Southwest PA Self-defense Network Blog

  Our justice system is set up so there are two options  - restitution where the criminal and the victim agree on some standard of making it right and state imposed punishment or rehabilitation.  I wish to focus on the later. Although it sees like a nice idea, let's toss out the idea of rehabilitation. It doesn't happen and only naive, pollyannaish views believe that it does. So let's focus on punishment.  We have set up in our country a system of laws where, if someone does something there is a prescribe outcome of punishment, whether it be jail time or fines, which if unpaid, eventually lead to jail time.   At some point in time, law makers have prescribed those jail times...two days, a month, a year, 10 years, 25 to life, life without parole, etc.   Sometimes these times are set in the legal terms.. " a misdemeanor punishable by not less that X days in jail " and sometimes the judge can set those terms.  And some point in time we have set ...

 In Context: Understanding Police Killings of Unarmed Civilians by Nick Selby, Ben Singleton, Ed Flosi 437 pages c2016 This book was an interesting but tough read. Not because of gruesome details but statistics and more statistics !  The book was based on a research project of StreetCred Software - The StreetCred Police Killings In Conext (PKIC) for incidents in 2015.  They examined 153 cases that fit the parameters of unarmed civilians killed by police or that died while in police custody.  The study collected information and then broke down all kinds of demographics such as age, race, were narcotics involved, what was the prior information, what did the officers do, etc.  They spent a fair amount of time explaining what criteria they used to include or exclude and what sources they pulled from. The last section of the book they analyzed all 153 cases broken down by month, an amazing catalog.  The book did not present an agenda just a careful analysis of w...

  Review of The Strangers 2008 To put it bluntly, this is a great movie for all the ways to NOT do good self-defense. A husband and wife ( and later the brother ) are at a family home in a fairly isolated area. The movie recounts a harrowing and terrifying night for the couple with lots of drama, fear, jump scares and all the usual makings of a bad guy, home invasion type movie. Halloween, this isn't.  There are so many failures in this movie and here are a few. 1. In the beginning of the movie, it is 4:00 in the morning, the couple has returned from a party after a bad argument and they are tired, worn and emotionally raw.  " KNOCK" on the door.  They both look at each other like...Who could that be ?  They go to the door and open it. No checking around, no peephole and the porch light is out that was on a few minutes ago. The young girl says " Is Tamara here?" in a halting, slow to respond voice. When they say no, she says... " I'll be seeing you...

This is an editorial that crossed my path while researching pacifism and self-defense. My words are in red.   https://ndcatholic.org/yourresources/editorials/column0319/ About Take Action Resources Deadly Force Can Rarely be Justified by Christopher Dodson Executive Director North Dakota Catholic Conference March 2019 For the second consecutive legislative session, the North      Dakota Legislative Assembly has considered legislation to expand when a person can use deadly force against another. Proponents call these proposals “stand your ground” laws. Some law enforcement officials call them “shoot to kill” bills. ( Sure, maybe some liberal police chief somewhere stated this but d oubtful this is true representation of most law enforcement.)   As in 2017, the latest bill was defeated, but the margin was narrow. Both bills would have allowed the use of deadly force to protect theft of property, even if no life was threatened. (Not a fan of using deadly ...

  Review of Guilty by Reason of Insanity by Dorothy Otnow 338pg , c1998 This was a very hard book to read. The author does a good job of recounting her interactions with really sick people. She does the usual telling of her history of getting into psychiatry and what changed and how it affected her outlook, etc.  She doesn't give solid dates of this or that but you get the sense this was during the 70's and beyond because she referenced the rise of Sybil and 3 Faces of Eve.  She intertwines her personal growth and life, the persons she interviews, the courts and the state of belief in multiple personality disorder. Although heavily accepted today split personality or DID was disregarded back then and it's adoption was slow in coming. Even the author was skeptical until she came face to face with some one who had alters.  The author has 4 or 5 case studies that highlight the points and experiences she had with them. The hard part to read was the horrific abuse that th...

  When I first started the book, I had high hopes for it. Although it stated from the outset that it was a semi-expose on the dysfunctional culture of the CIA I was hoping for more ' interesting ' stuff.  Like most biographies, he details his time in the Marines, his life before the CIA, how he joined, some of the recruitment, advice he was given and overall thoughts on directions his life took....Getting married, having kids.  He does a good job of highlighting the main part of the book - CIA dysfunction.  The culture within the CIA is one of risk aversion so you don't lose your job or get stuck for years in some dead in, cubicle in a basement somewhere; layers of management that have to approve any type of meeting or outreach; slowness on even getting things approved or reviewed. For example, being a YEAR behind in having current paychecks.  The book details meetings, moving to other countries, trainings, turf battles, who pissed off who.  Although critic...

Because I have an interest in women's rights issue and self-determination I wanted to watch this to see how things were presented and I was not disappointed. It was eye opening on a number of levels.  It presented a brief history of the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia and how it went from no driving allowed to the repeal of the dreaded Guardianship. Guardianship rules set the idea that Saudi women would need permission to do certain things like drive or travel outside of the country.  The issue of driving was both a civil rights and women's empowerment issue and in some areas was a point of civil disobedience. Several women drivers were arrested and branded as traitors.  In time, the King overturned the No Driving Rule and allowed for women to drive and it gave rise to the largest driving school in the world. Over 700 female instructors were on staff to teach women from all over Saudi Arabia.  Some notable points: - The cities are fully modern and most signs a...