There’s a battlefield rarely discussed when we speak of the Art of War: Family Court. It’s brutal. Attorneys and judges often pit spouses against one another—even when those spouses had intended an amicable split. This system is too often a hidden channel for child trafficking, and a breeding ground for abuse and pedophilia. Men claim the courts are biased against them—and they’re right. Women claim the same—and they’re also right. It’s not men versus women. It’s families versus a billion-dollar machine designed to divide, exploit, and destroy.
A business associate was going through a separation from his doctor wife who had developed an unfortunate brain degeneration, had gone crazy and was confined to a wheel chair. She fought for custody so I suggested to my associate that he force in a third lawyer to represent the children's interest so that lawyer would be impartial. Custody was granted to the able bodied father. The wife died of her illness 2 years later. The third lawyer saved him and his ex a fortune in legal and expert fees.
Unfortunately, what my observations have been, in that the court gives custody to the abusive parent and/or the least able to care for the children. Thus, the protective parent will keep fighting, and the court system, with its cottage industry, makes money. My children also had an attorney, who represented the best interest of the court.
With each passing year it becomes apparent that the Homo-sapiens species is hell bent on destroying itself psychologically and physically. Insanity rules.
I’d be for abolishing social media. I’m old enough to know before we had it the country didn’t act like this. We had debate. We spoke with our neighbors. We had national pride. Those days seem like a million years ago and it saddens me as I feel we will never get back to that. I guess I’m at the age of wanting the good old days. With what I see now they really were. Technology has done wonderful things for mankind but social media has destroyed us. I hope many read this article as it might get some with mild TDS to come back to reality. One can hope and if I had any social media accounts I’d spread the word. Yes, I’m aware Substack is quasi social media but it’s the only one I have.
I am also old enough to have lived in the world with no social media. If anything, social media was the music of the 60's onward. One can still limit personal exposure to modern social media. If it all went down, it would not mean that much to me. My main exposure where I participate are these substacks. I never wanted or had Youtube, X / Twitter, or Facebook accounts = (You Twit Face) not to mention platforms like Tic toc. Out in public, I still like to talk with people. That comes easily for me from years of art fairs, tradeshows, and 24 years as a neuromuscular massage therapist, all where we needed to listen and interact with clients and customers. I don't care about their politics and biases. I may nudge them a little, but always be respectful. If someone is hostile I just disengage and may say in a free country we all have a right to our points of view and to vote as we wish.
My goodness! Such an important post! I’ve seen myself almost be drawn into these emotional back and forths on social media. Then I analyze WHO I think is behind the nudging and WHAT would be accomplished by my responding. So far I have only succumbed a few times to responding! I will fight it now. Thank you, Drs Malone for your words of wisdom! We all value your input!
Your concluding remarks are most important. I have seen the remarks towards many well thought out and well written essays, that are crude, unintelligent and sometimes from people who could, if they want, add much needed information. Civility takes many different forms, but under it all lies a basic lack of hatred and patience for opinions different from ours. I wish age brought wisdom...
To the Dark Triad I would add Sadism - the intentional, unnecessary infliction of harm for personal enjoyment.
The Uniparty is characterized by the Dark Tetrad and has struck a basic bargain: Republicans will be given unlimited money to destroy foreign cities with planes and bombs and Democrats will be given unlimited money to destroy American cities with Democrats and policy.
They are united by libido dominandi -lust for domination. Build anything? Uh, nah.
Don't think for a minute, though, that there aren't plenty of Dark Triad people hanging around Republicans and other conservatives. They have no real interest in ideology; they only seek personal advantage. If conservatives gain more power, they will inevitably find more dark personalities moving in on them.
Screw echo chamber; rig an old gas laser - two mirrors parallel bouncing the light through the source. Even better elite shungite in a DNA coherent laser.
I just joined your Substack Dr Malone and look forward to reading your well thought out and researched articles .. thank you for everything you do and have done for years .
Just a side note regarding Niccoló Machiavelli. While he has acquired a reputation as an evil genius, the real Machiavelli was a Platonic thinker and close friend and collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci in their efforts to establish and maintain, under very difficult circumstances, perhaps the first republican government of the modern era, the Florentine Republic. They understood the two-fold problem: they had to uplift the population intellectually and morally to be able to self-govern and somehow keep order in the meantime, and they had to defend the fledgeling republic from powerful foreign enemies.
My dealings with narcissists in my family & business dealings have been that they don't think they are better than you, they don't regard you as a fellow human. Klaus Schwab & Bill Gates see you as subjects to be experimented on, and how dare you think you should get a say in that!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this. The only times I've felt someone was trying to con or influence me, evidently keying off my comments, was with your and Bannon's offerings. I took it as conning and outed them or just didnt respond. A couple days ago on Gettr I found I have a new follower 'secretserviceofficial' following 150 - down to 97 now. I don't follow followers.
As Ive mentioned before I'm mostly a listener and observer. I am,imo. very selective about the limited folks I follow. I peek in and out along the edges of any group of interest. I dont solicit followers. I try and offer useful comment. I mostly consider it a waste of time to attack those I dislike.
I will definitely keep your advice and cautions in mind. They will be very helpful in assessing what I observe. It should be useful in framing my nudges when it may be helpful to comment on something.
". . . Sun Tzu also highlights the importance of not besieging walled cities if possible, as it is the worst policy." Screw him.
The greatest conqueror in history, Alexander the Great besieged and conquered numerous cities during his campaigns. Some of the most notable ones include:
Thebes (Greece) – Destroyed in 335 BC as a warning to other Greek city-states.
Granicus (Asia Minor) – First major battle against the Persian Empire in 334 BC.
Halicarnassus (Asia Minor) – Besieged and taken in 334 BC.
Issus (Syria) – Defeated Persian King Darius III in 333 BC.
Tyre (Lebanon) – Famous seven-month siege in 332 BC.
Gaza (Palestine) – Besieged and conquered in 332 BC.
Persepolis (Persia) – Capital of the Persian Empire, taken in 330 BC.
"Balkanization" was first coined in the early 1900s as western news organizations observed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the resulting split-up of former territories into "independent" states. Such splintering has occurred after every major failure of Empire. (I am currently reading H.G. Wells' "Outline of History" which goes over this is some detail.)
The internet was never intended to bring us together into one big happy family. The "dark net" has been around in one form or another since the days of ARPANET. The internet originated as a way for academics to share their work and edit papers remotely. Later, it was mostly used by User Groups and companies to share technical data. At some point, it was decided to start doing banking and sales on the internet. Though the security of these online activities remains questionable, the convenience of moving money around at home (or from a mobile phone) has been so attractive that this function has practically taken over the internet. There are many people who only use the internet for shopping and other forms of entertainment.
I personally would WELCOME the "splintering off" of the commercial network from the technical / knowledge network so that I would not have to wade through all the commercial sites and clickbait sites to find the useful information I am usually looking for.
Financially, I don't know why the World Wide Web cannot be funded by the fees charged by access providers, which I see as excessive for simply the technical ability to connect. I, a low income retired man, must pay AT&T $80 a month just to maintain my "cool" fiber connection. Where does all that money really go?
Though it makes good sense to take the "high road" of an ideal Chinese Commander rather than the "low road" of a criminal European plunderer, the fact remains that Dark Triad personalities exist everywhere, and the more intelligent among them will go to great lengths to disable or confuse their competitors, which in their minds includes everyone else. See the Ponerology substack for more details on this personality type. It is very real and very dangerous.
I listened to one of those depth psychology Carl Jung YouTube videos today. The narrator said betrayal and disloyalty are the norm. Loyalty is a privilege and less common. There is a divide in the medical freedom movement, around the subject of the existence of viruses. I am shocked at the vitriol I receive for my belief in viral contagion. We are not going to stop the increasing use of biometric devices, and there are positives to their use. I know there is great danger in the potential for big tech to harvest data and leverage it for control, but we need to find a way around this. Maybe there is a way to use blockchain to avail of the upside of biometric devices while maintaining user anonymity. Yes, using cash is very private, but society is not going back to primarily using cash. We have to harness tech to protect privacy as much as for convenience.
Simple: Never inherently trust, always verify through multiple sources.
There’s a battlefield rarely discussed when we speak of the Art of War: Family Court. It’s brutal. Attorneys and judges often pit spouses against one another—even when those spouses had intended an amicable split. This system is too often a hidden channel for child trafficking, and a breeding ground for abuse and pedophilia. Men claim the courts are biased against them—and they’re right. Women claim the same—and they’re also right. It’s not men versus women. It’s families versus a billion-dollar machine designed to divide, exploit, and destroy.
A business associate was going through a separation from his doctor wife who had developed an unfortunate brain degeneration, had gone crazy and was confined to a wheel chair. She fought for custody so I suggested to my associate that he force in a third lawyer to represent the children's interest so that lawyer would be impartial. Custody was granted to the able bodied father. The wife died of her illness 2 years later. The third lawyer saved him and his ex a fortune in legal and expert fees.
Unfortunately, what my observations have been, in that the court gives custody to the abusive parent and/or the least able to care for the children. Thus, the protective parent will keep fighting, and the court system, with its cottage industry, makes money. My children also had an attorney, who represented the best interest of the court.
Sorry that the children's attorney didn't represent the true interests of you children.
With each passing year it becomes apparent that the Homo-sapiens species is hell bent on destroying itself psychologically and physically. Insanity rules.
That’s good, Dr. Malone. Be wise don’t be bought out! Curtesy but don’t fall in the trap. We need to win MAHA and MAGA!
I’d be for abolishing social media. I’m old enough to know before we had it the country didn’t act like this. We had debate. We spoke with our neighbors. We had national pride. Those days seem like a million years ago and it saddens me as I feel we will never get back to that. I guess I’m at the age of wanting the good old days. With what I see now they really were. Technology has done wonderful things for mankind but social media has destroyed us. I hope many read this article as it might get some with mild TDS to come back to reality. One can hope and if I had any social media accounts I’d spread the word. Yes, I’m aware Substack is quasi social media but it’s the only one I have.
I am also old enough to have lived in the world with no social media. If anything, social media was the music of the 60's onward. One can still limit personal exposure to modern social media. If it all went down, it would not mean that much to me. My main exposure where I participate are these substacks. I never wanted or had Youtube, X / Twitter, or Facebook accounts = (You Twit Face) not to mention platforms like Tic toc. Out in public, I still like to talk with people. That comes easily for me from years of art fairs, tradeshows, and 24 years as a neuromuscular massage therapist, all where we needed to listen and interact with clients and customers. I don't care about their politics and biases. I may nudge them a little, but always be respectful. If someone is hostile I just disengage and may say in a free country we all have a right to our points of view and to vote as we wish.
My goodness! Such an important post! I’ve seen myself almost be drawn into these emotional back and forths on social media. Then I analyze WHO I think is behind the nudging and WHAT would be accomplished by my responding. So far I have only succumbed a few times to responding! I will fight it now. Thank you, Drs Malone for your words of wisdom! We all value your input!
The artwork is beautiful. Persistent memory is not difficult when reality is so obvious.
That's a Dali. One of the most well-known "modern" painters.
Yes
Your concluding remarks are most important. I have seen the remarks towards many well thought out and well written essays, that are crude, unintelligent and sometimes from people who could, if they want, add much needed information. Civility takes many different forms, but under it all lies a basic lack of hatred and patience for opinions different from ours. I wish age brought wisdom...
Well-done, Docs!
To the Dark Triad I would add Sadism - the intentional, unnecessary infliction of harm for personal enjoyment.
The Uniparty is characterized by the Dark Tetrad and has struck a basic bargain: Republicans will be given unlimited money to destroy foreign cities with planes and bombs and Democrats will be given unlimited money to destroy American cities with Democrats and policy.
They are united by libido dominandi -lust for domination. Build anything? Uh, nah.
Don't think for a minute, though, that there aren't plenty of Dark Triad people hanging around Republicans and other conservatives. They have no real interest in ideology; they only seek personal advantage. If conservatives gain more power, they will inevitably find more dark personalities moving in on them.
Screw echo chamber; rig an old gas laser - two mirrors parallel bouncing the light through the source. Even better elite shungite in a DNA coherent laser.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MCFKANUrT3DNZhNVI1s-nmL6rAVYuOKl/view?usp=sharing
Don't forget MIYAMOTO Musashi - Timing in Strategy (from memory):
1 Do not think dishonestly
2 The Way is in Training
3 Become acquainted with every art
4 Learn the ways of every occupation
5 Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters
6 Develop intuitive judgment and understanding of everything
7 Perceive those things which cannot be seen
8 Pay attention even to trifles
9 Do nothing that is of no use
I just joined your Substack Dr Malone and look forward to reading your well thought out and researched articles .. thank you for everything you do and have done for years .
thank you for your subscription, Ginger H
Just a side note regarding Niccoló Machiavelli. While he has acquired a reputation as an evil genius, the real Machiavelli was a Platonic thinker and close friend and collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci in their efforts to establish and maintain, under very difficult circumstances, perhaps the first republican government of the modern era, the Florentine Republic. They understood the two-fold problem: they had to uplift the population intellectually and morally to be able to self-govern and somehow keep order in the meantime, and they had to defend the fledgeling republic from powerful foreign enemies.
My dealings with narcissists in my family & business dealings have been that they don't think they are better than you, they don't regard you as a fellow human. Klaus Schwab & Bill Gates see you as subjects to be experimented on, and how dare you think you should get a say in that!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this. The only times I've felt someone was trying to con or influence me, evidently keying off my comments, was with your and Bannon's offerings. I took it as conning and outed them or just didnt respond. A couple days ago on Gettr I found I have a new follower 'secretserviceofficial' following 150 - down to 97 now. I don't follow followers.
As Ive mentioned before I'm mostly a listener and observer. I am,imo. very selective about the limited folks I follow. I peek in and out along the edges of any group of interest. I dont solicit followers. I try and offer useful comment. I mostly consider it a waste of time to attack those I dislike.
I will definitely keep your advice and cautions in mind. They will be very helpful in assessing what I observe. It should be useful in framing my nudges when it may be helpful to comment on something.
". . . Sun Tzu also highlights the importance of not besieging walled cities if possible, as it is the worst policy." Screw him.
The greatest conqueror in history, Alexander the Great besieged and conquered numerous cities during his campaigns. Some of the most notable ones include:
Thebes (Greece) – Destroyed in 335 BC as a warning to other Greek city-states.
Granicus (Asia Minor) – First major battle against the Persian Empire in 334 BC.
Halicarnassus (Asia Minor) – Besieged and taken in 334 BC.
Issus (Syria) – Defeated Persian King Darius III in 333 BC.
Tyre (Lebanon) – Famous seven-month siege in 332 BC.
Gaza (Palestine) – Besieged and conquered in 332 BC.
Persepolis (Persia) – Capital of the Persian Empire, taken in 330 BC.
Cyropolis (Bactria) – Conquered in 329 BC.
Sogdian Rock (Central Asia) – Captured in 327 BC.
Aornos (India) – Besieged and taken in 326 BC.
No. Apparently I can't paste images, so see
https://www.worldatlas.com/upload/a4/4b/c9/shutterstock-203589544-1.jpg
What's that got to do with Alexander? See
https://cdn.britannica.com/54/64954-050-A9948889/Alexander-the-Great-conquests-rule-menace-culture.jpg
I guess you can't read maps. Your initial statement is wrong, as is the follow-up.
A few points:
"Balkanization" was first coined in the early 1900s as western news organizations observed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the resulting split-up of former territories into "independent" states. Such splintering has occurred after every major failure of Empire. (I am currently reading H.G. Wells' "Outline of History" which goes over this is some detail.)
The internet was never intended to bring us together into one big happy family. The "dark net" has been around in one form or another since the days of ARPANET. The internet originated as a way for academics to share their work and edit papers remotely. Later, it was mostly used by User Groups and companies to share technical data. At some point, it was decided to start doing banking and sales on the internet. Though the security of these online activities remains questionable, the convenience of moving money around at home (or from a mobile phone) has been so attractive that this function has practically taken over the internet. There are many people who only use the internet for shopping and other forms of entertainment.
I personally would WELCOME the "splintering off" of the commercial network from the technical / knowledge network so that I would not have to wade through all the commercial sites and clickbait sites to find the useful information I am usually looking for.
Financially, I don't know why the World Wide Web cannot be funded by the fees charged by access providers, which I see as excessive for simply the technical ability to connect. I, a low income retired man, must pay AT&T $80 a month just to maintain my "cool" fiber connection. Where does all that money really go?
Though it makes good sense to take the "high road" of an ideal Chinese Commander rather than the "low road" of a criminal European plunderer, the fact remains that Dark Triad personalities exist everywhere, and the more intelligent among them will go to great lengths to disable or confuse their competitors, which in their minds includes everyone else. See the Ponerology substack for more details on this personality type. It is very real and very dangerous.
I listened to one of those depth psychology Carl Jung YouTube videos today. The narrator said betrayal and disloyalty are the norm. Loyalty is a privilege and less common. There is a divide in the medical freedom movement, around the subject of the existence of viruses. I am shocked at the vitriol I receive for my belief in viral contagion. We are not going to stop the increasing use of biometric devices, and there are positives to their use. I know there is great danger in the potential for big tech to harvest data and leverage it for control, but we need to find a way around this. Maybe there is a way to use blockchain to avail of the upside of biometric devices while maintaining user anonymity. Yes, using cash is very private, but society is not going back to primarily using cash. We have to harness tech to protect privacy as much as for convenience.