The American Coalition for Fathers
and Children
The American Coalition for Fathers
and Children is dedicated to
creating a family law system which
promotes equal rights for all
parties affected by divorce. Contact
the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit
them on the web at
www.acfc.org.
Parenting Plan Calendar Software
Shared Ground (R) is an
easy-to-use custody calendar
software program designed for
divorced families to track
visitation schedules. Includes a
built-in percentage calculator,
schedule templates, free training
and excellent customer assistance.
Parents, attorneys, arbitrators and
mediators can generate equitable
parenting plans, which is especially
useful for parents seeking fair
division of their children's time.
FREE TRIAL SOFTWARE AVAILABLE by
clicking
here.
The Second Wives Club
The Second Wives Club is what women
in blended families are looking for:
Remarriage, divorce, child custody,
and step-parenting discussed in a
solution-oriented, mature, and
intelligent way; articles and news
written by thought-provoking experts
and journalists; personal accounts
and advice from some of life's most
interesting women.
www.SecondWivesClub.com |
Protest in Support of Jailed Father John
Murtari
John Murtari, loving father to his 13
year-old son Domenic, has refused food and
water since his incarceration on July 31 for
a questionable child support arrearage. John
has fallen behind on his support for various
reasons, some of them beyond his control. He
has lost almost 20 pounds since his
incarceration. I've read John's enewsletter
for the past several years, and while at
times I've disagreed with his tactics, I do
respect his courage, courteous manner and
fighting spirit.
Shared parenting activists are rallying
in support of John at the Onondaga County
Courthouse in Syracuse, New York on
Wednesday, August 9. Teri Stoddard is
coordinating the effort--she can be reached
at 877-633-1968 ex. 212 or at
teri@akidsright.org. To learn more about
John's case, click
here and
here.
New Column: Glenn Debates Feminist over 'Roe
v. Wade for Men' Lawsuit
Family law attorney Jeff Leving and I
squared off against feminist columnist Kai
Ma over the controversial 'Roe v. Wade for
Men' lawsuit on the prominent left-wing
website AlterNet. Our column is
Respect a Man's Choice, Too, Ma's is
The Difference Between a Womb and a Wallet.
In our column we wrote:
"Ma condemns men who 'lie,
deceive, break their promises, or pull a
180...who agree to marry but don't,' and
laments that 'millions of women' have been
'trapped into single motherhood for life
with, often, next to no recourse.' Yet
according to a randomized study of 46,000
divorce cases published in the American
Law and Economics Review, two‑thirds of
all divorces involving couples with children
are initiated by mothers, not fathers, and
in only 6% of cases did the women claim to
be divorcing cruel or abusive husbands.
"The out-of-wedlock birth
rate in the United States hovers around
33%--given the wide variety of contraceptive
and reproductive choices women enjoy, this
can hardly be blamed primarily on men. Yes,
in some of these cases the mother and father
shared a relationship which the mother (and
the father) may have expected would become a
marriage. Yet these relationships fail for
many reasons besides male perfidy. These
include: youth; economic pressure and the
lack of living wage jobs (how many couples
fight over money?); and the mothers'
post-partum depression and mood-swings. It's
doubtful that many men really wake up in the
morning and say to themselves 'my child
loves me and needs me, my girlfriend loves
me and needs me--I'm outta here.'"
The column also provided me
the opportunity to present my view on "Roe
v. Wade for Men" in a more subtle, nuanced
way than when I've written on the issue for
newspapers:
"Whenever a child is born
outside of the context of a loving,
two-parent family, there are no good
solutions. Ma overstates her case, but she
is correct that 'Choice for Men' is a flawed
solution. However, the current regime, which
provides women with a variety of choices and
men with none, is also flawed.
"Dubay's conduct is not
particularly admirable, and he's certainly
not a candidate for father of the year;
however, he does have a point. Over the past
four decades women's advocates have
successfully made the case that it is wrong
to force a pregnancy on an unwilling mother.
Despite the backlash against Dubay,
hopefully his lawsuit will result in a
greater societal awareness that it is also
wrong to force a pregnancy on an unwilling
father."
Respect a Man's Choice, Too is drawing a
lot of comments--to join the debate, click
here.
A Foray into a Feminist Stronghold
As of yesterday
Respect a Man's Choice, Too was ranked
as the 5th most read at AlterNet, and
had drawn 300 reader comments. In part
because AlterNet is a
left-wing/pro-feminist news website, the
comments are overwhelmingly negative.
AlterNet's regular columnists include
liberal luminaries
Arianna Huffington,
Earl Ofari Hutchinson,
Molly Ivins and
Robert Scheer. According to Wikipedia,
the San Francisco-based AlterNet is
"a project of the
Independent
Media Institute, and politically
left-of-center. AlterNet's
content is mostly
progressive and ostensibly independent
of any particular political party...they get
over 1.5 million visitors per month."
I believe this is a positive thing. As
I've noted on many occasions, while I
welcome our conservative allies, we're not
going to win shared parenting without a wide
base--one which very much includes the left.
This is one of the reasons I've felt it's
important to be published in mainstream
newspapers, which tend to be liberal and
pro-feminist. There are constituencies on
the left which would be very sympathetic to
our message. The best example are black
Democrats. Pardon the generalization, but
American whites are largely in denial about
the damage caused by fatherlessness. They're
also addled by anti-male feminism. Blacks,
because of their experiences, see the cost
of fatherlessness more clearly than whites
do.
This is Feminist Territory--No Sacks
Allowed...
Many of the comments (and the comments
about the piece on feminist blogs) are of
the "This is our turf--why is Sacks
allowed on it?" variety. I've seen this
attitude many times in mainstream
newspapers--they don't expect men's and
fathers' advocates to be there, and they
sure as hell don't expect a male men
and fathers' advocate to be there.
Among those who have publicly displayed
this attitude towards me are Esta Soler,
president of the Family Violence Prevention
Fund (in the San Francisco Chronicle)
and Marcia Pappas, president of the New York
state chapter of the National Organization
for Women (in the Albany Times-Union).
I was once banned from a newspaper
(sorry--can't publicly reveal which one)
after a feminist leader who I had criticized
made a phone call. I guess they don't want
their views challenged or debated.
Finally What Child Support
Payers Need
Child Support obligors face
a stacked deck when squaring
off against CS Enforcement's
army of lawyers and agents,
all pitted against some
beleaguered father who's
working 50 hours a week to
pay his child support and
support his family. The
burden of proving compliance
with court-ordered support
falls on the obligor, not
the custodial parent or the
enforcement agencies. Very
often fathers are forced to
pay money they don't really
owe, or are saddled with
fake arrearages and the
concomitant interest and
penalties.
Since the state provides
a ton of free assistance to
custodial parents, fathers
need quality, affordable
representation for these
battles.
Child Support Liberation's
Child Support Audits and
Record Management Program
helps obligors challenge
arrears by producing
professional, top-quality
self-audits which include
all the necessary records in
the proper form.
CSARMP then conducts
quarterly audits that will
alert obligors to
overcharges. In addition,
they will maintain ongoing
records of obligations,
payments and interest.
CSARMP costs only $13 a
month ($38 for the first
month only) and can be
cancelled with only 30 days
notice. To learn more or to
sign up, click
here and
here. If you have any
questions, write to Michael
Kennedy of
Child Support Liberation
by clicking
here. |
|
Anybody Feel Like Defending Me?
As usual, I'm getting trashed all over
the feminist blogosphere--some examples are
listed and linked below. If anybody feels
like defending me, feel free. My favorite is
this quote from a
feminist blogger on LiveJournal.com:
"AlterNet?
They give a counterpoint to Glenn Sacks, of
all people, the twinkly anti-feminist MRA
[Men's Rights Activist] apologist who never
met a male whine he didn't like. Just when
things had gotten sensible with the
rejection of that whining sperm squirter's
suit to avoid birth control and child
support, AlterNet grants Sacks an
opportunity to compare decidedly unlike
things and muddy up the waters."
Besides being criticized at
Respect a Man's Choice, Too I'm being
criticized at the following:
Media Distortions by Fathers' Rights
Advocates
"I wish my womb were as simple as his
wallet." ...
Trish Wilson on Shared Parenting
Once more into the muck
REBUTTAL TO: Glenn Sacks on PAS article
Nothing says male privilege like demanding
that we ignore biology so you get to fuck
unwrapped
Accurate Paternity
Testing
There are many
important reasons
why people choose to
have a paternity
test done. A child
is entitled to the
sense of belonging
and identity that
comes from knowing
his/her parents. An
alleged father also
has the right to
know if a child is
biologically his.
Paternity fraud in
the United States is
unfortunately a
fairly common
occurrence,
affecting perhaps
millions of men. Now
you can get the
accurate, fast and
affordable answers
to your paternity
questions. Visit
www.accuratepaternity.com
or call 877-434-0292
to talk to a DNA
testing expert or to
order a confidential
test today.
Do You and Your Kids
Go Camping?
The WoodGas Camp
Stove burns
almost any fuel
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twigs, pine cones or
any plant based
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the cleanest heat in
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sessions--great for
camping,
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s'mores anywhere.
Developed by a
scientist with 30+
years experience in
biomass energy, it
generates the heat
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stove, and is great
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preparedness.
www.woodgas-stove.com.
Attention California
Child Support
Obligors
Under the
Compromise of Back
Child Support
Program, when
money is owed to the
government (not the
mother), the
government may
compromise on back
child support for up
to 90% off. This law
was passed in
recognition of the
fact that there have
been many
inequitable child
support judgments
that can no longer
be appealed. We
operate anywhere in
California--to learn
more about this
program, contact
family law attorney
Robert Ackermann at
(310) 442-8240 or at
ChildsupportLA@aol.com. |
|
New Column: Brett Myers Case Obscures an
Important Truth About Domestic Violence
Arrests
My latest co-authored column,
Brett Myers Case Obscures an Important Truth
About Domestic Violence Arrests (Delaware
County Daily Times [Philadelphia],
8/2/06,
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star,
8/5/06), has a different take on the
highly-publicized Brett Myers incident. In
the column Mike McCormick, Executive
Director of the
American Coalition for Fathers and Children,
and I wrote:
"An important truth has been lost in the
controversy over the way the Philadelphia
Phillies handled pitcher Brett Myers after
his recent arrest for spousal abuse. Mrs.
Myers' injuries and the accounts of several
witnesses leave little reason to doubt her
husband's culpability. Nevertheless, the
Phillies at first reserved judgment about
the case, and allowed Myers to pitch.
"This was wrong, as the team admitted after
widespread criticism, and Myers was given a
leave of absence. However, in many domestic
violence cases the men arrested do deserve
the open mind and support which the
Phillies' mistakenly extended Myers. Spousal
abuse arrests are often dubious, in part
because of misguided domestic violence laws
and law enforcement policies...
"Contrary to the charges leveled by the
Phillies' numerous critics, the club wasn't
wrong in its desire to afford its player the
benefit of the doubt. The problem is that in
Myers' case there is no doubt. However, the
next time an athlete is arrested for
domestic violence, there probably will be.
Will the team involved turn its back on its
player because of the precedent set in the
Myers case?"
Read the full column
here.
To write a Letter to the Editor about the
column, write to the
Delaware County Daily Times regarding
"Myers Case Obscures an Important Truth
About Domestic Violence Arrests" (8/2/06) at
ldemeglio@delcotimes.com. Write to the
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
regarding
Spousal abuse: One strike and you're out,
even if you didn't swing (8/5/06) at
letters@freelancestar.com. If your
letter is published, let me know and I will
link to it from a future enewsletter.
I've previously discussed the Brett Myers
incident in this enewsletter--see
The Brett Myers Saga: Baseball Player Beats
Wife on Boston Street. Also, see my
discussion of a 1901 baseball player's
arrest for domestic violence and the
public's reaction to it at
Violence Against Women Culturally
Acceptable?
|
Baseball Pitcher Scott Erickson Got the Shaft
In the column we wrote "An excellent example of
what can happen to an athlete, or any man, is the
saga of another major league pitcher arrested for
spousal abuse--Scott Erickson." I've complained
about the Erickson case numerous times in print and
on the air over the past several years. The Free
Lance-Star published an Associated Press
picture of Erickson, with a nice caption:
"Though former Orioles pitcher Scott Erickson
tried to avoid a fight with an out-of-control
girlfriend, the authors say, he still found himself
in handcuffs under Maryland's mandatory-arrest
policy in domestic-abuse complaints."
Of Erickson we wrote:
"Erickson was arrested after he called the police
during an altercation with his girlfriend in July of
2002. According to the Associated Press, the
Baltimore police concluded that Erickson's
girlfriend Lisa Ortiz: initiated the fight by
hurling objects; decided to come back twice after
Erickson carried her out of the apartment;
repeatedly kicked the apartment door; caused
Erickson two minor injuries, one of them to his
pitching arm; and herself suffered no injuries.
"Nonetheless, the police arrested Erickson under
Maryland's mandatory arrest law. Afterwards Ortiz
publicly stated that Erickson, who did not pursue
her either time after carrying her out, 'has never
been physically abusive toward me.'
"After Erickson's arrest he was excoriated by
sportswriters and domestic violence activists.
Later, even as a police spokesperson announced that
the charges against Erickson were being dropped, the
spokesperson continued to refer to Ortiz as 'the
victim.' To this day the influential Family Violence
Prevention Fund lists Erickson in its 'Hall of
Shame.'"
Has Your Career Been Impacted by Custody
Issues?
After empowering people's careers for over
20 years, I was duly initiated into family
law just like you--through a 30 month,
$520,000 custody suit. I learned that a
solid home-based business could be the best
option, allowing one to shake the financial
shackles while still experiencing a "no
limits" career. More than ever, our kids now
need a free and available parent. Be there
for them...and for yourself. Darrell W.
Gurney,
www.CEOinShorts.com
Concerned about Financial Issues in Your
Divorce?
If you're concerned about financial issues
in your divorce, contact
Jim DiGabriele of DiGabriele, McNulty &
Co by email
here or at 973-243-2600.
Letters From a Deadbeat Dad
Have you ever been framed as a "deadbeat
dad" while you were just trying to be a
father? Have you ever been forced to pay
child support while being denied your basic
rights? Have you ever had to explain
Parental Alienation Syndrome to your own
child? Have you ever heard about fighting
family law battles outside the law by
following principles of non-violence--and
winning? Read
Letters From a Deadbeat Dad by
Cosmo Monkhouse. |
ACFC to Hold Family Law Conference in September
The
American Coalition for Fathers and Children will
be holding a National Family Law Reform Conference
on 9/15/06 and 9/16/06 at the Crystal Gateway
Marriott in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington
DC.
I will be speaking there, along with Phyllis
Schlafly, Michael McManus, co-founder of
Marriage Savers, Dr. Stephen Baskerville and
others.
To register for the conference, click
here.
ACFC Executive Director Mike McCormick stresses
that "this is not another preach to the choir
event." He says:
"This conference will go beyond the cliches about
'ugly divorce' and 'nasty custody battle.' ACFC,
with its participants and co-sponsors will provide a
critical and candid look at the issue of family law
and the steps needed to rein in this behemoth which
threatens the stability of every family in America
today.
"Conference participants and speakers are coming
from every segment of our society for one
purpose...To develop and implement action plans for
Family Law Reform. We will hear leading scholars
from fields other than those that dominate family
law and family policy. You will come away with
invaluable tools, contacts, and concrete steps to
implement change and put family law reform at the
center of your community and state agenda.
"Our issues are drawing the attention of a number of
organizations and leaders from various sectors. ACFC
has been working hard to build coalitions with
organizations interested in our issues. This is your
opportunity to meet other people and organizations
interested in family law reform and shared
parenting."
To register for the conference, click
here.
Expose False Allegations with
Technology
Don't let the anti-male bias in
criminal law victimize you. If you
could be falsely accused by an angry
woman, be prepared! Use technology
to expose the real aggressor.
DontMakeHerMad.com
New Jersey Divorce and Family Law
New Jersey family law attorney David
Perry Davis, Esq. can help you
through your divorce. In Pasqua
v. Council (2006) Davis
successfully challenged New Jersey's
unconstitutional practice of failing
to appoint attorneys for indigent
child support obligors at
enforcement hearings where they face
incarceration. As a result of this
suit, trial courts must apply the
same standard used when a defendant
requests a public defender in a
criminal matter.
www.dpdlaw.com |
|
Philly News Reporter Has History of
Man-Bashing
One of my Philadelphia readers saw
Philadelphia Daily News Unfairly Stereotypes Dads
(Philadelphia Daily News, 8/2/06), in which I
criticized reporter Dana DiFilippo, and wrote to me
about DiFilippo's previous manbashing. According to
the reader:
"In May, a Philadelphia woman sexually mutilated her
husband by ripping off part of his scrotum with her
fingernails. She was arrested, and I'm happy to say
most media outlets in this area treated the story
with gravity, not attempts at humor. DiFilippo was
the exception."
DiFilippo's article was
A GENITAL REMINDER (5/18/06). DiFilippo wrote:
"With their wedding anniversary less than two weeks
away, Howard Randolph was thinking romance. He hoped
to take his wife, Monica, out for an intimate dinner
and maybe an oldies-but-goodies show to celebrate 11
years of matrimony.
"But yesterday, his mind was more on divorce and
jail for his wife after she almost became
Philadelphia's own Lorena Bobbitt.
"Monica Randolph didn't need a kitchen knife. She
took matters into her own hands.
"The Nicetown man said he had been sleeping
peacefully in the couple's bed Tuesday night when
his wife pounced on him without warning, grabbed his
groin, dug her manicured fingernails in and flayed
him, leaving his gore-slicked gonads dangling much
lower than normal.
"'She didn't use no weapon - this was just sheer
brute strength and fingernails. She grabbed me by my
[scrotum] and ripped it apart with her bare hands,'
Randolph said yesterday from his hospital bed at
Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he was in
stable condition with stitched and bandaged
genitals...
"A neighbor who heard the commotion also called
police, who took Monica Randolph into custody and
charged her with aggravated assault and related
offenses.
"Talk about a strict violation of the penal code...
"Monica Randolph told arresting officers that she
had attacked her husband because he was cheating on
her. But her husband denied having any affairs. He
remains mystified as to his wife's motive and
demanded that she receive a stiff punishment...
"News of the genital mangling aroused a mixture of
horrified gasps and guilty giggles in the Randolphs'
neighborhood, where few knew the couple who had
moved into the brick rowhouse on Pulaski Avenue near
Bouvier Street in April.
"Meanwhile, neighbors were left to speculate on
explanations for the attack.
"'She got to be crazy,' said Dionne Martin, 18, who
basked in the spring sunshine on friend Rochelle
Odd's porch steps.
"Odd, 21, agreed: 'That woman was crazy, but I'm on
her side. I don't think no guy deserves to have his
balls ripped off. But she's got to be deep in love -
that's what would make a woman do this. If they was
together all those years and he cheated on her, she
wanted him to feel what she was feeling. There's a
lesson to be learned here: Don't cheat on your
woman.'"
Read the full article
here. I'm particularly annoyed by Rochelle Odd's
comment. Talk about a vindictive woman. Does this
mean a man has the right to beat his girlfriend up
if she cheats on him? I guess so. And while our
opponents fall all over themselves to deny that
there is such a thing as Parental Alienation
Syndrome, is there any doubt that vindictive women
like this would attempt to alienate their children
from their children's fathers?
DiFilippo can be reached at
difilid@phillynews.com.
Glenn Discusses Shared Parenting Movement on Morning
Beat with Curtis Wright
I discussed the shared parenting movement and my
co-authored column
NOW at 40: Group's Opposition to Shared Parenting
Contradicts Its Goal of Gender Equality (New
York Daily News, 7/27/06) on Morning Beat with
Curtis Wright on 106.3 FM "The Big Talker" in
Wilmington, North Carolina on Thursday, August 3.
Help for Maryland Fathers
Family law attorney
Dawn Elaine Bowie works
to protect parents'
relationships with their
children and reduce
post-divorce conflict. She
practices in Montgomery,
Anne Arundel and Prince
George's Counties. Contact
her at
attorneydawn@marylandfamilylawfirm.com
or go to
www.marylandfamilylawfirm.com.
Tree House Solutions
Tree House
Solutions, LLC is a growing
and evolving resource
designed to meet the
emotional and informational
needs of parents who are
going through divorce and
those already divorced. Tree
House activities are
composed of live, real time
teleconferences on a weekly
basis. These sessions are
conducted by two highly
experienced mental health
practitioners, versed in
high conflict divorce. Drs.
Bone and Evans offer a wide
spectrum of suggestions and
education regarding the
divorce process and
co-parenting with difficult
former spouses.
www.treehousesolutions.org
|
|
Dear Abby: Mom Wants Help to End Her Violent Nature
An interesting new
Dear Abby column:
"Dear Abby:
"Last week I hit my husband. My daughter saw me do
it. My parents were violent when they were drunk,
and I swore I would never do that, but it happened.
"Abby, can my children forget my mistakes, or are
they doomed to keep repeating this violence from
generation to generation? Can it stop here if I get
proper help? How do I prevent my children from
following in my -- and my parents' -- footsteps?
"SORRY MOM in Canada
"Dear Sorry Mom:
"Your children are not 'doomed.' They can learn
better ways to manage their anger, and so can you.
Tell your daughter you were wrong to hit her father,
and you regret it. Explain that you are going to see
a counselor and learn more appropriate ways to deal
with your anger and frustration, and that you'll
share what you learn with her and your other
children.
"Make an appointment with a therapist soon, and
locate the nearest chapter of Adult Children of
Alcoholics. ACA is a 12-step group of people who
grew up much as you did. They'll help you understand
the dynamics of your behavior and assist you in
overcoming your learned reaction to problems.
"You can write to Adult Children of Alcoholics World
Services Organization, P.O. Box 3216, Torrance, CA
90510 for the location of the nearest chapter. You
may also access www.adultchildren.org.
"My compliments to you for acknowledging your
problem and seeking help. You're two-thirds of the
way toward resolving it."
As I've written before, one of the many problems
with the current domestic violence system is that,
for political reasons, all of the forces
involved--the police, the judges, the domestic
violence treatment providers, etc.--are forced to
pretend that only men commit domestic violence. As a
result, when a woman is abusive there usually is
little help available for her male victim, as well
as for abusive women who want to change. The Woods
case in California, which is currently at the center
of a controversial lawsuit, is a classic example. I
and Marc Angelucci, the attorney in the case,
co-authored
Domestic Violence Lawsuit Will Help Secure Services
for All Abuse Victims (Los Angeles Daily
Journal, San Francisco Daily Journal, 12/28/05). In
the column we wrote:
"At the age of 11, Maegan Woods tried to stop a
domestic dispute between her parents. She soon found
herself staring down the barrel of her father's
shotgun. She watched helplessly as the trigger was
pulled. She is only alive today because the gun
didn't fire--the safety was on.
"Maegan was abused and witnessed domestic violence
in her home for most of her childhood. By age seven
there had been knife attacks, punches, kicks, and
more. It was hard to leave--the abuser was the one
who earned the money, and the victim was unable to
work because of a disability. On numerous occasions
they looked for help to escape the abuse but were
refused. Why?
"Because in Maegan's family, the abused spouse was
her father, and the battering and child abuse were
perpetrated by her mother.
"The California Battered Women Protection Act of
1994, codified in Health & Safety Codes Section
124250, et. seq., created funding for domestic
violence shelter-based services. However, by
defining domestic violence as something only
experienced by women, the statutes exclude male
victims from receiving state-funded domestic
violence services, including shelter, hotel
arrangements, counseling and legal services.
"Maegan, now 21, and her father, David Woods, are
the lead plaintiffs in a new lawsuit against the
State of California and numerous state agencies and
state-funded domestic violence service providers.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, David was violently
attacked on numerous occasions by his wife Ruth, who
suffers from a bi-polar disorder which, in her case,
creates a propensity toward violence.
"On several occasions David decided that he and
Maegan should get out of the house to escape Ruth's
violence. However, with his disabling condition and
inability to work, David had no money to provide for
himself and his daughter. Numerous times he
contacted a Sacramento domestic violence agency he
had heard of in the media, WEAVE, but they always
told him "we don't help men," and never offered him
a referral to another facility. David tried churches
and various programs, but all they could offer for
men were homeless shelters with waiting lists. He
found nothing for abused men and their children.
David gave up and sank into a heavy depression.
"By February 2003, Maegan began telling her father
to find a place of safety from Ruth's violence. He
again called WEAVE and again was told "we don't help
men." Maegan, then 18, became so frustrated watching
David being abused that she called WEAVE herself and
insisted they help her father. According to Maegan,
WEAVE said they do not help men, and that men are
the perpetrators of domestic violence, not the
victims."
In a letter written earlier this year Maegan wrote:
"As a child I grew up watching my mother commit
multiple acts of violence against my dad. The
earliest incident I remember occurred when I was
four, and my mother continued to be violent up until
April of 2003.
"No one would help. Teachers, parents of friends,
anyone I tried to talk to about what was going on at
home basically told me I didn't understand, and that
my mother couldn't possibly be the violent party.
The few times the police came to our home, they
would always be ready to arrest my father, sometimes
getting so far as to put the handcuffs on him, and
it was up to me to scream as loud as possible that
it was my mommy and not my daddy so they wouldn't
take him away and leave me with her.
"Sometimes when my mom would attack, Pops would try
to defend himself, just to get her off him, stop
hitting him, whatever. Every time he defended
himself, whether he left bruises or not, Mom would
go get a restraining order. She didn't have to show
bruises or prove she was in danger or anything, just
saying she was 'afraid' was enough.
"I grew up in this sort of environment and I learned
the only way to survive was to watch every argument
they had and be ready to interject myself as a
distraction if I could before violence happened. I
grew up paranoid and feeling like the safety in my
house was something only I was responsible for. If
Mom became violent, it meant I FAILED. That feeling
would hit me like a bucket of cold water, but there
wouldn't be any time for feeling sorry for myself.
My next task was to try to break it up, screaming,
threatening, pleading, whatever. I had to make sure
no details escaped me because if the cops got called
they'd just believe my mom without question, and it
was MY job to make sure the truth at least got
heard."
To read the full letter, see
Abused Man's Daughter Speaks Out--Maegan Woods Talks
About Her Childhood. Also, see my column
Domestic Violence Treatment Policies Put Abused
Women in Harm's Way (Daily Breeze [Los Angeles],
11/7/05).
Tiger Woods and Fathers
One of my readers, Chris Anderson, sent the
letter below to the Kansas City Star:
"When Tiger Woods won his third British Open last
Sunday, he dedicated it to his father, Earl, who
passed away this year. It was clear that Tiger cried
tears of joy and tears of sorrow that "Pop" was
missing. Tiger credits 'Pop' as being his best
friend and for helping him become the golfer and man
he is today.
"Something occurred before Tiger finished his round
that created a timely juxtaposition. A protester ran
onto the 18th green, dropped purple chalk in several
places, and shouted something like 'Fathers for
Justice.' Apparently, this man is part of a British
organization that works on behalf of fathers who
seek joint custody of their children.
"It begs the question: What kind of world have we
created where parents have to stage protests to stay
a part of their children's lives? Imagine if Tiger
had been prevented from seeing his father simply
because his parents divorced. Would the world ever
have known this champion, who is admirable both on
the course and off? And most importantly, isn't it
time we asked our children what they want?
"Just ask Tiger Woods. He will tell you how
important fathers are to their children."
Column: NOW at 40: Group's Opposition to Shared
Parenting Contradicts Its Goal of Gender Equality
My recent co-authored column,
NOW at 40: Group's Opposition to Shared Parenting
Contradicts Its Goal of Gender Equality (New
York Daily News, 7/27/06, Louisville
Courier-Journal, 7/12/06, San Diego Union-Tribune,
7/7/06), criticizes the National Organization for
Women's hard stance against shared parenting. In the
column Mike McCormick, Executive Director of the
American Coalition for Fathers and Children, and
I wrote:
"NOW and its co-thinkers, to their credit, once
encouraged fathers, fathering and shared parenting.
In 1971 Gloria Steinem wrote that children suffer
from having 'too little father' in their lives, and
that a more equal balance of parenting was needed.
Karen DeCrow, president of NOW from 1974 to 1977,
says 'it was clear from the feminist writings and
ideas of the '60s and '70s that joint custody was
what we supported after a divorce.'
"Fathers have embraced the call for more father
involvement. Despite an ever-expanding work week,
children today benefit from receiving more hands-on
fathering than ever before. The Families and Work
Institute found that fathers now provide
three-fourths as much child care as mothers do - 50
percent more than 30 years ago.
"Paradoxically, while fathers are more directly
involved in their children's lives than ever, their
bonds with their children are also more fragile. In
the late 1970s NOW reversed itself and began
promoting sole custody in divorce cases. In most
divorces mothers are awarded sole (or de facto sole)
custody of the children, and most post-divorce
parenting time schedules offer fathers and children
less than 20 percent physical time together.
"Along with divorce attorneys, NOW is the largest
organized group fighting shared parenting
legislation. It has issued numerous warnings,
including one that says fathers' groups seeking
joint custody laws are 'using the abuse of power in
order to control in the same fashion as do
batterers.' In their statements the words 'husband'
and 'father' are generally preceded by the word
'abusive.'
"Using these scare tactics, NOW has blocked shared
parenting bills in several states this year,
including New York and Michigan. Yet as even
feminist firebrand Martha Burk notes, 'With close to
half of all marriages ending in divorce, it's
impossible to believe that the majority of divorcing
fathers are violent, and it would be wrong to base
public policy on the notion that they are.'
To
write a Letter to the Editor of the New York Daily
News, the 7th largest newspaper in the United
States, regarding "Devoted dads need support NOW"
(7/27/06), click
here.
Help for Seattle Fathers
The Law Offices of O. Yale
Lewis III is a one-person
law firm that focuses on
customer care. Mr. Lewis can
help you identify and focus
on the outcome that you want
and implement the steps
necessary to get there.
www.yalelewislaw.com.
Help for California Divorced
Dads
The Divorced Fathers Network
helps dads in Los Angeles,
the Bay Area and Santa Cruz.
Local chapters sponsor free
weekly co-parenting classes,
individual mentoring for
fathers and much more.
www.divorcedfathers.com.
|
|
Feminist Columnist Slams Glenn, ACFC Over North
Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative
Two weeks ago Mike McCormick, Executive Director of
the
American Coalition for Fathers and Children, and
I co-authored
North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative Will Help
Children of Divorce (Grand Forks Herald,
7/18/06) in defense of the
North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative. The
Initiative is sponsored by the local
ACFC affiliate.
On Sunday the opposition fired back with
Don't force 'shared parenting' on children
(Grand Forks Herald, 7/30/06). The column was penned
by feminist blogger Trish Wilson, a longtime
opponent of the shared parenting movement.
Wilson's principal argument is that shared parenting
"should not be forced on parents."
What Wilson really means is that, after a divorce,
mothers should not have to share custody of their
children with the children's fathers if the don't
want to. This presupposes that the kids really only
belong to mom, and courts are unfairly "forcing" mom
to share the kids with dad. However, moms and dads
should appear before the court as absolute equals.
If one switches the genders and looks at families
where the father is the primary caregiver (and thus
the one to presumably gain sole custody), this
feminist presumption looks pretty ugly. I switched
the genders in my column
California NOW Takes Stand Against Working Mothers
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2/23/04). Two years later,
I still have never heard a reasonable feminist
rejoinder to the argument I laid out in that column.
Wilson writes that "ninety percent of parents settle
without the need for court intervention in deciding
what form of custody is best for them and for their
children." This statement is very misleading,
because it implies genuine agreement between
parents. Yet such accords aren't made in a
vacuum--they're bargained in the shadow of the law.
What happens in most cases is that fathers must
agree to having a very limited role in their
children's lives because they don't have the tens of
thousands of dollars (or more) necessary to fight
for shared parenting in family law proceedings which
are heavily stacked against them.
Wilson surprised me a bit by writing "When dads make
an issue of custody, they get some form of it more
than half the time...The Massachusetts (gender bias)
task force, for example, reported that fathers get
primary or joint custody in more than 70 percent of
contested cases." This has been discredited for a
long time, and I'm surprised that Wilson, who does
have some knowledge (albeit twisted) of family law,
would cite it. In my co-authored column
PBS Declares War on Dads (World Net Daily,
10/20/05) family law attorney Jeff Leving and I
wrote:
"Misguided women's advocates often claim that
fathers usually win custody when they pursue it, and
that the reason few fathers have custody is because
few of them want it. Boston Globe columnist Cathy
Young examined the research upon which these claims
are based and concluded that they belong in the
'Phony Statistics Hall of Fame.'
"For example, feminist psychologist Phyllis Chesler
claimed in her book Mothers on Trial that fathers
win 70% of custody battles. However, this widely
cited factoid was based on a biased, pre-selected
sample of 60 women who had been referred by feminist
lawyers or women's aid groups because they had
custody issues.
"Other claims are based on the 1989 Gender Bias
Study of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,
which reported that when fathers seek custody, they
win primary or joint physical custody 70 percent of
the time. Yet this figure does not separate
contested from uncontested custody bids, and showed
that in bids for sole custody mothers were still far
more successful than fathers. The study also notes
that 'women who lose custody often [have] mental,
physical, or emotional handicaps'--in other words,
when fathers win it's usually only because the
mother has obvious problems...
"mothers rarely lose custody of their children to
anyone, ever. For example, a Stanford study of 1,000
divorced couples selected at random found that
divorcing mothers were awarded sole custody four
times as often as divorcing fathers in contested
custody cases. An Ohio study published in Family
Advocate found that fathers seeking sole custody
obtain it in less than 10% of cases, and a Utah
study conducted over 23 years found similar results.
According to researcher Robert Seidenberg, a study
of all divorce-custody decrees in Arlington County,
Virginia over an 18 month period failed to find even
one father who was given sole or even joint custody
of his children unless the mother agreed to it.
"In the study 'Child custody arrangements: a study
of two New Jersey counties' published in the Journal
of Psychiatry & Law, New Jersey mental health
experts researched hundreds of custody cases in two
New Jersey counties, Bergen (one of the wealthiest)
and Essex (one of the poorest). Rich man or poor
man, for these New Jersey fathers it didn't
matter--in either county they won custody in only
one out of every 20 cases."
Wilson lists various reasons why she thinks children
fare poorly under shared parenting. In the
original column we cited research showing that
kids do best in shared parenting arrangements.
Wilson does generously allow that in some cases
shared parenting is best. She writes:
"In the cases where shared parenting has worked, the
families had these qualities in common: The parents
had an amicable relationship, their divorce was
amicable with little or no conflict, they had
higher-than-average incomes, they had only one
child, neither parent (especially the father) had
remarried, they lived within close proximity of each
other, they had flexible job schedules, the child
could handle the shared parenting arrangement, the
parents chose freely between themselves to try
shared parenting - and they chose to make it work."
This would throw the gate wide open for shared
parenting for all of about 2% of divorcing couples.
Thanks, Trish!
To join the debate over shared parenting in the
Grand Forks Herald, write a Letter to the Editor
concerning our
Initiative helps children of divorce (7/18/06)
or Wilson's
Don't force 'shared parenting' on children by
clicking on
tdennis@gfherald.com.
Observant readers will note that while I have linked
to Wilson's column above and
here, on Wilson's site she has her column posted
but no link to mine. Wilson and I have clashed on
many occasions and, as far as I can tell, she has
never linked to my work, while I have always linked
to her work so my readers can read and consider for
themselves our opponents' arguments.
Boy Mistakenly Threatened With Jail For Being
Deadbeat Dad
Child support enforcement is notorious for its
bureaucratic mix-ups and its inability to fix them,
but even by their standards this Orlando, Florida
story--Boy
Mistakenly Threatened With Jail For Being Deadbeat
Dad (Local6.com, FL) is extreme:
"A childless teenager in Orange County, Fla., was
threatened with jail for not paying thousands of
dollars in child support despite efforts by his
mother to clear up the identity mistake.
"The report featured Timothy Williams, who received
letters asking that he pay child support for several
children.
"'At first I thought it was funny but it just kept
coming and coming and coming,' Williams said.
"The first letter came in April.
"'It was from the Department of Revenue stating that
my son was past due in child support payment,'
mother Arnell Williams said. 'I was like, 'Wow.'
"The woman said she took the letters to the child
support enforcement office in downtown Orlando.
"'I spoke to the young lady at the window who said
she will make sure it will get taken care of,'
Williams said.
"'But the letters kept coming,' Local 6 reporter
Nancy Alvarez said. 'So did a payment booklet and
court orders, all of it for money owed to three
different women for several children, including some
who were older than Timothy. But the state still
thought the teen was their dad.'
"With the documents threatening arrest if Timothy
did not pay up, Williams called the Department of
Revenue in Tallahassee.
"However, the letters continued to come to Williams.
She then called the Problem Solvers.
"Local 6 News discovered that the real Timothy
Williams is a man with a long criminal record.
"Last month, Jennifer Wilson called the Problem
Solvers after the state sent three of her child
support payments to the wrong address.
"The Department of Revenue blamed the mix up on a
new computer system."
I love it--here we have an outrageous error, and the
woman can't get it solved through the department,
and it takes the media to get the injustice fixed. I
wish I could say I was surprised.
I've written about child support errors on numerous
occasions. In my co-authored column
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Chest-Thumping Sheriff
Humiliate Hard Luck Noncustodial Parents
(Tennessee Tribune, 4/27/06) we provided some
examples of the way "innocent people have been
vilified and subjected to public ridicule" when
child support enforcement agencies publicize "most
wanted deadbeat parent" lists. We wrote:
"...when the
Louisville Courier-Journal published the names and
addresses of 1,000 alleged child support scofflaws
in July of last year on behalf of Jefferson County
Attorney Irv Maze, they listed James H. Frazier as a
deadbeat who owes $57,000. Unfortunately, they
listed his name above the home address of James R.
Frazier.
"WAVE 3 TV
in Louisville reported that James R. Frazier and his
wife Bertha--both of whom seethed at being publicly
humiliated--had been erroneously targeted by Maze
before, and had spent years fighting to straighten
out the error. Maze's office had previously
acknowledged its mistake--and then went ahead and
published the erroneous information anyway. In fact,
as of October 1--over two months later--Maze still
had not corrected the error on his list of 1,000
'deadbeats' on the County Attorney's website.
"ABC 7 KGO
News in San Francisco, California has followed the
saga of Alex Mendez, a childless man who has been
mistakenly targeted for alleged overdue child
support five times in the past three years by two
different counties. After embarrassing media
coverage, local enforcement officials repeatedly
pledged to fix the error but have failed to do so.
"The list
published by the Commercial Appeal appears to have
similar problems. Memphis' News Channel 3 WREG
quotes a juvenile court source as saying that some
of those on the list may have already paid their
child support. Nicholas Burchett of WREG was shocked
and angered to find his father listed as a
'deadbeat'--the man has been dead for 14 years.
"Eyewitness
News-WPTY reports that the Department of Human
Services lost thousands of dollars of child support
paid by Hugh Jones of Memphis, leaving Jones with a
$10,000 child support arrearage. According to WPTY,
DHS cashed Jones' checks six times but, despite
Jones' detailed documentation, has failed to credit
his account. WPTY reports that Jones 'has to
continue paying his child support if he wants to
remain a free man' and avoid jail, even though his
'debt' consists of money he has already paid."
In the case of Herbert L. Chalmers, a St. Louis,
Missouri child support obligor, the state's wage
garnishment to pay child support for his adult
children left him only $400 a month to live on.
Chalmers asserted that he was being vastly
overcharged, and that he was unable to get the error
fixed. In April Chalmers exploded, going on a
murderous rampage before committing suicide. In the
ensuing investigation the Missouri Department of
Social Services admitted that for the past several
years Chalmers was being garnisheed five times more
in support than he actually owed. The DSS blamed a
clerical error.
To learn more about the
Chalmers case, see
I Couldn't Be Less Surprised.
If you're a California
child support obligor with this type of problem,
write to me about it by clicking
here.
Women's Advocate
Criticizes Me on PAS in the
Providence Journal
In early July I sparred
with feminist Anne Grant over Parental Alienation
Syndrome in the
Providence Journal--see my co-authored column
Protect Children from Alienation
(7/8/06) and Grant's
The discredited 'Parental Alienation Syndrome'
(6/27/06). PAS occurs when one parent has turned his
or her children against the other parent, destroying
the loving bonds the children and the target parent
once enjoyed.
Grant fired back at me
and my co-author, family law attorney Jeff Leving,
in her extended letter
Alienation smacks of Stockholm Syndrome (Providence
Journal, 7/21/06). Grant opens by writing that I
"have rushed here from California to rally
the troops in support of the so-called Parental
Alienation Syndrome," to which I thought "so what?"
Grant criticizes my short
narration of the Amy Neustein case, one of the most
highly-publicized PAS cases. In
Protect Children from Alienation we wrote:
"Neustein's now adult
daughter, Sherry Orbach, publicly refuted her
mother's claims last year, writing that when she was
a child her mother 'would begin by telling me a
sordid--and false--story about my father...She then
instructed me to repeat the story word for word
until she was satisfied with my rendition.'
According to Orbach:
"'My father never sexually abused me...I...owe my
existence as a normal young adult to the family
judges...who helped me reunite with my father in the
face of considerable opposition in the media.'"
Grant counters:
"Photographs suggest
another story. The smiling 6-year-old became a
different child after the Brooklyn, N.Y. Family
Court kept concerned experts from testifying, and
awarded her father sole custody. By the age of 8,
Sherry appeared dazed and emaciated, and lurid in
scarlet lipstick and nail polish."
I've seen the picture
Grant refers to, and don't find it particularly
convincing. The girl could be emaciated, or she
could just be a normal girl. My daughter is also 8
years old, and there are several kids in her second
grade class who look just as thin as Sherry did in
the picture. And Grant's comment that Orbach looks
"lurid in scarlet lipstick and nail polish" is the
product of an overactive imagination. My daughter
and her friends sometimes play with lipstick, and my
wife and my daughter often get manicures and
pedicures together--is my little girl "lurid," too?
Grant writes that "People
held hostage at any age soon identify with their
abusers; like Sherry Orbach, they will say or do
whatever is required. Yes, they are being alienated,
but not by 'Parental Alienation Syndrome.' Their
scientifically predictable behavior is called the
Stockholm Syndrome."
Sherry Orbach wrote the
refutation of her mother's claims at age 24--hardly
a "hostage" of her father or anybody else.
To read Grant's full
criticism of our article, click
here. To join the debate on PAS in the
Providence Journal, write a Letter to the
Editor by clicking
here.
Second Marriage Struggles: Alec Baldwin and Long
Time Girlfriend Separate, Blame Pressure from
Basinger Custody Battle
According to the
Baldwin Splits From Girlfriend (San Francisco
Chronicle, 7/25/06):
"Hollywood actor Alec
Baldwin has split from his long-term girlfriend
Nicole Seidel after four years together.
"Friends of actor and
leading lawyer Seidel have blamed the pressure of
Baldwin's bitter and protracted custody battle with
his ex-wife Kim Basinger for the break-up.
"A pal tells Page Six,
'The stress of the custody hearings took its toll.
They're still friends, and Alec thinks Nicole's
great.'"
I have no idea to what
degree the above reflects the real reasons for the
Baldwin-Seidel separation, but I do know that the
mistreatment of fathers in family court often puts
tremendous strain on second marriages. In my
co-authored column
Tennessee Appellate Court Sends Message: Second
Families Count (Memphis Commercial Appeal,
8/23/02) we wrote:
"[anti-father family
court bias] often makes it impossible for men to be
fathers to the children of their first marriages,
and also necessitates costly legal battles which can
drain second families' financial resources. Second
families are often left feeling that they must
always maintain a permanent defensive posture, and
that they have lost control over their own lives."
I've discussed Baldwin's
custody battle on several occasions--see
Kim Basinger's Mom: Kim is 'Alienating' Her Daughter
from Alec Baldwin and
Alec Baldwin Defamed.
Stop Feeling Like a Wicked Step-Parent
On the subject of second
families and step-parents, the
Second Wives Club, which has a lot of good
material on divorce-related issues, recently had an
interesting article called
Stop feeling like a wicked step-parent. In the
article
Linda Lewis Griffith, a marriage and family
therapist, writes:
"Why are inherited
children so difficult? The answers are varied and
complex. First off, new step-parents have had no
input into their inherited children's lives. The
kids may exhibit behaviors that cause their
step-parents to gasp. But the same people must
warmly accept these juvenile charges into their
lives.
"To make matters even
worse, the new step-parents have little control over
their inherited kids. Because they are not the
biological parents, they have minimal authority over
the children's discipline, schoolwork or chores...
"Inherited children have
often had compromised upbringings because of
disruptions in their lives. They may have
experienced unstable living arrangements, intense
arguing between their parents, multiple step-parents
or drug or alcohol abuse. As a result, they can be
needier and even more challenging to parent.
"Inherited children might
also be unplanned. For example, a woman may marry a
husband whose children only visit during the summer.
But two years into their marriage his 15-year-old
daughter decides to live with him full-time. Now the
wife's life is suddenly upended as she's entrusted
with the care of a rebellious teen."
Second marriages have a
high failure rate, and issues like these are some of
the reasons. Griffith provides interesting
solutions--read the full article
here.
Are You Really the Father?
Find out the underlying flaws in the DNA
paternity testing system and learn how a
man with results in the 90%, 95% or even
99% positive range may not be the
father. Learn what most lawyers and
judges don't know about paternity
testing.
www.paternitytestflaw.com.
Congressional Candidate Takes Strong
Stand for Noncustodial Parents' Rights
In 2004 Libertarian presidential
candidate Michael Badnarik had a strong
noncustodial parents' rights
platform. Badnarik is clearly aware
of and sensitive to the basic problems
fathers today face, particularly the
sole custody norm and the denigration of
noncustodial parents to "second class
parent" status. Badnarik is running for
Congress in 2006--to learn more, go to
www.badnarik.org. |
Remember, Women Never Lie About Rape...
According to
Dana Point woman recants rapes (Orange County
Register, 7/25/06):
"A woman who accused six men of kidnapping and
raping her at gunpoint two years ago admitted she
made it up, the Orange County District Attorney's
Office reported Monday.
"Tamara Anne Moonier, 29, is charged with grand
theft, perjury, presenting a false claim to the
state and making a false report to an officer. She
is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22.
"Prosecutors said Moonier made the false accusations
on June 6, 2004. The accused men were never charged
or convicted in the case, authorities said.
"Fullerton Police Department Investigators
discovered she had lied after one of the accused
provided a 40-minute tape, which showed Moonier
actively participating and orchestrating the
encounters, prosecutors reported.
"The Orange County Grand Jury indicted Moonier for
grand theft for receiving money from the states
designated for victims of crime."
Interesting that the
crimes for which Moonier is charged (to which she'll
probably plea bargain and get away without jail
time) are "grand theft, perjury, presenting a false
claim to the state and making a false report to an
officer." Nothing which reflects the terrible thing
she did to the young men she falsely accused. I
prefer the ancient Chinese method of dealing with
false claims--if you made a false claim against
someone, the law gives you the penalty that they
would have received had they been found guilty.
Make no mistake--this recantation only happened
because there was a tape of the incident. In fact,
previous articles show that
Moonier--incredibly--actually kept insisting that
she had been raped even after the tape surfaced. The
tapes also showed Moonier mocking one of the less
well-endowed men in the room. Nice girl...
Remember, Liars Aren't the Problem, Glenn Sacks Is
One of the issues I get
pounded on the most from feminist blogs is the
problem of false accusations of rape. For some of
the milder examples, see
Glenn Sacks = David Duke and
California Feminist Leader Slams Glenn. I guess
I could speculate as to why this is, but it's not my
problem. Anyway, I've covered the issue of false
rape accusations on numerous occasions--to learn
more, see:
1) My debate on the Kobe
Bryant case with two leaders of the National
Organization for Women in the San Francisco
Chronicle--my column was
Kobe Bryant Ruling a Step Towards Equity in Rape
Trials, NOW's Terry O'Neill and Melanie Stafford
column was
Survivors must not be twice victimized (8/1/04).
2) My co-authored column
criticizing a California spousal rape bill which
passed the legislature unanimously and was signed
into law in June--Kuehl's
Spousal Rape Bill Will Harm Innocent Men
(Sacramento News & Review, 6/15/06).
3) My radio interview on
His Side with Glenn Sacks with
former Colorado prosecutor Craig Silverman, who
was known for his zealous prosecution of rapists,
and
Fox News Columnist Wendy McElroy--to listen, go
to
Kobe Bryant, Rape Shield Laws, and the False
Accusations Problem (3/21/04).
4) My rather bizarre
radio interview on
His Side with Glenn Sacks with
Katherine Baker, who proposes a new crime called
"Reckless Sex," under which a "defendant would be
guilty of reckless sexual conduct if, in a first
sexual encounter with another particular person, the
defendant had sexual intercourse without using a
condom." To listen, go to
Criminalizing 'Reckless Sex'--Safeguard for Women
or New Way to Herd Men Into Jail? (3/6/05).
5) My co-authored column
Research Shows False Accusations of Rape Common
(Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Francisco Daily
Journal, 9/15/04,
World Net Daily,
9/18/04)
6) Various enewsletter
entries, including
here and
here.
File Taxes Online with Professional
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Legal Help for Fathers
If you live in Los Angeles, Riverside or
Orange counties and you're facing a
divorce, separation, or a child custody
issue, the law firm of Oddenino & Gaule
can help. |
The Guns of August
Last week marked the 92nd
anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies in
human history--World War I. Some of you may recall
that I defended World War I veterans against
criticism from feminist Helen Caldicott in my piece
Dr. Helen Caldicott Spits on My Grandfather
(Cybercast News Service, 3/28/03).
Caldicott is certainly correct that the war was one
of the most senseless slaughters in human history,
and Lenin was correct that it was an imperialist
war. But unlike Caldicott, I believe that men go to
war out of a sense of duty and obligation, not
bloodlust, as Caldicott maintains. In the column I
wrote:
"I have my grandfather's
war medals in a small wooden chest, along with two
pictures--one of him as a young man in military
uniform, and another of him as a grandfather. Also
in the box is a poem about the war which he wrote to
the woman who would become my grandmother. The poem
is simple and about as good as one can expect from
an immigrant with an elementary school education and
a future as a milkman.
"When the United States entered World War I my
grandfather lied about his age so he could join the
army, wanting to show his gratitude to the country
which had allowed him to escape foreign tyranny.
Wounded in the decisive Battle of the Argonne Forest
in 1918, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the
French Croix de Guerre.
"Last week Dr. Helen Caldicott, renowned feminist
and antiwar activist, spat on him.
"In a speech released under the title 'Men: Natural
Born Killers' Caldicott told feminist antiwar
demonstrators that the male of the human species has
unbridled bloodlust, explaining that 'young men
rushed off to battle in the first World War. So
eager were they to participate in the noble act of
killing that they lied about their age.'
"In other words, grandpa didn't enlist out of duty,
loyalty or honor, but instead because he wanted the
chance to kill.
"Welcome to the world of modern feminism, where
everything men do is either privilege or pathology
and all events and actions are seen through a
sharply focused, anti-male lens."
Read the full column
here.
Best Wishes,
Glenn Sacks
GlennSacks.com
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