Another amazing week. US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned amid the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal. Pressure mounted against Acosta as news trickled out that he'd allowed an incredibly lenient plea deal to go forward under his watch in Epstein's Florida trial years ago. And then an accusation of rape! Rape. The allegation of rape by a then, 14-15 year old girl, trumped Acosta's fall from grace. In a TODAY interview with Savannah Guthrie, included here, Jennifer Araoz shared … [Read more...]
Physical child abuse and bullying.
Physical child abuse moves victims a step closer to being bullies and even perpetrators of violence, like child abuse, themselves. This website focuses on all aspects of this stark statement which links physical child abuse, bullying, and violent crime. Physical child abuse.* The following short post is adapted from Chapter One of The Bullying Antidote, a positive parenting guide by Louise Hart and Kristen Caven. That … [Read more...]
Criminal injustice? R. Kelly & Other Celebrities in Court.
Among the big news stories this week, one's got crim injustice" written all over it in my humble opinion. Criminal Injustice R&B singer R. Kelly turned himself in to the Chicago police last night after being indicted. He did so to answer charges of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse against four victims, three of them minors. Criminal sex abuse is the term for the what's also been called statutory rape. Robert S. Kelly, a native of Chicago, is a singer, songwriter, record … [Read more...]
Most privileged celeb of all – Mirror, mirror on the wall? A Scorecard
Which of these most privileged celebs are you following to see if justice is done—Ryan Seacrest, James Franco, Gerard Depardieu, Aziz Ansari, Dustin Hoffman, Asia Argento, or Sylvester Stallone? They're among the over 250 people accused of sexually inappropriate behavior since #MeToo started. Who will be the most privileged of all as 2019 moves forward? Thanks to mighty help from Vox, a trendy-left-leaning ezine, I can provide you a scorecard. Use the background info and basics Vox … [Read more...]
Throw the book at certain rapists in this #meToo era.
Amber Rose Carlson wrote a piece about her rapist and his sentence for the New York Times recently. Besides dealing with rapists and sentencing, she covers many other timely topics in this #meToo era. Life without parole for rapists. These topics include injustice, male privilege, life without parole, and several others. I've blogged and written about many of them (for instance, in my forthcoming book, Four Murders and a Funeral). I include Ms. Carlson's piece here in its entirety. … [Read more...]
Male privilege, sex, and the fall of a cleft icon.
An op ed piece in Friday's Washington Post helped make up my mind re former congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.). The op ed author described a classic case of male privilege in action. The writer Melissa Richmond* is currently vice president of Running Start, an organization that encourages women to run for political office. Richmond wrote that she thought she'd lost out on a career in politics after an encounter with Rep. Franks eight years ago. In her own words: I’ve always been proud … [Read more...]
Rape, male privilege, sentencing, and punishment.
An essay about rape and male privilege that's been widely circulated lately got my attention for sure. Not because so many women have been Weinsteined by Harvey who had gatekeeping power or raped by everyday men who were intimidating. But because I've been addressing similar issues in a book I'm writing. Several of the real-life murderers in my memoir got away easy just as Amber Rose Carlson's rapist did. Amber Rose Carlson is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at Vanderbilt University who … [Read more...]