Date: December 17, 1999 03:09 AM
Author: Elizabeth Morgan (elizabethmorgan@usa.net)
Subject: Need Legal Advice/Referral ASAP!

A Y2K acquaintance saw a sheriff take away her two children today because she was trying to relocate them from Santa Ana, S. California to a safer rural location.

The ex-husband, who shares custody, caught them as they left and followed them to the new home. They planned for a 2-week vacation to introduce the kids to the new surroundings - then would have returned to LA to lay the legal foundation for permanent relocation - unless Y2K disruptions made that moot.

He managed to get a court hearing set up - the mom was notified after 5:30 PM that she need to be 1000 miles away by 8:30 AM the next day! There were no flights from the closest airport and driving would have taken 14+ hours. She was unable to get a legal referrel and have representation at the hearing -- so she lost.

The kids were immediately taken (faxed legal order - they don't have airports here but they do have faxes).

The father's complaint painted the mom to be abusive (no one bothered to ask the older children if that were true). Y2K was not mentioned though the father knows the motivation.

It is hard to counter the advice she's getting in trying to find lawyer - "just wait it out - at the January 3 hearing, we'll surely win them back. You can wait that long."

Well, she can't wait that long! She needs an aggressive attorney - but also one who won't pooh pooh her Y2K concerns and who will acknowledge the urgency to get a faster hearing and get the kids out of LA.

Please help. I will pass on any good advice. I will pass on any leads in finding a good lawyer. I ask also for your prayers. This mom has had her Christian faith sorely tested. She has worked for over a year, spent her life savings, and prepared a safe place for her kids. She is in shock and near total despair. All her hard work and preps are now like ashes without her children.

I have also posted on Gary North's relocation forum with further details.

Thank you in advance on her behalf.

(http://general.forums.commentary.net/forums/Index.cfm?Message_ID=37752)

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), June 28, 2000

Answers

How tragic - a woman believed the lies of the "experts" and of those who "with their years of experience couldn't be wrong about Y2k," and ended up losing custody of her children.

How sad.

But, no need for the doomers to apologise - no sir. They did nothing wrong - they were only trying to help, after all...I wonder if she read the rantings at the Hysterium...

Vindicated Regards,
Andy Ray

-- Andy Ray (andyman633@hotmail.com), June 28, 2000.

>> But, no need for the doomers to apologise - no sir. They did nothing wrong - they were only trying to help, after all... <<

I intend to apologize! Right now! I am truly, deeply sorry I made that woman lose custody of her children. That is a tragic outcome of my activities. I know how much a person's children mean to them, if they have even an ounce of parental love in their heart.

It doesn't matter that Y2K was never mentioned in the custody hearings and so played no role in the judge's decision. Why should it? The woman believed it. And she lost custody of her children. So, draw your own conclusions!

Of course, we don't know for sure if the loss of custody was temporary, or what happened at the January 3 hearing. But that should not deter me from apologizing. It is just plain cowardice to even bring it up, as if it made a dime's worth of difference in whether I am culpable for this woman's tragedy! It doesn't!

So, I apologize again, because I was wrong about Y2K and it is certainly possble that this woman read TB2000 and was swayed by me to leave Los Angeles. Not knowing who or what swayed her makes no difference. She needs an apology.

Not just any apology, either, but an apology of those who "with their years of experience couldn't be wrong about Y2k,". I have years of experience. I admit it. So, I apologize.

>> I wonder if she read the rantings at the Hysterium... <<

Does it really matter? isn't it clear enough already that everyone here should apologize to...uh, what was her name again? And admit that they were wrong about Y2K, which is, of course, the main problem here.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), June 28, 2000.

You forgot to mention that CPR was right about Y2K.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), June 28, 2000.

Cpr,

Right on, you go bro! I can tell you that I have heard thousands of similar tragedies. I am writing a book on it. So don't publish any more of your heresay or I will sue your ass back to Flatbush.

-- (DrLaura@your.face), June 28, 2000.