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 software program designed for divorced parents to track their parenting plan schedules over many years. Do-it-yourself or let us build your approved parenting plan into a multi-year calendar so that you can print, share, or modify the calendar later. 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 ASSISTANCE TO OUR CLIENTS- $49.95 one-time charge, FREE TRIAL & MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Click here for more information.

Newspaper Wrings Hands Over Abused Pets While Ignoring Lack of Services for Abused Men

Background: Recently California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, and numerous California and Connecticut legislators took strong measures to protect goldfish, bunny rabbits, cats, dogs, and hamsters like little Cinnamon (pictured) from abusive relationships.

Earlier this year Rell signed a bill to protect pet victims of domestic violence and explained with a straight face, "Pets are too often the silent victims of domestic violence. They cannot fight back, and they are presently afforded no protection under our current legal system.”

According to Dr. Ned Holstein, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, Massachusetts has picked up this crucial public health issue with HB 1546.

Earlier this year Mike McCormick, Executive Director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, and I co-authored a column on the bill Schwarzenegger signed-- see CA Legislators Vote to Protect Pets from Domestic Violence but Deny Services to Male DV Victims (Long Beach Press-Telegram, 4/21/07).

The story below from the Riverside Press-Enterprise decries the fact that--no joke--there are "few resources to protect Inland Empire pets caught up in domestic violence." But all hope is not lost:

"Animal Safety Net [is] one of few safe-house programs for animals caught in the web of domestic violence...

"Riverside County Department of Animal Services officials have acknowledged the need to protect animals in violent households...In most parts of the country, pets continue to be silent victims of domestic violence, [Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles] said...

"Animal Safety Net works with prosecutors, social workers, sheriff's officials and domestic-violence shelters to remove animals from abusive situations and temporarily house them in secret foster homes until the domestic-violence victims can find a safe place for the animals.

"It starts when police or social workers ask domestic-violence victims if they fear for their pets. If they do, authorities can retrieve the pets and place them in protective custody...there have been discussions within the department about ways to serve pets caught up in domestic violence, John Welsh said.

"In some regions, police, prosecutors, social workers and animal shelters work together to make sure that the animals are protected along with human victims, [Frank R. Ascione, a psychology professor at Utah State University] said. Some agencies refer pets to animal safe houses, and some county animal shelters take pains to hide the pets from abusers by housing them separately from pets up for adoption and by obscuring their names and ages, he said.

"At Animal Friends in The Valleys of Lake Elsinore, animal-control officers can remove pets from an abusive home and keep them in protective custody if the domestic-violence victim signs an affidavit swearing to the threat against the animal.

"'We will do whatever it takes to make sure the animal is safe,' said Monique Middleton, an officer at the shelter."

Everyone's concern and soul-searching over abused hamsters is touching--particularly when there is not one domestic violence shelter in all of Riverside County which does outreach to abused men. I'm not aware of one that will even take in an abused man.

And as far as I know there is not one police program in all of Riverside County which focuses on helping abused men escape their violent wives. This is despite decades of research which shows that women are as likely to abuse their husbands as vice versa, and that a third of all domestic violence related injuries are suffered by men.

The full article is Few resources protect Inland pets caught up in domestic violence (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/20/08)

To write a Letter to the Editor about this story, go to letters@pe.com. The reporter, Paige Austin, can be reached at 951-893-2106 or paustin@PE.com.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

[Note: If you or someone you love is being abused, the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women provides crisis intervention and support services to victims of domestic violence and their families.]

I Discuss Joe Biden’s Dangerous New Domestic Violence Bill on the Maria Sanchez Show (Audio Available)

The audio of the interview is available--to listen, click here or on the audio button below.

To learn more, see my co-authored column Biden’s Misguided S1515 Will Exacerbate Domestic Violence System’s Problems (Philadelphia Daily News, 12/7/07).

[Note: If you or someone you love is being abused, the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women provides crisis intervention and support services to victims of domestic violence and their families.]

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Jacey Eckhart: ''Silly husband' commercials are starting to tax my patience'

"That's right. Contempt. Sneering, mocking, name-calling, eye-rolling, sarcastic, cynical, bitter-tasting contempt. Contempt is a very bad sign in a marriage...the Silly Husband has been a common figure in commercials, TV and movies for ages. I've been fine with that, but lately it seems commercials have taken on a more acrid flavor.

"Instead of Silly Husband, the guy I see most often now is Ridiculous Lazy Idiot Who Can't Do Anything Right. That guy is so common that right after the tax commercial the archetype showed up again in a Domino's Pizza commercial. When the husband finds out he has 30 minutes before the pizza comes, he appears in a red satin robe. 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

"The wife deadpans, 'What are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?'

"That's harsh. If my husband said something so cold to me, I wouldn't stand there smiling. I'd sneak off somewhere to lick my wounds. Forget the pizza.

"Sure, these are just commercials. I should ignore them, turn them off, stop watching so much TV. And yet, I can't ignore that human beings tend to copy the examples in front of them...

"I hope I never end up like that. Every time I see one of those commercials...I'll take that display of contempt and use it as a cue to pounce on my husband and kiss him all over."

I couldn't say it any better than Norfolk Virginian-Pilot columnist Jacey Eckhart does in her recent column 'Silly husband' commercials are starting to tax my patience (1/22/08), which is quoted above. To send her a nice note, write to jacey87@mac.com. To send a Letter to the Editor, click on letters@pilotonline.com.

To watch the ad Eckhart refers to--Domino's Pizza's "What are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?"--click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Controversy over Agency's Ad Promising Women 'Unspoiled by Feminism'

My feeling about international dating agencies in general is that I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't criticize it. If that's what men want, fine, it's their lives. As for the comment that has generated the controversy--women "unspoiled by feminism"--I have a few thoughts:

1) If it really is an advertisement for doormat women, then yes, it's offensive. But I doubt that's what the agency meant, and I doubt that's what most men who go to these agencies are looking for. While I'm sure these agencies do sometimes serve the "keep 'em barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen" type of male, probably the vast majority of the men just want a woman who doesn't buy into the woman good/man bad Western feminist worldview. Do you really want to go through life with someone for whom it's always his fault? I can understand men wanting to avoid this.

2) For the men at these agencies, "unspoiled by feminism" may well be code for "wants an intact family, isn't fond of divorce." Divorce is rampant in the West, and it is women, not men, who initiate the vast majority of divorces. Yes, sometimes the women have good cause or the relationship really is nonfunctional, but sometimes that is not the case. I can see why a man who's been through the "I had no idea she wanted to divorce me" scenario--complete with concomitant restriction of access to his children and financial misfortune--would look for a crop of women who are less inclined to divorce.

3) Another way to look at it is this--if anybody, male or female, is considering marriage, and could choose from crop of potential partners #1, where the divorce potential was 1 in 2, and crop of potential partners #2 where the divorce rate was maybe 1 in 4, wouldn't he or she be quite right to choose group #2? (BTW, does anybody know what divorce rates in the Czech Republic actually are?)

4) That being said, I'm skeptical that these foreign marriages work all that well. I've received plenty of letters from men who went for foreign brides and hooked up with the stereotypical beautiful and much younger spouse, and thought they had found true love, only to find that their foreign wives were more interested in their money and citizenship than them as people. If you're one of those guys who wants her mostly for her beauty, don't be shocked if she wants you mostly for your money.

5) I'm skeptical that Czech women are so unfamiliar with feminism. The Eastern Bloc countries employed many of the ideas that feminists recommend, including low-cost, 24 hour child care, free abortion on demand, and an emphasis on women having jobs and careers. I traveled throughout the East Bloc in the early '80s, including Czechoslovakia. While it was obvious that the country's economy was stifled by what Trotsky accurately called the "dead hand of the bureaucracy," the women there were well-educated, and were hardly clueless naives.

The article is Fury Over Dating Agency's Sleazy Ads (1/21/08).

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

His Side with Glenn Sacks Radio Commentary: Actress Nicole Kidman, TV Anchor Suzanne Rico Praise Their Dads

To listen to the commentary, click here.

To learn more, see my blog posts Nicole Kidman: 'There comes a time when you're a daughter, that you need your father' and CBS Anchor Suzanne Rico Discusses Her Father.

His Side with Glenn Sacks radio commentaries are broadcast daily on KLAA AM 830, a 50,000 watt talk station in Los Angeles and Orange County. KLAA AM 830 is owned by Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

From 2003-2005, His Side with Glenn Sacks ran in a syndicated talk show format in Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Seattle, and other cities. To listen to show archives, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Postcards from Splitsville (Part VIII)

The drawings above were taken from Kara Bishop's www.postcardsfromsplitsville.com. Bishop works with Children of Divorce, a class run by Tucson, Arizona-based Divorce Recovery. The class did an art project that included "sending away" the frustrations of divorce. The website is a place where Kara says "children can share their divorce-related feelings anonymously and parents can get a new perspective on how this life-changing experience impacts their children’s lives."

To learn more, click here. Kara can be reached at Kara@PostcardsfromSplitsville.com.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here. 

A Note from Jan Brown, Founder and Executive Director of the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women

We've spoken many times about the way abused men are usually excluded from domestic violence services. Jan Brown, Founder and Executive Director of the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women, is one of the few people to do something about it.

The DAHMW provide crisis intervention and support services to all victims of domestic violence and their families. They also work to increase public awareness of the problem.

Jan and the DAHMW need some help, and she recently sent out the letter below:

"The Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women is competing in America's Giving Challenge sponsored by the Case Foundation and Parade Magazine. Please help us reach our goal of being one of the 100 nonprofits with the greatest number of unique contributors! The top 100 nonprofits that get the most contributors (not most money fund raised) will be awarded $1,000 for their charity. The challenge ends January 31st at 3pm EST so please hurry! Please make a donation and pass this message along to others. Thanks for your support!

"Click on our Charity Badge here to donate!"

To reach Jan, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Venus: The Dark Side--Female Sociopaths (Part III)

"The most universal behavior of unscrupulous people is not directed, as one might imagine, at our fearfulness. It is, perversely, an appeal to our sympathy."

A question--how much of this striking excerpt rings true for you?

There are male sociopaths and there are female sociopaths, but female sociopaths are rarely discussed. In Venus: The Dark Side, authors Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary discuss this important subject in depth. Sheppard and Cleary write:

"These women want to create the illusion of intimacy quickly and are prepared to take short-cuts. They are full-on and their friendliness positively gushes. They often smile too much, but with their teeth, not their eyes. The woman will say all the right things and appear keen to be seen to make plans with you, but it’s a ploy to gain your affection quickly and hook you in.

"She will seem very loving and capable of intimacy and will pretend to care. However the intimacy, depth and commitment are illusions. They merely enable her to collect what she wants. Her true colors show only when all other tactics fail.

"She’s quite happy to steal her best friend’s boyfriend. It’s a great way to prove she has what it takes to be desirable, and simultaneously to prove the shallowness of the man and the delusion of her friend.

"The picture is emerging of a woman who must get what she desires at all costs and must always be right. Sometimes she will deliberately claim to misunderstand something to justify doing what she wants, even though she knows it is against your wishes. She may cause problems just to attract attention to herself, because she likes to feel important.

"Creating self-doubt in her victims’ minds is an integral part of her approach. She plays on their reasonableness to give her the benefit of any doubts they may have. She knows that reasonable people don’t like to think badly of others and will often beat themselves up for thinking uncharitable thoughts. She always sounds so convincing. Her approach is intended to make you question whether you were correct in your thoughts about her. It slows you down. It’s meant to.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

(The above contains excerpts from Venus: The Dark Side, Copyright © Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary 2007. www.VenusTheDarkSide.com.)

'Baby Blues' Comic Strip on Maternal Gatekeeping

The cartoon above from Rick Kerkman and Jerry Scott is a nice depiction of the way some mothers discourage fathers from parenting, often without even realizing that they're doing it. Then they feel stressed because the childcare burden is "all on them." It can be an easy trap to fall into.

One of the most bizarre cultural stereotypes is the idea that men aren't good at caring for babies. I can't think of anything I've ever done that came to me as easily and naturally as caring for my daughter when she was a baby.

And sorry, since it's my blog, you'll all have to look at a picture of my little girl in my arms when she was just 6 weeks old...

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Protest Held Against NY's Boybashing 'Coaching Boys into Men'

The NY Coalition of Fathers and Families recently held a protest against New York's boybashing "Coaching Boys into Men" campaign. The Campaign portrays boys as proto-abusers, and tells us that "violence against women" is wrong, as opposed to violence, period.

And of course, if it really were a "Domestic Violence Public Awareness Media Campaign," we'd be made aware that women are just as likely to attack their male partners as vice versa, but any mention of that is strictly verboten.

The campaign's main poster is pictured above. To watch their TV commercial, click here.

The protest was held Monday Jan 28, from 7-9am at Latham Circle in Albany, NY. To learn more about future protests, contact Debbie Fellows at dafellows2001@yahoo.com or 518-495-4044. The Coalition of Fathers and Families New York is an affiliate of the American Coalition for Fathers & Children.

The campaign's radio ad, which can be heard here, says:

"As a dad, you’ll probably spend years teaching your son how to hit a baseball. How to throw a tight spiral and hit a receiver.  How to spring off a diving board and hit the water.  How to hit a one-wood and a nine-iron.  How to hit the bull’s-eye.  How to hit the strike zone.  Hit a jump shot.  Hit the open man.  Hit the hockey net.  And maybe the most challenging of all, how to hit the books.  But the question is this, how much time will you spend teaching him what not to hit?

"Teach your son early and often that all violence against women is wrong. For tips on what to say, visit opdv.state.ny.us. Or call the State’s 24-hour hotline at 1-800-942-6906. Brought to you by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention, and the Ad Council."

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

It's Hard to Believe, but in this Ad, the Woman Is Irresponsible and the Guy Isn't

In the anti-male world of advertising, this is a true man-bites-dog story.

To watch the ad, click here.

Thanks to Charles, a reader, for sending it.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

An Incredible Father-Daughter Reunion After 40 Years

This heartwarming father-daughter reunion is one of the most bizarre stories I've ever read. It is also a stunning rebuke to the Single Motherhood by Choice crowd's assertion that kids don't feel a sense of loss when they don't have a relationship with their fathers.

Maid finds boss is missing father
BBC, 1/22/08

A Vietnamese woman who travelled to Taiwan to find the father she had never met, ended up working for him without knowing it.

Tran Thi Kham, 40, did not discover the truth until after leaving her employer.

Their reunion only came about because she mistakenly left some keepsakes at his home, which he had given to her mother more than 40 years before.

Tsai Han-chao, 77, said he could not help crying when he found out he had a daughter he never knew about.

"Life's ups and downs are just like television drama. How could I have ever dreamed that she is my daughter? I couldn't stop crying when we were finally united," he told Taiwan's TVBS cable news channel.

Ms Tran had travelled to Taiwan a few years earlier to search for her father.

Her only clues were a gold ring and a photograph of him as a young man.

He had given the mementoes to a Vietnamese woman he had fallen in love with in Hong Kong in 1967.

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Two of Our Readers' Letters Appear in USA Today Over Manbashing Financial Advice Column

"[Block] all but comes right out and says that men are selfish for retiring at retirement age. Instead, men should continue to work, work, work while--guess what?--women should retire earlier. According to Block, by working well past retirement age, men can 'make up for all the times you came home with beer on your breath, left your socks on the bathroom floor or gave your wife a DustBuster for Valentine's Day.'

"I guess 40 years of working longer hours than your wife at a job more demanding and hazardous than hers--as most men do--isn't enough...to write a Letter to the Editor of USA Today, email letters@usatoday.com."

Two of our blog readers' letters were published in USA Today's January 24 edition--"Husbands don't 'owe' a delayed retirement" by Robert Franklin and "Cease stereotypes" by Tim Murray. The letters appear below--well done gentlemen.
 
Husbands don't 'owe' a delayed retirement
Robert Franklin - Utopia, Texas

I was extremely disappointed with Sandra Block's column "Husbands should consider delaying Social Security benefits" (Your Money, Money, Jan. 15).

Block writes: "Here's some advice for married men who will turn 62 this year: If you want to make up for all the times you came home with beer on your breath, left your socks on the bathroom floor or gave your wife a DustBuster for Valentine's Day, hold off on filing for your Social Security benefits."

Why does she not just first make her case, which boils down, in part, to the fact that a spouse can choose the higher of the two spouse's Social Security payments upon the death of one partner?

Why does she need to throw in the notion that the man owes it to the woman to work more years because he's deficient?

Isn't a main concept behind the column that the husband's payout is probably higher than the wife's? That means he has probably worked more, earned more and contributed more money to the support of the family. And according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, on average, men work about an hour more than women per day.

So why the disrespect for the man? Why the misandry?

Cease stereotypes
Tim Murray - Pittsburgh

I suppose Sandra Block thought she was being humorous when she wrote her column "Husbands should consider delaying Social Security benefits."

If the column is intended to explain an economic issue, why does she go out of her way to lead off with good old-fashioned male-bashing? Husbands don't "owe" it to their wives to continue working past retirement age to make up for stereotypical male failings. I guess we husbands owe it to our wives to keep working until we drop dead — all to make up for being born male.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Chester James Staub: 'Never turn away from the truth, no matter how ugly'

"When he took me to Europe one summer we went to the site of the  forced labor camp at Ohrdruf, which his unit, the 4th Armored Division of Patton's Third Army, helped liberate, and later to the museum at Dachau, an extermination camp. As we walked around, I could tell my father was moved.

"He knelt down and put his hands on my shoulders. He said, 'Joey, someday somebody's going to tell you this didn't happen. But I was here, and I saw it. The Germans murdered these people, millions of them.' As he got up he said, 'Never turn away from the truth, no matter how ugly.'"

The story below was sent to me last year by a reader. It really belongs in Tim Russert's Wisdom of Our Fathers.

Chester James Staub, May 4th, 1912 - January 13th, 1997

Today is the tenth anniversary of my father's death.  Every year I send out a reminder and perhaps an anecdote.  But ten years is enough, so I'll finish, and I'll do so with sharing the eulogy I delivered at his memorial service.  I spoke extemporaneously then, but I remember most of what I said. My father loved baseball. He loved pretty girls, big band music, and fast cars. He loved to dance. He loved his country and its flag and all that they stood for.  He loved old movies. He loved to read, mostly 20th century history. He loved cold beer and grilled cheese sandwiches and potatoes fried in a skillet. He loved his family and he loved my mother, after a fashion.  He loved Johnny Carson and Carol Burnett and the Newman character on Seinfeld.

But most of all he loved me. I know because he told me so, often. He always said that the best moment of his life was holding me for the first time, to be surpassed only, he would go on, by all the moments with me since then. He loved me deeply and wasn't afraid to show it. But I tell you it wasn't always easy, being loved like that.   There were times he spoiled me, and other times when his adoration made it hard for him to see me as I was, and vice versa. But we worked it out, he and I, and we came to know each other, and I learned from it all that a great love is, as he said, a flame that can both illuminate and burn.

I am not sure he loved my mother, or she him.  It was clear to me very early on that they had only married to give me a stable home.  I knew they loved me, and they were certainly civil and even social with each other, but that was all. Perhaps they had tried to make it work at one point, but by the time I was in junior high it had become merely a waiting game.  I told them once, when I was in seventh grade, that they didn't have to stay together because of me, I was fine. We were eating dinner when I brought it up, and my father turned to me, put down his fork, and said, "What's between your mother and me is none of your damn business. We love you. That's all you need to know." My mother added, "That goes for me, too, Joey." And so it went. When I left home they split up, and hatever deal they had made, they took to their graves. Maybe there wasn't so much love between them, but I learned from him and her something about the nature of sacrifice and, more importantly, that they were right: it wasn't any of my business and some things ought not to be.

My father taught me much...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Fathers & Families News Digest, 1-29-08

Below are some recent articles and items of interest from Fathers & Families' latest News Digest.

Paul McCartney attempts to settle Heather Mills divorce (TransWorldNews.com, 1-22-08)

Minimize the impact of divorce on your credit (San Louis Obispo Tribune, 1-22-08)

Shared Parenting Bill (WSAZ.com, 1-22-08)

Proposal helps deployed service members in custody cases (Associated Press, 1-23-08)

Man must pay child support for daughter who's not his (Courier News, 1-24-08)

China divorce rate rises by 20% (BBC, 1-25-08)

Hogan divorce battle getting ugly (ABCactionnews.com, 1-25-08)

Like tax preparers in April, divorce lawyers brace for January (The Virginian Pilot, 1-26-08)

Woman on trial for attacking police in custody dispute (The Plain Dealer, 1-28-08)

Officials arrest deadbeat parents in sweep (Houston Chronicle, 1-28-08)

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here, or visit the Fathers & Families blog here.

Stephen M. Weiss: 'I got banned from Feministing.com'

"I got banned from Feministing.com because I said that punishments should fit the crime in rape cases, not all rapes were equal, and that I was not a troll, rather a concerned citizen using my real name, whereas the hateful defenders of the party line there use weird handles like 'a male' and such.

"My wife says it is a waste of time to discuss anything with the radical feminist lunatics because they don't think, they hate. I note that the number of comments at www.Feministing.com is much smaller than here, and I suspect the conformity bores the heck out of everyone."

Many readers have written to me about being banned or censored at major feminist blogs and websites, and I'm interested in learning more about your experiences. Where were you banned or censored? What did you post or try to post that was blocked? What was their stated reason, if any, for blocking it or banning you?

Also, to be fair, if readers have had positive experiences posting opposition material on feminist blogs, please let me know. I'd like to credit those feminists who do permit opposition views.

[Incidentally, I have no idea if Weiss' assertion that "the number of comments at Feministing.com is much smaller than here" is true. Feministing.com is a major league blog which has been around considerably longer than mine. As for comments, from January 1 to January 23 (as I write), we've had (not counting spam) 4,377 blog comments, an average of 190 per day and 48 per post. I have no idea what theirs are.]

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Now THAT'S a Good Ad--They Have My Business

To contact First Choice to commend them for their positive, accurate portrayal of a father-son relationship, click here.

The ad was produced by the Beattie McGuinness Bungay advertising agency in London. To commend BMB for creating the ad, see below.

Phone: 0207 632 0400
Fax: 0207 632 0401
Email: andrew@bmbagency.com

To watch the ad, click here.

Thanks to Dan, an English reader, for sending it.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Gina Elise's 'Pin Ups for Vets'

Gina Elise recently sent me an email promoting her "Pin Ups for Vets." OK, Gina, I'll buy--it seems like a worthy project.

I confess that one thing I like about it is the 1940s/1950s feel, both in the backgrounds and wardrobe, as well as in Gina's physique. As I've noted before, I appreciate a woman's curves and can do without the rail-thin models so common today.  I previously expounded upon this in my blog posts Too Thin/Not Too Thin and The 'Jennifer Love Hewitt Looks Fat in a Bikini' Controversy.

Anyway, according to Gina:

"A few years ago, I started seeing news articles about under-funded Veterans’ healthcare programs. Then, there were stories about older Veterans who lay in bed day after day, never receiving any visitors. Reports started surfacing on TV about the severe injuries sustained by our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The more I heard about the uphill battles of our Wounded Warriors, the more convinced I was of the need to produce a project that would bring in funds to support all of our hospitalized Veterans.

"My late Grandpa Lou served in the army for 4 years during World War II. I wanted to do something to honor his name. I always loved the romance of those bygone eras - especially the 1940’s - and I drew inspiration from the World War II pin-up girls, whose photos and paintings boosted morale for our soldiers fighting overseas.

"I came up with the idea to recreate a nostalgic pin-up calendar that would serve three purposes:

"1. The calendars would be sold to raise funds for our hospitalized Veterans.

"2. The calendars would be delivered as gifts to our ill and injured Veterans with messages of appreciation from the donors.

"3. The calendars would be sent to our deployed troops to help boost morale and to let them know that Americans back home are thinking of them."

The web address is www.pinupsforvets.com

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Scientist Betsy Barton: 'It is insulting that Gina Elise [of Pinupsforvets.com] pretends her purposes are completely altruistic'

Background: I recently praised Gina Elise for her "Pin Ups for Vets", describing it as a "worthy project." My blog post on it is here.

Scientist Betsy Barton, a frequent commenter on my blog and one of my favorite readers, slammed actress Gina Elise (pictured) of www.Pinupsforvets.com in a recent blog comment. Elise says she "came up with the idea to recreate a nostalgic pin-up calendar that would serve three purposes":

"1. The calendars would be sold to raise funds for our hospitalized Veterans.

"2. The calendars would be delivered as gifts to our ill and injured Veterans with messages of appreciation from the donors.

"3. The calendars would be sent to our deployed troops to help boost morale and to let them know that Americans back home are thinking of them."

In response, Barton wrote:

"Please remember purpose number 4--Promoting Gina Elise. She is an aspiring actress...this 'campaign' is certa