I just published a page to look at ROOTS and FRUIT
of a large, and widely spreading tree, the Family Law system, not to mention some of the birds that come to roost there, and how it eliminates other native vegetation,

crowding out sunlight and choking other growth near it, permanently altering previous eco-(nomic) systems and the balance of relationships that once were possible, but now no longer are.

How could this be, and who planted it? All destructive ~ or creative ~ ideas originate somewhere. (I heard) “There’s nothing [qualitatively] new under the sun,” so what is this tree’s genealogy?

SO . . . .

To understand why this blog, read the page “READ THIS FIRST” — first.

Do not pass Go, start there, scroll down and scroll down and reflect on, “how’s come it’s a madhouse in the family law system, and more and more criminal behavior seems to surround it?”

That’s an important question, and not a hard one to answer. It’s just hard to get people to accept it, and act accordingly. It gets more press to complain, report, comment, and in the process

develop another market niche. PR Professionals are great at this. I’m not a PR professional,

but a “family law vet” — that means, have taken the hits — and have developed some survival skills. The FIRST survival skill is understanding the landscape and how the natives act, and have been acting. I even have a post somewhere on here relating to S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L. training.

WELL, READ THAT PAGE FIRST, even if you’re a family law attorney or social worker, or any other AFCC member.

My PAGES, currently, can be found with a little scrolling.

A look at “Feedjit” to the right shows that, formatting and failure to proofread apart, this blog may have some information worth looking at. It’s wide-ranging, but I analyze from a less traditional angle. I try to combine my academic ~ OK, and natural temperament ~ longsuits crossing different genres to make sense of research. And I do this with varying degrees of PTSD generated by over a decade of dealing with abuse and legal abuse afterwards. {{By the way, there’s a body of literature on comparing the battering relationship to stalking through the courts. I will say, it feels the same, and the same principles are at work. It also is akin to P.O.W., although a different war. You can hear BOTH men and women talk about this feeling; it’s a matter of perspective. My personal “take” on the issue is that these courts were designed (upfront) as a place for batterers [or, spouses, specifically men, who fear abandonment, to get even. They are, of themselves, in many was, a cult. Biderman’s chart of coercion describes tactics.“Dependency, Debility & Dread.”}}

I sort through themes, and follow the hot leads, and try to avoid the dead ends. The sarcastic commentary on the ridiculous propositions & assumptions found are incidental, and don’t cost extra. Like many (mothers who became noncustodial mothers through family law after leaving violent relationships) by blogging, I in general find some redemption in what has been the longest nightmare (and fastest learning curve) I’ve known to date.

BUT, I also know, certain themes are unique and underreported, and my angle, which began when I reviewed http://nacfj.net after losing it “all” (there’s always more which can be lost, I’ve learned, but I refer to expectation of justice in this system, and any hope to restore what was formerly a reasonable life or any innocence attached to it. This system “slimes” you — you come out different. Yeech!)

The people attracted to family law are, variously:

• naively hoping to fix families, reconcile people who don’t want to be reconciled, and shouldn’t (that, my READ THIS FIRST page talks about),
• distressed (and so, vulnerable),
• ambulance-chasers, particularly where money and [power over] distressed CHILDREn are potentially available,
• too impatient for the accident to happen and so setting the brakes on off, the steering wheel crooked, or hiring (or schmoozing with) others to jump in front of the speeding (away from dangerous relationships) cars, then blame the cars for running into the lampposts or other pedestrians, and stick taxpayers, and the car’s driver that couldn’t avoid the “accident,” with the bill, both in the form of lost income, actual fees, and — which is what I most object to — lost freedoms…..[I warned you I was rather jaundiced, or at least sarcastic. But this IS narrative characterizations, the parallels I believe apply!]
• mercenary soldiers in search of a cause….
• and there are also megalomaniacs, whose behavior (not always PUBLIC behavior) indicates they believe in an archaic religion and the divine right of kings — and NOT the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights, separation of powers, anything implicit or explicit in the Declaration of Independence, or other things involving, say, humility.

Speaking of which, the divine right of kings, . . . . .

Here’s a picture of a world-renowned “monarch.” Surely this must be a joke, right?

Look closely at the banner in the photo, bottom line . . . . This was in a U.S. Senate Building, in 2004

Are we a monarchy? Well, that depends on how you look at it, and how many more years of this goes on.

Arizona legislator/Unification Church member’s peculiar mix of religion/politics

06/26/2008

Arizona State Representitive Mark Anderson, a Republican from Mesa, has a long history of loyal and devoted service to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed “messiah” (photo below right) and leader of the Unification Church.

Rev. Moon teaches his disciples that singles should not expect a happy hereafter and that marriage is a requirement for salvation and entering heaven.

Matrimony also plays a pivotal role in Moon’s theology. He calls himself the “Lord of the Second Advent” who provides a “physical salvation,” which Jesus was unable to accomplish, because he was executed and didn’t marry.

It is largely because of these beliefs that Moon has presided over mass weddings, often marrying thousands of his followers simultaneously.

Mark Anderson appears to be dutifully following Moon’s dogma as a state legislator.

In the Spring of 2000 he sponsored a bill that successfully passed and created a “Marriage and Communication Skills Commission.”

Funded by Arizona’s taxpayers, the purpose of the Commission is to recognize “the importance of marriage.”

Beyond this the Commission also doles out funding for “workshops” and “programs,” which are provided through contractors.

And guess who is co-chairman of the Arizona marriage commission?

(etc.) . . . .

Enter Pastor Leo Godzich, President of the “National Association of Marriage Enhancement” (NAME), a close associate and long-time friend of Mark Anderson.

NAME has been and continues to be the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars in state contracts.

Actually, make that a million, so far (to 2009). Enter another tool from this site: “http://Taggs.hhs.gov”

Results 1 to 4 of 4 matches.
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Actually, for those who stay up late, unable to sleep over some of these serious issues, the term “marriage enhancement” might convey a late-night TV ad to help “inspire” some overworked couples to have better, er, relations. Where some see simple problems, others see a GREAT market niche, whether the above version, or the late-night TV ad version.

To grasp the scope of this movement — in just one program code alone – 93086, Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood — I picked Colorado. I notice the database has changed, and only shows back to 2006 (it actually goes back to mid-1990s). This is just a tip of the iceberg (that’s about to sink the Titanic ship of state, if we don’t divert, stop, or reverse engines)(and don’t count on any Unification church legislators to do this!):

TAGGS Advanced Search Results

Results 1 to 36 of 36 matches.
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Results 1 to 36 of 36 matches.
Page 1 of 1

Of note are the words “Demonstration” (DEMONSTRATIONS ON PEOPLE?) Discretionary, New, and (not shown), kind of grant application often reads “Non-Competing.” What about “informed consent”? Is this information posted, in the self-help section of the local courthouse, or the child support agencies, or any welfare office? Not exactly. Nor will one find there, say, information about who is “AFCC” (see my READ THIS FIRST page for more on them), although they do publish most of the pamphlets on display in the local counties I have access to. AFCC is very closely linked to “who IS this family law system, anyhow?”

Also, who is getting the highest funding? Hmm . . . .

Dept. of Human Services, Commission on Higher Education (it takes academics to run some kinds of human demonstration projects nationwide. Specialized language is involved, and some of it I’ve read, and wouldn’t be acceptable in circles not trained (yet) to take words like “fatherhood practitioner” (does that mean, a Dad? ??) seriously. This has to be inculcated. Also, as million$$ are involved, a university setting does lend more credibility, as well as other resources, like graduate student assistants and institutes of various sorts). And WAIT Training.

What’s that — like muscle-building, kick-boxing, or aerobics?

No, not per who its executive director is (see chart):

>

Joneen Krauth-Mackenzie is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Nursing, a former Air Force ICU nurse and is currently applying to be reactivated in the United States Air Force Reserves. She is the Executive Director of the Abstinence and Relationship Training Center and is the author of the national and international curriculum, WAIT Training, Teaching Teens How to Have the BEST sex…by waiting until marriage. Joneen is a national speaker speaking to thousands of teens over the past 10 years. She is also contracted as a teacher trainer, training over 6000 teachers and youth serving professionals nationally and internationally. Mrs. Mackenzie serves on the Title V Abstinence Education Steering Committee at the Colorado State Health Department. She is currently the president of the Colorado Coalition for Abstinence and Relationship Education.

“WAIT” stands for “Why Am I Tempted” – i.e., some nice abstinence education training. (how NOT to have sex, yet…) and besides the $1,000,000+ in 2006 (for starters) it sells for only $299.

Joneen McKenzie

Abstinence Education, at least as it affects the practice of increasing Abstinence (i.e., reducing sex outside marriage) is probably a lost cause. If it WERE to be directed somewhere, I believe a more appropriate target might be several of the U.S. Presidents, Governors, or Senators. Starting with Former President Bill Clinton, who actually signed the infamous (to me!) Executive Order of 1995 regarding Fatherhood. He should know about it, and/or preventing it outside marriage:

Washington Post / Paula Jones Bill’s Escapes will sink Hillary (2007)

On the other hand, even the Gores finally separated:

Throughout the 1990s, as Bill and Hillary Clinton became the most dysfunctional couple in American politics, Al and Tipper Gore served as the counterbalance. The Gores played the ever-wholesome Mike and Carol Brady of the “Brady Bunch” to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Homer and Marge Simpson—a battling, mismatched duo who nevertheless stayed together. During the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, the Gores appeared ever more self-righteous and stable as the Clintons appeared ever more estranged. Al Gore even chose to telegraph to the American people that he was a passionate politician by giving Tipper a famously long smooch after his nomination.

The Gores’ obvious distaste for Bill Clinton’s extramarital escapades strained relations among the four. During the 2000 campaign, Vice President Gore distanced himself so much from President Clinton that many observers believed he sacrificed his shot at the White House on the altar of his marital morality.

How about Ted Kennedy, other Kennedys?

1. Reckless Sex and Power III: The Top Seven Kennedy Sex Scandals …

   May 21, 2008 … Serving in the Senate since 1962, Ted Kennedy has been one of our most … Both President Jack Kennedy – whose sexual escapades were …

or, Why Women Continued to Support Ted Kennedy

Governors, Assemblymen, Presidents, can’t keep it Zipped (except for their wives) AFTER marriage, why are they taxing US, especially teens, to lecture US, especially teens, on keeping it zipped ?:

Former Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall, who resigned after inadvertently broadcasting explicit remarks about his sexual conquests over an open microphone, this morning said that his resignation was not an admission that he had an affair.

As described, in some detail, in RIPOFF REPORT,

Besides the misappropriation of funds by Why Am I Tempted training coordinator (above), it also appears that her own marriage wasn’t successful. Many people’s aren’t. WHen it comes to this issue, I find that people who have NOT divorced or been through breakups, find some things hard to understand, and those who have, generally lack partiality. If you toss a coin, chances are, someone who is a stepfather, stepmother, father having wages garnished for child support, MOTHER having wages garnished for child support, domestic violence survivor or in jail and having issues contacting offspring, which is where the fatherhood programs go get them out and back with their kids.

While going through the LEGAL aspects of courts, and custody, it’s good to remember that many of the major influences don’t go near a courtroom; they are in conference rooms and in Senate Buildings. While not all participate in crowning a “Moonie” leader, some of the behaviors have an uncomfortable resemblance to the same behaviors.

FYI, PTSD or not (some days are better than others), I try to get some information out. I felt that the grants connection is consistently overlooked, and the Unification Church one is recently very disturbing, but definite.

The overall picture is of a more and more managed economy and society. My advice regarding family law is, stay away from it. However, if one must enter, attempt to avoid the child support system, which promises more than it can deliver, and becomes a third party that could turn the case, easily.

It’s challenging to experience, narrate, analyze, network , and simply survive this system while still in it. I add a research background, a scent like a bloodhound on the money trail, which is driving this system (not “law” in case you were interested), and gets its funding from Joe Bloe and Jane Doe taxpayers who thought someone else should be handling these problems — hence, taxes, right?

Oh yes, and major foundations, many of them conservative. And latest trail shows a VERY uncomfortable connection with the Unification Church (can you spell Rev. Sun Myun Moon — avowed

2nd Messiah and major contributor to the ultra-conservative right-wingers. The political / legislative/religious/economic ramifications are truly frightening, almost more so than any “lethality assessment” from a domestic violence situation might indicate, or than the breakup of the nuclear family — or (conversely) “same-sex marriage.”

Suppose we all DID survive, and then this is to what world?

Kind gives another flavor to the word “Healthy Marriage” when one considers a coronation of this billionaire in a U.S. Senate building, of a man who claims to have heard from deceased Presidents and the news is, theocracy is in, republic is out. And/or, he and his wife are the true parents to the world.

I’m not kidding, I was just looking at Phoenix, Arizona, National Association of Marriage Enhancement, the Godzich family, and the GOP/Unification Church/Assembly of God churches/ Christian Dominionism/Anti-gay political contributions, and the Uganda connection.

One thing you won’t be on this blog (I hope) is

(a) bored or

(b) less informed than when you began looking or, most importantly

(c) noncommital on this institution as a sinkhole of money and corruption, that isn’t getting to those who need it much more than some food aid consistently gets to the hungry people in the Southern hemisphere, or

(d) underestimating the contribution of your local faith-based institution not to solving, but rather, helping create, the major social problems we are experiencing. (FYI, I identify as Christian, but not possible to go through this system and come out the same kind of one!). (Did I mention domestic violence, and women as inferior, at least after saying “I do,” yet?)

For PARENTS, the timeframe is VERY short — about a generation.

For professionals, it’s the curve of the career, after which they can easily publish and conference on their prior experience.

The litigants in the family law system usually include one side more powerful than the others, and, to be frank, often one side with possibly some criminal behavior, if not a record. The metaphor here that applies is the myth of Procrustes — the innkeeper whose bed fit “everyone.” However, Secretly, Procrustes had two beds. If a short person came in, out came the long bed, and the customer was stretched to fit. If a tall person came in, out came the short bed, and I won’t describe that process.

Finally some hero came and applied some of this medicine to the innkeeper. I think it’s about time to do that, however, firmly, and without violence. The only way I know to do that is to cut off the supply line:

Families — warn each other to stay away.

General public — research where your money is going, and demand an accounting of what good it’s doing. Since thats a lot harder than actually giving the government less to waste, both of which will require creativity, insight, information, and possibly make us better people.