On the subject of impatience. || The sound of flanging. || Fashion statement. || Today’s word is influencer. || Cliffhanger. || We will catch you. || How to clean your particle accelerator with a ferret. || Not his first rodeo. || Requires more rubbing. || Just think of it as recycling. || Truck driver of note. || That come-hither look. || An I, Claudius reunion. Related. || But lady, you are not “Augustus” with “he/him pronouns.” || It had spring-loaded hammers and “clicky action.” || “A flawless cubic centimetre of glass can withstand 10 tons of pressure.” || Journalism professor wants children to see lots of adult “trans dick.” || The genteel glamour of air-travel. || She doesn’t trust you. || Seventeen something. || See, gender was affirmed. (NSFW) || There are 10,000 foxes living in London. || And finally, today’s other word is comeuppance.

Should you be tempted, you can follow me on X / Twitter.

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Speaking of crime and punishment, here’s a thread on prison and recidivism.

In short, we’re told – by a civil rights lawyer who claims that “cops and prisons are killing us all” – that neither custodial sanctions nor more lenient attempts at correction have much impact on rates of reoffending. This is then presented, by the same lawyer, as a reason not to imprison the predatory and murderous, who are apparently deserving of our sympathy. Unlike, one assumes, their numerous victims, and future victims.

And so, we arrive at the strange logic that if a person has been arrested many times for behaving like an animal, many times, and has consequently, belatedly, ended up in prison, thereby allowing the law-abiding some relief from his predation, then this is a bad thing. For which, we, not he, should feel bad.

As noted in the discussion, there’s a reliance, not least among progressives, on the notions of deterrence and rehabilitation as being how one determines whether prison is fitting or effective, or even an obsolete institution, something to abolish. But an antisocial moron with poor impulse control is likely to remain so until he dies, or is killed while engaging in criminal activity.

The concepts of punishment and incapacitation – of stopping a monster’s sociopathic activity and sparing others violation and misery, if only for the duration of his imprisonment – don’t seem to figure highly in progressive circles. Where, as we’ve seen, all kinds of contortions are very much in fashion.

Among the replies and linked tangents are some common, if unconvincing, suppositions. For instance, that habitual violent criminals – say, the kinds of creatures who gleefully sucker-punch elderly women because they happen to be of East Asian descent – will somehow be morally redeemed by “affordable housing” and “access to healthcare.”

Oh, and more “theatre” for schoolchildren.

Update, via the comments, where Darleen adds,

In reply to which, pst314 quotes Theodore Dalrymple:

At which point, readers may register that the limited effect of imprisonment – and lenient alternatives – on rates of reoffending could be construed in ways that, shall we say, diverge from progressive orthodoxy. One might, for instance, infer that those incarcerated for serious criminal savagery – and who, on release, continue being criminal savages – are irredeemable, and therefore undeserving of pretentious sympathy. One might even infer that the wellbeing of such creatures is no longer a concern.

Update 2:

In hindsight, this post has become the first part of a trilogy of sorts. See also parts two and three.

Further to recent rumblings on assumptions of racism, this caught my eye:

Who needs evidence when you have faith? https://t.co/G8zdjcT5yP

— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) July 31, 2023

Today’s word is mindset.

Mr Dettlaff – sorry, Professor Dettlaff – has a PhD in social work and “formerly served as Dean of the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.” He uses the term “white supremacist” quite freely, and entirely without irony.

Apparently, the professor was removed from his position as Dean for demanding the “abolition” of policing and incarceration, and demanding a “new, liberated society… free from violence and oppression.” And in which habitual criminals and assorted sociopaths roam freely and unimpeded.

In Professor Dettlaff’s imaginings, a world without physical consequences for robbery and predation would mean “individuals have everything they need to thrive.” Except, of course, any third-party protection from the aforementioned habitual criminals and assorted sociopaths. This “new, liberated society,” in which policing has been “firmly disavowed,” will, he insists, “truly keep us safe.”

It seems that Professor Dettlaff was deemed too ideologically deranged even for a modern university. Which is quite the feat.

He’s a “thought leader,” you know.

Also, this:

💜 I prepared a curricular unit for a state initiative on childhood adversity with a slide that stated that colonization, white supremacy, racism, and oppression were the root causes of trauma and was asked to provide references for the slide. 😳

— Leigh Kimberg (@LeighKimberg) July 29, 2023

Ms Kimberg, above, is all about “compassion, healing, justice and equity.” She likes to announce her pronouns to random passers-by.

Update, via the comments, which you’re reading, of course:

Regarding Ms Kimberg, pst314 notes,

Pretty much. It has, in fact, been referred to as a laundering operation. But it seems that even this minimal requirement is far too strenuous and distracting when there’s a “new society” to invent. One in which everyone has everything they need, in which the concept of law-enforcement is a distant memory, and in which carjackers gambol about like newborn lambs.

And it’s quite something to have a supposed educator demanding that the editors of supposedly academic journals stop even the most basic attempts to ensure that key assertions in their publications are not just made-up or wildly delusional. But this, it seems, is where we are.

Update 2:

Somewhat related, on prison and recidivism.

Also, open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Yes, but on the upside, it could’ve been vomit. || Careful now. || Nommy-nommy-nom. || On elephants. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || An archive of LEGO instruction booklets. (h/t, Things) || This guy here: “But I do love all people.” || Oh dear, how embarrassing. || Good to know, I guess. || He does this better than you do. || Best write it down because it will be on the test. || Bouncing booty. || Erotic scenes. || The thrill of Titter magazine, October 1945. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || “Is it as common an experience to feel like you have water on your wings?” || His name is Catherine. || Kissy face. || It’s a head–scratcher, a mystery to us all. || Hazards of the highway. || The Mechanical Monsters, 1941. || Makeover. || PIN of note. || The progressive retail experience, parts 483, 484, and 485. || Somewhat related. || And finally, though not for the squeamish, and NSFW, the thrill of phalloplasty.

Should you be tempted, you can follow me on Twitter.

And if anyone wants to register with the blog and thereby enable extra commenting options – including @username mentions and live notifications – scroll down to the black ‘Meta’ box at the very bottom of the page.

For newcomers and the nostalgic, some items from the archives:

How To Create A Low-Trust Society.

These things thou shalt not notice.

Trust Me, I’m A Witchdoctor.

The thrill of prehistoric healthcare.

His Skin Just Won’t Come Off.

The bedlamite academic – a case study, one of many.

She Doesn’t Do Toilets.

Guardian columnist bemoans her womanly lot.

Pudding First.

On allegedly “good reasons to give children the vote.”

Also, open thread. Share ye links and bicker.