekend on your calendar.

We are pleased to announce a new men's activism YouTube channel: XYVideo.

XYVideo puts the spotlight on issues affecting men.

http://www.youtube.com/xyvideo

We'll continue to post up-to-date news stories on issues that affect men, equality, and men's rights. Subscribe to the channel, offer your story ideas and links, comment on the videos, and help spread the word!

Help keep the channel current. Submit videos and story ideas by sending a note to 'xyvideo' on YouTube.

All comments and discussion on the videos are welcome and encouraged. Inappropriate or inflammatory posts will be removed.

Thank you for subscribing. We look forward to building one more channel for men and men's rights around the world!

Yet another story involving a woman in a position of trust/power... Excerpt:

'A former security guard at a Colorado Springs juvenile detention center was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of having sex with a 14-year-old boy who was held there in 2005, police said.

Erin Hutchinson, 31, was a guard at the state-operated Zebulon Pike Youth Services Center for 4½ years before she was fired in July, according to Mary McGhee, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services.'

ABCNews is running a story about a woman who decided to go undercover as a man to discover how men really behave around each other. She discovered that (shockingly!) the differences between men and women were much more than skin deep.

Excerpt:

Her experience with these men turned some of her long-held perceptions about men being harsh and rejecting and women being warm and welcoming upside down.

"I mean, it was just the most wonderful rush to get these guys' handshakes, and I felt comfortable, I mean as comfortable as I could feel, right away. They just took me in … no questions asked," she said.

---

Ed. note: This is a reprint of a story ran in Jan., 2006. However, the content is so incisive, it bears repeating. If you missed it the first time, don't skip it now.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Many non-custodial parents across the country are in similar or worse circumstances after being ordered to make child support payments that are high relative to their income.
...
David L. Levy, chief executive officer of the Children's Rights Council, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit advocating "meaningful and continuing contact" between children and both parents, said shared custody arrangements are better than systems that create a "custodial" and a "non-custodial" parent.'