Post title (updated to identify later posts referencing this one):CFFPP and FVPF, where the word “families” really means “fathers..” [First publ. March 3, 2010 with July 27, 2016 update, and Nov., 2017 related posts referencing this one]. ( With case-sensitive, word-press generated shortlink ends “-pG”).

This background-color and box (text inside borders) is a 7/27/2016 Update

(see related post “SFFI- CFFPP – JustGive...” Published 7/26/2016; see also, same day, “Do You Know Your Social Science PolicySpeak?”

Both those posts have details on CFFPP (the second, more where it fits in the larger picture), but the “SFFI” one is more focused one of its listed “Funders” — “JustGive.org” as a substantial ($32M or so) on-line funding platform — and who THEY are related to.

FORMATTING: This short statement (post) I wrote March 3, 2010, a VERY tough time in my life personally.  I see I was not too “html-competent” at the time (it may have to do with input equipment also, which wasn’t a laptop as I recall).  Apart from that, CFFPP is a LITTLE (size-wise) nonprofit with famous people on its board (mostly unpaid) but somehow two pages of famous foundation funders also.  The corporation/tax return history of this organization reveals some oddball (although not for the field of “fatherhood practitioner” sponsoring 501©3s, I’ve learned since).  Also, several of the links to documents quoted on this page are, as happens, “Page Not Found” over at the CFFPP.org website.  Here in this update are some similar, if not necessarily, identical links:

In the “Technical Assistance Series” — on Fatherhood Promotion:   {{2017 update: both these next two links became broken sometimes between it seems July 26-27, 2016 (my posting this) and late Nov., 2017 (my revisiting this for follow-up information.) lhe website has been updated, so that’s not too surprising.  Large portions of them are quoted below, however.}}

• http://cffpp.org/publications/TA_Father_PubPolicy.pdf co. 2003, Technical Assistance Series Author Jacquelyn Boggess:

• Please notice  Esta Soler and Tangir Mangat, as well as Board of Directors CFFPP  — and their organizational or university affiliations — as well as Staff.  Which (unformatted) for this document is:
  • Board of Directors Esta Soler • Interim Chairperson, Family Violence Prevention Fund /Tanvir Mangat • Treasurer, Private Consultant  /Margaret Stapleton, J.D. • Secretary, National Center on Poverty Law /Adrienne Brooks • Private Consultant /Carole Doeppers • Consumer and Health Privacy Consultant /Earl S. Johnson, Ph.D. • California Health and Human Services Agency / John Rich, M.D., M.P.H. • Boston Public Health Commission / Beth Richie, Ph.D. • University of Illinois at Chicago /Gerald A. Smith • IBM /Oliver Williams, Ph.D. • University of Minnesota  {{See “IDVAAC.org”}}
  • CFFPP Staff Jacquelyn Boggess, J.D. • Senior Policy Analyst / Rebecca May • Policy Analyst /Louisa Medaris • Office Manager /David Pate, Ph.D. • Executive Director / Marguerite Roulet, Ph.D. • Research Associate Scott Sussman, J.D. • Legal Analyst

• http://cffpp.org/publications/TA_Fthd_DomViol.pdf by Marguerite Roulet, also C. 2003, and about “two meetings held in Madison 2001 and 2002.”  Slightly different Board of Directors lineup, starting with “Wendell Primus, Ph.D.” of Center on Budget and Policy Priorities listed first, and Esta Soler, J.D. of FVPF second.

THIS report is based on two meetings held in Madison, Wisconsin in May 2001 and July 2002. The Center would like to thank the Public Welfare Foundation, the Hill-Snowdon Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, whose generous support made these meetings possible. We would also like to thank the many individuals who contributed their time and expertise to the meetings and whose on-going work to fight poverty and racism in the U.S. inspires. Thank you Abdillahi Alawy (Public Welfare Foundation), David Arizmendi (Iniciativa Frontera), Adeyemi Bandele (Men on the Move), …

“Sentence” highlit in yellow above is an incomplete sentence, missing a final word (probably direct object) after the word “inspires”.  My posts also have long but grammatically incomplete sentences — on the other hand, I don’t do this with help from major tax-exempt foundations and a significant staff including at least two people with advanced degrees (I see  (Jacquelyn Boggess — J.D. and David Pate, a Ph.D.) or even a budget for the writing.

Because now I know how to show the images, I’m going to add two pages here — the CFFPP people (first image) and the EXTENSIVE “Acknowledgements” page — both the organizations that funded the meetings, and lots of other people…//LGH:

click image to enlarge as needed

click image to enlarge as needed

page 2, left, has figures in background, page 3, right is the plain text one.
CFFPP (“Fathers” in its name, co2003) Fatherhd & DV TA, Page 2 CFFPP personnel ONLY viewed Jul2016

CFFPP (‘Fathers’ in org. name|co2003) Fatherhd & DV TA, Page 3|Acknowledgmts| ONLY viewed Jul2016

[the pdf links above produce same result as clicking on the image.  Technological tweak (setting adjustment) on the image upload menu I hadn’t noticed yet, but now use regularly, making the extra “pdfs” unnecessary except where they are for files more than a page (i.e., one image) long].

Next quote (inside this 2016 update) shows Resources and References from this CFFPP “Fatherhood and DV” Document make NO reference to the multi-million-dollar HHS-backed “responsible fatherhood/ healthymarriage” grants stream which — trust me — plenty of the participating groups knew about (see http://TAGGS.hhs.gov to compare which of them may have been recipients).

I notice heavy references to “Oliver Williams” including the “IDAAV” under “resources” which (in this part) doesn’t specifically mention his name, but which he’s basically (with steering committee) been leading — for years… and probably back then, too.  NOTE:  the “IDVAAC” does NOT appear to be an independent 501©3 or registered business entity– at least not in Minnesota, where it’s been operating from:

References

Carrillo, Ricardo and Jerry Tello, eds. 1998. Family Violence and Men of Color: Healing the Wounded Male Spirit. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.

Raphael, Jody. 2000. Saving Bernice: Battered Women, Welfare, and Poverty. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

Williams, Oliver, Jacquelyn Boggess, and Janet Carter. 2001. “Fatherhood and Domestic Violence: Exploring the Role of Men Who Batter in the Lives of Their Children” in Sandra A. Graham-Bermann and Jeffrey L. Edleson, eds. Domestic Violence in the Lives of Children: The Future of Research, Intervention, and Social Policy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 157—187.

Williams, Oliver. 1999. “Working in Groups with African American Men Who Batter” in Larry E. Davis, ed. Working With African American Males: A Guide to Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 229-242.

Williams, Oliver. 1999. “African American Men Who Batter: Treatment Considerations and Community Response” in Robert Staples, ed. The Black Family: Essays and Studies, 6th edi- tion. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 265-279.

Resources

• Building Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence: a Collaborative Project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, University of Iowa School of Social Work, and Greater Hartford {{CT}} Legal Assistance—a series of policy and practice papers

• Connecticut’s Evolve Program: a 26 and 52 week culturally competent, broad based, skill building, psycho-educational curriculum for male domestic violence offenders with female victims, by Denise Donnelly, Fernando Mederos, David Nyquist, Oliver Williams, and Sarah Wilson. State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, June 2000

• Men of Color Fatherhood Education and Violence Prevention Project, a joint project of the Domestic Violence Program and the Father-Friendly Initiative of the Boston Public Health Commission

• National Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community ((Not mentioned — Oliver Williams’ involvement in this..I don’t know also whether the word “National” was ever in its name. See idvaac.org website))
• National Latino Family and Fatherhood Institute (not mentioned — See Jerry Tello)

Basically, they (participants/conference leadership) are referring to themselves and their own work. Re: references to states of Connecticut and Massachusetts: AFCC has had a strong presence in both states for years (see my Jun/July 2016 posts for more; not necessarily legally incorporated the whole time) and Connecticut also had — starting about this time — a significant “Fatherhood Initiative of Connecticut” (i.e., statewide)

Shortly after this (and after having corporate status suspended in Illinois) CFFPP underwent a corporate name change — and address change.  This was, however, recorded on an improper EIN#, using “39” where the correct number was “36.”

p17 ONLY, IL (Form NFP112.45:113.60) Appl for Reinstatemt (not stamped “Rec’d”) @CFFPP’s Amended FY2003 Return as EIN#394038873 (2nd digit should be “6”) showing Req for Namchange Signed 2-24-2005 in WI (Certific of Diss: Revoc Dec1, 20014 (19pp)

p17 ONLY, IL (Form NFP112.45:113.60) Appl for Reinstatemt (not stamped %22Rec’d%22)@CFFPP’s Amended FY2003 Return as EIN#394038873 (2nd digit should be %226%22) showing Req for Namchange Signed 2-24-2005 in WI (Certific of Diss:Revoc Dec1,20014 (19pp)

March 3, 2010, post (vs. its update, above) Begins Here.

In the last post, a FVPF (Family Violence Prevention Fund) Program targeting fathers was supported by several groups, one of them “CFFP,” a name I recognized (along with most of the others). Which prompts me to finish this draft, a few days old, which began…

“I am tired and ornery today, and instead of blogging current news, I’m going to blog “vocabulary news.” Because I believe the gap between theory and practice in the courts is a vocabulary problem. Yes, you heard me right.”

There’s an established group (since 1995) called “CFFP.” For what that acronym stood for (originally) and stands for (now), read on. It doesn’t take much scrutiny to figure out that what originally said “fathers” now says “family.” On their home page, currently, is a 40 page pdf summarizing the marriage/fatherhood movement in lay terms.

Those at sea in terminology might wish to read this:

http://www.cffpp.org/publications/pdfs/policy_marriage.pdf

Fatherhood

Programs

and Healthy Marriage

Funding

M A RGU E R I T E ROU L E T

This is NOT “old” but dates to June, 2009. It’s pretty _ _ _ _ current.

Introduction

Center for Family Policy and Practice

FIRST, go to this page, and notice the web page’s printed logo. It SAYS:

Do you see the word “fatherhood” in this nice logo? No, I thought not. But go to the site, and click on the graphic, and you’ll see (at least until someone notices this and corrects the oversight):

Center on Fathers, Families, & Public Policy.

Is “family” synonymous with “father”? Not in dictionary definition. But in usage, you can just about “bet” that something highlighting “family” or “family and children’ these days really means, in usage, “fathers.”

OLD VERSION (graphic):

“CFF & PP”

MORE POLITICALLY CORRECT VERSION (graphic):

“CF&PP”

Move the “&,” change the meaning of the acronym, who’s to know?

Look at the web content, and it’s clearly about FATHERS. Here’s the top (home) page title, as of today:

What the heck is a “fatherhood practitioner?” Is that a man who impregnates a woman, or underage female, or donates his sperm to make a baby, or rapes her and she doesn’t get a morning after pill or abort?

Is it a married man who doesn’t beat his wife and works to support the family, allowing her to work and have a life outside the home — IF she chooses? Would THAT be “practicing fatherhood”?

Obviously not. These are “professional” people who make a living talking about fatherhood — and influencing outcomes in court cases — and making sure “female-headed households” are discredited nationally and blamed for the nation’s woes. If the females involved are both professionals and mothers, that doesn’t carry as much weight. It just doesn’t matter. More important is promoting fatherhood.

For that matter, what is an “Advocate Against Domestic Violence”??

I’m an advocate against domestic violence. Does my voice count? I don’t have a Ph.D., though, don’t subcribe to the top professional publications (can’t afford them) and am lucky when I find out about a new conference on-line, or through some referral. No, although I DO “advocate” against domestic violence (I’m HIGHLY against it, and proactive and outspoken about this), I do not quite qualify in this context for being an advocate, based on where I work.

I think that the recent events involving the governor of the state of New York, one of his top aides with a history of violence against women, and the high-profile resignation in protest at inappropriate intervention with the process of reporting a violent incident — i.e., if you READ the NEW York Times, etc. — might just call into question what it means to be an “Advocate Against Domestic Violence.”

In jargon, it means a professional who may or may not have had a history in experiencing domestic violence, or being a father, but who is paid to pronounce on how to do it right.

From that *.pdf file, above:

Fatherhood, Marriage, and Welfare Reform
Much of the support for fatherhood programs in the U.S. dates to the late 1980s and 1990s, when scholarly research, popular culture, and policy agendas conflatedto generate interest in the meaning of fatherhood and the roles fathers play in thelives of their children. This interest culminated in the development of what somereferred to as a national “fatherhood movement.”

Broad-scale national organizations like the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), along with numerous state and local organizations and initiatives underscored the importance of fathers within families and identified their undervaluation as a serious cultural crisis. As former NFI president Wade Horn put it when reflecting upon the initial meeting of advocates that led to the founding of the NFI in 1994, “We realized that the growing absence of fathers was the most consequential social trend in our culture—for families and for civil society”(Horn cited in National Fatherhood Initiative 2008).

And on, and ad nauseam, on . . . . Blah, blah, blah — has it saved lives? Has it changed the way men behave?
Want to learn something more? (I finally did). Sign up for Guidestar.org (it’s free). Check out who’s who, and then check out the financials. In ANY nonprofit, we have a right to see the books. That’s right, folks. You have a right to look at the IRS 990s and demand an explanation of what ANY nonprofit (tax-exempt) organization is doing with its tax-exempt status.

For example, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, per USASPENDING.gov, has received over $32 MILLION in funding. You’d think that would have really reduced violence by now, right?

http://www.usaspending.gov/faads/faads.php?recipient_name=family+violence+prevention+fund&sortby=r&detail=0&datype=T&reptype=r&database=faads&fiscal_year=&detail=-1&datype=T&submit=GO

And yet women like me can’t get pro bono legal help, child support enforced (safely) or OUT of the family law system. Probably because some of the money just doesn’t “trickle down” far enough. Like, to street level.

=========

More from the CFFP site:

========

STAFF:#####

• David Pate: Co-Director and Founder of CFFPP

David Pate has worked in the field of social work for over twenty-five years. He has experience as a practitioner, administrator and public policy advocate in the areas of low-income adolescents and adult males, fathers and families. [[Not mothers. Guess they don’t need it]] He has made numerous presentations and written articles on the issues that relate to the provision of service to minority males and the effects of social welfare policy on their day to day existence. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. He holds a doctorate in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a W.K. Kellogg fellow in the Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship program

• Jacquelyn Boggess: Co-Director of CFFPP

Jacquelyn Boggess has worked with the Center since its inception in 1995. She is the Project Director for the Center’s Legal Assistance Project. Her work on this project includes research of state and federal child support and paternity establishment law and policy with a particular emphasis on its effect on low-income, never-married fathers. The Project is designed to provide legal information and education about child support to low-income parents. In addition, she has developed a Q&A legal resource, and co-authored a child support manual for parents and practitioners who have questions and concerns about child support and paternity establishment.

Also, Ms. Boggess has a particular interest in the impact of non-resident father involvement on mothers and children and she represents CFFPP in a partnership (the Common Ground Project) with National Women’s Law Center. Ms. Boggess is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Law School.

=============

A 2001 publication (on-line) by CFFP (in its’ “father” acronym days) admits some things about child support I know I wasn’t told initially, while leaving the violent situation, such as accepting cash aid = assignment of future child support rights, meaning, I just signed away my rights to a judge to adjust that support payment, whether honestly, or capriciously.

This became a great big closed door in leaving the abusive situation, and in introducing further instability to what was a recovery situation, with kids.

Also, they are far more honest that documents stored on the judicial site pretending that “noncustodial” doesn’t really mean “fathers” when in purpose and intent, it does:

Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy

23 North Pinckney Street, Suite 210, Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Tel 608.257.3148/Fax 608.257.4686 Web www.cffpp.org

May 2001

Several bills that would make significant changes to child support policy were considered, but not passed, by Congress during the Fall 2000 session

(sorry about the formatting here):

Rebecca May

CHILD SUPPORT POLICY CONCEPTS AND PROPOSALS THAT WILL IMPACT POOR FAMILIES  (<==clickable link)

Several bills that would make significant changes to child support policy were considered, but not passed, by Congress during the Fall 2000 session
….What is the assignment of child support rights?

Under current law, families receiving TANF benefits must provide information to the state that will assist in locating the noncustodial parent in order to establish paternity and collect child support. The TANF recipient must also assign any rights to collected child support to the state, meaning that the custodial parent is no longer in a position to make decisions regarding the collection of child support from the noncustodial parent

The state is now empowered to use whatever means are legally available to enforce the payment of child support, and to retain the child support as repayment for TANF benefits paid to the family.

[[So far that sounds reasonable. The state is offering to do something to help the child, right, that the mother on her own, perhaps, couldn’t do, or couldn’t do SAFELY, in the case of abuse…]]

NOW, under “arrearages” comes this information, which many women learn the hard way, years later:

Arrearages can be owed to the custodial parent or the state. If the family has never received welfare, arrearages are owed to the custodial parent, and any decisions regarding their enforcement or forgiveness are made exclusively by her. A judge is prohibited from negotiating this debt without the consent of the custodial parent. If the family has received welfare, the debt could be owed to the state or in part to the custodial parent and to the state

**

The footnotes of this 2001 document reference fatherhood bills, and admit that the word “noncustodial parent” means, in essence, fathers. (better read on the original, but I post them here).

==

THESE show that what supposedly is NOT “about the money” quite probably IS.   Mothers are not told this when they apply for child support. They are not told it in the family court arena, and they are simply just not informed of the consequences of accepting help when they most need help, often after leaving relationships which involved economic abuse to start with.

(1) In May 2000, Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT) introduced the “Child Support Distribution Act of 2000” that included some provisions regarding the distribution of child support as well as some access to child support enforcement tools to private collection agencies and the text of the Fathers Count Act that was passed by the House in the fall of 1999. Senator Bayh also sponsored the “Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999”, with a counterpart House bill introduced by Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. on June 15, 2000. These bills would also have affected the distribution of child support.

All of the bills were not acted on in the Senate, so have been reintroduced this session in various forms.

(2) To date, legislation introduced this session includes Senate Bill 685, Child Support Distribution Act of 2001, sponsored by Sen. Bayh (D-IN) and co-sponsored by 11 senators from both parties, with a companion bill, H.R. 1300, in the House. The (H.R. 1471), The Strengthening Working Families Act of 2001, sponsored by Representatives Johnson (R-CT) and Cardin (D-MD), has also been introduced. Both bills have a significant focus on marriage promotion contained in the fatherhood provisions, and similar child support distribution changes.

(3) Since most custodial parents are mothers and most noncustodial parents are fathers, they will be referred to by gender in this policy brief.

Here’s that pdf again: http://www.cffpp.org/publications/pdfs/childPolicy_Impact.pdf

Now, the common thread between FVPF and CFFP — which does exist:

(photo not too current…)

Show less about Esta <

How Esta is a changemaker:

One of the world’s foremost experts on violence against women and children, Esta Soler is a pioneer who founded the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) 26 years ago and made it one of the world’s leading violence prevention agencies. With offices in San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C. and partners around the world, the FVPF develops innovative strategies to prevent domestic, dating and sexual violence, stalking and child abuse. Under Soler’s direction, the FVPF was a driving force behind the Violence Against Women Act – the nation’s first comprehensive federal response to the violence that plagues our families and communities. She has led the FVPF as it developed trailblazing public education campaigns, and innovative policies, advocacy, prevention, education and training programs that help lawmakers, health care providers, judges, employers and others stop violence and help victims. Soler is a trustee for the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Her numerous awards include a Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellowship, and she has an honorary doctorate from Simmons College. She co-authored Ending Domestic Violence: Changing Public Perceptions/Halting the Epidemic.

Here also is a 2003 pdf (I googled “Esta Soler CFFPP”) which shows Ms. Soler, founder of FVPF, also on the Board of Directors of this organization, still bearing its’ “fathers” label.

The Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy seeks to create a society in which low-income parents – mothers as well as fathers – are in a position to support their children emotionally, financially, and physically. CFFPP addresses the unique barriers affecting low-income noncustodial parents [[Translation: FATHERS]] and their families through the provision of technical assistance, policy research, and public education, and develops public awareness of their needs.

M i s s i o n

B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s

S t a f f

23 N. Pinckney Street, Suite 210, Madison, WI 53703

• Tel: 608.257.3148 • Fax: 608.257.4686

http://www.cffpp.org

C o n t a c t U s

Esta Soler (Chair) • Family Violence Prevention Fund

Tanvir Mangat (Treasurer) • Private Consultant

HERE ARE SOME MORE OF THE EXPERTS:

Margaret Stapleton, J.D. (Secretary) • National Center on Poverty Law

Adrienne Brooks • Private Consultant

Carole Doeppers • Consumer and Health Privacy Consultant

Earl S. Johnson, Ph.D. • California Health and Human Services Agency

John Rich, M.D., M.P.H. • Boston Public Health Commission

Beth Richie, Ph.D. • University of Illinois at Chicago

Gerald A. Smith • IBM

Oliver Williams, Ph.D. • University of Minnesota

ORGANIZATIONS WITH WHOM CFFPP HAS COLLABORATED, PER THIS 2003 PUBLICATION:

Organizations with whom CFFPP has collaborated:

• ABC for Health (Madison, WI)
• Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers (Atlanta, GA)
• Alliance of Concerned Men (Washington, DC)
• Building Partnerships for Comprehensive Solutions (Hartford, CT and Des Moine, IA)
• Center for Fathers, Families and Workforce Development (Baltimore, MD) {{2017 update: RENAMED to Center for Urban Families (“CFUF”), ca. 2007; significant influence in running fatherhood programs in Baltimore area, i.e., leveraging and helping others leverage HMRF grants.. See my 11/28/2017 post with this post’s featured 501©3 (“CFFPP”) acronym in its title//LGH}}
• Center for Impact Research (Chicago, IL)
• Center for Third World Organizing (Washington DC)
• Con Los Padres (Los Angeles, CA)
• The Employment Project (New York, NY)
• Family Violence Prevention Fund (San Francisco, CA)
• GROWL, CWTO {{=WHO??}}
• Legal Action Center of New York (New York, NY)
• Men Overcoming Violence (San Francisco, CA)
• Midwest Center on Workforce and Family Development (Racine, WI)
• Minnesota Community Action (Minneapolis, MN)
• National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families (Washington DC)
• National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning (New York, NY)
• National Women’s Law Center (Washington, DC)
• Next Door Foundation (Milwaukee, WI)
• NOW Legal Defense Fund (Washington, DC)
• Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law (Chicago, IL)
• Southeast Ministries of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC)
• Urban League of Greater Madison (Madison, WI)
• Vera Institute for Justice (New York, NY)
• Wisconsin Council Against Domestic Violence (Madison, WI)
• Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (Madison, WI)
• Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Notice that last one is a state-level government department, apparently.

This 2003 annual report relates how many collaborations are going on between all the organizations, and between them they are going to help eradicate poverty and stop domestic violence, change men’s behaviors, and make life better for women and children.

Throughout all of these, there is a SUBJECT/OBJECT relationship between the low-income (supposedly that’s mainly who’s involved) and the professionals (whether DV or Fatherhood, or Foster Care, or stopping Child Abuse, and so forth) discussing what to do about whoever the “them” is.

PIONEERS for sure, also ELITISM:

Meanwhile, the family law system professionals ALSO collaborate, among each other, and again, not seeking litigant input. That’s AFCC and friends.

[[Post incomplete, portions were lost: to be finished later. FVPF is also, FYI, collaborating with AFCC: search the site for “family law” and a link will come up. Makes you think!]]

Again, Simple Solutions are often the best: I still think Jack Straton’s idea that abusive fathers just shouldn’t be around kid, is a great one. The whole concept of trying to reconcile “fatherhood” with “protection from violence against women and children” is just trying to straddle things that don’t belong together.

Come to think of it, if there are “IR-reconciliable” differences (a term common to divorce situations), why stick an organization that is the brainchild of something with the word “Conciliation” in it? Not to mention, the clear financial history of the group (AFCC, I mean) goes back to fraud based in the L.A. County Courthouse (from what I’ve read: See CANOW.org, family law page, 2002 Court Report, see Marv Bryer’s JohnnyPumphandle.com site, see Liz Richards’ http://nafcj.net site, or just look for yourself).

The other common thread of the history of these groups includes social acceptance of pedophile behavior, not only with Richard Gardner, but others also. Good grief. We’d definitely be better off solving our own problems with less government interference, and fewer excuses for this use of tax money!

But that requires a high level of commitment, nationwide, to do so.

It is, however, what the founders of this country did…. Now, when they begin to (a) recognize all colors as full humans and (b) include women as full-status humans, and the corollary of this is that we cannot have a slave caste, THAT will be a new day.

As Reconstruction did post-civil war, the same thing is happening post-feminism. We have to deal with this, and look at the money trail if we are going to stop this kind of exploitation.

Hope I said that OK.