I recently got an e-mail from one Patrick McPike, the father of two American-born sons who were abducted in Japan by their Japanese mother in March. He has since been fighting an uphill battle against Japan’s backwards and incompetent legal system in order to gain access to his sons. He chronicles his story on his blog: Letters to Kai and Koh.
In one post, “Child Abduction in Japan… The REAL Numbers — Part 1,” Patrick claims that the number of children abducted by a Japanese parent is much higher than the U.S. government’s official number of 230 cases. Patrick believes the actual number to be around 10,000. Whether the number is actually that high, he does make a good case that the number of abducted children is higher than the official figure.
Japan has recently decided to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, but the convention will only apply to future child abduction cases, which is cold comfort to parents like Patrick. Patrick’s blog gives an enlightening account of international child abduction from the point-of-view of the left-behind parent.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
