Rotundus.com

It seems somewhat old news at this point - if in reality only a few days old - that Tom Cruise is getting divorced by soon-to-be-ex-spouse-#3 Katie Holmes.

Some thoughts on the Tom Cruise's marital history, starting with this NY Daily News piece:

One of his biggest knocks came when he walked out on wife Nicole Kidman three days before their 10th wedding anniversary in 2001 — a decision that blindsided the gorgeous Aussie actress. Many outsiders viewed it as a coldly calculated move motivated by money. Under California law, the prospect of lifetime alimony kicks in after a decade of marriage.

In the context of a society permitting no-fault divorce, stuff like the prospect of lifetime alimony kicking in seems likely to increase the divorce rate around the period it would come into place.

From the news.com.au story headlined TomKat split: Katie Holmes 'to lose millions in divorce from Tom Cruise due to prenuptial agreement':

After filing for divorce less than six years later, according to the agreement, Holmes should only be entitled to $15 million as well as the couple's $35 million Beverly Hills mansion.

Getting $50 million is a very strange definition of "lose millions" - even if the guy has a personal net worth of $275 million. More from that news.com.au story:

Most of the estate is Tom's. She'll have to go for a lot of child support ... She'll have to show that Suri has nannies, cars, activities, clothes, hair appointments. That a hefty amount each month is needed to maintain Suri's lifestyle.

As usual the prenup doesn't really seem to be worth the paper it's written on and also, as usual, the kid seems to be a pawn in the process. (What would a kid do with only one nanny? The horror...). Getting a mere 1% interest on the $50 million in assets would mean an annual income of $500,000 USD - obviously with that kind of income and no prospect of any employment whatsoever you'd probably be stuck living in a homeless shelter and eating at soup kitchens, but do you think it might be possible to actually raise a child on only about 10x the median US household income?

From the LA Times Blogs:

Katie Holmes filed divorce papers against Tom Cruise in New York, but some legal experts said they expect the case to end up in California if it is not settled privately.

Holmes and Cruise live most of the time in California, the experts said, and that generally determines where a case in heard.

“There isn’t a snowball's chance in hell of this case remaining in New York,” said Mike Kelly, a Santa Monica divorce lawyer and former chairman of the American Bar custody committee. “You cannot shop jurisdictions in custody cases.”

Here you have the whole attempt to game the legal system to get ahold of the kids by picking a favourable jurisdiction - with Katie Holmes filing in New York despite both her and Tom Cruise living most of the time in California. Per the Calgary Herald, California presumes joint custody of children in the incident of their parents' divorce whereas New York doesn't. The sort of standards present in New York, per a previous New York Times article increase the likelihood that women divorce their husbands.

The whole incident seems to have a lot to do with Scientology and the child's exposure of it, but Katie Holmes missed step #N on the list of things to do to avoid having your child exposed to Scientology which is, of course: don't marry Tom Cruise. Scientology is rather full of controversy, with, e.g., :

Canada's highest court in 1997 upheld the criminal conviction of the Church of Scientology of Toronto and one of its officers for a breach of trust stemming from covert operations in Canadian government offices during the 1970s and 1980s. Scientology also lost an appeal of Canada's biggest libel judgement: $1.6-million assessed by a jury after Scientology tried to discredit Casey Hill, the prosecutor who handled the criminal case against the church. In upholding the libel verdict, the Canadian court said, "Every aspect of this case demonstrates the very real and persistent malice of Scientology."

$28 cabbage, $65 chicken, and other insane food prices in Northern Canada

I'd say that the simplest solution would be not living in Northern Canada. Of course, the article also has this to say: "According to one comment on the Facebook group, it’s often more cost-effective to fly to Edmonton, Alberta, do your shopping there, and fly home. (That alone is a pretty good indication that shipping costs are not exclusively to blame.)"

Not So Useless After All: The Appendix’s Function is to “Re-Boot” the Digestive System

FYI... so it does have a purpose.

Count Robert de La Rochefoucauld

The brief summary of the obituary there: "Count Robert de La Rochefoucauld, who has died aged 88, escaped from Occupied France to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE); parachuted back on sabotage missions, he twice faced execution, only to escape on both occasions, once dressed as a Nazi guard."

The suburbs aren’t dead just yet

Why the claim that the cores of cities are growing at a faster rate than the suburbs can be misleading.

A Breathalyzer of fresh air? Drunk tests now mandatory in all French vehicles

"All vehicles travelling on French roads must carry a chemical or electronic Breathalyzer test starting Sunday, under new rules aimed at reducing alcohol-driven accidents. ... About a third of fatalities on French roads is due to drunk driving"

R.C. Sproul Jr.:

...so, seemingly with the approval of the session, he sat perched by the entrance of the sanctuary. He asked me, as he asked everyone passing by, with all the tact and enthusiasm of a carnival barker, if I had an accountability group. Being young and naïve I stopped and asked, “What’s that?”

“Well,” he explained, “it’s a group of men who are active in your life, that care for you enough to challenge you when you fall into sin. They watch out for you, support you, encourage you to grow in grace and wisdom.” “In that case,” I retorted, “I do have an accountability group. It’s just that I call them my friends.”

Twenty years later I find myself having the same kind of conversation. When people find out about the loss of my wife, they suggest that I find myself a group, Though I seek to mask my skepticism, it apparently shows through. “Really,” folks tell me,” you need people that you can talk to, that you can be real with. You need people you can count on to be there for you.” The answer is the same. I understand the need. And it is well met in my life, by my friends.

I'd guess that the same might be said about kids playing with their friends versus signing them up for other organized activities.

Hand sanitizer recalled due to bacteria

I've mentioned before that hand sanitizer is rather overrated, but it's kind of amusing to hear of some of it getting recalled due to bacterial contamination. To quote: "Health Canada recommends those with compromised immune systems refrain from using this product or any hand sanitizer they cannot identify, and to speak with their doctor."

Americans Are as Likely to Be Killed by Their Own Furniture as by Terrorism

"the number of U.S. citizens who died in terrorist attacks increased by two between 2010 and 2011; overall, a comparable number of Americans are crushed to death by their televisions or furniture each year."

Whistling through the graveyard?

Contains an interesting quote from The Bell Curve: "Holding some critical other things equal–IQ, socioeconomic status, age, and date of marriage–the divorce rate for the high school graduates in the first five years of marriage was lower than for college graduates." (emphasis mine)

Poor women 'bear climate burden'

In case you had the ludicrous idea that the climate was gender-neutral.

In India, first comes detective work, then comes marriage

"Families in India are increasingly using private investigators to do background checks on prospective brides and grooms."