Steve writes "I will host this week's MANN chat, Wednesday night
(10/23), starting at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, at the usual location. The topic
for this chat will be 'Men's Support Groups as Aids to Activism.'  On
Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting several men's activists in Denver, Colorado.
 They gave me a warm welcome and we discussed, among other things, men's
support groups.  Establishing a men's support group can be challenging.
 Running a men's support group can be even more challenging.  Yet,
great adventures and rewards await those who face the challenges of working
with a small group of men who meet regularly and support one another on various
issues.  What do men's support groups have to do with men's activism?
 How can I start a men's support group?  How can being 'one of
the guys' in a men's support group make me a better activist?  Join us at this week's MANN chat to discuss these questions
and more.  Take a friend or two to the chat, also!"

Dan Lynch writes "On Thursday I am scheduled to be on the Lion Radio at Penn State University. I will be talking about Men's Issues that are known to us and possibly challenging whoever it is they bring to debate me. I'm going to try and get an mp3 of the show so I can send around to people if the show turns out well. You can listen to the show live over the net. You will have to suppress your 'pop up squasher program' if you have one, so you can get the pop-up link to choose your bandwidth, etc... The show is planned for October 24th starting at 5 PM EST. Log on early just in case; sometimes the music is pretty good and it has less comercials. You can even call in and rant. I have no idea how many people listen to this station but that's what it's all about - raising awareness wherever you can. I will try to use my negotiation skills in regards to dispute resolution. Let's see what comes of it."

This is quite an
interesting article here, as it looks at the monastic community of Mount
Athos which is a spiritual retreat for the nearest man, and for a thousand years has banned
women and all images of women from the island. The writer thinks this is woman hating at its
worst, but overlooks the fact that at the start at the article he says this was done in the
name of the Virgin Mary. As Bugs Bunny would say, "what a maroon!"

Didja miss me? I hope so, as it shows good taste :-) Ok, enough cheap jokes and let's get to
the article. This one is a series of articles centered around Sylvia Ann Hewlett's book
Creating A Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children which is focused on the
large trend of childless career women. I admit this is not what you expect to see around here, but this book has got
a large amount of feminists going mad over the issues it raises, and I thought you might
be interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. Feel free to
check it out for yourself.

An Anonymous User sent us this link to the California chapter of NOW's debunked Family Court Report 2002. It appears that it has been revised recently, and I'd be curious to know if anyone familiar with the controversy over the first version could tell us what the new changes are? Please post your thoughts in the comments section below.

Luek writes "Here is some good news about the fight to cure prostate cancer that kills over 30,000 American men each year. Scientists say a gene has been identified that will predict if the cancer will develop into its most lethal form. The earlier the treatment the more chance there is to cure it. Identifying this gene will give the doctors the edge in their diagnosis and treatment plan.

How appropriate just a couple of weeks after Prostate Cancer 'Un'awareness Month."

CJ writes "Here are examples of how police departments become biased against men (with huge grant offerings) by teaching them the "correct way" to handle domestic issues. In MA, against all evidentiary facts in just about every instance, men (fathers, husbands, boyfriends) get arrested because this is the "correct and trained way to handle these things." Many men are sitting in jail in MA without any examination of the facts concerning the incident. I know, I was one of them. Please contact the people listed on this page with accurate domestic violence statistics. Whether they want it or not doesn't matter, they need to know. Stop the "witch hunt" against men in MA."

frank h writes "I found this article on Madonna's new movie "Swept Away," and after I read what the movie is about, it occurred to me that the reason the critics panned the movie so aggressively might be because the female lead, played by Madonna, is made to look weak and dependent on a man, the male lead played by Adriano Giannini, and worse yet, a man below her "station." The film tells the story of an American "rich bitch," who makes life miserable for a lowly Italian crew member of the yacht on which she is cruising the Aegean. But when the couple are accidentally stranded, the Italian "rough trade" sailor forces her to beg for his help to survive until they become lovers. I haven't seen it yet, and I'm not really a movie critic, but it would be interesting to see what the folks here have to say about it. Is it really a bad movie, or is it just that the illiterati don't like the fact that the woman isn't dominant?"

Raindrop writes "Newscientist reports that men wanting a baby "unconsciously"
increase testosterone levels. This goes against popular opinion of the "little brain" controlling the "big brain" - seems it's the other way around."

Tummler writes "Men who put their career before having a family should beware: the ticking of the biological clock is as important for fertility in men as it is in women.

American scientists have discovered that genetic damage to sperm routinely starts to cause infertility in men as young as 35." Scott's update: Men's News Daily also has an interesting follow-up article to this story.

This is just a final reminder that the 2nd Annual Conference on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse will be held this Saturday in Portland, Maine. Word is that Mary Cleary from AMEN (Abused MEN) will be at the event, coming all the way from Ireland. I also know other attendees are coming from all parts of the U.S. and even Canada.

Trudy W Schuett writes "cyberManbooks.com announced today it now offers e-published
versions of books from Harbinger Press, http://harbpress.com
an independent specialty publisher.

"Our books are meant for, and bought by both genders. Frankly,
more women buy them than men. But our male audience is also
important and more reachable on the Internet. The men who buy
books, especially nonfiction on issues pertinent to them as men,
are more likely to be on the Internet, and often more at home
acquiring and reading them there. It's an obvious place to take
them, " says Keith MacLeod, owner of Harbinger Press. Harbinger
features titles such as: "The Ultimate Survival Guide for the
Single Father" and "Multiple Scandals Of Child Support."

See the Read More section for the rest of the press release.

Steve writes "This week's MANN chat will be Wednesday night (10/16),
starting at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, at the usual location. This chat
will be an open forum, with no designated topic.  Come to discuss any
men's activism issues that you consider important, and invite a friend to
join you."

I received the following press release from NoCirc.org: "San Anselmo, CA – Last week, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
(RACP), along with six other Australasian medical associations, published
its new circumcision policy statement concluding, “After extensive review of
the literature the RACP reaffirms that there is no medical indication for
routine male circumcision.”" Read More for the rest of the release.

Equalitarian62 writes, "October is Domestic violence awareness month in the United States. Last year I created a letter template that could be sent to media outlets across the USA. My own letter was published in the Denver Rocky Mountain News. I am sending an edited (more concise) version to the Denver Post this year (it had to be less than 200 words). Those of you in the United States are urged to contact as many media
outlets as possible (newspaper, radio, TV, magazines, etc.). My
template may be used, or you can modify it or write your own letter
or email." To view the sample letter, view the Read More section below. Making use of a sample letter like this takes only minutes, and can make a big impact in numbers. Please help inform the media that domestic violence is not a gender issue, but a human one.