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.

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.