Wendy McElroy of ifeminists.com once again tackles gender feminism in her weekly Fox News column. This week's focus is on the struggles by gender feminists to institute quotas for women in the post-Taliban government of Afghanistan to ensure that women have a voice in the new government. McElroy correctly argues that quotas and democracy are contradictions.

AFG writes "Christie Blatchford at the National Post reports that the Canadian government had chosen to honour the 14 victims of lone gunman Marc Lepine by ordering all federal flags to be flown at half-mast on December 6. While this seems like a good idea, the government had failed to order a similar undertaking for the November 11 Rememberance Day honouring the 100,000+ men and women that died in the two major world wars, and in Korea." Thanks also to an Anon User who sent this in, and zerostress who sent in this story and this followup which states that the Minister of Canadian Heritage was unaware of the government order, and is concerned about the unequal recognition.

DaveW writes "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has its own department of sexist bigotry in the form of columnist Martha Ezzard. In this column, Ezzard continues her anti-male rhetoric by writing about abused girls and "adolescent prostitutes, victimized by male pimps and predators." She fails to mention that women often force or seduce children and young adults into prostitution. She fails to mention that women often manage prostitutes. She fails to mention that male children are sometimes forced into prostitution, often by their mothers. She also derides expenditures for youth sports programs, which can provide discipline, purpose, and mentoring that are the salvation for many kids. Feedback to: mezzard@ajc.com."

John Fox, a graduate student in the Dept. of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, asked me to make this survey available to Mensactivism.org readers. It's a survey he's doing in his research about the various men's movements. The document is in MS Word format, and he would like people to edit it with their responses and send it back to him at: fox@soc.umass.edu. Please consider taking part in this study.

Subversive writes "A court in Sweden has ruled that a man who donated sperm for artificial insemination, enabling a lesbian couple to have three children, must pay child support after the two women separated. A county court ruled that the man was undoubtedly the children's biological father and hence obliged to pay child support of $265 per month after the women's 10-year relationship broke up. Here's an idea: why not hit up the lesbian for child support instead?" Thanks also to an Anonymous User and krob4399 who submitted this story.

Neil Steyskal submitted Richard Morin's latest Unconventional Wisdom column, where he discusses the effect of men and women working long hours on their health it turns out that men's health tends to suffer when their wives work more than 40 hours/week, while women's does not when men work 40+ hours/week. After some commentary on the possibilities of why that is so, a subsection of the column devotes a couple of paragraphs to the way men are portrayed as idiots on popular sitcoms in the past few decades.

An Anonymous User sent in this link from the UK Observer. It's an encouraging testimony to the effect we're having on the advertising industry. "Figures to be released this week by the Advertising Standards Authority show that the number of complaints has doubled this year. Over the last six years protests have increased tenfold. Men say they are fed up being depicted either as sex gods with unfeasibly muscular bodies and chiselled jaws or - more often - as incompetent, brow-beaten slobs who cannot express themselves, hold down a job, clean the house, or keep a girlfriend."

Donald Cameron writes "In a National Post article we are treated to an interpretation of a landmark OECD schooling study. According to this article, it would appear that the boys seem to be lacking any benefit from their " innate overreaction to stress." Reporter Heather Sokoloff would have us believe that this study applies to all students. She would also have us believe that the test is actually meaningful in any sense. I have to wonder if Canadian boys just read differently than Canadian girls but schools and tests don't deal with this."

Please come by tonight for the second Mensactivism.org/iFeminists.com on-line chat, which this time (and from now on) will be held at the iFeminists chat room. Tonight's topic will be a controversial one, I'm sure - the rights and responsibilities of men in abortion. Should men have any say in an abortion, or should they have the option of "abortion" themselves? Or something else? Go to the iFeminists chat page tonight, 12/9, at 9:00 PM Eastern Time and offer your input!

This testimony by Michael Tanner explains the link between welfare and crime for young black men, but it really is a universal concept and not just a racial issue. Some parts are a bit dubious, but at least they're starting to look at policies that economically marginalize men for the short-term benefit of the sancrosact "women and children," which will only make things worse for everyone in the long run." Scott's note: The comments about how welfare checks "replace" the roles of men in poor urban areas is an accurate comment, and there was also mention about the need of fathers and male role models for young men, which I think is very relevant to our cause.

Mike from Men's News Daily wrote an editorial related to what I like to call "judicial chivalry," or how women often get shorter sentences than men for the same crime, because they're women. Mike's article discusses how feminists have tried to turn the concept on its head, claiming that women are punished more severely for committing crimes, since criminal behavior is seen as a male realm. He ends the essay with an encouraging anecdote of a judge who saw through this issue and refused to be apologetic about sentencing a woman who had nine children.

How's this for unexpected? I came across this interview with Lendon Smith, A man who claims that ADD/ADHD is basically caused by a dietary problem and giving the kid certain foodstuffs would stop the problem. He also claims to have an 80% success rate with his nutritional method. Think of this article as a reminder that we have to help the nearest boy as much as the nearest man.

Neil Steyskal writes "The Washington Post's advice columnist tells how to deal with women who don't pay their share." The response is pretty entertaining, too. Check it out.

The latest Men's Health America posting reveals an urgency to contact that U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to urge them to address the needs of Afghan men, and to prevent the brutalization of Afghan men as has happened for so many years during and before Taliban rule. A sample letter is included, and those with Senators not on the Committee are urged to write to committee chairman Joseph Biden. In other news on this campaign, Neil Steyskal got yet another letter printed in the Washington Times. Spartacus also sent in this link which has a ton of stories which are potentially biased. Just pick a few, read them, and consider writing in response.

plumber writes "Christina Hoff Sommers, who wrote The War Against Boys recently encountered outrageous abuse at a government-sponsored conference. Because she dared to question the value of the program "Girl Power," she was told to stop talking by the organizers, heckled by the audience, and Professor Jay Wade of Fordham University shouted from the audience "Shut the fuck up, bitch!" We should recognize the courage of Ms. Hoff Sommers and others who confront feminist power with truth. She might also appreciate some sympathy and thank you notes at sommers22@aol.com."