FOXNews.com – North Dakota Debates Shared Parenting Law

By Wendy McElroy 

North Dakota’s general election in November will probably include a ballot on a Shared Parenting Initiative, a measure that would make joint child custody the default option in cases of divorce or separation unless one parent was proven to be unfit. A petition for SPI’s inclusion has the required signatures and is currently being verified.

But the fact that both state and federal officials have come out against the SPI may cause its defeat. (more…)

UPDATE:  The message below was written by John on August 25th. 
There has been an update since that time of writing.  His
original message below indicates a new feeding tube wasn’t going
to be installed.  However, the feeding tube WAS INSTALLED TODAY
on August 30th.

>From John:

August 25, 2006

Let me start again by saying thanks to all of you who have been so
helpful as this effort continues.  Every letter or phone call matters.
Most of us don’t have a lot of money.  A special thanks to those who
contributed to my legal defense.  Mr. Charles Keller is a good lawyer
and I’m fortunate to have him.  We have a page that shows
contributions (http://www.AKidsRight.Org/donation_log_jm.htm).
Approximately $350.00 has been contributed so far.  Full background
on this: http://www.AKidsRight.Org/support_jm.htm.

PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE
—————————–
I’ve had a chance to explain my actions to many people here.  Many of
these people have never been involved in a child custody dispute.  I’m
happy to say that most went from being skeptical — to understanding
the reason for my actions and our goals as parents. (more…)

CHILDREN ARE NOT WHOSE PROPERTY? By Dr. Ferrel Christensen

Dr. Christensen is president of the Gender Issues Education Foundation,
based in Edmonton, and is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the
University of Alberta.

A JUDICIAL PRESUMPTION OF EQUALLY SHARED PARENTING FOLLOWING SEPARATION
OR
DIVORCE IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

This is a brief essay in support of the international movement for a
judicial presumption of equally shared parenting — joint legal
stewardship and residential time as equal as is practicable — following
parental separation.

Those who oppose this movement deny that there is or ought to be a
moral or legal right to that outcome. For example, they say that child
custody and parental contact should be decided on the basis of “the best
interests of the child”, not of parental rights. They may even dismiss the very
idea of parental rights, using pat phrases such as ‘children are not
property’. In so doing, they are denying some fundamental legal and moral
principles. (more…)

Child custody in Japan isn’t based on rules

 Imagine discovering you have been living in an artificial world with rules designed to mask a terrible reality. This is, of course, the premise of “The Matrix,” but it is also an analogy I use to explain child custody and visitation in Japan, a subject in which I do research (and have had personal experience). Japan’s family courts have rules and procedures that hide a sad truth: They are powerless to protect the parent-child relationship when a divorce turns hostile. (more…)

Teacher sues ex-wife for false claims of sex abuse

Allegations he molested sons part of bitter custody dispute

PUBLISHED: August 22, 2006

By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

An Eastpointe school teacher has sued his ex-wife for her false accusations to police that he sexually molested their son and her son.

Jeffrey Edwards, 33, filed a lawsuit in Macomb Circuit Court on Friday, saying his former wife, Muingo Muthui-Edwards, slandered him and deliberately inflicted emotional distress on him by telling police and social service agencies here and in Pennsylvania that he molested the two boys, aged 3 and 6. (more…)

Update & Recent news coverage on John Murtari
————————————————-
>From Teri Stoddard, Group PR person:

News10Now sent a reporter to interview John in jail.  The news story
that aired was wonderful.  John was able to talk about civil rights
and the video included footage they’d taken of the rally in Syracuse
on the 9th.  Here’s the link:
http://www.news10now.com/content/story_links/?SecID=345&ArID=77342 I
called to thank them and the woman who answered the phone sounded
delighted.  Feel free to thank them yourselves!  (1-866-4NEWS10)

Here’s a link to the audio version of the interview.  I’m not sure how
long the video will be on News10Now.  You can listen to the audio and
even download it with this link:
http://graywebsite.com/articles/NEWS10-murtari.mp3

Doctors removed John’s feeding tube Monday so his throat could heal
and he could get some sleep.  (more…)

Very interesting article – biased as can be.  A majority of people surveyed were of the opinion that men and women are equally prone to committing domestic violence.  Yet commentators say they are wrong, without actually citing any statistics!  Amazing.  Especially disturbing to me is the discussion in this article about a television public service announcement showing the angst of a father saying goodbye to his child after “visitation”.  The article says this is “demonising” women!
Women hit in message of violence – National – theage.com.au

RADICAL men’s groups appear to be winning the propaganda war against their former spouses, with a new survey showing that one in five Victorians believes that women are just as likely as men to violently assault their partner. (more…)

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE – How HHS Bullies North Dakota Citizens by Stephen Baskerville and Mitchell S. Sanderson

Those who work in what was once nobly known as the civil service — and what has degenerated into the “bureaucracy” — are required by law and ethics to be politically neutral. (more…)

Court Allows Battered Husband to Void Property Agreement

By STEVEN CISCHKE, Staff Writer

 A wife’s abuse of her husband—including screaming, hitting and threatening—supports a finding that his written transmutation of his separate property to her was the result of duress and undue influence, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

The court affirmed retired Orange Superior Court Judge Gary P. Ryan’s ruling that a written transmutation of Ralph Balcof’s separate property interests to those of his then-wife Kathleen Balcof was unenforceable. (more…)