Over two years ago, the flood gates of the #MeToo movement starkly revealed the predation, bias and discrimination women still face in workplaces. The first accusations against Harvey Weinstein transformed a small hashtag enterprise started by a lone black woman into #meToo today...and helped bring about Bombshell. In the movie Nicole Kidman plays former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, and Charlize Theron portrays superstar anchor and personality, Megyn Kelly. Margot Robbie is a … [Read more...]
Plea bargains, Prisons, Parole — an after-your-arrest Tutorial with Boston Strangler tie in.
Am close to finishing my latest book, Privileged Killers, where I take plea bargains and parole board decisions to task. These are two phenomena that've dictated court and corrections culture for years. Hopefully this tutorial will help writers, criminology students, true-crime fans, and others understand these topics. Plea bargains are a win-win often. Suspects get to plead guilty to doing something less serious than what they've done in all likelihood. The joke is it's like copping to … [Read more...]
Crime – Serial Killer Myths – Scientific American mag’s truth – Tutorial II
Hope you were able to check out the first in a number of tutorials I'm writing about serial killer myths. Check back for others from time to time. If you're a writer of a true-crime books as I am, you may need to brush up, as I do, on your serial killer IQ. The same may be true for criminology students or anyone interested in what science can tell us about these most-heinous of criminals. Unfortunately, a lot of our general knowledge concerning serial murder is a product of … [Read more...]
Could AI fight cyberbullying or ID suicidal depressives?
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...]
Cleft Joaquin Phoenix strikes again – Joker.
Evil teaches us to livE: — this anadrome** comes to mind when I think of cleft Joaquin Phoenix — the fictional miserable life of Batman's Joker generates evil — the real "miserable life" of Phoenix generates great art about evil and good. What comes to mind re the movie Joker is less relevant: another star vehicle for Phoenix the biggest-grossing October launch ever, $90 million in first 2 days a "scary movie" with tons of violence that's forced many theaters to hire cops … [Read more...]
Beauty Queen Killers – Known and Unknown – Crime Tutorial
Maybe you're an author writing about JonBenet Ramsey, a little "beauty queen" whose murder is still unsolved. Or you're writing about grown-up queens who've been murdered, like the ones featured in podcasts and 24/7 crime shows. Well, here's a tutorial that might help you flesh out some details in an article or book you're writing. It's about a few of the deets about both a known killer and an unknown one. Known and Unknown Beauty Queen Killers There are a few books about the known "Beauty … [Read more...]
College admission scandal. Now, waiting for the Loughlin shoe to drop.
A quick update in the long broiling college admission scandal. The Huffman shoe has dropped in the scandal. See my Varsity Blues blog about this when the case broke. The Sentence. A judge just sentenced actress Felicity Huffman to 14 days behind bars in a federal prison, a $30,000 fine, one year of supervised release, and 250 hours of community service. For more about what went down today in Boston, go here. Celebs (Huffman in ctr) in college admission scandal. My take on the … [Read more...]