New England Sun-Times

NEVER EVER submit to an agreement of visitation on the Custodial parent's terms. Those terms are almost always lined up with the Court's understanding of what parenthood looks like when parents split. They assume the non-custodial parent doesn't care, so they're used to the "Every other Saturday from 12pm-6pm." However, if you're sitting at the table across from your ex and the mediator, you don't have to "agree" to ANYTHING. And you don't  have to wait for the judge to make the decision. Instead, introduce a Parenting Plan . The more complex, the better. You want to make sure every single base is covered, and the Custodial parent can't create a loophole in time and space to mess up your memories with your children. For instance, exactly WHEN is "every OTHER Saturday?" Who can keep track of that? Instead, in your Parenting Plan, you have to include exact times and dates: "Every First and Third weekend of every mo...

Reversing its stance of more than a century, the Boy Scouts of America said on Monday that the group would begin accepting members based on the gender listed on their application, paving the way for transgender boys to join the organization. “For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the group said in a statement on its website. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.”   The announcement, reported on Monday night by The Associated Press, reverses a policy that drew controversy late last year when a transgender boy in New Jersey was kicked out of the organization about a month after joining. “After weeks of significant conversations ...

(CNN) Former  President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump's executive order  curbing immigration in a statement on Monday, backing protesters who have taken to the nation's airports to express their displeasure with Trump's action on Friday. "The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," said Kevin Lewis, spokesman for the former president, in a statement. Lewis added Obama feels the individuals protesting are "exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake." 'I do feel safer': A look at Trump's travel ban supporters This is first time Obama, who ceded power to Trump 10 days ago, has criticized the current president, breaking with an unwritten rule that former presidents refrain from criticizing the current White House occupant. It is also the former president's first statement since leaving the White House...

(CNN) The process governing clinical drug trials should be strengthened to make them safer and much more effective,   researchers argue, but they worry that the Trump administration will be going in a different direction. The commentary from  bioethicist Jonathan Kimmelman of McGill University in Montreal and co-author Carole Federico, a McGill Ph.D. student, is published in the latest edition of the journal Nature. In January 2016, an early-stage  clinical trial of a painkiller   in France went horribly wrong , leaving one previously healthy volunteer dead and sending five other volunteers to the hospital. An investigation  found that the conditions in which the trial was authorized by French authorities were within regulations, but drugmaker   Bial and Biotrial, the company that ran the testing, were found to be at fault "on several counts," including how much of the drug they gave volunteers. Communications failures were also found. Outsid...