On Sociopaths

Blue Crayfish
(c) eliteinverts

This Saturday, one of my fish was dying. He was struggling to live. His swimming made him look weak and feeble, as his fins were fluttering. He looked like a flying plane that lost a wing. I watched with pity, but what could I do to save him? If you think treating sick humans are hard, try treating an aquarium fish.

I suspect he's been dying for awhile. I fed him a dead bee. That was a mistake. A few weeks later, he stopped eating. I suspect that the bee's venom slowly poisoned this fish.

Then, my algae eater came and started nipping at his fins, making him swim even worse. Imagine having someone eat your body, all because your sick.

Then one morning, I saw him floating at the top of the water, still alive and struggling. I thought I should put him out of his misery. So I got some ice, put it in a cup with water, and put him inside. But even after all the ice melted, he was still alive. The fish's will to live was something else. The whole episode reminded me of a long and difficult discussion I had my mother about euthanasia, when my last cat was dying. I won't get into the details, but let's say my mother and I had very different ideas about what was right about the last rites of the dying.

Believe me, I felt bad I couldn't save this fish. But in this whole scene, I watched with great interest at this algae eater. It's not the first time I've seen him attack a dying fish. He ate the eyeball out of the last one. Funny thing enough, he also likes vegetables - where as the other fish don't. I was fascinated by his ability to hone in on the dying and the weak.

How does he do it? I suspect it's smell. The dying must give off a kind of smell, but the other fish don't smell it as keenly as he does. I once read about a grim ripper kitty who was anti-social with humans. Eventually, a retirement home adopted him, and he would visit a person two hours before his or her death. Apparently, grim ripper kitty could smell death on them, and he would stay with them until they left this earth.

And why doesn't this algae eater let these suffering fish be? Perhaps they would recover and be reintegrated with the community.

Nope. He goes in for the kill.

He's really the cannibalistic sociopath of the aquarium.

I've thought about getting rid of him, but at least so far, he hasn't attacked the healthy fish. Only the sick and dying.

For some strange reason, I've developed a relationship with him, as Will Graham and Clarice Starling have with Hannibal Lecter. I watch him and study him to see if I get clues into the defendants on my other cases, who I also suspect to be sociopathic. The only insight I have from watching the algae eater is what I've already told you: Sociopaths seem to be attracted to the weak and sick.

I went to the pet store to replace my dead fish. And there, I found a beautiful blue crayfish. I was like a kid at a candy store. I ended up buying four things, when I really should've only bought one.

When I put him into the tank, this blue crayfish immediately scurried around and through the crevices and cracks of the rocks. He knew exactly where to go.

After his journey through new lands, this crayfish pulled out part of a fish's body and started tearing it apart and eating it. He looked back at me with his black eyes.

Believe me; this primitive animal was fully aware I was watching him, and he was looking back and telling me something. He was so proud of what he found, and he wanted me to witness his catch.

We have a new member in the community that I suppose has his own unique role. I would've never found or fished out that carcass. Who knows how long it's even been there? It was eerie to see how happy this crayfish looked munching away at his catch.

Former Baldwin Park Chief of Police Awarded $7 Million

Former Baldwin Park Police Chief,
Lili Hadsell

The jury has awarded Lili Hadsell, the former Baldwin Park Police Chief, $7 million. Council Members Ricardo Pacheco, Susan Rubio, and Cruz Baca voted to fire Hadsell and replace her with twice-fired Chief Michael Taylor. The complaint was based on firing and retaliation for sex and racial discrimination. It appears that both Michael Taylor and Ricardo Pacheco perjured themselves on the stand, as text messages later revealed that they loathed and despised having a female police chief.

Given the high damage award, I predict the city will likely appeal the case. Since having Robert Tafoya as city attorney, the number of lawsuits and resulting damages have increased extraordinarily. He was appointed as attorney immediately after Hadsell was fired.

You heard it here first.

Back on Rafael's Deportation Case

Rafael Valdez has been deported by the United States
government, even though he's married to an American wife and
has two American children.

I'm back on the deportation case of Rafael Valdez. If you don't remember, my client was picked up at a traffic stop around August of 2009. He was ordered to do community service, but twice, his community service officer didn't show up. Thus, Rafael, was about one or two hours short of finishing his service, but by no fault of his own, his parole officer ordered him to spend 24 hours in Ellensberg jail.

According to Rafael, at Ellensberg jail, he was questioned if he was illegal.

He wasn't told his rights about having a lawyer present or his right to remain silent. In fact, his interrogating officer told him that unless he told the truth, his life would be worse. He admitted to being undocumented, and the next thing he knows, along with other Latinos, he was shipped to ICE Detention Center in Yakima. Apparently, Ellensberg is a town that's often targeted by ICE.

From there, ICE began deportation proceedings against him, even though he was married to an American woman and had one child. (A second one would be coming later.) Although all he had was a traffic violation, ICE ordered the low-income family to put up a $10,000 bond. This was a huge hardship on them, as Rafael was a kitchen hand at local restaurant in Kirkland.

The first lawyer applied for asylum, which was subsequently denied by the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeal in May and August 2013, respectively.

After becoming licensed as an attorney in June of 2013, I picked up the case. Options were limited for the family, especially because he was already ordered deported. The family was low on funds.

But, I pled with the supervising, under prosecutorial discretion, ICE prosecutor Jonathan Love to let me client go. He refused.

So, I pled with the Chief ICE Prosecutor, Rafael Sanchez. He refused as well.

My client was deported in September of 2013. Because of their family situation, they had to take their new born baby and their daughter to Mexico too. In the meantime, his brother Lorenzo was kidnapped and ransomed.

This wasn't taken into account for his asylum case. Sadly, death and killings surround this family in Mexico. When Rafael was 7, his own father was killed under suspicious circumstances. In April 10, 2010, Rafael's in law was shot in the chest. Reasons are not known.

I visited the family for three days back in August of 2015 to gather evidence of the growing violence near Rafael's hometown. Several people were being kidnapped, and one man was shot in the chest after his house door was kicked down.

He later applied for asylum in September 2015 in San Diego. In December 7, 2015, again, immigration judge Robert McSeveney said that my client didn't establish a probability that he would be persecuted based on his race, religion, or political affiliation.

Remember Jonathan Love, the prosecuting attorney? Then in January of 2016, Jonathan Love was charged and convicted of forging documents to deport a Mexican back.

Remember Rafael Sanchez? In June of 2018, Sanchez was convicted of stealing the identities of those he was deporting in order to take out personal loans and Amazon purchases. In other words, he was deporting people, to get richer through identity theft.

I've been doing Freedom of Information Act requests to see if my client was a victim. Shelly M. O'Hara has been refusing to release records. It appears she's stonewalling me from getting them.

O'Hara states I haven't submitted the authorization form called DOJ361, but I've submitted it to her six times already.

What are they hiding?

A preliminary background search has shown that Sanchez was buried in debt. He lost his Pennsylvania condo in a foreclose sheriff auction back in 2013. Also, at least one Rafael A. Sanchez in Seattle, borrowed over half a million through various credit unions, one of them being the Boeing Employee Credit Union.

How did he do this, when he wasn't a Boeing employee at the time? Why didn't the federal government release these records? How many other victims are out there? The federal government says there are at least 7, but these other findings make this hard to believe.

From Ellensberg to the Seattle deportations, this case appears to be a larger fraud ring, in which deportations were being done for cash.

Who else was involved?

How much did they get?

Where am I now? I'm back on the case. I need the federal records. I plan to file a motion to reopen the case around the end of May.

What can you do? I've been this entire case voluntarily over the five and a half years. I've spent close to over 650 hours on this case. It's a full time case. So, if you can contribute to any of the legal fees that would help.

If you're a person of faith, please pray that we can get the family back together in the United States. If you're moved by the story, please pass this story along so that people know how our federal government is behaving during these times.

That's it for now.

Reply Brief Filed at California Supreme Court

Noon Rest from Work by Vincent van Gogh.

On February 20, 2019, I filed the Reply Brief in the California Supreme Court. It took a lot of work, research, consulting, and revising. That's the reason I haven't wrote in awhile. I've been putting all my energy into brief writing. Statistically speaking, there's only 5% chance that the Court will grant review.

Anyways, I hope they do take it, because even though I've won six cases (one public records act case, three subsequent writ orders, my own temporary restraining order trial, and Greg Tuttle's restraining order trial) against litigating against the City of Baldwin Park, I only got paid on one of them.

In any event, I'm just resting now. It's a lot of mental and spiritual and emotional energy to write a high quality brief. It's hard, and I don't think it ever gets easy. It gets easier with experience, but it's never easy.

I read a book on how Kenyans train to run international marathons. In case you didn't know, they usually win the top 5 out of 6 places; that's the top 3 places in both the men's and women's races. The biggest factor that Westerners notice when they study the Kenyans is that they rest a lot more than Western athletes.

I think my cat already knows the importance of rest. I can take a leaf out of the book of my kitty, who incidentally got sick about 10 days ago. He also got a bite wound from some animal. I haven't figured out how.

He's all better now. I gave him some echinacea and vitamin C. But I think the biggest thing that helped in his recovery is all the sleep he got. Rest is important.

Rest doesn't mean being lazy though. I've been reading, meditating, praying, training, and running quite a bit. I feel richer for doing so. Maybe I'll post a reading list later.

Other than that, in my next post, I should make available all the briefing so far in This Supreme Court Case. 

On Compassion

Drops of Rain. Clarence H. White.
1903

Yesterday, the rain splashed against my bedroom window - and the splatter created a drizzled pattern. It looked like crystal pearls formed on my window - as morning dew forms on fallen leaves. This is supposed to be the last great storm coming through Los Angeles this year.

I generally don't like the rain, but it was Saturday yesterday, and because it drove out the crowds - I was grateful for it. When I visited all the busy supermarkets, nobody was there. People are like cats. Cats hate water. They hate water too.

Speaking of cats, I found a new hobby with my cat. He likes to be with me when I read in the living room.

Some time ago, I realized that I wasn't getting through enough reading. Even though my friends, peers, and colleagues think I read a lot, I would say it's not sufficient - for sure. My three topics currently are (1) health and nutrition, (2) criminal psychology (3) misfits and tribes, and (4) compassion and justice. Some of the reading is laborious, and some of it is bedtime reading.

I was getting frustrated with myself, because I wasn't getting through enough. For sure. But how could I read more? For some reason, I realized if I treated some of the books like actual labor or work, I could get through more. Like work, I admitted to myself it's not necessarily all that fun, and I needed a workspace for my most difficult reading. I clocked in like it was job. When I treated the most difficult texts like this and not pleasure, I was able to acquire information faster.

So at night, I choose to read the lighter works, because I'm already mentally exhausted from everything else that's happened in my day. That's improved my reading a lot.

Funny enough, I was reading a book at night, and I fell asleep while the lights were on and a candle was burning. I woke up at 2A, realized what happened, and it reminded me of days in college - where I would read and fall asleep with my textbooks in the living room. My roommate was very nice, and he'd see me and take my blanket from the room and put it over me. I never knew who was doing it, until one day I woke up and caught him.

Going back to my blue Siamese cat, he's learned to be with me. I mean he's really present, not texting someone else, not thinking about something else, no; he's with me when I read in the living room. And by presence, I mean, even though he's not talking (which he can do quite well), he knows how to keep me company.

I do my medium-difficulty reading in the living room. I play some classical music, and Jeh Pan (my cat) lays on the blue rug by the huge aquarium. (I like Bad Bunny too, but it's not the right music for the reading.) It's during these times, I feel like I'm in a French or German saloon. Think about that. My little inner city living room gets transformed into a magical artist gathering place for the time being. I imagine that people around me would be playing the violin, viola, and cello, and other artists would paint, and other writers would write poetry and books - while I read. And of course, Jeh Pan would be there to keep us all company and inspire us.

The blue cat watches the silver fish, while lying on his blue rug. He looks like a little sphinx, and he closes his eyes in pleasure once in awhile. I can't tell if it's from the fish tank or the music, but he's enjoying himself. Perhaps, like a sphinx, his presence is guarding my mind and my space from intrusive thoughts and evil spirits.

The aquarium is beautiful. The water is so clear it looks like the fish are flying in air and not water. Some of them remind me of missiles being launched. The fish look like dwarf tunas - whose bodies are designed specifically to propel with rocket speed across fluid. There are two tetras like this, and they swim together. Once in awhile, when they circle each other they look like they're dancing a waltz with each other.

I have other fish that tend to be more playful and careful and don't dart through the entire tank. Jeh Pan enjoys watching them in fascination - while I read my book. I've been interested in the biomechanics of fish for awhile. Did you know, the streamlined fish, like tuna, can swim ultra fast, but can't swim backwards? Likewise, more nimble fish, can swim backwards, but can't swim so fast.

So, what have I been reading? I've been reading a lot on compassion lately. I think it's changing my life. Now that I'm in the middle of the book, the author's thesis is becoming clearer. He argues that the core problem with poverty is that the poor believe themselves to be worthless. This is the essence of shame. He argues that the problem only gets better when we invite the poor to be are equals - which he calls kinship. I'm moved by his stories of rehabilitating gang members. I'm processing them. I'm thinking about these stories. I wonder if the cat knows I'm reading something important.

I tell Jeh Pan reading time is over. I turn off the lights. I tell him it's time to go to bed. He walks to the garage. I let him in. He finds his bed and sleeps on it.

Some times, I tell my mother what I read on - like why Kenyans are so fast. I tell her about how a three star French Michelin rose to fame, even though he came from an abusive household. She listens.

After our chat, I make a list of what I need to do tomorrow. There's more to learn.

Misfits and Tribes

By Tom Saubert

Sorry for not updating everyone for awhile. Lately, I've been reading a lot and training a lot in boxing and running a lot. I probably should be writing to you about my only case on the docket - a California Supreme Court filing against the Mayor and Council Members that was reported on by the LA Times and San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Washington Post. And it's important case, but really two books I've been reading and several conversations I've been having have made me question whether I'm spending my time well and what I should be doing with it. It's definitely making me wonder if suing people in power is the best way to reform a society.

I'm reading a book on misfits, probably because even though I don't look like one on the surface, I have to admit I am just that: a misfit. How many people do you know go on 15-month sabbaticals, spend time reading on fermenting food, or run 10 miles a day back to back on Friday and Saturday? But because I know what it's like to not feel like on the "in" is probably the reason I work so hard on changing environments and places. It's so other people don't have to feel outcasted or vulnerable or unsafe. These are the people I believe in that need to have a fighting chance too.

I can't agree with everything the book says, because the author rejects the notion of suffering and grace. I get what she's saying though, that the religious trite sayings used to comfort you through suffering are fake, painful, and hypocritical.

But I find it ironic that the author's own suffering was transformed into beauty with her art. That's a kind of grace, no? And that's the irony of her rejecting the correlation of grace and suffering.

Anyways, the most important thing (so far) I've read in the book is this message: People need our love and acceptance. And for the misfit, we can all do our part to make him or her feel safe. I liked those ideas so much; I noted to myself to practice it more.

The second book I'm reading is on tribes. I just started it. But I was intrigued by the first chapter, which points out that during the 1600's to the 1700's, a number of American colonists chose to defect to live with Native Indian tribes. There's been no documented cases where the Indians wanted to live with the Americans. The author argues that the Native Indians were a lot better at community than the English were, and hence, they met the intrinsic needs of a lot of the early English-American settlers. The author goes on to talk about how the most wealthy countries in the world have the highest rates of depression, suicide, and mental illness; while, the poorest countries in the world generally don't have such problems.

Then he talks about how we've become screwed up in society, because we have kleptocracy (that's CEOs and politicians) committing unprecedented levels of theft. Essentially, modern Western societies have valued materialism above all else. As I've figured out and reported on this blog, CEOs and politicians are defrauding taxpayers or stockholders of alarming amounts.

Essentially they're claiming a disproportionate amount of resources through entitlement, when their worth doesn't justify it. In a tribe, we would execute or banish people like this. But in modern society, people like Baldwin Park's Council Members and Mayors can do whatever they want undetected. Are we better off for living in this kind of society?

Perhaps, not. But I have a lot more to read before I reach further conclusions.

Today, someone drove me around in his new car. It was worth over $100,000, and it even knew how to parallel park itself. The machine was a testament to the incredible technological achievement of our society.

But the whole experience made me reflect on my little beater car. I asked myself: "What is wealth really?" Is it the property you possess? Is it what you know? Is it having time for others? (All these new ideas are making me wonder what's the best way to spend my time.)

Ending 2018, Forecasting 2019

The Pig by Pablo Picasso (1906)

It's been a year full of play and wonder and homecoming.  I spent eight and a half months abroad and three and a half months here at home in California. I hope that during the year, I brought you great stories, lessons, and insights from faraway lands and at home.

The year started off rough. I was almost killed in Colombia, when a a motorboat propeller slashed through my head and shoulder. Not fun.

But after recovering, I made my way to Argentina, where my hosts were amazing and hospitable. But I almost got stuck there, because customs wouldn't let me board the airplane to South Africa.

The highlights in South Africa included my days in Cape Town, seeing the Wiseman, and going to the Blyde River Canyon with my Swiss-French friends. Also, the Kruger National Park was awesome.

I made my way to the Island of Mauritius, where I got a lot of writing done. On this trip, I was able to publish three opinions in various newspapers, two in South Africa and one in Washington DC. My most recognized piece came out on Business Day in South Africa. I also talked a lot about North Korean trade in the MorningConsult.

From South Africa, I made my way to Ibiza, where I had a great time partying it up, though I was too poor to get into any clubs. Then, I enjoyed my time in the French Alps - where I reflected and meditated. Getting out was a horrendous journey, and I had to hitchhike for hours upon hours to get into Geneva, Switzerland.

I made a few friends there, and afterwards, I finished my trip in Sweden - where I got to meet old and new friends. I also think I had a better understanding of Picasso, when I visited the Modern Art Museum there.

Also, a number of my investigative corruption pieces did well. In the beginning of the year, I reported on how Baldwin Park's Council Woman Monica Garcia was receiving campaign donations from a predatory loan company. I also talked about the dirty money that former Baldwin Park Police Chief received to run for public office. Later in the year, I also talk about how the dirty Police Chief tried to sneak an extra million dollar contract for his requirement. (Thank goodness it wasn't approved.) One of my most popular articles this year was also on how to make $1.8 million a year, be Gus Romo, our former community development director. The open issue for our city is about the $50 million loan it's borrowing. The question is where is all this money going to go?

On the legal front, I argued in the Court of Appeal for Tuttle's case. I lost. That case has now been filed in California's Supreme Court. (I'll write more on this later; as it deserves it's own article.)

On the immigration front, I'm still working on getting Rafael back. The US government deported Rafael, even though he's married to an American and has two American children. It turns out that the government prosecutors that deported him were corrupt. Both ICE Prosecutors, Jonathan Love and Raphael Sanchez, were convicted of fraud by stealing the identity of those they were deporting and are now serving time. I've been thinking very hard and researching remedies on bringing him and his children home.

Financially, it's been difficult, because although I was supposed to get paid in the Tuttle case, the Court of Appeal said, "No," even though the law says, "Yes." Anyways, hopefully, the California Supreme Court takes up the case. Historically though, they only take up 5% of all cases. So the odds aren't good. But, as I've been told: "Fight, until your last breath."

Anyways, in general, it's been a great year. I've learned to be content with what I have. I'm happy to celebrate my new debt-free status. I enjoy spending time with the people, pets, and problems I actually care about. I can't stress how much I love actually doing it.

And while writing this, I realize how much I've done, how much I've experienced, how much I've learned, and all the people I met. It's been a fulfilling year. It's been time well spent. But I push on.

Regarding the future, 2019 is the Year of the Earth Pig. Traditionally, in Korean culture, pigs are a sign of luck and prosperity - probably because they can get so fat. No wonder, they say "high as a hog." Perhaps, my fortune will change, but even if it doesn't, the point of life is making the best with the handle you're dealt.

Anyways, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and because I'm back and because my profession is in the business of justice, it looks like I'll be doing some litigation for the year of 2019.

Hopefully, the commandment in Isaiah 1:17 governs the year for me: "[A]nd learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.”