Glenn Sacks' latest column came out this morning in Newsday of New York, and can be read on Glenn's web site here. Sacks discusses the issue of stay at home dads and the benefits to both men and women if we dropped the stereotypes about men who decide that fathering is more important to them than their careers. Sacks knows what he's talking about in this article, since he's a stay at home dad himself, and finds in immensely rewarding. Sacks is also hosting (along with Father's Rights activist Dianna Thompson) a webcast on Men's News Daily every Tuesday evening at 6 pm PST.

warble writes "In today’s hostile environment [toward men], it is not surprising that governments would seek to ban home DNA testing. They are trying to claim that the father should have no right to privately check his child’s DNA. I checked and found that a home DNA test costs $250-$500. DNA testing is the only means that a father can use to determine paternity. It removes the requirement to rely only the word of a potentially unfaithful wife. Only the mother can know if she has been unfaithful and have knowledge of any doubt. For the male, there is only belief in the mother’s word in the absence of a DNA test. All males have the right to an equal knowledge of paternity, and DNA testing provides the only mechanism whereby a man can enjoy that absolute right. If ever there was a time for men to organize and protect their rights, this is it. The article can be found at the following link: Banning DNA Testing By Father. I would suggest sending emails to the Human Genetics Commission at hgcpressoffice@westminster.com."

On June 21, the Twin Cities Chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men will be hosting a forum in Saint Paul, MN. The forum is scheduled to coincide with the National Organization of Women's national conference, and NCFM has Warren Farrell, Trudy Schuett, and Wendy McElroy as speakers. The forum is free and open to the public, and media are encouraged to cover the event. This is the closest thing I know of to a "men's rights conference" in the U.S. Learn more here.

warble writes "For all those interested, the amended version of the Paternity Justice Act can be found here: AB2240. Basically, everything is intact except for the right of men to have equal representation on the format of the paternity declaration form. Currently, the feminists have representation by law and male activists are excluded. Does any body know of a case law where this type of discrimination was disputed and won in the favor of males? If so please let me know. It would be best if the laws were challenged in CA but any other state will be helpful."

New Hampshire will now be the first state in the nation to have a Commission on the Status of Men. All of the hard work and close calls on this bill paid off, and Governor Jeanne Shaheen of NH signed HB 587 today. It was briefly mentioned in this Foster's Daily Democrat article. The commission will be established by July 1. Click here for the text of the bill itself. Now excuse me while I go celebrate....

Marc Angelucci writes "Jean Bonhomme of the Black Men's Health Network briefly debates Phyllis Greenberger of the Society for Women’s Health Research in this point/counterpoint in the Physician's Weekly. It's pretty clear to me who won. Bonhomme gives far more accurate facts, Greenberger repeats the already-debunked myth that women were exluded from medical testing, and Greenberger changes the issue to be whether the female-specific research indirectly benefits men rather than whether the research overall is shortganging men by underaddressing men's health in favor of women's health."

frank h writes "I came across this article about the "Street Harassment Project" that also includes a number of responses and commentary by readers. In terms of activism projects, perhaps we could attend one of their "events" and see how "sensitive" they are. I'm convinced that these women need to be educated as to how their mode of dress inflicts harassment on men, and perhaps they ought to be challenged. Since they apparently arm them selves with spray paint, one should be properly attired in protective glasses and disposable clothing, carrying a small amount of paint thinner and cotton balls, and properly armed with pepper spray.

In the right place and at the right time, I certainly do enjoy the female form. But in the workplace, at school, or on the street, scantily-clad women are an annoyance and an unnecessary distraction. Unfortunately, after several hundred thousand years of evolution, I find it difficult to restrict my attentiveness to the "appropriate" moments. I find that ALL of the men with whom I've discussed this, no matter how "prudish" they may be, feel the same way.

It's time to push back, guys. We don't need burkas, but longer, looser skirts and looser sweaters are definitely indicated."

nazgul writes "My wife is a student at the University of South Carolina, in the Women's Studies graduate program. While this leads to no end of, shall we say, "spirited" conversation over dinner, there is very little free discussion in the classrooms she attends. Her seminar course has an actual gag order for dissenting opinions in effect, under the auspices of "Guidelines for Classroom Discussion". The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has accepted the case and is pursuing it now. Please disseminate this story to as many news outlets as possible, and write to the University to correct this injustice. You can read about it at this link."

Well, folks, I'm back, and I'm ready to start making things happen again with Mensactivism.org. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who took this temporary outage in stride - I didn't receive one angry or impatient e-mail from anyone - and let you all know that my final projects and exams went much, much better than they would have if had I not taken some time off. Now that my life has returned to a reasonable pace, I'm ready to start some new projects for MANN! That's right - due to some strong collaboration between myself and Mike LaSalle from Men's News Daily, I'd like to take advantage of the opportunity to focus MANN more strongly on the activism side of things, and let MND does what it does best, which is to provide news stories and commentary for the movement. Read on for more details about this plan...

It is with deep regret that I must announce a temporary shut down of Mensactivism.org until I can get a handle on my life. In the past month you've certainly noticed that MANN has not been updated or maintained as diligently as it has in the past, and the reason for that is due to a serious level of over-commitment that I put myself into for the first five months of 2002. I'm not going to offer any heartbreaking story about this, I simply made an error of judgment where I thought I could make it through this time crunch but it's just more than I can handle now. I take full responsibility for getting myself into this mess. Right now I must devote as many resources as possible to academics. My last final exam will be on May 17, and once that is done with I expect to be able to resume running this site in a manner it deserves, rather than the half-hearted way it's been limping along for the past month or so.



In the meantime, I'd highly recommend you check out Men's News Daily, a great site run by Mike LaSalle whose news coverage on men's issues is excellent. I even understand he has a web forum for related discussions that was added recently. In any case, I hope this isn't too much of a let-down for people, and I promise this shutdown will only be temporary. The time I'll be spending will be an investment in the amount of time I'll be able to devote to this site over the summer.

This Foster's story offers more details about the outcome of yesterday's Senate vote to establish a Commission on the Status of Men in NH. It includes the final vote broken down by Senator, the last minute attempt to amend the bill to make it a "health and welfare of men" commission, which thankfully failed, and how the commission will be set up. "The commission would consist of seven members appointed by the governor and council, with at least one member invited from the University System of New Hampshire. While the bill does not have any state money, it authorizes the commission to accept donations or grants to further its duties."

crescentluna writes "This article covers how feminists are dissenting in opinion over the Ms. Foundation's incredibly original idea of taking "our sons and daughters to work day." Several different feminist prospectives are here, including the "conservative feminist" view that women's financial disparity lies in their family choices, not in discrimination. Men apparently don't care about the issue."

This I found simply wonderful. What more can I say?

Today, the NH Senate re-voted on HB 587, to establish a state Commission on the Status of Men. The re-vote was required since the bill was modified in the Senate Finance Committee to correct a few formal errors. There was an attempt to amend the bill to change the name of the commission, which failed. The final vote was 18-5 in favor of the bill, a big improvement over the previous 13-10 vote. Next, the bill goes to NH Governor Jeanne Shaheen to be signed into law. I have informal knowledge that she has expressed her willingness to sign the bill. Folks, this is really going to happen! I'm more excited than I can express in words right now...

Here's a bit of good news about the portrayal of men. One of the things that I like about the article is the statement regarding the testing of one ad, "The spot tested well with dads, but it tested even better with moms." This sort of thing must drive the genfems, especially many Women's Studies types, absolutely nuts. Despite decades of "Kill your father" types of indoctrination, many women still see the involvement of men with their children as a positive thing.