"I LOVE YOU" Campaign/ Georgia CPS/ Murtari arrested & Your FEEDBACK

jmurtari@AKidsRight.org

Good People & People of Faith,

This message has info on:

1. National "I LOVE YOU" Campaign - good idea?  Your thoughts?
2. Murtari arrested - Outside Clinton offices, Syracuse Fed. Bldg.
3. Georgia State Senator Schaefer calls for CPS reform!
4. Congressional resolution for joint custody - it's a start.
5. Your FEEDBACK - a mixed bag.

1. National "I LOVE YOU" Campaign - good idea?  Your thoughts?
--------------------------------------------------------------
We have a DRAFT of an idea for a grassroots efforts that captures the
goals and methods of our group.  This is a Presidential election year
and an excellent opportunity to see progress towards our goals. It
doesn't depend on 'them', it fully depends on 'us'.

http://www.AKidsRight.Org/clinton/national.htm

This has not gone public yet at the web site.  Your thoughts and ideas
are welcome.  Let us know if you can help in any way.

2. Murtari arrested - Outside Clinton offices, Syracuse Fed. Bldg.
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(I'm glad to be able to write this myself.) I returned to the building
at 2 PM with a petition containing pictures of parents and children
unjustly separated.  I was also carrying kid's chalk.  It was cold and
snowing and I stood in front of the building holding our petition. I
was told I was in violation of a 'new' stay-away order issued by Judge
Peebles, but would be left alone for a while.

After about 20 minutes I took out my chalk and wrote "I LOVE DOM" on
the wet & snowy ground (it didn't make much of an impression), and was
immediately approached by a Federal Police officer who told me I
needed to stop.  He showed me the new order, told me he wasn't going
to arrest me, if I would just walk away....

I told him (and in all honestly, very regretfully and not looking
forward to another trip to jail), that I could not walk away, and that
I would keep writing with chalk if he left.  He put me under arrest
and brought me to his office where I was frisked and hand-cuffed (as I
have been many times before).

But this time was a little different, after some discussion on the
phone with the US Attorney's office he wrote me a ticket for
disobeying his order and released me (as long as I would leave the
building). I accepted that (I felt like I had chickened out, but I
just wasn't sure at that point).  

I thought I should take advantage of a few 'free' days to submit a
motion to the Judge regarding all these 'stay-away' orders and also
bring up the record of what had happened in the past (I can
rationalize wimping out with the best of them!).  I plan on going back
again next Tuesday, Jan 29th, hopeful, as always, that I will have
some other parents with me....

3. Georgia State Senator Schaefer calls for CPS reform!
------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by: Mary Dixon <sybil182@hotmail.com> and also by
              Paige Roberts <paige3274@bellsouth.net>
              http://georgiafamilyrights.tripod.com/

[ It was refreshing and encouraging to read a common sense and hard
hitting article written by a Georgia State Senator.  She gets it! ]

> http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php

> You have to read this. Its excellent .
> http://fightcps.com/pdf/TheCorruptBusinessOfChildProtectiveServices.pdf

[ We should ALL be concerned with the abuse caused by "Child
Protective Services" to both parents and children.  Genuine 'reform'
needs to also address and correct this great misuse of gov't power. ]

4. Congressional resolution for joint custody - it's a start.
------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: "Deborah Fellows" <dafellows2001@yahoo.com>
  Original from: David L. Levy, Esq. <dlevy@crckids.org>

I hope everyone is following the flurry of petitions and movements. It
is an election year and the only place we can make a
difference.... Please sign and fax or mail or call...

PLEASE POST AND FORWARD

A joint custody resolution is now being considered by the U.S. Senate
-- S.  Con. Res. 59, introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI).  It was
introduced in the House last Fall -- H. Con. Res. 241, by Reps.
Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).  The resolutions
express the sense of Congress that the states pass more joint custody
laws.

WE MUST NOW WORK TO GET THESE RESOLUTIONS PASSED.

[ http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:hc241ih.txt.pdf ]
You can view the Resolutions on the Library of Congress "Thomas"
website.  Please write to your House Member something like this in
your own words:

Dear Congressmember ---  (for House member)

Please co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 241, a resolution that asks the states
to pass more joint custody laws.

Children do better in school, experience less poverty and less
involvement in crime and drugs, when they have two parents in their
lives, even in divorce or never-married situations.  Joint custody
(shared parenting) for fit parents would help assure that more moms
and dads, as well as grandparents, are more involved in children's
lives.

Please let me know if you can co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 241.

Sign your name
then Print your name,
Address, phone number, email address.
Tips:

1.  Find out how to contact your Congressmembers at the Children's
Rights Council's (CRC) website, http://www.CRCkids.org/.  Under
"Government," look up House and Senate.  Phone, e-mail or fax to
Congress (snail mail takes forever after 9/11).  Fax is best, but not
all Congressmembers list their fax numbers.

2.  Obtain fax number by phoning your Congressmember at 202/225-3121
during normal business hours.  Ask for the name of the staff member
working for the Congressmember who would handle the joint custody
resolution and write to his/her attention.  FOLLOW UP EVERY 10 DAYS TO
TWO WEEKS; ONE PHONE CALL, FAX OR E-MAIL WILL NOT DO IT.  Always be
polite; remember, you are asking your Congressmember to lay down the
one thousand other things on his/her plate and to focus on the joint
custody resolution.

3.  Keep CRC informed of results, at info@crckids.org

Note: These resolutions do not "require" the states to pass stronger
joint custody laws; there are merely "requests."  But requests in
other areas over the years have produced positive results in the
states.  So please do not underestimate the power of a resolution.
Joint custody is now a presumption or preference in 37 states and
Washington, D.C.  But it is applied unevenly in many of those states,
let alone the 13 states that have no preference or presumption.
Shared parenting has grown enormously over the past 20 years, but much
more remains to be done.

Thank you, on behalf of children and families everywhere.

-  David L. Levy, Esq.

5. Your FEEDBACK - a mixed bag.
------------------------------
The first part was about the ongoing effort to convince Sen. Clinton
to meet with parents: http://www.AKidsRight.Org/clinton

--- "David A. Bardes" <davidbardes@davidbardes.com>

> Don't listen to the critics - what you are doing is right and it
> will work!  Best of luck!

--- Paige Roberts <paige3274@bellsouth.net> http://georgiafamilyrights.tripod.com/

> I am going to add this to our website.  I would like to help John.

--- roger baril <somaticsmove@yahoo.com>

> Once again John, I so greatly honor your determination to make it a
> life work to effect reform for what i believe is the most important
> social issue facing us in es.

> And that is the loss of a parent and child rel;ationship that is
> fundamental to family and health to our children.  thank you for all
> your efforts john.

> sincerely, Roger Baril and on behalf of my daughter Lyla Hayley Baril
> age 5 1/2 who has been unduly restricted from her relationship with
> her father.

--- Aldrich Donald <ogrestrength@yahoo.com>

> I appreciate what you have done.  Standing alone, trying to move
> fathers into action has been difficult .

> I look at Thomas Paine and what he did with his publication "Common
> Sense".  One man who changed opinions of hundreds of thousands of
> early Americans.  I believe we are making headway.  Keep leading the
> charge.

--- "Barry Worrall" <bpw@freenetname.co.uk>

> I know you're placing a lot of faith in Clinton. But have you read
> her speech at the Women's Conference in Beijing 2005 ?

No, I didn't see that one, but I know she wants to be President, she
follows the polls, and she is a good politician.  If our 'movement'
can't convince someone like that on a Civil Rights issues, then we are
just not there yet?  More our problem than hers I think?

--- Barry's followup reply

> The point I'm making is that she is a feminist ideologist. That's
> bad for us.

> She probably won't see it as a civil rights issue, but us as a group
> of men trying to take unfair advantage of women. Best of luck with
> her.

--- "Joseph. Bushey" <nickysdad1994@hotmail.com>

> ...If you have a planned demonstration this summer, I hope to make
> it to Syracuse. Although I`m not willing and or able (with Son`s
> schedule and wife) to get locked up,but I am willing to be there.

--- anon

> Her mother does not want to handle things outside of court. My
> husband has tried to before. She apparently likes having the
> government in her backyard for some reason.  This is all about money
> to her.  She can have the money.  We just want M. to have the best
> life has to offer, and we want her to be safe and to have a GREAT
> education-which she is not getting now.

> I do believe that EQUAL PARENTING is in the BEST INTEREST in MOST
> cases. But I am not sure if it is in this one....

In some ways I agree with you, as a parent you should want to protect
your child. But this goes beyond that, when we want the 'government'
to help protect our child against the other parent. Not sure about
'unsafe'? Are you going to let the child spend any time with them at
all, after all, a problem could happen at any time. Are you going to
ask that they only have 'supervised' visits. That will allow
government to provide 100% safety -- of course, not much of a
life. It's funny how those things get connected?

--- Richar Farr <richar_farr@yahoo.com>

> John - why have you not gone door to door in your community telling
> people in an abbreviated manner why you are doing what your are
> doing?

> we need to take our battle to the people in our communities - the
> world wide web has it place but we have to fight this battle on the
> ground door to door - taking it to the streets!!!!!!!

> You would be surprised what help you could find.  Isn't this a
> little like suicide bombing? Why do we want to go to jail.

> Still no talk of gathering a mass. No talk of contacting legislators
> - mounting an ANTI-VOTE campaign against a D.A. or a county
> commission - Call A senator today - Why are we not talking about
> these things.

> If these elected officials know there are enough of us - Damn it we
> could start shaking things up - A letter does a lot - a fax does
> alot - we need people to write template letters not continual
> discussions on going to jail. Yikes!!!

> We need people out of jail - contact and elected official and tell
> them you want investigations of Local D.A.'s whatever - let them
> know their jobs are in jeopardy. ORGANIZE VOTERS~~~~

I've seen some of your messages and all the stuff you talk about is
fine.  We need all those things, but how many great Civil Rights have
been won by just community campaigns, or clever advertising alone?
What makes a great Civil Right?  What defines it?  Just talking? 
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/civil.htm -- when you have time go there and
read some of the history/examples.

Add one more: "Isn't this a little like suicide bombing? Why do we
want to go to jail?"  You don't see a difference between what I do and
what is happening in Iraq?

   -- no reply to these questions...

####### following in response to the 'burning cars' for reform
####### advocated by Bruce Eden in out last list message:

http://www.AKidsRight.org/archive/archive2008/0003.html          

--- "Theo Nieuwenhuizen" <nieuwenh@science.uva.nl>

> let us burn cars, rob banks, become terrorist.

> We want to improve the world, don't we?  So we should start by being
> like the rest ??  Being no better than those we wish to defeat?

> Shame on you, shame on you.

--- Teri Stoddard <sharedparentingworks@yahoo.com>

> Yes, we have debtors' prisons here in the great USofA.  We know it,
> the attorneys know it, the judges know it and the lawmakers know it.
> My question is, what is the best way to expose this true injustice
> without making all of you look like crazed maniacs?

> I'm pretty sure setting cars on fire will just reinforce the
> negative images the opposition has been promoting of you.
> Unfortunately we have all the help we can use making you look bad.

> Has anyone done what you're suggesting Bruce?  If so, what came of
> it?  I worry you'd get the same result as those who took their cases
> all the way to the supreme court, just to be rejected.  Maybe it's
> true that we need to win over the hearts of Americans first.

> I think John has the right idea.  He's making his point without
> being aggressive or violent.  He is truly an example of a loving
> father, willing to risk it all for the right to parent his son.  And
> he did get media attention, including the internet, newspapers,
> magazines, radio shows and TV news casts.

> Bruce, you're right.  John needs dozens of parents standing with him
> in Syracuse.  The question is...where are they?  If you can get 200
> protesters at your rally, could you get 200 to show up in Syracuse?
> With the election coming, Hillary might just be the best avenue to
> pursue right now for more media coverage.

> One issue I see slowing John's efforts is that supporters want to
> show up in gender-specific shirts holding gender-specific signs.
> One of the purest parts of John's efforts is that he fights for both
> genders.  I agree with him that we must support both genders equally
> when it comes to parental rights.  If we don't, we're hypocrites.

> I think you all know that I'm a men's activist as much as I'm an
> equal custody activist, and I truly understand the mountain you men
> must climb to restore all of your rights.  But when it comes to
> parenting, you must be happy with equality, just equality.  I'd like
> to encourage all of you to support John in Syracuse the next time he
> risks jail.

--- Debra Root <dusty6873@yahoo.com>

> It is a little difficult for me to read Bruce Eden's rant about John
> Murtari, feminists, and other "demons".

> I am a feminist (yes!) and a non-custodial mother who suffered an
> appalling injustice in family court.  Just like you men! But ain't I
> a woman?

> We need to support one another stop beating each other up! That is
> counter-productive.

> Like any other "movement" you will have differences of opinion and
> finger-pointing at those who choose a less active role.

> I admire John Murtari. There he is-way up in Syracuse-fighting a
> virtual one-man,er,person fight.

> And it is not that Bruce doesn't have a point. I understand his
> frustration and anger and assertion that, in the past, blood had to
> be shed to bring about change.

> I don't have the answers and I do not have the tenacity and faith
> that Mr. Murtari has. I wish I could support him more but I'll admit
> it-I don't want to go to jail and end up job-less. I've worked very
> hard to establish my career and a modicum of dignity and
> self-reliance.  There you have it-go ahead and beat ME up, not John
> Murtari.

-- 
                                       John Murtari
____________________________________________________________________
Coordinator                            AKidsRight.Org
jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org                "A Kid's Right to BOTH parents"
Toll Free (877) 635-1968(x-211)        http://www.AKidsRight.Org/

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