Monday, December 28, 2020

Joy and Sorry

My life is a mix of joy and sorry.  I am the type of person who is fascinated with, well, everything. I can't even image ever being bored. I also find extreme joy in many simple moments. In a homily a priest was giving last week he mentioned the dictionary definition of joy, one of which is obtaining what you want.  I thought of my own situation. What if the court gives me everything I have asked for including all the spousal support returned me to me since the end of temporary support, as well as penalties. Would that bring me joy? No, it would not. It would bring satisfaction not only because it would be the return of at least some of the monies that were fraudulently taken form me but even more so because it would send a signal to the divorce industry that crime not always goes unpunished. Such an outcome would help numerous others. But this is not joy. 

Here is joy, a baby laughing with his Newfoundland dog 


The other part of my life is sorry. Sorry that not only individuals but institutions can act is such selfish and criminally corrupt ways. This is the opposite feeling I have from when I watch the above video. 

Humans are both the best and worst animals on the planet. Whether we survive as a species much longer totally depends on whether the best of us or the worst of us wins out.  I hope good wins out over evil but the outcome is far from certain.  

Saturday, December 19, 2020

You Would Think Bad People Would be More Scared

I am a non-violent person. But many people who are victims of crime are not, often understandably not. One thing that has always astonished me is how people can so easily commit crimes without any thought to their own personal safety. I suppose I understand how the violent offenders do as violence is their nature but all the corrupt lawyers, judges and other government officials? 

There are many stories, real and fictional that should serve as a warning. Movies include everything from The Count of Monte Cristo to Death Wish to V For Vendetta to Django Unchained to Peppermint. There are hundreds of other similar movies and thousands of books.

And vengeance is not just fictional. In Bangladesh a person known as Hercules has been killing those accused of rape and other crimes. A terrible thing in many ways but in a country where legal corruption is high, Hercules has become a hero to many. 

Then there is the remarkable story of Miriam Rodriguez in Mexico. A vigilante mother who after her daughter was kidnapped and killed by a Mexican drug cartel carried out a years-long crusade in which she hunted down 10 of her daughter's killers alone An amazing woman. 

Again I am personally non-violent but if doing the right thing is not enough of an incentive for a lawyer, judge or government official act corruptly, surly fear should be.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Hidden Sexism

Some forms of sexism are obvious and obviously wrong. For example, women make up far less than 50% of our politicians and corporate leaders. But, as has I have often talked about in the past, many forms of sexism are more hidden. Examples include:

  • Nearly all combat deaths in the military are men.
  • Men suffer the vast majority of workplace injuries.
  • Alimony is nearly always paid by men.
Many people, including many women, do not think of the above as sexism agaisnt women but the truth is that anytime we assume women are weaker or less capable than men you open up the floodgates for discriminating agaisnt women. It is hard to argue agaisnt reasoning such as - If they work less dangerous jobs then of course they should be paid less. 

The excuse most often given is that women aren't as physically strong as men so therefore they should not work in physically demanding rolls. Which, in truth, is a bunch of B.S. By the same logic the military should be exclusively black. 

The idea that women are weaker is a cultural not physical. A white person is not disqualified from combat roles because on average whites are less muscular and shorter than blacks. Furthermore on average women have better endurance than men.  

New findings on our ancient ancestors are proving the point. Women appear to make up 30 - 50% of big game hunters. (and I suspect that number will become 50% as more studies force us to reevaluate our prejudices) If women could hunt mammoth with spears I think they can pull the trigger on rifle, operate a crane, and support themselves. Fix these issues and the wage gap between men and women will become history. 

Friday, December 4, 2020

Paperwork In

I have submitted all the paperwork for my upcoming motion to set aside the 2012 ruling due to fraud upon the court. Note that the 2012 ruling was not the divorce decree but the order that gave Spring permanent spousal support. It is a strange thing. The original divorce decree gave Spring far more that half the marital assets (none of which she contributed to), spousal support for over two years, plus child support. Custody was joint although the children spent more time with me. Spring avoided all financial responsibility for the children. In addition, I was burdened with over $100,000 in legal costs, some of which was for Springs' lawyer.

The 2012 ruling gave Spring permanent spousal support despite a vocational evaluation that stated she could earn as much as me and a custody evaluation which concluded she was not the primary parent during the marriage. And most significantly despite absolute evidence she had committed fraud upon the court. 

Will the court rule in my favor? If rule of law and principles of justice and equality under the law hold then there is no question that I will prevail. But I would not bet on it. Odds are the court will double down on corruption as that has been my experience to date. But no matter what I am not paying any more money. If the judge holds me in contempt of court, that would be appropriate as I will have an ocean full of contempt.  

To top off this (mostly) annus horribilis I found out on Monday I have cancer. Luckily it is a fairly treatable form. I had surgery yesterday which seemed to go pretty well.  Recover will take awhile however.