Father alerted US about Nigerian plane bomb suspect
The father of a Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day had voiced concerns to US officials about his son. (BBC, 27.12.2009)
Man charged with trying to blow up jet
A 23-year-old Nigerian is charged with trying to destroy a Northwest Airlines jet on final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day. (CNN, 26.12.2009)
Spuren des Attentats führen nach London
Farouk Abdulmutallab versuchte, auf dem Flug nach Detroit einen Sprengsatz zu zünden. Geheimdiensten soll er bekannt gewesen sein. Als gefährlich galt er bislang nicht. (Zeit Online, 26.12.2009)
Proteste gegen Irans Regime – Blutige Zusammenstöße in Teheran
Erneut kommt es in Irans Hauptstadt zu heftigen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Polizei und Demonstranten. Nach Angaben der Opposition sollen mehrere Menschen erschossen worden sein. (Spiegel Online, 27.12.2009)
Greyhound Lines Inc. Accused of Racial Profiling (AlterNet, 23.12.2009)
Skype 4-Trojaner: Sourcecode erschienen
Ruben Unteregger aka Megapanzer demonstriert mit seiner Veröffentlichung, dass man auch die aktuelle Version der VoIP-Software Skype problemlos zum Abhören von Gesprächen missbrauchen kann. (gulli news, 26.12.2009)
Was verraten soziale Netzwerke? Alles!
Das Internet ist die beste Möglichkeit, sich mit anderen zu vernetzen. Es gibt aber auch jedem die Gelegenheit, solche Verbindungen zu sehen. Und die zeigen viel von uns. (Zeit Online, 26.12.2009)
Repression in China
The Chinese government signaled a major escalation in its policy of repressing dissidents with this week’s conviction of dissident intellectual Liu Xiaobo on charges of subversion (Understanding Society, 25.12.2009)
Taking DNA catches murderers (The Guardian, 22.12.2009)
Innenminister gegen Internet-Kriminalität
„Expertenwissen muss gebündelt werden“ (futurezone, 26.12.2009)
Daytona: Police delve into data to get handle on crime
HOLLY HILL — By studying the past, police are predicting the future and putting a dent in crime. (euro-police, 25.12.2009)
Guantanamo prison may remain open until 2011: reports
[JURIST] The military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] may have to remain open until 2011 to allow an Illinois prison time to prepare for the arrival of the detainees, according to Wednesday reports [AP report]. A spokesperson for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) [official website] said that the government’s plan to purchase [JURIST report] the Thomson Correctional Center (Jurist – Paper Chase, 24.12.2009)
Latest Crime-Gun Connection Evidence: More Guns, Less Crime
Even as gun ownership has surged in the U.S. in the past year, violent crime, including murder and robbery, has dropped steeply, says the Christian Science Monitor. With homicides down 10 percent in the first half of 2009, the FBI reports that gun sales – especially of assault-style rifles and handguns, two main targets of gun-control groups – are up at least 12 percent nationally since the election of President Obama. Pro-gun groups say the data disprove a long-running theory by gun-control groups that gun ownership spawns crime and violence. (The Crime Report, 24.12.2009)
Immigration Enforcement Fuels Rise in U.S. Cases (New York Times, 21.12.2009)
“Codes of the Underworld”: Zeichensysteme (NuT, 21.12.2009)
Stockholm Syndrome (road.to.life, 23.12.2009)
Thou SHALT shoplift: Priest tells congregation it’s better than robbery or prostitution (Mail Online, 22.12.2009)
Another Look at Antonio Gramsci (A Very Public Sociologist, 26.12.2009)
Mexico Brags About Killing a Drug Kingpin, But It Won’t Be Long Before Someone Takes His Place (Alternet, 22.12.2009)
Deutscher geht’s nicht
Die Khateebs sind eine mustergültige hessische Familie. Doch nach 17 Jahren will die Ausländerbehörde sie nun abschieben. Nur – in welche Heimat? (Zeit Online, 26.12.2009)
Prisons: Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle?
It’s official. The Obama administration is going to take over the largely vacant Thomson Correctional Center in the countryside west of Chicago and convert it into a federal maximum security prison that will house Guantanamo detainees. Predictably, Obama critics have decried the move, arguing that transferring Gitmo detainees stateside will court terrorist attacks on our home soil. (change.org – Criminal Justice, 23.12.2009)
26 Years of Solitary Confinement Is Torture (change.org – Criminal Justice, 21.12.2009)
Teenagers use violence to boost their social standing
A new study looks in depth at the social relationships between male and female teenagers, relational violence, and psycho-social adjustment factors such as loneliness, self-esteem and satisfaction with life. The results show that young people who want to be better appreciated and respected within their group are the most likely to be violent. (ScienceDaily, 23.12.2009)
Straftäter: Vom Knast zurück in die Klinik
Ihre Haftstrafe sitzen sie in Gefängnissen ab. Tagsüber aber sind sie in einer Klinik für psychisch Kranke in Barcelona untergebracht. So sollen sich die Straftäter später wieder zurechtfinden. (FAZ.net, 23.12.2009)
Wenn Überwacher träumen – Indect
Life is bigger than Fiction – ein immer wieder gern zitiert Satz. Mit dem Indect-Programm scheint die Europäische Union ihn wahr machen zu wollen. Es bleibt abzuwarten, ob tatsächlich alles so kommt, wie es derzeit offenbar angedacht ist. Aber dass die EU überhaupt Geld in diese Cyberpunk-Fantasie investiert, gibt dann doch zu denken. (CTRL – Alles unter Kontrolle, 23.12.2009)
video wonkfest on criminal records
I just screened a new hour-long video, Sentenced For Life? The Right Focus on… Crime, Justice and Second Chances produced by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
There’s an abbreviated transcript online, along with the full-length video in Windows Media Player and QuickTime formats. I enjoyed the other panelists and host, Rondah Kinchlow, who gave me lots of room to talk about research on criminal records and disenfranchisement. (Public Criminology, 23.12.2009)
Pot Arrests For NYC Blacks 7 Times More Likely Than For Whites
New York City is entering its 10th year of pouring tens of millions of dollars into arresting people for the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana cases. New York Times columnist Jim Dwyer says that although whites make the heaviest use of pot, they are the least likely to be arrested for it. Last year, black New Yorkers were seven times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession and no more serious crime. Latinos were four times more likely. (The Crime Report, 23.12.2009)
Good news on 2009 crime rates from the FBI
As detailed in this Reuters report, the FBI released some exciting data concerning crime rates for the first half of 2009. (Sentencing Law and Policy, 22.12.2009)
The real problem with “sexting”: Adult complicity in labeling teens “sluts,” “perverts,” and “criminals”
„Sexting” — the practice of sending sexy words and images from cell phones from person to person– has suddenly emerged as the newest social problem for American youth. News reports overwhelmingly describe sexting as a new teenage trend which is “alarming,” “dangerous,” and “shocking.” Parents of minors are told be on red alert. Sales are on the rise for “net nanny” controls, which alert parents via a text message if their child visits an “inappropriate” web site and/or sends or receives “inappropriate” email or instant messages. (contexts.org – Sexuality & Society, 23.12.2009)
„Why is use of the death penalty going down?“ (Sentencing Law and Policy, 20.12.2009)
The Elephant in the Crime Stats Living Room
There’s a whole lot of shakin‘ goin‘ on among the heads of criminologists, as FBI figures show a drop in crime despite tough economic times. This AP article by Devlin Barrett is most remarkable for the factor that the experts he interviewed did not dare to mention — the „elephant in the living room.“ (Crime ans Consequences Blog, 22.12.2009)
Shaffi Mather: A new way to fight corruption
Shaffi Mather explains why he left his first career to become a social entrepreneur, providing life-saving transportation with his company 1298 for Ambulance. Now, he has a new idea and plans to begin a company to fight the booming business of corruption in public service, eliminating it one bribe at a time. (TED, Dezember 2009, Video s.u.)