I've followed a celeb who graduated from my high school for some years now. James Franco's been impressive. He was nominated for an Oscar in 2011, and has studied and shown promise as a filmmaker, writer, and painter.** These fields, except for acting, have been fields I've explored. And Franco's been involved with three universities I've attended - UCLA, Yale, and Columbia. Needless to say, he's intrigued me. But when he got into … [Read more...]
CRIME INVESTIGATION Tutorial—How True Crime Websleuths Do It – I
This is an introductory tutorial about true crime Websleuths, an online forum that allows all of us to play detective. In prior tutorials, I've tried to help both crime writers and criminal justice students understand how, say, the FBI goes about investigations. This blog shows you the basics of how to participate in true crime Websleuths. Later blogs will get into how the popular site has evolved and some of the hiccups it's experienced. The … [Read more...]
Crim Justice Reform +’s, -‘s, unintended consequences
We heard from both sides of certain 2020's crim justice reform issues last Monday. Below are a couple of samples of the pros and cons of parole reform, one of the many controversial reforms proposed nationwide.After that, I've included an example of what reformers must consider when proposing and implementing reforms. The example pertains to bail reform, something that shares characteristics with parole reform. The comments and video describe an unintended consequence of bail reform in the … [Read more...]
A Dark Triad Test to identify Psychopaths.
As you may know from a previous blog, I've been working on a book about the crimes and havoc committed by some people I knew with the Dark Triad personalities of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Here's a Dark Triad test that's available on line. I can't attest to its reliability or validity (two key aspects of any psych test). However, look at the 36 item questionnaire and let me know what you think. If you go ahead and take it, you do so at you own risk. You might find … [Read more...]
Bullies – how to respond to all sorts
Bullies come in all sorts of guises - from deceptively lightweight cyberbullies to the heavyweight Vladimir Putins and Xi Jinping's of this world. My friend and guest blogger today, Alain Gunn, has thought through the ways of how to respond to all sorts of bullies. Here's his essay on managing bullies. Bullies - how to respond to all sorts. How do you stop a bully? There are only two ways to do it: Convince the bully of the error of his ways Find a Bigger, Better … [Read more...]
Appearances can be deceiving – President Kennedy’s health
As a '60s liberal, I swallowed whole the storyline about our new president, John F. Kennedy. If appearances could be trusted, he was young, vigorous, and courageous (rescuing a fellow sailor in WWII.) Just the man to usher in the so-called Camelot years. I was a high school junior with a surgically repaired cleft-lip-and palate, finally able to talk without tell-tale nasality. But I'd been restricted from PE thru middle-school and from competitive sports during high school. Thus, I … [Read more...]
Thoughts about “Clarice,” spinoff from “The Silence of the Lambs.”
I managed to catch the 2nd episode of the "Clarice" series recently. It channeled the Waco cult situation, also known as the Waco, Texas massacre. That was the controversial law enforcement siege of a compound that belonged to the Branch Davidian religious cult. In the 2nd episode, Clarice deals with Novak, the leader of a secessionist militia group, hoping to avoid the debacle that happened when the Waco cult compound caught fire during the G-men's … [Read more...]