I used to respect Christopher Wanjek's articles, until I read this one in support of male circumcision. What about "My body, my choice" for men as well, Christopher? Wanjek also makes the false analogy between the men's movement and a white rights club in college. What a jerk!

Christopher Wanjek's email address is wanjek-at-yahoo.com in case you want to write to him about what you think of his article.

Steve

Last Sunday, KVCR in San Bernardino, CA aired Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories.

Many of you will remember that when this film was aired last October, its blatant bias resulted in a veritable firestorm of criticism for PBS, and condemnation from both the PBS and the CPB ombudsmen.

For those who need a reminder, a history of the controversy is included below and also found on RADAR's site here.

Last December, the CPB ombudsman found that the producer's attempt to justify excluding certain interviewees, "amounts to a plea of guilty to violating the fairness and balance standards of PBS."

Considering this, one wonders why a PBS station would choose to air this film now? Three possible explanations come to mind:

Apparently, for certain women of a certain orientation, there can be nothing worse than becoming... male! Or, at least looking and acting like one.

So much for the whole "acceptance of differences" that gets touted from some quarters, eh? Looks like exercises in mind-broadening and learning tolerance appear to be necessary for more than just a couple types of person. Read The Trouble When Jane Becomes Jack.

Documentary about the allegations of ritual child abuse on the remote Orkney island of South Ronaldsay in 1991, for which social workers were severely criticised. Fathers speak about their experiences. DVD this program and show it to everyone you know.

I guess the poor turnout at last month’s 40th Anniversary bash (only 800 of N.O.W.’s alleged 500,000 members showed up -.001%) has made Kim Gandy pay more attention to "new" media. A recent N.O.W. website "Take Action" blurb worries that –"There are already many feminist voices in the blogosphere, but many of the blogs are written by ultra-conservative men with narrow perspectives." Fem-bloggers are advised – "If someone blogs about feminism being dead, or NOW being washed up, write a comment about why this is far from the truth and why you are proud to be a NOW activist!" Sounds like a self-esteem crisis, and creeping paranoia have invaded N.O.W.'s HQ.

Well a small blurb appears at UPI regarding the fact the suicide rate is 3 times the national average for white males. Just imagine the uproar if women's suicide rates were higher. The reason cited:

"Suicide experts are unable to pinpoint an exact cause for the higher rate but some believe white males lack the resilience and coping mechanisms that women and other ethnic groups have."

SO WAIT, ALL OF A SUDDEN WHITE MALES ARE WEAKER. AND HERE I BELIEVED THEM WHEN THEY TOLD ME WHITE MALES WERE THE MOST POWERFUL GROUP -- HENCE THE REASON WHY THEY OPPRESS EVERYONE...

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Ed. note: Of interest: the comments people are leaving around the story on the UPI page. Apparently, plenty of folks see through the foolishness.

A group I had never known of before, the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, reports here about a shooting at a Farmington, Missouri high school last year related to the bullying and taunting of Joshua Minks. Minks was subjected to teasing on a regular basis because of his appearance, and one day last October brought a shotgun to school, firing it into the ceiling when he was confronted by three students (fortunately no one was physically injured). GPAC reports an interesting study by the California State Schools Coalition that "27% of students reported harassment for not being masculine or feminine enough and over half said that school was unsafe for boys who weren't as masculine as other boys."

The latest is here. Apparently, murder and fraud weren't enough; they had to kill their victims more slowly than necessary.

Does one ever hear an older male murderer referred to in press as a "murdering grandpa"?

Here’s a case to compare and contrast with the Winkler murder. Let’s see how the press, society, and the judicial system handle this. Will there be inquires about an abusive wife or of his suffering from depression that led to his actions? I think not! Will there be a rallying of support and people minimizing his responsibility? I think not! According to the hospital director, “He should commit suicide.”

Article Here

Check out the new look Men's Links. It has had a face-life and lots of great new content. Content changes every week, so check back regularly. If you have any suggestions for links, please let them know.

MANN Admins received notices from the author of these two pieces, Teri Stoddard, for our information. Great pieces, both-- thanks Teri!

Prison Break-in Averted: Real Fathers For Justice Downes Free, Photos

John Murtari: Man, Son, Father... Peace-loving Activist

Use of Circumcision to Fight AIDS Epidemic Is Debated

Mutilation over education... always some excuse for MGM, isn’t there? You can be sure if it was so much as hinted at in any way that FGM in any way reduced the spread of any disease, there'd be hell to pay for whoever wrote it, true or not.

There seems to be no end to the desire among certain civilizations to see people, sometimes men, sometimes women, sexually mutilated. I wonder what the genesis of this sickness is?

E.B. Strong, executive director of Gang Out in Columbia, said he has seen increased violence among groups of young women in the Midlands. “I think young ladies are trying to prove they are just as bad as males and are attacking males,” he said.

YOUNG LADIES?! AHH, GIMMEE MORE OF THAT OL' CHIVALRY...

Story here.

I was absoltely horrified when I read this story (search on "'x'files" to see the post). I never realized how the legal system and vindictive women can so easily destroy a man's life. If there was one positive aspect, was this woman realized her mistake, and understood how she was manipulated. She is now taking action from preventing the same injustice from destroying her brother's life.

Also of interest: An Open Letter To Women In The Domestic Violence Movement

From The Toronto Star:
"Since we have women on our bench, we have nicer pictures on the walls, better food in our dining room, a cake for every judge's birthday, yoga and, recently, a piano," McLachlin said in a speech at the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting.

On a personal level, women judges could make for "happier courts," McLachlin said yesterday.
[SNIP]
For at least two decades, Canada has defined merit as the ability to do the job, McLachlin said. As a result, the pool of prospective judges has widened, with more women, academics and lawyers with limited courtroom experience becoming judges, she said.

So, Chief justice Beverley McLachlin thinks that the important role that women play in the justice system is to make sure that the court houses get pretty pictures in the hallways and birthday cakes for judges; oh and a piano, can't forget the piano. BUT, she also mentions that Canada hires inexpirienced women judges [READ: INCOMPOTENT] over males (who if hired, must be even more incompotent then the females so as not to show them up) who have much greater in court experience.