Discrimination against the Single Father

I think women should have the same opportunities as men, Raising two daughters I have come to the belief that women are smarter and more able at a lot of things than men. I also believe that men should have the same opportunities as women, Children raised by a man should be treated the same as children treated as women. I recently went to court the other day for Child Support, Again... It has now been 18 months since I was granted custody of my youngest daughter. We have Joint Custody with Primary Physical custody awarded to me. Since there are 4 states between us there is no everyother weekend visitation it all goes off of seperating holidays and school vacation. 18 months without child support, 18 months of paying for a 3 bedroom apartment so each of my daughters has their own personnal space. 18 months of $700 per month in Pre School and Daycare tuitions = Thats $12600... For Court we both had to do Financial Paperwork and according to that and research of how the state figures out child support I have come up with the figure that she should be paying is $1200/month. I am asking the court to provide me Child Support of $1000 per month to help cover Daycare, Preschool, gymnastics and Figureskating costs. I have been turned down four times. Well I will take that back. I haven't been turned down, I have been told that we need to pospone another month for the past 5 months. Will I ever get child support? The Ex-wifes lawyer is good at one thing, posponements. I have been told, She should not have to pay since she lives so far away and she has to pay phone bills, and travel costs to see her daughter. My answer, She is the one that moved so far away. I have been called a loser because I am trying to take money from a woman and a man should be able to make enough to provide all the great things a child needs. This last time, her lawyer actually got up in court and said that I do not deserve this money because I should be able to get a higher paying job as an Information Technology Professional. My answer to this, She is on TV every night working for a major network, She will make a lot more than me. I might get offers making almost 2 times what I make now but those would cause me to travel, move or work very long hours. I work 80 hours every 2 weeks, that is it, no more no matter what. To me that is neccesity so I have all that off time to spend with my daughters. The latest job I was offered was 3 times what I make now but it would have made me move to New York City, at least 50 hours a week and on average 6-10 days a month out of town. Now either way, I am a parent of a little girl that wants to learn Figure Skating, I had to pull her out of the classes so I could pay my electric bill. I am a parent and I make all my decisions 100% with my daughters in mind. I do not deserve to get child support because I am a father? When you go to family court it is usually very stressful anyway. When you go as a father you are the most sterotypical, Dead beat, tempermental, abusive man that anyone has met. Getting custody is a major accomplishment and you can tell a lot about a mother if the court grants custody to the father, look at Britney. But as soon as the custody is over you are back in the courts eyes for a worthless loser that just wants to screw the ex-wife over. Why don't women have to pay child support?

Legalizing Marijuana - Useful Plant, Government wants extinct

Posted on: Helium I have been following the debate of legalization of marijuana ever since my return from living in Europe for 4 years. The history of Marijuana is long and distinguished. It has been around for centuries and has been used for Spirtiual, medical, industrial and yes recreational use. As a previous frequent user of Marijuana I was very confused on the reason it was illegal her in the United States. As a recovering Alcoholic I am confused on why alcohol is legal, and as a tobacco user I am even more confused why tobacco is legal. While thinking about these issues I have done a lot of research on these issues. The first thing that is said to me when ever I discuss the problem with Alcohol and the legalization of Marijuana is always, "We tried making Alcohol illegal once and it didn't work" My answer is always, Marijuana has had laws against it here in the US since 1937, recent studies have shown that 41% of adults have used marijuana at some time in their life. Alcohol prohibition was not sucessful because the american public ignored the law and people were getting put into jail for something they believed they should be allowed to do. Last year there were over 800 thousand people arrested and jailed for non-violent marijuana crimes. I believe that would beat any records set during Alcohol Prohibition. adparams.getadspec('c_billboard1'); During my drinking days I can not count the amount of fights I had in bars, how many morning I couldn't get to work because I woke up sick and hungover, and yes I was taken to the hospital for Alcohol poisoning twice. During my Marijuana days I never fought, never missed work and as far as I can find in my research no one has ever had to go to the hospital for Overdose of Marijuana. I am not saying that the government should make alcohol illegal but comparing the two drugs I do believe the Government has it backwards at the moment. Another issue I have that is because of the current marijuana laws this also makes Hemp illegal. Hemp is a great product for industrial use. At this current time the US can not produce Hemp products but that does not stop us from importing Hemp Products. Mercedes Benz has used Hemp for parts of their cars such as Dashboards. Henry Ford had an image that some day he would be able to make a car of plastic "grown from the ground" this was a plastic made from industrial Hemp. At one point in American History American farmers were ordered to grow Hemp and all ropes used in the US Navy was made from Hemp. Hemp is a strong fiber that last longer than any other natural fiber. The final reason that I have turned up in my research on Marijuana is medical reasons. Since federal law does not allow for private research of marijuana's medical benefits the only research that gets done is to prove how bad marijuana is. Fortunatly there are studies done out side of the US that prove benefits of Medical Marijuana. One study that I have looked into a lot was the study on marijuana causing cancer. There have been a lot of studies trying to prove that marijuana increases the chance of getting cancer. One study's final report was that Smokers that also smoked Marijuana were actually shown less likely to get lung cancer since the canniboids increase blood flow to clear the toxins in tobacco. This research was not funded by the government after the report was written. A newer research project was found that smoking marijuana actually helped reduce the size of tumors in the brain. Fox News reported a couple of weeks ago that Marijuana also assists in the recovery and helps stop the spread of breast cancer. I remember hearing a story about a doctor that worked with AIDS patients and realized that patients that used marijuana were living longer with the disease. He asked the Government to research this and they turned him down four years in a row. The fifth year he said he wanted to research the idea that Marijuana destroys the immune system faster if the patient smokes marijuana, he got the grant. Of course his research proved that Marijuana helps with AIDS wasting disease and does not effect the immune system. His grant was denied for renewal. The US government is suppose to be the voice of the public they are suppose to make decisions that make the US a better place. This is a government that is being told by national organizations that Marijuana is relativly safe and can be used for Industrial and Medical use and is not that dangerous when used for recreational use. Unfortunatly the US governement is not paying attention to the public when all polls in the past 2 years have shown 60-70% of Americans want Marijuana legalized for Medical Use. Instead our taxes are being used to pay a Governement agency to make a great plant extinct.

Should a woman have the right to choose abortion?

The right to choose abortion should not be made by the Government. I do believe that the Government is trying to make to many decisions for the people of this country right now. This Argument has been going on for years and the main argument against abortion usually rotates around Religion. This is the United States of America, we are the melting pot of the world. We have freedom of religion and we are allowed to make our own mistakes. I have never heard of a woman that woke up one day and said, "I am going to find a man, have sex, and get pregnant. I can't wait to get an abortion." As a man I will never understand the pains and anguish a woman goes though when she finds out she is pregnant and knows that there is a reason she can not keep the baby. As a man I can not tell a woman to do something because of what I believe. But, I do believe that it is not right for a woman to not include the man in the decision to terminate a pregnancy. As a man I should have some say if I want a baby and the mother does not. As a father I am glad that both my children are with me everyday. Neither of my children have seen their mothers in a very long time and both mothers have given me the option to raise these children before they choose to terminate the pregnancy. I appreciate and respect both of these women because they made the decision not to keep the babies but they made the choice to give me an option. Should a woman have the right to choose abortion? Who else has the right to that choice? The Government can not tell a person what they do with their own body and the Government should not try to force a belief on a citizen of this country.

The Life Race

I have always been a competative person, thriving on stress and excelling at what I do when there is someone challenging me. I have recently realized that there is no need for someone to challenge me, Life is always in a race with me. You may all realized that I have not posted anything here in awhile and I know you miss me Life caught up and I had to handle those challenges before I relaxed. Of course that is what I love, Life gave me a couple of challenges and I take it in stride. Last week I was invited to sit down with a Senators office to talk to them about an issue that has been pretty important in this state. It was an honor for this Korean War Veteran to not only invite me but to thank me for my service to the country. The whole week before I went there I was of course nervous. I have never been in a situation where I was able to tell people what I think and have them actually listen. But this Senator and his "People" listened and (although they want my vote) they actually seamed like they cared what I thought. I have been invited to speak on the subject at the local University this friday. Stress, Makes me bust my @$$. On top of that I am in the process of buying my first house. I am going to be a land owner. I have never been in one place for more than 4 years and have never had the feeling that I wanted to stay long enough to buy a place. I am really excited about this and look forward to letting my kids decorate their rooms the way they want. So the race goes on but hey, Talking about something that you are pationate about is nothing, and I have a realator that does everything for the house. Why stress? I have also been asked to be the Outreach assistant for this organization and work with other organizations to a common goal. Not enough? I was asked by another organization to build a web pressence for them and help do some online marketing for them. Still not enough... I have been given more duties and taken over another section at work... On top of that... The Good news, I go to court next week... I should get Child support after that.

Need to Vent

I know I have a Legalization of Marijuana blog and I should posting this on there but I try to keep those posts fact based. This is fact based but it just makes me so pissed off that I need to Vent. I am a New York resident, The Medical Marijuana Bill has passed the Assembly and is going infront of the State Senate. That is great and I am glad it is being voted on. I understand there are people that do not agree with my stance on the issue and I don't vote for them. The problem I am having now is after I just read an article about the debate. They can debate all they want I have no problem with that. The problem I have the article says, "a laundry list of New York medical associations have signed off on a proposed legalization bill headed for the State Senate, including the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York State Nurses Association and the New York State Association of County Health Officials." Why can the Government tell me as a Patient that they know more than these Medical Associations? My district Senator does not have a medical degree. I can not understand why it should even be voted on. If the Medical Associations say it will help and be more of a benefit to the patients then why can the government have a say? These People PISS ME OFF!!! (believe me when I am debating this in front of people I can keep my cool)

Need a Hug?

Okay I just got done reading this article Oak-Park-School-Bans-Hugging Have you ever been in a bad mood or depressed and a friend comes up and gives you a hug. It is something that can change you outlook on a situation. I remember when I was in school (A long time ago) plenty of times when so-n-so broke up with such-n-such. First reaction was always to hug it out... I think this is teaching kids not to try and console people but to make sure that there is no emotion at all while at school... Next law... NO CRYING!!!

Should they Punish me

I busted my @$$ to get the income I get now. I spent 14 years away from my brothers and parents, I went to shool full time while working full time and raised a toddler by myself to get to where I am now. Am I really going to get punished because my brother makes $100 for every $1000 I make? He never tried college, He looks for jobs that are Flexible with hours because he doesn't want to wake up in the morning. So he is the one that should get the tax break? Everyone says Robin Hood was a hero... He was a Theif. Stealing is stealing it doesn't matter who it is from. I am for abolishing the Income Tax altogether. Sales tax, Luxury Tax, Property Tax, that is all good. If I don't want to pay Taxes I don't buy anything. If I want to buy a 50 foot Boat then I should pay for it. 10% of my income goes into my retirement plan (Tax free until I take it out) This way I do not have to be a burden to the Tax payers. 10% goes to my Church and 10% gets split up between some Non Profits I like. I help where I can with what I can. But hurting me because I make what I do is Punishment for good work ethic and good life plan. BTW, I just got back from living in Germany... I was paying over $6 per Gallon and 48% of my income was taxed by the German Government... This Gas price is fine with me

Can't Be Democrat!!!

I would never be able to Convert I also believe: Flag burning is not freedom of speech - It is a hate crime against all Americans The Government can not tell me I can't own a Gun... I want to shoot a Squirel on my bird feeder with an M-16 I should be allowed to. People can be trusted not to discriminate - Who protects me as a young White Male? I have been discriminated against and the law has allowed it. There is no such thing as Reverse Discrimination. Discrimination is Discrimination. Cutting Taxes will improve the economy, Common sence tells you if you bring more money home you will spend more money.

Political Affiliation?

I was talking to my Uncle about why Medical Marijuana should be legal. His Wife, a retired Doctor, was agreeing with me. Me (in Pain) was explaining the benefits of Medical Marijuana. My Uncle started calling me a Hippie Democrat. I was raised in a Very Republican Family. You say Hillary at a family function and people start throwing things at you. (It really sucks for my cousin named Hillary) I am registered as a Republican to Vote. I then started to think about it. Am I really a Republican. How do I know. I believe that all Doctors should be able to determine the right Medication for a person without Federal involvement. I believe All SUV's should have back up warning systems. I believe That as a Man I have no right telling a woman that she can't have an Abortion. And I believe that US Veterans should have free Medical after they get injured during service to the Country. Am I a Democrat??? I CAN'T BE!!!

Bring our troops Home?

I keep hearing people yelling, "Bring our troops home" My question is: Bring them home from where? We have troops all over the world and have not left after every military action. Germany Italy England The Netherlands Portugal Korea Japan Guam Iraq Turkey etc... When ever we have a major battle with someone we stay. That is what the US does. Why stop now? Why stop with Iraq? Bring all troops home. How many countries have you been to and were afraid to admit you were American? I have a hard time in Canada. That is only 15 minutes from my house.