[lot49]

According to this, Brit never showed up at the press conference she called.

[ashlit]

One place online said that Britney's camp said that there was no announcement...someone just made it up and spread it through the internet.

[lunasol]

ooh, i missed the bi-monthly CG OT political fight! however, i think we can ALL agree that the Baldwins are whiny morons, no?

also, i loved angelina in that interview. girl rocks. i'm totally won over.

[cloverbee]

why would she make an announcement like that? don't they usually try and conceal their personal lives?

[kittenb]

Thanks for the "Dancing Tom" link below. With smoove mooves like that, I can see why Katie fell so hard for him.

[bklynhermit]

apparently britney announced she was pregnant, or was going to, or somesuch. nobody seems to have paid much attention.

[jemisoutrageous]

What the hell was dumb ole Britney's announcement, dammit?

[yummymum]

Doodlegirlie... you know i'm in a funk. But I have to delurk to say that- you rule! Will you come down here and stick up for me? You seem to have your finger on the pulse.

[pagangrrl]

Well, I didn't want to hear about Courtney Love vs. Feminism for two weeks straight a couple months ago either and people in hell want ice water Seriously, though, my original point which was missed was that I could easily see how Baldwin could get frustrated with the system. However, I get the feeling both Alec and Kim are batshit crazy and likely wouldn't either one be a solid choice to raise children into sane adults. Not that I've ever spent the night at their place or anything.

[anoushh]

Word, jem.

Also, I didnt' really want a child support discussion. I just wanted to say I think the Baldwins are whiny morons.

[cloverbee]

I guess it depends on how much they care about the kids.

[jemisoutrageous]

Well that does suck, but if the courts are involved in custody and child support there's no way that she can keep him from seeing his child.

And. For every story like that there's 200 about the deadbeat dad who's abandoned his children and left the mother to raise the children entirely on her own with NO support from him and I am so sick of this 'lazy bitch bleeding me dry while she lives high on my money' shit. The mothers are working,too, and all they want is help from the man who fathered the children to take responsibility, pay an appropriate amount of child support and continue to be in the child's life.

[cloverbee]

I also knew a guy who had to give up half of his income to a girl who spent it ALL on herself and the child had to live in a dirt-poor environment with barely the necessities that it needed while the mom harassed the guy and her dad made constant death threats toward him. the kid would have been better off w/ him. he had to take a second job just to afford the payments for a child that she never ever even let him see.

[pagangrrl]

My boyfriend had to give half his income for ONE child up until about four years passed and he finally got enough raises/promotions that it technically isn't half his income anymore. And it is WELL over $300 a month. And if it actually went to his child it would be GREAT! But, it doesn't go to her in the way that it should. Multiple lawyers have basically told him that he is going to have to suck it up due to the structure of family law in our state. Two told us that since the ex had chosen to stop working that he could actually get his child support RAISED again due to her not having a contribution anymore.

It may be rare in your research, but it happens enough to have happened to him.

[doodlebug]

I don't like to go too O/T in this thread, but as an advocate, I have to say that in North America, the family law system is actually not biased against men. It screws EVERYONE. It's not supposed to be about men or women - it's supposed to be about what's in the best interests of the children.

The thing people don't often think of when it comes to child support...you have an obligation to pay half the cost of supporting your child, period. It should never be connected to whether or not they live with you, and you should never expect "the new husband" to end your obligation to provide half of that support to your kids. They are your kids; half of the DNA and the responsibility is yours. The legal rates for child support in most cases don't even begin to cover the costs of supporting a kid. And it's not just about money for extracurricular activities...that money is meant to cover food, shelter, and clothing. If the child support goes towards the rent, why should a woman be criticized for spending her own extra income on getting her nails done? No one criticizes fathers for buying big screen TVs or other gadgets with their money. If a man makes $1200 a month and a woman makes $1200, and the man is ordered to pay $300 to support his two kidws...yes, the woman now has $1500 and the man has $900, BUT...it's $1500 for THREE people to live on versus $900 for ONE person. I've never seen anyone forced to give up half their income, and I've worked with thousands of separating/divorcing families.

And the custody and access system is NOT biased against men - statistically, 50% of all fathers who ever bother to seek custody GET custody. When you are one-half of a pair of parents, what is fairer than 50%?

Sorry to rant. I spent two years researching and writing recommendations to the Canadian government on the Divorce Act, and I've spent ten years working with families dealing with family law issues, and while there are some men who get screwed by the system - and I'm not saying their complaints aren't legitimate - there are MANY more women who get screwed by it..and not only screwed by the legal system itself (for example, even the behaviour of men who are abusive to women is discounted in court, and has zero effect on whether or not those men get access to their kids), but screwed by other systemic factors, like the wage gap, which means they can't afford the level of legal counsel that men can get. Or the microscope of "perfect parenting" that mothers are put under, which fathers are not put under. The idea that the legal system is biased against men is a myth perpetuated by so-called father's "rights" groups.

[pagangrrl]

I don't know from Alec and Kim, but have personally seen how family law/child support/etc. has a tendency to saddle most fathers with a sort of "prove to us you aren't a total bastard and maybe we'll let you keep half your paycheck...but don't expect us to enforce the visitation agreement because you are a man and therefore a scumbag" while the mothers get "oh, darling, we're sooo sorry it didn't work out...we'll make him pay through the nose, that'll learn him" even if the mother is a total batshit psycho who lets the kid run around in old faded threadbare clothes while she uses the support money to go out and buy herself new clothes and get her nails done so she can get a new husband to take care of her.

[anoushh]

marileen, that was my point. Also, what the fuck is Baldwin on about when he talks about a "1950's matriarchal model"???!!!??

[livelyupurself]

I am so embarassed for TC. I mean, the man has humiliated himself eight ways to sunday but that footage takes the cake.

[pollystyrene]

I'm with you, Jem- I acknowledge that there are some REALLY bad pictures out there of Jack White, but when there's a good one...I have to go change my undies now. I can say that he must just not be photogenic because I've seen them live several times and he looks just fine in person. Just fine. And Meg's cute too. I'm not sure about Karen Elson (sp?)- I've only seen her in the video. Oh, and that new Raconteurs video...I'd do them all!

[greenbean]

A Jack Black and Jack White sandwich, BWAHAHAA!