We all know that women are not treated well in many of the world’s countries, but I found this story about the status of women in South Sudan so poignant I have to share it. Women there as you might surmise are married as early as possible The government passed a law 8 years ago outlawing marriage before the age of 18, but the law is not enforced and in rural areas, it makes no sense to villagers. Wealth in measured in cows, and women bring cows as bride price. A woman is usually worth 20 to 40 cows, and an attractive woman who is seen as fertile, can bring up to 200 cows. There is no escape from this fate, only 7% of girls finish elementary school, 2% finish high school. As easily deduced education is Continue reading “The Women of South Sudan”
Category: Freedom
Hacked E-Mails, Leaks and Transparency
Are we enabling hackers? Every time someone is hacked, not only is the fact known, but what is hacked is made public. Sure the gossipy part of us reads what Colin Powell had to say about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. But do we actually need to know what he said? Is that truly newsworthy? What cause has been advanced? The ratings of certain news outlets or the voyeuristic part of us? Same thing when Sony was hacked a while back. Careers were lost over it, but was it necessary for us to know what celebrity Continue reading “Hacked E-Mails, Leaks and Transparency”
Private Companies Delivering Public Services
The idea of contracting public services to private companies which operate them at a profit needs to be reevaluated. Several articles have been published recently documenting how they operate. Mother Jones had a long article about private prisons, where a reporter worked as a guard for four months in order to research it. The horrors of that prison in Louisiana shocked me not because of their nature, I had read about them before, but because Continue reading “Private Companies Delivering Public Services”
Implicit Bias
Implicit bias refers to beliefs that unconsciously drive decisions and behavior. They obviously become part of what lies behind racism. As far as the judicial system goes, racist behavior has been studied with juries, judges and prosecutors, those who put people away. Now there is growing awareness that this can be extended to public defenders as well. They apparently spend less time with defendants of color. Implicit bias is exacerbated by stress, exhaustion and speed, three of the things that affect public defenders. It’s not only the amount of time a public defender may spend with a defendant, implicit bias can affect Continue reading “Implicit Bias”