Today, the Men's Health America mailing list announced an activism campaign to break the silence about the brutalization of Afghan men. While we've all heard about the oppression of women under the Taliban, the treatment of men under this regime can in no way be likened to "freedom" and "empowerment." It's time to remind the media about this, and to do so in numbers. Starting Friday, November 23, and for at least the next 10 days, messages on the MHA mailing list will outline activities you can participate in to make a difference. Please join the list if you're not a member, as it's a great resource. We will also be linking to each message related to this project.

The latest column by Glenn Sacks isn't directly focused on men's rights, but it does deal with the very real phenomenon of young boys being impressed into armies and forced to do horrendous things. Glenn's article, A Hero Without a Country, tells the story of a young boy who is drafted into a Guatemalan faction's army, and his eventual escape and later life as an illegal immigrant in the U.S. It's the kind of article that gets you to stop and reflect for a minute.

Emanslave sent in this story from ABCNews.com. It's about the socialization of boys and girls with respect to what kinds of toys they play with. It points out that when girls play with "boy" toys, that it isn't a big deal with other children, but when a boys plays with a "girl" toy, they tend to receive sharp socialization messages which discourage this behavior. William Pollack is quoted in the article, and while I think this is a legitimate issue, I feel the article is tainted with the idea that we need to resocialize children away from any gender differences.

krob4399 sent in this Yahoo! News story which briefly outlines the murder of a man by his wife after admitting he had an affair. From the article: "Last November, the 32-year-old housewife stabbed her husband, also 32, with a knife after beating him dozens of times with the steel pan, saying: ``You said you would die if you had an affair, so I want you to die as you had promised.''" The woman was sentenced to four years in prison for the murder in a Japanese court.

I made a change to the user preferences database so that viewing comments will seem more logical. For anyone who kept their comment view as "Oldest First," I have changed this to "Oldest First (Ignore Threads)" so that comments will be displayed from top to bottom in order of their posting. I think this might make reading the comments more consistent and help prevent people from mistakenly replying to the wrong thread. If you find you don't like this, if you're logged in you can always change it under the User Preferences, "Customize Comments" section. This change affects the Anonymous User account, too.

Good news, Bob Rowan has been contacted and he's planning on coming to the chat tonight, as is Wendy McElroy. You know the deal, go to this page at 9:30 PM Eastern Time tonight and log in! Hopefully holiday travel won't impact our turnout too much.

This article in The Tennessean reports on a unique new program being considered by Williamson County schools in Tennessee. The school district may back its diplomas with a warranty. If any student graduating from a Williamson County school is forced to take remedial classes upon entering college, the school system will pay for those classes. Although the issue of boys isn't specifically addressed, this could be incentive for teachers to better address boys' struggles in their classrooms. It is also worth noting that Tennessee is currently one of the lowest-ranked states in the nation for education spending, and is also relatively low in the ranks on quality of education.

In a disturbing article from Australia's Herald Sun, it is revealed that a recent Buffalo University study has found that Ritalin, the most popular drug for treating ADD/ADHD, may cause long term brain damage. "The changes look similar to those with stimulants such as amphetamine and cocaine...One of the genes [modified by large amounts of amphetamine and cocaine] has been linked with addiction when it is activated in certain parts of the brain."

In an Irish Independent article, Betty Cody gives an overview of how society has changed and sends inconsistent messages to men. The article begins with the question, "Do we really need men?" and then meanders along stating some of the problems men have faced with the breakdown of rigid roles for men and women. Overall, I found her tone clinical and unfeeling, and her description of men pretty negative overall (ie, fathers are "not particularly competent" at housework and taking care of their kids). But at least in the end she promotes the idea that men need more advocacy for their issues and that they're not receiving it. It's kind of a lukewarm article.

Trudy W Schuett writes "Ms. Magazine is now owned by the Feminist Majority Foundation. The magazine's offices will move to Los Angeles in Spring 2002. Most of the New York staff has been laid off." As Wendy McElroy put it in her latest ifeminist newsletter, "all attention seems to be focused on the Women of Afghanistan. It is as tho' radical feminism has abandoned domestic politics."

Yes, you read that right...there are only a few strings attached. For only $249, residents of California can now complete all divorce proceedings though a web site, without having to walk into a courtroom. The service can only be used if the couple is divorcing amicably and can agree on asset distribution and child custody. Still, it's surreal to think of people divorcing this way. And my favorite quote in the article: "I really don't believe having something available that makes it easier and costs less money is going to encourage divorce." Uh-huh. Click here for the story from the LA Times.

In one of the most disturbing moves since Ontario's Bill 117, I learned from this UK Independent story that a new law will allow third parties to bring charges of domestic violence against the victim's will. The move is meant to protect women who are too afraid or unwilling to press charges against their abuser. Most disturbingly, "Possible candidates for this role include social services departments, voluntary groups working with survivors of domestic violence as well as the police." The second group is the one I'm most concerned about.

Mike from Men's News Daily writes "This article promotes a new web site/organization that tackles female violence against males." The couple mentioned in the story created the web site HelpingMen.com, which is soliciting personal stories from site visitors. If you'd like to share your story, please stop by there. Update: The link no longer works, but I'd still encourage you to visit helpingmen.com for more info.

Mike LaSalle from Men's News Daily writes "This article from the Sydney Morning Herald purports to document the wage gap between men and women. Another article (this one from the University of Virginia Cavalier Daily), succinctly refutes the superficial reporting of the first. The SMH article appears pitched at an "elementary-school" reading level, while of course the latter article is written by and for a college audience..."

Neil Steyskal writes "The Washington Post is promoting San Francisco's use of hair stylists to help abused women, but the program ignores the men who are victims. Remind them about the abused men: letters@washpost.com."