Just the Facts, Ma'am

It musing about my last post, it seems to me there is something fundamental about people's understanding of facts. 

There is a spectrum. At one end is a person whose grasp of reality is so tenuous they simply have no conception of a fact outside of what they believe. Think of a severely mentally ill person. Recently a mother left her daughter on the side of the road in freezing cold weather with no shoes because she believed God had told her to. Her "facts" are what she thinks in her head.

At the other end are people who understand that facts are external to what they think. Quite importantly, they will freely change their views based on facts. These people have a good grasp not only of reality but logic. 

Let's look at some cases. If a person came to you and said, without providing any evidence, that  Bill and Hillary Clinton, other high ranking Democrats as well as Hollywood stars were all involved with a Satanic, child molestation ring run from a pizza parlor you would rightly state they needed mental help. So what are we to think of Qanon whose adherents believe just that? Are they all mentally ill? I am sure some are but when it comes to followers, I think many people simply just do not care about facts. Their truth is what they want to believe not what is real. 

Or how about the 70% of Republicans who believe Trump actually won the election. Not only is there no evidence for this but all the facts refute it. But they do not care about facts. I should probably point out that these people fall into two categories. One are those who know that Biden fairly won in a clean election but just lie about it for political reasons. I would guess most Republican members of Congress who objected to certification fall into this category. A larger number, I think, are those who just simply believe what people who they want to believe tell them. They think with their emotions not their brains. 

I see the same thing in the legal system. Some litigants, lawyers and officials who lie and commit crimes know exactly what they are doing but most I suspect just ignore or mentally block inconvenient facts because it threatens their power and income. They are not going to let facts get in their way. Or truth. Or justice. 

That Familiar Feeling

I have tried to stay non-political on this site mainly because crime knows no political boundaries, but after the events of yesterday at the Nation's Capitol I feel a need to speak out. I might just as well state what I think of Trump. He is narcissistic anti-democracy megalomaniac who cares only for himself. But that is not really what upsets me about him. What upsets me about him is that people support him. They turn a blind eye to his crimes and bullying tactics.  

Traitor At The Capitol

That feeling is familiar. It is how our legal system works especially in family court. It isn't bad people such as Spring and Nelly Wince who upset me so much as there will always be bad people, it is the people and institutions such as the county attorney (a staunch Democrat), the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and judges who ignore and often reward crime and unethical actions which give me that sinking hopeless feeling. 

Sadly, people are not all that good. People who are happiest in this world live in societies where legal systems are clear, transparent, and fair. Without that we have a breakdown in society. 

If we want to have a better world we need a better legal system. One where crime is an accepted practice only generates more crime and suffering. It really isn't all that complicated. 

Waiting

Just before Christmas a hearing was held on my motion to eliminate spousal support and set aside the decree ordering permanent spousal support. As the evidence is so clear that fraud upon the court was committed, setting aside the ruling should be a slam dunk. Except... in Minnesota as far as I can tell this has never happened. Which is such a strange thing given that fraud upon the court is considered so serious it has no statue of limitations. Like first degree murder. Additionally, everyone knows it happens regularly in family court. This why I state that family court in Minnesota is institutionally corrupt or, to state it another way, committing crime in court is normal and accepted. 

The judge, a new one, stated that their is little precedent for giving back money due to crime so my hopes are dimmed. Although he had not read any of the docket so there is still some hope. 

Spring, with her new lawyer, asked the judge for even more money, including attorney fees. Of course she did. Because taking far more than half of marital assets at the time of the divorce, alimony for over a decade and never having spent anything on the children from her own income is not enough. And remember, the custody evaluator ruled she was not the primary parent and the vocational evaluator ruled she could make as much money as me. Also, despite joint custody post divorce, the kids started almost immediately spending more time with me which soon turned to 100%. They still live with me even though both are now graduated from college. 

Spring also asked that I be held in contempt of court and if I do not pay up be sent to jail to "coerce" me into paying. A strange thing about U.S. law is that a judge can send a person to jail indefinitely with no charges for contempt if court. As I told the judge, if he rules agaisnt me and cites me for contempt of court it will be appropriate because ti would adequately reflect the ocean full of contempt I would have. 

It is simply madness. I do not know how else to describe a system that purports to uphold the law and ensure justice but breaks it at every opportunity and mandates injustice. All for fistful of silver coins. 

So now I wait. My life hangs by a thread. 

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.  

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.

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. 

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.