From a purely pragmatic viewpoint a “successful” life for a sexually reproducing creature is merely having more than two offspring survive to reproductive age. From this same vantage an “unsuccessful” life is simply having one or fewer offspring survive to reproductive age. Consider the many species of cuckoo birds who are “brood parasites,” laying their [...]
Archive for the ‘Law and Culture’ Category
Another reason to love South Carolina
Yesterday one of the emails from the South Carolina Judicial Department noted a CDR (Criminal Docket Report) code had been added for the offense of “Illegal night hunting of coyotes and armadillos,” otherwise known as S.C. Code §50-11-0710(A)(3). This subsection reads: [C]oyotes and armadillos may be hunted at night with an artificial light that is [...]
The “best” age(s) for South Carolina husbands to commit adultery
One of the many oddities of South Carolina family law is that a husband is typically best off committing adultery when he and his wife are either very young or very old. It’s the middle-aged dudes who suffer the most financially from their philandering. When a couple is young, especially if there are no children, [...]
How best interests of the child warps adult culture
A generation ago there was a term for adults who genuinely enjoyed watching small children’s athletic or artistic performances: pedophiles. However a legal culture that went from awarding custody of children to mothers (so long as they were fit) to one that awards custody to the “better parent” and conflates “better parent” with “parent who [...]
Glee 3-D: Propaganda for the Obama Generation
How could one not love Glee 3-D? It, and Glee, are Utopian fantasies in which a Red America of bigots, malevolent overlords, and religious scolds is finally and definitively vanquished by a Blue America of multicultural, limit-denying, losers. Oh, and the economy’s strong enough that everyone can afford a ticket. Savor the ironies of Glee’s presence [...]
Twisting our spines patting ourselves on the back
I attended both “The Help” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” this week and am surprised no culture writers have noted the important plot similarities between the two. On the surface these two movies have little in common. “The Help” is a “serious” drama contrasting the lives of female African-American domestic servants in [...]
A Divorce Lawyer’s Tips for Marriage
From Guest Blogger, Thomas F. McDow: 1. Love each other as you are. Men marry women hoping they will not change. Women marry men expecting them to change. The awful reality is that men do not change and women do. If you think you can make him into a perfect husband, do not marry him [...]
If I were Dear Abby
Eighteen years of family law practice has caused me to develop a persona of a frustrated advice columnist. Today’s Dear Abby column demonstrates why family law attorneys will never run out of business. A man writes: DEAR ABBY: My fiancee, “Vanessa,” and I have been engaged almost a year. We’re to be married in three months. [...]