DLJ12

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The DesertLight Journal

Volume 1, Number 12

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September 19, 2001

___SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE_______________________________________

The bi-weekly e-zine of the International Men's Rights Movement.

For all the news all the time, visit our buds http://www.mensactivism.org in the US

or http://www.angryharry.com in the UK.

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"A woman needs a man like a fish needs the river."

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A TIME FOR HEALING

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Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones in the terrorist attack last week. As well as Americans, there were also people from other countries missing or presumed dead. We would be remiss in our duty as an international publication if we didn't recognize the worldwide scope if this disaster. While there are likely many other countries affected, these following are the countries we've been able to verify through BBC and Reuters reports:

Australia

Bangladesh

Britain

Germany

Japan

Mexico

South Korea

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF DLJ

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After the shock of watching the events unfold on live television, came the e-mail. There were hundreds of them. Sometime Wednesday I stopped keeping track of the numbers as dozens of rumors about everything from gas at $5 a gallon to an imminent attack on Atlanta came through my ISP. Some unscrupulous gas station owners jumped on the bandwagon, making the rumor of out-of-control gas prices a temporary reality in some areas. As I suspected, the attack on Atlanta did not transpire, although it turned up on one network as a 'real' news item. By now it was reported as a stymied attack. I could see the exhausted journalists of the national TV networks had resorted to anything they could in order to fill airtime.

Not since the assassination of JFK had a media event so affected the public at large. For days, people everywhere in America were glued to their TV sets. Some smaller networks, such as the Food Channel, suspended broadcasting out of compassion for the horror those in New York were experiencing. The major networks, on scene at what came to be called 'ground zero,' reported every detail as it happened, and even some details that hadn't.

Once the initial bewilderment and fear began to wear off, and it was clear no further attacks were forthcoming in other areas, the commentary began to appear, both online and off. Most of what was on the mainstream media was related to the military reaction to the tragedy--what was the American government going to do about the terrorists? Since world politics and military operations are outside my area of expertise, I have no comment on what should or should not be done; those matters are best left to the statesmen and soldiers. However, I have seen some interesting remarks on the nature of terrorism and some more general comments on how this tragedy may affect those of us in the men's rights movement and its varied issues.

I've included those observations for this issue, limiting my usual news bites to a couple of items following the words of these 'men of the movement.' It seems fitting to add parting comments by Rev. Trudy Mackay of the Men in Crisis Prayer circle.

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ZENPRIEST

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IMAGES OF NEW YORK

For the past few years I have been expecting a profound change in social values, and perhaps economic conditions, as extreme "it's all about me"-ism eventually collapsed because it was destroying the infrastructure which made it possible. I expected it to come from a long slow period of development, or some environmental event. But I believe that the event which is going to trigger it occurred this week.

The people who are putting themselves SECOND and thinking of others before they think of themselves are mostly, if not all, men. Men still do the hard, dirty, and dangerous work of the culture and the days during which this can be denied and ignored

have come to an abrupt end.

I saw one brief interview with a paramedic who talked about firemen being injured by sifting through the rubble itself and how some of them had to have fingers amputated on the spot. While that loss might seem small in comparison to the massive loss of life and

destruction of the whole event, it stands in stark contrast to the army of "grief counselors" rushing in to deal with the "traumas" of people whose only loss is the sense of entitlement to a perfect and perfectly safe world.

The amazing luxury which bred the selfishness and self-indulgence of the 20th century's "gay 90s" has undergone a subtle and distinct change. The female values which flourished in an atmosphere where safety and being taken care of were taken for granted, can no longer be sustained in a world where those luxuries must again be earned.

But, before we go too far in riding on the backs of those fireMEN who have been turned into garbage handlers sifting through not just the debris created by humans but of the debris of humans themselves, I think that in order to move forward that men must step up to the bar and practice a bit of the self-honesty which has been so noticeably

absent from feminism. Some manicured asshole whose only inconvenience was in having his law practice disrupted has less claim to "brotherhood" with those fireMEN than the women who are down there washing out their eyes, giving them water and painkillers, and supporting them in their work.

The children's hour is over.

After an extremely long childhood and adolescence, feminism can now be forced to grow up and for women to take up their share of the dirty work to be done.

Idle hands really are the devil's workshop, and the infantile divisions and bickering of the past few decades have been suddenly shown for what they really are - the tantrums of spoiled children who are too safe, have far too much material wealth, and far too little

of any real significance to occupy their minds and attention.

The western world is going to have to go cold turkey on its addiction to the "quick fix" and slapping band-aids on festering wounds. This is a problem that no one else can fix for us, and the feminist position of blaming someone else for not rescuing them will have to give way to again doing what needs to be done as a value which applies to everyone.

There are thousands of divisions based on prejudice which can and will crumble as a result of the events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. People of all colors, many nations, and both sexes died. Whatever differences may have been perceived before have been erased by the great equalizing force of death.

Suddenly, the mythology of women being beaten by their husbands hundreds of years ago with sticks the size of their thumb has a new scale on which to measure its triviality.

The central force of this war is simplistic and blind adherence to ideology -fundamentalism. Bin Laden and Patricia Ireland and the leadership of NOW are cut from the same cloth - low intelligence which casts everything in simplistic and absolute terms. It is this mode of thinking which must be fought - regardless of the color of the body in which it is found or how that body is plumbed.

The armed forces *are* integrated. Now is the time to lock the exits behind women and demand that they back up their bullshit and get right in there with men and lose fingers, larger parts of their bodies, and their very lives - making happen what they claim to be victimized by not happening. Feminism and women have overdrawn the accounts of public concern and run up a huge credit debt. The bill is now not just due, but overdue.

While some will still insist on looking the other way while the Andrea Yates' of the world commit serial murder, some will begin to recognize the connection between self-indulgence without accountability and the wake-up call which has just been sent to the

western world. Beneath the facade of a religious fanatic, there is a figurehead for

something which is believed by a great many people throughout the world. The wide support which this man has is no accident. As a culture we cannot duck the responsibility of supporting governments which themselves practiced terrorism against their own people as long as the flow of cheap oil and energy to the US continued uninterrupted.

I believe that men's day has come again in western culture. That the values represented, taught, and practiced by men will again serve the culture and the honor of them will be restored. But it will take more than riding of the coat tails of the dedication of a few blue collar men and claiming credit for THIER actions because we belong to

the brotherhood of the testicle.

For the past 25 years, I have seen men in a losing competition to out-whine women - arguing over who had it worse and who was more of a victim. I have hated every second of it. What saddened me most was the number of MEN who believed that male values were obsolete and how men's vital role in the culture would require governmental intervention in order to get people to recognize.

I have always said that none of this garbage of the past 4 decades had anything to do with gender. There are world-class idiots of both sexes, and fine human beings of both sexes. I have gradually withdrawn from the men's movement as I have seen it follow in copy-cat fashion gender feminism on its way to becoming gender masculism. I was slightly resigned to a long period of polarization during which competing political interests got battled out in public policy.

When your body is vaporized in an instant by an explosion which rips apart concrete and steel, how idiotically insignificant those issues are is brought into sharp focus.

The masculine principle of action is what will be called for in the days ahead. This is not to say that only men can act, but that men are most often leaders *to* action. It is time to leave behind the trench warfare of the past 35 years of the gender war, with people digging in deeper and more determinedly to their entrenched positions, and realize that those who remain mired in the past have become completely irrelevant.

It is those who are going to act to move us forward who be at the center of attention, and those who sink into the cesspools of self pity trying to whine someone into rescuing them from their hangnails who will simply be forgotten and ignored. I, for one, will welcome any woman who is willing to get in there and sacrifice her own fingers, body, and life along side a man. In the next few years, we will get to see what stuff that women are made of and will have a media which has far more important news to deal with than a woman whose husband does not pay her enough compliments.

The persons who used our own planes as manned missiles and human-guided bombs were blinded by ideology and small thinking. This is not a time for any of us to be making the same mistake.

zenpriest@yahoo.com

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/3951/index2.html#the%20eye

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TOM SMITH

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Question from TWS: What do you think about this terrorist attack as far as it affects the men's movement in general?

Answer: It's all about the men's movement, as was Oklahoma City. Feminism is international with the full force of the West behind it. It's buried fundamentalism in this country and is working on burying it in other countries. The Arabs are probably the last bastion of fundamentalism and see themselves in a struggle for their very existence. Who was McViegh avenging? Koresh, a nouveau fundamentalist. Yeah, I know he said it was about the kids and the heavy hand of the feds, but other things he said clearly pointed to what he saw as the emasculation of society.

What's fundamentalism all about? God of course, but God's special relation to men. Feminism has been a powerful frontal attack on this idea that has executed its program with full empowerment for thirty years.

There has to be a fundamentalist backlash or there won't be any religion that resembles the religions that have survived for thousands of years. Until this country starts addressing these issues directly, no resolution will be forthcoming and the carnage will continue, possibly getting worse due to desperate responses. As you know Trudy, I have seen this for some time and that's why I took a special effort to make room for the fundamentalists in my two masculist tracts. I'm not by nature a violent person and believe that the men's movement can help us focus on the real issues and address them, which in turn can lesson the carnage.

Tom Smith (QIM) Founder of The American Union of Men (AUM) Yahoo Profile with Pics: http://profiles.yahoo.com/qim

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BUD JOHNSON

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We as Americans got a wake up call on September 11, 2001 from "terrorists" with the destruction of the World Trade Towers. We have been dealing with another terror for years and not many even realize it has been going on. When terror is covered by the media it seems millions of Americans heed the call. Yet the terror we, as parents have been facing has been going on for years and we can't even get coverage by the media.

Why? Because our terror comes from within, The Family Court system, CPS/CDF and other agencies that assist with cover ups and false allegations, false evaluations, false conclusions, and so on. When we cry out that the System is corrupt the attitude is "if you weren't guilty of something you wouldn't have a problem." So if this is the case, then why call on us to support the fight against these terrorists? Using their thinking Americans must be guilty of something otherwise the terrorists wouldn't have attacked the WTC, The Pentagon, Etc.

Are we as Americans mad and ready to strike back? Sure, we are because the media has covered it from the beginning and exposed it as an attack, and act of war. But would we be so mad had the media not covered it 24 hrs a day? If the media had just announced it on the evening news what would be the reaction? A terrible tragedy that just happened or would we be ready to grab weapons to defend our fellow Americans? The media coverage has spurred a great anger in America and yet they remain observers, on the side line just reporting the action. The media controls our feeling and our responses even in every day life. They influence elections, and based on their polls we act accordingly. They report that a representative has done wrong and we assume guilt.

The whole point of this post is if we are to succeed we must somehow get the media involved in coverage of the terrorists within our great nation. I don't mean one or two rare cases, but the daily terror of having someone knock on our door to remove our children, or going into a court where we can't even have our side heard. The media is the clue to us reaching our goal. We can reach the media by truly organizing an event that will get their attention.

Burning candles and turning one's headlights on or wearing a ribbon just satisfies our egos and not much more. Having said that, if there were several thousand people burning those candles on the capital steps and thousands more with their headlights turned on driving to the capital that might get their attention for a short story. We must come up with a way to get the media spotlight on our issue and then keep it there.

I suggest we better start getting organized and come up with a continuing effort that will keep the media attention on us. That is what NOW managed to do and still does. If a representative from NOW holds a press conference they get national coverage. Shared Parenting, Parents versus CPS, and other Children and Parents rights groups could announce a press conference in every city and NOT get any coverage by even a local paper. We must face this fact and figure out what to do and how we want to go about changing it.

A national coalition? Uniting of our efforts? Demonstrations on a national level? There are many ways we can approach this, but we need to take action. We can continue as we have and our children can continue it and maybe by the end of the century things might get done.

We must, as has been suggested this last week, fight terrorism on all fronts. To me that means we must fight the terror within as well as those from outside our borders. We must unite to reach victory.

After rambling on for so long here are my suggestions:

1. All of us must put aside our differences and fight for a common good, and goal. That Goal being to fix the Corruption of the System.

2.Organize regular weekly, or monthly meetings and ensure coverage of the event by the media.

3. Create and publish a newsletter, reporting cases that support our common Goal. Each case of abuse must be reported and put in as many hands as possible.

4. Spread the word and invite others to join the effort. Tell everyone you meet or know to get involved.

5. Develop a national hotline where people can call to join or offer support or obtain assistance.

6. Create a flyer that we can pass out to gain support for our effort. As a coalition this could be done easily and should generate a great deal of support.

7.Create a common name for the organization. That name should present the view of the coalition that we form. The name should also be something will be easily remembered.

8. The coalition must include any and every group interested in change that agrees with our basic agenda.

9. A mission statement of exactly what our goals are and how we will achieve them.

10 Form a leadership group, with members being chosen from the various groups.

I would appreciate any and all feedback on this, be those suggestions for or against or even neutral. All feedback will be shared with the groups that are interested in forming a national coalition. Before someone says there are national groups already, I am aware there are many but even they are scattered and do not get much coverage for their events.

http://homepages.about.com/amendment/familyprotectionconstitutionalamendment/index.html

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PAUL M CLEMENTS

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DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Almost the entire world, it seems, is mourning the 5000 victims of 9/11's horrific terrorist attack. That many victims of a single act is difficult for a logical mind to accept. But what if there had been a series of acts, related, but separate, that claimed twice that number, over a year's time? Would we still feel sympathetic, vengeful, determined to right the wrong? What if the series of acts had also been carried out by a relatively small group of radical, political militants? What if the series of acts had been carried out by a group which openly declared hatred for the victims? Seems to fit the description of terrorism applied to the perpetrators of the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, doesn't it? So why don't we call this second group "terrorists", and express loathing and abhorrence for their acts? Why doesn't the President and Congress, or even the state governments, plan some course of action to stop this domestic terrorism?

Perhaps it's because the ten thousand men killed every year died at their own hands. Victims of suicide. Just men. Divorced men. Perhaps the most vilified group in the country. Ten thousand divorced men kill themselves each year because they have been attacked as violent wife beaters, child molesters, deadbeat daddies, and all around no-goodniks. Twice the number killed in the events of 9/11 die because they are separated from children they love by courts who deny them the due process promised by the Constitution. The war against fathers robs men of their families, their homes, their reputations, their jobs, their life savings, their self-esteem, and their hopes for the future. So they kill themselves. One at a time, not en masse. But in numbers that make the death toll of 9/11 pale in comparison. They die as a direct result of an attack on America, as surely as the 5,000 who died on 9/11. Only this attack has been going on since the Sixties, growing in intensity insidiously, one courtroom, one family, one father at a time. Those who plan and carry out these attacks should be recognized for what they really are; domestic terrorists. It is an attack on the most basic foundation of America's democracy. The family.

Paul M. Clements

VP/Sec., NH chapter, National Congress for Fathers & Children

pclem@juno.com

http://www.ncfc.net/

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EQUAL PARENTS' WEEK

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September 24 through September 30, 2001, with candlelight vigils taking place throughout the United States and around the world on Tuesday, September 25, 2001

We want to encourage as many people to join together, get involved, and spread the message which so urgently needs to be sent. Please refer other organizations who would like to participate in EPW to use the link in the EPW website entitled "Sign Up: Candlelight Vigils, Purple Ribbon Activities, etc."

http://members.tripod.com/epweek/profile1.html to sign up People who

want to hold "Home Vigils" should use the link in the EPW website entitled

http://members.tripod.com/epweek/profile2.html

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WEBSITE NEWS

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Much to my amazement, the DLJ website has been included in the "She Knows" directory. You can see my listing at http://www.sheknows.com/directory/Magazines_and_Publications/more4.htm

There's a feature to rate the individual websites, so we'd hope you would. Their DV section appears a little slim howeverthough they appear to be open to suggestion, so why not suggest your best sites while you're there?

UPCOMINGin the next week or so, we'll be adding a special section to the website on publicity and journalism and how they are best used by activists. It will feature lots of how-tos as well as many resources. If there is anything specifically you'd like to see there, let me know!

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A WORD FROM THE PRAYER CIRCLE

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The importance of forgiveness: so the hate, the bitterness, pain, disappointment, sorrow, does not enter our heart, which could cause us much pain and sickness.

Another very important reason to forgive: so our prayers will be answered. We close our selves off from God's Best when we do not forgive. Through Christ and what He has done God forgives us, he wants us to forgive. That doesn't mean we have to agree with the other person, just forgive. It is hard to believe that Jesus Christ has already died for all the sin of the world, past, present and future, but He has. Every evil person every sin by everyone, every sin big or little. Christ has already Died to save us from our sin. Not every one choose to believe so they don't receive what has already been done for them. No one is a lost cause. There is always hope even for the most evil. When we pray with forgiveness we can pray in God's kind of Love for that evil person and just watch what God can do. Many times the hardest heart is soften and opened to receive when we forgive.

Some may be asking if God is such a Loving God why does He let bad things happen? God doesn't go against anyone's will not mine or yours, not even the evil person who wants to do evil. He gives us all a choice to do good or do evil. To believe in Him and what His Son has done for us or to reject Him. We know what hate can do when there is no forgiveness; let's choose to forgive.

Ephesians 1: 7 We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians 4: 32 Be you kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

Rev. Trudy Mackay, Men in Crisis Prayer Circle

http://www.desertlightjournal.homestead.com/prayercircle.html

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Trudy W. Schuett

Publisher

http://www.desertlightjournal.homestead.com/

PO Box 1252 Yuma AZ 85366

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Commentary and contributed articles are not necessarily the opinion of the DesertLight

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therefore cannot be expected to agree with everything.