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The DesertLight Journal
Volume 1, Number 16
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November 14, 2001
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The bi-weekly e-zine of the International Men's Rights Movement. This is the first e-zine intended to focus primarily on the issues of domestic violence against men and divorce/child custody issues. We welcome news of groups, websites, and people in the men's rights movement worldwide. We encourage new writers and commentary.
For all the news all the time, visit our buds
http://www.mensactivism.org in the US
http://www.angryharry.com in the UK
or Men's News Daily http://www.divorceport.com anywhere.
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"A woman needs a man like a fish needs the river."
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IN THIS ISSUE
·
cyberManbooks in softlaunch
·New section"Activism for Newbies" at the DLJ
·Non-profits need help!
·Website news
·Fun project
·M14
New ideas are flying fast and furious, and this lonely outpost in the desert has been the scene of much intense networking with visionary men and caring women everywhere. I am truly fortunate in being able to have frequent contact with, in my opinion, some of the finest people in the world. "Big doin's," like Mickey Mouse used to say. So I'll eschew the usual commentary and get right down to business.
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CYBERMANBOOKS.com
cyberManbooks.com is a new, man-friendly publisher that is unique in the world of e-publishing. For the first time, authors will get both one-on-one and group training and support in promoting their work, both on and offline. They will learn to present their work to the public while avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes of lone authors without publisher backing. They will also be able to have free communications with other cyberManbooks writers, as well as their readers. This is all in addition to their standard royalties.
Raymond Cuttill and Trudy W. Schuett are considering many other options as wellfrom audio books to mood music chosen specially for their books. They are now accepting submissions for the formal launch early in 2002. E-mail Trudy for more info at dsrtlite@mindspring.com
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ACTIVISM FOR NEWBIES
There's a new section up at the DLJ website that will take you through the basics of activism at http://www.desertlightjournal.homestead.com/
We've included some ideas on how to get started, as well as clearing up some things that are sometimes misunderstood. You'll find the best way to get a Letter to the Editor into the pages of your local paper, as well as free or low cost ways to promote your org's events and spread the word offline as well as on. It includes the latest informationfor example, you no longer send hard-copy letters to media outlets or legislators. For the moment, fax is the best way to get your comments noticed. Previous guidelines regarding fax and e-mail still apply, however. Don't send group faxes or e-mails, and never send to everyone at the paper or station! We will keep on top of the rapidly-changing world of journalism, and keep our readers informed of any new changes as they emerge.
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NON-PROFITS NEED HELP!
We're working on another new section featuring the immediate needs of non-profits worldwide. Sometimes their needs are not large, and a small donation of things or volunteer time can be a huge help. Look for this section next time! If you've got an org that is non-profit, and helps men in some way I want to hear from you!
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WEBSITE/ORG NEWS
Spencer Mewha, in Northern Ireland has established a branch of the International Union of Men, now residing at Yahoo Groups. This group is for masculists from all over the world. He says, "We are a branch of the International Union of men headed by Tom Smith. We aim to end the persecution of men, and to make laws fairer, and give equality to men. Also to end the theft of our children. Our goals are many, and would mostly come under the above headings.
Regards
Spencer Mewha
Director IUM NIB
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IUM-NIB
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Bert Hoff has made some new changes and updates at Menwebcheck it out!
http://www.vix.com/menmag/battered.htm
AUSTRALIAN SITE
I am the Director of the Australian Separated Fathers Network.
Our Basic objectives are listed below.
We have a web site as shown but we predominantly use email for our internet activity. I personally am a member of many of the help groups here in Australia. Obviously your legislation would be significantly different there.
We have significant research information available. We have also looked past the current Family Law and Child Support systems to see the underlaying social causes for the current state of the current systems.
We would be pleased to assist where possible.
What's happening here in Australia and New Zealand:
We are approaching a federal election so many of the organisations here are actively lobbying Federal Members exhaustively.
We have a challenge to the constitutionally of Child Support legislation in the High Court.
A recent request from a feminist Family Law solicitor in New Zealand for "all men to hang there head in shame on fathers day for child sexual abuse" has received media attention in most of the western world.
Responses from men's groups here have clearly placed the ball back in her court by statistically proving that the children least at risk are those living with their father and the children most at risk are the children separated from their fathers as routinely happens as a result of the current Family Court and Child Support systems.
There is considerable research being conducted into the link between the Child Support / Family Court systems and suicide.
Our suicide rate here has reached 3 separated fathers per day.
It is hoped that this link can be defined accurately enough to satisfy proof of fact in our legal system.
If we achieve this then we can seek compensation for the lost lives.
This would have considerable impact on the process of change.
ASFN Objectives.
"This organisation is a communications medium for Australian organisations concerned with the effects of separation, the family court and the child support systems on parents and children. Its purpose is to provide a common communication area for the various organisations to arrange and coordinate combined efforts in achieving their objectives. It is also a medium for information sharing. The objective of this organisation is to combine the efforts of various groups into a national movement. Membership will be limited to those who are active in the pursuit of there objectives."
It is hoped that the various organisations can:
.) Share resources, knowledge and experience.
.) Co-ordinate protests, meetings and media releases.
.) Improve communication with the media.
.) Work together to increase member numbers.
.) Improve public education.
Thanks, Rob.
user@ledanet.com.au
www.daddy.com.au
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MAD MEN UNITED
We are making more progress as to getting information out about the organization and the issues. For those who haven't heard we purchased a media mailing list and a mailing program. The list includes some10,000 addresses of various types of media across the country. As of last week we finished our first mailing to about 7,000 media addresses. Because of Internet and ISP controls this first mailing was done at the rated of 150 a day.
But as of the 26 of October we have changed ISPs, so we can now mail them all at once. So on October 31 we mailed out a new release of information to over 7,000 addresses. This is something we will be doing probably ever three weeks with information based on the various aspects of these issues.
As a result of the media mailing, reproductive rights information was put into at least one paper in the San Francisco Bay area serving a large readership. I was able to see this one at their Internet site. But we have no idea how many other places the information may have been shared with the public. But we are certain we are getting the word spread a piece at a time. We need to show people like us out there that they are not alone.
We have been working on a mailing plan these last couple weeks that will target radio talk shows and specialized media like conservative columnists. We really want to get these people not only thinking about the issues but also talking about them. With the list we are putting together we will be able to stir them up every couple weeks, with different aspects of the issues.
The good thing is that once we get these lists working the way we want it is just a matter of plugging in new information to be sent out.
Our Webmaster has been good enough to make some changes to the site. We now have a separate GOALS page, and changed some of the content on the opening page to show the issues to be societal issues as well as men's issues. These changes will allow the media people to see that we are about more than just men's rights. They will understand that what we are fighting for will preserve the strength of the family, by protecting father's rights. We are working to show that it is the woman who chooses illegitimacy and not the bio-fathers.
Among the changes we added a newsletter sign up space. This will make it easy for interested people to get involved to the point of at least receiving information.
I am still trying to get people to post to the message board. It is easy once you get started. It would be really great if there were posts and stories for the media to read.
Just to let you know that a lot of effort has gone into the basics of making this a proactive organization. Because of the nature of setting up this structure we have not used many of the people who have volunteered. Hopefully in the near future we will contact those who have volunteered and see what kind of effort we can do as a team.
John Buethe
Director
M.A.D. Men United
PO box 1386
Lodi, CA 95241
209 368-6114
madmenunited.org
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A FUN PROJECT
Hi Trudy- My web site, Men's News Daily (http://www.divorceport.com) has
been named today's Cool Site of the Day. Traffic has already increased dramatically, and I would like to improve my chances of getting named Cool Site of the Month-- the only way to do that is to get Friends of Men's Issues to go to the site TODAY and vote for us.
Here's the link to vote:
http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com/frmindex.html
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M14
Sowhat is it? Is it a group? An org? A concept? What we can tell you is that is primarily an ideathe brainchild of Frank Hujber, who is finding the similarities between all the various groups out there and is working on a creative means to tie them all together. Mostly, the thing they all have in common is that in some way, they are working toward getting the US back to honoring the constitution and the 14th amendment, which should provide equal treatment under the law to all. We all know that hasn't been happening in recent years. We'll keep you posted on Frank's creative means in upcoming issues!
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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.
