Southwest PA Self-defense Network Blog

  Review of Alternatives to Domestic Violence; A Homework Manual for Battering Intervention Groups  by Kevin Fall and Shareen Howard This was an usual read for me as it is actually  a work book for adult male abusers involved in a ( usually ) court mandated batterers group.  The book assumes one thing - that batters and abuses can change if they are willing to put in the work.  It progress from one topic to another in increasing complexity.  The book starts off with the expected introductions over " Why are you here" and " what can be expected" with a good chapter on Myths and realities of a group. There are 14 chapters and the chapters are centered around a power and control topic the abusers is supposed to utilize to look inward and adjust their thinking and behavior.  Chapter topics are pretty in depth such as Negotiating a Partnership Trust Relationships, Giving and Receiving Respect, Taking Responsibility for Yourself, Positive Sexual Relationship...

 Holy Spider ( 2022)  11-12-23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugq_aTKMh4U https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18550140/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Holy%2520Spi I just finished watching Holy Spider, an Iran based crime drama based on the true life serial killer  Saeed Hanaei (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Hanaei ).  This was a great movie which showed the attempts by an Iranian Journalist to investigate and uncover the truth about the string of prostitutes death in a smaller city in Iran. The killer ends up with 16 victims and in the end claims to be doing Allah's work cleansing the world of the evil women.  Unlike American made movies, this focused a lot more on the journalist efforts in making connections, talking to people rather than the exploits and and showing of the crimes.  Although the movie does shows the crimes and a brief but graphic oral sex scene at the beginning, they are tame compared to American fare.  The journalist has to navigate ...