Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tiny & Toya
BET has their own version of the Real Housewives, except Tiny (Tameka Cottle) and Toya (Toya Johnson-Carter) are attached to two of the biggest names in hip hop. Tiny is a former member of the 90s girl group Xscape, and the fiancee of rapper TI (Currently in prison on gun charges). They also have several children. And Toya is Lil Wayne's ex-wife.
These women also have real problems. TI is in prison, and her father is suffering from Alzheimer. And we will get to see Toya struggling to help her mother, who has a drug problem, get off the streets and clean. These women are the real thing, not the fakers of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Tiny & Toya airs on BET at 9pm on Tuesdays.
First Photo Of Sarah Jessica Parker's Twins
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick released the first photo of their twin daughters, Tabitha and Marion. The girls were born just over a week ago to a surrogate.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Where Is Maury When You Need Him
Because Rielle Hunter's daughter, Frances is looking more and more like John Edwards every day.
Details Have Come Out About Jada Justice's Murder
Police arrested the 18-year-old cousin of Jada Justice, Engelica Castillo and the cousin's boyfriend, Tim Tkachik for the 2-year-old's murder. In addition to the murder charge they are charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent, battery and false informing.
Little Jada's body was found burned and encased in cement in a local swamp. Police believe that she was already dead and in the swamp when her cousin, the girl's babysitter, reported her missing. Two days later Tkachik went to the emergency room where he was treated for burns that he claims were the result of a propane tank explosion.
Tkachik finally led the police to Jada's body last week. His story is that Engelica Castillo repeatedly beat Jada causing her to hit her head on a table. When he couldn't stop the abuse he went into another room to watch tv (sounds fishy to me). It wasn't until they went to buy heroin that they realized that the little girl was dead. They went home after buying the heroin and placed the body into plastic bags. The next morning they tried to burn the body. When that failed, they put the body into a bathtub and poured concrete over her. They then dumped the body into the swamp.
They then went home, took some more heroin, and tried to come up with a cover story. The next day they reported the girl missing.
When police accused Castillo of lying about the disappearance, she attempted to hit the police and told them, "God is taking care of her. God is watching over her." Those are always words that alert police that YOU have something to do with a disappearance, but murderers never get tired using the same sorry line.
Cupcake Social
Cupcake Social's Etsy site is so cheerful, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. The photography is wonderful. The store sells cupcake cups and decorations, and nothing else. It is a quick for those of us with limited cake decorating skills to make our cupcakes extra special.
gCloth
gDiapers has finally come out with a cloth insert for their popular pocket diapers. The gCloth insert is designed to fit into the cover without folding, cutting down on bulk. The diapers are made of two layers of polyester microfleece and two layers of hemp/cotton blend.
gDiapers is really trying to be the perfect, ecofriendly diapers for modern parents. Parents can now use the washable insert at home, and the flushable insert while out and about.
Six inserts will set you back $29.99 ,and come in size small and medium/large.
Murder and Mayhem Links 29 June
The Michael Jackson edition. The stories coming out just keep getting stranger and stranger. Michael Jackson would be proud.
Mother of Michael Jackson's Children Debbie Rowe Confesses He Was Not Their Father
This article is claiming that Debbie Rowe admitted that Michael Jackson was not the father of Prince Michael or Paris. Not that many people believe that he was. She says that they never even had sex. And he dumped her once he discovered that she wouldn't be able to have more children. We all knew that marriage was a sham, and that she was just a fancy, well paid surrogate.
Debbie Rowe: I'm The Legal Parent Of Two Of Michael Jackson's Kids
Debbie Rowe never actually gave up her parental rights. Is there a custody battle brewing? Because Katherine may be too old to raise such young kids for long, and didn't she and Joe screw up most of the other Jackson children. But what will happen to Blanket if Debbie gets the two oldest? Would the courts really separate the kids?
Michael Jackson Family Photos
The photos prove that the kids weren't as isolated as earlier believed. And that parts of their lives were actually kind of normal. And did he bleach the oldest kid's hair? Because it is awful blond, Hitler Youth blond, and you can see dark roots.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Michael Jackson's Victim Speaks?
I don't think that this story is true, but it has been creeping around the internet. But none of the sources are too reliable. It is being claimed that Evan Chandler is saying that he lied about being molested by Michael Jackson. Here is the text, but I think it is a hoax.
In 1993, Chandler told a psychiatrist and police that he and Jackson had engaged in sexual acts that included oral sex, the boy gave detailed description of Jackson’s genitals. The case was settled out of court for a reported $22 million, but the strain led Jackson to begin taking painkillers. Eventually he became addicted.
Now maybe for the remorse of his death Chandler decides to tell us the truth. “I never meant to lie and destroy Michael Jackson but my father made me to tell only lies. Now i can’t tell Michael how much i’m sorry and if he will forgive me”. Evan Chandler was tape-recorded saying amongst other things, “If I go through with this, I win big-time. There”s no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever”.
Under the influence of a controversial father (Jordan Chandler) told his son to tell that Jackson had touched his penis. Jordan Chandler then told a psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex, as well as giving a detailed description of what he alleged were the singer’s genitals.
“Now for the first time i can’t bare to lie anymore. Michael Jackson didn’t do anything to me, all was my father lies to escape from being poor.”
In 1993, Chandler told a psychiatrist and police that he and Jackson had engaged in sexual acts that included oral sex, the boy gave detailed description of Jackson’s genitals. The case was settled out of court for a reported $22 million, but the strain led Jackson to begin taking painkillers. Eventually he became addicted.
Now maybe for the remorse of his death Chandler decides to tell us the truth. “I never meant to lie and destroy Michael Jackson but my father made me to tell only lies. Now i can’t tell Michael how much i’m sorry and if he will forgive me”. Evan Chandler was tape-recorded saying amongst other things, “If I go through with this, I win big-time. There”s no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever”.
Under the influence of a controversial father (Jordan Chandler) told his son to tell that Jackson had touched his penis. Jordan Chandler then told a psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex, as well as giving a detailed description of what he alleged were the singer’s genitals.
“Now for the first time i can’t bare to lie anymore. Michael Jackson didn’t do anything to me, all was my father lies to escape from being poor.”
Kendra Wilkinson Wedding Pics
It's a miracle, Kendra Wilkinson managed to look extremely pretty and tasteful when she married Hank Baskett yesterday.
More photos below.
sourceBook give-away and podcast on craftsanity.com
Jennifer at craftsanity is buzzing with enthusiasm and ideas for craft-niks. She inspired me to start making aprons, denim ones, and then, naturally, one apron developed into three, and then four. 
Visit her site for a podcast with me. We speak about fashion, designing, fashion sketching, combining work and family, and naturally, sewing denim cast-offs. I loved meeting Jennifer, who is an amazing mother, journalist and online, craft trailblazer.
Jennifer also is doing a "Denim Revolution" book giveaway! Yes, it's free, just leave a comment on her blog to enter the drawing.
And, a step-by-step how to make the "Hanky Panky Cowgirl" apron in the top photo.
Which can be downsized or done up differently for little girls like in the photo below. 
(I've discovered it is the perfect outfit for play dates in Central Park, jumping on backyard trampolines and even as a cosy blanket for a sleepy plush puppy.) It's an easy craft project for a lazy summer day.
(I've discovered it is the perfect outfit for play dates in Central Park, jumping on backyard trampolines and even as a cosy blanket for a sleepy plush puppy.) It's an easy craft project for a lazy summer day. Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson died yesterday at 50. I can't say that I am completely surprised, even though I thought that he would die during plastic surgery. What I am wondering is what will happen to his children? I am sure Blanket will go to family members, but what will happen to Prince Michael and Paris. They have a "mother". Will she seek custody? She wasn't a exactly a surrogate, she was his "wife" at the time the children were born. Will Debbie try to reclaim her children? Or will she just let them go to the Jacksons? They don't have the greatest track record raising children. I guess it will be up to the courts to decide.
And will this be their chance to finally live a more normal life. Will they get to go to a school with other children? Will they be able to go outside without masks?
And what will they be left with? Michael Jackson was hovering near bankruptcy. Those London concerts would have cleared out his massive debt, but it is not to be.
You have to feel sorry for the kids. They were effectively orphaned yesterday. Even though the oldest two have a mother, she abandoned them in the middle of the Michael Jackson freakshow. They must harbor some resentment. And not only have they lost their father, but they lost the ringmaster to that freakshow.
Haylee Donathan Won't Be Allowed To See Mother
A 4-year-old, whose mother took her cross-country with her sex-offender boyfriend, won't be handed back to her mother, according to the girl's maternal grandmother.
"There's no way that I would do that," Mary Watson said Wednesday on HLN's "Nancy Grace."
Watson said she plans to follow the decisions of social services agencies overseeing the well-publicized case of young Haylee Donathan and will not let Haylee see her mother, Candace Watson.
"If (she) is not allowed to see her, she is not allowed to see her," Mary Watson said. "That's the way it is going to be."
Candace Watson, 24, and her boyfriend, Robbi Porter, 27, were arrested Tuesday in a raid at The Morning Star Ranch, a Christian communal farm in a rural part of San Diego County, California.
Authorities also found Haylee at the ranch and said they plan to return the girl to her grandmother.
Haylee had been missing for 27 days and the search to find her had been highlighted by national television current-affairs shows.
The grandmother, who received temporary court-ordered custody of the girl so an Amber Alert could be issued during the search, said she had not seen Haylee since she was found because she was being examined in California. Shortly after she was found, the girl was said to be in good condition.
"I want to tell her how I love her and we all love her and want her to come home soon," Mary Watson said.
Acting on a tip from former retreat visitors who saw a billboard of Haylee in the Las Vegas area, law enforcement stormed the usually placid ranch, whose members work the land, do household chores and share Christian beliefs and teachings. Video
The search for Haylee was sparked by authorities' concern for her safety.
Investigators say the three left Mansfield, Ohio, by car on May 28. The same day, Candace Watson and others allegedly had helped Porter escape from a halfway house, according to officials.
After she was arrested, Watson said she "was in love with him and knew she would help him any way she could," Pete Elliott, the U.S. marshal for the northern district of Ohio, told "Nancy Grace."
source
Thursday, June 25, 2009
There Won't Be A Real Housewives' Sex Tape
The sex tape with Danielle of The Real Housewives of New Jersey does exist, but a judge has temporarily blocked its release. Danielle is claiming that the tape was made without her knowledge using a cell phone by then boyfriend, Stephen Zalewski. All I have to say is that if you act like a tramp, a man will treat you like a tramp. I bet that once someone offers more money for the tape, she will sign every release form they slap in front of her. Because she is all about the money, and there isn't any sugar daddy in that aging gold diggers future. There is video of her victory speech below.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Haylee Donathan Found
A 4-year-old Ohio girl who vanished more than three weeks ago was found alive and in good condition, halfway across the country in southern California, authorities said.
Haylee Donathan, her mother Candace Watson and Robbie Potter were discovered hiding for the past week at The Morning Star Ranch, a retreat in Valley Center, near San Diego, said Peter Elliott, United States Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio.
Potter is a registered sex offender, officials said. He was being sought by the U.S. Marshal's Service.
Late Tuesday Haylee was in the custody of a children's protective services agency in the San Diego County area, Elliott said. She was doing well but may have chicken pox, he added.
"We understand she is healthy and happy and I believe, waiting to come back to her grandmother here," he said.
The journey west took them more than two thousand miles from Mansfield, the north-Central Ohio city where the girl and her mother live.
"I am very happy that my granddaughter's coming home," said Mary Watson, Haylee's grandmother. "And I just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart."
Watson, 24, and Potter, 27, were arrested without incident and held by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. When asked their reaction, Elliott said, "I believe a little shocked that we were able to find them."
Potter and Watson were still using the same vehicle, a 1980s blue Chevrolet pickup truck they drove from Ohio, Elliott said.
Watson's hair was a bit darker and Potter also changed his appearance slightly.
Authorities had feared Haylee was endangered. Potter, a sex offender, had escaped a half-way house on May 28, the day the girl and her mother fell out of sight.
Countless tips came in while they were missing but one in particular led to the breakthrough on Tuesday, Elliott said without elaborating.
But a tip from members of the ranch could have lead to the raid and arrest, a ranchmember told CNN.
Kevin Carlin, a member of the ranch in the neighborhood of Valley Center, told CNN in a telephone interview that ranch members became suspicious when a former ranch guest saw billboards urging help in finding Haylee and the two adults.
Elliott also praised intense national news coverage from programs such as HLN's Nancy Grace and Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, as well as local media and Clear Channel, which put up missing child billboards across the country.
When she is returned to Ohio, Haylee will be placed in the custody of her grandmother, Elliott said. (Will she be safe with the grandmother. The grandmother raised the mother, who thinks that following a registered sex offender cross country is fine, and the uncle, a registered sex offender. There appears to be a problem in the family.) The U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of 27-year-old Potter.
Potter was wanted on a state warrant for parole violation and a federal warrant for probation violation. He is a convicted tier three sex offender, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, a unit of the Justice Department.
While on the run, Potter and Watson were reportedly seen on surveillance video on May 31 at a Wal-Mart Store in Marion, Ohio, 40 miles from Mansfield. Haylee was not on that video.
Adding to concerns, Watson's roommate, Samantha Covert, said last week in an interview on Nancy Grace that she saw the little girl in bed with her mother and Potter the morning they disappeared. Covert said Watson carried a basket of clothing, pillows and blankets.
Watson will likely face state charges, including harboring a fugitive, according to Elliott.
In addition to other charges, he said Potter may be prosecuted under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, a federal sex offender registration and self-reporting law that carries a multi-year felony sentence if violated.
On its Web site, the Morning Star Ranch describes itself as "a community of growers of organic, pesticide-free avocados, grapefruit, persimmons, nuts, and other produce."
Elliot said he believed it is a rehab facility and also called it a Christian retreat.
source
Kendra Wilkinson At Transformers
Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett attended the Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen premiere. It looks like pregnancy isn't going to make her any classier.
More pictures below
BE Nursery Furniture
Here is another cool find from Kids Love Design. BE is a line of nursery furniture designed to last beyond infancy. The bassinet converts into a play table, the crib converts into a full-sized desk, and the chest of drawers is modular so that you get to decide how tall it will be and if it will be a changing table.
Made of lacquered MDF and steel, the collection comes has a very clean modern look. Prices range from 132-642€, and Kids Love Design will ship worldwide.
More photos below.
There Will Be Coroner's Inquest In Death Of Coleman Family
A coroner's inquest will be held after all in the southwestern Illinois slayings of a Columbia mother and her two sons.
31-year-old Sheri Coleman and her children, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, were found strangled to death in their Columbia home on May 5, 2009. Coleman's husband, Chris, is charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his wife and children. Authorities have said that all three victims were strangled with some type of wire, rope or cord.
An inquest is a judicial investigation by a group of court-appointed people, including a medical examination by a coroner, into the cause of a death that was sudden, violent or suspicious.
Monroe County Coroner Julie Gummersheimer initially decided not to have a coroner's jury hear the case involving Sheri Coleman and the boys.
Gummersheimer says she reconsidered after discussing the matter with investigators and the prosecutor's office. The inquest will be held July 10 in Waterloo.
Illinois statutes don't require an inquest, but leave it up to the county coroner whether or not to hold one.
Chris Coleman’s was having an affair with Tara Lintz, a Florida woman. Lintz was interviewed by police in St. Petersburg, Fla., in the days following the murders. She admitted to investigators that she had sexually explicit communications with Chris Coleman by phone and email. She said their sexual relationship began in November 2008 and the two planned to get married in 2010 after Chris Coleman had divorced his wife.
Lintz was a high school friend of Sheri Coleman, and had worked at strip club in Florida. Lintz told police she had talked to her lover the evening of May 4, just hours before the murders.
Chris Coleman maintains his innocence. He has pleaded not guilty and has been ordered to stand trial. He remained jailed Monday without bond.
source
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick Reveal Baby Names
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will call their twin babies, Marion Loretta Elwell(5lbs 11oz) and Tabitha Hodge(6lbs) Broderick. According to the statement that the couple released Hodge and Elwell are both family names. I do feel sorry for little Marion Loretta, both such old lady names and not in a cool way. But I guess all Marions were babies once.
The statement also said that,"The babies are doing beautifully and the entire family is over the moon."
The statement also said that,"The babies are doing beautifully and the entire family is over the moon."
Tori Spelling For HSN
Tori Spelling has designed a collection of jewelry for HSN. The pieces look like cheap copies of designer pieces. You could probably find similar pieces at Target or some store in the mall for a third of the price. Prices range from $19.95 to $99.95.
Gisele Bundchen
Gisele Bundchen isn't looking very pregnant to me. I think the baby bump at Brazil's Fashion Week was just the result of the clothes that the she was wearing. This is her yesterday.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Jon &Kate Show On Hiatus
Production has been halted on Jon & Kate Plus 8 following the Gosselins' Monday revelation they're splitting up, the network has announced.
TLC says next Monday's episode will feature a clip package with some new footage, but the next all-new episode won't air until August 3, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Times says the decision came from the network -- not the family. (Because Jon and Kate are all about the money. They would willing throw their children's well-being under the bus for a few extra dollars.)
Only six episodes of the 40-episode season have aired. Through tears on Monday's show, Kate declared "the show must go on!"
Jon & Kate Plus 8 has become TLC's highest-rated show. Its May premiere drew in 9.8-million viewers, a record for the network. (And ratings quickly fell because nobody wanted to watch the Jon and Kate that they have become.)
The Times says TLC does not have enough footage to put together new episodes because of the Gosselins' marital turmoil.
Episodes that were televised this season were often shot last-minute and even completed on the day of airing.And here is the rest of it.
source
Sarah Jessica Parker Mom To Twin Girls
The surrogate for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick has given birth to twin girls. The girls will join big brother, James,6. A spokesman for East Ohio Regional Hospital had no comment other than, "everything's good." And representatives for the couple are also being hush-hush.
Annabel Karmel
If you are looking for recipes for weaning your baby, or for a picky toddler go have a look at the Annabel Karmel website. Karmel has free recipes for every stage of your child's life and even healthy recipes for your family. Some of the recipes on the site are Butternut Squash & Pear Puree, Pork & Apricot Puree, and Pasta Stars with Carrots.
Is Gisele Bundchen Pregnant
Has Gisele Bundchen actually confirmed that she is pregnant. People magazine cites an unnamed source. And the quote they use is just a generic quote about family. “Family is everything," Bündchen, who turns 29 next month, told PEOPLE last month. "I think family is the base to everything. I think that is one of the things I’m most grateful for. I have a lot to be grateful for but I think that's definitely number one.”
And just a couple of weeks ago her husband , Tom Brady told the press, “One is enough! I’ve got dogs. That’s all I need.”
Gisele's PR flack is refusing to comment. I say hold out for the official announcement for this one.
Monday, June 22, 2009
What Are Jon & Kate Thinking
If you had any faith that Jon and Kate Gosselin had their children's best interest at heart, throw it out the window. Despite the fact that their marriage is in the process of being dissolved, they are going to continue doing the show. Last night they announced that they would be separating, but would continue to film with the kids. They each will do separate activities. I wonder if they told the children about the divorce before they filmed the special.
Those poor children will be able to watch their family fall apart forever. Because the camera crews will be there to film every second of it. Haven't Jon and Kate made enough money to go away and allow their kids some privacy at this devastating time? I guess not. When they are adults the children will probably all say that they would have rather of had an intact family instead of all the freebies and perks of fame. I can't wait until Mady is old enough to write a tell-all book.
So shame on their parents, especially Jon who wanted more of a private life. Now that he has escaped out from under Kate's thumb he is singing a different tune. He will still be on our television screens every week. Jon has become a douche bag going through an early midlife crisis. He is driving a convertible built for two, chasing girls a decade younger, and moving to the big city.
Kate issued the following statement: ”Over the course of this weekend, Jon's activities have left me no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children. While there are reasons why it was appropriate and necessary for me to initiate this proceeding, I do not wish to discuss those reasons at this time, in the hope that all issues will be resolved amicably between Jon and myself. As always, my first priority remains our children.”
Let's go over what Jon did over the weekend. He was apartment shopping and spent Father's Day with the kids. Kate was out to protect her money is what the statement translates to. And TLC was hyping the announcement since Friday. So somebody is lying when they decided to file for divorce.
This marriage was probably doomed to fail the whole time. Jon seems like he would have been happy with just the twins, but Kate had to keep going for fertility treatment. And Kate spent a lot of her time treating Jon like he was her ninth child. If there hadn't been the pressure from having too much money, it would have collapsed under the weight of not having enough. But it so sad that it will be on television for the whole world to see. And even worse that it will be there for the Gosselin children to see in the future. Sometimes the fame just isn't worth the cost.
Jon & Kate Gosselin File For Divorce!
Guess somebody couldn't wait until after their big announcement show to file those divorce papers. I wonder how they will go on with show. This is no longer the couple that TLC signed up for the show.
After months of speculation, the 10-year marriage of Jon & Kate Plus Eight's stars Kate and Jon Gosselin appears to be coming to an end, a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE.
Documents to initiate a legal split were filed at the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown, Pa., Monday afternoon.
Fans who have watched the couple's popular TLC show – or read the voluminous coverage of the Gosselin marriage in the press – will hardly be surprised: The duo had long maintained a tense relationship, with Jon recently telling PEOPLE he wanted a less high-profile life, while Kate appeared to remain committed to their TV career.
In February, photos surfaced of Jon in the company of young women during a solo visit to see his mother, who was recuperating from surgery, in Huntingdon, Pa. The couple quickly attempted to quash rumors of problems. But in May, the scandal erupted again when 23-year-old Deanna Hummel was photographed driving Jon's car home from a bar late at night.
When the of the Gosselins' show premiered May 25, the couple admitted to having problems and not knowing where their relationship was headed. "Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate," Kate said through tears. "I was thinking we were going to beat that. I don't know if I can say that anymore."
TLC promotions of the show are promising a major announcement about the family in Monday night's episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight.
source
After months of speculation, the 10-year marriage of Jon & Kate Plus Eight's stars Kate and Jon Gosselin appears to be coming to an end, a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE.
Documents to initiate a legal split were filed at the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown, Pa., Monday afternoon.
Fans who have watched the couple's popular TLC show – or read the voluminous coverage of the Gosselin marriage in the press – will hardly be surprised: The duo had long maintained a tense relationship, with Jon recently telling PEOPLE he wanted a less high-profile life, while Kate appeared to remain committed to their TV career.
In February, photos surfaced of Jon in the company of young women during a solo visit to see his mother, who was recuperating from surgery, in Huntingdon, Pa. The couple quickly attempted to quash rumors of problems. But in May, the scandal erupted again when 23-year-old Deanna Hummel was photographed driving Jon's car home from a bar late at night.
When the of the Gosselins' show premiered May 25, the couple admitted to having problems and not knowing where their relationship was headed. "Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate," Kate said through tears. "I was thinking we were going to beat that. I don't know if I can say that anymore."
TLC promotions of the show are promising a major announcement about the family in Monday night's episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight.
source
New Developments In David Goldman Custody Battle
David Goldman has been granted unsupervised visits for his son, Sean six days a week. The catch is that the visits must take place in Brazil. That sounds like custody to me. It would be a crazy custody order, but it is a step in the right direction.
Which leads me to my next point. Tomorrow, maternal family members and the stepfather are to appear on the Early Show. Sean could also appear on the show. But who is signing the release form. Does Sean's stepfather is have the right to parade him on television shows? If I were David Goldman I would object, and if possible rush to Brazil to take advantage of my visitation rights during the taping. Joao Paulo Lins e Silva is mounting a public relations campaign to seek symphathy. He even wrote a letter in which he said the boy calls him Daddy. That is his fault. The boy should have been corrected when he first called him Daddy. Here is the letter.
Even though I graduated more than ten years ago from the PontifÃcia Universidade Católica’s Law School, I write these words to you not as a militant lawyer but as the father of two beloved children and as a 35 year-old widower. For this reason, I’m writing to you in an informal way in which my reasons are presented emotionally, since I couldn’t function as a lawyer without reason and without just reason.
I lived with and was officially married to Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro Lins e Silva for four and a half years.
Bruna studied Communication at PUC-Rio. After she graduated she did her Masters in Fashion in Milan, Italy. At the end of her last course, after four long years there, she met a North American named David George Goldman, who was living in the same building where Bruna lived and was working there as a model. After a few months of meeting each other, they began to date, in a long-distance relationship, since the North American lived in the United States and wasn’t available and wasn’t asked to do runway shows as frequently, due to his age.
The relationship lasted a few months. During this time Bruna traveled to the United States and Canada with her American boyfriend.
Two months after returning to Milan, Bruna discovered she was pregnant with her North American boyfriend’s child, who was conceived during the trip to Canada. Bruna told her boyfriend and her family. Since the contact between the two were rare due to the distance between them, and with her desire to be a mother growing, Bruna decided to give up Europe and moved to New Jersey, in the United States, with the purpose to give her child the chance to have a family.
Bruna, unfortunately, couldn’t imagine the suffering that she would soon experience.
Here I will explain some very personal facts that only a husband or close friends could actually know.
The relationship that worked well long-distance until then became a tragedy. The boyfriend, that would become a husband on account of the pregnancy, didn’t touch his wife anymore. During her pregnancy, even during their honeymoon, which would happen later with Bruna pregnant, there were no intimate relations between the couple.
During the last three years of living together, Bruna slept in a separate room from her ex-husband. She was anguished, in a deep depression, and cried every day. Fights were common and watched by little Sean, who was born in 2000 in the US but registered in the Brazilian Consulate and by the First Civil Registry of Naturalized Persons of Rio de Janeiro. It’s important to point out that this registry with the Brazilian Consulate took place three months after Sean’s birth, making him a Brazilian citizen like all of us, with all of the rights and obligations of a citizen born in Brazil, and when he becomes a legal adult he can opt to be Brazilian or American. Until then he has both nationalities, without one overpowering the other or without him being more Brazilian than American or vice versa.
David, at that point, because of his age, couldn’t find any work and rarely earned any money. He stayed home practically all day, concerned about building and fixing the house. Bruna worked all day long giving Italian classes in elementary schools and she was the one who put food on the table and handled all of the general costs of living. However, knowing about the situation, Bruna’s family helped by sending money to the family so they could have a dignified life.
Even their health insurance was paid for by Bruna, since her ex-husband wasn’t making any money. They lived in a world of appearances, where for some they had a great life, but inside the home it was hell.
The situation got to be so bad that at one point Sean, who was almost four, called his maternal grandmother, very sad, and told her that his mom didn’t like him anymore because she was out all day, and his dad was the only one who liked him, because he took care of him. He asked her to keep his secret. Asked who would have said such a barbarity to a child, Sean responded it was David.
The rest of the letter is below.
Shaken, the maternal grandmother told her daughter about this sad incident. Bruna, who was already in Brazil with Sean on vacation, decided to end the marriage, which hadn’t really existed for more than four years. She was unhappy, depressed, had a lazy husband who didn’t want his wife since she was pregnant, and found herself forced to work all day long just to sustain her family.
She decided not to return to the United States and to end her unhappy marriage.
She called her ex-husband, told him she was unhappy, that she didn’t want to ever go back, and offered him a plane ticket to come immediately to Brazil so they could talk and work everything out. That didn’t happen. The American rejected the plane tickets, a place to stay, and said he’d never set foot in Brazil.
Bruna, without any other alternative, looked for information about a lawyer specializing in her situation. Immediately, and during the authorized period of time given to Bruna by the American to stay in Brazil with her son, appeared in Brazilian Court and asked for custody of Sean, which was quickly granted.
The American, meanwhile, wasn’t interested in speaking to Bruna amicably anymore. He went to a law office in Sao Paulo and months after Bruna left, filed an action alleging international child abduction!! But he didn’t know if the mother would ask for ransom, or even where she was. The theory of asking for ransom would come true, but on the opposite side, which will be explained shortly.
In this case in the Family Court in Rio, the American rightly contested the request. He lost the first time and appealed to the State Court. He was unsuccessful again. He tried going to the STJ, where he was not accepted and was unable to appeal again, closing the case.
During the ongoing case in the Federal Court, of which the American is the person responsible, he lost the first case, then the second case, and then again he lost in the Superior Court of Justice, where he was made to understand that the law rules in the interest of the minor, and in this case, that he would stay in Brazil with his mother.
At this point, it’s important to open up.
I met Bruna again through a mutual friend from college right after she returned to the US. At that time I was separated from my first wife.
We had similar stories, we weren’t happy in our marriages for a few similar reasons and maybe through this life experience we understood each other very well. In less than six months after we met again, we were living together. And I never imagined how happy I could be at Bruna’s side.
For a reason that can be explained, life brought us together three times, and without the first two we never could have really been together. The third time we were certain that we were made for each other, to be together forever.
Bruna told me all the time that I was “the husband she chose.” We loved each other the whole time and there was never a moment of sadness.
Sean had a more than special participation in our lives. Ever since our first meeting we made sure he would accept the situation. He was the one who brought the first Valentine’s gift for me, spontaneously. My relationship with Bruna would never be above or could be compared to the relationship between mother and son, and because of this we did everything in the best way possible thinking about Sean’s well-being.
We were very involved together as a family, so it was natural that Sean began to call me DAD. It was his personal wish, and I received this gift with lots of pride and endearment. Our relationship, aside from nomenclature, was like a father and son: I always went to the parents’ meetings at his school, we did his homework together, I put him to bed, common things between parents and children.
And I did it for love. Sean is the son I never had from my first marriage. Our relationship has always been very strong, one of conversation, of love, of learning, of orientation, support, and protection.
From the first day we spent together and decided to become a family, it became my exclusive obligation to support my family financially. I became responsible to pay for the costs of the maid, food, housing, school, and leisure. We always went on vacation. Sean was able to see Europe at my side, and to be enchanted by Paris and Eurodisney.
We had the best family in the world for four and a half long years, one where everything was love, hugs, and respect. There were never any fights, any crying, not a single moment of unhappiness. Bruna, who also registered her marriage to the North American in Brazil, asked for a divorce in the Brazilian court, an act in line with the law. The American was formally notified by a judicial official in Brasilia. Bruna divorced and we were finally able to officially marry. Our wedding took place on September 1, 2007.
At our wedding, a marriage certificate was signed by Bruna, me, and witnesses, as the law states, but in a pure act of spontaneity, Sean asked to sign it too, which really moved us, and it’s on the legal certification as can be proved by photos from the wedding. Sean was there and witnessed and approved our union.
Four months after the wedding, Bruna got pregnant again. I would have liked her to get pregnant sooner, but she questioned it, saying this time she would like to be pregnant after being formally married so they wouldn’t think she was just getting married because she was pregnant.
Bruna had a perfect pregnancy without any apparent problems. Sean watched as his mother’s belly grew each day. We were so happy when we found out it was a girl.
With her talent, Bruna became a fashion businesswoman making children’s clothes, and opened a very successful business, a store for girls called BISI. The dream of having a girl came true and she said she would make clothes for the little girl. In four years we had four stores in the best parts of Rio de Janeiro.
Scheduled to be born on August 21, 2008, Chiara decided to be born on that day. The birth took place apparently without any problems. Unfortunately, there were complications and failures that don’t deserve to be mentioned here.
My beloved Bruna, my life, the mother of my two children, died the morning of August 22, hours after giving birth to our daughter Chiara. She left me with the two greatest gifts of life: Sean and Chiara. Bruna died at age 34.
Sean – a BRAZILIAN CITIZEN – has been in Brazil since June 2004. He has been in Brazil much more time than he spent outside the country, without taking into account the time he spent abroad was when he was very little and he doesn’t remember much about it.
Sean has been under my care since January 2005, in a relationship of father and son. Today, he speaks very little English and recognizes his family –his support and nuclear family – as me, his affective father, and his sister, his biological connection to his mother.
For all those years, the North American never tried to visit us for even a day. The first year Sean spent in Brazil, he rarely called, maybe two times, on days like Sean’s birthday and Christmas. For the last two birthdays, Sean didn’t receive even a phone call, since in 2007 and 2008 we never received any contact by phone.
In the first two years, contact was limited to sending emails to my wife’s account in English to a child who couldn’t even read yet in Portuguese. We received presents one or two times, sent by the paternal grandmother with a simple card signed only by the grandmother.
During all this time the American claims he was in Brazil four or five times. In none of these occasions did he try to see us, formally or informally. He never asked for visitation rights in court, although he was answering to the custody request, after taking the legal initiative in Brazil. In fact, we found out about his presence in Brazil from our lawyers, with whom he was with on the day of the trial.
We also found out that he was in the courts lobbying with some Supreme Court judges. I repeat: at no moment did he even call our house warning us that he’d be here. He preferred to visit Sean’s judges.
Right after my beloved wife died, I decided to take the legal initiative to ask for custody of Sean, since I already took care of him and had a father-like relationship with him, a son of more than four years. I received custody after the State Public Ministry ruled in my favor.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t imagine what was coming. Right after Bruna’s seventh day mass, I received word that the American was in Brazil, and had gotten in touch with my lawyers.
My question: WOULD HE HAVE COME IF BRUNA HADN’T DIED???
Judging from the history of his actions, it’s obvious he wouldn’t have.
Even without having made visual contact in four and a half years, he decided to go after his biological son. The request was made through the family court judge, who based on experience and following the Public Ministry’s understanding of the case denied the visit, temporarily, keeping in mind the family’s moment of pain and his absence for so many years. He understood that such a visit could take place after social and psychological studied, all in Sean’s best interests.
After that legal decision, our life became hell.
This American hired, through his lawyers, a media consultant, even though the case was protected by the secrecy of justice. He began to spread his lies to the Brazilian media, as if his life in the US had been a fairy tale. He said that he had come innumerous times to Brazil and that “the family had prevented access.” He called Bruna a bigamist, an adulterer, and a child kidnapper – even after several sentences – and without Bruna being able to defend herself.
He put a letter on the Internet which accused the Brazilian courts of being corrupt, saying we’d paid all the judges, and that our courts don’t deserve credit. Unbelievably absurd!
And that’s not all. Upon returning to the US, he went after his country’s media. He disclosed the whole story, he gave an interview telling his lies about the facts. He revealed my name and my family’s name, calling me a child abductor.
He created a site on the Internet where he tells his version of the story, where there’s a link where people have access to my email and my father’s email. From there, people began to write me, slandering me. I received hundreds of emails, telling me to burn in hell, that I’m a criminal. Along with the link, they show a series of emails at the Brazilian embassy, the courts, the Executive Powers, pressuring people through the American public opinion to take political action against me and my family, using as an excuse Sean’s return to the US after four and a half years of doing nothing.
AS IF THAT WASN’T ENOUGH, THE AMERICAN ASKS FOR FINANCIAL DONATIONS ON HIS SITE WHERE HE ACCEPTS CREDIT CARDS!
As if it wasn’t enough to create products with Sean’s face on it when he was two years old that serve as a stamp on mugs, cooking aprons, tee-shirts of all kinds with sayings like Brazil doesn’t follow the law, that Sean should be returned to his country, etc, completely absurd facts and appeals that serve as a way to sustain the American, for him to make money since he has no job.
It’s important to mention that he says he never calls because supposedly, the family wouldn’t accept collect calls. How could he expect to raise a child that barely remembers his American past, without any money to even call his biological son?
What’s more, on Orkut, an Internet community popular with young Brazilians, there’s a community created by children that like my wife’s store, which began to release videos and photos accusing Bruna of being a kidnapper, sending these documents to Brazilian CHILDREN, without even thinking about the consequences or evaluating the gravity of this act!
Take note that if he had really been suffering or interested he wouldn’t have begun to scream four and a half years later. He would have done it a week after Bruna came to Brazil!!!
The American appears to be full of good intentions. However, he doesn’t tell the Brazilian press, nor the American press, much less on his website, that he ACCUSED BY IN-LAWS OF PARTICIPATING IN A SUPPOSED INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING, IN A CASE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THAT THERE THEY MADE A DEAL IN FRONT OF A JUDGE WHICH RECINDED HIS COMPLAINT FOR THE BEAUTIFUL AMOUNT OF US$150,000 (ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS)!!! All of this duly recognized by an American judge!
I repeat: would the guy have showed up if Bruna hadn’t died??? NEVER!!! He came because he smelled money, keeping in mind the eventual inheritance Sean would receive.
It’s important to point out that during those four and a half years, the American never sent us A SINGLE PENNY. All of Sean’s costs of living were paid for by me and Bruna. We never took the initiative to charge him for food, there’s no legal case of that kind at all. Just like there was no court order asking for and requiring him to visit Sean. So why did he come four and a half years later??? Only because Bruna died? He wasn’t satisfied with the agreement?
The American also didn’t say that he lived in a house bought with Bruna’s money. He lives with a roof over his head that’s not his, for free. He doesn’t say that he falsified Bruna’s signature on several checks from her bank account in order to gain access to the money she’d left when she returned to Brazil. He doesn’t mention any of that.
On the contrary, he makes a sad face, that of a father in trouble. Unfortunately, his acting moved the American government, which began to pressure the Brazilian Central Authority. Motivated by reasons of which I am unaware, the Secretary of Human Rights in MY COUNTRY forced the Union, through the General Advocacy Union, which is paid for by our taxes, to make a legal decision.
Today I’m the DEFENDANT IN A CASE AGAINST THE UNION WHICH PLEADS FOR SEAN’S RETURN AND VISITATION IN FAVOR OF A NORTH AMERICAN!!!!! Even though he request was made by the Family Judge and even though the return request was repeated, whose merit was already judged in the STJ! The Union pleads the right as a PRIVATE favor of an AMERICAN AGAINST A BRAZILIAN who is being massacred by the press, who can’t sleep at night, that is obligated to get court orders so that the story will be silenced, even though it’s already protected by the secrecy of justice.
My country can’t act against a REAL BRAZILIAN FATHER, TO THE POINT OF GETTING INVOLVED IN A COMPLETELY PRIVATE MATTER. AT WHAT POINT HAVE WE FOUND OURSELVES???? WE ARE THEN SUBJECTS TO THE INTEREST OF A FOREIGNER ABOVE US, INCLUDING THE DECISIONS OF OUR COURTS? WOULD I HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME TREATMENT IF THIS HAD HAPPENED IN THE US?
I feel completely vulnerable. The American, right now, must be creating political tricks to harm my family, a person that shouldn’t receive any credit for being completely absent. To make a child is good, but to be responsible for taking care of him and raising him requires more dedication, and my love for Sean is no different than the love I feel for Chiara.
Bruna was very loved. When she died we took out a page in the newspaper to announce her mass. At her burial, which wasn’t publicized by the media, we had more than a thousand friends there. Bruna always believed in Brazil and it was here that she made her real family. Our courts understand this situation to be in Sean’s best interests, for him to stay here. Sean has a biological sister now, and the Union, pressuring or not, appears to want to forget the decision made by our maximum Court, and on account of Bruna’s death, to plead on the basis of a kidnapping, Sean’s return to the US, after he spent so much time in Brazil. They forget that Sean is BRAZILIAN!!! THAT EVEN THOUGH HE WASN’T BORN IN OUR BELOVED LAND, HE LOVES HIS BRAZIL LIKE FEW DO.
It wasn’t our fault that he lost his connection to the US. It wasn’t for our misdoing, it wasn’t for our absence. We can’t become defendants now, accused of being kidnappers, to go to a meeting in the interests of a North American. Where have we found ourselves? That Sean is more American than Brazilian?? Or is it that it’s better to be an American?? When will these political pressures serve as an excuse for the AGU to take an initiative in favor of a “gringo’s” private interests against a LEGITIMATE BRAZILIAN FAMILY???
Sean, ever since his mother died, has been receiving psychological help to aid him through a difficult time. Psychologist Maria Helena Bartolo has always confidently affirmed that Sean, due to the failure of initiative on his biological father’s part, lost the connection to his American past, since he doesn’t speak the language anymore and since he came to Brazil so young. Sean arrived just after he turned four. If you take into account that a child has little to no memory of his first years of life, it’s easy to understand that Sean can’t remember events and people –even family—in the US.
According to the psychologist, Sean’s formal memory is of his mother at my side, of a happy and pleasant home. Sean lived at my side for practically 60% of his life, since he will turn 9 in May, more time than he spent in the US. When he was questioned about his life in the US, he remembers few details, including arguments and fights that frequently occurred due to a failed marriage.
It’s important to emphasize that I, as the socio-affective father, am only interested in my son Sean’s well-being, nothing more than that. It’s devastating to see his innocent image on mugs sold on the Internet where no one knows where the money goes. Sean is being exposed inconsequently to the world, without taking account the negative consequences this can bring to a growing child. The secrecy of justice is disrespected daily, with all of the photos and information thrown around by the media without any criteria, with the only goal to create controversy and to sell newspapers.
What is the objective of all of these attacks against a Brazilian family? There was never any intention of preventing healthy contact and habitation [with the father]. As such, at the first opportunity which occurred recently, I, as the guardian, offered the visit that took place. Sean’s psychologist can testify to this fact, and told me that Sean was curious, but after a few hours, was uncomfortable. She repeated that in some sessions he wants to have a normal life, without afflictions or risks of being taken from Brazil without being heard, that he wants to stay with his affective father that he loves so, and at his sister’s side, his only connection to his deceased mother. Obviously she doesn’t deny that he doesn’t demonstrate interest in maintaining contact with his biological father, but that he wants to do it in a health and balanced way.
However, there’s a real fear in the family that due to North American political pressures, through the Consulate, that the minor’s interests will be put on the back burner. It doesn’t really matter if the biological father was absent for five years. It doesn’t matter if Sean has a biological sister. It doesn’t matter if he is loved here and wants to stay in the place he calls home, where he goes to school. It doesn’t matter that he is BRAZILIAN. We are essentially running the risk of seeing our highest law that we respect, before everything, the child’s best interest, being violated, torn up, thrown away by North American political interests. They want to use the boy as an example. Example of what? It’s not enough that he was orphaned at age 8, and now, about to be taken from his house, his home, the people he lived with and who cared for him for five years, from daily living with the sister he loves, from his grandparents, his uncles and aunts, and friends?? Where is the best interest of the child??? Or does it deal with the best interest of the US, the American ambassador, of Hillary Clinton?
We don’t even know if the version told outside of Brazil is true. The facts are innumerous and here we have millions of papers that prove, unfortunately, the character of the biological father that never had a real job and was sustained by my wife for the years they were married. If by using the lack of the secrecy of justice in the US to sell himself as a poor little thing, when in reality the only person being penalized in this story is Sean, who runs the risk of losing everything that really makes him feel safe. Sean barely speaks English, and doesn’t speak fluently like they try to show!!!
With great fear and to avoid the rights and interests of a son being completely and grossly violated, it is the socio-affective father – that never ran away from his responsibility of sustaining a child for most of his life only and exclusively for LOVE – asks this Council to analyze and protect the rights of a Brazilian child that has already suffered a lot, and that today is distressed and suffering due to a disastrous and inconsequential international political game – whose foreign political interests seem to be above our law, and if that wasn’t enough, above the greater interest of a Brazilian child, the ONLY VICTIM, that will suffer the serious emotional consequences, in the event that this council doesn’t intervene.
Rio de Janeiro, March 5, 2009
Joao Paulo Lins e Silva – OAB/RJ
source
Which leads me to my next point. Tomorrow, maternal family members and the stepfather are to appear on the Early Show. Sean could also appear on the show. But who is signing the release form. Does Sean's stepfather is have the right to parade him on television shows? If I were David Goldman I would object, and if possible rush to Brazil to take advantage of my visitation rights during the taping. Joao Paulo Lins e Silva is mounting a public relations campaign to seek symphathy. He even wrote a letter in which he said the boy calls him Daddy. That is his fault. The boy should have been corrected when he first called him Daddy. Here is the letter.
Even though I graduated more than ten years ago from the PontifÃcia Universidade Católica’s Law School, I write these words to you not as a militant lawyer but as the father of two beloved children and as a 35 year-old widower. For this reason, I’m writing to you in an informal way in which my reasons are presented emotionally, since I couldn’t function as a lawyer without reason and without just reason.
I lived with and was officially married to Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro Lins e Silva for four and a half years.
Bruna studied Communication at PUC-Rio. After she graduated she did her Masters in Fashion in Milan, Italy. At the end of her last course, after four long years there, she met a North American named David George Goldman, who was living in the same building where Bruna lived and was working there as a model. After a few months of meeting each other, they began to date, in a long-distance relationship, since the North American lived in the United States and wasn’t available and wasn’t asked to do runway shows as frequently, due to his age.
The relationship lasted a few months. During this time Bruna traveled to the United States and Canada with her American boyfriend.
Two months after returning to Milan, Bruna discovered she was pregnant with her North American boyfriend’s child, who was conceived during the trip to Canada. Bruna told her boyfriend and her family. Since the contact between the two were rare due to the distance between them, and with her desire to be a mother growing, Bruna decided to give up Europe and moved to New Jersey, in the United States, with the purpose to give her child the chance to have a family.
Bruna, unfortunately, couldn’t imagine the suffering that she would soon experience.
Here I will explain some very personal facts that only a husband or close friends could actually know.
The relationship that worked well long-distance until then became a tragedy. The boyfriend, that would become a husband on account of the pregnancy, didn’t touch his wife anymore. During her pregnancy, even during their honeymoon, which would happen later with Bruna pregnant, there were no intimate relations between the couple.
During the last three years of living together, Bruna slept in a separate room from her ex-husband. She was anguished, in a deep depression, and cried every day. Fights were common and watched by little Sean, who was born in 2000 in the US but registered in the Brazilian Consulate and by the First Civil Registry of Naturalized Persons of Rio de Janeiro. It’s important to point out that this registry with the Brazilian Consulate took place three months after Sean’s birth, making him a Brazilian citizen like all of us, with all of the rights and obligations of a citizen born in Brazil, and when he becomes a legal adult he can opt to be Brazilian or American. Until then he has both nationalities, without one overpowering the other or without him being more Brazilian than American or vice versa.
David, at that point, because of his age, couldn’t find any work and rarely earned any money. He stayed home practically all day, concerned about building and fixing the house. Bruna worked all day long giving Italian classes in elementary schools and she was the one who put food on the table and handled all of the general costs of living. However, knowing about the situation, Bruna’s family helped by sending money to the family so they could have a dignified life.
Even their health insurance was paid for by Bruna, since her ex-husband wasn’t making any money. They lived in a world of appearances, where for some they had a great life, but inside the home it was hell.
The situation got to be so bad that at one point Sean, who was almost four, called his maternal grandmother, very sad, and told her that his mom didn’t like him anymore because she was out all day, and his dad was the only one who liked him, because he took care of him. He asked her to keep his secret. Asked who would have said such a barbarity to a child, Sean responded it was David.
The rest of the letter is below.
Shaken, the maternal grandmother told her daughter about this sad incident. Bruna, who was already in Brazil with Sean on vacation, decided to end the marriage, which hadn’t really existed for more than four years. She was unhappy, depressed, had a lazy husband who didn’t want his wife since she was pregnant, and found herself forced to work all day long just to sustain her family.
She decided not to return to the United States and to end her unhappy marriage.
She called her ex-husband, told him she was unhappy, that she didn’t want to ever go back, and offered him a plane ticket to come immediately to Brazil so they could talk and work everything out. That didn’t happen. The American rejected the plane tickets, a place to stay, and said he’d never set foot in Brazil.
Bruna, without any other alternative, looked for information about a lawyer specializing in her situation. Immediately, and during the authorized period of time given to Bruna by the American to stay in Brazil with her son, appeared in Brazilian Court and asked for custody of Sean, which was quickly granted.
The American, meanwhile, wasn’t interested in speaking to Bruna amicably anymore. He went to a law office in Sao Paulo and months after Bruna left, filed an action alleging international child abduction!! But he didn’t know if the mother would ask for ransom, or even where she was. The theory of asking for ransom would come true, but on the opposite side, which will be explained shortly.
In this case in the Family Court in Rio, the American rightly contested the request. He lost the first time and appealed to the State Court. He was unsuccessful again. He tried going to the STJ, where he was not accepted and was unable to appeal again, closing the case.
During the ongoing case in the Federal Court, of which the American is the person responsible, he lost the first case, then the second case, and then again he lost in the Superior Court of Justice, where he was made to understand that the law rules in the interest of the minor, and in this case, that he would stay in Brazil with his mother.
At this point, it’s important to open up.
I met Bruna again through a mutual friend from college right after she returned to the US. At that time I was separated from my first wife.
We had similar stories, we weren’t happy in our marriages for a few similar reasons and maybe through this life experience we understood each other very well. In less than six months after we met again, we were living together. And I never imagined how happy I could be at Bruna’s side.
For a reason that can be explained, life brought us together three times, and without the first two we never could have really been together. The third time we were certain that we were made for each other, to be together forever.
Bruna told me all the time that I was “the husband she chose.” We loved each other the whole time and there was never a moment of sadness.
Sean had a more than special participation in our lives. Ever since our first meeting we made sure he would accept the situation. He was the one who brought the first Valentine’s gift for me, spontaneously. My relationship with Bruna would never be above or could be compared to the relationship between mother and son, and because of this we did everything in the best way possible thinking about Sean’s well-being.
We were very involved together as a family, so it was natural that Sean began to call me DAD. It was his personal wish, and I received this gift with lots of pride and endearment. Our relationship, aside from nomenclature, was like a father and son: I always went to the parents’ meetings at his school, we did his homework together, I put him to bed, common things between parents and children.
And I did it for love. Sean is the son I never had from my first marriage. Our relationship has always been very strong, one of conversation, of love, of learning, of orientation, support, and protection.
From the first day we spent together and decided to become a family, it became my exclusive obligation to support my family financially. I became responsible to pay for the costs of the maid, food, housing, school, and leisure. We always went on vacation. Sean was able to see Europe at my side, and to be enchanted by Paris and Eurodisney.
We had the best family in the world for four and a half long years, one where everything was love, hugs, and respect. There were never any fights, any crying, not a single moment of unhappiness. Bruna, who also registered her marriage to the North American in Brazil, asked for a divorce in the Brazilian court, an act in line with the law. The American was formally notified by a judicial official in Brasilia. Bruna divorced and we were finally able to officially marry. Our wedding took place on September 1, 2007.
At our wedding, a marriage certificate was signed by Bruna, me, and witnesses, as the law states, but in a pure act of spontaneity, Sean asked to sign it too, which really moved us, and it’s on the legal certification as can be proved by photos from the wedding. Sean was there and witnessed and approved our union.
Four months after the wedding, Bruna got pregnant again. I would have liked her to get pregnant sooner, but she questioned it, saying this time she would like to be pregnant after being formally married so they wouldn’t think she was just getting married because she was pregnant.
Bruna had a perfect pregnancy without any apparent problems. Sean watched as his mother’s belly grew each day. We were so happy when we found out it was a girl.
With her talent, Bruna became a fashion businesswoman making children’s clothes, and opened a very successful business, a store for girls called BISI. The dream of having a girl came true and she said she would make clothes for the little girl. In four years we had four stores in the best parts of Rio de Janeiro.
Scheduled to be born on August 21, 2008, Chiara decided to be born on that day. The birth took place apparently without any problems. Unfortunately, there were complications and failures that don’t deserve to be mentioned here.
My beloved Bruna, my life, the mother of my two children, died the morning of August 22, hours after giving birth to our daughter Chiara. She left me with the two greatest gifts of life: Sean and Chiara. Bruna died at age 34.
Sean – a BRAZILIAN CITIZEN – has been in Brazil since June 2004. He has been in Brazil much more time than he spent outside the country, without taking into account the time he spent abroad was when he was very little and he doesn’t remember much about it.
Sean has been under my care since January 2005, in a relationship of father and son. Today, he speaks very little English and recognizes his family –his support and nuclear family – as me, his affective father, and his sister, his biological connection to his mother.
For all those years, the North American never tried to visit us for even a day. The first year Sean spent in Brazil, he rarely called, maybe two times, on days like Sean’s birthday and Christmas. For the last two birthdays, Sean didn’t receive even a phone call, since in 2007 and 2008 we never received any contact by phone.
In the first two years, contact was limited to sending emails to my wife’s account in English to a child who couldn’t even read yet in Portuguese. We received presents one or two times, sent by the paternal grandmother with a simple card signed only by the grandmother.
During all this time the American claims he was in Brazil four or five times. In none of these occasions did he try to see us, formally or informally. He never asked for visitation rights in court, although he was answering to the custody request, after taking the legal initiative in Brazil. In fact, we found out about his presence in Brazil from our lawyers, with whom he was with on the day of the trial.
We also found out that he was in the courts lobbying with some Supreme Court judges. I repeat: at no moment did he even call our house warning us that he’d be here. He preferred to visit Sean’s judges.
Right after my beloved wife died, I decided to take the legal initiative to ask for custody of Sean, since I already took care of him and had a father-like relationship with him, a son of more than four years. I received custody after the State Public Ministry ruled in my favor.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t imagine what was coming. Right after Bruna’s seventh day mass, I received word that the American was in Brazil, and had gotten in touch with my lawyers.
My question: WOULD HE HAVE COME IF BRUNA HADN’T DIED???
Judging from the history of his actions, it’s obvious he wouldn’t have.
Even without having made visual contact in four and a half years, he decided to go after his biological son. The request was made through the family court judge, who based on experience and following the Public Ministry’s understanding of the case denied the visit, temporarily, keeping in mind the family’s moment of pain and his absence for so many years. He understood that such a visit could take place after social and psychological studied, all in Sean’s best interests.
After that legal decision, our life became hell.
This American hired, through his lawyers, a media consultant, even though the case was protected by the secrecy of justice. He began to spread his lies to the Brazilian media, as if his life in the US had been a fairy tale. He said that he had come innumerous times to Brazil and that “the family had prevented access.” He called Bruna a bigamist, an adulterer, and a child kidnapper – even after several sentences – and without Bruna being able to defend herself.
He put a letter on the Internet which accused the Brazilian courts of being corrupt, saying we’d paid all the judges, and that our courts don’t deserve credit. Unbelievably absurd!
And that’s not all. Upon returning to the US, he went after his country’s media. He disclosed the whole story, he gave an interview telling his lies about the facts. He revealed my name and my family’s name, calling me a child abductor.
He created a site on the Internet where he tells his version of the story, where there’s a link where people have access to my email and my father’s email. From there, people began to write me, slandering me. I received hundreds of emails, telling me to burn in hell, that I’m a criminal. Along with the link, they show a series of emails at the Brazilian embassy, the courts, the Executive Powers, pressuring people through the American public opinion to take political action against me and my family, using as an excuse Sean’s return to the US after four and a half years of doing nothing.
AS IF THAT WASN’T ENOUGH, THE AMERICAN ASKS FOR FINANCIAL DONATIONS ON HIS SITE WHERE HE ACCEPTS CREDIT CARDS!
As if it wasn’t enough to create products with Sean’s face on it when he was two years old that serve as a stamp on mugs, cooking aprons, tee-shirts of all kinds with sayings like Brazil doesn’t follow the law, that Sean should be returned to his country, etc, completely absurd facts and appeals that serve as a way to sustain the American, for him to make money since he has no job.
It’s important to mention that he says he never calls because supposedly, the family wouldn’t accept collect calls. How could he expect to raise a child that barely remembers his American past, without any money to even call his biological son?
What’s more, on Orkut, an Internet community popular with young Brazilians, there’s a community created by children that like my wife’s store, which began to release videos and photos accusing Bruna of being a kidnapper, sending these documents to Brazilian CHILDREN, without even thinking about the consequences or evaluating the gravity of this act!
Take note that if he had really been suffering or interested he wouldn’t have begun to scream four and a half years later. He would have done it a week after Bruna came to Brazil!!!
The American appears to be full of good intentions. However, he doesn’t tell the Brazilian press, nor the American press, much less on his website, that he ACCUSED BY IN-LAWS OF PARTICIPATING IN A SUPPOSED INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING, IN A CASE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THAT THERE THEY MADE A DEAL IN FRONT OF A JUDGE WHICH RECINDED HIS COMPLAINT FOR THE BEAUTIFUL AMOUNT OF US$150,000 (ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS)!!! All of this duly recognized by an American judge!
I repeat: would the guy have showed up if Bruna hadn’t died??? NEVER!!! He came because he smelled money, keeping in mind the eventual inheritance Sean would receive.
It’s important to point out that during those four and a half years, the American never sent us A SINGLE PENNY. All of Sean’s costs of living were paid for by me and Bruna. We never took the initiative to charge him for food, there’s no legal case of that kind at all. Just like there was no court order asking for and requiring him to visit Sean. So why did he come four and a half years later??? Only because Bruna died? He wasn’t satisfied with the agreement?
The American also didn’t say that he lived in a house bought with Bruna’s money. He lives with a roof over his head that’s not his, for free. He doesn’t say that he falsified Bruna’s signature on several checks from her bank account in order to gain access to the money she’d left when she returned to Brazil. He doesn’t mention any of that.
On the contrary, he makes a sad face, that of a father in trouble. Unfortunately, his acting moved the American government, which began to pressure the Brazilian Central Authority. Motivated by reasons of which I am unaware, the Secretary of Human Rights in MY COUNTRY forced the Union, through the General Advocacy Union, which is paid for by our taxes, to make a legal decision.
Today I’m the DEFENDANT IN A CASE AGAINST THE UNION WHICH PLEADS FOR SEAN’S RETURN AND VISITATION IN FAVOR OF A NORTH AMERICAN!!!!! Even though he request was made by the Family Judge and even though the return request was repeated, whose merit was already judged in the STJ! The Union pleads the right as a PRIVATE favor of an AMERICAN AGAINST A BRAZILIAN who is being massacred by the press, who can’t sleep at night, that is obligated to get court orders so that the story will be silenced, even though it’s already protected by the secrecy of justice.
My country can’t act against a REAL BRAZILIAN FATHER, TO THE POINT OF GETTING INVOLVED IN A COMPLETELY PRIVATE MATTER. AT WHAT POINT HAVE WE FOUND OURSELVES???? WE ARE THEN SUBJECTS TO THE INTEREST OF A FOREIGNER ABOVE US, INCLUDING THE DECISIONS OF OUR COURTS? WOULD I HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME TREATMENT IF THIS HAD HAPPENED IN THE US?
I feel completely vulnerable. The American, right now, must be creating political tricks to harm my family, a person that shouldn’t receive any credit for being completely absent. To make a child is good, but to be responsible for taking care of him and raising him requires more dedication, and my love for Sean is no different than the love I feel for Chiara.
Bruna was very loved. When she died we took out a page in the newspaper to announce her mass. At her burial, which wasn’t publicized by the media, we had more than a thousand friends there. Bruna always believed in Brazil and it was here that she made her real family. Our courts understand this situation to be in Sean’s best interests, for him to stay here. Sean has a biological sister now, and the Union, pressuring or not, appears to want to forget the decision made by our maximum Court, and on account of Bruna’s death, to plead on the basis of a kidnapping, Sean’s return to the US, after he spent so much time in Brazil. They forget that Sean is BRAZILIAN!!! THAT EVEN THOUGH HE WASN’T BORN IN OUR BELOVED LAND, HE LOVES HIS BRAZIL LIKE FEW DO.
It wasn’t our fault that he lost his connection to the US. It wasn’t for our misdoing, it wasn’t for our absence. We can’t become defendants now, accused of being kidnappers, to go to a meeting in the interests of a North American. Where have we found ourselves? That Sean is more American than Brazilian?? Or is it that it’s better to be an American?? When will these political pressures serve as an excuse for the AGU to take an initiative in favor of a “gringo’s” private interests against a LEGITIMATE BRAZILIAN FAMILY???
Sean, ever since his mother died, has been receiving psychological help to aid him through a difficult time. Psychologist Maria Helena Bartolo has always confidently affirmed that Sean, due to the failure of initiative on his biological father’s part, lost the connection to his American past, since he doesn’t speak the language anymore and since he came to Brazil so young. Sean arrived just after he turned four. If you take into account that a child has little to no memory of his first years of life, it’s easy to understand that Sean can’t remember events and people –even family—in the US.
According to the psychologist, Sean’s formal memory is of his mother at my side, of a happy and pleasant home. Sean lived at my side for practically 60% of his life, since he will turn 9 in May, more time than he spent in the US. When he was questioned about his life in the US, he remembers few details, including arguments and fights that frequently occurred due to a failed marriage.
It’s important to emphasize that I, as the socio-affective father, am only interested in my son Sean’s well-being, nothing more than that. It’s devastating to see his innocent image on mugs sold on the Internet where no one knows where the money goes. Sean is being exposed inconsequently to the world, without taking account the negative consequences this can bring to a growing child. The secrecy of justice is disrespected daily, with all of the photos and information thrown around by the media without any criteria, with the only goal to create controversy and to sell newspapers.
What is the objective of all of these attacks against a Brazilian family? There was never any intention of preventing healthy contact and habitation [with the father]. As such, at the first opportunity which occurred recently, I, as the guardian, offered the visit that took place. Sean’s psychologist can testify to this fact, and told me that Sean was curious, but after a few hours, was uncomfortable. She repeated that in some sessions he wants to have a normal life, without afflictions or risks of being taken from Brazil without being heard, that he wants to stay with his affective father that he loves so, and at his sister’s side, his only connection to his deceased mother. Obviously she doesn’t deny that he doesn’t demonstrate interest in maintaining contact with his biological father, but that he wants to do it in a health and balanced way.
However, there’s a real fear in the family that due to North American political pressures, through the Consulate, that the minor’s interests will be put on the back burner. It doesn’t really matter if the biological father was absent for five years. It doesn’t matter if Sean has a biological sister. It doesn’t matter if he is loved here and wants to stay in the place he calls home, where he goes to school. It doesn’t matter that he is BRAZILIAN. We are essentially running the risk of seeing our highest law that we respect, before everything, the child’s best interest, being violated, torn up, thrown away by North American political interests. They want to use the boy as an example. Example of what? It’s not enough that he was orphaned at age 8, and now, about to be taken from his house, his home, the people he lived with and who cared for him for five years, from daily living with the sister he loves, from his grandparents, his uncles and aunts, and friends?? Where is the best interest of the child??? Or does it deal with the best interest of the US, the American ambassador, of Hillary Clinton?
We don’t even know if the version told outside of Brazil is true. The facts are innumerous and here we have millions of papers that prove, unfortunately, the character of the biological father that never had a real job and was sustained by my wife for the years they were married. If by using the lack of the secrecy of justice in the US to sell himself as a poor little thing, when in reality the only person being penalized in this story is Sean, who runs the risk of losing everything that really makes him feel safe. Sean barely speaks English, and doesn’t speak fluently like they try to show!!!
With great fear and to avoid the rights and interests of a son being completely and grossly violated, it is the socio-affective father – that never ran away from his responsibility of sustaining a child for most of his life only and exclusively for LOVE – asks this Council to analyze and protect the rights of a Brazilian child that has already suffered a lot, and that today is distressed and suffering due to a disastrous and inconsequential international political game – whose foreign political interests seem to be above our law, and if that wasn’t enough, above the greater interest of a Brazilian child, the ONLY VICTIM, that will suffer the serious emotional consequences, in the event that this council doesn’t intervene.
Rio de Janeiro, March 5, 2009
Joao Paulo Lins e Silva – OAB/RJ
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Kate and Jon The Announcement
In a new teaser video from Monday’s special hour-long episode of John & Kate Plus Eight, a teary Kate Gosselin says, “We haven’t really known where we were going but we’ve been dealing with this a long time.”
She can only be referring to the couple’s marital problems, which she and Jon addressed in the season 5 premiere of their show. (What is TLC going to do if they file for divorce? They signed on for a 40 episode season. And it will be too heartbreaking to watch those eight little kids going back and forth between their parents.)
“It just got worse and worse and worse,” Jon said, “And with all the tabloids and all that, it just made it even worse.”
A promo for the show, which aired Wednesday, promised that the couple, who’ve been married for 10 years, will make an announcement.
“People think I’ve changed,” Jon says in the new teaser. “And I have changed. I’m now the person I know I am.” (I think that Jon has changed less than Kate has. He is still the same lazy slacker he was in the beginning. Kate has become a some kind of greedy witch. She seems to think that she is some Hollywood starlet instead of a Pennsylvania housewife. She has turned into one of the legions of orange women, that fake tan is frightful.)
“We can’t go back now. We can only go forward and that’s what we’re going to do,” Kate says. “And we’re going to learn a lot going forward and I know that we’ll all come out of this on the other side, hopefully stronger, better wiser.” (I wonder who wrote that drivel. It is like they are talking in circles.)
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Peter Andre
Make fun of Peter Andre all you like, it is much too easy not to, but at least he didn't abandon stepson, Harvey when he broke up with Katie Price. Harvey is disabled and usually is seen in his wheelchair, but Pete has him walking in the sunshine of Cyprus. It would be so sad for Harvey to lose the only father he has ever known. And where is mom, busy slutting it up with her new boy toy. More pictures below.
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