Well, today I received in the mail the parts I'll be using to upgrade the Mensactivism.org server. In addition, I'll be performing an upgrade of the server's OS and the Slash web engine which runs this site. It's not going to be fun, since the setup I'm using is extremely customized. After I've installed the new hardware and tested it, I'll announce when Mensactivism.org will be down for the upgrade. It could be for a duration of 3-4 days if things get really nasty, but I'll create a temporary page to keep people posted on the progress.

Nightmist writes "Healthology, a leading health-oriented Web site has teamed up with Men's Health Network, AskMen.com, and Dadmag.com to provide Web-casts about men's health issues for each day of National Men's Health Week (June 11-17.... this week!). This article on Excite News explains the details and purpose of the arrangement."

Ed Bartlett writes, "The US Department of Health and Human Services is in the process of dramatically expanding its fatherhood programs. As part of of this effort, the National Institutes of Health has developed a compilation of fatherhood research projects that it is funding. These studies are being sponsored by the NIH National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and by other NIH institutes. NIH Activities in Support of the Fatherhood Initiative through September 2000 can be found at this site."

Spartacus pointed me to this article from the Washington Post, about a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the double standard that unmarried mothers bearing children abroad can have an easier process to establish the child's U.S. citizenship than fathers. The reason this was justified was that mothers can be certain of their maternity, while paternity of a child can not be such a sure thing. If the court is practically acknowledging the problem of paternity fraud, could an understanding of the need for Choice for Men be that much further away?

Mark writes "This article written by a high school teacher of 30 years not only dispels the myth that all bullying is done by males, but also adds that quite often the female bullies are more relentless.
"I'd rather be bullied by a guy any day than by a girl. ... Compared to guys, girls are vicious" said one 17-year-old girl."

Trudy Schuett's excellent DesertLight Journal has released another issue, which can be read at this link. This one is a special Father's Day themed issue, with lots of great news articles and editorials. Go Trudy!

Nightmist writes "Ernst & Young claim in this short article that 17 percent of the 1,500 people taking advantage of their flexible work schedules are men who are taking time to be with their children. This article was probably intended as a release for press-only (because it names three fathers who are available to talk about the program). Any journalists out there want to contact these people and write a great fatherhood piece on it?"

Nightmist writes "Wendy McElroy of iFeminists.com reports on Fox News about one man's seven-year struggle against false date rape allegations which destroyed his teaching career before it had even started. The accusations were leveled by Gonzago University (and denied over and over by his alleged victim). The man in this case was extremely lucky in the fact that his alleged victim continued to deny the charges, even through faculty attempts to brainwash her into believing she had been raped." Thanks also to the Anonymous User who submitted this article.

A.J. writes "This Reuters article reports on the use of child soldiers by militaries around the world. I'm appalled that this occurs at all but am also disturbed by the reporting. The article states that "300,000 children under 18 were fighting for government forces or opposition groups at any one time." There is one (count 'em) reference to gender of those children forced to fight: "The report said that 49 children, including 32 girls between 11 and 15, were among 140 LTTE personnel killed in a battle with security forces in October 1999" referring to actions in Sri Lanka. No mention of gender for the other 299,968 children forced to fight. What are we to assume about the gender breakdown of those children?"

Nightmist writes "This article on Excite News claims that a recent report published in Men's Health found that doctors talk to one in two male patients about prostate cancer, the second leading killer cancer among men (behind lung cancer). Likewise, the story says, many men who are high-risk for the disease are not being tested, and about one in five do not even know what a prostate is."

Mark sent in this article by Maggie Gallagher. She mentions that President Bush spoke recently to the National Fatherhood Initiative, saying that fatherlessness is one of America's largest social problems. Gallagher also derides wealthy single mothers, like Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal), who was quoted as saying, "I want more children. I guess it would be nice to have a husband, too, and if you know where I might find the right one, let me know. But meanwhile, the baby is all I really want."

Nightmist writes "Fox News ran this column about recent legal and other battles regarding free speech v. politically correct speech. Although not specifically a men's issue, the First Amendment is taking quite a beating lately, and these incidents deserve some attention."

Canada's The Report give a review of Warren Farrell's latest book, Father and Child Reunion. It stresses Farrell's findings that children are better off with single dads than with single moms, but doesn't portray this view as too radical or antagonistic, which could easily be done by a reviewer who doesn't like Farrell's findings. Click here for the article.

This bold story, which appeared in the UK Observer, confronts the stark reality of mothers who use men as sperm donors, then wallets. It begins with a disturbing story of a woman who changed the locks on their house as soon as the father's name was on the birth certificate. It also mentions, "These women are not rare: the Government's Children First consultation paper found that 40 per cent of the divorced or separated mothers admitted to thwarting child-father contact....Fatherhood is an inalienable right, for both child and father, and we should defend it from those women bent on trampling it."

Yes, it's here again - National Men's Health Week, June 11-17, 2001. It's time to think about heading to the doctor for a checkup if you haven't been there in a while, and to educate and raise awareness of men's health issues. The Men's Health Week web site has lots of good info, including a calendar of events. I'd also highly recommend subscribing to Ed Bartlett's Men's Health America mailing list to receive updates on news about men's health. And don't forget your mental health, too - when's the last time you took a vacation?