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Friday, June 19, 2009

Hd_debate 


Our view on international abductions: U.S.-Brazil custody battle highlights wider problem

Rights of fit, biological parents take precedence over politics

This Father's Day, David Goldman will again be without his 9-year-old son, Sean. Five years ago, Sean's mother took him on a two-week vacation to her native Brazil. They never returned. Goldman's wife informed the New Jersey man that she was divorcing him. She later remarried.

A treaty, the 1983 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, is supposed to address cases like these. But in Sean's case — and in a growing number of others, including 50 American children in Brazil — it has failed.

 Continue reading.
Posted at 12:22 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Current affairs - Editorial | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Opposing view: Sean calls me Dad

'North American political interests' threaten what's best for the boy.

The Brazilian Embassy declined to provide an opposing view. This is a condensed version of a letter written by João Paulo Lins e Silva, Sean Goldman's Brazilian stepfather:

I write as the father of two beloved children and as a 35-year-old widower. (Sean's mother) Bruna (came to) Brazil with Sean on vacation and decided to end (her) marriage. She was unhappy, depressed. Bruna appeared in Brazilian court and asked for custody of Sean, which was quickly granted.

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Posted at 12:21 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Current affairs - Editorial | | Comments (0) | Recommends

30 days for DUI manslaughter

The nation, led by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, has made great strides in the past three decades making clear that drinking and driving just don't mix.

STALLWORTH19 But the case of Cleveland Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth raises questions about whether the nation's prosecutors and judges have gotten the message.

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Posted at 12:20 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Criminal justice - Editorial | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Hd_columnists_opinions 

What should students do during 'vacation'?

Plain Talk By Al Neuharth, USA TODAY Founder

Nearly 90 million students across the USA in grade school, high school and college now have started their summer vacation. What should they do during the next two or three months?

Continue reading.
Posted at 12:16 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Education - Forum, Forum commentary, Plain Talk | | Comments (0) | Recommends

D.C. takes positive step on same-sex marriage

Commentary By Yolanda Young

Several years ago, my friends James and Samuel adopted 7- and 8-year-old siblings. The process included parenting classes, background checks, home renovations and court proceedings. But because the couple cannot marry or have a marriage recognized in Washington, D.C., the adoption was more arduous and expensive. Never mind the fact that they've been together more than 10 years.

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Posted at 12:15 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Forum commentary, Gay marriage - Forum, Young | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Hd_opinionline_10_1 

What people are saying about Iran's disputed election

The Boston Globe, in an editorial: "There may never be absolute proof of the massive vote fraud that Iranians are now protesting. But it would require vast reservoirs of credulity to believe the announced result: that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won nearly 63% of first-round ballots cast. … Disenchanted Iranians … are calling it a coup d'etat. … This mockery of democracy creates a quandary for President Obama. He has invited Iran's rulers, whoever they may be, to enter into a dialogue. … It is Iran's pursuit of fissile material needed for nuclear weapons that makes the stakes so high. Because of that, Obama has little choice but to keep his offer to negotiate with Iran on the table no matter who is declared the winner of the election there."

(In Tehran: "Where is my vote?", on demonstrator’s head, is the rallying cry after the election./Getty Images)

Continue reading.

Posted at 12:13 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Opinionline | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Hd_readers_opinions 

Iran's election: free in name but fixed in reality

Nelson Marans - Silver Spring, Md.

The so-called free elections in Iran, drawing a reported 85% turnout, proved to be free in name only but fixed in actuality ("Iran's fishy election results," Editorial, Monday).

The leaders of that nation had their favorite candidate, and lo and behold he won. Certainly it was a classical case of disenfranchising the opposition, with any protests put down.

(Digital wave: Photos of Iranian "green wave" protests, against presidential election results, have been posted on networking websites such as Flickr./Flickr via Reuters)

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Posted at 12:10 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Iran - Letters, Letter to the editor | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Politics2 Independence Day letters

The Fourth of July is when Americans celebrate the values that unite us. But these are politically divisive and economically difficult times, not to mention a time of war. What do you think the nation needs to remember about itself this Independence Day? What are the messages you would like to share with other Americans? We’d like to publish those comments on this page and online. Send your responses of 250 words to letters@usatoday.com. You may also fax to 703-854-2053. Please include a name, address and contact number for verification purposes.

Posted at 12:09 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 | | Comments (0) | Recommends

Don't downplay hostility, or its fix

Mary Anne Thomas - Black Mountain, N.C.

In Monday's commentary, "This is your brain on religion," Andrew Newberg states that surveys suggest "only a small percentage of Americans hold … hostile beliefs" (On Religion, The Forum). Such a statement downplays the amount of hostility in our world and our need to do something about it.

(Illustration by Web Bryant/USA TODAY)

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Posted at 12:08 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Letter to the editor, Religion - Letters | | Comments (0) | Recommends

U.S. no longer considered protectors in Afghanistan

Terry Friedlander - Ketchum, Idaho

his commentary, Philip Smucker quotes a military major saying, "The best way to disrupt the Taliban's plans is 'to sneak into a village at night and have a cup of tea with the local elders.' " In light of current views of America, this can't be easy ("Winnable? Yes. Bloody? Count on it," The Forum, June 10).

Continue reading.
Posted at 12:07 AM/ET, June 19, 2009 in Afghanistan - Letters, Letter to the editor | | Comments (0) | Recommends
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