A hell of a lot, actually — It’s nothing short of miraculous that large-scale societies function as smoothly as they do. You will never meet almost every person you call your fellow citizen. You might barely even know many of your neighbors or colleagues. And yet, homicide rates in large, technologically advanced societies are far smaller than…

An ethical thought experiment for all times — For fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the story of Gyges’s ring is a familiar tale: A ring that makes the person who wears it invisible frees the wearer to commit unspeakable acts without accountability, eventually corrupting the wearer’s soul. But the story of this magical ring wasn’t…

UPDATED: Discussing the origins of Wood’s allegations, relevance to the Depp v. Heard defamation case, and statements made by alleged victims who aren’t victims. — The Hollywood #MeToo bandwagon has shifted its gears from Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and Johnny Depp toward shock-rock singer and performer, Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Warner). Another high-profile and ruinous sex abuse allegation playing out in court. …

“No one should get used to their rights. Predicting with certainty which ones, if any, will go, or when, is impossible.” — Mary R. Ziegler, legal historian The Supreme Court has spoken: there will be no consequences for cops who brutalize the citizenry and no justice for the victims of…

We might ask who taught them to be abusive. — I can understand why some people might want to “defund the police”. I think we could do better, and I’m not sure that defunding the police will help. I think we could retrain the police. I also think we could get them into parenting classes, relationship classes, and gun safety…

Suffering in Silence — I read something in the Dallas Morning News today that had me thinking. A Corporal Mark Force (interesting last name, no?) was arrested on Wednesday while he was off duty. His possible crime? Domestic abuse. …

What a complete crap show — Yes. I have been following the trials since day one. Entirely. And yes, I do think it’s a shit show. …

Imagination paves the way for disinformation. — The psychology of disinformation is more important now than ever. Our fates literally depend on how we navigate the information landscape. …

You might have heard about weaponized incompetence, but what about weaponized ignorance? Earlier this year, there was a TikTok trend on weaponized incompetence. It was about men trying to avoid housework. Women listed examples of their loved ones f*cking things up and called this behavior strategic. But I am not here to make any judgments on that. I would like to talk…

“No way I am going to write about this” — but then I listened to Johnny Depp and decided to do it. It was painful to watch the hearing. I was sad to see a broken man. One can only imagine what Depp went through, but after hearing his version of the story, I tend to believe him. But I am also hesitant to take sides with him. It’s not that I…

The last time I sued the Louisville Metro Jail, I got to question the former director extensively. He was a real character, sort of like if Jerry Bruckheimer and Vince McMahon co-conceived a tough-but-fair police chief for a movie about a heist at the Kentucky Derby or something. I asked…

Pedro Barbosa almost went to prison for fifteen years. But he was lucky enough to have been represented by veteran Brooklyn public defender Scott Hechinger. “I met Mr. Barbosa in the way I meet all the people I represent — at his arraignment, within twenty-four hours after his arrest,” says…

Revealing study results show toxic mothers blame everyone else when a child cuts ties with them, while the child disagrees completely — If you are familiar with blogs and articles about what to do if you are involved with a toxic individual, you are aware that the most common advice given is to cut all ties with the narcissist. Although this can seem like extreme advice, when dealing with a toxic narcissist…

Sometimes it can seem as if narcissists possess such extraordinary manipulation skills they appear to bend reality to their will. This is made painfully clear when they inflict harm on someone and, astonishingly, escape accountability by flipping the script and blaming the person they’ve wronged. Narcissists are expert at erasing the pain they cause from the narrative. …

She will never get her innocence back. — I was doing fine. I felt like my life was slowly starting to turn around and I could see some of the positives that had come out of the most difficult situation I had ever found myself in. It had been 8 months since my abusive relationship had ended. For…

Gratitude and prosperity gospel corrupt our souls. — Joel Osteen doesn’t drive a ferrari. More accurately, there’s no definitive proof that Joel Osteen drives a $350,000 458 italia. Online rumors started circulating that he did, but they turned out to be unconfirmed. …

A Demonstration on Police Accountability in D.C. occurred with no mainstream media interest — #ImpactedFamilies Saturday, August 28th, 2021, hundreds of families showed up to Washington D.C. demanding justice for their family members and loved ones who were shot, killed, and murdered by police with zero accountability from police and civic institutions. So many impacted families. Many might not know, but there is always a…