Self-Defense & Violence Prevention Blog

news and commentary about security, self-defense, and topics like violent crime prevention and bullying

Archive for ‘Politics & Commentary’ Category

How Israelis Secure Airports Without Seeing You Naked

Michael Totten wrote an interesting article in the New York Post about airport security based on personal experience. I’m sure you have heard about the recent uproar in the United States about the Transportation Security Administration’s new procedure to use a machine to essentially see people naked or, if people refuse the machine, to actually… Read More

Death Penalty Facts

I created this blog several years ago to do my part in reducing the amount of violent victimization in society, such as murder, rape, battery and so forth. Unfortunately, sometimes murder is committed by the governments that we want to protect us. I remember the story of a teenage girl who was stoned to death… Read More

Another Danger of Prostitution Prohibition: AIDS

Just like with the historical prohibition of alcohol and the ongoing prohibition of drugs, I think prohibition of prostitution not only fails to prevent or reduce the occurrence of prostitution but greatly exacerbates the problems associated with it. Nationwide, the war on prostitution costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually. I’m not sure of the accuracy… Read More

Lockdown, USA, and How Drug Laws Increase Violence

A gentleman contacted me from Article 19 Films, who produce socially responsible documentary features. He told me about a documentary called Lockdown, USA that they recently released. It chronicles Hip-Hop impresario Russell Simmons’ campaign to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the controversial New York State laws created in 1973, which became the foundation to the… Read More

Comments and Stories about False Accusations

In 2006, I made a blog post about The Danger of False Accusations. In it, I explained that I believe that sometimes false accusations of sexual victimization can be more damaging than sexual victimization itself. More importantly, I explained why I believe activists must work together to simultaneously reduce both the prevalence of false accusations… Read More

Two Books about Violence in Society

I just finished reading the descriptions of about 20 or so books about violent crime and criminology. Two of the books seemed especially interesting to me. I hope to read them both soon. (Of course, I have a long list of books that I want to read, so it takes me a while to get… Read More

“Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Y. Davis

Last night, I finished reading the book Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis, which someone had recommended to me after I wrote a short article about why I think society does not need prisons. The book was not what I had expected, but I still like it very much. Rather than speculate on alternatives… Read More

U.S. Incarcerates Most Non-Violent Offenders

I just read a good article by Adam Rink in which he says that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world because the country puts so many people in prison for non-violent offenses. He also mentions mandatory sentencing and three strikes policies. According to his statistics, over half of the prisoners… Read More

Sex Slavery

After finishing the book, Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre-Feminist, Anarchist, Genius, I wrote a blog post: The Continued Subjugation of Women in Society If you liked that blog post, you can check out the essay from the book that inspired it: “Sex Slavery” by Voltairine de Cleyre In the essay, which I… Read More