Clipmarks | Divorce Clips

Palin's 'Troopergate' in a Nutshell

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:54:04 GMT

clipped by: Wisco
clipper's remarks: Sarah Palin's ethics probe in brief, offered primarily because of the number of links, from the reliably thorough investigative journalism site ProPublica.

Clip Source: www.propublica.org

Walter Monegan and Sarah Palin, inset (Credit: Al Grillo/AP Photo, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin shot into the spotlight as John McCain's VP pick last week, "Troopergate" - the controversy surrounding the ouster of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan - made it onto our Scandal Watch. According to Monegan, both Palin and her husband pressured him to fire a state trooper who went through an ugly divorce with Palin's sister in 2005.

In July, Monegan was unexpectedly fired. And an Alaskan legislative panel ordered an investigation soon after. Its findings are now expected to be released in early October.

Meanwhile, investigator says the McCain camp is trying to delay its release, and Palin's private lawyer has already challenged the investigation's authority and questioned witnesses on its own. A former Alaskan attorney general called Palin's legal strategy bogus, but it already prompted a key Palin aide to refuse to testify.

Tags: news

Another Palin Smear Bites the Dust

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:15:29 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: As the Smoking Gun discovered, Scott Richter wanted them sealed — to protect himself from conspiracy theorists (h/t: William Amos):

One Palin Mystery Solved

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0905083palin1.html?link=rssfeed

Clip Source: hotair.com

So when the blogosphere discovered today (via an online court docket) that Scott Richter, a Palin associate, personally filed a sealing motion in Alaska Superior Court, well, conclusions were jumped to. Was Sarah Palin named as the other woman in a messy divorce action? Well, since Richter’s September 3 motion, a copy of which you’ll find below, was denied yesterday, his divorce filings remain open to the public. And a TSG review of the 98-page file shows that the Palins are only mentioned in Richter’s sealing request.

According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because “reporters and news agencies” were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is “friends and land owners in a remote cabin” with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the “cabin life and private life” of him and his 11-year-old son.

Tags: sarah and todd palin, scott richter, tsg report

17-Year-Old Girl Gunned Down by Family in Divorce Court

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:58:27 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk

Father, brothers shoot girl in court

LAHORE: A 17-year-old girl was shot dead by her brothers and father while in police custody in Sahiwal on Wednesday. According to Dawn News, Sara alias Nusrat Bibi had appeared in the Sahiwal Sessions Court to seek the dissolution of her marriage. She was married in 2001 when she was just a 9-year-old. However, she had subsequently filed a petition in the court seeking to dissolve her marriage, against the will of her brothers and father. The court had given the decision in her favour. Her brothers and father shot and killed her as she left the courtroom. daily times monitor

indian divorce rate

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:43:52 GMT

clipped by: wiley2008
clipper's remarks: interest how in india culture, arranged marriages are more common, yet the divorce rate is only 1.1%.

Clip Source: www.divorcerate.org

Divorce rates
US - 50%
India - 1.1%

tax professional

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:45:27 GMT

clipped by: fox_zzz

Clip Source: finance.yahoo.com

Tax Relief for Innocent Spouses

Divorce will not protect you from the IRS. If you filed jointly with your spouse, you can be held liable for delinquent taxes.

In 1998, Congress enacted legislation that offers protection to spouses who filed joint returns, relieving them of paying taxes that are the responsibility of an ex-spouse. The law also allows an innocent spouse to limit tax liability if he or she has been living apart from the delinquent spouse for at least 12 months from the time the joint return was filed. Talk to a tax advisor about how this information relates to your own situation.
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Tax Relief for Innocent Spouses

Tradition or Atrocity?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:12:26 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Isn't it time more people stepped up to condemn this practice? Should modern day knowledge not replace outdated tribal rituals? I have no idea how common place this practice is but I think most would find it injurious to the child.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Saudi Arabia: Eight-Year-Old Girl Wants Divorce

A girl as young as eight shouldn't even be married, never mind trying to get a divorce — and from a man who is fifty years older! It's only because traditionalist Islam continues to sanction the barbaric practice of marrying off prepubescent girls is this even an issue and that's only because Muslims believe that their prophet, Muhammad, married a girl of about the same age.

This practice would probably be easier to stamp out if only it were permitted for Muslims to say "Not everything Muhammad did was right, and just because Muhammad did it doesn't mean we should today." That, however, is difficult in a religion that considers even visual depictions of Muhammad to be blasphemous, never mind criticism. It's good that most Muslims around the world reject marrying little girls, but it's only in spite of Islamic traditions.

Tags: islam, child bride, saudi arabia

Divorce gene linked to relationship troubles

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:19:30 GMT

clipped by: Tri-City Psychology

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

A "divorce gene" linked to an increased risk of relationship breakdown has been discovered by scientists.

Researchers say it plays a role in determining how the brain responds to a chemical that is central to the bonding process between a man and a woman.

Men with a variant of the gene tended to score badly on a questionnaire designed to assess how well they bond with their partner and were more likely to report having suffered marital difficulties.

The discovery raises the highly speculative possibility that scientists could one day develop drugs to target the gene in an attempt to prevent marriages from falling apart.

Hasse Walum and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, used Sweden's Twin and Offspring Study, which includes data on more than 550 twins and their partners or spouses.

"There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variant has been associated with how men bond to their partners."

Tags: divorce, relationship problems

Teen Pregnancy

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:59:07 GMT

clipped by: lp97702
clipper's remarks: This pretty much says it all...

Clip Source: www.rasmussenreports.com

But such is life in the red states, where sensible sex education and availability of contraceptives are discouraged for adolescents, even though they are just as sexually active as teenagers everywhere else. Despite the supposed religious purity of the evangelical right-wingers who today regard themselves as the base of the Republican Party, rates of teenage pregnancy and divorce tend to be higher in their domain than elsewhere in America. To the extent that their values would dominate for another four years of Republican rule, those pathologies can be expected to prevail. During the past four years of the Bush administration, teen pregnancies have increased for the first time since 1990, when they began a 14-year decline.

There are excellent reasons why we discourage teenage pregnancy and motherhood, and none of them have disappeared simply because the Republicans are about to put Sarah Palin on their ticket.

Tags: teen pregnancy

Church community wrong to oppose same-sex marriage

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:39:40 GMT

clipped by: queah

Clip Source: www.valleynewsonline.com

Recently, the local Fulton Catholic Community was urged to contact Governor Paterson to oppose recognition of same-sex marriages from other states and countries. Why the concern over extending the right to civil marriage to include same sex couples?

The Catholic Church does not recognize any civil marriages. There are no plans anywhere to force any religious group to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. If the concern is that somehow same-sex marriages will undermine the institution of marriage, why are we not urged to demand that divorce be made illegal?

What about demanding laws against adultery? Why not fight to make contraception illegal?

Given their obvious contempt for women, their obvious misunderstanding and disrespect of marriage, who are they to tell us same-sex marriage should be banned?

Now, The Bad News

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:33:21 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: Well, what can I say? I married young, and it's lasted all these years. Then again "my guy" and I were responsible enough to use birth control before marriage and until we were able to afford any children. Of course Palin will help out daughter with the affording part, so it's all good baby. I remember listening to the priest before we got married giving us the big talk about the "rhythm" method; and I was thinking I can't wait to get my rhythm on later baby and I bet he can't either!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

He would be the gentleman, she would be the lady, and with the backing of a strong family they would do what was expected of them. That would, of course, be consistent with the views of Ms. Palin, a mother of five children (including one with Down syndrome) who opposes abortion.

But it is teenage marriage today, not teenage pregnancy, that is the rarity. And, statistics show, teenage marriages tend not to endure.

The Bristol Palin drama, something of an after-school-special story running parallel to the saga of Sarah Palin’s nomination as the Republican candidate for vice president, has a lot of sociologists and psychologists talking about youth and the state of marriage.

Studies show that today teenage marriages are two to three times more likely to end in divorce than are marriages between people 25 years of age and older.

Sarah Palin's E-Mail Trail

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:39:48 GMT

clipped by: DanaGarrett
clipper's remarks: These e-mails could be the undoing of Sarah Palin. They provide prime facie evidence that Palin pressured former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire her ex-brother-in-law from the Alaskan police force over family matters. In short, they provide apparent evidence that she abused her power as Governor.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Gov. Sarah Palin sent e-mails to the state's top police official, criticizing Alaska State Troopers for their investigation of an officer who went through a bitter divorce with her sister, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan showed copies of the e-mails to The Washington Post. He didn't provide copies to the newspaper, but said he has turned copies over to an investigator probing the firing for the Legislature.

Monegan has said he felt pressured by Palin family members and her administration to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, whom they say threatened to kill Palin's father, among other accusations, all taking place before she became governor. Monegan was fired by Palin in July.

Monegan has said he was never told directly to fire Wooten but felt pressured by members of the governor's family and administration.

He's a Cheater...It's in the Genes

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:40:19 GMT

clipped by: spolastre

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Men are more likely to be devoted and loyal husbands when they lack a particular variant of a gene that influences brain activity, researchers announced yesterday -- the first time that science has shown a direct link between a man's genes and his aptitude for monogamy.

"Men with two copies of the allele had twice the risk of experiencing marital dysfunction, with a threat of divorce during the last year, compared to men carrying one or no copies," said Hasse Walum, a behavioral geneticist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm who led the study. "Women married to men with one or two copies of the allele scored lower on average on how satisfied they were with the relationship compared to women married to men with no copies."

The finding set off a debate about whether people should conduct genetic tests to find out whether potential mates are bad marriage prospects.

Tags: gene, men, monogomy

Genetic link to monogamy in men

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:48:44 GMT

clipped by: chipperdean

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Study Links Gene Variant in Men to Marital Discord

By Shankar Vedantam

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A02

The finding is striking because it not only links the gene variant -- which is present in two of every five men -- with the risk of marital discord and divorce, but also appears to predict whether women involved with these men are likely to say their partners are emotionally close and available, or distant and disagreeable. The presence of the gene variant, or allele, also seems predictive of whether men get married or live with women without getting married.

Tags: psychology

Palin files ethics complaint against self in 'troopergate'

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:02:48 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: Well, this is different!

Can we rehash some of Bidens questionable ethics questions sometime? With his history, I know there there. As a matter of fact, I know very little about him other than he's on the Foreign Relations Committee. Can I hold him accountable for our crummy "Foreign Relations"?

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Palin files ethics complaint against self in 'troopergate'

Gov. Sarah Palin wants a state board to review the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan -- taking the unusual step of making an ethics complaint against herself.

The lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, also asked the state legislature to drop its own investigation into the Monegan matter. He says the Personnel Board has jurisdiction over ethics.

"Governor Palin believes it will find no conceivable violation of the Ethics Act," her complaint says. She wants the investigation "to put these matters to rest."

Wooten had been disciplined over complaints brought by the family that included tasering his stepson, illegally shooting a moose and telling others that Heath would "eat a f***ing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.

Wooten warned his ex-wife he was going to get her and Palin, the complaint says.

Tough Cat

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:26:50 GMT

clipped by: twylightsoul

Clip Source: news.aol.com

Cat Survives 70-Mile Trip Under Truck

GILBERT, Ariz. (Sept. 2) - A cat survived a 2 1/2-hour trip on a spare tire under her owner's truck. Gil Smith recently drove from his Gilbert home 70 miles away for a business meeting in Kearny. When he got out of the truck, he heard a cat in distress and realized it was his.

Smith said the cat, Bella, was hysterical, shaky and tired, but was smart enough to know not to jump off the tire as the truck was moving.

Bella the cat went for a 70-mile ride, precariously perched on the spare tire under owner Gil Smith's truck. Smith drove for 2 1/2 hours before he stopped and heard her frantic meows. Bella was shaky and tired, but otherwise fine.
Click through for more animals in the news.

Smith said he canceled his meeting with a state Department of Economic Security official who had driven 50 miles to get to Kearny so he could get Bella home.

It was either that, or, he jokes, get a divorce.

Tags: animals, news