It's no surprise that Margot Robbie is playing the first human Barbie in her new movie. Her looks and stature make her a natural to portray Mattel's doll introduced in 1959. But Paris Hilton, too, can resemble the most famous toy of all. And so Paris may've beaten Margot to the punch as the first human Barbie. But wait. We must suspend belief to buy into Barbie becoming human in Robbie's new movie. Likewise, we've got to swallow hard to believe whether Paris was really "human" in her Barbie … [Read more...]
Report shows Minneapolis Police Bias
Attorney General Merrick Garland unveiled the Minneapolis police bias report 10 days ago. It confirmed what hundreds of thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters suspected:The Minneapolis police has a problem with explicit and implicit bias. I've written many blogs on these biases, both explicit and implicit. The report has importance since it convinced the MPD Chief, city officials, and others that the Feds should take over the MPD. This happened in Oakland, CA – a city … [Read more...]
Insanity in the courtroom: detecting Fakery – Part II
This blog is a continuation of last month's blog about insanity in court cases.A number of years ago, a New York courtroom tried Pedro Hernandez for the murder of Etan Patz who was one of the first missing children to be featured on a milk carton. The defendant said at one point that he put Etan inside a plastic bag and then inside a box and left him a block away from his home in an alleyway with some trash. He said the child was still alive when he abandoned him. He also denied that he had … [Read more...]
Insanity in court cases: Test, Fakery – Part I
As I worked on the footnotes for my soon-to-published Privileged Killers, I wondered how much the insanity test had changed recently. The case I write about in my book, one among a few homicides, showed how a killer got off easy using a mental illness defense. So, insanity is on my mind. In fact, I recently blogged about the speculation that Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the brutal Idaho stabbing deaths of four, might use mental illness as a defense. Definitions of Insanity. There’ve … [Read more...]
Seven Psychopaths – McDonagh’s comedic film
This website covers an important term used by most of us at one time or other: psychopath. Unlike other blogs of mine here and here, this post delves into a comedic take on the term and subject of psychopathy. So, here without further ado or comment is a recent movie review by Brian Accardo. Seven Psychopaths: Revisiting Martin McDonagh's Overlooked Gem." "When it was released in 2012, Seven Psychopaths came and went. Here's why it should be considered one of Martin McDonagh's best … [Read more...]
Again, Baldwin and Armorer named in ‘Rust’ legal case.
I recently posted my skepticism about whether justice would be served in the settlement Alec Baldwin made with Halyna Hutchins husband and son. The deal, valid in its provision for support of her son, seemed odd since it also allow Baldwin and other financiers to resume shooting of 'Rust."Apparently renowned lawyer Gloria Allred agrees. She just announced that she's filed a lawsuit on behalf of the late Ms Hutchins' sister and her parents in Ukraine. Baldwin and Armorer named in 'Rust' … [Read more...]
Visual-Snow Effects/Mental Illness-Defenses for Kohberger?
MENTAL HEALTH – DEFENSES FOR KOHBERGER? "The ringing in my ears and the fuzz in my vision is simply all of the demons in my head mocking me " – statement attributed to the Idaho multicide suspect, Bryan Kohberger. Allegedly visual snow plus tinnitus (ringing in the ears from an unknown source) bothered Kohberger enough that he once said he didn't want to live anymore. Allegedly, he also had drug use issues, especially with heroin, and was bullied for being overweight. There are … [Read more...]