This is my third post in a series of ruminations about lethal force. Part 1 discussed the basics of what might or might not be self defense, and in Part 2 I discussed how participants and witnesses report and distort what happens, and in this part, I'll be exploring how the news gets out, and what we do with it.NewsIn most cases of lethal force, not only do we not know … [Read more...] about Thinking About Lethal Force – Part 3
Not the Norks
In response to threats apparently coming from hackers in North Korea, Sony pictures has withdrawn their movie The Interview from a Christmas release. Several major theater chains had already backed out, and Sony seems to have given in, possibly after being weakened by the earlier release of hacked proprietary data.I've already made it pretty clear in a different context … [Read more...] about Not the Norks
Some Tortured Thoughts
Well, the CIA torture report is out. And for the record, it's pretty depressing that I now live in the kind of country that has a torture report.I'd heard about some of this stuff before, but some of the details are shocking. The rectal feeding, for example, is not a normal medical procedure, and using that route to get nutrition into the body is inefficient. It seems to … [Read more...] about Some Tortured Thoughts
My Photography Day Bag
Original photography has been a part of this blog for almost ten years. If you've met me in real life, then probably at some point you've seem me carrying around my camera bag. I thought some of my readers -- especially other amateur photographers interested in the kind of photos I take -- might find it interesting to see what I've been carrying around all that time.The … [Read more...] about My Photography Day Bag
Believing Victims
In the Washington Post, Zerlina Maxwell insists that, despite the way the UVA fraternity gang rape story seems to be falling apart, when it comes to accusations of rape: In important ways, this is wrong. We should believe, as a matter of default, what an accuser says. Ultimately, the costs of wrongly disbelieving a survivor far outweigh the costs of calling someone a … [Read more...] about Believing Victims