Cicada comments

Posted in: Woman held for taking indecent photos of 6-yr-old daughter for sale See in context

nandakandamanda:

I am sure she knew which ones were worth more. In her mind, she was going for the highest price, pure and simple.

This is why it should be reported what price she was charging for the pictures. That she was arrested for "indecent" photos indicates that the photos were not just nude pictures. Well, they cannot very well show us the pictures, but we can be told how much someone was paying for them.

Another way you can tell this woman is truly evil is that her involvement in pornography is extensive, not just taking these snapshots of her daughter. As article states:

Police said the photos were discovered while they were investigating the woman in a separate case of violation of child pornography laws.

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Posted in: White-supremacist fringe party invited to take part in BBC program See in context

Although it isn’t likely to gain a seat in the national Parliament because of Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system, the BNP serves on several city councils and... took about 6 percent of the British vote in European elections, winning two EU parliament seats.

A "fringe" party has two EU seats? Doesn't that mean they are no longer fringe?

What are the criteria to be denoted "fringe"? Any party with no seat in Britain's national Parliament?

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Posted in: 40 police cars, 100 officers, one copter mobilized to chase 2 thieves See in context

JenniferKim:

that headline for the deliberate purpose of inviting people to dump on the Japanese police. That's why they left the serious injury out of the headline -- then buried it several paragraphs down in the story.

I agree with you. The main point is that this is a hit-and-run with someone severely injured. That requires all police in the area to be on alert.

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Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes See in context

lifehappiness:

Everything that was required to be able to move here was done with court approval and as soon as we got here, it was all taken away because we could not afford to fly back and fight. My point is not everything about these case is so clear to see or understand for that matter.

Indeed. Kind of makes you wonder why you bothered to conform to the court in the first place, I suppose.

You are lucky Japan is not forcing you to obey this unreasonable court order.

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Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes See in context

spudman:

The fact that 60% of the population chooses not to fight for their right of child custody is not a flag one should wave about with pride.

That is not what the figure refers to -- 60% have no need to fight. They have no need to use the courts. Settlement, including visitation, is accomplished by private negotiation because both parents are able to reach agreement on their own.

Possibly due to the fact that over 90% of sole custody is granted to the mother.

Exactly the misguided use of statistics I referred to. Let's take the reverse: 10% of men are granted custody, but this "10%" is of couples who were using the courts. Moreover, it neglects to say what per cent of men asked for custody. Under the circumstances, the 10% figure is not that low.

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Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes See in context

spudman

$800,000 was all it took for poor Noriko san to take her kids to the USA. She isn't blameless. Acts for money = mercenary mum.

That myth has been repeated often. Even if true (which it is not), there still is no justification for having the new wife act as a proxy for Chris Savoie with regard to his weekend visitation rights.

The point here is whether or not Japan should be obliged by the rulings of local courts in the USA and elsewhere around the world.

People criticize the Japanese courts, but neglect to mention that 60% of Japanese divorces do not even need court rulings, and are accomplished by direct negotiation. All of those horrid statistics always mentioned come from the 40% of cases that need to be heard by a Japanese court.

Furthermore, though Noriko has not spoken much, one thing she has asserted is that the splitting of assets was unfair, and that Chris was able to lie and hide the origin (her) of some assets. She had little clue as to how the American courts operated, and so had little recourse. The $750,000 she received was viewed by her as very unfair, ie. she had been cheated out of some assets by Chris Savoie's presentation at the American court.

Moreover, upon returning to Japan , she gave up alimony, education funds, and monthly payments. This had been explained to her by the judge. I notice that nowhere is this mentioned by people supportive of Chris Savoie and the Hague Convention agenda. People love to throw around the $800,000 figure of split assets, but no one talks about the money lost by returning to Japan. Anyone have any cold hard figures?

And since Noriko did not state any intention to prevent Chris from 2 weekends per month visitation, it seems unfair that alimony was taken from her by the American court.

People thinking Japan should sign the Hague Convention should take a very close look at the Savoie case, and see that Japan would be foolish to go along with the rulings such as those rendered in Tennessee.

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Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes See in context

The convention seeks to ensure that custody decisions are made by the courts in the country where the children originally lived and that the rights of access of both parents are protected.

"Seeks to ensure"... but ensures none of that.

Tokyo has argued that signing the convention may not protect Japanese women and their children from abusive foreign husbands

That is right, and the Savoie case is a good example of a Japanese woman needing protection from an abusive foreign spouse.

but Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told reporters Friday that Japan is considering signing the convention.

If they can work it out that people are protected from abusive spouses that really have no "right of access" to the children at all, it might be then OK to sign it. But likely signing it will weaken protection for those who need to shield children from abusive fathers like Chris Savoie.

What did the American courts do to protect the ex-wife from gross abuses inflicted upon her by the husband's new wife Amy? Nothing. No injunction was issued to the new wife Amy, and no requirement was made that Chris Savoie fulfill the visitation rights himself, and not use his new wife as a proxy.

So without protection afforded by not signing the treaty, Chris Savoie's wife would have been stuck in America enduring a hellish nightmare for years (unless she was willing to give up the children, which was precisely what the abusive husband wanted).

I think some other ambassadors should get together and urge Japan to ignore the pleas to sign onto Hague Convention.

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Posted in: American man accused of grabbing own kids released See in context

michaelqtodd:

Excellent post. You may be one of the few affected fathers who understand the real significance of the Savoie travesty.

And possibly you are one of the few who can benefit. Your child is now 10, not 4. Even when parents are with the children, the children change! So your idea of your child and the now reality is divergent. You cannot have the past back. As I said, this is true for everyone. But perhaps, separated, it is harder to fathom.

What I am telling you is that you do not want to have custody of your former child, but you do want to meet and get to know your child now. The relationship need not be father/child but more as friends. And I think you can forge a new relationship with the former spouse as well.

Maybe now is the time for you to go for it. Accomplish with inner strength what others try to accomplish with the external forces of court orders.

I've been reading your posts for quite a while. If anyone can do it, you can.

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Posted in: American man accused of grabbing own kids released See in context

timorborder:

Indeed, there is somewhat of a stench of diplomatic interference.

There was a steaming diplomatic turd right in the middle of the article:

U.S. Consulate spokeswoman Tracy Taylor declined to comment on details of his release, but added that her understanding was that he would not be indicted.

Chris Savoie does have a lot of money. Maybe he put some of it to use. Not just his money, either.

One really has to wonder why the accomplices were never identified, let alone detained. Savoie's company has 2 officers (one who was temporarily CEO while Savoie was jailed) living right in Fukuoka. If they were the ones with Shannon Higgins, that could have meant arresting all 4 executives of the company.

So the incentive to get Savoie out of jail and avoid indictment was probably not just Savoie's alone.

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Posted in: Look at my body See in context

They're very handsome but squashed together like that it looks a little gay, like they are all doing the bunny hop or something.

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Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children See in context

Longtime Resident:

I am sorry to be blunt but you have no idea of what you speak.

Well, same to you! You made a statement and I asked a question, which you still have not answered very well.

How do you know that "denial of access invariably leads to a cessation of alimony and support payments"?

The facts speak for themselves. Almost 50% of parents denied any access will cut off support payments.

"Almost 50%" is not "invariably".

I would say that "invariably" people like you distort figures and statistics to support your agenda. So I do not even have any reason to accept your new version of "almost 50%".

Moderator: Please stay on topic and keep the discussion civil.

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Posted in: AP, News Corp bosses say pay up for online news content See in context

The eventual result will be that enterprising "journalists" will start making up news -- news that is completely fiction but just as entertaining as real news.

Even now, the proportion of fiction in news is quite high, so this will not be a revolutionary change.

The Associated Press and News Corp will then be forced to compete with fiction news. They do have a head start in this area, but it will be hard for them to charge customers for news that they cannot even pretend is objective or real.

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Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children See in context

Longtime Resident:

Denial of access invariably leads to a cessation of alimony and support payments, further aggravating the problems for the children, who grow to adulthood, permanently scarred by economic hardship and believing their father's are miserable no good so and so's.

Invariably?! Are you speaking from the experience of all your acquaintances?

If the father stopped paying alimony just because he could not have the access he wanted, the children are right to think of him as a miserable sod.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

DwightVanWinkle:

But the bigger problem in the Savoie case was that Japan's family law does not ensure fathers' visitation. I don't think that justified a Tennessee divorce, but it was the justification.

I agree with you that a Tennesse divorce was not justified. And yet, as you say, "it was the justification". The problem here is not that Japan didn't sign the Hague convention, but rather that American courts unilaterally are making decisions that penalize the citizens of countries that did not sign, or countries that do not have domestic laws/enforcement similar to America.

Since when can one country alter its judiciary decisions regarding foreigners, based on whether or not the foreigners' country has signed a particular treaty, or based on what laws/enforcement are like in the foreign country?

You've touched on the real issue here: the Tennessee court should have made all its decisions based on American law, not based on international politics.

Still, the American judge did give primary custody to Noriko, choosing to use alimony and monthly payments as a means of "persuading" her to remain in America. In some ways, the judge's decision can be seen as very fair, although I wonder why Chris Savoie should not pay alimony now, if Noriko agrees to let him have visitation 2 weekends per month in Japan.

Unfortunately, the behavior of Chris and Amy was so abusive that Noriko decided to forfeit the alimony and go back home to Japan.

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Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears See in context

mygrain:

Didn't you say

I’ll not be squabbling back and forth

but now you are squabbling. Just like an American who cannot be trusted with beef exports! You say one thing and do another.

as what we see from the domestic suppliers

Here I will agree with you totally. You can never trust the domestic suppliers in Japan. They will swear to you that it is not American beef, and after you serve it to several thousand customers, you discover that it was American beef.

But this is just another reason to ban unsafe beef completely. That way, even with the dishonest suppliers, we can be assured that, though the beef might be sub-quality, at least it will not be deadly.

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Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears See in context

KobeKid:

You simply can’t have BSE in beef under 21 months of age. Is this true or false?

If the regulation of the beef industry is so lax that repeatedly "mistakes" are made, protocol not followed, and laws not enforced, then what difference does your argument make?

You can't possibly assume that all exporters are adhering to the age limit. (and you also cannot assume that the biased research was adequately done in the first place)

The most telling thing about Americans is that they were unwilling to test all of their cattle for BSE. If it is all safe, then why won't they test it all? That would be the simplest way to assure safety, but they don't do it, because they know that some infections would come to light.

They are willing to take a chance that infections will result, because they are confident about their damage control plans. That won't be much help for you, when you were stupid enough to gobble up untested American beef.

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Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears See in context

mygrain:

I’ll not be squabbling back and forth with you about this. I believe in facts, not scare tactics. American beef is proven safe

Yeah, whatever. But brains and spinal columns were forbidden by Japanese and yet the Americans "made a mistake". And it is not the first mistake. Doh.

You say American beef is safe, but Americans were unwilling to do tests on 100% of the cattle, so really you have no idea how many mistakes are being made and how much infection is taking place. Good luck eating American beef. Ten or twenty years from now you might regret that urge to eat meat that has not been thoroughly tested.

Like I said, Aussie beef is safe and tastes better. So why mess around with spinal column tainted beef from America?

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Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears See in context

mygrain: But as any educated person knows, the Americans are shipping beef products scientifically incapable of containing BSE.

Yeah, sure. Did you read this part of the article?

Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes sent by Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.

Spinal columns are forbidden because they are dangerous, "as any educated person knows".

America does not even test all of its cattle, so it is imperative to restrict the dangerous parts such as spinal column. Much preferable would be to revert to a total ban on American beef, since Aussie beef is both safe and tasty.

Unfortunately politics is more important than public safety and Japanese people are stupid enough to gulp down American beef.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

DwightVanWinkle:

There was now no "home state" under this law

That is one of the flaws. Doh.

You're wrong that this case is an argument against the Hague Convention. If Japan had been part of it, this might not have happened.

I'm wrong because this "might not have happened"? lol. You cannot give any concrete reason why it would not have happened. And if it did, it would have been even worse for Noriko.

the Toland case...The Hillman case

Why are you citing a couple of more cases, when you have claimed that the Savoie case is not typical? You need to present the entire data of all cases, to show that the Savoie case is not typical, and to show whatever else it is you are trying to show.

I think this Savoie case caused the children the harm that the Hague Convention is designed to prevent, by bringing them from Japan in an unstable situation.

You are making a valiant effort to constructively connect the Savoie case to an argument about the Hague Convention. But you really have no reason to believe that the Hague Convention would have helped the Savoie children; quite possibly it would have meant much deeper harm.

As it is, the Japanese are right not to sign the Hague Convention. When people manage to figure out how it should be modified to avoid grotesque incidents of abuse, maybe Japan would sign.

Meanwhile, you and anyone else trying to advance the Hague Convention issue based on the Savoie case are making a giant mistake.

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Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife See in context

DwightVanWinkle: There is a thin line between flexibility and ambiguity.

Seems like you are just here to hate on the father and Hague Convention. Am I wrong?

Yes, you are. I call the shots as I see them, without any agenda. In this case, the father and his homewrecker bride Amy are clearly responsible for all the difficulties after the divorce.

I would not judge before the divorce, except that seeing the character of Amy and Chris after the divorce leads one to believe that Chris's unwise decisions and abusive behavior have roots that go far back.

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Posted in: Man arrested for stabbing friend with kitchen knife in Mie See in context

hollywood1:

Another reason why the country need a five day waiting period to buy a kitchen knife.

BBleo:

We can't ban kitchen knives! Or can we?

It is time for you people to realize that kitchen knives do not kill people, it is people that kill people. Even if you ban kitchen knives, people will use box cutters or even their fingernails. Whatever it takes.

The solution is to follow the example of America, and make gun ownership legal, if not mandatory. If everyone owns guns, these kitchen knife incidents will be a thing of the past. How often do you hear about kitchen knives in the American news? I rest my case.

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Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife See in context

DwightVanWinkle:

I still think that this divorce did not belong in Tennessee because of assumptions about the mother

I agree, but what is there from preventing this from happening again and again? The more publicized the story, the more sly people will see ways to set a trap for their Japanese spouse like Chris did.

that this case is very different from the usual child abduction to Japan case.

How can you be sure? Have you looked at all the other cases? I wonder if many of the other 100 so-called abductions were not similar to this case.

Perhaps Hague Convention rules need to be modified to encourage Japan's signing.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

DwightVanWinkle:

If anyone is still reading, I think I was wrong to say Japan was the home state of the kids for determining child custody.

Well, if you are right this time, that's too bad, because it (Japan not considered home state in this case) is an indication of serious flaws with the Hague Convention.

I'd say the bigger this story becomes, the more resistance there will be to signing the Hague Convention. People like Chris could freely abuse the system by trapping spouses in foreign divorces.

I still think the mother was treated very unfairly by the father, and that this case is very different from the usual child abduction to Japan case.

I agree, and yet the bigger the story becomes, and the louder Chris and Amy wail, the more the case will be seen as representative. What a shame.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

techall:

She negotiated an 800,000USD settlement on condition she did not take the children out of the U.S.

Why do you like to repeat the homewrecker's tall tales? Read the documents instead. The "condition" for remaining in Tennessee was alimony, monthly payments, and education money. All of which Noriko chose to forfeit.

You misguided Chris Savoie supporters cannot even get this straight.

There was no deception there.

Yeah, sure. She uproots the kids from Japan to live in a foreign country because she wants to live near her husband's lover, so that they can conspire to gain custody of her children. Perfectly easy for anyone to understand!

JoeBigs:

If he really loved his kids he would have moved his mistress to Japan and been there for them.

That's right. Chris Savoie shows no signs whatsoever of loving his kids. He does show signs of wanting to own them, wanting them to love him, and wanting the world to think he is a super-dad. And how funny that some people believe that.

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Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife See in context

LFRAgain:

Noriko THEN took the children out of the country THREE DAYS INTO THE NEW SCHOOL TERM ON AUGUST 13TH. That violated a court order and was determined by Tennessee courts to be KIDNAPPING.

Sometimes you claim it is "abduction" and sometimes "kidnapping". Why not post for us the exact wording of the court determination so that you can settle on which term is best?

No matter how many times you keep saying that this a case of her simply not returning in time to meet the terms of the court order, that doesn't make it magically so.

It's not magic, it is fact. The violation would not have occurred had she been back in time for the children to attend school. So any determination of "kidnapping" or whatever is based upon her not bringing the children to the school in time for the first class, as she was required to do.

An important distinction to make here is that the brutal forcible abduction carried out by Chris and his 4 henchmen was a violent crime taking place at a specific location and a specific time.

You do not seem to grasp the idea that Noriko did not abduct the children from Amy's home, as Amy claimed to the media. Nor did she abduct them on their way to school. Her "abduction" was a failure to bring them to the school on time.

It's time to stop playing with semantics, acting like the violent crime perpetrated by Chris is in any way comparable to Noriko's decision to stay in Japan, where the kids had always been.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

amerijap:

That's the sort of grievance strategy this woman is using to build the solidarity from her sympathizers. I agree that's quite justifiable and rational tactic. No doubt about it.

Indeed, I agree it is quite a "strategy" for Noriko to show kindness, dignity, patience and graciousness as opposed to the attitudes of arrogance, hostility, contempt and disrespect shown by Chris and Amy.

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Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children See in context

timorborder:

surely matters would be better served by raising the case of somebody other than an admitted wife-beater

I agree. There needs to be a case where the mother was clearly being unreasonable in all respects. Is it that hard to find such a case?

If the prosecution can successfully argue that this chap [Chris Savoie] is not a "caregiver" as defined by law, then he is toast.

That should be easy enough. Noriko Savoie was caring for the children in Japan from birth. Chris Savoie left them in Japan to be with a lover in America. When divorced, the American court gave Noriko custody and Chris only got 2 weekends per month visitation rights.

womanforwomen:

My heroes on JT are Klein, Beelzebub, michaeltodd, Johnshiomi. There were few others but do not remember the name. I think there is a lot of strength in giving up something that is very dear to you.

I agree with you. Especially Johnshiomi's comments about most of these troubles arising from within the heart. The courts should only be used as a last resort. Those cases make the news and people discuss them avidly. But the real model cases are the ones where people did not need the courts at all, or only to help settle complicated issues that both wanted to have settled in arbitration.

Not all parents who divorce fight over the kids. Many parents realize that the spouse was good with the kids and want them to have visitation. But these cases will never make it to the headlines.

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Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife See in context

DwightVanWinkle:

just to be accurate, Noriko Savoie brought the kids back to Tennessee after the vacation in Japan. The kids then went on a trip with the father and his new wife, I think to New England. For whatever reason, she came back, then left again.

I'm aware of this, but the point is that she left for Japan before school had begun. Had she come back to Tennessee in time for school, there would have been no violation. Therefore, her violation of the American court order occurred in Japan.

I'm making this distinction because Amy's crafty version for the media would have people believe that Noriko "abducted" the children from Chris and Amy's home, which is nonsense. When Noriko took the children from that home(presumably after their New England vacation), it was Noriko who had custody of the children. No violation or abduction occurred there.

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Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife See in context

frontandcentre

Both the parents in this case appear to be guilty, quite equally, as they both abducted the children. The difference is that the mother succeeded getting them out of the USA and the Father failed to get them out of Japan.

The difference in guilt is quite large. In America, Noriko had custody of the children and had permission to be in Japan during summer vacation. Her "abduction" consisted of a decision not to board a plane and go back to America. Therefore, her (non-violent) violation of the American court order did not even occur in America; it occurred in Japan. As the judge had explained to her, by so doing she would lose alimony and monthly payments.

Christopher, in contrast, committed a violent crime of abduction in Japan. He enlisted the help of "friends" and together they forcibly took the children from the mother while she was walking with them to school.

The children resisted, and so did the mother. This was a forcible kidnap, a violent crime, that would have direct traumatic impact upon the children. Clearly, Chris knew he could not force the kids into a car by himself, and so he brought along accomplices.

Why does the Western media fail to mention the role of accomplices?

Noriko violated an American court order while she was in Japan (where this court order does not even apply) and Christopher committed a violent crime while he was in Japan.

How could you possibly think that these are at all equal?

It will be interesting to see if the accomplices are arrested. Meanwhile, Chris Savoie sits in jail where he belongs, and Noriko has been forced to hide from the American media, which has been misrepresenting the story to the American public.

Hopefully, Chris will be severely punished and Noriko will be left alone to recuperate from the traumas afflicted upon her by Chris and that homewrecking loud-mouth Amy.

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Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help See in context

amerijap:

She testified at the court that she would intend to stay in the US...It is not only a violation of court order, but it could be charged as a perjury.

Hard to prove perjury when she merely expressed her "intention". Her intention at that time was to stay in America.

Tennessee state court allowed her to go to Japan with her kids during summer, but it's NOT the same as she can stay in her home country indefinitely.

Yes, but her actual decision not to go back to America was made in Japan. Therefore, her violation of the American court order occurred while she was in Japan.

as the condition of divorce settlement.

The only divorce condition tied to her remaining in America is monthly payments, alimony, and education money. The judge explained this to her. Yes, she did forfeit that money by not going back to America. Other than that, there is no reason why she can not live in her own country, for goodness sake.

That's why the state court has recently issued an arrest warrant against her.

And that is why this case supports an argument against signing the Hague Convention. The divorce jurisdiction never should have been Tennessee in the first place. But that is not Noriko's fault.

Actually, the American court had no business turning over custody to Chris just because Noriko wants to live in her own country where the children have been since birth. It would have been wiser for the American court to allow her to retain the initial custody, in hopes that Chris could negotiate visitation on his trips to Japan.

However, Chris and Amy had been aiming to obtain full custody from the start, and they wrongly thought it is a good thing that the American court gave them custody after Noriko did not come back. They can yell and scream to the media about custody. But those court decisions make it harder for Noriko to allow Chris visitation. (And of course after his violent abduction of the children, it would be near impossible for her to do so).

It's not possible to sympathize with Chris at all. The only sympathy he has gotten is based on inaccurate portrayals of what happened -- provided to the media by him and his loud mouth lover. That will backfire for them too, as has everything else, because the bigger the attention garnered by the story, the more reporters will look into the facts for themselves and see that Noriko was deeply wronged throughout.

Chris and Amy already do not get that much sympathy even in the American news forums. The limited sympathy they are getting will evaporate when the true circumstances are told.

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