The upgrade of Mensactivism.org this weekend went surprisingly well - there were no unexpected problems or delays, except for a temporary DNS issue. As I'm now way behind in a ton of my other commitments, things will get back to normal at a fairly slow rate. The apache compression module hasn't been installed yet, and probably won't be until this weekend. The new moderation system will also become more visible as the week goes on. We'll do our best to get up to date on our current submissions bin, and thanks to everyone for your patience!

This Sunday (3/3), the jointly sponsored mensactivism.org and ifeminists.com chat will feature a question and answer session about writing as activism. The featured answer-woman and answer-man will be Wendy McElroy and myself. While Wendy can answer specific questions about writing as a widely published columnist/activist, I will answer questions from the newspaper perspective related to getting your op-ed or letters to the editor in print. Join us at 9p.m. EST on Sunday in the ifeminists.com chat room.

JM writes "Out of France comes a new test (already starting to be used) that, in the words of an influential science magazine, will "prove rape". It does not prove rape. What it really shows is that a woman has had sex with a man from a certain biological group - NOT a certain individual - up to a week or so after sex. It does this by detecting Y- chromosomes. This test only determines that sex has taken place. The rape aspect is still totally dependent on whether the sex was consensual. It looks very much as though this test could be used as a "plan B" to prosecute men - guilty or innocent - when it has been shown that no sperm are present."

The Men's Activism News Network will be unavailable this weekend due to a major server software upgrade. The outage will begin early Saturday morning and the site should be back up by Sunday evening. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we intend to offer some cool new features with the upgrade, including an apache file compression module that should increase the download speed of MANN for most users, regardless of your internet connection speed.

Anonymous User sent us this Boston Globe article and writes "[This is] yet another example of how terrorism isn't only performed by men." Thanks also to SJones for sending us this link, and to Rams for sending us this one. It's a sad fact that terrorism, like all violence, isn't a gender issue.

I found this link to callrape.com while I was surfing ifeminists.com this morning. This site provides an overview about the rape of males and attempts to dispell some myths surrounding it. There's also a history of male rape and some words about the "aggression vs. sexual desire" debate. MYTH: The majority of male rape occurs in prison. FACT: A study of incarcerated and non-incarcerated male rape victims in Tennessee concluded that the similarities between these two groups would suggest that the sexual assault of men may not be due to conditions unique to a prison, and that all men are potential victims (Lipscomb et al., 1992).

sjones writes "Scientists have just discovered that low levels of testosterone in men causes emotional problems just like it does in women. In the process of reporting this the media made fun of the men, saying that the research "has an amusing side" and that testosterone does not solve the problem of men's inability to wash dishes. The story is here." One has to wonder if they reported this as a health article or just for laughs. Thanks also to Serge for submitting this BBC article, which has more details about the study.

ronn sent in this column from the Washington Times, which relates the story of Gerald Amirault, a man who, along with his sister and mother, was convicted on fraudulent child abuse charges 16 years ago. In spite of the unanimous recommendation of the Governor's Board of Pardons to free Amirault, Mass. Gov. Jane Swift has chosen not to do so, apparently for fear of election backlash. The column's author suggests that Swift's re-election campaign is more important to her than justice.

Anonymous User writes "The Richmond Times Dispatch reported in an article that there are bills under consideration in the Virginia House of Delegates that would give married women "the ability to charge rape without having to prove they no longer live with their husband or without having to prove a serious bodily injury." When opponents complained that changing the law could cause women in divorce cases to file false charges of rape as leverage for securing more child support and alimony, supporters of the bill "scoffed at that argument, explaining the change was a matter of fairness." The bill's sponsors are Del. Terie L. Suit in the House and state Sen. Thomas K. Norment. If you live in Virginia you can find who your representatives are at: this link."

Steve pointed out to me that N.O.W. has included a quote from me (out of context as it is) on their "Scary Quotes: Hair-Raisers from the Radical Right" web page. Click here and check the third quote on the list. I actually didn't say this at the Senate hearing, it was something I spoke of when interviewed about Stop Hating Men. The quote in context is, "'Men as a class have never had much power,'...Sure, certain men have had power, but so have certain women." Although I'm sure this doesn't change it from being the same heresy from N.O.W.'s point of view. :)

warble writes "Earlier I asked the question, what legislators in Georgia voted against the right of a man to be free from paternity fraud? I have found the answer to that question at
this URL.
I believe there were five Democrats in the Senate that opposed HB369. Five Democrats chose not to vote and one Republican also abstained. If we use the logic that one is either for or against men's rights, then eleven Senators oppose men's rights. Perhaps somebody in GA can call them and inform us why these legislators oppose this bill. Just click on the name next to red "N" to get their phone number. I would like to know. In total that means that about 20% of the Senators oppose men's rights legislation in GA."

John Knouten submitted this media review from the National Organization for Women. The first review is of the book Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. The book is largely critical of the Bush administration, but Moore also takes some shots at men in general, much to the delight of NOW. One chapter in particular should warm the hearts of feminists. "The End of Men" details the havoc that men have wreaked on women, government and the planet. Moore bravely tells it like it is where domestic violence is concerned and he even encourages men to get active in helping end the wage gap between women and men! And yet NOW insists their movement is not anti-male. Click Read More below for contact information.

This story on azcentral.com reports on a man who has been ordered to pay child support for a baby conceived through forced sex. According to the man, he was drugged and date-raped by the child's mother, who then sued him for child support. The baby, a boy, was born March 3, 1998, and paternity actions initially were brought against two men, court records said. Blood tests determined the man ordered to pay child support was the father.

ronn pointed us to this article by the Ottawa Citizen's Dave Brown. Brown laments the exploitation of children and fathers on talk shows, particularly those which feature "Who's the daddy?" themes. I have to agree - this kind of voyeurism is degrading, it exploits children, and it almost never sympathetically treats fathers who were tricked into parenthood. That these kinds of talk shows exist says a lot about our screwed up priorities.

Mensactivism.org is looking for volunteer movie reviewers, to analyze new movies from a masculist perspective. We currently have one person who is willing to write regular reviews if we can find at least a couple more. If you're regular moviegoer, this could be a fun activism project. Note that we're looking for in-depth reviews, not just a review of a few sentences. Post on the comment board here or e-mail admin@mensactivism.org if this interests you.