October 19, 2011

Structures of Sin: West Africa Piracy

How will this affect mission ships off Nigeria?

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August 10, 2011

On cohabitation in the United States

Any given candidate is very likely to have cohabited at some point.

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August 9, 2011

How will the problem of drugs ever be solved?

The 24-page report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy argues that the decades-old “global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world” and advocates “some drugs such as marijuana to curb global drug trafficking as steps taken so far have not prevented the spread of drug use” (see Rianovosti). The problem of drugs can only be solved by either: eliminating the supply of drugs – by successfully cracking down on those who produce and provide it eliminating the demand for drugs – by successfully transforming those who presently abuse them, and will [...]

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August 9, 2011

On pornography and the Coolidge effect

Marnia Robinson & Gary Wilson, “Cupid’s poisoned arrow,” in Psychology Today. There have been quite a number of articles as of late on effects related to pornography. This one is rich with all sorts of interesting bits. (It also has a lot of challenging words in it–not blasphemies or the like, but it is about pornography and what we do as a result.) One challenge: you can come away from this article feeling that the addiction of porn is all biochemical and there is nothing you can do about it. I don’t think that’s what the original posters intended to convey. Even [...]

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August 8, 2011

Criminals as Liberators: Mexican Narcos

Thugs | This American Life. This is part of the narrative on structures of sin and criminal empires in Mexico. “Like a lot of Mexican towns, Florencia has had its share of problems dealing with drug gangs. That is until recently, when new narcos rolled into town telling residents that they were there to liberate them. They promised that people would live in peace and tranquility. And so far, it’s working. As long as the narcos are on the streets with guns, people feel safe.” How is this narrative similar to that of the Taliban back in the mid-1990s?

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August 4, 2011

‘Flash robs’: How Twitter is being twisted for criminal gain

Patrick Jonsson, “‘Flash robs’: How Twitter is being twisted for criminal gain,” Christian Science Monitor. Not every swarmish entity is good. Superempowering tools can be used for evil. Here is one example. It illustrates the challenge of a hierarchical entity defending against a swarm–which is very difficult.

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August 3, 2011

Is your agency’s IT and email secure from Operation Shady Rat?

Dmitri Alperovitch, VP Threat Research, McAffee, “Revealed: Operation Shady RAT,” McAffee Blogs: Alperovitch presents a chilling review of IT break-ins at organizations of all sizes. What we have witnessed over the past five to six years has been nothing short of a historically unprecedented transfer of wealth — closely guarded national secrets (including from classified government networks), source code, bug databases, email archives, negotiation plans and exploration details for new oil and gas field auctions, document stores, legal contracts, SCADA configurations, design schematics and much more has “fallen off the truck” of numerous, mostly Western companies and disappeared in the ever-growing electronic [...]

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August 3, 2011

Pornography: bad for your relationships, but good for society?

Ingrid Wickelgren, “Porn on the Mind,” Scientific American: examines a number of statistics and studies related to pornography. Check her article out for the details, but here’s what I noted: Surveys show the vast majority of men, and the majority of women, access pornography regularly. It has become mainstream. A new report, “The Sunny Side of Smut,” builds on this to show most users are “normal.” There seems to be a relationship between violent pornography and “quirky” behavior. But the studies do not show whether which side of the equation reinforces which. Wickelgren thinks male development is fairly well established [...]

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August 1, 2011

Lies, statistics, and rape reporting during war

"Rape reporting during war: why the numbers don’t mean what you think they do,” in Foreign Policy: a very insightful look at reports of sexual violence. The issues: rape can be undercounted (due to the shame and stigma) and overcounted (when in some cases people present themselves as rape victims to get access to health services they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get to). Knowing the bigger picture helps to unearth obviously poor statistics (such as the stat which says it’s more likely for a South African girl to be raped than to be literate). Sexual violence is horrific, and [...]

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August 1, 2011

Criminal Syndicates in Colombia merging into swarmish supernetworks

“Colombia’s criminal networks consolidate around two forces,” Christian Science Monitor: in Mexico, criminal networks are fragmenting due to pressure from security forces that is eliminating top level leadership and forcing previously mid-level leadership to form their own organizations. In Colombia, something different is now happening. With the demise of Pablo Escobar of the Medellin cartel (a figure slightly hinted at in Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger), and the demise of the Cali cartel, a new criminal structure has developed in Colombia. The criminal gangs are merging into two national, swarmish, networks: the Rastrojos and the Urabenos. The Rastrojos are [...]

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July 29, 2011

Poor Indonesian families spend more on cigarettes

Via the Singapore Straits Times. While we are winning the war against smoking in the West, the tobacco companies have moved abroad. Poor households in Indonesia spend 19% of their income on staple foods, 11% on tobacco, 2% on education, and 3% on health care. See also “Losing out at home, Big Tobacco heads abroad,” in Global Post, November 2010.

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July 29, 2011

Should Indonesia “forgive and forget” corrupt people?

The The Jakarta Post reports Speaker of the House Marzuki Alie has urged Indonesians to “forgive those who are corrupt” because God is all forgiving. The rationale: if they didn’t, the Corruption Eradication Commission would find itself overwhelmed with corruption cases. Oh, and the selection process for the chairman of said commission might go a little more smoothly. The problem with this “forgive and forget” rationale is this: it does nothing to break the pattern. Yes, it is “full of grace and mercy”–but without, at the least, justice–and at the best, repentance and transformation–the pattern of corruption will simply repeat itself. All [...]

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July 25, 2011

Structures of Sin: Prostitution, pornography sales are booming

via Beliefnet News. “We had big trouble finding non users.” Final definition of a non-user is horrifying. Estimates of the male population (one assumes, in America, since this is a Newsweek study) involved is 16% to 80%. What’s most interesting about this Newsweek study is the comparison between those who buy sex and those who don’t. This 5-page article is well worth reading to understand this massive structure of sin chaining Westerners. Update: This isn’t the first time that Newsweek has gone to war against pornography, interestingly enough. See also: ‘Pornland’: How porn has hijacked our sexuality (a review of the [...]

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June 22, 2011

Tiny, Helpless Guinea-Bissau overtaken by drug trade

This horrific article deserves to be read and meditated over. via The Atlantic. “Lacking boats, planes, or for a while even handcuffs, Guinea-Bissau can do little against the flow of cocaine that moves in from South America and out to Europe.” What would Isaiah have to say about this–where are those who will stand up for the defenseless, who will seek justice, who will reach out to the addicted, who will stand against the structures of sin that will destroy generations?

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May 12, 2010

The orphan crisis

http://bit.ly/chd8j8 – Rick Warren: imagine a country half the size of the United States. That’s how many orphans there are in the world.

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April 22, 2010

Structure of Sin: Cybercrime

Web hit by hi-tech crime wave (in BBC). Huge numbers of attacks carried out every day, suggests a new survey.

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April 18, 2010

Human trafficking for sacrifice

Ugandan children are trafficked and killed by the rich for ritual sacrifice to bring more success (Examiner). Just when you thought human trafficking couldn’t get worse. This is apparently a regular event in Uganda.

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April 17, 2010

Rising Somalia Prostitution

Noticing an increase in searches to JustinLong.org on Somali prostitution, I began digging around. The UN last year reported a widespread rise in rape and prostitution in Somalia with the increasing chaos. This year, increasing piracy is disrupting the local fishing economy and introducing drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Human Rights Examiner likewise reported human trafficking is on the rise.

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April 17, 2010

More Global Prostitution Statistics

URI.edu has a factbook on global trafficking which collects statistics on prostitution and human trafficking around the world. They don’t verify the stats and there are some contradictions but useful nonetheless.

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April 16, 2010

Africa: hub for drug traffickers

Africa’s Drug Problem – It doesn’t produce or consume much cocaine, but West Africa has become a critical hub for traffickers (NYT).

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