Bad News for fathers in Australia - it appears that secret paternity testing is to become a
criminal offence. Yep, that's right: if you're a man who wants to know, you'll soon be a
criminal unless you do it "their way". What is their way? According to
this article,
the rumored recommendations are: "FORCE fathers to get the mother's consent to do a test. MAKE it illegal to
steal DNA for a test. ORDER mandatory counselling for families seeking a test. IMPOSE a code
of practice for private testing laboratories." I guess it's like the old saying, the
truth will set you free, I imagine that's why they want to keep the nearest man ignorant?

Mark writes "According to a Vancouver Sun article, a book club specifically for men is now being established at the Vancouver Public Library. The title, "Reading group closes the book on allowing women" is unfortunate as it appears to place a negative spin on the subject, but given mens' typically lower academic performances than women these days this club is both welcome and needed."

Mark Thundercloud writes "Everyone should keep an eye on a new TV show that is about to debut, called "SHE-SPIES". Though I've only seen the previews, this thing looks like yet another "women being sadistically violent towards men" shows. If it's anything like it's predecessors, you can be sure it will feature tons of women beating up men, grabbing and kicking testicles, as well as the "men put in S&M type bondage by the women", scenarios, that is becomeing more and more frequent in TV and movies these days. It premires saturday July, 20 2002, on NBC. I'm not sure of the exact time. Be forewarned, they are cloaking this with the lable that it is a "spoof," so any criticism will be hard pressed to stick."

Ray sent in an interesting essay for men's activists to consider: "I have been surfing the net for some time searching for the reasons for the unprovoked physical batterings, the sexual discrimination, the false police report(s), the hatred that I and other men have experienced. The decade of the 90's saw a great escalation of all of the above for many men, not only in America, but throughout the world. I have seen with my own eyes the change from a time when a query on the subject of domestic violence brought only responses from the virulent radical feminists to a time when the truth about the actual statistical dimensions of domestic violence are begining to be known (we're still not seeing the complete/real story). I am witnessing a time when slowly, more and more web sites are popping up like hunted animals, cautiously sticking their heads out of their holes lest some savage predator seize on them and rip ther entrails out. Such is the nature of the territory surrounding the truth about the issues the "MEN'S MOVEMENT" struggles just to cope with day by day." Read More to continue...

Equalitarian62 sent us a link to this message on the Men's Health America mailing list, which announces that the Men's Health Act has been introduced in the Senate. "This exciting development means that a bill to establish an Office of Men's Health has been introduced in both chambers of Congress. The Senate version of the Men's Health Act was assigned bill number S. 2616, and has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ("HELP") for further consideration. The Senate bill matches H.R. 632, which was introduced in the House of Representatives last year. If you never got the chance to write to your legislators in support of the MHA, now's a great time to do so!

Tom Parker's extensive resource of men's issues information, known as the ManRights Reference Desk, has moved to a new address. Check it out here and I'd recommend bookmarking it - there's a lot of stuff to keep one reading!

In my latest order for a batch of Mensactivism.org bumper stickers, I also purchased a very small quantity (20) of a different sticker, which has a message that I feel is important and related to men's rights (esp. with regard to the falsely accused). The sticker reads, "America Means Civil Liberties: Patriotism is Defending Them." You can see exactly what they look like here. There is no ad for MANN on the sticker, and I'm selling them for $4 each. I know they're not cheap but they're not cheap to buy in such low quantities. If you'd like one please e-mail me at scott@mensactivism.org for more info.

Tony writes "Here is a recent article in a peer reviewed journal that examines the targeted murder of males in Rwanda. [note: this article is available in the free sample issue (same title as subject heading) offered at the site. registration is required but free.] I will let the introduction speak for itself, "The aspect of gender in the Rwandan genocide is perhaps more extraordinarily intricate and multifaceted than in any genocide in history. The claim is a bold one, but it can be sustained by considering the combination of factors specfic to the events in Rwanda between April and July, 1994: the enormous stress that traditional gender roles, especially masculine ones,
were under when the genocide erupted; the prominence of women in perpetrating the genocide (a historically unprecedented
feature, in terms of the scale and directness of the involvement); the bluntness of the genocidaires’ appeals to gendered expectations and aspirations, again including women as active agents of the slaughter;" In the conclusion, the author and editor of the magazine confront feminists with their lack of attention on male victims. This article not only shows the atrocities that are occurring around the world against men but also I believe shows that male issues and rights are slowly gaining worldwide attention."

I apologize for announcing this so late, I wasn't sure if I'd have other commitments tonight. I'd like to try to revive the MANN on-line chats again, and will be holding one this evening starting at 9:30 PM EST in the MANN chat room. Join us and talk about whatever you like, there's no formal topic for discussion this evening. I would also like to hear from anyone who would like to volunteer to coordinate and host the chats.

John S. sent us this link to a press release regarding a new bill in congress - the Child Support Enforcement Act. The bill would allow custodial parents to deduct unpaid portions of child support, and for delinquent parents to add the unpaid support into their income. As John writes, "Child support is not tax deductible in the first place so all of the man's income is already taxed. Are they proposing adding it on again for clear double taxation? I don't get it." I'm sure John is not alone with this sentiment.

Mark Thundercloud writes "Progressive Insurance has now edited its anti-male commercial. It now leaves out all the other forms of torture inflicted on the ex-boyfriend/husband by the ex-girlfriend/wife except the part where she uses the pliers on his genitals! This is obviously an in-your-face response to show contempt for those of us who have contacted Progressive to voice our objections and to show their contempt of men in general! So... What do we do now?" Update: Links to view the ad in RealVideo format can be found in the comments section. See comments #16 and #17, in particular.

Raymond Cuttill writes "The July Programme is out and contains news about a Wiltshire, England protest in July; an interview with author Bernard Chapin about his book, education and feminism; news of two websites; news of the NCFM conference in June and items about men boycotting marriage, viruses, and does everyone know you're in the Men's Movement? The Mens' Hour is at www.menshour.com"

Raymond Cuttill writes "MSNHatesMen.com, the ecard site conceived as an antidote to the male-bashing ecards at MSN is still not up. Claims by hostonce.com that the problem has been fixed turn out to be wishful thinking or only temporary. Hostonce.com is either the most incompetent webhosting company ever or lying. Alternatives are being considered. MSNHatesMen will live!"

In this essay, Wendy McElroy, responds to an email sent to her by Liz Richards of NAFCJ. Just noting the difference in writing styles was an eye opener for me. Wendy sure has Liz outclassed.

And in this essay, Trudy Schuett responds to the same rant.

I don't know what statement I love most in all this, Liz Richards' "You will be so sorry you have been promoting the cause of a ring of sociopath, deadbeat, and violent abusers," Wendy's "As for the content of Ms. Richards' email to me... To a large extent, I'm not sure what she is talking about," or Trudy's "there is a need to speak to women, and those men who bought the feminist line and thought by going along with it they were doing something positive for the world... those who styled themselves as feminist leaders years ago, who claimed to speak for women and improve their position in society, were not worthy of the trust bestowed on them."

Trudy Schuett writes, "Preparation for the Domestic Violence Awareness campaign in
October is just getting underway, and I wanted to alert those with
an interest in the program. As you're probably aware, last year's
campaign was sidetracked due to saturation media coverage of the
9/11 disaster pretty much into the Xmas shopping season. This year
will be different, especially considering recent events relating
to challenges to the feminist ideology in many areas. This year we
will also be expanding to include other countries as well as the
US, and hard-copy publications to get the information on as many
websites, to as many people as possible." Read More below for the rest of her announcement.