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 »

Jesus songs
I wonder what it is with me liking all these songs that mention Jesus. I'm a total atheist :P Actually I think it might be easier for me to like these songs that it would be for anyone who's religious and might have a troubled background with religion. I guess the name has less significance for me. Go »
Vacation
Well I requested some time off work until January 3rd... For the price of 4 vacation days I get 11 days off. We're going to go visit my husband's older brother in Wisconsin around New Years... Go »
Weather - the most boring conversational topic?!?
Well, perhaps not if you live in ND, I dunno. There's snow on the ground *and* dandelions in the lawn right now. That's a first, at least in my memory. Go »
More news
So the second crest didn't exactly happen. The first crest was 40.8 (already an all-time record) and originally they said there was a 75% chance the second one would be over 41. Go »
Our dog is smart
Our sheltie, Philip, is really smart. Here is his latest Oscar-worthy film, where he shows off his ability to mimic Darrell doing the following actions: turn a circle, stretch, sneeze, lie down, roll over (partway), hop, and speak: link Philip also knows how to read a few words, kind of, though I think he gets bored with it :-). Currently he's in school for agility, which entails learning how to run around a course jumping hurdles and using tunnels and seesaws in a prescribed manner. Go »
Jackie Mason | August 17, 2006
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