Law And More

Males Molesting Males: This victim became a drunk, lost it all

"I am 60 years old and just starting to grow up."  

 That's what the speaker at a 12-step meeting told the group in central Connecticut this evening. Finally, after a lifetime of drinking he had sobered up four years ago.  It was in rehab that he realized that he had to tell his secret.  That was that another man had molested him when he was a youth.  He also had to admit his "part" in the event. And that was that he had been drunk at the time.

Throughout my years "in the rooms" I had heard similar confessionals by males.  They were drunk. Or they were trusting.  Or they were simply needy.  Males seem to be more wounded than women who had been molested.  That might be because in their value system homosexuality is verboten.

Let's hope the courts continue to come down hard on males who take sexual advantage of boys.

Kentucky Middle-aged Male Trial Lawyers: At least a dozen suicides since 2010

Why are middle-aged male trial lawyers in Kentucky committing suicide?  The COURIER-JOURNAL reports that since 2010, at least a dozen have happened and the Kentucky Bar Association President Doug Myers views the number as "disproportionate" and "disconcerting." About 17,500 lawyers are members of that bar.

It is well known that those in the legal sector have a higher than average rate of suicide as well as substance abuse.  However, what is happening in Kentucky seems extraordinary.  The legal community must be upset.

Recently in our 12-step program, there was a suicide by a middle-aged male who worked on insurance contracts.  The group is still reeling.  The wisest thing said by a member might have been, "There are no answers why." Those who speculated about motivation sounded like fools. 

These individual deaths align with the research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as reported by THE WASHINGON POST.  Last May it releasesd a report showing the Baby Boomer men's suicide rate had gone up 30% and that of women 60 percent.

PTR Industries: Gun laws may make for good politics but lousy economics

Influential BUSINESS INSIDER is running the story of PTR Industries, which manufactures arms similar to the HK-91 semi automatic rifle.  Its Chief Executive Officer Josh Fiorini announced that he's pulling the company  out of my home state Connecticut.  Of course we all know about how a rapid-fire weapon snuffed out the lives of 20 children in Newtown.  It's no surprise, given politics, that the state passed the strictest gun control law in the nation.  However, the legislation could have been constructed with companies like PTR Industries in mind.  Fiorini et al. are being cast as the bad guys.

There's a price to pay for politics and CT is paying it with the loss of this employer.

"Griesing v Greenberg Traurig" - David Sanford of Sanford Heisler settles another gender lawsuit

No one is commenting.  But a settlement seems like a positive resolution of the gender discrimination lawsuit "Griesing v Greenberg Traurig."  Plaintiff Francine Friedman Griesing was represented by David Sanford of Sanford Heisler.  Both he and the law firm are known for achieving wins and settlements in employment suits, especially gender discrimination ones. 

As Casey Sullivan reports in THOMSON REUTERS, last Friday, five months after the lawsuit, which could have become a class-action one, was filed, the two parties settled.  Griesing contended the firm operated as an old boy's club.  When she had questioned the size of her annual bonus, allegedly she was told she didn't need the money. The males did since they had families to support.

Here is a copy of that complaint.  Sanford could be canonized the Patron Saint of all women who Lean In.

Despair: Had there not be a gun, that suicide might not have happened

It's right out of the film "Rashomon." Everyone in our 12-step group has a different take on why one of our members recently committed suicide. Some of the explanations are from the 12-step philosophy.  Others are from their own life experiences, e.g. he must have been overwhelmed, he must have been angry, he must have not been taking good care of himself. 

Mere speculation, as a lawyer in court would say. One thing that we do know, at least if we have been keeping up with the research on suicide, is that had he not access to a gun he might not committed suicide.  The gun is a user-friendly tool for checking out.  Unlike pills or even driving your car into a wall, the odds are that the gun will achieve your purpose.  You will not wake up with the technicians pumping your stomach. You will not wind up a cripple.

Because of the various things happening in his life, this man had been feeling despair.  Without a gun, he might have gotten through and on the other side of that darkness.   He had every reason for hope. He was good-looking.  Only in his early 50s.  Had a good job. His kids were just starting out on their own.  "In the rooms" he had developing an extensive support system, including rides to work and the meetings until he got his license back.

Had he reflected on that he might have been distracted from his own troubled rumination.  Not having the gun around would have bought him time for that.

Photo Fatigue: Need for federal law to bar transmission of all those cute photos w/o permission

Timeline. Smimeline.  Some of us do not want to receive via web or mobile photos updating anyone's life or the lives of the family, pets, and roses in the garden.  Yeah, photo fatigue.

Some courageous federal legislator has to propose a bill requiring permission to transmit personal photos to anyone.  The logistics are not hard to configure.  There would simply be an opt-out list as with telemarketers.  It would be titled, "Thank you for not sharing your photos." Violation of this law would result in mandatory jail time, a place where they would detox from the compulsion.

Sobered-Up Lawyers: Why AA preaches that geographics don't work

"In the rooms" of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), lawyers hear repeatedly that a "geographic" doesn't work.  Most of time that geographic involves professional opportunity.  The lawyer specializing in intellectual property from a mid-sized law firm in the midwest takes a lateral to a large firm in California.  At first he's euphoric.  Soon enough he's miserable, again. Actually, he could be worse off emotionally than before the change. The intensity of suffering could trigger relapse back into drinking.

Psychology professor at the University of California at Riverside Sonya Lyubomirsky explains why these grabs for a better life don't pan out.  It's all in her new book "The Myths of Happines: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't - What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does." 

In essence, humans are wired for a certain baseline in happiness.  After the positive change, we tend to return to that baseline.  The problem is, though, that simultaneously our expectations on what we are entitled to are raised.  Therefore, the new position, despite its status, intellectual stimulation, and lucrative pay, serves to create a craving for more and more of that.  The lawyer could then start searching for what he perceives as a better opportunity.

How to stop that cycle?  Lyubomirsky recommends what will sound familiar to those "in the rooms." That's an attitude change.  For example, mentally re-experience what your professional life used to be and develop an attitude of gratitude.  Sure, you can go after better professional opportunities. But you do it this time with a grateful heart for what you already have.

 

Conservatives & Reporters: Lucky sons of a gun are the new martyrs

The voodoo of being made a martyr is one of the most powerful pull forces in civilization.  It was when Jesus Christ, who had started the Christianity movement, and the early followers were murdered for their beliefs that the religion really got off the ground.  That worked out great, with the institutions it created still standing today. 

Now, those lucky sons of the gun - conservatives and reporters - have become the new kind of martyr.  As POLITICO reports, the IRS had been targeting conservatives and the Department of Justice has been snooping into the phone records of reporters.  Both groups can get on the rhetorical, regulatory, and legislative soap boxes and demand these wrongs be made right.  Attention will be paid.

As for the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton, who's associated with the now-tainted Obama regime in addition to the Benghazi cloud over her, is no longer a sure thing.  The presidency of the free world is in play again.

Michael Arrington, TechCrunch Founder, Sues Jenn Allen: Facebook, twitter posts as evidence

In what could turn out to be a huge lawsuit in terms of media attention and the questions it raises about posting on social networks, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington sued former girlfriend Jenn Allen.

As BUSINESS INSIDER reports, Arrington, one of the biggest names in tech coverage, has accused Allen of defamation and false publication.  Here, thanks to VALLEYWAG, is a copy of the complaint.

On social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Allen stated that Arrington had allegedly done things to her as serious as rape and as ambiguous as emotional abuse.  When she made those claims, given Arrington's powerful brandname and wealth, they received considerable coverage in both business and tech media.  Now that a lawsuit has been filed, the legal media will probably jump in too.

On trial, of course, is what one can post on social networks and not be vulnerable to legal action.  If Arrington's suit doesn't get tossed, this kind of complaint could send a chill through social networks.  Those used to posting without much thought to the legal implications could become quite circumspect.  The impact on the popularity of Facebook and Twitter could be huge.

Steve Cohen: Is he Jay Gatsby?

In this era consumed with professional success, not existential questions, Jay Gatsby commands the attention Shakespeare's character of Hamlet once did.  The new take on that character is the film "The Great Gatsby" which opens on May 10th here in Connecticut. 

Meanwhile VANITY FAIR joins the conga line of brandname media, ranging from BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK to THE NEW YORK TIMES, focusing on who may be the new Gatsby - that is, wildly successful hedge fund head Steve Cohen.  In a feature story by Bryan Burrough and Bethany McLean (not online yet), Cohen is depicted as a wicked smart ambitious outlier the establishment resisted letting in.  So, as the classic pattern goes, he showed them.  He pays outrageous amounts for art, his primary house in Greenwich, CT, and his vacation home in the Hamptons.

But, like Gatsby, Cohen could come to a nasty end.  He has been on U.S. Attorney Preet Baharara's watch list for years.  A number of his former employees have already been dragged in by federal law enforcement. 

On the other hand, unlike Gatsby, Cohen could go on to enjoy the lifestyle he created out of seeming hurt and resentment.