“Men do not mirror themselves in running water, they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things.” http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Inner_peace

MEDIA RELEASE – FRIDAY 2ND SEPT – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A father’s day gift from Labor and the Greens: increased fatherlessness.

Virtually every major social pathology has been linked to fatherlessness: violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, teen pregnancy, suicide – all correlate more strongly to fatherlessness than to any other single factor.

The majority of prisoners, juvenile detention inmates, high school dropouts, pregnant teenagers, adolescent murderers and rapists all come from fatherless homes. The connection is so strong that controlling for fatherlessness erases the relationships between race and crime and between low income and crime.

Many commentators, including the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, have laid the blame for the recent UK riots at least partially on the fact that many of the rioters were raised in homes without their fathers present.

Men’s Health Australia spokesman Greg Andresen said today, “The Labor government is set to pass a bill over the coming weeks that will raise already high levels of fatherlessness to record levels with untold impact not just on vulnerable children denied the right to see their fathers; not just on fathers who will most likely end up depressed and suicidal after being denied the right to see their children; but on the greater fabric of Australian society.”

Mr Andresen went on to say that the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, if passed in its current form, would:

• increase child homicide rates (in NSW child homicide had reduced by almost 50% since the introduction of the soon to be reversed 2006 reforms)

• give an open license to parents – mostly mothers – who wish to fabricate allegations of violence and abuse as a legal strategy to remove fathers from their children’s lives (by removing the penalties available for the court to discourage false allegations)

• facilitate the practice of parental alienation, whereby one parent – mostly mothers – alienates the child(ren) from the other parent (by removing the law’s “friendly parent” provisions)

• facilitate and reward family violence by increasing the serious social abuse of denying children and one of their parents the right to a relationship

• fail to protect children from abuse and neglect by defining only “serious” psychological harm or neglect as being against the law

• increase litigation and costs for separating families and taxpayers (the soon to be reversed 2006 Family Law changes had led to a 20% reduction in litigation).

The message from the Labor/Green government to fathers and children this father’s day is clear: your relationship doesn’t matter. Happy father’s day!

http://menshealthaustralia.net/files/MHA_Media_Release_FL11.pdf

Media contacts:

Sue Price | admin@mensrights.com.au | 0409 269 621

Warwick Marsh | info@fathersonline.org | 0418 225 212

Greg Andresen | media@menshealthaustralia.net | 0403 813 925

Depression affects one in eight men in their adult lifetime (compared to one in five women). Distressingly, men are four times more likely than women to commit suicide, and three times more likely to develop a substance abuse problem. As Associate Professor Michael Baigent, Board Director for Beyond Blue, explains, depression is more than just a down day. It’s a “constant change from your normal emotions and behaviour, not just a fleeting thought,” he says. With financial pressures on the rise, job insecurity and an increase in divorce rates, alarmingly, these are some of the common triggers that initiate depression. “Of the males who have committed suicide, a high percentage of them have undergone a separation within the previous 12 months,” Baigent says.

What is Depression

“Depression is a psychiatric disorder where your mood is different to what it normally is, and is so severe that it affects your social and occupational functionality,” Baigent explains. “You may have little enjoyment in life, a loss of appetite and weight loss, difficulty sleeping, lack of energy. You may have suicidal thoughts and or inability to concentrate and function at work,” he says. And although medication, alcohol or amphetamines can contribute to feelings of depression, if you’re not on or taking anything, and still feeling blue, then it’s time to see your doctor.

Speak to your doctor

According to Dr Ronald McCoy, Spokesperson for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, a male patient may visit a doctor for help with depression, though they make it difficult for the doctor to diagnose. “[Men] mask it by presenting to the GP with another health complaint,” he says. “With men, it can take a while before they’ll start talking about how they’re feeling, so it’s important to create a safe environment. The GP may ask about their feelings in general, how they’re sleeping, sex life and check for noticeable weight loss or gain,” he says.

To diagnose depression, the doctor will perform an assessment of biological and psychological tests. “Your GP knows you medically and personally, so they’re aware of what’s ‘normal’ for you,” says Baigent. “Some feelings of depression may be caused by anaemia (lack of iron), a thyroid or other physical problems. If your GP feels that you do display the symptoms of depression, then they’ll most likely refer you to a psychologist or therapist,” he says.

What can you do?

The first step is to seek help. “If you don’t feel comfortable talking to somebody else yet, then do some research: online or books are good places to start,” says Baigent. “Speak to your GP or a mental health worker. Remember that feeling depressed is not a personality flaw. It can happen to anybody, at any time, and there are ways to treat it,” he says.

The biggest problem in dealing with male depression isn’t how to prevent or cure it, but how to get men to admit they’re feeling down. “Men are less likely to see themselves as depressed and to seek treatment,” says Baigent.

Is it all doom and gloom?

Adam Garoni, CEO and co-founder of Movember, the charity that raises money and awareness for prostate cancer and male depression, says men are becoming more open about their health and emotions. “For many men who have taken part [in Movember] it’s been the first time they’ve told their mates that they’ve suffered from, or are suffering from, depression,” Garoni says. Last year, during the month of Movember, 40 per cent of men who participated in the fundraiser consulted their GP regarding their health. Around 40 per cent also recommended a friend to visit their doctor. “It’s about looking after your mates as well as yourself, and removing the stigma of depression. If these guys aren’t having that conversation with their mates or Dad, then it spirals out of control,” he says.

How to spot the signs

“If you notice any behavioural changes that last for more than two weeks in family members, friends or yourself, then it is worth asking if depression is the cause,” says Baigent.

Signs of depression include:

• Uncharacteristic moodiness, irritability or frustration
• Spending less time with friends and family
• Loss of interest in food, sex, exercise or other pleasurable activities
• Sleeplessness
• Increased alcohol and drug use
• Staying home from work or school without reason
• Increased physical health complaints
• Recklessness or taking unnecessary risks

For more information visit www.beyondblue.org.au

Read our fact sheet on Male depression.

By Charmaine Yabsley

Miranda Devine THE reaction to my column last week  pointing out the perils of a fatherless society is a case study in how  intimidation, vilification, distortion and outright lies are being used  in an attempt to silence unfashionable opinions.

These are the tactics of a new “politically correct McCarthyism”.

In this case gay marriage was the sacred cow that so unhinged people.

The  column was respectful of Finance Minister Penny Wong and her female  partner, who is expecting a baby, and stated that “love conquers all”,  but its assertion that fathers are in general better for children was  beyond the pale for some.

I wrote that Wong and her partner will  no doubt be “fine mothers” providing their baby with “a stable, loving  upbringing, despite not having a father in the home. Individually, these  things work themselves out. Allowances are made, extra effort applied.  Love conquers all”.

On Twitter, people twisted my words, and claimed my column said:  “love conquers all (unless you’re gay)” when it said the precise  opposite.

“I have never felt so much anger towards someone,” was one comment.

“Shame we can’t autocorrect your mind,” was another.

The escalating rage was justified because I was somehow pushing gay teens to suicide, they claimed.

It  was performance rage, played out on social media and low-rent blogs  looking for more hits. But privately, to the email address at the bottom  of the column, hundreds of quite different messages flooded in.

The  column also said that same-sex marriage proponents should not be  “cynically using” the pregnancy as a weapon. And further that the choice  of two lesbians to relegate a father to the sidelines ought not be  celebrated as if it were some major milestone in human civilisation.

The  reason is because as a society we need to uphold the crucial role of  fathers, with the London riots a “manifestation of a fatherless  society”.

Critics then twisted my words, claiming I wrote: “People in London are rioting because Penny Wong is having a baby.”

It  is hard not to draw the conclusion that denizens of social media are  cerebrally challenged. Were they too lazy to read the original column,  or do they lack comprehension skills. Are they so entrenched in their  own beliefs they can’t tolerate another point of view. Are they  paranoid? Or are they just dishonest?

Sydney Morning Herald  blogger John Birmingham retitled my column: “Miranda Devine’s Lesbian  Mums Caused the London Riots”. The Crikey blog had former Democrats  senator Brian Greig call me “News Limited’s Catholic columnist” and  allege that I had “tried to pin the London riots on lesbian mothers”.

Straw men were constructed, and suddenly people were abusing me for a column I had not written but which they insisted I had.

On  ABC-TV’s Q&A on Monday night came an extraordinary question from an  audience member who said: “The criticism of Senator Wong is based on  the homophobic idea that a child is entitled to having both a father and  a mother.”

So there you have it. It is homophobic to say a child is entitled to a mother and a father.

Yet not one person on the panel could find the courage to knock the assertion on the head.

On  Facebook someone published a list of my Facebook friends on a page  called: “Stopping psychotic extremists who want to kill minorities”.  Inviting people to bully and harass my Facebook friends is this person’s  way of trying to silence an opinion he (or she) doesn’t like.

A  cursory glance at these rage-flecked responses offers an insight into  the illiberal mindset of those who pretend to demand tolerance. Or  rather ram it down our throats. This is not tolerance but jackboot  totalitarianism, the tyranny of the minority.

Jackie Stricker, the  lesbian partner of Dr Kerryn Phelps, wrote a letter to this newspaper  calling for me to receive “urgent counselling” and saying my columns  shouldn’t be published.

That’s right. Let’s censor the unfashionable opinions, especially those held by the mainstream.

If  people such as Stricker think their intemperate foot-stomping will stop  people holding these opinions they are wrong. The extraordinary thing  is that the opinion I expressed was unremarkable. It is being echoed all  over Britain right now, in the aftermath of the London riots, including  by Prime Minister David Cameron.

He described the riots as a  “wake-up call” to the “slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place  in parts of our country these past few generations”.

“Children  without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort.  Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities  without control.

“The question people asked over and over again  last week was ‘Where are the parents?’ …Tragically that’s been  followed in some cases by judges rightly lamenting: ‘Why don’t the  parents even turn up when their children are in court?’ Well, join the  dots and you have a clear idea about why some of these young people were  behaving so terribly. Either there was no one at home, they didn’t much  care or they’d lost control. Families matter. I don’t doubt that many  of the rioters out last week have no father at home. Perhaps they come  from one of the neighbourhoods where it’s standard for children to have a  mum and not a dad, where it’s normal for young men to grow up without a  male role model, looking to the streets for their father figures,  filled up with rage and anger.”

The Daily Express points out that  in neighbourhoods such as Tottenham, where the rioting started, “up to  four in five families have no father living with them. This  fatherlessness is the single most destructive factor in modern society”.

The  facts, in study after study, are unequivocal. The Express quotes from  the British think tank Civitas: Fatherless children are “more likely to  engage in behaviour associated with social exclusion, such as offending,  teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse or worklessness.”

Children  living without their biological fathers are more likely to live in  poverty, have more trouble in school, and are at greater risk of  suffering physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Fatherless boys are twice  as likely to be in prison by their early 30s.

In the middle of  the furore this week came an email from a friend, who grew up on a  public housing estate in western Sydney and has spent much of his career  trying to right the many problems he saw there.

“Anyone who  thinks a cadre of fatherless children is good for society,” he wrote,  “has never set foot in a public housing estate.”

Pointing out that  fathers are important is not homophobic. Nor is it an indictment of  individual single mothers, many of whom do a heroic job. But to pretend  that a fatherless society is not a disaster doesn’t delete the truth.

devinemiranda@hotmail.com

Miranda Devine

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/70sh3B/www.articlesaboutmen.com/2011/08/fatherless-society-a-disaster-for-our-children-911/

Australia needs a true democracy Published by Jeanette on Aug 16, 2011

Target: Prime Minister Julia Gillard  Parliament House Canberra

was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of socialism and the cooperative movement.

www.fathersunionaustralia.com

Owen’s son Robert Dale stayed at New Harmony after its collapse. He had a different assessment of his father’s experiment. “All cooperative schemes which provide equal remuneration to the skilled and industrious and the ignorant and idle must work their own downfall, for by this unjust plan … they must of necessity eliminate the valuable members … and retain only the improvident, unskilled, and vicious.”

Owen, Robert Dale, 1801–77, American social reformer, b. Scotland; son of Robert Owen/

History shows bureaucracies are socialist in structure and psychopathic by nature, always denigrate to the lowest possible standards, inevitably corrupt and dysfunctional, simply because their positions are fixed with no accountability or open to competition, as is the real world. There are two opposing forces at work the idle and destructive and the productive and creative, the idle and destructiven pool in bureaucracies.

This is why governments throughout history perpetrate atrocities on the innocent like what is happening in the Australian Family courts and throughout Australian government departments.

Bureaucracies are little more than life time jobs for psychopath’s with little or no accountability.

It is vital to remove corrupt and incompetent individuals at the earliest opportunity, it simply isn’t happening.

It is essential to move to open competition, for government positions and take every advantage of free market’s tender enterprise for all public services.

Any governance that realises this will excel. Australia needs and deserves the best of the best. Administration needs to be a true free market, open to competition for jobs and services, based on short term contract.

All Australians are entitled to freedom of speech, association, assembly, religion, movement, honesty and truth.

“All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

Arthur Schopenhauer

Don’t be evil.

Raubwirtschaft (German for “plunder economy,” “robber economy,” or “rapine”) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raubwirtschaft

Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, is a term applied to a government subject to control fraud that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats),

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocracy

Walking on The Sun. by Smashmouth

Leave comments if you like, TC.

Celebrating Dads

First Sunday of September is a special time of year when we honour
Dads. Fathers are often wrongly depicted in the media as angry, or
dead-beat which is a huge misrepresentation of most fathers out there who work
hard and give their children love, guidance, and strength.

The origin of Father’s Day is not clear. Some say that it began
with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father’s
Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.

The president of the Chicago branch of the Lions’ Club, Harry Meek,
is said to have celebrated the first Father’s Day with his organization in
1915; and the day that they chose was the third Sunday in June, the closest
date to Meek’s own birthday!

Nearly every culture across the globe has ways of celebrating their
fathers and thanking them for all they do. Each culture shows tribute to their
fathers in different ways and at different times of the year but in the end we
are all honouring the men who helped raise us and play an important role in
society as a whole.

At schools from the UK and Ireland, to Australia and South Africa
it is not uncommon for communities to organize large scale parties to celebrate
Dads and emphasize the important role they have.

Father’s Day is a new concept in India and has only been celebrated
for a decade. In the US and Canada Father’s Day is a good time for family
reunions and to let him know the difference he’s made often with simple gifts
and dinners made especially for him. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe fathers have
a special day to recognize all that they do for us.

Best wishes and Happy Father’s Day!

The Daily Telegraph editorial From:The Daily Telegraph July 20, 2011

According to the latest research, Australians between the ages of 25 and 34 are the most prone to loneliness. It is probably not a coincidence that people in this age bracket are among the most intensive users of new media. In fact, according to the same research, those who use many platforms of new media are more prone to feeling lonely than are those who use only one or two platforms. The solution to all of this solitude may not be to cut back on email or internet use but instead to expand potential contact places beyond the virtual realm. In other words, get outside and meet someone. This is far from being a trivial matter. Australia has for a long time been over-represented when it comes to serious depression issues involving young adults. Meeting people can help.

Quoted from Fathers for Equality…

“Julia Gillard has got a serious problem with Australian men. So much so that she is soon about to pass the most malicious anti-male laws this country has ever seen, which will effectively presume that all separated men are Wife Abusers or Child Sexual Predators, that is an effective presumption of Guilt against separated fathers. This bill will rely on the subjective thoughts of the alleged victim to determine guilt or innocence, not on objective or conclusive facts.

So these new laws effectively mean that even if an event did not occur, a separated father will still be judged to be an abuser, because all the alleged victim has to do is say that she is scared…no facts or proof required.”

Call for a parliamentary office for Children and for Men!