Maybe Tiger Woods is avoiding meeting with police officers to discuss his recent traffic accident in order to maintain his family’s privacy- a noble goal- but this will not quash speculation that he is a victim of family violence.
So far his public explanations leave lots of room for interpretations of various kinds- mostly unflattering.

Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay, a town in Maguindanao province in the Philippines, has been charged in the murders of 57 people who were on their way to file election papers for Ismael Mangudadatu, political rival of Ampatuan’s father who is governor of the province, Voice of America. Some of the suspects who carried out the attacks have turned themselves in and others are being sought by authorities. More than 20 journalists were also killed in the attack. New reports have surfaced that the women who were killed in the massacre were shot in the genitals and may have been raped, New York Times. Ismael Mangudadatu, whose wife was killed in the attack, has since filed the papers for his candidacy, Associated Press.

Financial markets around the world have fallen after news that Dubai World, a government run financial operation in Dubai,  needs to restructure its debt and will not be able to make payments as scheduled, New York Times. Explainer: What is Dubai World?, CNN.

Police in southern Florida are searching for Paul Michael Merhige, the man who allegedly fatally shot four of his family members yesterday,  CNN.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution condemning Iran’s construction of a secret nuclear facility for uranium enrichment. The resolution was backed by Iranian allies Russia and China. Iran is not thought to currently have the ability to produce a nuclear weapon and says that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but most world governments suspect that Iran is seeking nuclear capability, BBC News. Q & A on Iran’s nuclear programs, BBC News.

Here are some of the more interesting short news pieces in the field from the last few days.  If our international readers would like to add details, it would be greatly appreciated!

Argentina

Crean centro de asistencia a víctimas del terrorismo de Estado | Crean victims assistance center of state terrorism

El Ministerio de Justicia, Seguridad y Derechos Humanos creó el Centro de Asistencia a Víctimas del Terrorismo de Estado “Dr. Fernando Ulloa”, cuyo objetivo es “la asistencia psicológica, orientación y derivación de los afectados y/o sus familiares por las graves violaciones a los derechos humanos”.

(Google Translation) The Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights established the Center for Victims of State Terrorism “Dr. Fernando Ulloa”, whose goal is “psychological assistance, guidance and referral for those affected and / or their families about the serious violations human rights”.

European Union

Czech Republic Human Rights Minister wants to tackle domestic violence

Some 10,000 people have sought help in connection with domestic violence in the Czech Republic this year, and at least 92 percent of victims have been women, Human Rights Minister Michael Kocab said yesterday, adding his office is preparing a national plan to prevent domestic violence.The plan should help not only the victims but also children from the families where domestic violence occurs.

Moreover, the ministry would like to support non-profit organisation helping domestic violence victims, Kocab said yesterday…

France to ban ‘psychological violence’ in marriage

France is to pass a law banning “psychological violence within the couple” and study the idea of tagging violent partners to prevent them stalking their victims, the government said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced the measures in a speech to mark the United Nations’ tenth International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, promising legislation in the first half of nest year….

Poland, Spain want EU help for crime victims

Poland and Spain have begun a drive to create EU-wide protection for victims of crimes such as sexual abuse and trafficking, Polish Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski was quoted as saying Thursday.”We want national justice rulings to be applicable across the territory of the European Union, and not just in the country concerned,” Kwiatkowski told the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.

As it stands, victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking only get legal protection in the country where the perpetrators of the crime have been found guilty.

If they move to another EU member state, the victims therefore face the spectre of cross-border revenge — and starting a new legal process.

UK betrays Mumbai victims (Commentary)
I try to report news, not to comment on it. But watching Will, now 29, and his partner Kelly Doyle on television this morning, full of dignity, with not a shred of bitterness, it was impossible not to feel real anger at how they – and the dozens of other British citizens injured or killed in overseas terror attacks since 9/11 – have been abandoned and betrayed.

The nub of the issue is straightforward. There is a loophole in Britain’s compensation laws. Britons targeted by terrorism do get compensation from the government – but not if they fall victim overseas…

Israel

New plan to aid crime victims excludes domestic violence cases

This week saw other significant tidings for the families of the murdered women: The government approved a program to help families of murder victims cope and get on with their lives. However, this plan will not help those who were merely physically or sexually abused, rather than killed. They will still need to cope all by themselves. Nor will the program help most past victims; it applies only to future victims.

Nigeria

Rights Activist Decries Sexual Abuse

A human rights activist and social crusader, Mrs. Olushola Akai, has frowned at the rampant cases of sexual abuse against the youths in the present-day society

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) – Victoria Police have warned the parents of a primary school child that they can no longer discipline their child with a wooden spoon.

Teachers at Yea Primary School notified authorities after the student told a teacher she was smacked with a wooden spoon.

The Acting Inspector of the Child Abuse unit, Lauren Callaway, says there is a fine line between discipline and assault and it is the job of police to find out when that line has been crossed.

“In a 12-month period police will investigate nearly 4000 cases of child physical assault,” she said.

“Each case has to be dealt with on its individual merits.”

“When we look at an assault, we look at what the defences might be and one of them includes where a parents is lawfully chastising a child,” she said.

Acting Inspector Callaway says there is no definitive rule on what can be used to discipline a child, but the amount of force that is used is of concern and needs to be assessed by police.

“We do not have a checklist as such… we look at the level of injury inflicted… we also look at if there is any history of a family violence,” she said.

She says many parents are not charged.

“Parents should be confident that the police are able to make a sound judgement on each and every individual case.”

Police say parents need to make a judgement on what is reasonable force and what is not.

Source: Parents warned over wooden spoon smacking

The National Clearinghouse on Family Violence is a department of the federal Public Health Agency of Canada (more commonly known as Health Canada).   The Clearinghouse is the end result of the federal Family Violence Initiative, in which 15 separate departments or agencies are cooperating in producing programs and resources to help reduce family violence in Canada.

Videos, documents, handbooks, and research from a wide variety of sources is available through this central office.

One extremely useful tool offered through the Clearinghouse is their bi-monthly E-bulletin;  these bulletins are informative reports on specific topics, such as Intimate Partner Abuse Against Men, Family Violence in Aboriginal Communities, and this month’s topic, Child Maltreatment in Canada.

These reports include:

• New articles, reports and research materials
• Related conference summaries
• Upcoming events on this topic
• A listing of useful resources on the topic held in the Clearinghouse’s data banks
• Federal and provincial funding sources

A highly recommended resource on family violence and prevention in Canada!

National Clearinghouse on Family Violence
Family Violence Prevention Unit
Public Health Agency of Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway
(Address Locator: 1909D1)
9th Floor, Jeanne Mance Building
Tunney’s Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0K9

Telephone : 1-800-267-1291 (8am-8pm EST)
TTY: 1-800-465-7735
Fax : (613) 941-8930
Email : ncfv-cnivf@phac-aspc.gc.ca

I did not get to ask Little A what exactly went through her mind yesterday evening when she painted this picture.  I just fell in love with it and wanted to share it with you all.

    So then, today comes along.  Just another unassuming day.  I went to work.  We had Potluck thanksgiving dinner at work. 

 It was a really great day, because of the comraderie of the “family” type workplace we have, the dinner was completely enjoyable. 

  This morning we had awards ceremony too.  a long one.  I had to take a lot of pictures.  Even the weather was great.  I think it got into the 60’s maybe with sunny skies.  It would have been the perfect workout weather but I was so tired for some reason, maybe the huge lunch, IDK.  

 So I slept and pretty soon, “HE” came home with little A. 

 and then Big A came home.  

Then,

  Big A,

 came….home. 

 She was in a bad mood, where hanging with her friends brings the bravery out in her. 

 So she was amazingly snotty to me. 

First off, she wants on the computer, but I am not happy with her room, so I sent her up to clean it, and she comes down in 2.5 seconds.  *ahem*  not really clean.

  she brings the laptop over to me and wants me to type in the pass word. 

 When I refuse, she calls me “lazy” and proceeds to screech at me.

  Now,  she has decided that her own evening will be…in….alone without friends and folding clothes. 

 With this, she said “you suck” and “I hate you”.  

  One more thing came out of her mouth and I got up and steered her to the kitchen, asking “him” to come downstairs.

I should have known better to involve doug in any damn thing where conflict is involved.  shame on me.

  At this point, I have already given her a consequence for her actions: 

 which was to fold clothes, clean the kitchen, and go straight to bed. 

This time,  I give her a stern warning. 

 ME:  you don’t want to ruin your evening tommorrow do you?  (she shakes her head no because she wants very badly to attend the school dance with her friends)

 ME: then I suggest you never talk back to me again.  I am not screaming at you, you will not disrespect me by screaming at me and calling me names.” 

   Well…. Big A nods.  Yes, she understands, she was about to proceed to finish the chores, when “he”  got 2 inches from her face and screams at her:

 ”Yeah, that’s right!  You’re fucking gonna learn the rules of this house

I’m sick and tired of you disobeying..” 

OMG OMG I knew what was coming next. 

  Big A’s eyes welled up with tears, she screams back at him.  “I hate you! Go to hell!” 

  ME: Big A!  No! 

At this point, the “man” has stepped away but he turns back around and I am in the middle of them.

  Once again, I feel him absolutely “vibrating” with energy.  I don’t know how else to describe it.  It wasn’t him “shaking” so much as his actual self was vibrating like an electric wire.  

 He was full throttle and stuck in high gear. 

 Again, as in so many other times,  he is close to her and screams into her face:  FUCK YOU!!!!  his own flesh and blood daughter. 

i want to die.   

i am tired.

it is over between us.

it may not be today.

it may not be tommorrow. 

but it IS most assuredly over between us.

Big A’s best friend’s dad is a cop here on post.   I called him to have him come over and speak with my ‘husband’ rather than have me call some police on duty and have his name on the blotter tonight. 

his response after the talk was to go park himself upstairs and watch wrestling.  I didn’t try to follow him. 

   It quieted him but now, 3 hours later, as I write this, i realize.  I am just biding my time before he and I separate for good.   He just won’t ever get the damage that he has done and Is still doing with these daughters of his.

 Because my life has been so negatively touched by abuse almost from my 2nd year of life onward,  I now lack the capacity to do anything but love those who give love back, and no one else. 

I have chosen to sleep on the sofa, with no blanket tonight, wearing “his” army socks  and my dog by my side. 

 I won’t be able to really talk to him anymore after this. 

 The picture Little A painted?  was it prophetic?  A comfort to me? 

 or just a picture…. I’ll never know.

 but strangely tonight I am deriving much comfort from it. 

FORT PIERCE — A woman whose estranged husband allegedly tried to kill her before he committed suicide was in “severely critical” condition Thursday afternoon at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute. Authorities say William Beck, 54, used a .32-caliber gun to shoot his wife Jacqueline Beck, 54, twice — once in the face and once in the chest — before killing himself about 5 p.m. Wednesday in his home in the 8400 block of Fort Walton Boulevard in the Lakewood Park community. Jana Eschbach, a spokeswoman for the hospital, confirmed Jacqueline Beck’s condition Thursday afternoon. William Beck was pronounced dead at the scene. The couple were married but not living together. According to detectives, Jacqueline Beck came to William Beck’s home at his request, planning to tell him she wanted a divorce. Following a physical altercation, William Beck shot his wife and then shot himself in the head, deputies said. The gun was found under William Beck’s body.

MOTHERS INTELLIGENCE SECRET SERVICE

http://mothersintelligencesecretservice.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/dossier-mark-k-godbey/

Dossier: Mark K Godbey

Posted on November 15, 2009 by mothersintelligencesecretservice

Mark K Godbey has a long history of frivolous litigation against his ex wife.  Despite numerous restraining orders made against him, he continued to persue her through the courts.   He was sentenced for contempt on two occasions.

Alike most advocates for shared parenting, he publicly claims to promote that children are better off with both parents and privately cheers on cases where the child has been deprived of the mother:

Technorati Tags: Dossier,Mark,Godbey,MISS,INTELLIGENCE,SECRET,SERVICE,November,history,litigation,wife,Despite,orders,courts,contempt,Alike,children,cheers,cases,mothersintelligencesecretservice

by San Diego News 10

High Costs Of Family Court

Parents Say They Are Drained Of Money By Court Professionals

by Lauren Reynolds

SAN DIEGO — Jim Wittmack’s home is lined with hundreds of pictures of the two children who no longer live with him.

"The whole custody thing was about money," he said.

He has strong feelings about the family court system.

"It is very well crafted by the professionals to extort money from the parents and ramp up fees," he explained.

It’s a complaint the 10News I-Team has heard several times over the past year while investigation several stories in family court.

Connie Valentine of the California Protective Parents Association said, "It’s pay to play."

She said the problem is not unique to San Diego or even to California, but is nationwide.

"It’s a money industry at this point; a completely unregulated money industry in which the professionals can charge what they want," she said.

The professionals include attorneys, evaluators, special masters and mediators. Sometimes one person will take on different roles in different cases. For example, a mediator in one case might be a custody evaluator in a second and a special master, or tie-breaker, in a third.

Among the higher priced services provided by psychologists in San Diego is a custody evaluation. There are a dozen psychologists routinely used in San Diego Family Court.

"The fact that they use the same 12 people over and over again just confirms that it’s like a cartel," said Wittmack.

He said the professionals know each other well and refer each other work.

Wittmack had two evaluations over three years with the same psychologist. The cost was $14,000.

"You just have to come up with the money whether it exists or not. In my case, I borrowed it from my sister," he explained.

The evaluators often will not release their reports until their bill is paid; they even get judges to compel payment, the I-team learned.

The I-Team found one example out of Northern California in which an 11-year-old boy, Coby, was the center of a custody dispute. His mother was ordered to pay $2,200 upfront to a custody evaluator. In the ruling, the judge wrote, "If mother does not pay the fees … primary custody shall be changed."

The mother did not come up with the money and she lost custody. She told the I-Team she didn’t have the money and the boy’s father had missed child support payments.

Valentine said, "It’s a shocking case."

She reported it to the Judicial Council, which oversees California courts.

Evaluators counter that their work provides valuable insight, especially given that judges get limited time with family members involved in disputes.

Stephen Sparta, Ph.D., spoke before a gathering of family law attorneys, judges and evaluators last spring and pointed out that evaluations are thorough and can help spot the psychosis in parents. He gave examples of violent outcomes of custody battles to make his point.

"Sometimes I feel badly that people without money don’t get these evaluations," he told the crowd.

The I-Team confirmed that low income families, even those with documented conflict, are not ordered to get the custody evaluations because there is nobody to pay for it. The reports are only used for families with financial means.

Since even some judges question the value, the I-Team asked Supervising Judge Lorna Alksne why they are used for people in the middle or upper classes.

She responded that parents often request or demand these evaluations hoping their side will be favored. In most cases, she said, it is the parents and their attorneys who provide the court with the names they want to be selected as the evaluator. Judges do not control the costs, but they may rule on how parents should split the bill.

Alksne also pointed out that some judges try to dissuade parents from getting the evaluations because of the time and expense involved and the fact that it does not always solve the problems relating to custody sharing arrangements.

Parents have told the I-Team that attorneys or even judges steered them into the evaluation.

One local Judge, Jeffrey Boswick, is openly critical of the process. He spoke frankly about the evaluations while giving a presentation to court professionals. The presentation was videotaped and provided to 10News.

"It’s too expensive, it takes too long to do, and it often times doesn’t solve anything in the case," he said.

Wittmack said he had 50-50 custody of his children and that he and his wife typically were cordial to each other until the lawyers and professionals became involved.

He said he agreed to the first custody evaluation, but made it clear that he couldn’t afford the second one.

In a letter, the custody evaluator who worked on his case said Wittmack failed to pay the entire "cost of the assessment" up-front.

The evaluator wrote it "resulted in the court changing custody."

Wittmack has his pictures of his children all around him, but he only has his children every other weekend.

© 2009 San Diego News 10

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Hello everyone!  I’m sure that everyone is just as happy that it’s Friday as I am!  This has been a crazy couple of weeks for me.  Besides my normal school and field placement work, I’ve also been dealing with the new puppy and a new job (more on that later).

I’ve been cooking a lot of comfort food this week!  I didn’t even realize that I had planned all of them out like that until G said something about it.  Weird.  Guess it’s the weather.  A couple of nights ago I made RR’s Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese.

We weren’t crazy about this, but I also didn’t follow the recipe to the t.  I forgot to get provolone cheese, so I used a mixture of cheeses that probably didn’t hold up as well as they could have.  Eh oh well.  I still like RR

Tonight I made burgers with ground chicken and some oven baked onion rings.

I have felt pretty unhealthy lately.  Probably a large part of that is because we’ve been watching the puppy so much and can’t really take him out too much yet.  He hasn’t had all of his vaccinations.  But how can you say no to this face?

So, I just finished training for my new job.  I’m going to be an on-call family crisis worker.  Basically, the hospital has a program for victims of domestic violence and every patient is screened for those type of problems.  If someone is screened positive and it is after business hours, then the nurses would call the on-call person (me!).  I work with the women (or men) on screening them for physical/emotional/sexual abuse, talk with them about the dynamics of abuse, and then provide resources and do safety planning with them.

I really like this work.  I think it’s common for people to have an idea in their minds about what kinds of women go through abuse, but it can seriously happen to any person no matter their age, race, sexual preference, gender, religion, ethnicity- you name it.  The fact that I am able to plant the seeds in these women’s minds about getting themselves into better situations.  So we’ll see how it goes!!

I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend, even though I REALLY need to get some work done!  Hope you have a relaxing one, too!!

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A Delray Beach police officer has been arrested on aggravated assault and battery charges.

Roldry Philias

Boynton Beach police said Roldry Philias, 34, choked his wife and pointed a gun at her in front of her son and their 11-month-old daughter during a domestic dispute at their home Thursday.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Philias’ wife told police she and her husband had been arguing throughout the day. When she attempted to leave, Philias let the air out of her vehicle’s tires, tampered with the engine and locked her in the garage.

Police said that as Philias’ wife was trying to get back in the house, Philias placed her in a choke hold, retrieved one of his guns from the kitchen cabinet and pointed it at her head, threatening her.

During an interview with detectives, according to the affidavit, the son of Philias’ wife said Philias pointed a gun at “my mommy’s face and mouth” and “pulled a knife on me.”

According to the affidavit, Philias denied pointing a gun at her or assaulting her and said his wife pressed a knife against his stomach.

Delray Beach police said Philias has been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice.