Hi everybody, I'm Adam and one of the new co-administrators on Mensactivism.org. I'll be posting articles from time to time, and here's the first one. It's an online book: The Garbarge Generation by Daniel Amneus and you can read it here. Thanks :)

Marc Angelucci writes "I'm glad there's been some domestic violence postings here lately, because the American Bar Association Journal, which has a circulation of 400,000 nationwide, just printed this article on domestic violence that opens with 'about 90 percent of victims are women.' How about we send them some mail, even just a quick e-mail message (abajournal@abanet.org), so they might print some of it?" Read on for Marc's explanation of the statistics that will be useful in your letters...

The UK Independent ran this story on the lack of male schoolteachers for primary (elementary) schools. It brings up a reason I had never even considered before: that men are afraid of entering this field due to the likelihood of false accusations of sexual harassment from students. Testimony is included from male teachers who left their careers due to their inability to touch children, comfort them if hurt, or break up fights because of the potential of being accused. And can you blame them? What can be done about this?

It's been a while since I've received a feature submission, and I now have a couple queued up for the upcoming weeks. The first one, by James Castelli, is on domestic violence. In his essay, Jim confronts the political nature of domestic violence as portrayed by "male bashing feminists," and calls for an end to the gender warfare going on which is doing nothing to truly prevent domestic violence. Click the "Read More..." link below to view his submission...

Rand submitted another article, this one from the Boston Globe and written by Cathy Young. She discusses the issue of domestic violence, (Oct. is DV awareness month) and debunks the idea that DV is rooted in the patriarchal power of men over women. Young always has some good statistics and facts in her articles, in this one she cites a dating violence study done by a feminist who withheld her findings because it showed women as more violent than men.

I kid you not. According to this UK Sunday Times article, submitted by Rand, it is becoming established in Sweden that allowing men to stand while urinating (even at urinals) constitutes contempt for women, and men are encouraged to sit instead. I suppose there really is no limit to the humiliation and shame men are willing to accept for being male. This is ridiculous.

Marc Angelucci writes "After years of feminist lies in the UCLA Daily Bruin, a respected women's issues columnist came out supporting men's issues. In this article, she addresses male body image as a less controversial men's issue. But then she mentions false accusations, harassment and discrimination as legitimate men's issues, and pointedly says that courts are unfairly stacked against men. She's been my e-mail buddy for a while now, which I think shows that calm dialogue with certain feminists - sincere ones - can sometimes be effective. This is just a pinhole in the "lace curtain." But with unity and perserverence, we can shred it." Way to go Marc! This is encouraging to hear.

The Washington Times printed this article a few days ago which comments on the recently enacted sexual misconduct policy at Columbia University. Paul Craig Roberts comes straight out and confronts the issue of false accusations, and I'm sure this article will stir up a lot of controversy. Please help keep a dialogue going about this, and don't let it fade away from the media's attention - we can't afford to let this take root in our society.

Marc Angelucci has informed me of an activism project to establish a Men's Studies book section at the major bookseller Barnes & Noble. One of their major competitors, Borders, already has a Men's Studies section, so if we make some noise and express interest in it, B&N is likely to comply. Check out the Mensactivism.org activism projects page for full details and a sample letter Marc wrote up. It will only take a minute of your time!

Ed Bartlett writes, "There are now two national support groups available to help men (and their partners) diagnosed with prostate cancer: Man to Man, sponsored by the American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/m2m/m2m.html, and US Too:
http://www.ustoo.com/. These sites provide great information for both the newly-diagnosed patient and the long-term survivor."

IHF submitted this UK Telegraph story that the British government has officially adopted the position that "The distress and damage done to children when parents separate can be reduced if they retain strong and loving bonds with both parents." Although it is not law, this position is sure to have a positive effect on fathers going through the family courts in the near future.

Wendy McElroy wrote a brutally honest article on VAWA2 and what the bill will actually accomplish. It's not a pretty picture, and the last I heard is that it was stalled in the Senate but could be passed very soon. Her conclusions are: "There is nothing noble or righteous about the VAWA. The Act is a money grab to back an agenda. In the wake of its political turbulence, it is women who will be battered (as well as men) by having to live with the burden of gender apartheid."

Note that I just added a new poll - thanks to everyone that participated in the previous one!

Ed Bartlett from Men's Health America has sent out a notice about the "Men Deserve To Live" campaign, and there is bad news and good news. The bad news is, the bill isn't going to pass in this session of Congress. The good news is, there is plenty of support for the bill and it will be re-introduced immediately once Congress begins again. Click "Read More" to view the announcement from Ed. And thanks to everyone who took part in this letter writing and activism campaign!

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.