I didn't have the idea for this post until just a few minutes ago, when I got home...and then it grew when I turned on the news. I have a post on a related topic in draft form I am working on.

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When I came home, I found a plastic bag in front of my door with safety tips from the Sylvania Township Police Department. The first thing I pulled out was a spiral type thingy, with a bunch of flip-cards on all sorts of security issues. Medical emergencie/suspicious packages/flooding and water damage/utility outages/physical threats/crime preventions/homeland security.

So, I decided to flip to the "physical threats" to see if domestic violence was mentioned. And, to their great credit, the City of Sylvania Police Department did mention it.

Now, just the fact they mention it gives them an A+ in my book. I have seen some police departments refuse to enforce orders of the court regarding visitation because the signature was "stamped," and then later indicate they wouldn't have enforced them even if they were signed. (That would be the Fremont Police Department in Fremont, Ohio.) Meanwhile, other agencies, when a child asks to call his mother, simply ignore the request. (That would be the Beavercreek Police Department in Beavercreek, Ohio.)

In any case, I was pretty happy to see that Sylvania PD even mentioned domestic violence.

I was overjoyed to see they used the American Bar Association's definition for domestic violence, to wit:

The American Bar Association (ABA) has defined domestic violence as a pattern of behavior that one intimate partner or spouse exerts over another as a means of control. Domestic violence may include physical violence, coercion, threats, isolation, and emotional, sexual or economic abuse.

I want to focus on two major issues:

First, notice that it is defined as a "pattern of behavior [exerted]....as a means of control." CONTROL is the key thing here. Domestic abusers are control freaks. If you haven't figured that out by now, understand that they want to run the show, and it all needs to revolve around them.

Secondly, "Domestic violence may include physical violence, coercion, threats, isolation, and emotional, sexual or economic abuse."

WHAT THAT MEANS is this, and I'm going to put this in big print:


Are we clear on that?

I think, if the Sylvania Police Department wants to really be of service and step it up a notch, they could visit the Ottawa County Courthouse in Port Clinton, Ohio, with a copy of this book. Then, they could stop at the police departments I've mentioned. Then, they could distribute extras to people who are appointed to serve as guardians ad litem and believe that verbal abuse and screaming is just "hearsay" and that playing with someone's college education funds to try to alienate them from their mother is only a financial issue.

That's just my take.

/dv rant...for now

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On to economic security.

As you may have heard, General Motors is closing many plants and bankruptcy is threatened. One of the commentators on the news today said that if GM goes into bankruptcy, the first thing to go will be some or all of the pensions of GM retirees.

My question is this: WHY?

Why in the world is that money available to satisfy creditors? Why hasn't that been put in an irretrievable lockbox (gosh, you never thought you'd hear THAT word again, did you?) that can't be gotten to when a company goes belly-up?

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I feel that those we elect to represent us have let us down. Those who allow our retirees' economic security to be put in jeopardy.

As well as those who supervise court systems where emergency hearings can take over a month to get, while elementary-age children wait for justice.

Oops, that's the post I'm drafting...