California Court Backs Legal Kidnapping
With the help of a Redwood City, California, court, a nuclear physicist who works for Lockheed Missile and Space Company has for two years succeeded in "legally kidnapping" a ten-year-old daughter from her mother because of the mother's radical politics. It was a "legal" kidnapping because it was ordered to take place by a court without jurisdiction. Probation reports and memoranda of the court amply document the political basis. The "ransom" demanded by father and court from the mother is political and domestic docility.
In July 1981 the father, Ted Fishman, brought his daughter to California for a regularly scheduled summer visit. Before doing so he had assured his ex-wife Tina Fishman of Chicago that he would return their daughter Riva promptly even though he had already filed an order to show cause (OSC) in San Mateo County Superior Court two weeks previously. In his OSC, he declared that the mother was a radical whose political activities caused her to neglect Riva.
Riva had been with. Tina Fishman since a 1974 dissolution decree in Indiana. Ted had on several occasions attempted to gain custody of Riva. The Indiana court had found in 1977 when Riva was six that her father had "irresponsibly programmed" her to "memorize certain lines" stating that she did not want to return to Indiana. The court had also found a "good interaction and relation" between Tina and Riva.
This time, however, Ted Fishman found the sympathetic ear of California Court Commissioner James Browning, who as U.S. Attorney had prosecuted Patty Hearst. Ignoring a probation deputy's findings that Riva's needs were met by her mother and that no basis for jurisdiction existed, Browning appointed a new probation deputy. This deputy ques-
Summer Sharing
By Trillium
The fulfillment of Spring has arrived at last! Fields are lush and green, flowers are in bloom, and our days are warm and sunny. Summer is here and June 21 marks the first day of the season. The sun appears to stand still on this day, creating the longest day and shortest night of the year. The word "Solstice" itself comes from the Latin "solstitium" meaning "sun standing". We also call this day Midsummer.
Like the wimmin before us, we choose to recognize the Solstice as a part of the cycle of seasons and we participate in a ritual of its celebration. Flowers of summer are woven into our hair. A Midsummer fire is lit and we add to it the fragrant herbs of the fields: rue, thyme, pennyroyal and fennel. We honor the Fire Queen of Love who is the Solstice Goddess. Sitting in a circle, we chant the many names that She holds--Artemis, Heartha, Calliste, Rhea, Vesta. Summertime connects us to the earth. We spend our time outdoors, in our gardens, at the lake. We ́play hard, push our bodies, and feel our strength. The season is exhilarating to us.
Fullness and ripeness characterize the months of summer. The earth's gifts are abundant: flowers, herbs, fruit, vegetables. The sky is full of stars: Sagittarius, Scorpius, Libra. The Solstice moon, when full, sits the lowest in the sky and appears golden in color.
This Solstice, take the time to experience the abundance of the Earth Mother. Feel your connectedness to Nature. Share your energy with your sisters. Enjoy the warm sunshine of summer days and the golden glow of moonlight on summer nights. Blessed Be!
tioned Tina closely about her political activities, reporting to the court that Riva was being taken to Revolutionary Communist Party meetings and rallies, and that she was provided no religious training by Tina.
Browning assumed jurisdiction and ordered a full investigation partly on the basis of the child's testimony that she spent time with "a myriad of babysitters" and that her mother was away from the house a good deal of the time on political matters. In so acting, Browning ignored a valid existing award of custody by the Indiana court and the fact that custody jurisdiction existed in Illinois, where Tina and Riva had lived for the preceding three years.
Browning found that Tina was awaiting felony charges as a protester at Peoples Republic leader Deng Xiaoping's visit to Washington, D.C. (she has since completed probation on a misdemeanor). Enunciating a new doctrine, Browning found that Tina was "intentionally withholding the intangible necessities of parenting" and that this was neglect under the statute.
After interminable delays in unsuccessful motions and in obtaining probation reports, Judge Gerald
Ragan finally overruled Browning in December 1982, declaring that no jurisdiction ever existed. He also stated that Tina was "ready, willing and able” to take custody.
However, Judge Ragan concluded that Riva had been under the "intense and effective influence" of Ted and his household for a year and a half, and that Riva was "developing...hatred for Tina." He held that the best interests of Riva required that custody be awarded Ted through July 1, 1983, to allow for a "gradual period of adjustment” to avoid "psychological trauma." Tina was permitted to see Riva for nine days in December and if that worked out, over Easter holidays. No mention was made of the additional consequences of the "intense and effective influence" to be asserted in the father's home during the ensuing six months, nor of how the mother was to cope with this situation in two brief holidays. Judge Ragan also took aim at Tina's political associations, calling her "doctrinaire" and accusing her of a "fanatical obsession with a political cause."
Tina's attorney said that no decision has yet been made whether to go next to the California or the Illinois courts.
Kitchen Medicine: The Cucumber
By Artemisia
In many cases, you need not travel further than your kitchen for ingredients used in simple household medicines. Many herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables are medicinal either by themselves or in combination with other ingredients.
The cucumber is important in treatment of heart and kidney problems because of its ability to eliminate water from the body. It also is known to dissolve uric acid accumulations and contains protein-digesting enzymes. It is good for chronic constipation. Cucumber juice is beneficial for the intestines, lungs and skin, and has long been known for its cooling and soothing action to the skin. Many cosmetic preparations can be made in your home.
Cucumber Jelly: an excellent application for chapped hands, irritations and roughness of the skin. Tragacanth one tsp. one tsp.
Irish Moss Borax
Boric Acid
Alcohol (70 percent) Glycerin
Cucumber Juice
Water to make 16 oz. Perfume as desired
one tsp.
one tsp.
3 oz.
2 oz. 3 oz.
Stir the tragacanth and Irish moss well in a pint of hot water. Cool the liquid and strain. In this liquid dissolve the borax and boric acid and add the cucumber juice, glycerin and alcohol. Add · enough water to make 16 oz.
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Notes: To extract the cucumber juice, slice the cucumbers, mash with a potato masher and press through a sieve. Because of the alcohol content in the lotion, do not use on hands with open cracks or sores.
Cucumber Ointment: Ripe Green Cucumbers Lanolin
Cocoa Butter
one pound 11⁄2 OZ.
4 oz.
Melt the lanolin and cocoa butter in a small
stone bowl or crock placed in a bowl of boiling water. Add the expressed cucumber juice slowly to the melted base and stir constantly. Keep adding to the ointment as it thickens, beating the juice in with a wooden spatula. Keep the ointment in a glass jar, covered with rosewater to prevent the access of air. Chamomile and Cucumber Lotion: Chamomile (strong infusion) Cucumber Glycerine
21⁄2 fl. oz. 12 oz. 6 tsp.
Chop the cucumber finely and squeeze out the juice. Slightly warm the infusion and stir in the glycerine. When thoroughly mixed, stir in the cucumber juice. Cool and bottle. Refrigerate.
Note: This lotion will help smooth and soften rough skin. It contains no alcohol so may be used on cracked skin.
Cucumbers are also good for sunburn and eyestrain. Apply cooling and refreshing slices of cucumbers to the closed eyes.
Many of the ingredients probably look quite foreign to you. Try the food co-ops, drug stores, and herbal supply houses for many of these items. The following is a list of herbal supply houses, most of which will mail you a free catalogue:
Aphrodisia, 28 Carmine St., N.Y., NY 10014. Catalogue $1.00 and worth it.
Indiana Botanic Gardens, Inc., Hammond, Ind. 46325. Write for catalogue.
Penn Herb Co., 603 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123. Write for catalogue.
For an extensive list of herbal supply houses see Dian Buchman's Herbal Medicine.
References:
Buchman, Dian. Herbal Medicine. Gramercy Publishing Co., N.Y. (1979).
Garland, Sarah. The Complete Book of Herbs and Spices. Viking Press, N.Y. (1979).
Harris, Ben Charles. Kitchen Medicines. Ben Chas. Harris, Worcester, Mass (1955).
June, 1983/What She Wants/Page 5