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?

Red Kev writes "Here is a link to the BBC website Talking Point Section. Harriet Harman, British MP has called for neighbours to report 'Wife-batterers to the police. Typically a call to report husband batterers is not even considered. This is just another attempt to demonise men and inflict further injustices upon them. Please feel free to use the form on the website to submit your views on this topic."

Anonymous User sends us this FoxNews article and writes "Wendy McElroy does a good job of pointing out the governmental forces which have created the current child support industry in the United States." From the article:

Men are confronting a governmental Goliath that has been called "the child abuse industry." In doing so, they defend not only fathers' rights but also those of mothers and children.

Marc Tolbert writes "Progressive Insurance has posted the edited short form of the infamous Voodoo ad on at this page. It includes links to outtakes and a question section. I am posting this for the benefit of those who have missed the ads in their local markets. If anyone has a video file of the full length ad with pliers please contact me and I will try to get it posted somewhere for everyone to view. Remember to write to Progressive with your opinions on the ad."

Raymond Cuttill writes "A controversial company linked to a philosophical sect, says that it has produced the world's first cloned human baby. No proof was offered. Animal clones have shown defects as they age - scientists fear the same could happen with humans. Dr Patrick Dixon, an expert on the ethics of human cloning, described the news as "totally inevitable". He said: "There's a global race by maverick scientists to produce clones, motivated by fame, money and warped and twisted beliefs."" CJ also asks, "What is the impact of this on men's reproductive rights?"

Dittohd writes "Brian Heidek, the winner in the latest Survivor Thailand TV show, just got his wife arrested last month for domestic violence. Wow! According to this article, she was ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from her husband and, now may not own, use or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons. I'd sure like to hear the circumstances behind all this and how Brian overcame the establishment prejudice in favor of women."