The General Blog of Crime

This is actually, to my surprise, an interesting a...

2012-02-09T17:08:07.825-05:00

This is actually, to my surprise, an interesting article that is not the same vanilla stuff. It really stears away from the brutality argument - prisons are immoral because they are brutal. That natural extension of that argument is build and manage prisons that are less brutal. He takes on a more fundamental premise...that the very concept of prison is immoral.

I appreciate but disagree profoundly with the premise of this. That said, very thought provoking.

Good lord...

2012-01-29T22:31:51.847-05:00

Good lord...

Besides this article, interesting, this story has ...

2012-01-23T14:56:38.641-05:00

Besides this article, interesting, this story has not resonated at all locally. There is a even more interesting twist to this story. The forced abortion was part of court order. The forced sterilization was an afterthought put in by the Judge - it was NOT even requested as part of the original court proceedings by the woman's family. As reported, no one even knew that was part of the court order except the judge. This judge retired right before this story broke. There is no indication either way if she was motivated to retire based on this case.

I suspect the forced abortion will not/cannot result in murder charges. The family was given custody of her - I can only assume part of that process was that she did not have the capacity to make decisions for herself. As such, I assume they had the legal authority to make this and other medical decisions for her. Can you imagine, the Judge’s orders indicating they can lie to her to get her to the hospital so the procedures can be done? As yet another twist, my recollection of the story is that her mental health problems were made worse because she stopped taking psychotropic drugs when she found out she was pregnant. As her symptoms got worse, her family was given custody. But her withdrawal from the medication apparently was to protect the baby, which she clearly wanted before she started down this path. Simply amazing case. Even more amazing, I have heard nothing about this case in the local media since I posted this!

Oh my gosh! I am asking this in all earnestness a...

2012-01-23T14:44:48.556-05:00

Oh my gosh!

I am asking this in all earnestness and sincerity: are there grounds to charge this judge with conspiracy to commit murder? If the Indiana woman who attempted suicide while pregnant was charged with murder, why not this judge?

This is really unfathomable. Thanks for sharing this, Scoob!

One of the biggest problems with the student loan ...

2012-01-18T11:56:19.126-05:00

One of the biggest problems with the student loan system is that it is constructed in a way that makes it impossible to pay back loans. First of all, there needs to be more checks and balances when it comes to signing off on student loan "awards." When you're buying a home or a car, you have to do more than just sign a promissary note. That's where I got in trouble. I thought getting my education was the most important thing in my life at the time so I took what I could get. I came from a middle-to-low income family. My single mother couldn't contribute to my education so I needed enough to go to school and pay for books and sometimes housing even though I worked at the same time. I definitely made some mistakes by borrowing too much. But now that I am in this situation -- as are so many others -- the biggest problem I see is with the interest rates. The fact that interest rates for many are 6% or more is ridiculous. You could get a car or home loan for much less. I strongly believe there should be a cap at 2%. I realize it's a business -- fine, that's life -- but when it comes down to opportunity and equality that's class warfare. Why should the same degree that my classmate cost me $200,000 more in interest? Plus, if you come into some sort of hardship (hello, recession) and ask for a forbearance, the interest still accrues on your student loan. So say you have $100k outstanding, about $500 in interest gets lopped on top of the principal until you end the forbearance. It makes it impossible for a person to get out of that situation. I'm happy to pay what I owe, my fair share - but by golly, don't make it so I can never get out of the hole.

i think that what happened to the teacher gives us...

2012-01-03T06:24:14.403-05:00

i think that what happened to the teacher gives us lessons in life. never overdrunk.

www.newbodyarmor.blogspot.com

i think that what happened to the teacher gives us...

2012-01-03T06:23:48.469-05:00

i think that what happened to the teacher gives us lessons in life. never overdrunk.

inspiring post :) http://www.femalebodyarmor.blogspot.com/

WOW, what a eye-opening letter. Yes, I too believe...

2011-12-11T16:46:01.649-05:00

WOW, what a eye-opening letter. Yes, I too believe that the Penn-State rioters acted disgusting and should be ashamed of themselves. I believe there actions told the world young children being raped is ok, and a coach is more important. Your letter puts into words how many people are feeling. Hopefully, this perspective effects at least one rioter.

I love your post, it is really inspiring! you ma...

2011-12-08T04:00:34.951-05:00

I love your post, it is really inspiring!

you may also want to check www.bulletproofvestshop.com to get the best deals on police body armor and accessories!

This is a great post. I would love to take your cl...

2011-11-28T13:01:15.145-05:00

This is a great post. I would love to take your class!!

It might not be that complicated. There might be ...

2011-11-20T13:30:06.569-05:00

It might not be that complicated. There might be a better "built in excuse" that otherwise would not be applicable. Two males in a male locker room and/or shower is not so inherently wrong. Thus the built in excuses are more acceptable. Ther eis more of an acceptance it is wrong now but this is a relatively new development. People want to believe this would not be done so the seemingly obvious excuses seem to work.

Looks like someone's been reading the GBOC -- this is my exact argument!

Thank you. This letter says exactly what I have be...

2011-11-12T09:53:36.070-05:00

Thank you. This letter says exactly what I have been feeling as I watch the news. All I keep asking is...what about the victims. Where is there voice in any of the news commentary? Why isn't anyone speaking up for them and the long term struggles they will have to come to terms with what has happened to them. I say come to terms, so they can move on and have a normal life because the reality of being raped will never go away. It is a ghost...ever present in the shadows.

Other interesting discussions on the PSU case and ...

2011-11-12T09:28:38.580-05:00

Other interesting discussions on the PSU case and gender over at _Tenured Radical_ @ http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/tenuredradical/2011/11/1401/ and _Historiann_ @ http://www.historiann.com/2011/11/10/brief-thoughts-on-penn-state/

Doc Hos

Blogger ate my earlier post! It went something lik...

2011-11-11T16:20:21.808-05:00

Blogger ate my earlier post! It went something like this:

I LOVED your post, ShockProf, but I get your point too, Scoob. It doesn't make the student protests any less tone-deaf or douchey, but I hear what you're saying about their actions being more about misguided/misdirected grief than outright denouncement of the victims. Still, it sure comes across that way to outsiders...

Part 2: Some dimension of what you are seeing at ...

2011-11-11T09:47:01.666-05:00

Part 2:

Some dimension of what you are seeing at PSU (not all of it, but some small part) is such profound grieving that I suspect they cannot even articulate. Being naïve means that it is so hard to accept profound betrayal from the one area of stability and purity that seems to be bigger than anything else. People love this guy, I mean love him in deep and personal ways. It makes no sense I understand this, but for many in the PSU community, that is what JoePa represented. The grandfather, the priest, the confidant that was the Beacon of purity in an otherwise chaotic world. This is not to be melodramatic. This is serious grieving. But they also need to recognize, this grieving is pale into comparison to the damage to these victims. One of the hardest things in life is to come to terms with deep betrayal. How many mothers refuse to accept their husbands rape their children? They cannot accept the betrayal - it is something they cannot comprehend.

It is hard for me to write this because I support his firing and now put him a half-step above Sandusky. But to polarize a “we versus them” idea does little to recognize the depth of the hurt and pain caused by this sadistic set of events.
Ok, let the bashing of my comments begin!

Part 1: (Sorry, these long posts WILL stop soon):...

2011-11-11T09:46:36.502-05:00

Part 1: (Sorry, these long posts WILL stop soon):
It is nearly impossible to disagree with really any of the sentiments expressed here. In reality, like many mass demonstration situations, there are also just trouble makers out there in the world who like to add fuel to any fire. Also we should remember, the media likes to portray stories in a way that creates a lot of buzz. I suspect those crowds in UnHappy Family had very diverse agendas.
This all said, I will attempt to offer up a small voice of support for their actions. This is quite ironic because I generally feel that little sympathy or support for much of what college students protest about. That said, I generally am not impressed with the level of thoughtfulness that goes into student protests. One thing that has struck me in recent years, particularly at it relates to this Occupy movement and the involvement of young people therein, is that college students desperately want something and someone to believe in. A good part of being in college, being educated, and being young with typically very few serious responsibilities is to be naïve. Being naïve is really healthy – it gives young people a fresh perspective on life – without the same baggage that us old people have.
As a Penn State alum, as a very serious Catholic, as a person who is very serious about politics – I am left wondering after the last decade, can we really believe in anything anymore? We have collectively been let down in such profound ways by people we looked up, people we believed in, people that inspired us. Take Bernie Madoff – I mean, this guy was deeply connected to the Jewish community, to the philanthropy community – they believed in him because he was key to helping them achieve their life dreams. John Edwards was someone so much bigger than a political candidate to some – we want peole to believe in so bad – like the good ole’ days when we had icons. In some very small way (please, I really understand this is problematic) to support Joe Paterno is not to abandon the victims. This really is like a process of profound grieving – to believe that Penn State, Joe Paterno, the President, the Board of Trustees (which should now be dissolved) did what they did is to believe that just about everything in life is a lie. PSU has a mentality, they could lose but at least they had JoePa – he was bigger than the institution. To my dad, priests were the one safe haven in an otherwise sordid, evil world. We couldn’t sleep over friends’ houses, but we could do anywhere with a Priest. Priests were it; the Church was it. Purity at its best. It was devastating in ways very few either non-Catholics or non-religious people can grasp – to be so seriously betrayed by the Church and/or priests is shattering in such profound ways. For some in the PSU community, the denial will take time. JoePa could never, would never betray children, the community, the institution of college athletics like this – it simply is not possible in their minds.

Bravo.

2011-11-11T08:23:32.266-05:00

Bravo.

Great letter! You hit the nail on the head! These ...

2011-11-11T06:30:06.541-05:00

Great letter! You hit the nail on the head! These men, especially Paterno and McQueary, could have stopped a predator years ago. They could have been the heroes of the day and created an even more important legacy for themselves. Instead they will be seen as accomplices in the eyes of many. Shame on them all and shame on the rioters for not realizing what is actually happening.

Fantastic post.

2011-11-10T21:23:17.361-05:00

Fantastic post.

"Think back to what you were doing when you w...

2011-11-10T21:22:18.938-05:00

"Think back to what you were doing when you were 10." Worrying about book reports, organizing my stationery, teaching our gerbils tricks, just beginning to learn how to flirt. I cannot get my mind around it - to think that someone came in, witnessed that, and left. Just left.

A great letter and I hope many will read it and co...

2011-11-10T21:21:37.293-05:00

A great letter and I hope many will read it and consider it carefully. I was so disappointed by the responses of PSU students but I also believe those students protesting did not represent the majority of students at the University.

It appears to me that students are often encourage...

2011-11-03T14:53:14.478-04:00

It appears to me that students are often encouraged to look at the findings section in research papers before glancing at a description of the chosen methodology. Students often feel the need to pad their essays with research that justify their argument, without a critique of the research that ends up in their words cited list. Upon seeing a gap in the literature, i.e: no data has been collected for the past 30 years, perhaps scholars interested in that topic should take it upon themselves to collect such statistical information...or at least comment on why there is a gap. thanks for the post, very interesting.

www.neverfillthebucket.com

This is yet another example of the Squirrelism tha...

2011-11-03T08:29:12.451-04:00

This is yet another example of the Squirrelism that runs so rampant in our society today. I will never run from nor be ashamed of my inner squirrel. Am I Scooby at my core? Yes, but I will not be bound by traditional Avatar stereotypes that the "man" (or woman as is the case) forces down on me. I am not some lazy-squirrel living on the public dole, I am a working squirrel. Look at the sexy coat, the sophisticated hat...I am a working squirrel. Just a squirrel looking for my nut....Something I will never be ashamed of.

I am not sure what is more funny - considering if my comments have merit given my Avatar, or telling this to someone named "Scooby" and implying that a Scooby-Doo avatar would give more street cred!

Now back to the far less entertaining task of grading graduate research papers. Ugh!