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.

Thundercloud writes "I thought this would be an interesting submission, considering the recent post about the Phil Donahue show with Gloria Alred. A Man is suing the "Man Show". Aparently, this guy and his girlfriend were laying out on a beach (I believe in California) when producers from the Man Show sent a little boy to go up to them and talk to the man's girlfriend. While the camera rolled, the boy made rude and sexually explicit remarks to the young woman. The woman's boyfriend, disgusted, made the kid leave. Then two female "Man Show" producers approached the couple and told them it was all a joke and that they were on camera the whole time. According to the man, the "Man Show" producers did not have his permission to air the segment with him and his girlfriend, but they did so anyway. So now he is suing them. But guess who he got to represent him in court? None other than Gloria Alred! Does anyone think Alred's motives are to help a man who's been wronged? Or instead that she's probably been itching for an excuse to go after the politically-incorrect "Man Show" to begin with?"

Trudy W Schuett writes "As a special gift to MANN readers, Raymond and I are making copies of “Friends to the End” available as a free download for a very limited time. It’s available in MSReader, Adobe e-book, and Palm. But just until midnight GMT New Year’s Eve! So get it now while you can! We wish you peace on earth, and good will toward men. From
Raymond Cuttill,Trudy W. Schuett, and all at cyberManbooks." Many, many thanks to Trudy and Raymond for their generosity and spirit.

Raymond Cuttill writes "Up to 200 Father Chrismases will be on London buses this Tuesday 17th December. Organised by fathers-4-justice.org. This and more is in the December Men's Hour, including "phone the Men's Hour" with your opinion/contribution, Matthew O'Connor and the 200 Father Christmas protest, Carnell Smith about paternity fraud, news of a film called Busted, news of Father Christmas, Sue Price about the Men's Rights Agency in Australia (to be added Wednesday 18th) and Boys Education in Australia."

frank h writes "I direct your attention to this web site [ittakesballs.com]. It seems that Martha Burk has established an anti-Augusta Web site here [augustadiscriminates.org] that attacks Augusta, their members, and their members' employers, and their sponsors. Since turnabout is fair play, a counter site has been established, and it has siblings here [theburkstopshere.com] and here [golfersforarealcause.com]. There are opportunities for activism. Ittakesballs.com has a listing of the NCWO's sponsors, along with their addresses and suggests that you write to them. Further, they are selling t-shirts that fund their efforts, and look like fun to wear, as well. At golfersforarealcause.com, you can sign a petition. There are over 2500 signatures there already, mine recent among them. Hootie Johnson may be the last man in a public role with a real spine, and he needs our support. This is an attack on basic the Constitutional rights of men, and we need to back him up."

Philalethes writes "On NPR's Morning Edition news program 12/17/2002: "Susan Stamberg talks to family psychologist Michael Thompson about nurturing boys so they grow into peaceful men. Thompson is the author of Raising Cain." (Direct link to RealPlayer file.) Not too bad, despite the obligatory snide remark (Stamberg: "What about all that testosterone?"), and the usual implication that what's wrong with boys is that they aren't girls. Comparisons are also made with the "better" boys found in other countries like Britain, France and Japan -- though of course no there is no mention of the [major factor] that differentiates American child-rearing from practically every other culture's: [infant male genital mutilation], aka "circumcision." Every time I see one of the increasing crop of "What's Wrong With Boys?" books, I look in the index for "circumcision." I can't recall ever seeing the subject mentioned -- perhaps because circumcision is the American "solution" to the "boy problem."

I just wanted to let readers know that I have finished my final exams and that I really do intend to catch up on the news submissions and e-mails that have been piling up for a while. I have let things get unusually disorganized as of late and it's time to fix that. Your patience and understanding is appreciated.

I thought you might be interested to hear, Pinter And Martin are selling the
The Manipulated Man at the
knockdown price of £5.99 for us UK folk, or $8.50 for everyone in the USA. I just got my copy
today, and being halfway through, I have to say there's nothing like this. Make no mistake,
you should get this book, it's well worth it. In case you're wondering, post and packing is free. So don't delay, Order now!

Marc Angelucci writes, "Here's a transcript of the Donahue show. Overall I'm pleased with things, except of course that Gloria did a lot of interrupting and often Phil cut me off when I wanted to refute her myths. But overall it was a show where we got a lot of issues out there and I did get to mention the lawsuit against L.A. County. Some members of the Queens High School football team spoke up about how their school cut the football team and shattered their dream as a result of the feminist overkill of Title IX implementation. Other audience members had some great things to say. And Warren Farrel and Peter Allemano did great as well."

Steve writes "I will host this week's MANN chat, Wednesday night (12/18),
starting at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, at the usual location. The
topic for this chat will be 'An Attitude of Gratitude: What's Right with Men's Activism?''  
The holiday season is a good time to stop for a while and see where we
are.  What is going well for us men's activists?  Stop by
this week's MANN chat, have an egg nog or some hot cider, and savor the
good things about activism with us!"

Steve Imparl writes, "I am happy to announce that the next chat at MaleDepression.com will take place on Tuesday, December 17, 2002, at 8:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. (This is Wednesday, December 18, 2002, 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, I'd like to suggest that we talk about coping strategies during the holidays--how we keep ourselves well during the end-of-year holiday season. Further, with the winter solstice approaching in the northern hemisphere, it is probably a good time to talk about seasonal depression, too.

Men's issues author Warren Farrell, Marc Angelucci, president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men, and Peter Allemano of the New York City NCFM, will discuss gender issues and the NCFM's gender discrimination lawsuit against Los Angeles County on the Phil Donahue Show. The show will air on MSNBC on Wednesday, December 18th, at 5pm PST and again at 8pm PST.

Trudy W. Schuett writes "Our writer/activists may benefit from a series I’m doing at Writer Online called, “Basic Promotion for Writers.” There is a lot of misinformation and bad ideas floating around as far as promoting books, and in these days of the self-published and indie-published, authors need all the help they can get. I’ve put my 10 years of experience in publicity and promotions to work here, to give writers a basic strategy for promoting their work both on and offline, working with little or no budget. The series itself is, of course, free of charge."

Jack Kammer, a men's issues author and ownerof the RulyMob.com web site, is sponsoring a contest to write a song, "If I Only Had a V", modeled after "If I Only Had a Heart" from The Wizard of Oz. The song is to be a parody of V-Day, and will by judged by its "(a) effectiveness in satirizing the idea that women in western societies are always virtuous, never committing violence themselves, (b) effectiveness in satirizing the idea that women in western societies are oppressed, (c) adherence to the original meter and tone of the song “If I Only Had a Heart,” (d) suitability for being reported verbatim by the mainstream media and (e) humor." Both men and women are welcome to submit entries. The deadline is February 6, 2003 - read the official rules here.

Marc Tolbert writes "I have been searching for the smoking gun on Whitney for a long time. She has a long history of violence towards others but I had not yet found solid evidence of violence against her husband. After reading the earlier posts about the interview (which I missed viewing), I went on a search for a transcript and finally located it here. I am just amazed that she was upfront about the issue. It is like she knew ahead of time that Diane Sawyer, Primetime and ABC would just gloss over the admission."