A federal court ruled recently that those accused of violating a restraining order cannot be arrested unless the police have determined probable cause for arrest. You'd think this is a basic right but this article from The Massachusetts News explains how men are routinely arrested for 209A violations based only on an accusation. An accusation does not and should not create probable cause. This is definitely a step in the right direction for men's rights, and also civil rights in general.

This story from an Australian publication details a lecture Warren Farrell presented recently to an audience of men about modern man's lack of choices compared to women. Farrell's central argument is that the traditional image of male-as-oppressor is inaccurate, that power is about choice, freedom to explore options that men don't have. Being a man means being obligated to earn money that other people spend, he says. Farrell recently received an email from his 91-year-old accountant father telling him to give up the fight. "If you continue this way you are going to starve to death," his father wrote.

Anonymous User writes "This article by Maggie Gallagher on Yahoo! News talks about the issue of single parent and dual-service couple soldiers needing to leave their children in the care of others while they go to war; and questions whether it is 'civilized' to send mothers to war. Even though the article quotes a statistic from Brian Mitchell's 1998 book, Women in the Military, which states that dual-service couples and an equal number of single moms and dads will need to leave their children in the care of others, the article gives almost all of it's focus to protecting mothers, and single mothers in particular, from being sent to war. Fathers are merely subsumed into the category of 'parent' - as in a child being asked "to risk both of their parents, or their only parent, for us"."

Claude Moreau sent in this article from the Seattle Times about domestic violence. It's an excellent refutation of myths about domestic violence, and was written by a female family law/domestic violence attorney. From the article: "Many male victims are ignored or ridiculed by a system that seems to recognize only female victims. When women are the abusers, they are more often than not given a pass. Recent cases with which I have personal experience involve men who have been hit, punched, gouged, choked and threatened with weapons by their spouses. Despite reports to police, none of the women were charged with crimes."

I recently found this article written by Murray Rothbard, while it was written in 1970 it's just as true today (maybe even more so) and it's quite a read. In the article he makes the case that men are the real slaves, and implies this is due to women having a matriarchy over men. He makes such a good case it's just plain scary (is it the truth facing us?) It might be heretical but it's worth hearing him out. Oddly enough, the woman he talks to says she'd rather see a man than be one; is this proof that she knows men have it worse or was she just being polite? I don't know about you, but words fail me.

Henry Makow wrote an interesting article about the political nature of feminism for TooGoodReports.com. While I've heard and agree with requests from readers to avoid becoming political with this web site, I think this article and its perspectives deserve some airtime here to balance things out. It's interesting to note that ifeminism is almost completely the opposite of Makow's description, suggesting that ifeminism has few ties with the modern feminist movement.

Foster's Daily Democrat, which ran a story about my domestic violence project at UNH, wasn't exactly forthright with my views regarding statistics about domestic violence. So I wrote them a short letter explaining the statistics further, which they printed in today's letters section. Hopefully this will help to set the record straight.

A new book is soon to be released that should be of interest to MANN readers. Spreading Misandry : The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture by Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young is "A probing inquiry into the pervasiveness of negative male stereotypes in popular culture...Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young argue that men have routinely been portrayed as evil, inadequate, or as honorary women in popular culture since the 1990s. These stereotypes are profoundly disturbing, the authors argue, for they both reflect and create hatred and thus further fracture an already fractured society. In Spreading Misandry they show that creating a workable society in the twenty-first century requires us to rethink feminist and other assumptions about men." This is definitely on my reading list for this winter!

I've been having some discussions with Wendy McElroy, who is recognized as a leader in the "Individualist Feminist" movement. iFeminism, as it's called, is far removed from NOW-ideologies and dogma, and from the number of articles she's written on false accusations, domestic violence against men, and the inconsistencies of mainstream feminism, she has consistently given men a fair shake in her writing. Wendy and I have been discussing ways to try to work together on common goals that both Mensactivism.org and iFeminism.com share, but I want to get reader feedback on this idea. Click "Read More" below to read more info and please post your thoughts on all of this! I value and will consider all thoughts by Mensactivism.org readers on how to handle this potential alliance.

Tonight's Mensactivism.org chat will be on the topic of men's reproductive rights (also referred to as "Choice for Men"). As you know, women have multiple options to decline parenthood, including abortion and baby-abandonment laws. Men, on the other hand, have no fail-safe methods for planning their own family life. But did you know that there are cases where boys have been raped and then sued for child support? That Georgia's Supreme Court has even admitted that the laws discriminate against men? Check out www.choiceformen.com for some good background reading and then click here at 9:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, Oct. 24 to log in and participate in the discussion.

Steve writes "An NZ lawyer is starting a campaign to rename Father's Day into Men's Day of Shame for sexual abuse. The full story can be read here. I have posted my own plan for protest here." This literally turns my stomach. From the article: "New Zealand could lead the way internationally if "good" men stood up in shame and denounced the sex crimes committed by other men." Good men standing up "in shame?" On Father's Day? This is one of the most degrading things I've heard of in a long time.

This story in Australia's Herald Sun reports on another new technique for women which will allow them to conceive children without men. Scientists have engineered synthetic sperm which clones the 23 chromosomes from the human female egg, completing the number of chromosomes necessary for an egg to begin cell division and develop into an embryo. This path is filled with dangerous consequences, though, and not just for men. It could also be dangerous for the child produced by such means. "The big risk with this parthenogenesis is if you've got bad genes . . . (you would be) very concerned about abnormalities of the offspring.

This advice column on AskMen.com attempts to help a young man deal with his "psycho" girlfriend. Apparently, this lady latched herself onto him and, when he tried to get away, threatened him, destroyed his car, and even falsely accused him of sexual harassment. Be afraid, be very afraid. Thousands of men across America let their guard down, thinking that just because they're with a woman, they have nothing to fear. But the fact remains that a stranger is a stranger and you will never know what they're capable of until you've lived with them long enough to understand their character and even then, you still never know.

The battle for men's rights in Scotland is far from over, as evidenced by this story in The Scotsman. After successfully suing her father to pay for her education, a 17-year-old girl sued him again (and won) for a computer and a tennis racquet. Naturally, the father in this story is painted as cold and heartless. His side of the story, in fact, isn't even presented.

Les Farkas sent in a letter he wrote to the BBC for their focus on female refugees from Afghanistan. Les is encouraging us to also write in and get some exposure on major news web sites such as the BBC, which prints letters from readers. As he wrote me, "The more society whines about unfairness to women, the more I feel men being written off or disposed of someway, somehow. In the midst of all the sentimentality over females, we must never stop reminding people, whether they like to hear it or not, that the well being of the other half of humanity should also be of concern!" Read More below to view his letter. And send yours in too!