Hopefully this won't seem egocentric, but I'm posting a letter I wrote to the Univ. of New Hampshire school newspaper. Recently the newspaper ran a section on "men's health and masculinity," (not in the web edition, unfortunately) which took a fairly negative look at masculinity as the driving force behind oppression and suffering in the world. The authors, which included male counselors from UNH, all concluded that a "new masculinity" be created. I wrote this letter in response to the articles, challenging readers to think about the positive attributes of masculinity instead of focusing on the negative.

Anonymous User writes "The October 6th edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education carried an essay/book review by Daphne Patai about the current state of Women's Studies programs in academia - click here. Following the appearance of this essay was an even more interesting online debate between Patai and her critics - click here." This is some really interesting stuff, sure to provoke a lot of thought and even some outrage. Check these links out!

I had meant to post this with greater notice, but tomorrow, October 10, the Montel Williams show will be on the topic, "Confronting Deadbeat Parents." Reportedly, there will be a choice for men supporter interviewed on the show. It should be an interesting program. Update: Apparently they switched their schedule at the last minute, and the program will be on Thursday, Oct. 12

Marc Angelucci writes "The L.A. Weekly wrote this piece in its Off Beat News section that draws attention to a web site where you can slap an animated caricature of Hillary Clinton. The author criticizes the political right for their claim to civility by asking "where were they when [David Horowitz] put up a web site called SlapHillary.com?" I'd like to ask, where was the L.A. Weekly when Spin City did a commercial in which Heather Lochlear repeatedly slapped Michael J. Fox for comedy, or when Hillary reportedly threw furniture at Bill years ago? The L.A. Weekly has never denounced the media bombardment of assaults on male genitals as humor, but one rare site like this comes up on the web, and they're all over it. Let's write the L.A. Weekly at letters@laweekly.com about this. The more letters, the more likely they'll print some."

FIRE, the same group that's going to challenge Columbia's new sexual misconduct policy on the basis of civil liberties violations, is now reporting that a Professor of Law at Columbia has violated the policy with an exam question that raises a hypothetical situation where violence against a woman creates "a beneficial unintended consequence." From the article: "'Columbia is out of control,' [the President of FIRE] said. 'What happened to George Fletcher demonstrates the criminalization within the university of academic content via harassment codes and is a terrible assault against academic freedom.'" The news story includes e-mail addresses for various Columbia University administrators - please make use of them and let them know of your outrage!

bernee writes "As we all know, child support laws are a contentious issue. They have remained unchanged here (in Australia) for around 15 years and have caused much grief (and still do). But, change could slowly be happening: read
this story.
It will be interesting to see if their is any backlash to the proposed changes." These proposals would allow NCPs who have second families to save more money for the second family - this is the first acknowledgment of this unfair problem I've seen yet.

Anonymous User writes "The controversy over Ritalin is the subject of a front page article in Friday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor. Read the story, 'Among parents, backlash builds to Ritalin.'" The story's centerpiece is a young boy whose parents were charged with neglect after taking him off of Ritalin, and also discusses the rights of parents and schools in this type of scenario. Good article.

An Anonymous User writes "Any man at this University needs to run away, and fast! This is an unbelievable, disgusting policy on sexual misconduct. Click here for the scoop" I actually felt sick as well after reading details of the new policy. If something like this spreads to other Universities and beyond it could be the biggest blow to men's civil rights ever unleashed (even more so than the paternity testing issue I mentioned a few stories previously).

The Washington Post printed this article which reports that the Supreme Court has ruled that "equal opportunity" harassers - bisexuals who treat both men and women inappropriately - cannot be sued for sexual harassment. This is very odd, and certainly unfair. It also makes me wonder if this could create a serious loophole in harassment law. Accused of sexual harassment? Simply have someone of the same sex as you accuse you of similar behavior, and claim to be bisexual. Does anyone know if this is what this ruling means?

Adam Hartney writes "This is a bit of an odd one - it's a health exam where you test your knowledge in gender health discrepancies. It turns out men are more likely to die at any age, which makes me ask: why is nature so biased against men?" Good question, Adam. No matter how you slice it, men's health is in danger for many reasons, including biological, material, and cultural reasons. We need to do our part by taking care of ourselves, but also to promote attention to men's health in general too.

Walter Williams from Jewish World Review wrote his latest column on the trash that men are putting up with in the media and elsewhere, and his belief that it is time for men to stop being cowards and stand up for themselves. Although I recall most of the material he refers to from John Leo's article (which he gives credit to), it is good to hear another voice calling out to encourage men to do something.

The Montgomery Advertiser printed this letter to the editor in which the writer clearly outlined the negative image of fathers that Al Gore is promoting in his presidential campaign. It would be nice if some day political candidates were as afraid of insulting male voters as they are female voters. Note: The Men's Activism News Network does not officially endorse any political candidates.

CNN printed this recent story on the rise of female managers, who currently outnumber men in the 20-30 year age bracket, in significant numbers. It's a telling sign that when women have the advantage, the discrimination stories are replaced by elitism and even more blatant sexism.

This is a very serious civil liberties issue....I hope there will be a lot of outrage and dissent against it. The Daily Express reported in this article that an internet based company is offering DNA kits that can be completed with a sample of hair from the child and "father," and in two weeks can return DNA test results that will determine the paternity status of the man. The cost? 195 pounds (about $288 USD). The company has no ethical qualms about performing the test without consent from the parties involved.

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to report on VAWA II recently, but unfortunately it looks like the bill is going to pass. As many of you know, the Violence Against Women Act is supposed to provide around 4 BILLION dollars to combat domestic violence - and is politically aimed to provide support for women specifically. There is no explicit provision in VAWA to acknowledge and fund programs for male victims of DV, and many believe that men can be explicitly discriminated against with this law. Please sign this petition to support the amendment of the bill to include men in recognition and funding for DV prevention programs and shelters. Thanks to an anonymous reader for forwarding this to me.