Men’s Interests

Peering outward from behind a mottled screen of vines and leaves, the Green Man does not speak or sleep; he waits. His meaning and his origins are largely lost to time — the Green Man wasn’t named till 1939. We know, however, that this type of enigmatic figure was the work of artists, anonymous craftsman whose unsigned work adorns the crevices and walls of medieval cathedrals. This year we will appropriate the Green Man and the primeval spell he casts on our imaginations for a modern purpose. Our theme concerns humanity’s relationship to nature. Do we, as conscious beings, exist outside of nature’s sway, or does its force impel us and inform the central root of who and what we are?

Tickets to this year’s Burning Man will be made available on January 17, 10AM PST at http://tickets.burningman.com. The theme is The Green Man.

According to Larry Harvey there were some problems with ticket purchases last year. People logged on before the tickets went on sale and the system crashed. He says they’ve addressed the problem and hopes for a more positive experience this year. He says:

I really don’t want to be too hard on anyone. When you are isolated and feel frustrated it is very easy to lose your temper. But isn’t it ironic that all of the sturm and drang about getting there first, about competing with thousands of other consumers, should arise among a group of people who are dedicated to a non-consumerist event that is devoted to cooperation and collaboration.

If our first allotment of $195 tickets sells out, a second gate will silently slide open, offering another 10,000 tickets for $225 apiece. Finally, when the last gate is automatically triggered, yet another 10,000 tickets will be available at $250.

During the wait for your place in line, if your neck gets tense, if you begin to pound the keyboard, please rest assured - you’re not alone nor need you be alone. There is a place that waits for you in Black Rock City.

Join Parents Magazine and Beliefnet in examining today’s spirituality and parenting by taking this survey.

Visit MAXIM’s 2006 Hometown Hottie Kerry in this video.

Imagine a day at the beach, a San Francisco Beach to be exact. Imagine showing up with 1199 of your friends to form 100-foot letters stretching 450 feet across the sand. “Now, why would 1200 people do something silly like that?” I’m sure you want to ask.

It’s the Beach Impeach Project. From the website:

On Saturday, January 6, 2007 (just two days after the new US Congress convenes), 1,200 people will gather…and lay their bodies down inside the message’s lettering. At 11 a.m. a helicopter will arrive overhead and photographers will record the 1,200 bodies in the sand — “IMPEACH!�?

Here’s a photo of the practice run with the exclamation point filled in.

Everyone is welcome to attend and participate. You can register HERE.

Beach Impeach Website

Beach Impeach Blog

Bush impeach beach sanfrancisco

I hope you enjoy Men’s Interests’ very first podcast, starring Bessie Hudgins from 3 Sides To Every Story. Bessie discusses the candlelight vigil planned for this weekend in Georgia, and the harm families do to children because of divorce.

Visit Three Sides To Every Story

Bessie Hudgins
Phone: 706-882-2897
Fax: 706-884-8137
P.O. Box 1009
LaGrange , Ga. 30241

podcast 3sidestoeverystory divorce childcustody candlelightvigil children

From the Daily Telegram:

Supporters of a state bill aimed to make parental custody rights more equitable saw the measure fall one vote short of advancing from its House committee Tuesday, deadlocked 4-4 with Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Tipton, not voting.

Rep. Leslie Mortimer, R-Horton, sponsored the Equal Parenting bill, HB 5267. The bill in most divorce cases would have created a presumption of equal or near-equal custody unless parents reached their own custody agreement…

…In hearings Wednesday, 47 people spoke or otherwise expressed support for the bill, while 16 offered opposition…

…“The big frustration is Rep. (John) Stahl (R-North Branch), the chairman, for whatever reason, let this thing sit in committee since October of 2005 and bought it up for a committee hearing last week,�? [Rep. Dudley] Spade said.

Bill supporter Brett Frye of Adrian, a spokesman and board member for the Family Rights Coalition of Michigan, said he was encouraged by the committee hearings and expects similar legislation will be introduced next session.

childcustody sharedparenting michigan

I hate to report this news. I was so hoping for a positive outcome. James Kim, husband and father of two, has been found dead. Rescuers searching for him were hopeful yesterday after they found clothing and bits of map Kim had left as clues to his whereabouts. There had been plans to drop emergency care packages in a 3-mile area where they saw hot spots.

Kim and his family got lost in Oregon 10 days ago. His wife nursed their 7-month-old as well as their 4-year-old to keep them alive. Talk about a benefit to breastfeeding. They ran the car heater at night until they ran out of gas, then started burning the tires.

Kim left his family in the car 3 days ago to look for help. He told his wife he’d be back by 1 pm that day. The children and their mother were found yesterday, taken to a hospital and are all fine, except the mother may lose one toe. *update* two toes were injured, but she won’t lose either

jameskim missing oregon

Step 1: Understand Cheer

What is cheer? It’s a random stranger holding the door open for you because you have a bunch of packages. It’s taking your kids out because you know your partner needs a rest. It’s covering for a coworker when they’re sick. It’s giving up your last piece of gum.

It’s random. It’s selfless. It makes you feel good - whether you’re giving it or receiving it.

Step 2: Give a Cheer Pass

Each time an act of kindness takes place, the Cheer Giver gives the Cheer Receiver a Cheer Pass that encourages them to pass cheer onto another person.

Step 3: Share Your Story

To keep the kindness going, share your inspirational story with other potential Cheer Givers.

Step 4: See It Spread

The best part about the Cheer Pass is that you can watch the journey of kindness from town to town. View it now.

Step 5: Tell a Friend

The easiest way to catch some kindness and pass it on is to get your friends involved. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell your family. You’re just a few degrees away from spreading cheer!

Pass# 600053

I was waiting by a bus stop when a stranger pulled up and handed me this ticket and twenty dollars. He said that if I were to accept the gift, I would have to do two things, pass on the cheer pass and try to give more to someone else.

Being on a fixed-income I told him that I couldn’t afford to accept those terms, and consequentially, I could not accept the gift either.

He said, “material gifts are nothing in comparison to gifts of service and love.” So, I accepted the gift and I plan on giving more to someone tomorrow. I know there are several physically handicapped people in my area and I might can rake their leaves. We’ll see…..but know this, I won’t let it end with me.

holiday cheer goodwill coffee

From MediaRADAR:

RADAR ALERT:

Intensive Global Efforts Bring Two Victories in One Week!

This past week our hard work was rewarded with two victories. And both of them stemmed from flawed reports from the United Nations.

1. UN Study on Violence Against Women

The first report was the UN secretary-general’s Study on Violence Against Women. The document amounted to an ideological denunciation of the “patriarchy” and recommended that every country around the world enact VAWA-like laws: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw. Columnist Wendy McElroy described the report as “embarrassingly inaccurate, ideological, and biased against men.” (http://www.ifeminists.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.55)

What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.

RADAR drafted a resolution calling on the UN Third Committee to only “note,” not “welcome” the report. The resolution was sent around the world, and within a few short weeks 118 organizations in 14 countries had endorsed it: http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/UN-ViolenceReport-Resolution.pdf

Alerts were issued and over a one-month period, an estimated 30,000 e-mails were sent to US ambassador John Bolton. The delegations from other countries were deluged with messages, as well.

When the dust had cleared, the Third Committee decided to “note,” not “welcome” the secretary-general’s report! A change of a single word may seem insignificant, but it basically means that the Committee gave the Secretary General’s report a failing grade.

Please send Ambassador Bolton short “thank you” for voting to only “note” the flawed secretary-general’s report at usa@un.int.
2. Washington Times Article on Abused Wives in India

The second report came from a chart developed by the UN Population Fund. Whoever made the chart committed statistical malpractice, because it simply makes no sense. (http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/11/19/feminist-takeover-of-the-un-is-an-issue-of-national-security)

But that flawed chart gave rise to this statement that appeared in a front-page article in the Washington Times: “A 2005 U.N. Population Fund report found that 70 percent of married women in India were victims of beatings or rape.” (http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20061113-120817-8603r.htm)

The statement was defamatory and beyond belief.

RADAR issued two Alerts, and the complaints POURED in. Messages came from the United States, Canada, India, and elsewhere.

So this past Tuesday, TWT finally ran the following retraction:

“Using a chart published in a 2005 U.N. Population Fund report – which the UN agency now says was misleading – a London Daily Telegraph article published in Nov. 13 editions of The Washington Times incorrectly stated the frequencies of wife abuse in India. The agency says that it does not have sufficient data to provide such a figure and that the chart was intended to show that 70 percent of Indian women who were abused by their husbands think such abuse is justified in at least some circumstances.” (http://washingtontimes.com/corrections/20061128-102228-2806r.htm)

These are major victories. Kudos for the messages you sent to the United Nations that would have otherwise treated half-truths and innuendo about violence against women as absolute truth. And kudos to all who complained to the Washington Times for publishing its inflammatory propaganda.

This Alert is sent in the spirit of appreciation and thanks for a job well done. This is an example of how a cooperative effort involving over 100 organizations in 14 countries around the world can truly make a difference.

Date of RADAR Release: December 4, 2006

R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to assure that the problem of domestic violence is treated in a balanced and effective manner. http://www.mediaradar.org.

domesticviolence

As reported here parent activist John Murtari was released from prison today, and his first stop was Friendly’s, for an ice cream sundae. Here’s a News10Now report, including video.

Background info:
AKidsRight.Org
SharedParentingWorks

johnmurtari parentsrights civilrights childsupport childcustody reform

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=76904

Parent Activist Murtari to Be Released From Prison; Protesting Father to Have First Meal in Four Months

11/30/2006 10:58:00 AM

To: National Desk

Contact: Teri Stoddard of AKidsRight.Org, 925-628-1206 or teri@akidsright.org

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Nov. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ — Family rights activist and AKidsRight.Org’s founder John Murtari will be released from prison Friday after spending four months incarcerated for “willful” failure to pay child support. Murtari denies the charge, saying support was calculated with a salary he no longer had, and travel expenses to see his son exceed the amount ordered after the courts allowed his ex-wife to move their son across the country.

Inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Murtari embarked on a peaceful protest July 31, the day he reported to serve his 6- month sentence. For 10 days Murtari had no food or water. Medical personnel tried to tempt him with candy, and threatened not to intervene. He lost 27 pounds and suffered dehydration, low blood sugar, low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat before prison officials gave him a feeding tube.

Murtari’s pleased he’s been able to expose the need for family law reform on television, radio and in newspapers. He says he’s received over 100 letters while in jail. A rally was held in Syracuse with attendees from as far away as Canada, and he was interviewed for the documentary Support? System Down.

Members of AKidsRight.Org are asking for Congressional hearings and passage of a Family Rights Act. “Mothers, fathers, grandparents, families dealing with Children’s Protective Services, they all describe the same problems with family courts,” says Teri Stoddard, blogger on the worldwide family law reform movement. “There is no due process; parents are losing custody without proof of wrongdoing, without even a trial by jury. And the whole child support system is a disgrace, driving some parents into poverty and others out of their children’s lives.”

Murtari will continue his attempts to get a meeting with Sen. Hillary Clinton for local parents. When asked what comes next he replied, “We’re planning another rally, in front of the Federal Building in Syracuse, for mid-February. Every family that’s been hurt by current family law, every parent or grandparent who grieves for a child ’stolen’ by the family courts, should attend.”

Murtari says he plans on doing some “restaurant hopping” when he’s released, and will be on a plane to see his son within days.

——

For more information visit http://www.akidsright.org

http://www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

Press Release

28th November 2006, 7.45am

A protesting roof top Father Christmas is being threatened by a Judge toting gun after scaling the mans house at Glebe Lodge, Farringdon, near Exeter.

Jolly Stanesby, a high-profile Fathers 4 Justice activist scaled the Judge’s roof in a Father Christmas outfit and has unfurled a banner that reads ‘Put the Father back into Xmas.’

Mr Stanesby, aged 37, from Ivybridge, Devon said he has supplies to last several days and plans to spend a week on the roof of Judge Tyzack who sits at Plymouth County Court on Family Cases.

A Fathers 4 Justice spokesman said, “Judge Tyzack is one of the UK’s worst judicial offenders when it comes to refusing fathers contact with their children. This protest marks a renewal in a campaign of direct action against judges who deliberately block contact between children and their fathers, especially at a time of year when families should be together.�?

Further protests are planned at the home of former President of the Family Division, Dame Elizabeth Butler Sloss at Marsh Green, Exeter and Mrs. Justice Bracewell who owns the Lynch Country Hotel, Behind Berry, Somerton, Somerset.

ENDS

For further information contact Richard on 07875 7748 807 or Matt on 07795 341 110
www.fathers-4-justice.org

fathers4justice protest divorce child custody fathersrights parentsrights