CJ writes "This is a sad story about a man who killed himself in a police holding cell, hours after he was charged with rape. He has since been cleared of the crime through DNA evidence. Any man that has been charged with trumped-up or blatantly false charges (be it of rape, DV, in family court, etc.) knows how a mere allegation trumps all of your civil rights and opens the floodgates for a nightmarish experience in the name of victim advocacy. Lately it seems that rape convicts are regularly getting cleared of their sentences, like the group of kids that were held responsible NYC Central Park rape. One has to wonder how many men's lives have been ruined with false charges."

A 17-year-old male has been convicted of forcible rape in California. What was his offense? A 17-year-old female was engaging in consensual sex with him. He allegedly continued to have sex for a minute and a half after she said, "I should be going now" and "I need to go home." Note that, by all accounts, she never said that she wanted to stop having sex.

If he had said, "I should be going now" and "I need to go home," and they then continued to have sex, would she have been convicted of rape?

Also note the article's statements "In California, for example, the Legislature and the state's courts have been revising the definition of rape," and "Among other changes, women sometimes were required to physically resist to be a rape victim, or their allegations had to be corroborated." Does this mean that no corroborating evidence is required to obtain a rape conviction against a man? Scott's note: Thanks also to Willj and Luek for submitting this story.

It seems some people in Australia are actually concerned about the status of males in the nation's educational institutions. Peter West, head of the University of Western Sydney's research group on men and families, has stated that "luring more men to teaching may require 'altering the application of a discrimination act' as well as better recruitment and retention strategies."

The Independent Education Union has responded in part with the statement, "Male teachers with traditional views on masculinity may actually be confirming and colluding with the macho culture, not challenging it."

Perhaps only men, who preach that maleness throughout history has been pure evil and that femaleness throughout history has been pure good, should be allowed to have jobs as teachers. That'll sure help boys in school. (sarcasm off)

Steve writes "I will host this week's MANN chat, Wednesday night (1/8),
starting at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, at the usual location. The
topic for this chat will be 'Starting the Year Right: Simple Acts of
Activism.'   2003 is here already.  Let's start the year
with some successful activism.  At this week's chat, we'll discuss
simple but effective ways we can make the world a better place for men
and, ultimately, for all creatures.  We'll generate ideas for
actions you can accomplish in the next week to advance men's issues.
 Instead of developing elaborate plans that take years to execute,
let's see what we can do in one week.  Join us at this week's MANN
chat to share your ideas for some speedy, effective activism.
 Feel free to invite friends to the chat, too!"

Men's most effective response to the hatred, lies, and oppression known as "feminism" may well come one man at a time. A recent study in Australia shows that of men aged 50-54, 67% had children by the age of 30 (33% did not have children by the age of 30). Of men aged 30-34, only 32% had children by the age of 30. Men today seem to be putting off having children, or refusing outright to do it.

Men may well be asking themselves: Would allowing a female to become pregnant using my sperm be the stupidest and most self-destructive thing that I could possibly do?

CJ writes "A California-based group is offering money to drug addicted-men and women in Brooklyn who agree to be sterilized or receive long-term birth control. The program is fundamentally incompatible with a health program that respects a woman's right to choose,'' Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told the Times. What about a man's right to choice? Like every gender issue today, only a female perspective is considered..."

Steve Imparl writes, "I am happy to announce that the next chat at MaleDepression.com will take place on Tuesday, January 7, 2003, at 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. (This is Wednesday, January 8, 2003, at 02:30 GMT.)

The chat will be held in MaleDepression.com's chat room. We will talk about our experiences with depression, with particular emphasis on the male experience of this illness and the difficulties we have in seeking and continuing treatment. Specifically, as a topic, I'd like to suggest that we talk about "Renewing Our Commitment to Personal Wellness." How can we take care of ourselves, stay well, and deal with our mood disorders each day? I am dedicating this chat to the memory of Mr. Derrick Miller, who died one year ago on January 6, 2003. Mr. Miller was a suicide victim."

fightbigotry2002 writes "For those of you who live in Maryland, if you need motivation to get involved with the process, take a risk to make your voice heard, consider what happens when we don't speak up for others. See this collection of articles about people who were wrongfully convicted of crimes and then exhonerated 15 to 20 years into their sentence. Get involved now because someday it may be your turn to be the target of a political witch hunt. Andrew Young was right, there are political prisoners in the US."

Men's News Daily has a page with several links related to the story of Derrick Miller, a divorced father who killed himself in front of a San Diego courthouse. January 6 will be the one-year anniversary of Miller's death. The fact that men like Miller, Darrin White, and others have nowhere other than suicide to turn to due to the unjust oppression of men and fathers should be a reminder to us all about our need to keep fighting for these causes.

Trudy W Schuett writes "Historically, the Preditors and Editors poll has been overloaded with chickbooks and girl-published ‘zines. This year is different! Go over and vote for your favorite author, publisher, ‘zine and etcetera. You also have the option to add a favorite that’s not already listed — but you only get one vote in each category. Check here and you’ll find some familiar names. The poll is only open until January 21, so don’t miss out on a fast, free, and painless way to break the pink barrier!"

CJ sends us this Boston Globe article and writes "Courts, nonprofits, state agencies are all discovering that reaching out to local faith-based organizations is an effective strategy for making their programs work with populations that have been very difficult to reach, such as fathers coming out of prisons.
The goal is to increase child support collections, promote fatherhood and healthy marriage, and help struggling families take care of their children. Many 'groups' are concerned about money supporting marriage and fathers, and they are "watching this closely." Feminists do not like the idea of supporting marriage, only breaking them... Good for Gearge Bush!" The policy is controversial due to the fact that religious groups are directly benefitting from this, with some concerns about the separation of church and state being raised. But it is also true that this is helping many fathers and families.

Anonymous User writes "In a completely flooring surprise for the regularly misandrist MSN.com, the site's "Family" section produced this article on the Five Myths of Fatherhood and how to challenge them. " I do hope readers that have protested MSN in the past will take a moment to give them some positive reinforcement for this article. Encouraging notes can often make a big impact too.

Well, we're expecting a big snowstorm tonight and into the weekend in NH, so I figured it would be a great time to do some OS and hardware updates to the MANN server. Expect the web site to be down from Friday night until late Sunday night. The mail server will be down for a minimal amount of time too. Update: The web server has been moved to the dedicated machine, and is now running (with less than 5 minutes of downtime, woo-hoo!). The mail server might take a bit longer, but most users won't notice that anyway.

Men's Health America published a report on the events in 2002 related to the status of men's health issues. Anyone working on men's health as an activist should check it out and see what progress we've made this year (and there has been some interesting progress!). The report can be read on the mailing list at this link. And what better way to start off the new year than by subscribing to this low-traffic, but high quality mailing list.

According to this article from the Star Tribune, Rep. Charles Rangel is going to propose legislation that would "resume the military draft in the event of a war against Iraq." He believes that by doing so, Congress will be less likely to support a war on Iraq. He is quoted as saying:

"I believe that if those calling for war knew their children were more likely to be required to serve - and to be placed in harm's way - there would be more caution and a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing with Iraq."

Note the use of the gender-neutral "children" - does anyone know if he's planning to include women in this draft legislation?