If you’re at all like me, it’s hard enough to keep a coupla digital gadgets working. Just ordered a new Mighty Mouse for my tired desktop and found I had to search among antiques on Ebay. My new refurbished buddy isn’t even a Magic Mouse, but does the trick. So when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), I’m at the mercy of doubters (no such thing yet) along the spectrum to the Cassandras (it’s already ending democracy, the world as we know it.) I DO suspect, that AI’s why I’ve … [Read more...]
Murdered while in prayer, while in school: The bullying connection.
Schools and houses of worship are two of the most revered places in our society. They are also among the most vulnerable since—unlike many places of business, transportation centers and the like—they've generally lacked guards and security. That's changing for schools, and sadly now, for places of worship. Yes, there've been other shootings and bombings at sacred places (to show the range, Charleston, SC in 2015; Birmingham, AL in 1963). But there've rarely been calls for armed protection for … [Read more...]
What does Bullying beget? Start of a multi-part series.
Karl here with an answer: Bullying begets violence: This is the first of a multi-part series of guest posts by two experts in the fight against bullying. In keeping with the themes of this website, they will at various times discuss the connection that violence, discrimination, and privilege have to bullying. It is often a way station to violence and the crimes of murder, rape, and the like. Dr. Louise Hart and Kristen Caven—my guest bloggers— have written The Bullying Antidote, a positive … [Read more...]
Post-Charlottesville: Violent/Nonviolent cops in the face of bullying?
No bullying allowed? With the tragic killing in Charlottesville, VA and the subsequent debates about police behavior pre and post Charlottesville bullying, it seems time to mention Policing Society. I wrote the book during a sabbatical in England where I compared the Greater Manchester Police Department with the Oakland Police Department. I chose Manchester and Oakland for my tale of two cities because they were remarkably similar cities with historically different policing philosophies. … [Read more...]
‘Gone Girl’ still victimized by cyberbullying.
In this my first first blog of 2017, I will begin a process of including more topics about villains, apropos of the theme of this website. Today, I'm writing about a cyberbullying villain.Heroes, Villains and Fools.Of late, I've focused a lot on heroes, including unsung heroes who are facially-challenged or caregivers of such people. In the future, I'll try to write more about villains—especially those privileged ones who commit violent crime (murder) and nonviolent crime (fraud). The daily … [Read more...]
Cleft lip superboy (Joaquin Phoenix) fights bullies.
Cleft lip (really micro cleft) actor, Joaquin Phoenix, then known as Leaf, uses his super-breath and heat-vision to rain death upon the three stereotypical '80s bullies who dare to throw him in a dumpster. It's just a dream, and he's not actually Superboy. Video called Superkid: Cleft lip wonder.Superboy (1988-92) was a flawed but likable attempt to put a youthful spin on the Man of Steel by placing him in college and ridding Metropolis of crime between classes. John Haymes Newton did a … [Read more...]
Twitter on wrong side of cyberbullying issue?
A hot tech company, Salesforce,* just decided not to bid for Twitter. . . perhaps because of cyberbullying. According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Twitter Inc. was left at the altar on Friday after Salesforce.com Inc. walked away from pursuing a marriage. This all but extinguishes hopes for a near-term sale of Twitter as it struggles to accelerate revenue growth.A reversal by Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff, who previously had signaled interest in a merger, calling Twitter an … [Read more...]