Wendy McElroy's increasingly popular Fox News column this week relates the story of Derrick Miller (who committed suicide on the steps of the San Diego courthouse recently) and discusses its relationship to father's rights. If a similar rise in female suicides was occurring, a public crusade would demand a remedy. Yet the extraordinarily high rate of male suicide is rarely discussed. Wendy also quotes my Jan. 15 column on the subject. *blush* Fair warning as well: this column may give you chills.

Anonymous User writes "MTV's TRL (Total Request Live) ran an episode this week called "Ass-Kicking Chicks" featuring 10 of the most popular female acts in music. Videos of the artists were shown and the artists were interviewed, and they talked about how unfair life is for women. Male-bashing was of course the central theme of the show. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse the two hostesses wrapped up the show by thanking all the women featured and finished with a comment for men..."and thanks for men for being so much lamer than we are" said the one while the other followed with "losers!" and put her hand in the shape of an L on her forehead. I figured they might take it back or add a "just kidding," but they didn't. That was the final send-off. I don't have a link for the show or MTV but I'm sure there is one."

Here's an interesting article about the "fun" a man had trying to hold a masculist workshop and promote men's issues at the same time. He gives some handy tips on what to do and what to expect, and he made some converts for our good cause at the same time. So, have a read of the article to get the full story.

This story from Lycos News provides the prime example needed to refute gender feminist claims that terrorism is male. A Palenstinian woman apparently blew up herself and another in a terrorist attack in Israel. Surprisingly, the news article does not make a big deal out of the fact that the terrorist was a woman, except for this: If confirmed, it would be the first suicide bombing carried out by a woman in Israel. It was the first fatal bombing carried out by a woman in a 16-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Israeli officials also say they've heard rumblings about more women terrorists. Update: Also thanks to frank h for submitting the Yahoo! version of this story and aurora for submitting the Fox News version.

The Men's Health America campaign to expose the plight of Afghan men is now in full swing. Click here for info on lobbying the director of Amnesty International to stop neglecting the human rights violations of Afghan men. This recent posting also includes the e-mail addresses of other AI officials. Our voice is stronger in numbers - please take a moment to help and increase our volume!

Warren Farrell has written a new article on fatherhood based on his findings in Father and Child Reunion. He makes quite a good case that nearly all of us have missed the start of the "silent revolution" involving fatherhood, and that the much unnoticed contributions and sacrifices fathers make. It's part 1 of 2 articles, so can someone keep an eye on the site and inform us when the next part is written? It would be greatly appreciated.

Nightmist has been helping out by taking over the maintenance of the Media Watch page, which will now be updated more regularly. If you find a commercial or ad which you feel is particularly pro- or anti-male, please drop us a line at admin@mensactivism.org and we will look into adding it. And a special thanks to Nightmist for taking over this project!

Neil Steyskal sent us this article from Newsweek and writes "Eleanor Clift is pushing the story about the pay gap widening. She slants it to imply that discrimination against women is increasing. But the feminists are smart enough to avoid making that claim explicit. It would look pretty silly. Still, this study will clearly provoke a lot of agitation, and probably some new laws. Let's hope someone objective can get at the study's details."

Wendy and I have both been inordinately busy in the past week, and it was decided that we would not come up with any particular topic for tonight's joint chat, which is held at the iFeminists chat room. So if you want to drop by and talk it up, about just about anything, feel free to do so. The chat normally begins at 9 PM EST.

Luek writes "Here
is another article about using the clinically unproven postpartum depression syndrome as a defense in a murder case. What is odd about this particular story is that the victims's parents are defending the perpetrator! They do not want her prosecuted. Maybe postpartum depression is contagious, like watching someone yawn then you automatically yawn too. Go figure!"

An Anonymous User sent in this article and writes "The wage gap between female managers and their male counterparts was even greater in 2000 than it had been five years earlier, according to a congressional study of 10 industries. Of course the headline was presented in an alarming regard, despite the the fact that women increased 29% in managerial positions, and outpaced men's earnings in three industries. The article does not make any distinction to hours worked (or God forbid productivity factors) but does relate family as a contributing factor. I'd like to see the data from this research, and find out who conducted the analysis of data." Neil Steyskal also sent in this Washington Post article on the same topic.

AFG sent in this story and writes "This is disgusting. Reuters (via Men's News Daily) reports that ALL mothers in Russian prisons will be granted pardons - no matter how serious their crimes. There is no mention of similar amnesty for male prisoners; in fact, the article does not even mention men at all." Thanks also to rparent32 who sent us this link on the same story.

zensmile writes "It is ironic that television always portrays men as the sexual protagonists in television shows involving schools. Here is a real life story about a woman who is the wrongdoer." The woman was quoted as saying to police about one of the accusers, "If he had been older I would certainly have had a relationship with him." Apparently this woman isn't particularly bright, either. The boys were 14 or 15 years-old when this allegedly happened. Thanks also to AFG for sending us this article on the same story.

ronn submitted this article from Fathermag.com. It's an essay on what I believe is the typical experience of divorced fathers, and is a good introduction to what father's rights is all about in that respect. For married dads that haven't gone through this yet, he points out that you are only "one decision" away from being in his shoes. The truth of this is often hard to swallow, but needs to be acknowledged. All dads are vulnerable, and they need to realize this and start supporting men's rights.

Glenn Sacks wrote another knockout article on the topic of Michael Jordan's divorce, which was initiated by his wife. The way the article opens is great - it really shows the double standard at play here. As Sacks writes, "In discussing relationships, American society has taken the immense complexity and difficulty of marriage and family life and reduced it to one simple rule--when in doubt, blame the man." Sacks points out several media stories on the divorce which prove this point. His article is also being featured on the ifeminists.com web site. Thanks goes out to ronn for submitting this as well.