Author: Super User

Los Angeles, CA–“My dad was out there today, keeping me calm…I love my dad and I miss him very much.”

Tiger Woods’ father Earl died in 2006 at age 74. In this video clip, Tiger Woods talks about how much his late father Earl meant to him, as he accepts his 11th major golf trophy.

Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post:

“Earl Woods did much more than raise a supremely talented golfer. In an age when it’s rare to read a sentence with the words ‘African American’ and ‘father’ that doesn’t also include ‘absent’ or some other pejorative, Earl and Tiger Woods were the world’s most visible, and inspiring, counterexample. ‘He was the person I looked up to more than anyone,’ Tiger Woods said following his father’s death, and even the world’s biggest cynic had to know he meant every word.

“To me, the two defining aspects of Tiger Woods’s career have been his supernatural ability to make a golf ball do impossible things and his relationship with his father. Two moments stand out: The Sunday afternoon in 1997 when Tiger became the first black man ever to win the Masters and cried like a little boy in the arms of his father, who was there against doctor’s orders after almost dying in heart surgery. And the Sunday afternoon in 2005 when Tiger won his fourth Masters and cried again, because Earl Woods, for the first time, had been too sick to come to the course and root him on.”

To watch the video of Tiger talking about his dad, click here or see below.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpnbddQUEi8&feature=related]

Austin, TX–As a former high school teacher, I can understand teachers’ annoyance with cell phones and phone calls, but the school seems to have really overreacted here. Thanks to Kelly, a reader, for sending the story.

Student suspended for answering call from dad in Iraq
KXAN, 4/15/08

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — A call from a parent stationed in a war zone has landed a Texas high school student in hot water, and his mother is asking the school to ease up on the punishment.

The Copperas Cove High School sophomore received an urgent call from his father and was suspended after taking the call during class.

Master Sgt. Morris Hill is a world away in Iraq, so he had no idea that a simple call from the battlefield to his son, Brandon, would land the 16-year-old in a heap of trouble.

“He called me during class, because that’s the only time that he could,” said Brandon Hill, suspended for using a cell phone. “I answered the call as I was walking out of class. The teacher followed me out and said, ‘Oh what are you doing?’ I said my dad was calling from Iraq, and I know he needs to talk to me.”

At the high school, which is 85 miles from Austin, students are not allowed to carry cell phones.

Yet Pat Hill said before her husband left for Iraq, he made a special arrangement with the assistant principal.

“He had spoken with Mr. Fletcher,” said Pat Hill. “He thought there was an agreement understood that if he called either Joshua or Brandon at school, that everything was fine.

Brandon Hill was sent to the office and suspended for two days for answering his father’s call.

“It’s crazy with everything that’s going on,” Brandon Hill said.

“If this would have been the last phone call from my husband, and he’s in trouble for it and then has to deal with something happening to his dad that would be even harder,” Pat Hill said. She added that she was outraged her son was suspended, and then it took a week to get a meeting with the principal.

Read the full article here.

 [In October, 2006, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard a custody dispute between two lesbian women over a child they had both helped raise. Although plaintiff A.H. was not the biological mother of the child, she had been deeply involved in raising the child, and the child was closely bonded to her. Fathers and Families supported A.H.”s right to continue as a de facto parent after the couple split up. Although Fathers & Families has taken no position on same-sex parenting in general, once a close bond between a de facto parent and a child has been formed, we think it is harmful to the child to break this bond. So we wrote a detailed amicus brief supporting the child”s right to continue to have A.H. as a de facto parent–to read it, click here.   
 
A second piece of this puzzle was that A.H. had served as the main breadwinner in this family. Some influential legal authorities, such as the American Law Institute, hold that breadwinning does not qualify one for custody or visitation rights. This archaic view works against any parent who shoulders the economic responsibilities of a family. So our brief detailed how this legal nonsense works against children’s best interests.
 
Unfortunately, the high court of Massachusetts found against A.H. It did state, however, that the anti-breadwinning principle may not be an appropriate way to make custody and visitation decisions for married parents who are divorcing. This is a potentially important statement. Sadly, recent reports suggest that the biological mom has cut A.H. off almost completely from the child.
 
Now comes a similar story from Glenn Sacks, but this time from Vermont and Virginia.–Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.]

Virginia–According to Virginia Supreme Court to Weigh in on Lesbian Couple’s Custody Battle (CNSNews.com, April 15, 2008):

“The Virginia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday in a case involving a lesbian couple fighting over who gets full custody of a five-year-old girl. Janet Jenkins, former partner of Lisa Miller, is suing for custody of Miller’s biological daughter even though Jenkins is not an adoptive or biological parent.

“Jenkins and Miller (pictured with their baby) entered into a Vermont civil union in 2000 while living in Virginia. Miller got pregnant through artificial insemination from an anonymous donor and gave birth to her daughter in Virginia. The relationship eventually ended.”

I’ve covered this case on numerous occasions. After their breakup, Miller, the biological mother, moved to Virginia with their daughter Isabella, won sole custody, and excluded Jenkins from the girl”s life. Miller”s actions read like a checklist of what heterosexual women sometimes do to the fathers of their children, including: move the child far away; deny the noncustodial parent the opportunity to visit or co-parent the child; make an unsupported, dubious and oh-so-convenient accusation of abuse against the noncustodial parent; and pretend that the noncustodial parent is out-of-line or acting against the child”s best interests by wanting to continue the relationship with the child.

In my co-authored column, Ruling in Vermont Same-Sex Child Custody Case: Lesbian Moms, Divorced Dads in Same Boat (Rutland Herald & various others, 12/10/06), I supported lesbian social mom Janet Jenkins in her struggle to remain a part of her daughter’s life. I wrote:

“In a highly-publicized new decision, a Virginia appeals court ruled recently in favor of a lesbian social/non-biological mother in her custody battle against her child”s biological mother. The former couple, Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins, joined in a same-sex civil union in Vermont in 2000 and had a child together in 2002. After their breakup, Miller, the biological mother, moved to Virginia with their daughter Isabella, won sole custody, and excluded Jenkins from the girl”s life.

“Opponents of gay marriage, gay activists and the media have focused almost exclusively on the new decision”s impact on same-sex marriage. Lost in this, however, is the fact that the case is a textbook example of one of America”s greatest social problems–the refusal of many divorcing mothers to allow their children to continue to have a relationship with their former spouses.

“During Jenkins” and Miller”s same sex-union Jenkins did everything she could do to be a good parent to their child. She was involved with the pregnancy from the beginning, was present in the delivery room, worked to support the family, and played an important role in Isabella”s life. Following their breakup she was granted visitation rights but Miller refused to comply. After the new ruling, Miller’s side vowed to further appeal the case to deny Jenkins access to the girl. Miller says she does not want Jenkins to have any visitation rights, and has not allowed her to see their daughter since 2004.

“Increasingly, other lesbian social mothers are suffering similar injustices. For example, in the A.H. v. M.P. case currently before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the trial court ruled against A.H., a lesbian social mother, who had been the primary breadwinner for her partner M.P. and their young son. After separation M.P. sought to minimize A.H.’s role in the boy”s life, arguing that since A.H. was not the child”s primary caregiver, she should not receive joint custody of the boy…

“The problems heterosexual mothers create for their children and their ex-partners have been largely ignored, partly due to misleading stereotypes of abusive and/or ‘deadbeat’ fathers. Today fit, loving, lesbian social mothers like Jenkins and A.H. and their children face similar mistreatment. Ladies, welcome to the club.”

To learn more, see my blog posts Lesbian Mom Describes How She Got the Dad Treatment, Part I & Part II.

Los Angeles, CA–The Parental Alienation Awareness Organization/ www.Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com has made more progress in gaining recognition of Parental Alienation, as three new states now recognize Parental Alienation Awareness Day–Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and New York. This brings the total to 13 U.S. states, as well as Bermuda.

To learn more about Parental Alienation Awareness Day, visit the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization’s website www.Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com. To learn how to get involved, contact Sarvy Emo at Tel: 416-840-5654, Fax: 866-232-8134 or at info@parental-alienation-awareness.com.

Australia–“Birthday boy Brian McFadden has revealed the bitter stalemate which exists between the Irish crooner and his ex-wife Kerry Katona. Despite being happily engaged to Sydney songbird Delta Goodrem (pictured), the former Westlife singer has made a rare admission about the poisonous relationship between him and the mother of his two daughters.

“Lamenting spending his birthday alone over the weekend – with Goodrem on promo duties in the US and his children in Katona’s custody in the UK – McFadden said he was kept from his kids by his ex.

“Asked in an Australian radio interview this week if he’d received birthday messages from his daughters, Molly-Marie, 6, and Lilly-Sue, 5, a mopey McFadden carded Katona:

“‘When they’re not with me, the other side isn’t too keen on helping (connect) like that. And I wouldn’t accept them – (birthday cards) would probably have anthrax in them or something.'”

Rich man or poor man, famous or obscure, the story of the vindictive ex separating children from their father somehow always seems the same.

The full article is Brian bemoans toxic ex-wife (Daily Telegraph, 4/15/08). Thanks to Steve Bayliss for sending it.

Commerce City, CO–This sounds like an Onion satirical piece but sadly it isn’t. The story is Parents Fight Over Which Gang Toddler Should Join from ABC 7 News in Denver:

“COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father’s arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.
“On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said.

“After he ran out of the store, police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home

“His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

“‘They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would ‘claim,’ Sandoval said.

“Manzanares was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, and domestic violence. He was transported to the Adams County Detention Facility.

“On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to a year of probation. The misdemeanor harassment charge was dropped.”

The full piece is here–thanks to Scott, a reader, for sending it.

Los Angeles, CA–“Sholonda” searched for 3 1/2 years for the father of her daughter. She pointed the finger at every one of the 16 men pictured–that’s sixteen different men–as the possible father of her daughter.

In this video, we see what happens with the paternity test with man #17.

To watch the video, click here or see below.

As a follow up, according to Wikipedia:

“Sholonda, a recurring guest on the Maury show, has given 18 men a paternity test for her daughter. The eighteenth man, her husband, turned out to be the father. She later appeared to confess to her husband that she cheated and that she didn’t know if he was the father of another child…”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XteyzO65DQ4&feature=related]

Maryland–“The decision was closure to six years of criminal and civil court dates. Throughout, [I] have yet to be once on the ‘losing” side of any judge or jury”s outcome. Yet the changes in the state and federal law have done nothing for my family or sons. [The] only solace is they all know – or will someday know the extraordinary efforts gone to recover the boys, and that we have never stopped thinking of them.”–Michael Shannon

According to the Associated Press story Court upholds jury award in international custody battle (4/10/08):

“Maryland’s highest court has upheld a $3 million dollar jury award in favor of an Anne Arundel County man whose two sons were illegally taken out of the country by his ex-wife and mother-in-law.

“The Court of Appeals upheld Michael Shannon’s right to seek civil damages and denied claims by Nermeen Khalifa Shannon and her mother, Afaf Khalifa, that the award was excessive.

“The court opinion says the women knowingly deprived Shannon of the love and comfort of his two children. The boys were taken to Egypt nearly seven years ago, when one was 4 and the other was less than a year old. They are believed to be living in Cairo.”

This is a nice legal victory for Jeff Leving on behalf of a father whose two sons were internationally abducted. The sons are pictured above, on a poster Shannon keeps in his home.

Leving’s press release on the court decision is excerpted below:

“A Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a jury”s decision on Wednesday, granting Michael Shannon over 3 million dollars in punitive and compensatory damages. The decision is stemming from visitation interference against Shannon”s ex-wife and mother-in-law, after they abducted their two sons to Egypt. This is a groundbreaking case and is the first successful case in the US filed over an international kidnapping and is precedent setting.

“International fathers” rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving, who is coordinating all litigation in the US and Egypt for the father, said this verdict is part of his strategy to put pressure on the mother to return the children. Leving has also retained Egyptian counsel to persuade the Egyptian court in Cairo to recognize and enforce Mr. Shannon”s custody orders entered in a US court.