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            The DesertLight Journal

            Volume 1, Number 14

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             October 17, 2001

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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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OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

IN THIS ISSUE

·New Hampshire college presentation

·Brits protest the number-crunchers

·Hats off to New Zealand!

·SAFE seeks grant writer

·Men's DV resources for Australia

·Cook, Rubick on the Men's Hour

I'm hoping everyone likes the new look of the DLJ. That 'little mountains' effect in ASCII is exactly right for this e-zine, since I see a mountain much like that one every day outside my kitchen window. 

The mountain I see is called Picacho Peak, and is about 40 miles away, up North in California. (Mexico is also visible from my kitchen window, and also due Northgo figure!) The smaller one, in front of the tall monolith, is representative of Taw Ash, who our local Quechan Indian legend says was a witch. (They couldn't say, "bitch," in Bureau of Land Management records, where the tale was recorded, imprinted in the early 1950s and later found by BLM archaeologist Boma Johnson.) 

800 years ago, the legend always goes, there was a woman who hated everyone. She killed men and frightened children. Nothing was good enough for Taw Ash. One day she got disgusted with everybody and went away, becoming a mountain. For centuries, the Quechan and Cocopah people who live here and happened to come her way left offerings of flowers, tobacco, or fruit, hoping to appease the angry spirit and thus continue their journey safely. You see, her mountain was right on the "Spirit Trail," which every Indian in this locale was expected to walk at least once in their lives. It's hundreds of miles long, extending from Yuma to the "Spirit Mountain" across the road from the Indian-owned AVI casino outside Laughlin, Nevada. 

Once the white man came and started mining, people forgot Taw Ash, and the earthquake of 1846, which lopped off huge chunks of Picacho, was directly attributed to the displeasure of Taw Ash. 

The AZ desert has many tales of angry, vicious women. One near Casa Grande actually ate her children! (Of course this was 800 years agocouldn't possibly happen today.)

But to be on the safe side, each morning when I go outside with the dogs, I honor Taw Ash, because I can see her where she stands. I say hello, and somehow can't bite back the 'bitch.' And I can't help but feel sorry for her. You just can't 'make' people love and honor you, is what I think later. And I still don't get why you'd want to

Disclaimerhere in AZ, our Native American/Aboriginal/First Tribes people would just prefer to be called Indian and get on with it. "Don't fancy it up," I'm told. We are fortunate here in AZ to have the original tribes living in much of their original geography as they've done for centuries. 

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UNH PRESENTATION

By Scott Garman

On Thursday, October 4, I set up an information table at the

University of New Hampshire student center to help raise awareness

about abused men. The presentation consisted of a 4' tall table

display, which listed various facts about DV against men. The

centerpiece was a 3D mask of a man's face, with duct tape over his

mouth and the word "Silenced" scrawled across it.  The table was set

up between 11 AM and 2 PM right near the food court, which has a high

amount of student traffic.

I had a great show of support from friends, family, and other

activists. My wife Kathy was there and handed out many flyers. It's

amazing how people (male students in particular) will resist taking

handouts from a man but will accept them from women. I'm certain that

if she wasn't there we wouldn't have handed out half as many flyers.

Jim Castelli from the MA Coalition for Men came all the way up from

Boston to help, and walked around handing flyers out to students as

well.  Mike Geanoulis and Wayne Wood from the NCFC-NH group also came

by to help.

Last but not least, Mike Skinner came and played acoustic guitar next

to the table. Mike is a survivor of severe domestic violence as a

child and has written music about his experiences. He added a lot to

the presentation, and helped to draw people in. He has a CD, "Train of

Tears" which many of you may be interested in. E-mail

mikeskinner@mediaone.net for more info.

There were three different flyers which were available and we

distributed well over 100 total to students walking by. One was

"Common Questions About Domestic Abuse Against Men," another "Getting

the Facts:  Research About Domestic Violence Against Men," both of

which are available to activists through The Men's Activism News

Network:

http://www.mensactivism.org/dv_flyers.shtml

We also distributed an essay by Sheridan Hill, a feminist author who

investigated the issue of domestic violence and went from scoffing at

the idea that men can be abused to acknowledging that women, too, can

be violent, and that men are in dire need of advocacy in domestic

violence. Many thanks to Sheridan for allowing me to reprint and

distribute her essay at UNH. Her web site is at:

http://www.sheridanhill.com/

(Please be sure to get her permission before distributing her work)

Reactions by students were mixed; a few scoffed at the display as they

walked by, but a handful of students stopped to thank me for helping

to raise awareness of this issue, which they agreed had been ignored

for too long. Most either looked at the display while walking by (it

was quite an unusual sight), and others stopped to pick up some flyers

and walked away without comment.

In all, I believe it was an incredible success. Every student who

walked by and saw the display received some degree of exposure to the

issue. No one challenged my statistics, and most encouragingly, no one

accused me of trying to downplay or deny the reality of domestic

violence against women. I'd estimate that at least 500 students walked

by and saw the display in the three hours we were there. In addition,

Mike Geanoulis and I also placed flyers at empty tables around the

food court, so as the place filled up, people sat down and often read

them.

I honestly don't think it could have gone better, and my expectations

were far exceeded. I'll be doing it all again on Tuesday, Oct. 16 and

Thursday, Oct. 25. Wish me luck!

Scott Garman is a UNH undergraduate and founder of The Men's

Activism News Network (www.mensactivism.org), a web site tracking news

of interest to pro-male activists. He can be contacted at

scott@mensactivism.org.

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BRITS PROTEST THE NUMBER-CRUNCHERS

By Karl Glasson  (excerpted from angryharry.com)

The demonstration at the Royal Holloway College went exceedingly well, with loads of students and a few members of the academic staff happily picking up our campaign leaflets and copies of Angry Harry's call for more boycotts. (For this, see Boycott of the Royal Holloway College) http://www.angryharry.com/esRHCboycott.htm

It was a hot sunny day here in London, and it was perfect for our campaign of protest. There were fourteen of us in total. We spilt into groups of two and wandered around handing out the material and pinning it up on notice boards.

It was Open Day, and potential students were strolling around the campus with their parents in order to survey the college and its facilities - and they all looked so young!

Nearly everyone was very friendly and they all took our grumbles and our groans with good humour - though there were a few scowls from a small number of the young ladies who looked like feminists-in-the-making. 

Part of the afternoon was spent at the entrance to the college where large banners were displayed and where Brian gave everyone a mild headache by pointing his megaphone hither and thither in order - or so it appeared -  to ensure that even those passengers in the aircraft passing overhead would hear him. 

(Brian always likes to get mileage and height out of his efforts with the megaphone.)

The protest finally ended with most of us having a drink outside the Student Union bar. The heat had totally exhausted us, and Raymond could barely walk.

For the rest of the article, and more on the protest, and photos see

http://www.angryharry.com/tickertapecurrent.htm

and LiveBeatDads UK at http://www.lbduk.org/

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HATS OFF TO NEW ZEALAND!

Police See the Light on Family Violence

By Peter Zohrab

 

In a great breakthrough in the war on Feminist lies and half-truths,

the New Zealand Police Managers' Guild Trust published (in October

2001) a 56-page booklet on Family Violence, which included a section on

violence against men!  This must be the result of the vigour with

which New Zealand Masculists (first and foremost myself, but also Alan

Sutherland, and others) have insisted on a bit of truth creeping into

the Lesbian Feminist-dominated area of Domestic/Family Violence.

Previously, the Police Managers' Guild had taken the standard

male-bashing line on Domestic Violence, as I show in my book,  "Sex,

Lies & Feminism", where I state: 

'an advertisement, entitled "Family Violence is a crime," and

authorised by Brian Hartley, President of the Police Managers' Guild,

appeared in a daily newspaper. The advertisement mentioned only women

and children victims of this crime, and omitted any mention of the

possibility that men could also be victims of Family Violence. Not only

is this a sexist advertisement in its own right, but it is also

frightening testimony to how little chance men have of being treated

fairly by the Justice system as far as Domestic/Family Violence is

concerned.'

Now, the approach seems to have changed markedly, as can be seen:

Victims Not Just Women and Children

(Excerpt from Family Violence: "don't let your child be a victim", 

New Zealand Police Managers' Guild Trust, October 2001)

Violence inflicted on men by women? It's an often-untold story. Men

sometimes feel as if they can't talk about it when it happens and they

can feel helpless to do anything because it might not be believed.

However, an increasing number of New Zealand males, some represented by

an increasingly vocal network of men's groups, insist that men get

abused in relationships, too.

They demand that society acknowledge violence against them by the women

in their lives.

For the rest of the story, go to 

http://www.geocities.com/nzequality/polguild.html 

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SAFE SEEKS GRANT WRITER

From Jade Rubick

As many of you know, SAFE is a 501(c)3 non-profit tax exempt charitable

organization.  SAFE is in need of a grant writer.  There are many

opportunities our there for grants but we need someone willing to do more

research into the best ones, fill out the application forms and letters,

etc. Experience in this type of work is desirable, but experience in

something similar is O.K. SAFE will help with some of the research work

and mailing/telephone expenses.  However, this is a non-paid position for

now. We anticipate with successful grants, the grant writer's efforts will

be folded into the application as an administrator or service assistant

and receive compensation. If you or know of someone who would be

interested in this position, please tell them to contact us. Thank you.

Stop Abuse For Everyone

safe@safe4all.org

http://www.safe4all.org

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MEN'S DV RESOURCES FOR AUSTRALIA

From Anne Bransdon, Suite 101

http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/male_victims

I recently had a request regarding services for abused men in Australia. From a government perspective, the myth continues to be perpetuated that men are the perpetrators. Crisis help and accommodation for men and their children in Australia appears to be gaining momentum but remains a long way from providing the resources available to women. There are however a few changes happening that give hope and those changes are being driven by men and women, primarily on a volunteer basis. 

The MAACS - Men's Accommodation and Crisis Service gives priority to those most in need, assisting them with their basic needs for up to 21 days and helping them to access counselling or other forms of professional help. This is based in Canberra and was established by the Lone Father's Association. Contact details are: Telephone: (02) 6241 0433 or 6255 0970 (After Hours) or 6258 4216 (After Hours). Website: http://www.lonefathers.com.au/ 

Murringu Men's Centre provides free information, referral and peer support, particularly for men in crisis. This is a Victorian men's referral service that provides free and independent advice. Phone:(03) 9428 2899 or STD Freecall 1800 065 973, 12 noon to 9pm, Monday to Friday. The office address is PO Box 417, Richmond, Victoria, Australia, 3121. email: vnet@vicnet.net.au 

The Sydney Men's Phone Line can be called on (02) 9979 9909 and has a broad contact list for men's organisations and services in Sydney. Visit their website at: http://www.peerleadership.com.au/mpl/mpl... 

There is also the: 

Mens Health and Wellbeing Association (02) 9802 1500 or in Queensland phone (07)3288 3031 in Western Australia, (08) 9242 9218 

Mens Health Network (02) 9743 4434 or at: http://menshealth@dot.net.au 

Odyssey Groups and Programmes for Men (02) 9369 4634. 

Men's Rights Agency http://www.ecn.net.au/~mra 

And MENDS (strategies for separated 12-step men program). For program information and bookings phone: 1 300 363 361(Australia only). Postal address: 28 Dresden Avenue, Castle Hill, NSW, 2154, Australia. Email:sturgdw@ozemail.com.au There is also a national Translating and Interpreting Service. They can be contacted on freecall - 131 450. 

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COOK, RUBICK ON THE MEN'S HOUR

Internet radio show where the first amendment still applies to men

Programme 6 is out! 

Featuring  

Phil Cook, author of the book, "Abused Men"

Jade Rubick, Stop Abuse For Everyone

Report on the protest at Royal Holloway College

News of a protest in Cardiff 27th/28th October

and much more!  

Raymond Cuttill

  menshour@excite.com

  http://www.geocities.com/menshour/ 

 

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The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

Albert Einstein

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We leave you with the 'Zonie blessing--"May you always have a full tank of

gas and underwear that doesn't ride up!"

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Trudy W. Schuett

Publisher

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

PO Box 1252 Yuma AZ 85366

©2001 TWSchuett

All rights reserved

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

Journal. We strive to include all views in the emerging men's rights movement, and

therefore cannot be expected to agree with everything.

The DesertLight Journal