Friday, June 21, 2013

Have The Legal Fees Of “Shameless Sollecito” Just Undergone An Astronomic Jump?

Posted by Peter Quennell





Back at trial in 2009 the defense lawyers had a fairly miserable time.

Strong prosecution case hard to dent, over-talkative client on the stand, weak defense rebuttals, and in the summations they were severely outclassed. And then of course they lost. They seemed sometimes bored, sometimes skeptical of their clients, and on several occasions one or two didnt even show up in court.

At the annulled appeal, things went a little better, after they got the judge they really wanted.

But there were embarrassing episodes in 2011, like the witness Aviello claiming that Giulia Bongiorno offered him and others some nice perks if they talked.

The Sollecito and Knox books dont paint the defense teams in an especially ethical light, though they are stated to have helped write the texts. They really should have scrutinised every word, but the mistakes in the book are so “barking mad” that we wonder if Ted Simon or Robert Barnett ever gave them the opportunity.

All four main lawyers have been named as “persons with significant information” in the contempt-of-court allegations being investigated. They will all be interrogated, may have to testify, and could find their law licenses on the line.

Those books will make their tasks at the Florence appeal way harder.  There is much new ‘splaining to do.

Now the KnoxMellases say there will be a huge new financial burden on them, despite rumors of a huge blood-money book advance. Today Sollecito has his paw out for money online (see image below) though he was said to have received a big blood-money book advance as well. (Both books have sold miserably.)

It looks like the lawyers might have put in for a really big raise to stay on the case. The UK Mirror reports..

Shameless Raffaele Sollecito, the man accused of Meredith Kercher’s murder, has sparked fury after asking the public for a staggering $500,000 despite already cashing in on the British student’s death.

Just hours after the Mirror pictured the Italian student back in the arms of his former lover Amanda Knox, the 29-year-old set up an appeal to help cover his legal fees for the pair’s retrial.

Under the heading “Raffaele Sollecito ReTrial in Florence” he listed his page under the topic of “accidents & emergencies”.

His appeal comes just months after Sollecito is understood to have been paid a six-figure sum for his book “Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox” about Meredith’s murder….

Sollecito’s countrymen were outraged after discovering his plea with many taking to his gofundme.com website page to express their disgust.

One Italian using the name Francesco said: “If there was a collection for you to end up in jail I would definitely be happy to participate.”

They added: “But today we see murderers sell their stories and make a pile of money. I’m sure Amanda has done.”

Another called Andrea Giani wrote: “I think you are guilty . . . are you not ashamed to ask for money from lawyers. I despise you very much,” while Marco Bolognesi added: “I’d really pay to see you in jail”....

Click on the image below for a larger version of Sollecito’s new (possibly illegal) blood-money attempt. The court or the taxman could remove much or all of what he gets.


Comments

I did wonder whether the defence lawyers actually knew about the details of the books.  It is no wonder Knox’s Italian lawyers have declined to comment on the publication of Cassazione’s Motivations Report. 

This case must already be in the annals of the most notorious cases - ‘notorious’ a word which hardly does any justice to the sheer shenaniganerie engaged in on every front.

‘Shameless’ Raffaele begging for money on the Internet alongside survivors of bombings and floods beggars belief.  I am even more surprised that he has already received some donations with one journalist commenting that he will certainly reach the target in time at the rate it is going.

So Mr. Sollecito senior has stated that he is no longer in a position to fund the trial then?  Hmm.  Does that mean he is weary of his son’s delinquence or that he is cleaned out?  Perhaps if he had been more honest in the first place and had not paid out large sums of money to ‘make water flow uphill’ he would now be in a better position to support his son in the ongoing legal proceedings.  Of course if the river had not been forced to change its course there would probably not be any need to go ‘a-beggin’ now as the first appeal would not have exonerated and freed the two kids.

That’s not to mention the other camp equally culpable in the illegal efforts to change the course of a river.  They seem to be still holding out and Amanda hasn’t resorted to internet begging - yet.  Edda Mellas is quoted as saying they are just about out of the financial pit they were in after the first two rounds and appears to imply that they will be able to scrape money together by one means or another to deal with the next rounds.

I am in no doubt that they have the resources to continue the big lie and I think that Sollecito is hoping to tap into this now that he is in the US. (How did he ever get in by the way?).  The USA has a larger network of Funding Fools for this cause than has Italy where both Knox and Sollecito are held in contempt their lies seen for what they really are.

At the end of the day the legal battles will not go away and appear to be increasing with the recent addition of the two libellous books into the mix.  So the need for funding will continue and worsen to a point where possibly even the Knox/Mellases can no longer meet the demands.

The veil must surely be lifting even in America.  I watched The View clips as well as the rather fawning ABC clip with Elizabeth Vargas and Dan Abrams (another story in itself - they both ridicule and cast major aspersions on Italy’s Supreme Court and the Italian Justice system) and am disappointed that the demeanour of the interviewers continues to be sympathetic towards Amanda Knox.  However we don’t really know what they really think or say once behind the ‘pay wall’ of the officially contracted interviews and Amanda Knox has not done herself any favours at all with her own demeanour. 

The recent ABC clip with Dan Abrams has a curious segment with Knox at the start where she really comes across as a petulant child, not facing the camera, looking away and exclaiming, ‘I’m gonna keep fighting this, I’m not going to stop fighting this and - that’s all’ around 1:32 minutes in (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/italian-supreme-court-amanda-knox-acquittal-sex-game-19435234 )

Therefore it is possible that, as sympathy and empathy turn into antipathy and outrage à la Arias and her ilk the financial support really will dry up and the river will no longer be prevented from coursing its natural way.

The strain on the family must be horrendous.  Although it is natural for parents to love and protect their children, I do wonder whether even the devoted Edda Mellas can see through and would one day proffer some wiser advice to her daughter.  And Curt?  He is dug in very deep but his anger may one day turn on his daughter.  There again, possibly not - or ever.

As Hopeful points out the recent pictures of them together in New York are creepily reminiscent of the scenes outside the cottage just after the murder – comforting one another, holding hands as they walk.  Someone asked the question why they are able to meet up.  Whatever their discussions it is now too late to align their stories.  Neither wants to go back to jail. 

My advice to them is to cut their losses.  The simplest - and cheapest - thing to do is to return to Italy and accept the consequences. 

Their only options are to return to Italy and face the music. 

Or flee.

Posted by thundering on 06/21/13 at 07:21 AM | #

I personally don’t think that fleeing is an option for AK and RS any more. What they did with the ongoing USA PR campaign and with their books worked really well against their possibilty of fleeing. Now lot of people knows them well in the whole wide world. They can run but they can’t hide. At least not for long…

Posted by Hungarian. on 06/21/13 at 09:57 AM | #

I am surprised that the meeting of AK and RS took place so soon after the SC ordered a retrial. It would also appear that RS was already in the US before the news broke. Could they have been forewarned? Was RS advised to flee to the US? Would he be reincarcerated if he were in Italy?

Posted by starsdad on 06/21/13 at 02:37 PM | #

We have Bongiorno saying the authorities have better find who was with
Guede, because it was not her client or Knox. His other lawyer saying he is not
in N.Y the photos are photo shopped. His father saying he is visiting his aunt in New Jersey,
and it was only a coincidence he met with Knox? What stops this guy from jumping on a
plane to Brazil?

Posted by Miriam on 06/21/13 at 08:23 PM | #

Hi Starsdad

It looked to me like the NY or NJ meeting happened before the Cassation report came out. AK and RS seem to be acting like polar opposites, he as the guy who couldnt giver a damn, she as the freaking-out worrywart.

There is no arrest warrant out for them at the moment; that is a decision for the Florence chief prosecutor. My guess is that it will be activated a few days after he fails to show for appeal sessions. It can if necc be made worldwide.

I dont see him surviving long anywhere outside Italy, as lack of money will always be his achilles heel. Maybe he intends to skip with the money raised by Facebook, though that seems a trickle at present.

The dice really are stacked against them and the Italian authorities are playing this smart and very cool.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/21/13 at 08:38 PM | #

Sollecito’s roving from country to country may be the tipping point precipitating a full-scale meltdown.  Knox, in her bubble, can reassure herself that she won’t be extradited, but Sollecito, as an Italian citizen, can’t afford those illusions. He’s obviously trying to avoid returning to Italy, and the odds are against him. 

If Sollecito returns to Italy before Knox, which I suspect is likely, (I’ve read the discussions of international extradition law on this forum, I base my opinion just on Knox’s media campaign and American citizenship, which she can probably leverage to delay the inevitable a bit longer than Sollecito can), he’s not going to be comforted by the fact that Knox is still free in the United States.  And his father, I imagine, would not be advising him to do Knox any favors.

Posted by Ceylon on 06/21/13 at 08:51 PM | #

Wow, people donating for RS:

Recent Donations (70)  $5,980 raised by 70 people in 2 days

Posted by Hungarian. on 06/21/13 at 09:25 PM | #

How the hell can people donate hard earned cash to this man, he is hopping back and forward between Italy, the States, and Switzerland ( ok Switzerland’s off the list now )

I really can’t understand how any one can see fit to donate to this vile spoilt brat. It is taking the piss.

Posted by Jeffski1 on 06/21/13 at 10:34 PM | #

Wow, the “kids” are in a very tight spot. I do not see the possibility of either one of them hiding. They are just too well known now.  If they did try to run, I fear some unhinged type will hurt them for a bounty.

For me, it is difficult to guess what their actions may be…I hope they follow the advice of legal counsel.

I guess their lives are pretty much ruined, as well as the lives of their friends and loved ones,  but maybe it is a just payment for the part they played in stealing Meredith’s life from her friends and loved ones. What goes around comes around.

They can thank some of the supporters who used them as a money making machine, telling lie after lie and persecuting those who did not tow the line. Some of those supporters betrayed them in ways they will come to realize in the years to come.

Murder is an ugly business.

Posted by Bettina on 06/22/13 at 12:53 AM | #

I see this going on for a long time. Knox and her forces of evil will try everything. When Sollecito folds as he eventually will then that will leave Knox high and dry. However I can see some idiot (read Heavey here) judge issuing a restraining order or six. That will only delay events but perhaps that will take a very long time. This is after the general American gets tired of defending this malicious murderer namely Knox

Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 06/22/13 at 01:03 AM | #

I must admit that when I first read this, I laughed because his goal amount is so utterly ridiculous.  500K could buy my workplace state-of-the-art software and upgrade all our equipment and electronics (and the software alone is 250K or so).  And even that would be a luxury, since there are people in this world who don’t have access to shelter, food, medicine, education, etc. 

But then I saw that he raised almost 8K in 2 days, the sort of money most of us need to work months to make.  And for what? For destroying a good, kind, talented, beautiful human being?

At this point, we can’t blame him for trying.  The world is full of gigantic idiots willing to fund a murderer.  If Sollecito ever kills again, there will be blood on the hands of every single person who has enabled and supported him.

To say that I am profoundly disgusted by this display of shameless greed on his part and egregious stupidity and callousness on the part of his supporters would be an understatement.

Posted by Vivianna on 06/22/13 at 03:15 AM | #

So Raf is “crying” that he needs money for his appeal, and probably the Knox-Mellases will be “crying” for money as well.

Simple Solution : Knox and Sollecito need to go back to Italy and just tell the TRUTH !

Meredith and her Family deserve the truth !

And Thank You for these updates !

Posted by MissMarple on 06/22/13 at 05:02 AM | #

I think RS may well raise quite a bit of money, and AK too, from what I read as many Americans still do believe in their innocence. 

The case is far from over.  The prosecutors will have to convince guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in the next round again, right?  Even if convicted again, they can appeal once more.  I was amazed to hear that the Supreme Court decision now is being portrayed as their belief that the appellate court needed to consider the ‘sex game gone wrong’ explanation of the first trial. 

Why in the world do they focus on this term?  It is inconceivable that anyone would consider something like this to be a sex ‘game’ and it really nauseates me to hear that term.  As if MK would ever have willingly participated - so it should always be termed a sexual assault which got worse.  The other term I am really sick of reading is ‘drifter Rudy Guede’.

Posted by believing on 06/22/13 at 06:30 AM | #

@ believing

“I think RS may well raise quite a bit of money, and AK too, from what I read as many Americans still do believe in their innocence.”


I agree.  I am shocked by how much support Knox and Sollecito have in the US and in particular, the “supporters” they have on “crime forums” which are allegedly “victim friendly forums.” 

And on these forums, they forget the ONLY victim: Meredith Kercher !

Posted by MissMarple on 06/22/13 at 05:46 PM | #

Why? Because some in the USA particularly the South and parts of Europe are racist.

Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 06/22/13 at 07:22 PM | #

Hi Grahame,

What does racism have to do with anything?

Posted by Miriam on 06/22/13 at 07:35 PM | #

Dr. Sollecito and Raf are in need because they are not sowing in the right places. They could fire Bongiorno and Attorney Maori and put their money into the good soil of Christ’s church instead. They could look to heaven to cancel their debt and to turn death into life.

It grieves me to see Dr. Sollecito so ruined, he did nothing wrong (to begin with, then he got seduced into lies by you know who). He is probably saying to himself, “Mr. Kercher has two sons, both with prospects. I have an only son, now he is ruined.”

Raf out of guilt and stubbornness swore an oath to Amanda to hide her complicity in a murder. This is a trick of the devil to get Raf tied up with evil but he sees it as “Honor” or love. He has bound himself with hasty foolish words, and clings to his oath. Now his pride and obstinacy prefer to keep his word to a deceitful killer than to honor God with the truth. 

Then his family had to become complicit in his lies to save him (another lie they fell for because they could have helped him much more by sowing $$$ to God and trusting less expensive lawyers, believing the truth would come out either way if God was in it), but they started lying and scheming, now they are all sowing bad seed and having to ship Raf off to New Jersey relatives because Dr. Sollecito is exhausted in every way, probably as much emotionally as financially.

Dr. Sollecito mentions the Via Dolorosa or way of the cross, stations of the cross, the final ordeal before crucifixion. He visited Raf twice a week in prison fearing suicide attempts by a son like his mother. The good doctor’s guilt got manipulated, and his wallet. King David of Israel who also had trouble with a son said, “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed (children) begging for bread.”

John Avanzini teaches truths of sowing and reaping. Dr. Sollecito could go online and learn from Avanzini’s website. It has as much truth as AA, NA, and EA (alcoholics anonymous, narc anon, emotions anonymous, but they are helpful, too).

What you give multiplies back to you if it is not given to men but to God. Luke 6:38 The world can suck unending money from the unsuspecting. Many rich are poor a few years later, some poor are out of debt and relatively rich using the right principles. Use 2 Corinthians 9:8

For the hopeless there’s the Elijah blessing. Elijah was sent to a widow in Zarephath during a famine. She had nothing left but a handful of meal, and was going to cook it and die with her son. The prophet told her to first make him a little cake of the meal. She did and it multiplied into a harvest of provision for Elijah and herself and her starving son. Faith breaks the yoke.

“If you have a great need, sow a great seed, giving brings a release.” This totally got me out of debt. We know Isaac sowed in famine and reaped a hundredfold. Father Abraham had to patiently wait to receive his promises.

If Dr. Sollecito would start sowing right now in his famine to the church and determine to do right, his family could recover all things and not only the Sollecitos, but they might be ennabled to help the Kerchers. IMHO it was the devil who jumped on the Sollecito family and led Raf to link up with evil disguising itself as beauty and good, as “honor”. This deception caused Raf to hurt another family. If one family is released by returning to truth it might free the other family.

Avanzini points out with a farm parallel that your expenses are the greatest at harvest time, that’s when to do a final breakthrough of sowing. In other words, it’s always darkest right before dawn. Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together shall MEN give to you, those are Christ’s own words. Old Testament says, “The Lord has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” Jesus said he came to give men life more abundantly. Don’t eat your seed even if desperate but sow it in faith, sow it into good soil of Christian ministries and wait patiently to see God meet your own needs.

The Kerchers can do this, the Knox family can, Raf can, I can do this, anyone can do this, give your way out of debt. God is no respecter of persons. Seed multiplies in its kind. If you sow money, you reap money. If you sow tomatoes, you reap tomatoes, sow love, etc. Sow your best seed. Wait patiently, you will get an unction when you sense it’s harvest time. If the harvest is delayed, sow a breakthrough seed to unleash the harvest. Never uproot your seed in anger or impatience during the necessary wait. This is the test of faith.

Jesus led a lifestyle of giving. Amanda could heed the same truth and light would spring up for her in the darkness where she is momentarily submerged. Debts can be cancelled, sentences can be shortened, relief can come from unexpected sources. Justice and mercy can meet together, righteousness and peace can kiss each other.

Fear of insufficiency is common to all of us, the harvest comes from seeds sown in faith. She should be giving to priest Scarabatolli and to the church, to Caritas. As Benny Hinn the great healer signs his letters, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts”... from book of Zechariah.

Posted by Hopeful on 06/22/13 at 09:06 PM | #

This guy is crazy!

http://www.leggo.it/NEWS/ITALIA/raffaele_sollecito_sentenza_cassazione_facebook/notizie/295550.shtml

Posted by Miriam on 06/23/13 at 01:29 AM | #

Hi Hopeful. I think that would resonate a lot in Italian. Sollecito’s father is indeed reduced to a sad case. I dont think the Knoxes or Mellases will ever ease up much (well, maybe Edda) but Italians actually saw Franceso ease up some.

When Sollecito’s book came out last September only in English, Sollecito was, of course, a safe distance away (in the US at that point) and his father went on national TV to rather desperately explain why there was no Italian edition and how it did not represent the truth.

This happened over Sollecito’s claims that the prosecution wanted him to roll over on Knox. Francesco and everybody watching just KNEW that Sollecito had committed another serious crime and the host went pretty easy on him.

_

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/23/13 at 01:29 AM | #

Thank you, Hopeful.

Posted by thundering on 06/23/13 at 02:20 AM | #

Some puzzlement above at who would support them financially. I suspect those who do fall into at least two groups.

First, it explosively came out late last year that Fischer and Sforza had been hustling for money, and single individuals had given them upward of 5000 bucks. I had contact with several and concluded they were particularly caring and kind. It is easy to be taken in online on this case, especially when the prosecution is largely mute or speaks only in Italian and is made out as a demon. Studies of online and email scamming suggest that there is at least one in every hundred who warms to a desperate plea.

Second, there may be this. It may be that many supporting AK and RS sense they have a touch of the same kind of syndrome and are acting out a sort of defense of one of their kind.

We’ve encountered various trolls on our site who said they had a certain syndrome and asked for understanding or a break. That family of syndromes is sometimes associated with people strong at math and computers and both Knoxes and Mellases work in that area (Chris software, Edda math teacher, Curt CPA) work in math.

As Graham Rhodes posted, there was a successful defense based on this here in Texas when a very rich guy named Durst admitted to killing one person and may have killed two others because he was so deeply angered at not being able to relate to people.

http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/a_case_in_which_the_accuseds_team_used_a_psychological_condition/

Knox may have been demonstrating that problem in Perugia where she had everybody backed off.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/23/13 at 02:50 AM | #

I am not sure that Knox necessarily had trouble relating to people, but rather that people had trouble relating to her.  She seems highly focused on her “uniqueness,” with little regard for cultivating commonalities with other people.  I don’t know if it’s because she has a personality disorder or if it’s mostly related to her parents’ divorce and her father’s subsequent neglect.  Probably a mix of both.  To me, it seems more likely that she’s a sociopath, rather than autistic.

I suppose what bothers me the most about the people donating to Sollecito is that they seem to empathize much more strongly with the suspects’ plight than with the victim’s.  Maybe these people are also sociopaths struggling to control their conditions, maybe they are xenophobes, maybe they are just naive, who knows.  But what they are doing is criminal in itself, since by aiding a murderer to escape justice, they may be sealing a future victim’s fate.  It’s an ugly and obscene thing to do. 

Regarding Dr. Sollecito, I don’t feel that he deserves much sympathy at this point.  I’m not saying that he deserved to be in this situation, since prior to the murder he’d been a good father - not only by making sure that Raffaele didn’t lack anything, but also by being involved in his son’s life.  But he hasn’t been honest and honorable since then, and he made a choice to finance his son’s defense.  I would have had more respect for him if he’d done the right thing and encouraged Raffaele to confess and accept the consequences.

Posted by Vivianna on 06/23/13 at 04:22 AM | #

I watched Knox being interviewed on CNN. What I found interesting is her contention that the Italian authorities focused upon her because she (And I quote) “Reacted differently from what is considered normal.” (close quote) I find it interesting that that is the basis for her defense, at least from her own personal point of view. If you examine the statement again you will see that it is a load of tripe. Yes she’s older of course but still in complete denial and still playing the “Poor little me” card. If you can stomach watching her answer the prepared list of questions you will notice one very absorbing detail. She, just like Jody Arias, is only concerned with her self. You will notice as well that she never says anything about Meredith at all. In point of fact nowhere in her conversation does she mention the Kercher family in any way shape or form.


Finally and as I mentioned in a previous post in Italian which I aimed at the Italian legal courts of justice.

‘If the Italian authorities let Knox and or Sollecito get way with this then it only underscores that if you are an American citizen working or studying in Italy and you commit murder then you will get away with it.’

Something to be considered.

Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 06/23/13 at 04:58 AM | #

Miriam, you link to quotes from RS apparently taunting the Supreme Court. Its in Italian; is he rehearsing a pitch for a judge in the US?

If he is still in the States and resists going back, it will be hard for the US to insist he go back, but not Knox. It looks like he seals LKnox’s fate and they both go back. Is she mentally nimble enough to drop to that?

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/23/13 at 06:49 AM | #

Vivianna, Perugia now scans everything being said here; all media and all sites.

Every statement made by either of them gets collected and fed straight to Florence and Bergamo for the contempt of court investigations.

Every single misleading public statement they make breaks Italian law, and could cost them more time. Who is advising them to do this?

Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/23/13 at 06:51 AM | #

I’ve been away for a few days and while the supreme court reasoning is something to cheer about, this support fund thing really makes me feel depressed. Not for the money he is raising… I really think this is initial over-eagerness from the base camp and will soon dwindle. What I feel bad about is the fact that there are people who actually think this is a worthy cause. I mean, regardless of what one may think about his innocence or lack thereof, is this really the most worthy cause anyone could find to donate their presumably hard-earned money - Supporting a relatively well-off accused murderer in his legal battle?? Couldn’t these people find anything better to support??

He is an accused murderer. He has a wealthy father. He has capitalized all he could on his notoriety by writing a book and presumably he has made money from all his interviews too. He has a good degree and he is capable of working. Why would anyone think that he deserves their money??  He has the money to fly to US at the drop of a hat, and he has the time to prance around Seattle with AK. Why can’t he instead save his money, use the time to work hard, and ask for donations if he still falls short? That is what any really honest person would have done. A simple search through the website shows that other people are collecting money for their kids’ treatments, for recovery from natural disasters, for life-saving research etc. Why the hell are people donating to this “cause” among all these?

Posted by Sara on 06/23/13 at 06:54 AM | #

I agree that the money he’s raising will dwindle soon.  And whatever money he raises won’t be worth the bad publicity he gets.  Shameless.  No class.

Posted by Ceylon on 06/23/13 at 08:32 AM | #

It wouldn’t surprise me if most of these donations come from Papa S. to make it look like RS has supporters out there when he doesn’t.

He has to pay for the child’s legal fee’s anyway, donating it to this fund could save him tax.

Posted by Spencer on 06/23/13 at 01:58 PM | #

Dear Hopeful,

You have eloquently expressed a very important principle.
There is also this useful phrase : ‘the Greed of Giving’.

Sometimes what appears to be giving,or generosity, is not giving at all, but something more akin to greed.
One could say that greed is wanting what is not needed, or what would be unfair, or unjust, and/or selfish. Greed is where something is inappropriate and inconsiderate.

I think greed can also cover up ( or attempt to) a guilty conscience. The immature and the narcissistic have severe problems acknowledging guilt, - something I’m sure the judiciary are very aware of.

Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 06/23/13 at 02:28 PM | #

Has the whole family gone mad?
http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/umbria/articoli/1102001/mez-sollecito-accusa-la-cassazionee-il-padre-lo-difende-enormi-inesattezze-.shtml

Posted by Miriam on 06/23/13 at 02:53 PM | #

Hi Pete

Interesting that you observe: “...That family of syndromes is sometimes associated with people strong at math and computers and both Knoxes and Mellases work in that area (Chris software, Edda math teacher, Curt CPA) work in math.”

In other words the Knox family could be predominantly left-brained, with all that entails, and have relatively undeveloped right-brain functions.

Our whole culture is very biased toward left-brain activity, and widespread drug-use may reflect a strong need to correct this imbalance.

Both AK and RS seem to have had relatively orthodox (bourgeoise?) backgrounds and were no doubt encouraged to follow suit. They were however likely to have been heavy drug users (regardless of their protestations to the contrary ) and this might be a direct consequence of upbringings that over-emphasised and over-valued logical thinking, analysis,discrimination, etc. over relationships, pattern, empathy, intuition and so on. All of this no doubt coupled with the over-valuation of “becoming” over “being”.

Meredith seems to have smoked cannabis a little but apparently wasn’t so conflicted about the path she was on, and could happily accommodate both brain functions (her family also seem to be very integrated and wordly-wise, bringing up four great children, all seemingly at ease with themselves). Romeo and Juliet on the other hand were (i)likely to have been having a hard time reconciling parental expectations (real or imagined) and following their own inclinations,(ii)maybe taking heavier drugs and (iii) possibly saw MK as the “goody two-shoes” character they were each not admitting to be their own projected shadow. (This kind of projection is not uncommon with habitual drug users. One example is AK’s proud, albeit second-hand and unsardonic exhortation to the “hating” world that “All you need is Love”).

Both these people need lengthy jail terms in order to (hopefully) gain some self-knowledge, especially since their short terms of imprisonment so far seem only to have increased their puerile intransigence.

Our cultural bias was well described by The Dalai Lama:

“Many of the problems we face are man-made…for which incomplete education is responsible. In addition to basic education, we need to encourage warm-heartedness, concern for others and compassion. Otherwise, when our marvellous intelligence is led by powerful negative emotions, it invites disaster. The real source of trouble is in our mind and emotions.”

Posted by Odysseus on 06/23/13 at 06:57 PM | #

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