Australia Family Court Reforms

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Australia Family Court Reforms

Sitting as a Family Court judge, Diana Bryant could see from her bench what the lawyers could not: their clients, who sat in silence behind them, looking angry and frustrated, trying to resist the temptation to protest when they disagreed with what was being said.

... When she offered the couple their chance to have a say, she was startled by what she heard. This was a case in which the father's access to the children had been limited because there had been allegations of child sexual abuse, which the child later retracted.

... When the mother spoke, she did not ask for what she wanted either. She talked passionately about how she had not made the abuse complaint out of malice but because she had been encouraged to by child protection officers; .

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Government Will Not Tackle Crime Says Policeman

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Government Will Not Tackle Crime Says Policeman As much as I try to remain optimistic, I fear that our society is in moral freefall and its fabric is deteriorating before our eyes. Institutions which have withstood the test of decades if not centuries have been obliterated in the last 10 years.

Left-wing governments love crime. The more of it, the better.

And this is why, for example, they allow persistent young offenders off the hook, they promote fatherlessness and family breakdown, they impoverish the prison system, they encourage excessive immigration, they burden police officers with politically-correct procedures, they maintain a hopeless war on drugs (thus also tempting so many youngsters to join the criminal fraternity) they disempower the parents and the teachers, they add fuel to the child-abuse hysteria, - and goodness knows what else.

Indeed, whenever you think about all the things that governments could do in order to reduce the crime rate, you should also ask yourself why it is that, in practice, despite all their grand rhetoric to the contrary, they seem to do the very opposite.

And the answer is quite simple. Governments benefit hugely from crime; e.g. see The Governing Elite

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The UK's Attorney General - An Impartial Judge?

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The UK's Attorney General - An Impartial Judge? Let me restate that, just in case it has not sunk in. This exceedingly rich Lord Goldsmith, who himself once gave cash to the Labour Party, is going to decide whether any figures from Downing Street will have their collars felt in the cash-for-honours row. Quentin Letts - a must read for Brits

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No Compensation For Traumatised Soldiers

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No Compensation For Traumatised Soldiers Thousands of traumatised soldiers have been denied payouts because a Government-approved insurance scheme does not cover long-term psychological illnesses.

But, as we know, women can claim thousands of pounds simply for feeling harassed in the workplace.

An MoD spokesman said: "It is up to each service person to determine whether they need insurance and to decide which schemes best meet their needs. While the MoD neither endorses nor sponsors any commercial insurance scheme, all service personnel are made aware of the importance of having sufficient insurance cover to meet their particular circumstances."

Do women have to take out 'harassment insurance" in order to claim compensation?

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Husbands with many wives can claim extra benefits

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Husbands with many wives can claim extra benefits ...

Polygamous husbands settling in Britain with multiple wives can claim extra benefits for their "harems" even though bigamy is a crime in the UK, it has emerged.

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Small Government Is Best

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Small Government Is Best Going for small means smashing bigness, not just making speeches about it as political parties always do. It means withdrawing government from intruding on people’s lives, not extending it with daily initiatives, taskforces and enforcement regimes. It means trusting communities to decide on their public services, as they may in other countries. It means governing as if citizens mattered more than a hyperactive state. That way lies not only efficiency but also, we are now told, human happiness. Simon Jenkins - 5 min - probably only of interest to Brits.

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Pupils ‘not punished’ for false claims of sex abuse

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Pupils Not Punished For False Claims Of Sex Abuse Children who allege falsely that teachers have abused them are often not punished, even when their lies have ruined the career of their victim, teachers said yesterday.

And, of course, nor are women usually punished for the false accusations that they make - which they make by the thousand.

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New BBC Chief Is Labour Party Man

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New BBC Chief Is Labour Party Man

Sir Michael Lyons, the new chairman of the BBC Trust, has admitted that he was a member of the Labour Party until the day he was appointed to the politically sensitive post.
The former Birmingham City Council chairman, who is said to be close to Gordon Brown, had previously declined to say whether he retained his party membership during his career in public life.
Yesterday the former Labour councillor and acting chairman of the Audit Commission admitted that he had retained his political affiliation until his BBC appointment. He told the BBC’s WM West Midlands radio station: “I’m not a member of the Labour Party any more. When this job was confirmed, at that point
I resigned.” He continued: “What I have got to establish across the country, for people who don’t know me and won’t ever know me, is my impartiality and I didn’t feel it was easy to do that and remain as a member of a political party.”
Asked about his relationship with the Chancellor, for whom he recently conducted an inquiry into local government funding, Sir Michael said: “He’s asked me to do three jobs for him and I’ve done them to the best of my ability. That’s where it begins and ends.”


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This is a typical scam by the government.

The new BBC chief is a Labour Party supporter. He will ensure that the BBC puts out messages that favour the Labour Party; especially at election times.

In other words, the taxpayer, through the BBC licence fee, is forced to fund left-wing propaganda from the BBC which will tilt the gullible population towards supporting the Labour Party.

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Corrupt Paul Wolfowitz Exposed

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Corrupt Paul Wolfowitz Exposed Paul Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank and once a pillar of the Bush administration, was fighting to save his career yesterday when he apologised over pay rises and promotions given to his former colleague and partner.

Mr Wolfowitz admitted approving large pay rises for Shaha Ali Riza, a British woman of Libyan origin, who has been his partner since he separated from his wife six years ago.

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The Duke Case: Statement From Attorney General

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Statement from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on the Duke University lacrosse rape case. ...

Good afternoon, everyone.
On Jan. 13 of this year, I accepted the request of the Durham district attorney to take over three Durham cases. At the time, I promised a fresh and thorough review of the facts and a decision on the best way to proceed. I also said that we would have our eyes wide open to the evidence, but that we would have blinders on for all other distractions. We've done all of these things.
During the past 12 weeks, our lawyers and investigators have reviewed the remaining allegations of sexual assault and kidnapping that resulted from a party on March 13, 2006, in Durham, N.C.
We have carefully reviewed the evidence collected by the Durham County prosecutor's office and the Durham Police Department. We have also conducted our own interviews and evidence gathering. Our attorneys and SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) agents have interviewed numerous people who were at the party, DNA and other experts, the Durham County district attorney, Durham police officers, defense attorneys and the accusing witness on several occasions. We have reviewed statements given over the past year, photographs, records and other evidence.
The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges. Today we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans.
The result is that these cases are over, and no more criminal proceedings will occur.
We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations. Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.
We approached this case with the understanding that rape and sexual assault victims often have some inconsistencies in their accounts of a traumatic event. However, in this case, the inconsistencies were so significant and so contrary to the evidence that we have no credible evidence that an attack occurred in that house that night.
The prosecuting witness in this case responded to questions and offered information. She did want to move forward with the prosecution.
However, the contradictions in her many versions of what occurred and the conflicts between what she said occurred and other evidence, like photographs and phone records, could not be rectified.
Our investigation shows that:
The eyewitness identification procedures were faulty and unreliable. No DNA confirms the accuser's story. No other witness confirms her story. Other evidence contradicts her story. She contradicts herself. Next week, we'll be providing a written summary of the important factual findings and some of the specific contradictions that have led us to the conclusion that no attack occurred.
In this case, with the weight of the state behind him, the Durham district attorney pushed forward unchecked. There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado. And in the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly. Regardless of the reasons this case was pushed forward, the result was wrong. Today, we need to learn from this and keep it from happening again to anybody.
Now, we have good district attorneys in North Carolina who are both tough and fair. And we need these forceful, independent prosecutors to put criminals away and protect the public. But we also need checks and balances to protect the innocent. This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor. What has been learned here is that the internal checks on a criminal charge — sworn statements, reasonable grounds, proper suspect photo lineups, accurate and fair discovery — all are critically important.
Therefore, I propose a law that the North Carolina Supreme Court have the authority to remove a case from a prosecutor in limited circumstances. This would give the courts a new tool to deal with a prosecutor who needs to step away from a case where justice demands.
I want to thank everyone in the North Carolina Department of Justice. I want to thank our investigators, our SBI agents and especially attorneys Jim Coman and Mary Winstead for their hard work in this matter.
I'll take some of your questions now.


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Hi Harry

This was as expected but the AG went even further than most people thought he would and issued a very strong statement exonerating the students, stating they are innocent and no attack occurred (I thought he might pull his punches and merely dismiss charges based on insufficient evidence.) The only thing that irritates me is that they won't pursue charges against the accuser, even though they clearly think she's a liar who fabricated the story! If there were ever a case in which to bring charges of filing a false report or obstructing justice, this would be it! How the AG can feel that letting her off the hook is in the best interests of justice is baffling, and how he feels that she deserves the benefit of the doubt because she might actually believe her wildly contradictory accounts of what happened/didn't happen that night is even more bewildering. Good grief, what must a woman do to be held accountable for her lies and her deranged effort to send three innocent men to prison for decades? How much more egregious must her behavior be to draw more than a verbal slap on the wrist from the top lawyer of the state? The message here to women is: You can lie and make false allegations and try to frame innocent men for heinous crimes, and even if the case goes nowhere and you're uncovered as malicious liars, you won't face any consequences for your misdeeds. In fact, you'll still elicit sympathy as a "troubled soul" who suffers from mental illness and has experienced abuse in life, and who deserves the kid gloves treatment and a second chance. (sniffle sniffle) And what's with the AP's continued refusal to name her?! She LIED. She's a vindictive b*tch, and her malice and dishonesty have been fully exposed now for all to see--but we're still going to shield her identity as if she's a legitimate victim of sexual assault!

Disgusting.

E

More Male Teachers Needed - by Allison Pearson

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More Male Teachers Needed - by Allison Pearson - Daily Mail

Psycho, H-bomb, Smithy, Railey, Greaser, Doughy, Vodd. No, not a rapper remix of the Seven Dwarves, but the nicknames of real teachers who once taught male acquaintances of mine.
Powerful, sarcastic, funny, eccentric and occasionally sadistic schoolmasters, they are remembered with affection and gratitude decades later.
Such men are an endangered species as teaching rapidly becomes an allfemale profession. How many talented young guys would choose to go near a classroom today when you risk getting sued if you try to stop a boy wrecking your lesson, let alone if you put a warning hand on the shoulder of a girl? Yet the fact is that male authority figures have never been more desperately needed.
According to a shocking new report, some schools have lost control to the point where they are actually expelling pupils to ensure their safety.
Not expelling the bullies, mind you.
Expelling their victims. Staff are sending these shattered kids home because they can 'do nothing to stop them being targeted'.
Imagine what signal that must send out to the self-appointed teenage kings of the Respect jungle. It would never have happened when Psycho and H-Bomb ruled their classrooms with a whim of iron.
The report says schools can't take all the blame. Poor parenting and a lack of discipline at home are a key factor.
It's a theme taken up by David Cameron, who has challenged adults to regain authority over children.
The Tory leader points out that allowing bad behaviour as the price of a quiet life is 'grossly selfish and irresponsible'.
Tough talk, Dave, but what is to be done about it? We can't confiscate 500,000 alienated hoodies from their negligent parents and send them all to take lessons in classical civilisation at Eton.
No, the only hope in the short-term lies in schools laying down the boundaries that are lacking in so many homes. And that means more male teachers with the freedom to act like men.
At a recent Ethnic Community Education conference, Dr Larry Jones said that troubled teenage boys needed to become 'emotionally literate'.
Why? So they can shoot each other, but say sorry afterwards? With respect, I think the last thing a teenage boy needs is lessons in emotional literacy.
He needs structure and hierarchy. He needs an outlet for aggression. He needs a commanding adult to guide him. He needs to be bawled at when he's rude or lazy, because that's what he expects.
He needs a man to teach him how to cast off the comfort of mothering like a snake sheds its skin.
According to the Times Educational Supplement, women teachers now outnumber men by 12 to 1 in schools - a disaster for our underachieving boys.
Yes, women are terrific at the patient social work, which so much of teaching has become in this age of family breakdown.
But boys reaching puberty respond best to firm handling from a master they are slightly in awe of.
Boris Johnson complained last week that men are being scared away from teaching by paedophile hysteria. Even more damaging is the humiliating loss of authority.
One teacher friend tells me that if a rowdy kid refuses to go to see the Head he is no longer allowed to tell the boy to get a bloody move on. He has to utter the designated phrase: "Are you refusing my reasonable request?"
Once the miscreant is in the Head's office, he then has to be asked: "Have you been offered the reasonable request?"
What self-respecting man would want to go through that farcical pantomime? Yet it's just one example of the way that the rights of children have eroded the right of teachers to be in charge.
Is it any wonder that men who have left teaching talk about a corrosive culture of insolence which they were powerless to tackle because they risked getting sacked?

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Three of the comments ...

I was one of those male teachers once. Ex-military, fit, strong, a good leader, happily married with a young family... I was a good exemplar for young hoodlums, and I taught in tough schools without any problems. I probably made a difference. One problem was the imbalance of women teachers in schools. By and large they found it hard to control young lads and generally resorted to tears and hysteria. As a male you have to rescue them, and the knock-on effect makes your own job harder. Their pupils found that laughable, of course. The money was peanuts, too! It was fine as pin money for a married woman, but a man could never earn enough to keep a wife and children at a proper level. So..I'm out. My kids are in independent schools where there are plenty of male teachers. We live well, take holidays, and one day we'll have a good retirement. I miss teaching because I was good at it, but it's not a job for a man anymore
- Anon, England

I was one of those male teachers (with a beard - Andrew of Lancaster) and I left. Got sick of being a punching bag for undersized idiots with something to prove. Got sick of not being allowed to teach to proper academic standards. Got sick of having to watch every word and action in case I was accused of paedophilia. Got sick of not being paid enough to support a wife and family at a professional level (great pay for married women - no use if you have to support yourself, let alone others). Got sick of watching discipline breakdown and good kids being betrayed. Got sick of lies and blaming the teacher.
Got sick. Left. I will never go back.
- Corin Keiler-Lloyd, Wolverhampton

You can thank the wonderful PC correct and Human Rights brigade courtesy of the Blairs for the appalling situation in our schools. Male teachers are a dying breed all right and this is at a time when they are most needed. Discipline needs to be restored and collars need to be felt. Some kids need boundaries - more so, if they do not have them at home. A male teacher can be more than a mentor to his charges, he can be the very hero that some young men need and it is a tragedy that he is no longer there. When will this PC rubbish end - we have endured ten years of it and what a disaster it is!
Bac, England

Even Soldiers Cannot Cope With UK Schoolchildren

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Even Soldiers Cannot Cope With UK Schoolchildren Thanks to the complete breakdown in authority and discipline, too many of our schools are now places of naked fear, with staff left at the mercy of thugs who have neither manners nor morals. Handling aggression, foul-mouthed abuse and raw belligerence have become integral parts of classroom routine. Carl Storm


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Women's Choices Come First

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Women's Choices Come First The proposal to offer women the GUARANTEED choice of birth at home with an NHS midwife by the end of 2009 is due to be spelled out today by Ivan Lewis, the health minister.

In other words, money that is needed to help people who are seriously ill is to be diverted to ensure that all women have the opportunity to give birth in their own homes.

However, notice that, ...

... Home births were at least twice as likely to result in foetal death as hospital births, even for women considered at low risk.

And so, as usual, the phrase 'in the best interests of the child' suddenly disappears from view so that women can have more choices regardless of the negative effects that these might have on children. In this case, they will more likely die or be permanently damaged.

But who cares, eh? - so long as women's whims and desires continue to be given topmost priority and funding.

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