As Richard Henn sat by his 6-year-old son's hospital bedside recently, police entered and put him under arrest for "failing to protect" his son from the boy's step-mother, a former sheriff's deputy who body-slammed the child so hard he went into convulsions. This story in the Denver Post reveals that Henn was actually in another room, giving his 4-month-old daughter a bath when he heard the commotion. In court documents, Richard Henn told investigators he heard Kevin's body hitting the floor and said his wife threw the boy down. Gail Henn apologized to Kevin as he lay unconscious and convulsing on the floor, according to police statements. The couple had argued in the past about physical punishment, the father told police. Henn's bond was set at $20,000. Same as his wife, who is currently out of jail on that amount.

Harrack Balramsingh writes "The International Men’s Day Committee is calling on organizations and individuals around the world to join with them in celebrating International Men’s Day (IMD) on November 19. The objectives of celebrating an International Men's Day include improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, producing responsible males and highlighting positive male role models. The IMD first started in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999. It is hoped that the day would eventually be recognized worldwide. Please join with us in observing this Men’s Day."

warble writes "California legislators were flooded with paternity fraud victims in a public hearing on April 16, 2002. The story can be found here . Despite the fact that some committee members tried to kill the bill using "...questioning from a couple of the Assembly members, the bill emerged from the hearing alive and well. The committee decided it needed more time to study the bill, and postponed the hearing for two weeks." This bill is a no-brainer. Anybody who opposes the bill is clearly against men's rights. This turnout demonstrates the growing influence and power of the men’s movement. Good job!"

Anonymous User writes "Mallard Fillmore (a syndicated comic strip that runs in the Boston Globe) ran a series of comic strips that address the abuse of Ritalin on boys in grade school. The strip calls the problem "NEBS" (Normal Eight year old Boy Syndrome). The importance of this strip is that it reaches a large audience of people who may be unaware of this issue."

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's estranged wife wants $1 million per year to support herself and her two children. But... That's about $950,000 more than Giuliani is willing to pay. Giuliani, 57, now pays a court-ordered $1,800 a month and half of all the living expenses for television journalist Donna Hanover and the children. He has offered to double that amount, Raoul Felder, Giuliani's attorney, said at a divorce hearing Tuesday.

nosecow writes "[Chuck] Finley files divorce papers against Tawny Kitaen, stating he is "fearful that (Kitaen)...will harm herself or will harm others, including me or including my children". The complete article appears here on espn.com." Kitaen is alleged to have kicked Finley, scratched him, and twisted his ear while they were driving home from dinner recently. Police noticed Finley's scars and arrested Kitaen on abuse charges. Finley has obtained temporary custody of his children.

Syndicated misandrist Maureen Dowd recently wrote that men's "intimidation" by high-powered modern women is the reason for a rise in the childless rate for 35-year-old career women. Apparently, we men are to blame for both baby booms (raging hormones) and baby busts (intimidation by powerful women). In this column, men's issues columnist Glenn Sacks takes Dowd to task on those theories, providing evidence that the career woman's childless rate is a result of her own choices, and that women (like men) cannot have their cake and eat it, too.

This fact sheet on the Centers for Disease Control Web site tackles an issue persistently in the front of my mind: the prevention of suicide, especially by the young white males who are most likely to commit it. Many of us have seen this CDC fact sheet before, but because of the significant lack of study the issue of male suicide receives from the medical profession--and the fact that men are four times more likely than women to successfully commit it--I thought it was worth posting here. Also, a good beginning resource for male sufferers of depression may be found on this site, the work of our friend Steve Imparl.

Well, folks, it's been months upon months since I announced my effort to pull together an anthology of "masculist" literature, commentary, and art. I am saddened to announce that the project appears to now be officially dead. I have been unable to generate enough interest among men's activists for submissions to fill an entire volume, although the submissions I did receive were of very high quality. At one point, I even had a couple of celebrity authors in the mix. Although this project is dead (unless someone else wants to take it up as their own), I do have another one in the works which may generate more interest, or at least will come closer to actual manifestation. :) I appreciate the work of all those who submitted, and I am sorry I can't be the one to get them into print.

In an encouraging show of support, people from the Seacoast area of NH and beyond bombarded Foster's Daily Democrat with letters supporting the proposed Men's Commission and taking the editor writer to task for slamming the commission. Their efforts can be seen here. Kudos to everyone who had their letter printed, and to anyone else who wrote in but wasn't recognized.

This article on Fox News is--once again--proof that there are different standards for men and women in the justice system. Gov. Gray Davis has granted parole to Cheryl Sellers based on the parole board's findings that she "suffered from battered woman syndrome," the convenient illness which routinely absolves women of murder. Davis said a threat the man had made against Seller's daughter sparked the violence. His decision means Sellers will be released in September 2003, the date set by the board. One wonders if men would be given the same consideration.

The Ottawa Citizen's Dave Brown examines the "sorry state of divorce" in Canada in his latest column. At issue in divorce law are the words "custody" and "access," which critics say should be replaced by "shared parenting." What makes that difficult was probably best shown by Senator Anne Cools when she read a judgment from a worried judge who had just given custody to a woman who was leaving Canada with two children to live with a new love. He said he wasn't comfortable but felt he had no choice but to give custody "to a woman who is shackled by her own discontent." Father's child-support payments were set and she waived spousal support. She later returned to sue for and get spousal support.

Dan Lynch submitted this article from White Horse Star in the apparently ongoing controversy over remarks about the radical women's movement by Yukon minister of women's issues Sue Edelman. Apparently, Edelman had already resigned as of Friday, several days prior to the initial posting of her story here. What is more unfortunate is that she has publicly apologized for her anti-radical-feminist remarks in her e-mail (Edelman had referred to radical feminists as "feminazis" in an e-mail titled "women's movement dying"). Statements made in her defense by the prime minister during the public statement were laughed at by black T-shirt wearing feminists, some of whom surrounded Edelman's husband in the audience.

Subversive writes "After the relationship between Sean Fabre and his girlfriend, Amalia Walton, soured and Walton placed a restraining order against Fabre, he countersued her for 'abuse of process,' claiming that she filed it for vengeance, not for protection. On Friday the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that under existing anti-SLAPP laws, alleged abusers who are the subjects of restraining orders should not be able to 'easily retaliate' with civil lawsuits against their accusers. Alleged abuse victims will now be able to quickly end any civil litigation filed by the target of a restraining order unless that person could prove there is a 'substantial basis' that the restraining order was 'devoid of any reasonable factual support.' This suggests to me that battered men in Massachusetts who have also been falsely accused of domestic violence may have to look to other means than the legal system in order to protect themselves--what a terrible decision!

Wednesday night's on-line chat will be on the topic of establishing a state men's commission. I'll be there to discuss the process that led up to this bill, and will try to answer any questions as best I can. I've invited members of the NH NCFC activism group to join the chat and help answer questions and be available as contacts to people who are interested in trying the same in their own states. Stop by the MANN chat room on 4/17 at 9:30 PM EST and say hello!