Dads on the Air ~ THE EMASCULATED VIKINGS

Dads on the Air | www.dadsontheair.net Local Sydney Time: 10.30am to 12 midday Tuesday 15th September 2009 USA Eastern time: 8.30pm to 10pm Monday 14th September 2009 USA Pacific time: 5.30pm to 7pm Monday 14th September 2009 UK GMT time: 1.30am to 3am Monday night (Tuesday morning) 15th September 2009 Listen live on 2GLF 89.3FM in Sydney or online via live streaming at www.893fm.com.au/On-Air or in MP3 format at www.dadsontheair.net or subscribe to our Podcast here THE EMASCULATED VIKINGS With special guests: Joakim Ramstedt. Today we speak with well known Swedish musician, human rights activists and political Blogger, Joakim Ramstedt. He and his popular band Tequila Sunrise have released a new album, with many of the songs referring to the various elements that comprise the destructive International family justice system, which is doing so much harm to unsuspecting separating parents and their children around the globe. Throughout history, people have found ways to separate children either from one or both of their parents and extended families. This phenomenon can be traced right back to medieval times. Modern man has fine tuned the methods used to accomplish this insidious practice and has even found a way to make it legal to do so, by creating a court of law that hides behind the mantle of "In the best interest of the children", while it severs many of the world's children from half of their biological family tree. Like a cancer, this practice has spread to every corner of the globe, and now affects hundreds of millions of responsible, loving parents and their children on our planet. We see families torn apart by a secret court system that provides the perfect mechanisms to set in motion the destruction of our family bonds, our communities and our way of life as we know it. These are legalized state sponsored human rights violations, and no-one seems to care. However, fortunately there are a number of more enlightened people, who are working hard to bring about change, by raising awareness to this appalling practice of child stealing, which somehow has not yet registered with the main body of our legislators, media and the wider community. Joakim and his family and children are also victims of this International scandal, which has now been allowed to flourish unimpeded for the past thirty five years, and he has simply had enough and drawn a line in the sand. With nothing further to loose, he has decided to embark on a mission to expose the many false statistics, hysteria and mis-information that is being allowed to drive the debate and on which so many of our flawed family law policies are being formulated worldwide. For more information about Dads on the Air, click here

From OZ ~ Dads on the Air ~ "The Canadian Special"

Dads On The Air
Monday night 3rd August for Northern Hemisphere and North American cable listeners , Early Tuesday morning 4 August 2009 for British and European Cable listeners and Monday Morning 4th August 10.30 am for Australian listeners and cable users

2GLF FM 89.3 and ONLINE

Local Sydney Australia Time: 10.30 am to 12 midday Tuesday 4th August 2009

USA and Canadian Eastern time: 8.30 pm to 10 pm Monday 3rd August 2009

USA and Canadian Pacific time: 5.30 pm to 7 pm Monday 3rd August 2009

UK GMT time: 12.30am to 2am Monday night (early Tuesday morning) 3rd-4th August 2009

In Canada:

Maritimes: 9.30 pm to 11.00 pm
Ontario: 8.30 pm to 10.00 pm

Prairies and Alberta: 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm

British Columbia: 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm

Listen live on 2GLF 89.3FM in Sydney or online via live streaming at www.893fm.com.au/On-Air

or in MP3 format at www.dadsontheair.net or subscribe to our Podcast

"The Canadian Special"
With Special Guests:
Karen Selick
Roger Gallaway
Jeffrey Asher

This week we look at the struggle for family law reform in Canada, the home of some of the world's most extreme anti-male anti-father legislation. Recently Dads On The Air interviewed Canadian MP Maurice Vellacot, who has introduced shared parenting legislation into the Canadian parliament. This week we follow on from that interview by talking with the highly experienced family lawyer Karen Selick, who has been an outspoken proponent for reform of the system; Roger Gallaway MP, who co-chaired an inquiry into shared parenting in Canada and Jeffrey Asher, a lecturer on men's studies who taught the last men's studies course in the country. With Australia's left wing government heading in exactly the opposite direction to the rest of the western world and winding back the modest reforms of the previous government promoting cooperative care of children after divorce, now is the perfect time to look at the situation around the world. Canadian society and many tens of thousands of fathers and their children have paid a very high price for the country's previous embrace of extreme anti-male ideology; and numerous voices are now united in a call for sanity to prevail.

Our first guest, Karen Selick, is a lawyer who spent approximately 22 years practising family law in Belleville, Ontario. During that time, she became an outspoken critic of Canada's divorce laws, including the law on marital property division, spousal support, child support and child custody. She has also publicly criticized the biases she observed in the courtroom. Selick was a columnist for Canadian Lawyer magazine for approximately 17 years, and currently contributes irregularly to the op-ed pages of the National Post, one of the few newspapers in the world which has over the past decade consistently run articles exposing the destructive practices of the family law industry and its bias against men. Her collected columns appear on her website at www.karenselick.com. Frequently, she wrote on matters related to family law. She has also appeared many times on television and radio to discuss family law issues. In 1998, she gave testimony to a Senate committee,opposing the then recently introduced Child Support Guidelines. In July, 2009 Selick left her practice to join the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), a public-interest law firm that promotes freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of contract and private property rights. Among other things, the CCF initiates or participates in courtroom challenges of laws repugnant to the freedom and natural-law rights of Canadians. Here is an extract from her article: Is Family Law Really Better than Sharia?

"Having practiced family law in Ontario since 1985, I watched with some amusement the recent uproar over whether or not Ontarians should be allowed to arbitrate their matrimonial disputes using Sharia law.

"In their haste to condemn what they view as an unjust and undesirable body of law, opponents of Sharia arbitration overlook the corollary implicit in their position: namely, that ordinary Ontario family law—as specified primarily in the Family Law Act and the Divorce Act—is a just and desirable code for resolving matrimonial disputes.

"To me, this proposition is laughable. Blinded by their fear of radical Islamists, Sharia opponents have played right into the hands of a different set of radicals: radical feminists.

"Although gender-neutral in its language, today’s family law legislation was enacted over the past two decades primarily with the intention of benefiting women at the expense of men. My own view is that these laws have also institutionalized injustice at the expense of justice.

"The Divorce Act, for instance, provides that a spouse’s “conduct in relation to the marriage” is irrelevant in determining her entitlement to spousal support. Although superficially gender-neutral, this provision actually protects women (who comprise the overwhelming proportion of support recipients) from the consequences of their own blatant marital misconduct—acts such as adultery, desertion and
violence. Countless Canadian men pay support to their estranged wives and former wives despite the fact that these women deceived them, cuckolded them, then departed to live openly with new lovers or new husbands. Other men are paying support to women who viciously assaulted them.

"When I first began practicing family law, such behaviour would have 'disentitled' a wife to support. Nowadays, instead of punishing women for breaching their contracts, the law rewards them.

"Is this the legal system we hold out as an exemplar of justice"?

"Then there are the child custody and support laws. The vast preponderance of custodial parents and child support recipients are mothers. Men who seek custody generally face an uphill battle. I have heard several judges openly admit to being biased in favour of granting custody to mothers.

"Nevertheless, the law requires fathers to pay support in prescribed amounts even if the mothers poison their children’s minds to the point where the kids refuse to speak to their fathers. Fathers have to pay even if the mothers uproot their children and drag them off to another province so that the fathers rarely or never get to see them. Fathers have to pay even if the mothers are wealthier than they are and don’t need the money. Several Canadian men are known to have committed suicide as a result of these laws. Others have fled the country.

"Is this the legal system we consider superior to religious arbitration?"

Our next guest is the popular ex member of the Canadian Member of Parliament Roger Gallaway

In his former motion to amend the Divorce Act he stated that legal battles over child custody often lead lawyers to encourage their clients to complain of psychological abuse, and women in particular to complain about violence and abuse in order to gain the upper hand in disputes.

He is a personal friend and frequent political ally of Liberal-turned-Conservative-turned Independent Senator Anne Cools, and has worked with her to reform Canada's divorce laws in recent years. Both Cools and Gallaway have sought to ensure greater custody rights for fathers. In furtherance of these concerns, Gallaway served as co-chair of the Special Joint Committee on Custody and Access, which recommended shared parenting as the norm in its report, For The Sake of The Children, issued in 1998. The report called for shared custody, repeal of the tender year's doctrine and strict rules of proof when abuse was alleged. More than 10 years after the report has been ignored by successive Justice Ministers and governments. However there are now new moves afoot to finally reform Canada's troubled family law arena. As proponent of change MP Maurice Vellacott argued on Dads On The Air recently, with so many people having witnessed the damage done to their friends and relatives through the extreme anti-father bias of contemporary family law, 80% of the Canadian population now support shared parenting. Surveys in Australia have showed similar levels of support in the community, making even more outrageous the Australian governments moves to turn back the clock. Of the three government inquiries now in train in Australia, not one is asking the opinions of fathers or the general public. The mandarins have the debate by the throat. They could not care less what the public thought.

Roger Gallaway lives on the Canada-US border directly opposite the American State of Michigan. From 1991 until 2006 he was an elected representative first for the town of Pt Edward as Mayor and then for 13 years he served in Ottawa as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Sarnia-Lambton. A former lawyer he is a graduate of the University of Windsor Law School and is a Queens' Privy Councillor.

Our final guest is Jeffrey Asher a retired teacher, who taught "Men's Lives," the only Canadian college level course on men's issues. Two thirds of his students were open-minded young women. This course was the very last 'Men's Studies' course ever taught in Canadian Universities and Colleges. He has written on male epidemiology and sex differences in intellectual ability. He knows his gender disparity backwards and continues to advocate on behalf of the natural family, equal opportunities and equal justice before the law. He says experience as a father was the most demanding and rewarding experience of his life.

Jeffrey Asher says over 40% of marriages end in divorce, and amongst university graduate women over 50%. Less than 6% of fathers are granted residential custody by the courts. "I was one of those rare fathers," he says. "The remaining 94% of fathers are reduced to wallets and weekend visitors with their children whom they love above all else. I am concerned about prevention of such grief, imposed on children and fathers. My young men students frequently asked how they might avoid divorce horrors".

"These are painful questions, but necessary in our age of feminist jurisprudence. Should men marry? Or should men maintain relationships with women only as long as both are satisfied? Should men conceive children? Those beloved children will be likely torn from them and possibly alienated".

"Repeated studies show that from 10% to 30% of children were conceived by a man who is NOT their wife’s legal partner. If a man’s partner or wife delivers a child, should he routinely request a DNA fatherhood test? What, if any, are the conditions which might permit a man to marry and raise children in a stable and lifelong marriage? Is that currently possible?

In last month's article "Why most men tolerate feminist misandry" Jeffrey Asher wrote:

"Over twelve years of teaching Men’s Lives, I also wondered why majority-male legislatures, judiciaries and mainstream media editors, capitulated to and enforced feminist politics and jurisprudence.

"Above all, men are powerfully driven by sexual attraction to women. Men easily rationalize their sexual need for women as based in intellectual and moral equality.

"Male protection of women and children - at the risk of men’s safety and lives - over millennia of social evolution, allowed our species to survive. I suspect that imperative is as integral to male brains and hormones, as the need for and care of children is integral to women.

"Men in power did not accede to feminists because of sexual opportunism alone – women remain second to one in that category. When feminists – confused as representing women – called out to men for ‘equality,’ men entrenched quotas and feminist jurisprudence. A man shamed by a woman promptly takes corrective action, to ‘act like a Man’.

"Most men did not expect feminists, to lie. Nor did men account for female emotional volatility. Men did not expect feminists to sabotage the family. Men did not realize that the driving force behind feminism was activist female self-loathing and lesbian misandry, deliberately alienating girls and women from heterosexuality and the family.

"Donna Laframboise in "The Princess at the Window," observed that in the feminist movement, the lunatic fringe had taken over the mainstream. Feminists terrorized women against men with abuse, assault and rape agitprop. And yes, too many men remain self-loathing feminists.

I suspect the above partially explains the reluctance of most men in power to oppose feminist opportunism, even after their own marriages are destroyed and their children torn asunder...

"At the end of the day, most men hope to return home, to their wife and children, whom they love. That is a powerful restraint against male denunciation of feminist family destruction."

By John Stapleton
www.dadsontheair.net

The Honourable Maurice Vellacott MP ~ Dads on the Air

"THE WORLD'S LONGEST RUNNING RADIO PROGRAM ON FATHERS' ISSUES"

USA-Canadian Eastern time: 8.30pm to 10pm Monday 6th July 2009 USA-Canadian Pacific time: 5.30pm to 7pm Monday 6th July 2009. UK GMT time: 12.30am to 2am Monday night ( Early Tuesday morning) (Local Sydney Time: 10.30am to 12 midday Tuesday 7th July 2009 )

Listen online via live streaming at www.893fm.com.au/On-Air or in MP3 format at www.dadsontheair.net .

Dads On The Air

Monday 6th July 2GLF FM 89.3 and ONLINE www.dadsontheair.net

SHARED PARENTING-WHY IT WORKS.

With Special Guests: The Honourable Maurice Vellacott MP (Canada) Michael Green QC (Australia)

With moves clearly afoot to wind back the modest reforms of the previous government on shared parenting legislation designed to encourage a relationship between both parents and children after separation, we take a look at the very strong case for shared parenting as the norm post-separation, with advocates arguing it works best for both children and parents - as well as saving the government a great deal of money by encouraging single parents to get off welfare and into work. The Honourable Maurice Vellacott MP is a Canadian Member of Parliament who has just introduced a parliamentary private members bill (C-422) promoting shared parenting into the Canadian Federal legislature in Ottawa

He says a recent poll demonstrated that 78% of Canadians support equal shared parenting, with slightly more women than men support cooperative care of children post divorce. Surveys in Australia have shown similar high levels of support, with the main obstruction to the common sense notion coming from bureaucrats and the family law industry itself. As well regular guest Sue Price from the unfashionably named Men's Rights Agency will talk about the devastating impacts on individuals and the broader community of the sole mother custody model which has done so much harm over recent decades. She dismisses the current spirited campaign by feminist lobby groups outside Family Courts as nothing but hysterical male bashing by people with absolutely no knowledge of family law.

We close the show with an extended interview with Michael Green QC , author of the book Shared Parenting, who is also alarmed at the current moves to unwind shared parenting legislation. He argues that with legislation in many jurisdictions now enshrining shared parental responsibility and parenting time, there is ample research which indicates how important it is for children to continue meaningful relationships after family breakdown.

Maurice Vellacott was born in 1955 and has been married to Mary since 1976. They have four children and six grandchildren. Maurice grew up in rural Saskatchewan, and currently resides on a small farm just outside of Saskatoon in the constituency. He is the Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin,

Here is part of the statement Maurice Vellacott made at the time of introduction of a Shared Parenting Bill to the Canadian Parliament:

"Unfortunately, many Canadian families experience the breakup of a marriage. When this happens, the results can be devastating for children. Children are caught in the middle, but should not be used as a weapon or alienated from one of the parents.

"Aside from proven abuse or neglect, Canadians want equal shared parenting to be the presumption in our courts when marriages break up because it is in the best interests of children and because it is part of an enlightened equality agenda. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has written, "These groups demanded that the "custody and access" regime created by the Divorce Act of 1985 be replaced with a "shared parent" regime in which both parents are given equal rights to bring up their children. These are sensible and overdue suggestions, and the fact they are being made shows that men and women are struggling to correct the rights revolution, so that equality works for everyone."

"Bill C-422 would direct courts to make equal shared parenting the presumptive arrangement in the best interests of the child, except in proven cases of abuse or neglect. This bill is very important in bringing Canadian legislation in line with what the best research says about the best interests of children. With limited exceptions, children generally demonstrate superior outcomes when both parents - mom AND dad - are actively involved in their children's lives, even if the parents divorce or separate. This bill also reflects the spirit of recommendations made over 10 years ago in a Joint House-Senate committee presented to Parliament entitled "For the Sake of the Children." A recent poll I commissioned, conducted by Nanos Research, shows that 78% of Canadians support equal shared parenting, with a high of 86% support in the province of Quebec. Slightly more women than men support equal shared parenting. Among supporters of major political parties, about 78% of Conservatives support equal shared parenting; 75.8% of the NDP; 80.6% of Liberals supported equal shared parenting; and 83% of Bloc supporters endorsed equal shared parenting.

"I am grateful today for the many expressions of support from Parliamentarians on a multi-party basis. I am thankful that two of my colleagues, Liberal MP Riaymonde Folco and Steven Blaney, both representing Quebec ridings, are on the platform today and can speak to the French perspective on this widely-supported initiative in Quebec. Countries, such as Denmark, Belgium and Norway, as well as some U.S. states, have implemented equal parenting, joint custody or shared parenting presumptive legislation, resulting in lower court costs, less conflict and improved social outcomes for the children of divorce. In the few years that I have been dealing with this issue, I have heard from so many men and women who have urged me to pursue these reforms. In just the past 24 hours since introducing this bill, I have received an outpouring of thanks and appreciation from across Canada. Many of these people have been working with their own Members of Parliament, as well as with their provincial politicians, to build a strong non-partisan foundation for pursuing lasting equal shared parenting reforms that will be in the best interests of Canadian children. Equal shared parenting is the right thing to do for Canadian children. As Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has said, "these are sensible and overdue suggestions, and the fact they are being made shows that men and women are struggling to correct the rights revolution, so that equality works for everyone." This bill is one of the most apolitical, non-partisan pieces of legislation introduced in this current Parliament. I look forward to strong support for this important piece of legislation from all members of Parliament who are committed to the best interests of our Canadian children."

-----------------------------------

In between our two primary interviews we talk with Sue Price from the Men's Rights Agency, who has become alarmed by the demonstrations being mounted outside Family Courts by feminist groups claiming that shared parenting is forcing children to spend time with abusive parents. She argues these groups-and who knows how much taxpayer money these groups are directly or indirectly receiving - are driven by an anti-father anti-family ideology but unfortunately their hysterical male bashing is apparently being listened to by the government.

We close the show talking with Michael Green QC, who has long been one of the country's most well informed critics of the present family law system. His book, co-authored with Jill Burrett, has made a significant contribution to the debate.

Shared Parenting shows how parents can resolve issues and work together after separation and how both parents can maintain meaningful relationships with their children.

The authors, Jill Burrett and Michael Green, bring to this work their expertise in counselling and mediation, respectively. They provide sample parenting plans - both complex and simple - for various types of separated families. The practical tools they offer work in every party's best interests - especially the children's.

With legislation in many jurisdictions now enshrining shared parental responsibility and parenting time, the authors show separated parents how to make this work. They cite supporting research which indicates how important it is for children to continue meaningful relationships after family breakdown.

Myths and misconceptions are dealt with, together with practical advice on how parents can get past their hurt and anger and focus on approaches that will benefit their children. The authors also tackle the nuts and bolts of weekly routines and include useful suggestions on timetabling and communication between households.

Once a good shared parenting arrangement is in place, the emotional benefits reveal themselves:

* mums becoming more comfortable with sharing the children;

* dads learning to truly be with the children; and

* children being happier in shared care arrangements, and so benefiting their parents.

With over 30 years' experience as a lawyer, Michael Green now runs a private mediation practice specialising in family conferencing, mediation, life skills programs and dispute resolution. He conducts programs to assist men and women to better manage their lives and parenting following separation and divorce. He is the father of two children and the author of Fathers After Divorce, a book that has helped many men become successful separated parents.

From the Introduction to Shared Parenting:

Equal shared parenting is the new way to look at parenting after separation and divorce. In many countries (including the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Canada and Australia) cooperative shared parenting has for decades been rightly regarded as the best way of ensuring children of divorced parents adjust well to family change, so in many ways it's actually nothing new. But because for so long it's been presumed that dads either can't or don't want to be involved more often than fortnightly (and even that they aren't sufficiently competent to do more!), equal shared parenting seems new, challenging the assumption that upon separation children live with one parent or the other. For far too long there's been a misplaced belief that children, especially those under 10, are better off with their mother. This has helped to spawn another (hotly debated) belief - that the legal system disadvantages fathers.

We believe that this situation has seriously disadvantaged children, and that fathers should be more engaged with their children than they have been. This requires real time, just like most mothers have always known - and given. We also believe that, for a very long time, gender stereotypes, 'the system' and other complex prejudices have discouraged some fathers and caused others to participate little in parenting, especially after separating.

We don't think fortnightly weekend parenting is meaningful shared parenting. We think that shared parenting means having real chunks of time engaged with your children for a flexible 35-50 percent or more of their available time.

Sole-mother 'custody', with mother doing all the parenting and father merely paying the bills and popping into the kids' lives from time to time, isn't really good enough for children - and often not for mothers - in either separated or 'intact' family situations.

We want to:

* help co-parents get real about what's possible for their own families, in their own unique circumstances. Gearing your life around children's real needs demands great self-sacrifice and compromise. If you aren't really up to full-on shared parenting, maybe you shouldn't be signing up for it. If you are, we want to encourage you to do it well.

* help you to be self-responsible and creative about separated parenting. We recognise that for many mothers shared parenting is difficult to contemplate, and for many fathers it's difficult to achieve.

* discourage you from following misplaced advice from the wrong people, and help you get reliably informed about the myths and realities of child psychology and legal precedents.

* help you avoid using the legal system except for its mediation and information services.

Next week: Former premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett from Beyond Blue talks about the many issues facing men in Australia today. As well we will be playing the press conference from the recent health conference at Parliament House in Canberra.

www.dadsontheair.net

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Canadian Listeners: The time for listening live on cable on Monday is 8.30 PM Ottawa-Toronto time which is 7.30 pm Manitoba time 6.30 pm Saskatchewan and Alberta time and 5.30 pm British Columbia time.

American Listeners: Same as above according to adjoining states and time zones i.e. New York and Washington DC 8.30 pm and Los Angeles and San Francisco 5.30 pm

United Kingdom Listeners:: 12.30 am (early Tuesday morning)

Western European Listeners: 1.30 am (early Tuesday morning)

Australian Listeners: Tuesday 7th July 10.30 am Sydney Time

In Belgium withholding a child from the other parent is considered abduction

In Belgium with their Equal Shared Parenting laws withholding a child from the other parent is considered abduction! You will go to Jail!


Shared Parenting in Belgium: The following is a quote from http://www.equalparentingalliance.org

"In 2006, Belgium introduced laws that make parenting time equal after separation. Listen to Dr Pascal Gallez describing to the Australian radio show, Dads on the air, how this law came about and how it is working in practice http://www.dadsontheair.net/shows/Dads_on_the_Air_2009-03-10.mp3 . The interview begins min.12.36 into the show."

Dr. Gallez explains that withholding a child from the other parent in their shared parenting system in Belgium is viewed as abduction and the withholding parent of either gender goes to jail. They do not recognize PA in Europe as a legally presentable disorder but their system, given its nature, should reduce it and false allegations of abuse will not have the same weight as in North America.

He indicates support is not involved unless there is a wide disparity in income when time is 50-50. If time is different than 50-50 then the parties work on the payment arrangement and present it to the judge. The judge only wants to be a rubber stamp of approval.

The child support administration moved on to do other work and does not care about the changes. Parents have adjusted to the system and are happy with it. They no longer find all the incentives to fight.

A feminist Justice Minister was involved who was divorced. She wanted her ex husband to share parenting. It was interfering with her career and so it was selfish on her part but had a positive outcome for all affected. She had a female ally in her government who helped. How did the government listen. They introduced same sex marriage as a matter of ethical government in the same fashion as Shared-Equal parenting. Bring argument with reasoning why is it good for children, parents and the government/divorce industry rather than yelling victim. The lobbying with the right government in place, in this case, a centre right party, was a catalyst, particularly given the feminist Minister's stance. Yelling victim, victim, victim was not productive. All of the above including some serendipity came together. He emphasized the importance of an ethical government.

The media was neutral. They opened up discussion with both sides. It was finally a "party" vote rather than a free vote that passed the law by 2/3 majority.

In Belgium parents have a constitutional right as parents. The state only gets involved if the parents cannot come to a decision but judges want it to be close to 50-50.

Two laws are still required 1) Against false allegations 2) paying alimony Once these laws are passed it will be better. Activism is still needed to ensure the message is sent to the government if improvements such as the two laws noted are required.

Fathers, Mothers and children are generally happy with the outcomes. Dr. Gallez recommends trying to show the Belgium example to our Government when lobbying.