Friday, April 10, 2009

Grieving Parents Lose Thousands To Con Artist

My comments on Mens News Daily

We ought not to be shy about ostracizing him. I have been a close watcher and member of PAAO over the past 4 years and this guy seems to have usurped the name and original trade mark logo of the organization. Any one who would take advantage of abused children to assuage their ego is more than a cretin.

He is in my sights and will be pointed out for what he is until he gets the message he is no longer wanted. The gender feminists just love to have men like this they can point to as part of the FR movement. He needs to be ostracized without compulsion or delay.


Whether by disease, accident, murder or suicide, losing a child is one of the worst experiences a person could face. Another tragedy that ranks at the top of the list is having a missing child. Strangers abduct a small percentage of these children. Most are abducted by one of their parents.

There’s one type of parental child abduction that doesn’t get much attention. It happens when one parent uses the legal system to postpone or eliminate any chance of the other parent spending time with the children. One way is by claiming fear of domestic violence. Studies now show that sixty to eighty percent of allegations of domestic violence are later found to be unnecessary or false.

Many parents who find themselves victims of this hidden crime are confused, outraged, overwhelmed and desperate. Those who look for help online can find a wealth of information on websites and in related forums. Some offer in-person meetings and conferences. Others offer interactive Internet talk shows.

As described in Defiant Dads, most of these people are knowledgeable, sincere, and generous with their advice and encouragement. Unfortunately this is not true of everyone a parent might come across in the online community, which is often called the fathers’ movement, the family rights movement or the equal parenting movement. One man who has taken advantage of these vulnerable parents is Torm Howse, creator of the website UnitedCivilRights.org.

Howse, who has spent time in prison for intimidation and battery, been convicted of child abuse, and allegedly has warrants out for his arrest, offers his services writing legal papers. His own emails quote the rate of $40 an hour. He has told some parents that $400 would get his services for life. Yet he was able to get $1,000 from one parent and $3,000 from another. Howse usually has the money sent through the website’s PayPal donation account.

“Torm Howse works on people’s vulnerabilities. That’s what he did to me,” said Donald Tenn, board member of Fathers 4 Justice – US and father to abducted Madison Tenn, “I paid him $200 because he told me that he guaranteed I would get Madison back. I still haven’t received one piece of paper from him, and know I never will. I can take someone hurting me, but Howse exploits little children like my daughter Madison.”

“I was new in the movement, extremely vulnerable and desperate to find someone to help me. I worked with Mr. Howse to create the United Civil Rights Councils of America, not knowing he was a master at manipulation,” said Theresa Martin, who lived with Howse for a year, “He convinced me he was losing his storage unit in Indiana so I agreed to him storing his items in my home. When he showed up with his stuff he said he wasn’t about to go anywhere.”

“I thought I needed Torm to help me. I believed in my heart he was the only one who could,” she explained, “We had agreed he’d rent a room from me, but he didn’t pay me. I asked him to leave my home every single day for almost a year. He just refused!”

Howse left some parents at risk of jail. “When Torm Howse first started he was on time,” said Gary Helman, “then after the first hearing he started delaying everything. I was always getting emails from him saying I will have it tonight. I paid for an interlocutory appeal that he never finished. I paid for a civil suit that he never finished. I paid for an appeal and I never received it. I paid him $3,000 over all. Last July Torm called me and said, ‘they’re going to take you to jail. The food is not bad there,’ and he laughed.”

“I let Torm Howse stay in my house for a week, and paid him $1,000 to rewrite my complaint. It had been weeks and he wouldn't get it done – ‘trust me, it is a complete victory’ he kept saying,” David Bardes told me, “Then one day he just walked out. I was left to do all the paperwork myself, with very little time.” These are just some of the people who claim Howse has defrauded them. When asked to comment, Howse declined.

There were many objections when Howse first proposed his equal parenting class action lawsuits a few years ago. Ray Lautenschlager, of Parents And Children for Equality (PACE) said “Mike Galluzzo, Chuck Evans and I told Howse that his civil suit was a doomed effort because the wording and legal approach would not work, based on past experience and what we were finding out with the Galluzzo case at that time. The end result was a mass dismissal of all of the cases that they brought forth. And financial losses that were unnecessarily placed on the people that this wannabe leader had duped.”

Family law on slippery slope in Quebec


Naomi Lakritz, Calgary Herald

Published: Friday, April 10, 2009

The Quebec dad whose 12-year-old daughter successfully sued him last June for grounding her has just lost his appeal. The appeals judge agreed with the lower court judge that forcing her to miss a Grade 6 graduation trip as punishment for allegedly posting trashy photos of herself on the Internet and chatting on blocked websites, was too harsh.

Set aside for a minute the amazing impropriety of the Canadian justice system interfering in run-of-the-mill parental discipline. This is not, after all, a case of abuse. No law was broken. It is not abusive to teach your child that bad behaviour has consequences. It's good parenting--and there isn't enough of it happening these days. That's because too many professional caring-types abound, ready to meddle if some petulant pubescent child feels she's been hard done by.

But do you remember being 12 and in Grade 6? First of all, in those days, there weren't "graduations" held every few years. You graduated once--from Grade 12--and that was it. Because you only graduated once, it actually meant something. But remember how at 12, you thought your parents were practically godlike and if you committed some infraction of the rules and they meted out a corresponding punishment for it, your first thought was not "I'll sue!" Rather, it was "I've been bad," and you felt ashamed. The rebelliousness of the coming teen years wasn't even on the radar screen at age 12.

Lucie Fortin, a Legal Aid lawyer who represented the girl and therefore should be held completely responsible for destroying the parent-child relationship between father and daughter, said: "The child asked the court to intervene because (the trip)was very important to her." "The child" should have been laughed out of the courtroom, if not out of Fortin's office before that. All these adults should have been united in telling her that since she disobeyed her father's admonitions about her Internet activity, she had to pay the consequences. The consequences hurt? Well, too bad. Remember that for the next time. Case closed. Child learns a valuable lesson. Life goes on. Lawyers and judges stop undermining parental authority and go back to dealing with real criminals--like the pedophiles who probably salivated over this kid's "inappropriate pictures" online. Try to protect your child from the seamy side of the Internet and you not only get sued for it, but two courts rule you were in the wrong?

Beaudoin says her client, who had split from the girl's mother, has hardly any relationship with his daughter anymore: "She went from a child who wanted to live with her father, and after all this has been done, they're not speaking anymore. We have a lot of work to re-establish a link between those two." One can thank the litigious Lucie Fortin for helping to create that destructive situation, which was then compounded by the judges who ruled against the father.

For those who wonder how this girl qualified for Legal Aid in the first place, it's all set out by Quebec's Commission des services juridiques, whose website states that " the criteria for civil suits and other suits are: the potential threat, for the applicant or his family, to physical or psychological safety, to means of subsistence or to basic needs and a serious threat to either's freedom." You can see where being grounded for brattiness constituted a threat to the girl's psychological safety--her sense of entitlement was in major jeopardy there. More specifically, missing the Grade 6 trip posed a serious threat to her freedom. She can't do what she wants and go where she pleases at age 12? This must be remedied right away.

Beaudoin says the dad may take his case to the Supreme Court. Let's hope that if he does, those eminent justices issue a ruling that strikes a blow for parental rights, respect and authority, which are so sadly in disarray in this society.

Barring that, the best outcome to be hoped for is a scenario presented by fast-forwarding 10 or 15 years. The girl, now in her mid-20s, phones her dad and says: "Thanks, Dad. I realize now what you were trying to do and that you did it because you cared about me."

Is that too much to hope for? Or by that time will caring enough about one's children to discipline them be an offence under the Criminal Code?

nlakritz@theherald.canwest.com

Fathers-4-Justice Canada ~ Bridge protesters found guilty of mischief


Bridge protesters found guilty of mischief

Span closed for 21/2 hours; Defendants claim courts are biased against fathers in custody disputes

Two divorced fathers whose publicity stunt four years ago shut down the Jacques Cartier Bridge for 21/2 hours were found guilty yesterday of mischief and other charges.

Quebec Court Judge Gilles Cadieux rejected the argument of necessity Benoît Leroux and Gilles Dumas invoked to justify breaking the law with their stunt on the bridge.

Dressed in a Robin outfit and carrying a placard calling for parental equality, Leroux scaled the bridge's ironworks on May 23, 2005, with Dumas coordinating from the ground.

Because of the danger, the Sûreté du Québec closed the span to traffic in both directions.

Cadieux ruled the two men, activists in Fathers 4 Justice - an international organization that fights for fathers' rights in child-custody cases - did not require illegal methods to make known their claims to the public or media.

Both men contend family law courts are stacked against fathers in custody disputes.

Leroux said outside the court he's been barred from visiting his 8-year-old daughter in the U.S. for the past six years because his estranged wife won a civil protection order after he failed to make child support payments.

Leroux and Dumas were convicted of mischief and conspiracy. Dumas was also convicted of interfering with police in the exercise of their duties.

Leroux asked the court for an unconditional discharge so he does not get a criminal record that could prevent him from visiting the U.S. to see his daughter or affect his standing with the Order of Engineers.

Cadieux asked him to consult a lawyer or do his own research to determine the consequences of having a criminal record.

Dumas objected to introducing his previous convictions into the court record. He he is to make legal arguments on that issue and his sentence on May 5.

iblock@thegazette.canwest.com

Melbourne dad finds kidnapped sons and shows up Swedish cops

AAP

April 07, 2009 12:48pm

A MELBOURNE father's speedy rescue of his two kidnapped sons has embarrassed Swedish police, who struggled with the case for six months.

Armed with just a pair of binoculars and a rental car, it took the dad only one week to find his missing sons, aged 11 and ten, in Sweden.

"It is a genuine failing mark to the work of the police,'' columnist Lars Lindstrom wrote in the Swedish newspaper Expressen.

"(The father) went on leave, flew from Melbourne to Sweden and found them in a week. How did that happen?''

The boys were allegedly abducted in October last year by their Swedish mother.

She was charged with their kidnapping and became a wanted fugitive in Sweden.

The father had custody of the children but the mother was granted access twice a year.

After six months of waiting at home in Melbourne for a break in the case, the dad decided to take matters into his own hands.

He flew to Sweden, rented a car and parked outside the home of the mother's parents, on a hunch that they were harbouring the fugitive mother and the children.

After a week of waiting, he crept out of his car under the cover of night and walked towards the front door.

For the first time in six months, he heard the sounds of his sons' voices coming from inside the building.

"I didn't even know the children were alive. The feeling was incredible,'' the father told Expressen.

He then went back to his car and called the Swedish authorities, who entered the home, arrested the mother and reunited the boys with their father.

The local authorities said they had done their best to find the children during the six month investigation.

"We have looked at a number of addresses,'' said Svante Melin, Detective Superintendent of Sodermanland Police in Sweden.

Swedish police had earlier suggested a feminist group had helped the mother with the abduction.

"As far as I can see, there is no evidence that the mother was helped by anybody,'' Det Supt Melin said.

Now the father and sons are waiting for flights home to Australia, funded by the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

"I am grateful that they will help take us home. My economy is driven into the ground,'' he said.

The father said he would not criticise the police over their efforts in finding the boys.

The mother is in custody and waiting for a court date to be set.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25302693-421,00.html

Related Coverage

Tamil protesters block road to Parliament for 3rd day

The following comments were left on the CBC site in response to a story that had Wellington street blocked off by Tamil Tiger cheerleaders bringing their war with Sri Lanka home to Canada.

Some comments left on the CBC site by Mike Murphy at 2:25 pm.

If this were a Fathers-4-Justice protest against Family Law (Flaw) practiced in this country that marginalizes fathers, creates fatherless homes, creates social problems for children and throws them in jail for loving and wanting to see their children here is what would happen within minutes:

1. The Emergency Task Force Unit (SWAT) would be dispatched
2. The streets would be closed off to isolate the protesters
3. Tear Gas or stun grenades would be used
4. The protesters would be stormed with automatic weapons pointed at their heads
5. It would all be over within minutes if the protesters were at street level if not hours if it were a bridge as were these malcontents.
6. The protesters would be arrested hauled off to jail and would not get out without bail
7. They would be taken to court, prosecuted and jailed with a permanent criminal conviction.

There is a several tiered justice system in Canada. If you are a white male you are at the top of the food chain for being charged, prosecuted and convicted. All the rest get discounts of various kinds.

If you are a visible minority supporting a known terrorist group such as the Tamil Tigers or Hamas/Hezbolah you will get a discount and those who are in charge will lose their family jewels. In this case it is the brave management of the Ottawa Police.

Who says white males in Canada are running the show? Fairy tale tellers who call themselves gender feminists - who also get big discounts from the justice system. Who runs the people in charge of many police forces, judges, politicians and the media - Gender Feminist doctrine.

Thank goodness Jason Kenney seems to have some family jewels.




Mike Murphy
Andy Warhol - "I am a deeply superficial person."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/04/09/ot-090409-tamil.html#articlecomments

Tamil protesters block road to Parliament for 3rd day

Last Updated: Thursday, April 9, 2009 | 4:50 PM ET Comments322Recommend93

Protesters shut down a portion of Ottawa's Wellington Street Thursday as a demonstration calling for the Canadian government to help end the war in Sri Lanka continued into its third day.

Police warned morning commuters Thursday that Wellington Street was closed between O'Connor and Elgin streets, but announced by the time of the evening commute that all of the streets had been reopened.

Overnight, protesters from the University of Ottawa had set up a red tent in the middle of Wellington, which demonstrators circled Thursday morning, waving many Canadian flags and a few Tamil Tiger flags.

Police and protesters converged on Parliament Hill on Thursday as a demonstration supporting Tamils in Sri Lanka entered its third day.

Police and protesters converged on Parliament Hill on Thursday as a demonstration supporting Tamils in Sri Lanka entered its third day.
(Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC)

Police removed the tent just after 11 a.m., but protesters remained on the street until around 3 p.m. when Wellington Street was reopened to traffic.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Wednesday that the Canadian government would not associate with anyone who flew the flag of the Tamil Tigers.

The rebel group is banned in Canada as a terrorist organization.

The flag in question shows a tiger and two rifles — an emblem of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the rebel group in Sri Lanka.

"Where there's clear public insignias of support for an illegal terrorist organization such as the Tigers," said Kenney, "that's a pretty clear indication that it's probably not a prudent place for representatives of the government of Canada to be consulting people."

Some protesters disagreed with the designation of the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization.

"They're actually freedom fighters, they're fighting for our freedom," said Bobby Gana, who had come out to show her support on Parliament Hill.

Others disagreed with the interpretation of the Tamil flag.

Tamil demonstrators continued their protest Thursday morning, shutting down a portion of Ottawa's Wellington Street.

Tamil demonstrators continued their protest Thursday morning, shutting down a portion of Ottawa's Wellington Street.
(Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC)

Ghormathie Thevaraajah, 21, goes to school at York University in Toronto, but came to Ottawa to support Tamils in the demonstration.

"To outsiders it may seem like it's a terrorist flag — it's a Tamil Tiger flag — but I have news for you people, it's not," she said. "This is a flag that represents the Tamil people."

Thevaraajah said demonstrators would be willing to adapt if the federal government would meet with them.

"If the flag is the thing that's holding them back from coming and meeting with us, we're willing to fold our flag down — fold it down, not put it away," she said. "What matters most to us is that Canadian government acts to implement a ceasefire in a nation that has no care for humanitarian issues."