Ruins which smash themselves on what they fall

lass shards were scattered all across the platform and the entrance to my business when I arrived in fall 2006. I approached the doors, cautiously, but annoyed to find the mess. I peered through a two-foot wide gaping hole in the glazed entry door to see a sizeable concrete block that had come to rest about 25 feet inside the waiting room. The marks on the terrazzo floor showed that it had made impact 12 feet from the door, before sliding under the tables in the far corner of the room. It appeared to be one of the parking yard curbs, that prevent cars from pulling up too closely to the building, that had been launched at the tempered glass with such force that it had not only shattered the double-glazing, but had vaulted through, landed inside and broken into several parts.

I questioned whether it would be wise to enter, but knowing the speed with which police respond in this town, and especially on a Sunday, I knew I'd be waiting outside for at least 40 minutes if I called. I opened the door, carefully, and a shower of broken tempered glass niblets dropped from the frame onto the welcome mat.

Once inside, I threw my briefcase behind the desk, pulled out my cell phone and began to scour the building. It was well before 7AM, and although daylight, the building basement and belfry provided only one means of exit. My offices occupied the second floor of the building, and it was not uncommon for me to stay late into the night alone. Having only one means to exit the second floor, I kept a small rounders bat within reach of my desk, under the credenza, as a safety measure. I made my way upstairs to retrieve it before proceeding. The alarm had been inactive for several months, after my company wound up, the building was largely empty except for my office suite, upstairs, and downstairs the Starbucks coffee shop that I'd created for my ex-husband to operate.

Oddly enough, there was no one in the building, and nothing in the way of evidence that anyone had entered either, yet a cash register only feet from the compromised door contained several hundred dollars. I settled down to call the authorities, and as suspected, they arrived some 30 minutes or more later. The police officer recognised me, as in the previous few years, I'd been required to solicit assistance on several occasions after DF's departure. He was the officer dispatched to investigate when I discovered the sidewall on the front tyre of my vehicle had been slashed with a knife shortly after DF moved to live with KMC.

After completing his report, the police officer claimed that they would step up patrol of my office building at night, asked me to alert them should anyone been seen lurking in the area and asked if I knew of anyone that was irritated with me as the damages inflicted appeared to be malicious and a statement of some sort. I informed the police officer that I had little contact with anyone these days, but that I had divorced three years ago. He nodded, and repeated for me to not hesitate to call should I see anything peculiar, and bid me a good day.

I began to sweep glass shards into a pile to place in a waste bin. I'd need to secure the building before nightfall and call a glass company the following day. I looked downstairs to find a sheet of plywood that I could place over the door.

As the patrol car pulled away from the building, it was hard not to find it very coincidental that the day prior I'd received confirmation that a copy of my leave to appeal, submitted before the Supreme Court, had been delivered to KMC and DF's home.

The door would not be the only incident of malicious destruction of property. After more than a year of standing idle without incident, Thursday morning of that week, after word had spread throughout the region that my former company equipment was under purchase contract, I'd arrive at the facilities to find that all the furnishings inside the equipment had been overturned, as if a herd of elephants had been let loose. Aside from broken glass from lamps and anything that had not been buttoned down being scattered all over the floors, it was principally just another task to attend to before the equipment could be transferred.

Noteworthy was that the equipment had been locked. In fact, in the prior 15 months after the company wrapped up, it had been my nightly duty to patrol the equipment and check that all doors were fastened and locked. I'd never left the property without ensuring that all was secure, no matter whether it had been in the middle of winter, or the middle of the night. This could only have been done by someone who had a key, or once had a key that had been copied prior to its return. I reflected on the fact that DF had held onto keys to the company property and my home for quite a few months after his departure, but of course had no proof that he was responsible.

Anger is like those ruins which smash themselves on what they fall ~ Seneca

"So shines a good deed in a naughty world"

Epictetus, quoted earlier in this odyssey, was a Greek philosopher who modelled his doctrines on stoicism ~ a philosophy of life designed to entice personal development to embrace virtue, integrity and wisdom. According to Epictetus, the essence of good lies within and one should not be motivated by vice, but rather by virtue and the pursuit of truth.

Of the several metaphors for life that Epictetus taught, one was “life is weaving". He philosophised that situations we are faced with may not always be under our control, but we can usually command the way we react or respond to them. In other words, the particular thread that is used to weave the fabric of life may not be ours to select, but what’s important is 'how we weave with it'. What sets a virtuous person apart from the rest, is how the game is played and the role played in life determines which actions are appropriate.

“But I wish to be purple. That small part which is bright, and makes all the rest appear graceful and beautiful. Why then do you tell me to make myself like the many? And if I do, then how shall I still be purple?” ~ Epictetus

To remain calm in the face of adversity, and regardless of whatever provocation, not fall to negative emotions, but to act virtuously, is the essence of Epictetus' doctrine.

After 28 months of unpleasant events and still no response to the many requests for answers from Doug, it might have been natural to cave to the pressure of my circumstances and become cynical and angered by the manner in which I had been ignored and mistreated. In fact, it may have appeared to others, not only natural but healthy to strike out accordingly. However, that would be contrary to my principles. If I were to allow myself to react in less than a virtuous manner, “how then shall I still be purple?”

Epictetus stated that the "pursuit of truth is virtuous". It was with that in mind that I decided to make contact again with "Doug".

How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world ~ Shakespeare

Behind Lorenz's Mirror

holly dependent on parents, neonates and species born relatively helpless and requiring extended periods of parental care, are referred to as 'altricial'. Alternatively, precocious young experience a slightly extended gestation period and consequently emerge at a more advanced stage of development, with the capability of feeding themselves, walking and even swimming, although they may yet require parental protection and direction to food sources.

Of course, this state of precocious independence can provide an opportunity for young to wander off from the parent long before it becomes able to fully fend for itself. That’s where imprinting comes into play, first studied by Douglas Spalding, but largely credited to Karl Lorenz as a result of his extensive empirical research into the phenomenon.

Filial imprinting, or the attachment of young to the parental model, ensures that the precocious young stay close to a model in order to learn particular behaviour. Lorenz worked with goslings and quickly assessed that, albeit constrained to some degree genetically, shortly after hatching they connected and modelled behaviour after the first moving object they were exposed to, in this case, his wading boots. Lorenz quickly discovered that reward was at the crux of this association. Reward, that is, in terms of nourishment, access to food, and the goslings' reduction in anxiety.

Nidifugous birds, or those that leave the nest shortly after hatching, imprint based upon both visual and auditory stimuli from their parents and then engage in a practice of following them around. But filial imprinting is not just restricted to that. Lorenz demonstrated that species are genetically constructed in such a way that species learn specific kinds of information and develop certain behaviourisms that are important for the survival of the species.

His book, Behind the Mirror, modelled after evolutionary biology, examines how our senses permit us to accurately assess our habitat and distinguish 'fact' as opposed to 'illusion'. Traits, according to Lorenz, are transmitted to us, and our natural sense of the security of our environment must be “spot on” otherwise we wouldn't exist to be deceived. But if so how was it that I had been so deceived, not once, but possibly a second time? Or were my initial senses and instincts with regard to "Doug" correct?

And as I traverse the unicursal route, I once again refer to Scott, who said,

“When thinking about companions gone, we feel ourselves doubly alone” ~ Sir Walter Scott

Menagerie. Goose chase, or cat and mouse game

orenz experimented with his wading boots to learn that precocious gosling latch onto the first individual that moves within 24 hours of hatching, and follow it to learn the art of finding food. The result is a single file line of individuals following a wild goose, scurrying to keep up, but not really knowing where, yet biologically predisposed to follow, all the same.

In Elizabethan times, an equestrian sport that was very popular, involved the challenge of mounted riders, spaced at various intervals, to keep following a lead rider. The sport was akin to gosling following the wild goose. Due to the popularity of this past time, it was William Shakespeare who first used the expression "sent on a wild goose chase" to represent the difficulties followers have in keeping up with the one leading the pack. In modern days, since the once-popular 16th Century activity is no longer practised, the expression has taken on the additional meaning of a "futile quest".

By early January 2006, I was beginning to wonder if I was such a gosling chasing to catch up with an elusive leader. Much like Lorenz utilised his wading boots to imprint on, had "Doug" become close to me and lured me to follow him across the country for two years or more, just as a lark? Was it that he derived pleasure watching me be sent on a wild goose chase, or was there another reason behind his elusive acts?

I've said all along that this odyssey has a distinct biological theme. Well, I've discussed spiders, birds, gosling, geese, and in this particular case perhaps "cat and mouse" is also applicable.

The description of 'cat and mouse', according to the dictionary, reads,

a. Playfully or teasingly cruel, as in prolonging the pain or torment of another
b. Of or involving a suspenseful and sometimes alternating relation between hunter and hunted

and, indeed, the experiences that unfurled in 2005 and those in 2006, that I will present shortly in this blog, could certainly be considered cruel and there's no question that I was beginning to feel that I had been hunted, but in this case, the term 'cat and mouse' is used to refer to the works attributed to famous fabulist, Aesop.

As mentioned in this thread, a fable is a brief allegorical narrative that illustrates a moral thesis or satire. Typically, the central figures of a fable are animals with human features, personifications, that metaphorically convey a maxim or moral truth, offering insight into human nature.

Notable fabulist Aesop is reputed to have lived in 600 BC, although there's no real proof that he really existed. Aesop, whose name is Greek for "Ethiop" in reference to his dark skin and proposed African heritage, was unfortunately a rather deformed and unattractive man, who was reputed to be a slave. Perhaps physical abnormalities, that invited mockery from some, was the impetus for him to fashion fables to demonstrate human foibles, nature and irony. What is clear is that many fables, popular today and attributed to him, have been the basis for maxims or proverbial turns of phrase such as "crying wolf", "reap what you sow" and "once bitten, twice shy".

The Cat and the Mice ~ Aesop
There was once a house that was overrun with mice. A cat heard of this, and said to herself, "That's the place for me," and off she went and took up her quarters in the house, and caught the mice one by one and ate them. At last the mice could stand it n longer, and they determined to take to their holes and stay there. "That's awkward," said the cat to herself. "The only thing to do is to coax them out by a trick." So she considered a while, and then climbed up the wall and let herself hang down by her hind legs from a peg, and pretended to be dead.By and by a mouse peeped out and saw the cat hanging there. "Aha!" it cried, "You're very clever, madam, no doubt. But you may turn yourself into a bag of meal hanging there, if you like, yet you won't catch us coming anywhere near you."

If you are wise you won't be deceived by the innocent airs of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.

Naturally, inherent in this fable is that once a ruthless source has been encountered and identified, intended prey, having narrowly escaped injury, are wise to learn to spot a similar circumstance and avoid a second exposure. But what if the source is quite different in each case? How can one know intuitively that a source would be dangerous? Would the only natural solution involve being doubly shy with everyone, and as a result unable to interact at all?

No word from "Doug", despite what amounted to by this time as at least 8 emails from me in the course of 12 months and one phone call, asking for some closure, it was hard not to consider the way he ignored me as pejorative. Still uncertain if it was a deliberate attempt to belittle me or simply a Hawk versus Dove defense strategy, it would be even more crucial to make another Dove-like attempt to find out....

Will the coastal sage scrub and burn?

uite "littorally", or would it bode a changing of the tide? The misspelling is purposeful and intentional, by the way ~ "littoral", an adjectival reference to a coastal region; the term "sage" for a scholar and "scrub", the slang usage of the verb, meaning to abandon or drop.

Coastal sage scrub, a scrub land plant community native to the chaparral ecoregion of California, is sometimes referred to as soft chaparral. The ground-hugging aromatic shrubs are able to survive with little available water. How this is possible, varies from one variety to another, but essentially it either involves the plant's ability to preserve moisture.

In some species, sclerophyls, leaves have either a waxy coating that holds moisture within the plant, or fine hairy spines that reflect sunlight and thus reduce natural evaporation. Others drop leaves during the very hot months. The sloughing of leaves, and the lack of moisture subject the ecoregion to the ravage of fire. Coastal scrub and chaparral burn intensely; the wax from leaves similar to throwing fat on a flame, and the detritus at the base of the low-lying plants serves as tinder. But, fire, as odd as it may seem, is not the greatest hazard to the region, and in fact serves an important role in the continued survival of the habitat.

The coastal sage ecoregion in the southern part of California represents the struggle between preservation and human development. While the land in this region is spied by man as a profitable growth area for high-ticket development, this particular ecosystem is relatively rare and the species endemic to the coastal scrub lands diverse. The unique nature of this coastal land and the individual organisms that called it their natural habitat, I suspect, is the reason my online friend, "Doug", chose this location for his summer empirical research project.

Tasks related to wrapping up my corporation were completed by the end of 2005. All that remained was to sell the equipment, and fielding enquiries could be handled by phone and email. Further, activity related to a sale unlikely to begin until the winter snows had melted, when prospects would have the opportunity to fire "her" up and take her for a test-drive. By the beginning of 2006 I found myself in a position where I would have some time on my hands, after nearly two years of nothing but stressful events, yet no specific thoughts on what my next career path would be.

I'd stumbled upon advertisement featured on several biology related job boards on the Internet, for which "Doug" would need 6 field assistants to accompany him to San Diego in mid-March 2006 for a three-month period. I believed that clearing the "cobwebs" of my brain was in order and doing something completely different, for a couple of months, and constructive would be ideal. I prepared to dust off my CV for submission. The ad called for a letter of intent, the curriculum vitae and a list of references.

It had been decades since I applied for a job. This was unlike all I'd ever considered and the $600.00 a month stipend (housing was included), albeit typical for such part-time field work, not the motivator, although, if truth be known it would be welcome, having most of my assets tied up at the time.

My letter was sincere and my various, yet honest, intentions clearly defined. I'd no specific familiarity with his project, but was anxious to learn, enthusiastic to work on something that could be of value to his goals, and would enjoy the chance to be involved in a team-related capacity and, of course, I would be keen to meet him and show him that I was a genuine and caring friend.

I printed the information off my computer, placed it in an envelope and dropped it in the mailbox well in advance of the January 15, 2006 deadline, checking his web page, beforehand, to make sure that positions were still open. Yes! He would continue to advertise vacancies for the field assistants until positions were filled in late February 2006.

"The perils of indifference"

cience fiction has never been a favourite of mine. I'm not closed-minded to it, I just can't feel engaged enough to the story line to muddle through and I just might be one of the very few that was never drawn to any of the Star Wars blockbusters either. But every once in a while while fanning through the occasional book, I'll find a pithy statement that I find particularly significant and memorable, regardless of the subject matter. Such is the case with Joan Vinge's The Snow Queen and the quote, "Indifference is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it".

in·dif·fer·ent(adj)
Having no particular interest or concern; apathetic
Having no marked feeling for or against
Not mattering one way or the other
Characterized by a lack of partiality; unbiased
Not active or involved; neutral

I recall a poignant and powerful speech by Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel, before Clinton about 7 years ago. He was relating the impact of indifference that the holocaust victims and prisoners of war experienced, and some of the passages moved me then and bear repeating.

"... indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.... behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner," as they were called. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were -- strangers to their surroundings. They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it "

Wiesel went on to explain that indifference is even more dangerous an anger and hatred, as at least anger is a creative force ~ it elicits a response and it is from that disapproval that energies are focused and something productive or good can emerge. On the other hand, indifference elicits no response. "Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten .."

How true this is. For the abandonment, the lack of response, the impact of indifference on a victim is further punishment. Roman historian, Tacitus, is claimed to have said, "Proprium humani ingenii est odisse, quem laeseris [Agricola]Translated it means that it is considered human nature to dislike a person that you have harmed or injured.

With this premise in mind, is it a result of a sense of shame for having violated an someone? Along these lines, it's theorised that one logical consequence of hurting another is to begin to despise the victim. And in order to defend against the intense disappointment in oneself for having hurt another innocent person, anger is directed outward and toward the victim once more. The passions and emotions that caused a person to commit an injury are turned to distaste for the victim in an effort to be absolved of responsibility for one's actions. Thus, the more intense the original passions and desires, the greater the dislike of the victim that results. And of course, the natural human reaction is to feel embarrassment.

I often wondered, could there be anything worse than knowing that someone, to whom you'd been a loyal caring friend, disliked you because you had been hurt by them ~ you'd been their victim? As Wiesel and Vinge have so eloquently stated, to be worse would be "to be forgotten; to be meaningless".

In December 2004, I had sent "Doug" an instant message that simply said "Silence can be deafening; and so piercing indifference can be". One full year later, right before Christmas 2005, despite having sent him a number of heartfelt emails, still no response.

I'd exercised the utmost respect for his situation despite his apparent lack of concern for mine. I offered forgiveness for the harm the ruse had caused me but wished I could find hope again for the future. It was at this time that I wrote "Les Ouiseux d'une meme couleur" hoping he'd see my need for some answers, and hoping above all that the pain of having been deceived would not be magnified, as Weisel claims, by now being "forgotten and meaningless".

Domains of danger ~ Dirichlet tessellations

He was "Le jeune de Richelet", named after the town in Belgium where his ancestors had lived. Johann Lejeune Dirichlet's claim to mathematical fame was the formal defintion of a function. Tessellation, or "tiling", as it is sometimes referred, is the process of positioning various geometric shapes in a plane in a side-by-side fashion, but not overlapping. The cells of a spider's web, or the compartment of a honey comb, for example, can be rendered as tessellations. Mosaic tile-work uses the process of tessellation, in fact, the word "tessellation" is derived from the Latin "tessella", which means a little square of clay.

Although the concept of personal space suggests that a particular space belongs to one individual, it is limited directly by the number of individuals within a region. Logic would suggest that one individual's personal space ends where another's begins. These boundary functions can be diagrammed. Let's say a region is occupied by two individuals. The line, which divides the space that one occupies from that of another individual, creates each individual's respective personal space. As each individual moves, the line that divides the cell equally, moves respectively.

The regions that surround each cell are mathematically referred to as Voronoi diagrams, Dirichlet tessellations, or spatial calculations. Each area contains exactly one generating point and every point in a given area is closer to its generating point than to any other. Dirichlet tessellations representing regions of territorial animals, for example, would show that individuals at a greater distance removed from one individual will be less likely to interfere spatially unless there are no other individuals between that could contest the region. Thus, the areas of Dirichlet tessellations should coincide generally with the areas of territoriality or competition of the individuals. So, in ecology, for example, Voronoi diagrams or Dirichlet tessellations of a region can be made to determine the domain of danger.

By 2006, I'd identified my own domains of danger. In January, after the local trial court case was dismissed, the contact from DF and KMC resumed, like clockwork. Curiosity was likely the reason they resumed driving past my offices to look at the "for sale" sign that had been featured front and centre on the property for a period of 4 months. Up until this point, save for the brief period in August before our Motion for Reconsideration had been filed, they'd been limited by court process. Eager to preserve the personal space I had claimed, as they moved in closer, I moved away. I left the building when they finally had the gall to enter and masquerade as if they were interested in purchasing a cup of coffee.

The Henderson case, for unlawful practise that was scheduled in Altanta and for which I'd been subpoenaed to testify, culminated in sentencing. Once the sentence was satisfied and the "game" was up, I learned that Henderson liquidated his home and packed up his belongings to promptly relocate to Washington state to set-up "shop" there. Once the authorities had him under close scrutiny, I surmise he believed his space had been invaded upon and sought an area, where he could minimise the domain of danger from discovery.

It would also come to my attention some time in January 2006, that perhaps "Doug" had done some Dirichlet tessaltions as well.... I'd learn this in a most indirect way....

Trapped in Skinner's box

ecember 2005 and only two last items to address and the company wind-up would be finished. One was the removal of all proprietary information on the company server. I called in the tech support person that had assisted in both the new hardware and software installation a year or so ago. I instructed him to erase most and to preserve the company accounting and financial record files and transfer them to disk along with any personal files that were in my secure archive file on the LAN system. The project didn't amass to more than a couple of hours work, but when he returned with several disks, one labelled 'miscellaneous data files', it piqued my curiosity.

Indeed, the logs of my chats with "Doug" had been auto saved in a secure section of the server designed to save Corporate proprietary information, despite having disabled messenger's own archive feature at "Doug"'s instruction. Of course, I recall now, one instance when my computer crashed in the midst of a critical report shortly before the server was to be serviced and it left me days behind schedule. Presumably, tech had installed this software as a safeguard in the event of a future crisis.

Naturally, I had good recall of all that we'd shared in the many hundreds of hours chatting anyway, but to re-read them brought back very fond memories of a time, now nearly two years ago, when I had a companion and someone to talk with and who appeared to not only care for me, but wanted to be a part of my life. By comparison, my existence in late 2005, was achingly void of any pleasure, comfort or companionship and my self-esteem ebbing with "Doug"'s failure to reply to my emails.

It was while reviewing what amounted to several thousands of pages of chat sessions that I printed off the disk that I saw, without question, that my memory of the way the relationship developed had been quite accurate. I had not imagined or embellished Doug's attention.

It was patently clear from the chat transcripts that "Doug" had made most of the contact; it was he who initially claimed he was inexplicably drawn to me; he who had difficulty getting through a day without making contact; he who had stated the sexual fantasies he wished to explore with me and he who admitted to being emotionally attached. Not that I wasn't becoming emotionally attached as well mind you, but I was concerned that without a phone number and alternate means of contact, he, like all the rest had in my immediate sphere, could go "POOF" and disappear, even though he promised he would not.

Reading the epic text was both very comforting and painful. My eyes were misty for almost a week as I reviewed each and every session, recalling the range of topics we'd discussed and the ease of conversation. Reviewing some rather explicit ones, where he'd described the sexual impact my passionate words were having on him, were melancholic and sad. When he shared that I was a source of pleasure for him, was that his impression of me or was it all untrue? I'd been so sincere, but was he just playing with me? Learning that my marriage had been a scheme executed purposefully by my ex-husband had made me feel so insignificant as a person and now, what could I think of this repeated episode, by someone who claimed he was my friend? Had I been an inanimate object to my ex-husband and now, once again, simply a science experiment to Doug? These questions plagued me terribly.

I first mentioned Operant Conditioning in the entry called "Let sleeping pups lie". It was almost correct. Actually, it wasn't dogs that "Doug" had trained but whales, whale pups perhaps. He had said that he could get a pup to do almost anything, through operant conditioning, by positive reinforcement with rewards or by negative punishment in raising a stick.

No doubt having having written a number of scientific papers on a new pod of whales that had been witnessed in British Columbia, where he'd done his undergraduate work, and then having served as a whale trainer in San Juans in the Pacific Northwest and , he'd be intimately familiar with the various forms of Operant Conditioning. As positive reinforcement rewards a behaviour by adding a pleasant reward, it inceases the likelihood that a desired behavior will reoccur simply due to the fact that the consequence of that behaviour was enjoyable. Likewise, with negative punishment, a pleasure or reward is removed or withheld until desired behaviour is exhibited. Both forms of Operant Conditioning.

Accordingly, in pursuit to demonstrate methods of conditioning, B. F. Skinner, a leader in behavioural research, designed a box so that he could control the environment for his research. Into that box, later referred to as Skinner's Box, a rat was placed and Skinner went on to show that a rat will press a lever, a learned behaviour, if he wants nourishment. Was I, indeed, trapped in Skinner's box?

Wishing to make sure that "Doug" felt comfortable knowing that I did not pose any threat to him, I mailed to his office the disk that the tech support had given to me of the chat records, along with a Christmas card and a genuinely caring and friendly letter explaining that I had discovered the files by accident. I hoped that he would recognise that although I had been the one so mislead, and severely damaged as a consequence, I'd never wish for him to feel vulnerable in any way and that there was no further need for any aposematic reactions in the future. I received confirmation that the package arrived just a few days before Christmas.

One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul,
and yet no one ever comes to sit by it

~ Van Gogh

This is a court of law, not a court of justice

rticulating my loss of faith in the justice system, in which, heretofore I’d had the utmost respect, can be best served with a pithy statement attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes,

“This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice.”

Holmes, the younger (his father also an Oliver Wendell) a graduate of Harvard University was named by Teddy Roosevelt to the Unites States Supreme Court just after the turn of the 20th Century. Influenced by Darwinism, jurist Holmes was also a strong proponent of moral relativism and earned much criticism during his service, albeit one of the longest in American history. He stepped down from the bench at a ripe 90 odd years of age.

By November 2005, more than 18 months had transpired since the local court legally terminated my marriage and DF had still not yet provided a Quitclaim to my home, nor had he proffered other elements of the Court’s mandate either. It was not only frustrating but a crippling financial burden as well. I’d managed to eek out an existence without income but funds were at an all time low.

What was more crushing was the apparent inequity in the application of law. The local judge strictly refused to offer me the opportunity to annul my marriage despite clear evidence of fraudulent intent was available in written form and scathing testimony by a guest at our wedding. No, the judge steadfastly refused to hear an annulment claim and also refused to hear the issues related to fraud (marital assets whistled away prior to disappearing) in the termination of the marriage as well. In accordance with court procedure, in advance of the mandated mediation and settlement conference, I'd provided full disclosure of all assets, both joint and personal, that remained in my possession. DF failed to provide any disclosure of his, even though he'd helped himself to funds in the bank accounts and the equity proceeds from the refinance of my home, and driven out of my life in a vehicle that was my property before marriage, and titled as same. Instead, the judge insisted that he'd address equitable distribution of the remaining assets, as he saw fit and advised me to seek recovery of anything else in another law suit. Accordingly, the judge preserved my right to take separate action against both offenders in a separate claim, upon consummation of the divorce.

All well and fine you say? Well, yes, I suppose except for the fact that bringing a second action costs money, though and in light of the fact that we would not have an opportunity to present the complaint and causes of action before the Court, it would turn out to be a fruitless offer, in the end. Needless to say, at the time, recognising that this would be the only means of retrieving what had been ferretted away by DF in advance of petitioning for divorce a second time in our short two-year marriage, I did file the complaint, which the Defendants defaulted on by failing to answer a complaint that they knew had been preserved. We believed that with a default judgment, all that remained would be a determination of the damages, but the default, however, was set aside by the very judge that presided over the divorce complaint!

An August Motion for Reconsideration of the order was also denied. No reasons were offered by the judge, other than that my attorney had not returned to work after his quadruple bypass surgery soon enough, by his estimation and that he wished to hear and decide the case on its merits. No problem! If merits were going to be considered, we'd have no problem showing that our causes of action were indeed warranted.

I worked alone to read up on everything I could find related to all Court rulings on default judgments. The lower court judge had cited “excusable neglect on the part of unsophisticated laypersons” as satisfactory cause for their failure to answer the complaint, but as far as I could see, the law calls for the twin conjunctive elements of “good cause” and a “meritorious defense” and that had not been provided.

I had only my computer and the Internet at my disposal to search for applicable citations and formulate a solid legal argument for my case. I found Alken Ziegler v Waterbury Headers Corp, where the Supreme court found the Court of Appeals had erred in believing that the good cause prong of the rule was satisfied by a showing of a potentially meritorious defense. "Potentially" meritorious would not apparently meet the requirement. It was conceivable that strangers could perceive DF and KMC as unsophisticated, and that theirs was possibly excusable neglect, but what of the meritorious defense element?

The lower Court had also affirmed Defendants Motion for Summary Disposition as to the remaining counts of fraud and IIED. It’s posture was that a tort for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress had not yet been recognized by the Supreme Court as a separate cause of action and certainly not in the divorce context, yet my research uncovered cases before the Court of Appeals, Nelson v Ho, Haverbush v Powelson, Campos v General Motors Corp and Warren v June’s Mobile Home Village & Sales, Inc., where the law clearly recognised IIED as a separate cause of action. Further, in Doe v Mills, the question as to the sufficiency of a claim of IIED it was opined was for a jury to decide, and yet another recent pertinent but unpublished case, Bhama v Bhama, dealt with IIED within the marital context and in a divorce setting. Lastly, court rule states that summary disposition is not appropriate where there is a genuine material issue of factual dispute. In Stebbens v Concord Wrigley Drugs, the test, with benefit of doubt afforded to the party opposing the motion, is if the record could be developed which would leave a material issue upon which reasonable minds could differ. The burden, upon the moving party, to support its position with evidence showing that there are no disputed facts. That burden would be upon the Defendants and according to Smith v Globe Life Insurance Company, if there exists a genuine issue, which should be decided by a trier of fact, then a motion for summary judgment cannot be granted (just as in Metropolitan Life Insurance v Reist). Moreover,a lack of specificity that the lower Court cited as to the fraud allegations, (admittedly, in my attorney’s haste to prepare within hours for a hearing, many citations were not included) the Court of Appeals have opined that opportunity for further amendment is appropriate. Court protocol also recognises that the specificity of an amended complaint need only be sufficient to give Defendants notice of the allegations. If a Court found any insufficiency then it should offer the party an opportunity to amend, and summary disposition is only appropriate when amendment would derive no further purpose. So how could the Court not have offered my attorney such opportunity? All of this caused me to wonder how our case had failed to meet these standards of review and court rules.

Yes, at this point in the process it was difficult not to agree with Mencken when he once stated, “A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers” or indeed Raymond Chandler, who claimed “ The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer".

There would be yet a need to bring the case before the Court of Appeals and an outlay of yet more funds to see that the terms of the Consent Judgment of Divorce were honoured and that the circumstances arising from the Defendants fraud and consipiracy, the right for a cause of action which had been specifically preserved, were, at the very least reviewed by a Court.

As the hawk is wont to pursue the trembling doves

mpathy (n)
A feeling or capacity for awareness, intellectual understanding and sensitivity for others that are experiencing an emotion.

While the ability to empathise is a sophisticated imaginative process that develops with age, empathy seems to be hard-wired in the human brain. It doesn’t necessarily equate to compassion, as compassion involves the additional element of a desire for circumstances to improve. However, empathy certainly is a prerequisite for compassion.

We're well aware that emotion drives animals to respond to various stimuli. Elation is openly and unambiguously expressed in many species. Granted, we've seen this often in domesticated individuals, but what of those that are not? Dolphins, for example, emote very distinct chuckles when joyous. Likewise, fear, pain and grief are also freely exhibited in a variety of species. According to Lyonnaise neurobiologists J. Decety and P. Ruby, it is not too far-fetched to conclude that the emotion empathy may indeed exist in animals as well.

The brain chemical dopamine underlies the emotions of joy and happiness in both human and nonhuman individuals. Pain receptors, known as nociceptors, permit some organisms to feel pain. These neurobiological elements enable the sharing of emotion and thus empathy, according to University of Parma research neurobiologist, Gallese. He discovered particular neurons in the cerebral cortex of monkeys that quite well could be the neurobiological basis for empathy in a wide range of species.

Prior to making direct contact with Doug, after the arduous 5-month wait for him to return from California and settle back into daily routine in accordance with the academic calendar, in all of my previous communications I'd demonstrated compassion and, therefore, empathy for any potential awkwardness that revealing my knowledge of the real situation could pose for Doug. I spared him all embarrassment in the brief phone conversation we had that mid-September morning. I was also mindful to articulate that I respected his personal circumstances, position and stature, wished to safeguard it and that being aware of his true identity and commitment now called for new "rules of engagement". I'd place all other emotions, expectations and experiences we'd shared aside to preserve a simple but cherished friendship.

So how could it be possible that “Doug” could not feel some sensitivity to the disappointment that was no doubt evident in my voice when he claimed that he’d never been in contact with me? It was difficult not to telegraph a sadness that I was feeling when I pleaded with him not to make this more difficult than it already was. And yet, almost in mid-sentence, he cut the conversation short and hung up.

I was not willing, without some confirmation from him, to think of my dear friend as someone that had deliberately deceived and intentionally hurt me. The hundreds of hours we'd chatted may have entered into a realm of "forbidden territory" for a married man, yet I was open to consider that it might have simply been a situation that had accidentally transcended appropriate boundaries. But if that was the case, then why continue the myth and pretend that I had imagined everything; that I was operating on pure speculation, or worse yet, that I had concocted this for some strange reason? And why be so cruel and cold, especially since we were fellow members of the same immigration board, as he had commented.

The manner in which the whole situation had been handled by him, a year or more by this time, had caused me pain, sadness and so much self-doubt on the heels of all I'd experienced at the hand of DF and KMC. Could one person feel more dejected and rejected?. In the end, it appeared that Doug, the very person who'd sworn that he was "NOT, NOT, NOT going to abandon me", had indeed done that without so much as a good-bye, or an explanation and from this last conversation, apparently with no compunction either. None of it made sense.

How was it possible that he couldn't empathise with how devastating it was for me to be treated so coldly. I was the one who'd been vulnerable and cautious, and who'd been encouraged to trust again by none other than him? Had I not epitomised the true meaning of a friend, with my generous and forgiving nature? Did I not deserve at least an explanation, an apology or some acknowledgment? And then I realised that perhaps he perceived, from my surprise phone call, that I might be motivated to take advantage of his vulnerability, as mine had been.

Aposematism, derived from the roots "apo" meaning 'away' and sematic to mean 'warning', is nature’s defense in organisms to ward off potentially threatening individuals. Often it involves distinct, often glaring and strident colouration that works in a diametrically-opposed fashion to that of camouflage. Indeed, aposematism is an advertisement almost akin to, “Don’t eat me, I taste bad!"

In addition to aposematic colouration, there are other natural behavioural defense mechanisms utilised by organisms, when threatened or cornered. Birds exhibit what is known as "agonistic" display. When perched, males engage in fluffing the feathers of the crown and nape, to appear more visible and give off a larger presence, or they raise and flare their wings in a "stiff pose" display. Birds, predominantly males, chase each other aggressively, sometimes resulting in in-flight collisions and combat. When really excited, they adopt a "full threat" pose in flight, gliding directly at a combatant with tail and wings outspread.

The range of agonistic behavioural activities employed are relative to the perceived level of threat. If scansorial (tree climbers), they either move around the trunk of a tree to hide or remain motionless until the threat has passed. Others become proactive and harass the predator, at times engaging in swooping to strike an intruder. And in the rare event that the predator captures them, they exhibit loud squeals to frighten the pursuer.

Given that this is commonplace in animals, I wondered if his unengaging response to my gentle phone call was an example of "agonistic" display. Had I failed to communicate my appreciation for any potential vulnerability on his part? Perhaps he perceived, mistakenly, that I might have less-than-honest motivations for contacting him. I sat down at the computer to draft him an email, telling him, first, of how painful his reaction was to witness, and spelling out that it was time for the masquerading to end; that I was approaching him as a genuine friend that was hurting and needed some answers.

I sent the email the next day. The next contact would be just before Christmas 2005.

As the hawk is wont to pursue the trembling doves ~ Ovid

A bird is known by its note; a man by his talk

A la plume et au chant l'oiseau; au parler le bon cerveau
For those of us that are not birders or ornithologists, describing bird song can be rather tricky. A handy system of remembering and identifying which call belongs to which species is to use mnemonics. Tom Lorenzin assembled such a list and describes the calls of a few species as:

• Barn Swallow: tit-tit-tit-tit (rapid staccato)
• Clark's Nutcracker: kraa-a-a-a (long, drawn-out), or kra-kra-kra-kra
• Cooper's Hawk: kek-kek-kek-kek-kek
• Downy Woodpecker: pik (flat)
• Hairy Woodpecker: peeeek (sharply, somewhat nasal)
• Pileated Woodpecker: kik-kik-kik-kik-kik (rate & pitch rise then fall)
• Red-bellied Woodpecker: churrr, churrr (throaty, deeply trilled) or, chack, chack, chack (soft and diminishing)
• Red-headed Woodpecker: squeer, squeer (raspy)
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: meeew (whiny, nasal)
  

While the average person may not be able to identify a species by song alone, to avid birders or those that study the species, each call is as distinct and identifiable, not only to breed, but also to situation. Specifically, of genus sphyrapicus, the Yellow-bellied sapsucker's repertoire is varied. It’s most common call is a slurred cat-like "me-ah” that sounds as if it is emanating from the nasal passages and falls in pitch. "Week-week-wurp-wurp" are exchanged between pairs and their juveniles. The territorial call sounds more like a "kwee-urk" and is the exchange between mates. Even drumming, the sound made as it taps its bill on trees or other structures while foraging or for individual recognition, consists of a rapid series of strikes followed by several intermittent thumps.

Collector Charles Emil Bendire, a specimen collector for Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian in the late 19th Century, noted that the Red-bellied Woodpecker is a rather noisy bird. “Its ordinary call note resembles the 'tchurr, tchurr' of the red-headed very closely; another sounds more like 'chawh, chawh,' and this is occasionally varied with a disagreeable creaking note, A soft, slurred, nasal whee-ur or mew. Also drums: several rapid thumps followed by several slow, rhythmic thumps. The display communication of the spring pair is not a drum but a broken series tap: prrrrrrrp, prrp, prp, prp. While during the mating season peculiar, low, mournful cooing sounds are sometimes uttered, which somewhat resemble those of the Mourning Dove."

Although it turned out that my elusive online friend wasn't Doug Reynolds, the son of the founder of the engineering firm Reynolds, Smith & Hills in Tallahassee, there were some facts that he'd shared that did ring true. He’d told me at one time that he studied acoustics of bird and whale song. While acoustics may not have been the primary focus of his current research, he had spent time as an ichthyologist researching whales and was now an ornithologist, concentrating his research efforts on the ecology and trophic dynamics of birds.

September 19, 2005 arrived and the leaves had begun to show signs of a fast-approaching autumn season, and the air was crisp. The deep blue sky was clear and sunrays flickered and danced across the rippled aquamarine lake that bordered my office complex. By this time in the year, all phone lines to the building had been disconnected and I was attempting to finalise all wind up affairs via my cell phone. I walked out of the building and settled on the grassy verge along the lake to make the call, where it was tranquil and private. I dialed and the phone rang three times. It was almost 12 months since he last sent me an email as "Doug", and I know that I was both anxious and nervous at the same time. He’d, after all, attempted to suggest that I had him mistaken for someone else in April in response to my birthday email, but I knew, without question that I had not.

A familiar sounding voice answered the call, and my mind reflected for a moment on the long nights we’d spent in voice chat. It was great to hear the warmth and deep resonance of his masculine voice. Yes, a voice I had said more than a year ago, I'd never forget. Within moments I quietly announced who I was and asked how he was. Upon hearing my name, he claimed he didn’t know me, and nervously I begged for him not to make the call more difficult than it was. I had no interest in the “Whys and wherefores” and had no intention of discussing anything related to his masquerade as a multi-millionaire, nor did I wish to focus on the events of the past. I was just keen on making direct contact with someone I enjoyed and to pave the way clear for an honest basis on which to place our friendship.

My voice began to tremble as he denied knowledge of Clark or Doug Reynolds, and I fought back the tears as I pleaded with him not to do this. Then, a moment later he asked if I was the same “swissnut” that once posted on the immigration newsgroup ILW.

“Yes, I am” I replied.

“I thought so, I’m Sphyrapicus, but I have never heard of the people you are speaking of. I’m sorry but I have to go” he replied, and I heard the click of the phone as he abruptly terminated the call.

Of Poseidon and Aphrodite in dactylic verse

dyssey, by definition, is a prolonged, eventful journey, not reserved to the physical, but also to the intellectual or spiritual. The epic poem, the Odyssey, commonly ascribed to Homer, explores elements of human nature. At centre stage, the pitfalls of temptation and the power of cunning over strength. Consisting of 24 books, the poem is crafted in a metric rhythm called dactylic hexameter where each line of the poem comprises six feet, and each foot a 'dactyl'.

dac·tyl (n)
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented or of one long syllable followed by two short, as in flattery.
A finger, toe, or similar part or structure; a digit.
Ornithology. The arrangement of digits on bird feet. See zygodactyl.

Poseidon, as I explained earlier in this exposé,was married to sea nymph Amphitrite. A Nereid, she was the personification of the sea, respected and honoured by sea-farers. Constant and faithful to Poseidon, she respected and loved him and even the progeny of his frequent dalliances. She comforted him when friends, goddesses and nymphs rejected him. Amphitrite, the mother of fish, seals and dolphins, is often spoken of as moaning, especially in storms.

From his domain at the depths of the sea, Poseidon controlled the devastating force of earthquakes and gained the epithet of "Earth Shaker". An enigmatic god he was also the god of fertility. His association with violent storms and the power and changing nature of the sea earned him the reputation of a turbulent and powerful deity, with a violent, vengeful and uncaring disposition. Yes, fellow deities and mortals, alike, feared the wrath of Poseidon. Nonetheless, Poseidon was also a legendary lover and rivaled Zeus, his notoriously promiscuous brother. Despite his name in Greek meaning "Husband of the earth" Poseidon had numerous love affairs, one of his love interests was Aphrodite. When Poseidon saw Aphrodite's naked beauty, he was filled with lust for the love goddess.

He uttered to her, "I claim you for the sea," he said, "You are sea-born, foam-born, and belong to me. I offer you grottoes, riddles, gems, fair surfaces, dark surroundings. I offer you drowned sailors, typhoons and sunsets. I offer you secrets. I offer you riches that the earth does not know-power more subtle, more fluid than the dull fixed land. Come with me, be queen of the sea." Poseidon was the personification of earthquakes, horses, fertility and the rapidly changing nature of the seas and water.

Aphrodite, as legend goes, emerged from the sea foam that symbolised semen and ejaculate. The mythological interpretation of Aphrodite, born from male genitals, is that of sexual power and energy. She was a tall and gorgeous maiden, depicted naked and dripping wet with only the bright tunic of her flaxen gold hair that cascaded her toned and exotic frame. Aphrodite surpassed all the other goddesses in beauty and as a deity of fertility, wherever she stepped, earth burst forth grass, flowers blossomed and the air filled with birds. The goddess of desire, all who uttered her name were enraptured and enchanted with her. Pleasure is Aphrodite’s profession. Her primary focus being ove and sensuality, she was free in her sexual life. Aphrodite would often help others in love. She’s most frequently seen in the company of Eros and the three Graces personifying charm, grace and beauty.

While the myths of Aphrodite feature love and desire, hers is also a tale of how passion is at times a double-edged sword. While several legends of Aphrodite emphasize themes of love and desire, some deal with the consequences that the she suffers as a result of being the victim of love and passion. Yes, Aphrodite was as well known for the pain she brought as she was for the pleasures of sexual passion that she personified. Nonetheless, this goddess of beauty was gentle to those who respected her sensual and complex nature. Aphrodite intoxicated gods and mortals alike, and had a magnetic charm over all birds of the air and creatures that move on the earth or in the waters.

Aphrodite, associated with the sparrow, dove, swan, and swallow, personified love, enchantment, seduction, persuasion, passion, sensuality, light, herbs and flowers and fertility.

Aphrodite sows and gives that love from which all we upon this earth are born. ~ Euripides

The spiders' iniquitous den

crambling to assemble a pleading and to prepare for a hearing in one night is an overwhelming task. My attorney, still recovering from a major heart attack, had been on leave of absence for 3 months and was not as familiar with all of the evidences that would need to be presented. Knowing that just added to my stress. The judge had not appeared to consider my counsel's ill health, denying the last minute Motion to Adjourn submitted the day prior after we learned that the case had been reactivated on the docket in my attorney's absence.

The case had been stalled for a period of 3 months, admittedly, and that was frustrating enough for me, but with an attorney who had been hospitalised and cautioned by his physician not to take on high-stress activities for some time (his principle practice specialty being criminal matters ~ stressful and high profile ones at that), it was disappointing to learn that the judge had placed the case on the court docket, when my attorney had not yet been released for full-time work.

Notwithstanding, I toiled through the night to compile evidence and draft out the background of the specific facts and corresponding standards of review that my attorney would then use as a basis for the pleading and prepare before the 1:30pm hearing the next day. I was working as the sun came up and printed off what I had just prior to 9:00am when my lawyer's office would open. I reminded him that opposing counsel had been permitted to file a Motion for Summary Disposition while the case had been stayed and left his office completely exhausted, but hopeful that he would be able to get it filed and appear in court on time.

But, since this hearing had been mandated by the Court, and our request for adjournment submitted outside the 7-day requirement, the judge denied oral argument. My attorney, while willing to try to plead the case, would not be given opportunity, and the judge would review the record and a decision would be rendered within 7 days. I received a copy of our pleading in the mail the day following and was a little disappointed to find that it had been reduced to a five page filing, presumable in the interest of time. Much of the detail I'd provided, spelling out the intricate scheme that had been planned and executed by the Defendants, had been culled to accommodate for brevity required by the Court. I was more shocked to learn within 7 days that the judge had not only summarily dismissed the case, but were also not afforde the opportunity under Court Rule to amend our pleading for what he termed as "lack of specificity". I thought this was a misapplication of court rule, as regulations call for amendment unless amendment could not provide any further facts. How could the judge think that of our case ~ we had more than 140 pieces of evidence to proffer? Furthermore, the judge's order, in fact, scolded my attorney for what he termed was unnecessary delay of the case. This, after Defendants had defaulted for failure to answer the initial Complaint and three subsequent Motions to Compel filed by us prior to Christmas, due to Defendants' failure to answer interrogatories. How could the judge consider a health issue a purposeful delay on our part?

It was at this point that I began to wonder if we'd been caught in the den of iniquity; the spider's den, that is. What's more curious was that I'd been told that the Senior Partner of the firm representing DF and KMC was none other than the major shareholder of the company she worked for, and one in which it was claimed she enjoyed a very generous remuneration package and a cozy relationship with her immediate supervisor and partner.

It was hard not to think that our claim was being deprived due consideration. We'd be forced to challenge the decision with a Motion for Reconsideration, and hope for the opportunity to present our case and be on a level playing field.

Hawks vs Doves ~ Bourgeois strategy

'Hawks versus Doves', no, it has nothing to do with NHL play offs, although to some degree it is a play off of an evolutionary type, I suppose and describes the various strategies employed by species to better guarantee survival. In the instant case, it has to do with assessment of behaviours in an effort to prevail in survival but this will become even more clear after I attempt to describe the phenomenon.

Survival is all about gaining access to food sources, securing a habitat that is secure and thus permitting reproduction to increase the chances of survival and ultimately maintain population density. Organisms behaviour is a complex combination of strategies with the end result being to promote survival.

If all members participate in a particular strategy, it’s referred to as “optimum”. However, if some strategies are not universally practiced, then what emerges are competing strategies that can be present at various times and at various levels. The evolution of this range of strategies that are not universally accepted sets the playing field, as it were. Game strategy employed in the human arena requires that we are aware of our opponent’s behaviour or tactics. An entirely new means of interpreting organisms’ behaviour emerged when Maynard Smith posed that successful reproduction and resultant survival involved similar game strategy.

Let’s consider the following example where there are two distinct behavioural strategies at play. 'Hawks' prevail over their opponents through aggression, by fighting and killing them. Although this is a successful approach to command control over resources and habitat, there is some risk involved. After all, some individuals will be lost in battle ~ yes, through aggression some hawks can be mortally injured. On the other hand, 'Doves' adopt a more pacificist role and rarely engage in combat, but choose a display type strategy to achieve their ends.

Now let’s consider that all members of a particular population and species choose to employ the 'Dove' strategy. Things appear quite peaceful until a member adopting the 'Hawk' strategy enters the arena, and being a fighter, he’d likely champion over the passive non-combative 'Doves'.

Reversing the hypothesis, if all members adopted the role of 'Hawks', there’d be a lot of fighting, and some resultant mortality, but since the 'Dove' strategy involves little fighting, while the 'Hawks' were fighting each other, those that adopted the 'Dove' strategy would prosper. The end result being a mixture of both 'Doves' and 'Hawks' with an equilibrium reached when pay offs for each strategy were equal. Thus an Evolutionary Stable State.

Now let's add another element, that of the choice of behaviour. A strategy like this which is stable and has choice built into it is called an Evolutionary Stable Strategy. It differs from an Evolutionary Stable State because it an individual in the population can make a choice, and natural selection has determined the frequency with which each behaviour (choice) occurs within the strategy.

Of course, the whole concept Evolutionary Stable Strategies (ESS) can only work if the individuals participating are able to determine the pay offs for the various strategies. Going back to the interaction between 'Hawks' and 'Doves', if each individual could assess when it would be best to play 'Hawk' versus when it is more appropriate to behave like a 'Dove' it would create an Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS) where the choice of which behaviour to exhibit has been made based upon assessment. Within species, individuals adopt alternative competing strategies with frequencies that reflect the success of each strategy. Evolutionary Stable Strategies occur when alternative competing strategies are at equilibrium.

I'm not going to go into the various types of Evolutionary Stable Strategies that can occur, because quite frankly, my understanding of this is limited, but one such strategy, known as 'Bourgeois' strategy. With Bourgeois, whose central feature is that ownership of a resource determines the behaviour used in a particular contest. If a Bourgeois strategist owns, it will defend its ownership with 'Hawk-like' ferocity; if a Bourgeois employing individual does not own, it will attempt to obtain the resource using display that does not escalate to fighting. Simply put, play 'Hawk-like' when an owner of a resource and exhibit 'Dove-like' behaviour when an intruder'.

OK, I'm sure you're wondering, how does the apply to this sequence of events? This assessment-related behaviour common in species is no different than that employed by our own human species. We assess a situation and determine which behaviour to adopt in order to gain access to a resource. This will become more clear as I relate the series of episodes that occurred in September 2005.

Frequency-dependent behaviour

enerally, summer in this region of the country is a most anticipated time of the year. And when it arrives, one wishes it would last as long as possible. Not so in the summer of 2005. I had now spent more than 6 months attending to the death of a company I'd spent nearly a decade with. The absence of human contact during the days, and even quieter nights was unbearable, and the prospect of entering another autumn and then winter with no contact from the outside world, frightening. Yet I was longing for summer to rush past, so that I could contact Doug.

August 2005, a good month after Doug's anticipated return from the West Coast, the few emails I'd sent to his Yahoo email address had gone completely unanswered and it was frustrating, to say the least. I knew it called for a more direct approach. I so needed answers to some crucial questions. Not relating to the manner in which his attraction had waned. That was obviously related to his marital status, and I accepted that. But I needed to gain the necessary answers to why my friend had masqueraded in the first place, and up and vanished despite his assurance that he would never do that. I'd lost all hope in people, and needed to find out if this was premeditated or simply an accident.

I began to watch the frequency of his visits to the various immigration boards of which he was a member, under the various alternate monikers to see if there was a pattern to his activity. By this time, I had already secured a home address and phone number, and his office address and telephone number from his personal website. I would try to gauge what days he appeared to be in his office and call there. Since it was now summer term, and didn't have any knowledge of his schedule, I wasn't sure he'd even go into the office. As suspected, a number of calls made during August proved unsuccessful. I would only receive a voice mail message and I certainly felt leaving a message was appropriate.

Yes, indeed, after all of this waiting, there'd be more waiting ahead until the fall semester would be underway in September.

Extirpation..

xtirpation is defined as, "The elimination of a species or subspecies from a particular area, but not from its entire range." ~ a process by which an organism finds it can no longer sustain in a habitat, due to environmental influences that force the organism elsewhere. Those environmental influences could be climate change, as in pollution, habitat loss such as occurs when man-made development encroaches or, indeed, even hunting or poaching.

Plans to meet with the immigration officer at the end of the first week of July were postponed. He'd since been called out to Texas, and would not return for 10 days. His schedule wouldn't permit a trip to my area until much later in the summer, but he was anxious to get working on the file, and consequently asked if I'd be able to make the 4 hour drive to the local district office. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of such a jaunt, as it coincided with my initial plans to travel to Vermont to conduct some research at the ACF and a surprise visit to Doug at the same time (he'd be well settled into normal work schedule upon his return from California by that time). But I agreed to be there on July 25th. My trip to the East Coast would have to wait.

I bundled the banker's box file that had contained everything DF and I had ever submitted to the immigration department into the back of my SUV and began the trek, before 07:00 hours. The appointment had been made for 1:00pm; I'd arrive well in advance of that. Filing through the security check point was a major undertaking, my belongings were scrutinised, along with my person before I was asked the purpose of my visit and heralded to stand behind the left "yellow line". The building was packed with people awaiting scheduled appointments, but within a matter of minutes a woman approached me and informed me that the AO was still tied up with another appointment but would be out to meet me in a minute. Sure enough, he did; offered to secure the box of information I'd brought in his office while I visited the nearest Starbucks coffee bar, for which he gave me clear directions, before returning an hour later. When I returned, I was escorted to the front of the line queueing up before the security device and whistled off behind a locking door into the bowels of the building to a small but inviting office, well removed from public access areas.

Just as expected, the AO he was very cordial and accommodating as he proceeded to prepare to take what he termed a "sworn statement" of the circumstances that occurred during my marriage. At one point he promptly picked up the phone and speed-dialed Nebraska to enquire. "John, it's Bill, you'll never guess who is sitting in my office right now", he commented and then confirmed "Yes, that's right!" Apparently, John in Nebraska was intimately familiar with my case, or me, that he knew instantly. How odd. They exchanged a couple of words in a friendly manner, and the call was ended when it was suggested that the report would be both mailed and emailed before the end of the week.

My plan to make the round trip trek within one day was fashioned on the thought that an hour would be sufficient to offer whatever USCIS needed from me. I was mistaken. The meeting lasted close to 4 hours, 3 of which were a case of me retelling the events that lead up to my first encounter with DF and ending with the divorce, along with presenting evidence of some of the incidents that took place, letters and correspondence between DF and KMC that indicated some sort of a scheme to secure my signature on the I-751 under the premise that the marriage would survive his affair, all the while the AO was clicking away at lightening speed on his computer and glancing at a 1/2 thick stack of paper-clipped papers from his file.

In the midst of the questioning, the Mr. Defluri left the room momentarily, and while gone I reached across the desk to pick up the copies of my divorce decree to place back in the binder that were lying on top of the report he was using. The door burst open, and a woman exclaimed "Stop! What are you doing? Don't touch anything on that desk, do you hear me?" Startled, I turned around to show her that all I had picked up were my own documents, only to witness Mr. Defluri reappear and calm his work-mate with the words, "What are you doing? It's OK, she's the US citizen. It's no problem".

He settled back into his chair to resume the series of questions, and within a period of about another quarter of an hour, a thirteen page document rolled off the laser printer and into the tray beneath, ready for my endorsement. The header page appeared to be a rather formal looking template, into which the AO had added pertinent details. It clearly profiled the reason for USCIS' contact with me. The words, "Nebraska Service Center" and below "Marriage Fraud Investigation" were printed in bold letters across the middle of the page.

He not only escorted out of the private recesses of the building, but to my car, which was parked in the yard across the street, thanking me for coming and offering me precise directions to the expressway. It was at this point that I asked why I had been called in to the district office. After all, I'd chosen not to report the matter to USCIS, for DF's children's benefit and I was no longer married to the alien. It was my understanding that I had no involvement in his immigration case other than to be obliged under the Affidavit of Support for the next 10 years. "This case was sent to me for investigation, as it had the NSC a little stumped. I wouldn't be too concerned about the Affidavit of Support if I were you".

About fifteen minutes elapsed and my cell phone rang. He wished to thank me once again for my willingness to make the long trip to meet with him and was just making sure I'd made it safely onto the highway. I'd have plenty of time during the 250 mile trip home that night to reflect on the peculiar arrival of mail at my home even up to a year after DF's disappearance. Yes, DF's failure to report his change of address to USCIS had indeed thwarted his plans....

Stochastic snags

oice mail. Some like it, some don't but there are those times when it comes in very handy. I relied on the voice mail features on my home phone and cell for business purposes, principally. In the event that I was indisposed, my staff could leave word for me as to the emergency (we had various code levels) should the need arise and I could fashion our strategy before ringing back with instructions. After the business ceased to operate, there was little need to check voice mail at my home on a daily basis. And after a series of calls from DF and KMC, earlier in the year, that had been disturbing to listen to, rather than play back messages, I'd developed a habit of simply looking at the caller ID screen every once in a while to see if anyone had called. Naturally, by mid year in 2005, more often than not there was nothing on the screen.

One night in the third week of June, after retrieving the mail from the mail box at the end of my driveway, I was thumbing through the bills and discovered an envelope from local district Court and a thin, self-mailer from the Gwinnet County Court, I began to open them both as I walked into the house. The self-mailer was one of those requiring that one tear the perforated edges, so I had to put my briefcase down on the desk in my home office to do so. As I did, I glanced at the phone to see a call from the United States Department of Justice and Immigration Services on caller ID.

"That's odd", I thought, "why would USCIS be contacting me?" and pressed "play" on the answering machine. A gentleman had left word for me to contact him, as soon as possible, and gave both an office and cell phone number for me to use. He left no other information. I jotted down his name and contact information and planned to return the call the following morning.

I proceeded to read the two pieces of correspondence from the courts. Gwinnet County had sent me a subpoena to appear there in the matter relating to the Private Investigator, Mr. Henderson. Drat! That would require a trip to Georgia later in the fall ~ something I didn't relish doing even though I'd lost quite a bit of money as a result of his scam. I penciled the date on the calendar on my desk. The second envelope contained a copy of an Order from the judge stating that my civil case against DF and KMC had been dismissed, pursuant to a Motion for Summary Disposition entered the prior week by their counsel. What! The case was on Court mandated stay, pending the recovery of my attorney. I had received confirmation of that on March 10th. My attorney had still not been released to work by his heart specialist. So, how could this be the outcome? The judge noted in his decision that he didn't believe my attorney was unable to litigate, had expedited the case and my attorney had failed to respond.

The following day, as planned, I reached Mr. Defluri by phone. He was a very polite man, of perhaps mid-fifties, who had a distinctive New Jersey accent, working out of the local District Office of Immigration Services. When I announced my name, he thanked me for returning his call so promptly and proceeded to tell me that he'd like to meet with me. He was planning to be in my area in two weeks, just after July 4th and wished to arrange a time and place where we could talk. I queried what, specifically, the meeting was to be about. "Your marriage to DF", he replied.

Thinking it would be better for me if we could meet at my office, I gave him the street address and suggested that any time during the day that would be convenient for him, I could arrange. He asked if I would send him directions and offered his email address for me to use. Before ending the call, while a little stunned that I'd been contacted, I asked if he was also meeting with DF while here. "No" he replied, "That won't be necessary. The file I have here sent by the NSC asks for me to meet only with you", he replied.

Snags. In this instance I'm not referring to the term used for standing dead trees ~ a common nesting place for woodpeckers and other organisms . No, I mean more random and unexpected hurdles and complications.

Drum, drill, grub and granary

ommon practice of the spider is to first immobilise and then encase captured prey in a silky shroud for later consumption. Certainly, there's enough evidence in the biological world that shows that survival is predicated on a number of factors, one being the availability of food supply. But is there also evidence to prove that organisms are both discriminate in what they devour, possess instinct and recall that drives them to engage in certain behaviours that can ensure survival, when food supplies become scarce? The answer would be yes on both counts.

Many species anticipate potential scarcity of food supply and store away food for this period. We've all witnessed squirrels almost giddy in the fall storing nuts for the winter. Likewise, we've seen and heard the hum of bees busy manufacturing honey. I recall one case of discovering a little cache of peanuts, sesame seeds and M&M's inside a cardboard box on the top shelf of the workbench in my garage one winter that had been tidily stashed away for the coldest season by a resident family of field mice. Goodness knows where they found the ingredients to make this trail mix blend, but it certainly struck me that they are crafty little critters.

Some species use their own bodies as a storehouse for later nutrition and retire to winter quarters when the habitat may be difficult in which to forage. Hibernation and aestivation are both quiescent or dormant states of reduced metabolic activity, where the organism draws upon reserves until the habitat is more welcoming and food resources more abundant.

Remember the image on this post that showed the food stowing activity of the Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus? Residents of environments that experience seasonal pulses of food items, followed by periods of scarcity, they undertake to stow away supplies to compensate for varying availability. Years ago in the 1920's William E. Ritter performed a study of the California Woodpecker, paying close attention to their food-storing activities. His interest was to attempt to determine what was their primary desired food source; when was it consumed and was there any particular rhyme or reason for the manner in which they built the caches, also known as "granaries". Theory suggested that despite many thousands of acorns that had been placed in the bark of trees in the woodland, the nut meats were not the primary food source of the woodpecker at all, but rather the worms or grubs that were often inside the nut.

Great care is given to the manner in which the cavities are fashioned in which to place the acorns. It seems that the species knows the desirability of acorns by other residents of the habitat, and therefore each hole was drilled to make sure that the acorn would fit snuggly, while being sufficiently recessed so that rodents and other competing individuals could not pry them loose and pillage the food supply. Ritter concluded that drilling or drumming away at the bark of trees was not always a function to create neat little receptacles for acorns, but incident to the woodpecker's pursuit of insects residing in the bark itself.

Woodpeckers have generalised foraging repertoires, and as a group undertaking they stow away for a "rainy day" and assist in guarding stored items. Observation conducted over a period of several seasons by Ritter also showed that the woodpeckers raided the granaries to retrieve, first, acorns that were grub-riddled and left behind those acorns without grubs that offered simply the acorn nutmeat. Presumably, these grub-free acorns were considered a secondary food choice. Ritter also noted that, in seasons of substantial acorn availability, granaries were stocked to the hilt, to the degree that the population could not consume all of the acorns. When the acorns began to rot they were abandoned.

More recently, another discovery in Mexico has determined that the woodpecker is a remarkable "structural engineer", as well. Yucca plants have a relatively hollow stalk, that is divided internally into several chambers. The woodpecker, resident to Mexico, learned that by drilling a hole at the uppermost region of each chamber and another hole at the lowest level of each chamber, it could drop acorns through the top hole and the yucca would serve as a safe storage container, and work much like PEZ dispenser. This plant made such an ideal storehouse for the woodpecker's harvest that observation proves that some granaries are located more than 30 miles away from the nearest oak tree. Yes, it appears from this empirical research that woodpeckers are decidedly industrious engineers. They recognise the true value of the work invested in harvesting and safe conservation of their harvesting efforts that they'd even entertain flying up to 60 miles to transport one acorn to their coveted storage place.

The question then remains, is it instinct alone, or is it a combination of instinct and experience that promotes these birds to lay by stores of provisions for the winter, even when it involves travelling over significant distances and a sizable investment in energies to do so?

Doug's rather curt response to me by email in April 2005 caused me to wonder all the more what the real reason was that he'd approached me in the ILW chat room the first week of January 2004, and to continue to prolong the myth through communication for a year and a half. He had no shortage of nourishment and attention, being married. So why masquerade as he had with me and why invest so much time and energy in something he would later deny or abandon? And if indeed his interest was to develop a friendship with me, with no other interest, why pretend, in the end, as if we had never met?

Was it that I was symbolic of a grub that he'd unearthed, perhaps by accident or as a result of instinct or some biological imprinting, while drilling at the bark of a tree and doing what a normal woodpecker does? Since there was a ready-cache of food supply at the time, was I simply stored away and left for possible later consumption? Worse yet, had it been instinct or experience that had caused him to shove me firmly into the vice-like cavity to remain there until rotted and of no nutritious value to anyone?

These questions would plague me until fall of 2005, when I would be able to ask him directly....