The Political Thing
by Denise Sawicki on August 14, 2006

The political thing I hinted at in my first blog entry is over for now. The signatures have been safely delivered to Bismarck. Anyway, here it is, the North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative, at http://ndspi.org. I'm intentionally not putting a direct link. I have to confess I was worried. After all this talk of car bombs and shootings and government roadblocks as possible measures that could be taken to keep this thing from getting on the ballot, I was truly scared that something would happen. My husband and his brother were along for the ride to deliver the signatures, and no, a helicopter did not descend from the sky to block their progress. (Though a helicopter *did* in fact land on the road in front of me on my way to Darrell's family's 4th of July party, for reasons I do not know). I couldn't go on the trip to Bismarck, as I have a regular job. Anyway there are two things I can't really understand about this thing: 1. Why it is considered so controversial, and 2. Why so much of the responsibility for getting it on the ballot has fallen on Darrell and Darrin (and me, if only in a monetary sense). We don't have any children. There are so many men with children who want custody who could have helped more. Oh well. Now we just have to wait and see if it does in fact get on the ballot. There are 17,000 signatures and we only need 13,000, so it should, but you never know.
Men's rights is a pretty touchy subject to a lot of people. Perhaps I'm seen as a traitor to womankind because I don't see the problem with almost anything that people like Warren Farrell are saying. I've never felt oppressed. If anything I'm somewhat embarrassed by the fact that my university felt the need to offer me special summer jobs because I was a "woman or minority" in a scientific field. I could go on, but I've already said more political and controversial things than I really am comfortable with. Sorry to be so scatterbrained.
Two Replies to The Political Thing
Denise Sawicki | August 17, 2006
No, it would default to joint custody only if 1. Both parents want custody and 2. Both parents are deemed fit
Prayer for the Paranoid
Denise Sawicki posts whatever she feels able to post without serious consequences Read more »

Stupid stuff
Well the most exciting thing to report is I've developed a crush on a TV character. I think this is a pretty clear sign that I need a life. It's not even a remotely original or interesting choice (besides being behind the times) and I don't actually like bad boys dammit :P Go »
The Two Towers
So last week Darrell's friend Mike discovered on Wikipedia that Galesburg, North Dakota, a town near where Darrell and Darrin grew up and where they often hung out at the cafe, actually has the third tallest structure in the world. I find the photo on the wikipedia page rather amusing, by the way, due to its unusual dimensions. Upon discovering this, Mike, Darrell, and Darrin immediately drove out to pay the tower a visit. Go »
Annoying
Darrell tells me that people actually care about *my* approval and they think I am rejecting them when in fact I am trying to keep away from them to protect them from my insanity. You guys are all awesome by the way... Wish I wasn't too insane to interact comfortably with anyone... Go »
New Camera
I didn't realize you could get a digital camera for $15 now... Once I became aware of this fact, I had to have one! Darrin got rid of his camera phone and this will serve the same purpose. Go »
Cocoa spills and Larry David
In a freak accident, I managed to splatter my husband's entire mug of cocoa all across the kitchen this morning, 1 minute before I had to leave for work. I apologized a bunch of times and kept asking if I should call in and tell them I'm going to be late so I could clean it up... but he said he'd try to clean it up. Go »
Jackie Mason | August 17, 2006
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