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."

GRomeo747 sent us some information on a Father's Day activity for men's activists, the Million Dad March:"

"Fathers and Mothers are the two most important resources any child can have. For the last few decades we've been deluged with information about how important mothers are. And mothers ARE
important. However at the same time fathers have been ignored or worse, demonized. It's time we did both fathers and children right by
recognizing that fathers are just as important as mothers.
CHILDREN NEED BOTH PARENTS! "

Enter the Million Dads March... It's international, it's been a long time coming and it is going on now!

Be a part of history not only for yourself but for the betterment of our world as a whole."

SJones writes "2 women in Salem have written a book they titled "Everything Men Knew About Taking Care of Themselves Before Women Came Along" in which every page is blank. They brag that they are making fun of men to raise money for feminist women's-only DV shelters. The article is here."

Raymond Cuttill writes "Men's Hour Christmas message for men is out. It is particularly aimed at men who might be depressed over Christmas, but should be fun for everyone. With music (from Elvis to Sinead O'Connor) (only on Live365 for copyright reasons), the Father Christmas's protest, getting through Christmas, The Samaritans, numerous jokes and how to get the cat to meow, and a free ebook until the new year. Available at the Men's Hour site and
Live365 [recommended]." I'm really sorry this is being posted so late...I got snowed in on the day it was submitted.

Take a look at the "Strip and Run" video on this page.

Oxygen is some sort of Women's Media that was, as far as I know, started in part by Oprah.

Calls from disenfranchised fathers flooded the phone lines at KABC radio in Los Angeles during the Al Rantel Show on December 23, as Rantel and men's issues columnist Glenn Sacks discussed what Sacks called "the greatest unrecognized problem in America today"--the way divorced fathers are prevented from being a part of the lives of their children.