Rob Exeter writes, "I came across a rather one sided view of domestic violence stats on this webpage for the Kennebunk, Maine police. What is sad is that the "Mission Statement" of the Maine Police with respect to DV victims refers only to women and children. The crowning glory of the usual selective collection of "stats" is the attempt to compare the number of men killed in the Vietnam war with the number of females killed in the US during the same period. An interesting rebuttal to the figures can be found at this site, however.

Michael Snyder (a frequent poster on the newsgroup soc.men) wrote up a detailed analysis "comparing and cross-referencing the various DOJ reports on violent victimization, to show a pattern of bias in reporting, placing outrageous emphasis on female victimization and downplaying both male victimization and female offenders." I hope you'll take a moment to check this out, because it will blow your mind. Click here for his site.

Former Washington high school teacher Marty Barnes will only do 10 days of a traditionally 90-day sentence for second-degree criminal attempt of sexual misconduct with a minor (a misdemeanor) after she allegedly kissed one of her male students (twice). This story in the Seattle Times details the facts of the case. Barnes pleaded down from second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, which would have meant she would have been required to register as a sex offender. Update: The author of this article (in an e-mail to me) says that several readers have written her asking why Barnes was given such a lenient sentence when a male would've received the max. You may write your letter to the editor to the Seattle Times here (opinion@seattletimes.com).

An organization calling itself "Men Stopping Rape" is once again distributing the offensive urinal splashguards with the slogan "You hold the key to stopping rape in your hands" to men's restrooms in Pennsylvania. The trend started in Ohio. The article is, of course, supportive of the measure, but does quote a few brave dissenting souls: "It kind of pissed me off. I know rape is out there and it makes you think, but this is State College, it's not like it's Philly. The splashguards aren't directed to me and so I'm going to ignore them. By putting those in there, you must think all guys are out there abusing women." Update: The first Men's Activism News Network post on this urinal splashguard fad (from back in May) is available here.

Chad from the Men's Movement Connection writes, "Recently Disney has released a new motion picture. "The Princess Diaries," targeted towards a younger audience, is rated "G," but the movie contains a scene where the character played by "Erik Von Detten" is sexually abused. This was shown in the theatrical trailer. We must try to stop the male bashing in at least Children's Cinema before it gets out of control." Contact info for Disney is listed in the Read More section of this story.

AngryHarry sent me this article which explains the all-too-common scenarios where 209A orders (restraining orders) are abused by women. What's even more important about the article is they have other pages on what to do about false accusations and methods of fighting back against the Massachusetts DSS. I consider this site a "must read" for any man who is currently in a relationship that is having some rough times. A small amount of time spent now could help you tremendously in the future.

Lance Armstrong, who overcame a very serious testicular cancer case about four years ago, has today won the Tour de France - for the third year in a row. Because of this I feel that Armstrong's victory is not just about a bike race, but about a man's victory over cancer and an inspiration to other men. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports research, public awareness, and support to cancer survivors, can be found at this link.

This study conducted by a University of Texas professor and sponsored by the Independent Women's Forum indicates that the sharp drop of men on college campuses in the U.S. has had an equally dramatic impact on college dating culture. Women are finding it more difficult to find long-term partners, according to the study, while men are enjoying a preponderance of brief sexually charged encounters. The article does stereotype men as "only wanting one thing," but one brave soul speaks up and points out that men do seek out long-term relationships as well. It will be interesting, to me, to find out whether other men lament or laud this change in dating climate.

This article on Excite News purports to confirm an old stereotype that women are more likely to visit the doctor than are men. In spite of its headline, the article spends more word space focusing on how to "improve" women's health and relationships with the medical profession than men. In fact, men are only mentioned in three paragraphs of the 12 paragraph story. Most of the comparisons are made between white women and black women. Not surprisingly, women are diagnosed and treated for depression more often than men. It is my personal belief that this is because of the old stereotype in which men must "suck it up and tough it out" while women are too delicate to be allowed to experience any discomfort.

A study described on Excite News indicates that some pesticides and solvents may be to blame for a dramatic increase in male infertility. Dwindling sperm counts have been a cause of concern since Danish researchers reported in 1992 that sperm counts worldwide were declining. Many experts blame environmental factors for the decline, as well as an increase in testicular cancer.

Robert H wrote in about a situation he found himself in where he was being harassed at his workplace and accused of "making moves" on another employee's wife. After having left the job because of the stress, he has attempted several ways to get some sort of support, but found it nowhere. Robert's story can be read by clicking Read More below. I would urge you to contact Robert if you can suggest to him any resources and offer some moral support for another man who was mistreated and is being ignored.

Ray Remark sent me this predictable story from the Spokane Spokesman-Review about domestic violence. The story is specifically about the usage of "Children's Rooms" in courts for children to stay in so they don't have to observe the domestic violence trials that their parents are going through, but practically every paragraph of the article points out the overwhelming prevalence of male abusers. Ray sent in a sharp response, which can be read by clicking Read More below. It probably won't be printed in the paper, so you might as well read it here.

With all the talk recently about boys and education--mainly, how boys require more physical activity--I thought that this article from Christian Science Monitor was both relevant and important. It reports on the first public school to adopt military-style discipline for students, and it is, of course, controversial. However, the school officials promise it will not to be one of the "boot camp" schools about which we've heard so much lately. The focus is going to be on education, discipline, and physical activity. Although this sounds particularly good for boys' education (we've all heard about how boys learn better when physical activity is involved), the article only quotes female students (and the parents of female students). I'll be writing an oped letter to point that out to them (e-mail oped@csps.com... you must include your name and address if the letter is to be considered for publication).

frank h pointed me to this article from TooGoodReports.com and writes "Duplantier encourages the celebration of gender diversity in this short essay. Not real hard-hitting, but well-said." From the article: "Thanks to the persistent intervention of reality, the hostile egalitarianism of the sexes may at long last be on the wane...Instead of trying fanatically to blur the distinctions between the sexes, let's go back to accentuating and celebrating them."

frank h is looking to form a chapter of the National Coalition of
Free Men in New Jersey, and is looking for potential members. Please
e-mail Frank at fhujber@optonline.net if you're interested.