Erectile Dysfunction? Hair Loss? The Men's Renaissance Health Centers Can Help The Men's Renaissance Health Centers are a specialty medical facility dedicated to the treatment of Men's Sexual Health, Hair Transplantation, and Cosmetic Dermatology. MRHC features the latest "Star Lux" Laser technology for Facial Rejuvenation and Hair Removal. Call (866) 398-6086 for more info., and mention Glenn Sacks to receive special rates. Erectile Dysfunction? Confidential Consultations, Noninvasive Solutions Men's Renaissance Heath Center specializes in confidential consultations on Erectile Dysfunction, Premature Ejaculation and Sexual Potency. Unlike other clinics that focus the patient on one invasive procedure featuring constant injections, MRHC starts with a thorough exam by a medical doctor and seeks to find the most appropriate and least invasive solution to the problem. Offering FDA approved medications and devices, the MRHC makes the process of recovering youthful performance levels comfortable and rapid. Call (866) 398-6086 for more info., and mention Glenn Sacks to receive special rates. Hair Loss? Follicular Unit Transplantation is the New Gold Standard Follicular Unit Transplantation is the newest technique of permanent surgical hair restoration. With FUT, hair is transplanted from the permanent zone in the back of the scalp into balding areas, using only one's own naturally occurring, individual follicular units. This unique procedure provides what we all want: hair that looks natural throughout, no matter what we do or which way the wind blows. Most importantly, transplanted hair will continue to grow for the rest of the patient's life. Call (866) 398-6086 for more info., and mention Glenn Sacks to receive special rates.

Boys and the Boy Crisis, the Third National Men's Equality Congress, will be held July 13-14 in Washington D.C. The speakers list is great--perhaps the best I've ever seen at a conference. Speakers include:

1) Matt O'Connor--leader of the English fathers' group Fathers 4 Justice. O'Connor has done more than anybody to raise awareness of the terrible social problem of children being separated from their fathers after divorce or separation.

2)  Christina Hoff Sommers--author of the books The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men and Who Stole Feminism?. In The War Against Boys, Sommers asserts, "It's a bad time to be a boy in America," and takes a hard look at the boy crisis and the misguided policies which have helped create it. Who Stole Feminism? is a devastating expose of the way feminists have disseminated misinformation about men and gender issues via the media and academia, and helped poison our popular culture against men.

3) Warren Farrell--the intellectual wellspring of the men's movement, and the author of  Father & Child Reunion, the Myth of Male Power, and others. Farrell is also an expert on shared parenting--to watch Warren speak, click on Warren Farrell's Case for Shared Parenting (Video).

4) Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young, co-authors of Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture and Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination Against Men.

5) Stephen Baskerville--president of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children and author of the soon-to-be released book Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family.

6) Glenn Sacks--men's and fathers' issues columnist, commentator, radio talk show host and blogger.

To register for the conference, click here.

There will also be three 2+ hour pre-conference workshops, one conducted by Matt O'Connor, one by Warren Farrell, and one by Glenn Sacks. The workshops will start Friday morning and conclude prior the conference opening that evening.

These workshops will allow the speakers to go into greater detail and allow participants to spend more time with our speakers. The pricing for early registrants will be $33 for each workshop. Attending these workshops is extra and separate from the conference. People can choose to go to none, one, two or all three.

To sign up for 'early bird' prices for these workshops and/or to register for the conference, click here.

The mover and shaker behind these conferences is Tom Golden, LCSW, a Washington DC-area men's activist. Golden does an excellent job--both of the previous conferences he's held were well-attended and well-organized.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

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. Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com Workshop 2007 Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com will be sponsoring a conference on Parental Alienation in Palmetto, Florida on April 14-15, 2007. This conference will cover the legal, psychological, social, and familial aspects of parental alienation, child abduction, child abuse, and custody and divorce issues. Speakers will include Dr. Stephen Ceci, PhD, author of Jeopardy in the Courtroom, Harvey Shapiro, a retired law enforcement official who is an expert on false sexual allegations, Randy Rand, Ed. D., and numerous others. To learn more, click here. Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com does good work--it is they who have made the remarkable achievement of getting the Governors of Nevada, Maine and Iowa to proclaim April 25 as Parental Alienation Awareness Day. To contact Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com, write to Robin Denison at robin@parental-alienation-awareness.com. SAMSONLAW--Divorce Lawyers for Michigan Men & Fathers If you're a Michigan man faced with divorce, you need SAMSONLAW on your side--SAMSONLAW defends men. Smart Advocacy Means Stopping Oppression Now. INeedSamson.com

Background: Currently, several advertising agencies are competing for a $150 million advertising contract from Volvo. The agency which is the apparent favorite to win the contract is Arnold Worldwide, recently the creator of numerous anti-male commercials. A few weeks ago we launched a campaign to ask Volvo not to award the contract to Arnold Worldwide. To read the press coverage of our campaign and to learn more about our efforts, click here.

Embarrassed by the popular protest and media coverage surrounding our Campaign Against Anti-Male Advertising, Arnold Worldwide, the ad agency we've targeted, is trying to change the subject. The Arnold Worldwide public relations team was able to get Advertising Age, one of the top advertising industry publications, to write an article touting its allegedly father-friendly employment policies. In Paternity Leave Often Surprises Dads  (Advertising Age, 3/19/07), Mya Frazier writes:

"Glenn Sacks is spearheading a drive by what he calls the 'fathers' movement,' including the Fathers & Families group, urging Volvo not to pick Arnold to handle its $150 million global account. They contend Arnold has created advertising that's anti-father.

"Within the ranks of Arnold, however, Mr. Reiley took two weeks of paid leave and then had the option to work four-day weeks for the next 12 weeks without a cut in pay. The extra day helped: 'It was basically to give my wife some break,' he said."

A few points:

1) If we assume for the sake of argument that the details about Arnold's policies in the article are all true, it's nice that Arnold is apparently a good employer. Still, I don't know if they're any better than any other advertising agency, which is the most relevant comparison. And many of the benefits listed are at least as much for women as for men, such as the emergency day care support, the vacation days, sick days, etc. It's telling that as soon as they mention the benefits which are supposedly for dads, they immediately explain that what these really do is help mom. Helping mom is a good thing, of course, but let's not pretend that all of this stuff was set up just for dads.

2) The article and its swipes at myself and Fathers & Families, who have also joined our campaign, are not terribly relevant. This is not a campaign about working conditions at Arnold, it's a campaign about their products. It's not like I'm a union organizer (though I am generally supportive of unions). If Ford made a faulty car, could they defend themselves by saying they provide their employees good benefits? If a newspaper publisher prints a racist tirade, can he defend himself by saying that he pays his employees well? Of course not. And if Arnold Worldwide really is concerned about the needs of its employees who are fathers, it's time for them to extend that consideration to the commercials they produce.

3) I'm accustomed to be attacked publicly without being given a chance to express my views, and I don't particularly mind, but one would've thought that reporter Mya Frazier, who wrote the article, would've at least called me to get my side of the story, since I'm the one being criticized.

4) I would quibble with the quote from Vincent DiCaro, director of public affairs at the National Fatherhood Initiative. DiCaro said, "Typically in the past the entire burden of taking care of the home front with new children fell on mom, and it was holding women back from pursuing their careers."

DiCaro is half right--yes, greater child care responsibilities do hold back women's career progress. It is this--not "discrimination"--which accounts for the wage gap between men and women. But DiCaro, the article and most of society insist on ignoring a very important fact--women are also privileged to be able to be their children's primary caregivers during their young years, and to have the joy of spending time with them. Most fathers don't get this privilege--they're out working long hours to support their families.

Every family and job situation is different, of course, but as a whole it is very questionable that this arrangement benefits fathers, and I would argue that it is often mothers who derive the greatest benefit from it.

For those of you thinking, "Sacks doesn't know what he's talking about--he's never had the burden of being his kids' primary caregiver," you'd be wrong. I've been my two children's primary caregiver since my daughter was a few weeks old--almost nine years ago. I've lived with both the benefits and the drawbacks of being the primary caregiver, and I would not have traded it for a second, particularly when my children were younger.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

According to $150 Mil. Volvo Eyes Arnold, Fallon (Adweek, 3/29/07), Volvo has narrowed the field for its upcoming contract award to Arnold Worldwide and Fallon:

"Volvo has confirmed inviting back Havas' Arnold in Boston and Publicis Groupe's Fallon in Minneapolis for another round of presentations in the review of creative chores on its $150 million ad account. Arnold is pitching in tandem with independent Nitro in London.

"Volvo global ad director Tim Ellis said final presentations and an agency decision are slated for the week of April 16...

"The cut was somewhat surprising, as Volvo had previously indicated it would make a decision from among those four contenders without trimming the field further.

"Volvo heard presentations March 20 and 21 at the company's global headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden...

"During the Volvo pitch, Arnold has faced an odd attack from blogger Glenn Sacks, who blasted some of its recent TV commercials as 'anti-father'--and called for Volvo to retain Euro RSCG. Arnold CEO Fran Kelly defended the shop as 'an agency with strong values' in the face of the unusual challenge."

Read the full Adweek article here. To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Boston Herald: 'Arnold Faced Some Strange Opposition During Its Pitch
to Volvo'

In reporting that Boston-based Arnold Worldwide is getting closer to winning an advertising contract from Volvo, Jesse Noyes of the Boston Herald writes:

"Arnold faced some strange opposition during its pitch to Volvo from a blogger named Glenn Sacks. He asked Volvo not to award the account to Arnold, claiming the firm crafted commercials that portrayed fathers in a negative light, a charge Arnold denied."

This is the umpteenth article which has repeated the story in this misleading way--as if one blogger's comments would create such controversy and media attention. What happened was not the protest of "one blogger"--over 3,000 people called or wrote Volvo to express their concern over Arnold Worldwide's anti-male ads. We even could have gotten considerably more than that, but I felt we had made our point and I did not encourage further calls or letters.

The story is Arnold seeks driver's seat with hot Volvo ad account (Boston Herald, 4/2/07). To write a Letter to the Editor of the Boston Herald to correct them or to defend our campaign, go to letterstotheeditor@bostonherald.com.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Auto Week Magazine Columnist Denise McCluggage on Our Campaign Against Anti-Male Advertising

Auto Week magazine columnist Denise McCluggage recently wrote a column on our Campaign Against Anti-Male Advertising called 'Male activist' fashions a cause from Volvo's ad-agency search. McCluggage got it more or less right--to read, click here. The link is from the Santa Fe New Mexican--I'm not sure if the column also appeared in Auto Week.

Adweek: Why Can't Advertising Show a Respectable Father or Husband?

Adweek Letters: 'When a father is belittled, more than the parent is hurt'

John Walker / The Fresno Bee

California Gov. Schwarzenegger and law enforcement officials have stressed gang-prevention efforts.

My new co-authored column, "Anti-Gang Bills Miss Central Truth About Kids & Gangs" (Pasadena Star-News & Affiliated Papers, 3/25/07), discusses new research showing the positive impact involved noncustodial parents have on at-risk youth, and asserts that helping fathers back into their children's lives should be a key component of gang prevention efforts.

If you'd like to write a Letter to the Editor about Bill misses truth about kids, gangs, send it to letters.star-news@sgvn.com. The PSN and its affiliates have a circulation of 100,000 in the greater Los Angeles area.
 

CA. Anti-Gang Bills Miss Central Truth About Kids & Gangs
By Mike McCormick and Glenn Sacks
Pasadena Star-News & Affiliated Papers, 3/25/07

Gangs were responsible for 70% of the shootings last year in Los Angeles, and local lawmakers are proposing numerous measures to address the gang crisis. One package of bills, recently endorsed by Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, Sheriff Lee Baca, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, would make it more difficult for gang members to get firearms. Another, introduced by Compton Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, would create Gang Alternative Education Programs in selected inner-city areas.
 
While these measures have merit, one central truth is being ignored--the presence of fathers, including nonresident fathers, greatly reduces the likelihood that a teen will become involved in crime or gangs.

A study just released by Boston College finds that when nonresident fathers are involved in their adolescent children's lives, the incidence of violence, crime, substance abuse and truancy decrease markedly. Most of the families in the study, which was published in the journal Child Development, are low-income African-American and Hispanic families. The study's lead author, professor Rebekah Levine Coley, explains:

"Nonresident fathers in low-income, minority families appear to be an important protective factor for adolescents...Greater involvement from fathers may help adolescents develop self-control and self-competence, and may decrease the opportunities adolescents have to engage in problem behaviors."

The study also found that when teens begin to slide towards delinquency, nonresident fathers increase their involvement in response. The researchers found such involvement to be effective--the impact of father involvement was the greatest on the kids who had previously been the most troubled.

The new study's findings are consistent with a wealth of research on the impact of fathers. One study published in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency concluded that fatherlessness is so predictive of juvenile crime that, as long as there was a father in the home, children of poor and wealthy families had similar juvenile crime rates. A University of Chicago study of crime in the African-American areas of 171 cities found that fatherlessness was the strongest predictor of violent juvenile crime.

The link between fatherlessness and crime has long been axiomatic for law enforcement officials. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox says he's examined hundreds of pre-sentencing reports detailing the family histories of convicted criminals, and found one common denominator:

"Uniformly, there was a parent, usually the father, missing from the home."

The devastating impact of fatherlessness is clearly understood behind prison walls. In an interview of juvenile offenders at the California Youth Authority in Stockton, reporter Ramon McLeod quotes one 20 year-old gang member, who was incarcerated for trying to kill a gang rival, as saying, "[My father] was never around when I needed him...[my mom] did OK until I was 10--she could control me up to then. But then I went to the gangs, like my brothers...It might have mattered if he was around."

McLeod writes:

"Teenage inmates in the room nodded. Most of them come from single-parent families, too...73 percent of the young men in California's massive juvenile prison system grew up in single-parent and broken families."

While some nonresident fathers voluntarily remove themselves from their children's lives, there are many low-income African-American and Latino fathers who seek a greater role in their children's lives and are thwarted by the family law system.

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

Nation's First State Commission for Men in Danger There's a move in the New Hampshire legislature to terminate the nation's only state commission on the status of men. I support the Commission on the Status of Men and want it to survive. In recognition of the serious and growing problems faced by men in society, the State of New Hampshire in 2002 became the first state in the nation to create a Commission on the Status of Men. The Commission is an important outlet for divorced fathers and others to bring their grievances to the state.  It also provides the state legislature with vital information regarding men's health, gender disparities in education, the impact of fatherlessness on society and many other issues important to men and their families. For five years the Commission has been starved of any funding, and the Commission will die altogether if HB 704, which authorizes its continued existence, does not get past the Senate Finance Committee with a favorable recommendation. The Finance Committee is expected to make its decision after holding a hearing on the bill this Wednesday (April 4). Committee members include: Senator Lou D'Allesandro dalas@leg.state.nh.us Senator Sylvia Larsen sylvia.larsen@leg.state.nh.us Senator Bob Odell bob.odell@leg.state.nh.us Senator Maggie Hassan maggie.hassan@leg.state.nh.us Senator John Gallus john.gallus@leg.state.nh.us Please send them a positive, polite email expressing your support for HB 704 and the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men. To write them and to learn more, click here. To discuss this issue on my blog, click here. I Guess Heather Mills Has a Short Memory--and Maybe Her Accusations Against McCartney Were False... "I have never spoken badly about my husband. I never will -- he is the father of my child."--Heather Mills, Telegraph [U.K.], 3/17/07 "Heather Mills has explosively struck back at her estranged husband Paul McCartney, accusing him of violently attacking her throughout their doomed relationship. Ms. Mills has claimed former Beatle Sir Paul tried to choke her...Court documents lodged by lawyers for Ms. Mills as part of the celebrity couple's divorce battle also claim that Sir Paul...grabbed Ms. Mills by the neck during a row and pushed her over a coffee table...She alleges [Paul] broke the bowl of [a] glass from its stem and lunged at her, cutting her below the elbow." --Daily Telegraph, 10/19/06 From the article Heather Mills: 'I will always love Paul' (Telegraph [U.K.], 3/17/07): "Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather Mills McCartney has claimed that she would always love him, and denied that she had ever 'spoken badly' of her husband... "Speaking as she embarked on her first new animal-welfare publicity drive since her split from Sir Paul, she said: 'I will never get over it. I will always love Paul'. "'He is the father of my child but I just have to move on and deal with it and there is nothing I can do,' Lady McCartney told BBC News 24. 'I have never spoken badly about my husband. I never will - he is the father of my child.'" I suppose I should be happy that Mills is now dropping her nuclear divorce tactics, but I get a little annoyed at women who make horrendous accusations against men in divorce and then later smile and want to pretend they never said a thing. When Mills' accusations against McCartney were leveled last fall I wrote: "I've written many times about our society's strong tendency to blame men whenever marriages break up. That's why I found this story refreshing. As many of you know, Paul McCartney has been going through a divorce from Heather Mills. Mills recently made numerous terrible--and...um, unlikely--accusations against McCartney. Life Style Extra UK writes: "Sir Paul McCartney was given a standing ovation while he dined in New York by well-wishers supporting him in his divorce from Heather Mills. "The former Beatles legend had been enjoying a quiet meal at Italian eatery Il Gattopardo but was left shocked when the whole restaurant erupted into rapturous applause as he stood up to leave. "One diner showed his support for Paul by shouting: 'We are with you all the way Paul!'" To discuss this issue on my blog, click here. New DVD set from Dr. Warren Farrell--The Best Interests of the Child In this new DVD set from Dr. Warren Farrell, one of the foremost experts on children of divorce, he summarizes over 200 studies, and finds that the research is clear: children do far better with near equal exposure to both parents with minimal conditions. The video can be submitted as evidence, and Dr. Farrell is available to testify as an expert witness. www.BestInterestofChildren.org Help for Los Angeles/Ventura County Dads Certified Family Law Specialist Peter M. Walzer was one of the key figures in our successful legislative struggle to preserve the LaMusga move-away decision. As Chair of the State Bar of California Family Law Section Executive Committee, Walzer lobbied the state legislature to improve California laws on child support and child custody. He's an American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Fellow who has authored numerous articles on custody issues, business valuation in marital dissolutions and spousal and child support.  www.California-Divorce.com 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.

Anti-rape device to hit market - and rapists
Independent Online, South Africa
3/20/07

A controversial South African invention, a female condom-like anti-rape device, is almost ready to hit the market after months of waiting for patent verification.

The device, known as Rapex, has stirred controversy around the world but its inventor, Sonnet Ehlers, is preparing the final pre-production phase after seven years of waiting.

The controversy has raged over whether the device, which has fish-like teeth that attach to the head and shaft of the penis, is a medieval device built on a hatred of men or whether it is an easy-to-use invention that could free millions of South African women from fear of rape.

In the latest crime statistics, South Africa recorded a staggering 54 926 rape cases, giving it one of the worst sexual assault records in the world.

"This product can enter the market anytime now.

"The process of checking if there are any patent infringements will be up on April 10," said Ehlers from her Kleinmond home.

Since publicly announcing her invention one-and-half years ago, Ehlers has shot to international fame, stirring a worldwide debate about the merits of her anti-rape device.

She has been on talk radio shows in England and Australia and even South American journalists have descended on Kleinmond to interview her.

"I am not a male hater, but why must the woman always be the one degraded by rape?" said Ehlers.

Even Rape Crisis Cape Town argues that Rapex is not a solution to the social problem of rape.

They have argued that such a device increases women's vulnerability to violence.

But for Ehlers this device, which is inserted in the vagina, could give women vital seconds to escape the rapist while he was busy dealing with his pain.

"The surprise factor will give women a chance to escape," says Ehlers, explaining that the rapist would be in great pain as the 25 teeth attach themselves to the shaft of the penis.

The rapist also has to contend with the fact that only a doctor can remove the fish-like teeth.

"I want this guy to be identified. I want a way that will prove that penetration took place," said Ehlers.

With production scheduled for next month, Ehlers said the product will be mass-produced in China to keep costs down.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Salon.com has an interesting article by Rebecca Traister which presents evidence that FOX News commentator Rachel Marsden falsely accused a Canadian professor of rape, seriously damaging the man's career and life.

According to Traister, Marsden had been very dismissive of the damage caused to the falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players, and perhaps had her own, personal reasons for it. Traister writes:

"Marsden [dismissed] possible repercussions for the woman who claimed she was raped by members of the Duke University lacrosse team a year ago. 'Charges are laid, charges are dropped,' said Marsden. 'It happens all the time. Unless she can get charged with mischief and they can prove she lied, then no, [she shouldn't be punished]. That's the process and the process works.' But, argued [FOX News commentator Gutfeld], 'Don't you think that being accused of rape is as bad as being raped? Those guys' lives were ruined!' Marsden bit back, 'Let's give it 10 years and see if their lives were ruined.'

"...in the Duke exchange, any viewer who knew anything about Marsden, whom Fox is clearly grooming for brand-name pundit stardom, might have felt a fleeting moment of sympathy for her. That's because the 31-year-old columnist is already well known in her native Canada as an oft-accused and once-admitted stalker who made questionable rape charges of her own 10 years ago, in a case that eventually cut short the career of a university president and changed the tenor of harassment cases all over Canada. In 1999, a professor at the same university went to the police with charges Marsden was stalking him, and in 2004 she pleaded guilty to criminally harassing a former Vancouver radio host...

"[Marsden was a competitive swimmer.] It was swimming that led Marsden to meet Liam Donnelly at the Westminster Club where they both swam in 1990, when she was 15 and he 22. Three years later she enrolled to study biology at the famously progressive, Utopian Simon Fraser University, where Donnelly was swim coach. In 1995, she accused Donnelly, who was not her coach, of sexual harassment and date rape, claiming that he repeatedly molested her over the course of a 16-month friendship/relationship. Donnelly claimed he was innocent, and on the advice of a lawyer, boycotted the university's investigation into Marsden's claims.

"In 1997, SFU fired Donnelly. The university agreed to pay Marsden $12,000 to compensate her for injury to her feelings and the academic scholarship she lost during the case. It was reported that they denied her request to be part of the hiring process for a new swim coach.

"Donnelly fired back, alleging that it was Marsden who had done the harassing. He handed over photos of the scantily clad student that he claimed she had slipped under his door, and released an e-mail she had sent him after the date of the alleged molestation that read in part, 'I suggest that you just relax and let me undress you, touch you ... If you want, you can undo the garter and take off my stockings, take off my lace bra and underwear, and let your hands explore my body wherever they want to.'

"According to Donnelly, Marsden had been stalking him for years, making multiple hang-up calls and showing up at his home. Donnelly claimed that this behavior had begun as early as 1992 but had worsened over time. He alleged that by 1995, someone he believed to be Marsden had vandalized his car, strewn condoms in his driveway, posted graffiti advertising his number as a phone-sex line in campus bathrooms, subscribed to Playboy in his name, and left phone messages for him with a voice-altering machine. Donnelly later told the press: 'She was everywhere. She would turn up at events where I was working. She was phoning me all the time ... She admitted she bought a voice-altering machine. That was the one that scared me the most. It sounds like the devil'...

"Marsden admitted to some of Donnelly's counter-charges, while refusing to back away from her rape claim...Two months after his firing, Donnelly was rehired, exonerated by the university of all charges. According to the mediation agreement between SFU and Donnelly, the original findings of the harassment panel had been based on Marsden's credibility, which had been cast into doubt by 'inconsistencies between her statements before the panel and her response to Mr. Donnelly's harassment complaint [against her].' The school paid Donnelly $35,000 in legal fees and expunged his record of harassment charges. Marsden also kept her $12,000, meaning that SFU paid out to both sides of the conflict."

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

According to "Work, play licenses may depend on child support" (Wichita Eagle, 3/21/07), "Professionals who need licenses to practice, and even those who just need them to hunt and fish, could soon find them tied to child support."

"A bill that received preliminary approval Tuesday in the Kansas House would permit the state to suspend professional licenses and deny licenses through the Department of Wildlife and Parks to those who are behind in their child support...

"Lawmakers said 46 cents of every $1 ordered to be paid in child support goes uncollected in Kansas.

"'This needs to be done with an eye on helping single mothers who take care of their children,' said Rep. Louis Ruiz, D-Kansas City. 'This is a great way to close that loophole.'"

The bill makes great sense--if the guy can't pay his child support, take away his professional licenses so he can't work, either. The bill, Representative Ruiz's quote, and the Wichita Eagle article are another example of the multi-layered misunderstanding of the problem:

1) The "46 cents of every $1 ordered to be paid in child support goes uncollected" is very misleading--as I explain below, this is largely an artificially-inflated paper debt.

2) Single mothers aren't needy because their well-to-do ex-husbands won't pay their child support--they're needy because neither they nor their children's fathers earn much money. Dad-bashing legislators and misguided women's advocates struggle to understand a simple reality--the income that once supported one household cannot support two at the same level, no matter how many punitive measures the government employs or how much fathers pay. Those who insist that the average child's standard of living will not or should not decline after a divorce are kidding themselves.

3) It is also misleading for Ruiz to juxtapose "single mothers who take care of their children" to fathers who supposedly don't. Yes, some fathers don't, but most divorced dads want to be a part of their children's lives, and are often thwarted by their angry, vindictive exes and their exes' family court system enablers.

I discussed some of these issues in Kansas License Bill Unfair to Noncustodial Parents (Wichita Eagle, 3/8/06), a column I co-authored last year in opposition to a Kansas bill to take away the driver's licenses of so-called "deadbeat" parents.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

According to a new Missouri Supreme Court ruling, a woman can hire a hit man to try to kill her ex-husband, but he still has to pay her alimony. The Court ruled that "the attempt to murder husband would not establish a 'clear and unequivocal attempt to relinquish her contractual right to maintenance so long as [husband] is living."

From the Family Law Professors Blog entry Case Law Development: Allegations of Wife's Attempted Murder of Husband Do Not State a Claim for Terminating His Maintenance Obligation:

"The Missouri Supreme Court affirms the dismissal of an ex-husband's petition to terminate maintenance based on his allegations that wife had sought to have him murdered. The couple had agreed to a non-modifiable maintenance term in their divorce decree. The Supreme Court noted that Missouri statutes provide that such an agreement, when found conscionable and incorporated into a divorce decree, binds the court:

"A non-modification provision can cut both ways. No one can know which party will need more or deserve less as time passes. As with all contract terms, a non-modification provision is an agreed allocation of future risk, bargained for and for which consideration is exchanged. The Missouri legislature has seen fit to allow such a clause to be elevated from contractual to judicial status by incorporation into the dissolution decree. We are bound to respect the statute and to enforce these documents as agreed to and ordered.

"The court rejected husband's argument that a court may reconsider the conscionability of the agreement based on later events. It likewise found that waiver was inapplicable as the attempt to murder husband would not establish a 'clear and unequivocal attempt to relinquish her contractual right to maintenance so long as [husband] is living.' Finally, the court rejected the application of the public policy doctrine which prohibits an individual from receiving death benefits when they have murdered their spouse. Reasoning that wife would not benefit from the successful murder of husband, the court found these cases inapplicable."

The opinion can be read here. I have no idea if the husband's claim that his ex-wife hired a hit man to kill him is true--what I find remarkable here is that the Court doesn't feel that it matters. Wow. And yes, were the genders reversed, the Court would've found some way to prevent a woman from having to pay alimony to the man who tried to kill her.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Apparently the Detroit News didn't take our Campaign Against Detroit News 'Get Her a Gift or She'll Give You a Black Eye' Ad personally--they recently published my co-authored column "Anna Nicole's child fight holds valuable lesson about father's rights." In it we assert:

"Behind the Anna Nicole Smith circus lies an important truth about fathers' rights. The long line of opportunistic men who have lined up to be Smith's baby's dad since Smith's death has diverted attention from the case's key fact: photographer Larry Birkhead, Smith's ex-boyfriend, has a legitimate claim to paternity. He has been thwarted for several months by the same legal maneuvers which are often employed to separate fathers from their children."

Those interested in writing a Letter to the Editor of the Detroit News concerning "Anna Nicole's child fight holds valuable lesson about father's rights" can send their letters to letters@detnews.com.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.