Being a Hero: Lessons From Optimus Prime

Okay, I make no apology for saying that I am not simply a fan of Optimus Prime, but I believe!

I believe in heroes. I believe that good does win over evil. I believe the greatest act is the one we put forth that embraces the notions that 'We are All in this Together' and 'All is One'.

I believe we all have a little of Optimus Prime in us: to become brave, powerful, wise and compassionate leaders who puts our talents to use improve others around us.

Optimus Prime is a character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the Autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The Autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons. He is depicted as a brave, powerful, wise and compassionate leader who puts his talent to use improving the universe around him. Optimus is portrayed as having a strong sense of justice and righteousness and has dedicated himself to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth.^[1] According to Bob Budiansky, co-writer of the Transformers series, Dennis O'Neil was responsible for his name.

In the narrative of his fictional universe, Optimus Prime was the last born of the original Thirteen Transformers. His spark was the most like their progenitor Primus, its frequency nearly identical. He was the mediator and visionary of the group, passing among them all as a calm, inspiring, thoughtful, unifying and well-liked friend. It was his unique spark and his inspiring reassurance that "All are One" that allowed the Primes to rally and succeed in their battle against the Chaos Bringer Unicron. When tragedy at last ended the era of the Primes and brought forth the new race of lesser descendant Transformers he alone chose to be reborn in the Well of All Sparks as one of them, that he might know them and their needs more completely.

All memory of his past life gone, he took the name Orion Pax and sought his way like any other robot on the new world. Eventually he found his place as a simple data clerk (dock worker in G1 cartoon), satisfied with his job. He was always anxious of the inequality amongst cybertronians and thus, after gaining inspiration from an outspoken gladiator named Megatron's call for an upheaval of Cybertron's society, took a stand to rid the oppressive caste system which hindered the freedom of all the sentient beings on Cybertron. Little did he realize that his instructor, the master archivist Alpha Trion, was also one of the Thirteen and knew of the secret within the data clerk. Once Pax and Megatron discovered they did not have as much in common as they once believed, the lowly data clerk was promoted by the High Council to be the next Prime. With the claiming of the Matrix of Leadership Orion Pax became Optimus Prime once more, regaining his memory and rising to lead his people. Over the centuries, loss and war have led Optimus to appear stern and serious to most. But beneath the surface, he's an individual who greatly cares for his fellow living beings, with a warmth and kindness his closest friends can rely on. He'll also find regret over the loss of a comrade to darkness, and the faintest glimmer of hope that he can be saved. Optimus Prime is primarly voiced by Peter Cullen, who voiced him in the original series. Following the production of the 2007 film, Cullen reprised his role for the sequels and supporting media and would even voiced Optimus in later series such as Transformers: Prime.

A believer -

Peter Thomas Senese

How To Stop Parental Child Abduction? The I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Form and the Hague Child Abduction Convention

Travel Documents For Children?

Fear of international child abduction? Separation or Divorce in a multi-national relationship?

Selecting the best international travel consent form for your child can be the complete difference between an international parental child abduction being carried out or not by the child's other parent. Yes - I said 'International parental child abduction'.  You see, the vast majority of children - and there are tens of thousands of children targeted each year for international parental child abduction - who fall prey to abduction come from multi-cultural families that are often in conflict such as a failing relationship or outright divorce.

In today's global environment, there is only one global abduction prevention tool that can prevent against a child being wrongfully retained abroad, and that is the I CARE Foundation's International Travel Child Consent Form.  The fact is, there is no other child travel consent form created like it, as it it steep in the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention language needed to defend against a parental abduction. 

Peter Senese & the I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form 

In fact, the I CARE Foundation's travel consent form has been hailed by the international legal community as a critically important child abduction prevention tool that all parents around the world should use when allowing a child to travel abroad.

                                          

According to the I CARE Foundation's extensive research,  the majority of all cases of international parental child abduction occur when a child is wrongfully detained in a foreign country. The wrongful detention of a child abroad generally occurs during a court directed travel order or when travel occurs by mutual parental consent, particularly during the summer school break or the Christmas holiday season. However, unknown to the targeted parent who may either travel with the child or who may remain in the child’s country of habitual residency, the scheming parent intending to remain abroad with the child has more than likely crafted a well-orchestrated scheme that includes use of Article 12 and Article 13 of the Hague Convention in order to remain abroad with the child.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of children wrongfully detained in a foreign country do not come home.  The I CARE Foundation’s ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ protects against misuse of all known international child abduction defenses under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, including Articles 12, 13, and 20, while upholding the intent and spirit of Article 1 of the Child Abduction Convention.

One of the major problems that exist today when parents are required to attempt to bring home their wrongfully retained child is that the ease parental child abductors have in defending their act of abduction has expanded significantly. One of the primary reasons behind this ease of defense is that courts around the world have wrongfully expanded the scope of Article 13 of the Hague Child Abduction Convention - the 'best interest' clause - to such a wide scale that it makes it extremely difficult for a left behind parent to reunite with their child. 

However there is real hope - hope that has been proven in a large and growing number of cases around the world: the I CARE Foundation's travel form has been able to mute fraudulent claims of an Article 12 and Article 13 defense in courtrooms around the world.

Peter Thomas Senese, the creator of the I CARE Foundation’sInternational Travel Child Consent Form and the Executive Director of the I CARE Foundation stated, “Perhaps the singular most important factor is that local courts in foreign countries are not abiding by the intent and spirit of the Hague Child Abduction Convention.  Specifically, all abductors will make defense claims under Article 12 or Article 13 of the Hague Convention.   Article 12 has to do with intent to relocate, and Article 13 has to do with the ‘Best interest of the child’, which recently has been expanded in many courts to include ‘Best interest of the child and extended family’. Unfortunately, Article 13 in particular has become the Achilles Heel of the abduction prevention community.

“Hague Conference During Hague proceedings, the convention calls for the inbound country’s Hague Court to look at Article 13 defenses only in extreme cases as the intent of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention is to determine which court has jurisdiction of the child, and then properly and expeditiously return that child to the country where the court of original jurisdiction is located.  However, around the world, courts are no longer acting in an expeditious manner as is cited under Article 1 of The Hague Child Abduction Convention.  Instead, local courts are calling for detailed findings of what is in the best interest of the child and in essence making their own custody ruling even though they are not the court of original jurisdiction. Problematically, these courts are in essence mooting not only the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention but they are essentially quashing the court orders originating from the child’s country of original jurisdiction.

“What the I CARE Foundation’s ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ does is it upholds the intent and spirit of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, including Article 1’s ‘Expeditious determination clause’. In addition, the travel consent form strongly addresses misuse of Article 12 and Article 13 defenses, and essentially moots use of false claim.  In addition, the I CARE Foundation’s travel consent form upholds the sanctity of the court of original jurisdiction located in the child’s country of habitual residency.

In essence, the I CARE Foundation’s ‘International Travel Child Consent Form’ is the only global child abduction prevention tool that safeguards against misuse of the Hague Child Abduction Convention defenses and calls for the immediate return of a child if that child is wrongfully detained by mutual consent of both parents.

Extensive high remarks for the I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form as a groundbreaking, comprehensive, and significant global international parental child abduction prevention tool have been voiced by the leadership within legal communities familiar with international parental child abduction during  legal forums around the world including compelling commentary from senior officers of the Hague Permanent Bureau during but not limited to international legal symposiums on child abduction held during the LEPCA Conference in the Hague, the IAML Conference in New York, and the Sapporo Bar Association’s Hague Symposium in Sapporo. In addition a large and growing number of attorney Bar Associations in the United States and abroad have published positive and meaningful feedback concerning the I CARE Foundation’s travel consent form with clear intent to educate their legal constituents about the landmark child abduction prevention tool. Perhaps most meaningful is the reality that many judges around the world have praised the I CARE Foundation’s travel consent form, have utilized the document in their courtrooms, and continue to implement the form in courtrooms around the world during child custody and child travel legal proceedings.

For more information please visit The I CARE Foundation at www.theicarefoundation.org.  

For attorneys seeking access to the legal brief and analysis of the travel consent for contact legal@theicarefoundation.org 

Father's Day: A Day Of Many Special Meanings

Today we celebrate Father's Day, but for most father's like myself, the day is not about being a father but instead it is about our capacity to love our children.  So to each of you who celebrate this important day - whether you are a father, or a son or a daughter, today is about love.

With the greatest depth of feelings of love a person can have, I would like to say to my son that today I celebrate him: his life, his joy, his adventures, his journey, and his happiness.  I am extremely proud of you son, and know that our world is a better place because of your life.  And most of all, I love you - and always will.

Son, we have a kaleidoscope of meaningful adventures and important times shared together. I close my eyes for a moment and a floodgate of joyful memories immediately come to mind: Memories like the time years ago when you had the privilege of going into the Discovery Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Center, or the time we went looking for Big Foot in the Canadian Cascades, or the time we went to our first baseball game, or the first time we went fishing and a moose tried to get in our car, or the time you sat in the helicopter co-pilot seat and flew all day island hoping, or the first time we went jet-skiing,  and the many nights we did homework together, and the many, many times you decided we needed to 'go shopping', but most of all, the times that I recall most with the most meaning are the times when you would simply give me a hug and tell me you love me.  Thank you son: you are and always will be the most important part of my world no matter where your journey takes you.

Along my own journey, particularly as a child advocate dedicated to assisting families in crisis, particularly those impacted by abduction, there is no way to avoid becoming close to many of the children that I, in my capacity with the I CARE Foundation, have assisted.  Some of these children have become very important parts of my day-to-day life, while others who I have not personally met but have dedicated great efforts to, have become such an important part of my own spiritual fabric. I have been blessed to embrace the love I have for each of them - and to dedicate part of my life to ensuring that these children find life's magic.

Each of you and your families have reminded me every day that love is everything it is built up to be.

And to my Dad - as I shared with you this morning, not only have you been and continue to be an extraordinary father and man, but as I get older you continue to get wiser! I love you Dad.

And before I go, I would like to send this special message to a friend sitting 7,000 miles away .... working at his desk .... working to protect children:  Happy Father's Day, pal. The world needs you!

Happy Father's Day to all - and remember - today is a day to celebrate LOVE!