Posts

The horrible sex registry system

Image
 I am reprinting this because I am an opponent of the sex registry system and plan to write about it someday!  In the meantime, this woman's story will have to do!  I think we I get to Hilo I will be able to kick this blog into gear...(Or not.) My Son is No Sex Offender But like hundreds of thousands, he is unjustly trapped on the registry. Carol Nesteikis Oct 13 My 33-year-old son, Adam, is a registered sex offender in the state of Illinois. Because of this, our entire family exists in the netherworld of the registry. The federal laws mandating a publicly available sex-offender registry were passed in the mid-1990s with the purpose of notifying communities about “sexually violent predators” living in their neighborhoods. But my son is not violent nor is he a predator. My son was convicted of a single, non-violent misdemeanor. He was never in trouble before, and he’s never been in trouble since. There are around  900,000 people in the U.S. on the registry , and you don’t reach such
Post a Comment
Read more

Believe the women?

Ed. note:  This was originally published right after Tara Reid's accusation against Biden in my "catch-all" blog.  I thought I should bring it to this more focused blog, as it is on point.  I've been super busy and just have no time to blog. But, I'm gonna! Originally—back in the 70s when I was working in Santa Cruz Women Against Rape—I totally bought into the "believe the women" or "believe the children" mantra as so many women and children were not heard or believed when they reported sexual assault. But, then, I kept reading. And realized that attitude of belief without proof was leading us down a horrible, unjust path for many accused people (generally men, but sometimes women). My conclusion: there has to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or we feminists are THE problem. And the longer the time between the event and the accusations, the more we need to be skeptical of the accusation due to the reality of memory (which, according to all m
Post a Comment
Read more

By the way, Woody Allen is Innocent

I believe that it is stupid to spend a lot of time writing something if someone else has made the case.  This is that situation. I have known for decades—because I paid attention—that Woody Allen is innocent of the charge of sexually abusing his daughter, Dylan.  A filmmaker has made the case in a documentary entitled—yes— By the Way, Woody Allen is Innocent .  If you don't believe it, I know one of two things about you with a certainty (and most likely both)  One, you don't really know anything about the case.  Or, you don't know much, if anything, about memory science and the ease of creating false memories. So, if you believe he is guilty, watch it and you will learn about both of the things I mention above! If after watching it, you still don't believe that he is innocent - by all means, let's talk!
Post a Comment
Read more

Damn!

 Damn! I DO want to write my blog but things just are getting in my way. Like I went on a diet on August 1(just so I didn't have to buy new clothes as I had no pants that fit.) And so I have been hungry since August 1st. It turns out it is very hard for me to do thinking while hungry. Leslie says she is always hungry, and that doesn't stop her! Well, maybe I would get used to it but I have dropped the weight, so I will no longer have this excuse. Part of my problem is that there is so much I want to write about and I can't settle down on the next one (so this is the next one.) After getting requested feedback from some Republican friends, I want to redo my last post about the rational reasons people will vote for Trump, much as I find their narratives wrong-headed. But I thought that, first, I should do a series of posts on how are brains really aren't good for this moment in time. A blog on narrative construction, which rules us all, should come probably come first. An
Post a Comment
Read more

Introduction

 Welcome to my new blog! There will be three general themes. First, I left facebook because I truly hated the inability to create any kind of nuance in any discussion of anything that mattered. Memes and black-and-white thinking ruled, to the determent of reasoned, respectful conversation in which contrary viewpoints were welcome - in which areas of gray mattered.  So, I hope to write pieces intended to persuade, but am perfectly happy for disagreement as long as it is in the gray spirit! Second, the last several years, I have also become starkly aware that our gray matter sucks. That is, our brains are really poor at many things including, but certainly not limited to, weighing evidence, weighing risk, understanding our own biases, making rational decisions and   hundreds of other of cognitive biases . Beyond that, our memories suck too—they are chock-full of inaccuracies and confabulations. So when people say, "I don't see how people can vote for Trump"—I do. It's b
2 comments
Read more

Rethinking Wills and Estates

Who are you giving money to in your will? Children, if you have them? Perhaps grandchildren or nieces and nephews? Hey, maybe even some friends? A little to charity? In America—and most of the world—it is assumed (and it is law if you pass intestate—i.e. without a will) that you should give the lion's share of your estate to your kin, your heirs. The huge problem for American inequality is this proclivity replicates—and increases—the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots over time. Right now, white America has ten times the wealth of Black and Latinx families and thirty times the wealth of Native communities. And, it's rising: the wealth gap has doubled since 1989.  This is because our entire economic system works towards maintaining and extending the wealth to the haves—which is primarily white America.* It's past time, of course, to close the gap. Needless to say, to do so will require a large change in public policy. Here is a long—but not exhaustive—list of t
3 comments
Read more