I tried to post the entered judgement with The Judge's reasons, but it didn't work. "Relief" doesn't begin to cover how I feel. When injustice is a part of your life for so long, it takes a while to adjust. Of course, I still can't go to California without the risk of being thrown into prison, but hey, I don't have to worry about FMEP cancelling my driver's license (which they did in the past), attaching my wages (ditto), ruining my credit (several dittos, ongoing until now, except for the couple of years that they accepted that I had paid in full before reneging and starting all over again), scooping all my GST rebates ( I was poor, remember???), sending frequent dunning letters ("you are a BAAAD person, and we will do nasty things to you until you send us every cent you have!"), and generally making me relive the horrible experience that I had with the divorce and the California legal system.
Again, I have to thank my lawyer Jack Hittrich, for taking a big risk with my case, going to California with me to fight there (they refused to let him speak to the case and actually removed him from the court because he was a foreigner, and so had no standing in an "American" courtroom. The Judge wasn't even a real judge! She was a "master", which is a lawyer able to deal with the meaningless trivia that annoys "real" judges in their system: like ordinary peoples' lives. It so smacks of the arrogance of impunity.
There was a lot that I was uncomfortable with, when I lived in the States. Moving to Canada in 1991 felt like coming home, even though I hadn't lived here very long, and that was as a baby. There is a different feel to Canada. Not to say that Americans are bad people, they're just people. But the culture there is so much more one of constant fear. Americans accept that, Canadians don't, yet.
I grew up admiring the "Spirit of America." I don't see that spirit anymore. I see a beaten down, and growing, underclass; a shrinking and complacent middle class, pacified with bread and circuses (yes, that IS a Roman Empire reference); and a ravening bunch of wolves that are truly accountable to no one except each other. There are good people in all these groups, but they are powerless against the unaccountable ones.
Again, I have to thank my lawyer Jack Hittrich, for taking a big risk with my case, going to California with me to fight there (they refused to let him speak to the case and actually removed him from the court because he was a foreigner, and so had no standing in an "American" courtroom. The Judge wasn't even a real judge! She was a "master", which is a lawyer able to deal with the meaningless trivia that annoys "real" judges in their system: like ordinary peoples' lives. It so smacks of the arrogance of impunity.
There was a lot that I was uncomfortable with, when I lived in the States. Moving to Canada in 1991 felt like coming home, even though I hadn't lived here very long, and that was as a baby. There is a different feel to Canada. Not to say that Americans are bad people, they're just people. But the culture there is so much more one of constant fear. Americans accept that, Canadians don't, yet.
I grew up admiring the "Spirit of America." I don't see that spirit anymore. I see a beaten down, and growing, underclass; a shrinking and complacent middle class, pacified with bread and circuses (yes, that IS a Roman Empire reference); and a ravening bunch of wolves that are truly accountable to no one except each other. There are good people in all these groups, but they are powerless against the unaccountable ones.
