Not AmeriKKKa after all

Dry comment from Charles Murray:  "Kevin Beaver has no instinct for self-preservation"

No evidence of racial discrimination in criminal justice processing: Results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

By Kevin M. Beaver et al.

Abstract

One of the most consistent findings in the criminological literature is that African American males are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at rates that far exceed those of any other racial or ethnic group. This racial disparity is frequently interpreted as evidence that the criminal justice system is racist and biased against African American males. Much of the existing literature purportedly supporting this interpretation, however, fails to estimate properly specified statistical models that control for a range of individual-level factors. The current study was designed to address this shortcoming by analyzing a sample of African American and White males drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Analysis of these data revealed that African American males are significantly more likely to be arrested and incarcerated when compared to White males. This racial disparity, however, was completely accounted for after including covariates for self-reported lifetime violence and IQ. Implications of this study are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.

Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 55, Issue 1, July 2013, Pages 29–34






'You're too pretty to be interested in politics and should be in Girls Aloud': What Labour councillor Karen Danczuk says Harriet Harman told her



Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told councillor Karen Danczuk she was 'far too pretty to be interested in politics' and should join a girl band instead.  Miss Harman allegedly made the remarks after being introduced to Mrs Danczuk for the first time.

It comes after the Labour shadow minister was accused of 'patronising' women after unveiling a bright pink women-only mini bus to attract female voters ahead of the election in May.

Mrs Danczuk, whose husband is the Labour MP Simon Danczuk, said Miss Harman's pink battle bus exposed politicians' failure to listen seriously to voters' concerns.

She said: 'What women voters want from politicians is their concerns heard in a serious manner. Not a patronising pink bus screaming drama queen!'

Mrs Danczuk later added: 'When I first met Harriet Harman she said I was far too pretty to be interested in politics & should be in Girls Aloud.'

She told MailOnline: 'It was at a conference in Manchester. I wanted a photo with her and she said "you're far too pretty to be in politics". I suppose I've proved her wrong - I did go on to be a councillor.'

But Miss Harman this afternoon rejected the allegation. She said: 'I deny I ever said that and it’s inconceivable I would have ever said that.

'I have always believed it’s what you do in politics, not what you look like. I have never discouraged a woman from getting involved in politics on the basis of their looks.'

The allegation sparked fresh accusations that Mrs Harman was belittling female voters.

Labour's 'woman-to-woman' campaign tour got off to a rocky start in Stevenage yesterday when an angry voter told her it was 'patronising and wrong' to divide men and women.

Asda shopper Bobby Smith demanded to know if Labour was planning to also have a blue man to appeal to male voters

SOURCE






Mothers should back off their boys and let dads be more involved in their upbringing, says parenting expert

A top parenting expert has warned mothers that being too possessive of their sons and not letting men be strong father figures can be detrimental to their boys' upbringing.

The frank advice comes from parenting expert Noël Janis-Norton in her new book Calmer, Easier, Happier Boys.

According to the parenting and behavioural specialist and former teacher, fathers have much greater influence than mothers in shaping boys into well-adjusted young men - but too often mothers find it hard to back off and let dad take control.

'Without a strong father-figure, (which could also be a step-father or grandfather), boys may struggle to learn how to express their emotions constructively, how to handle their physical strength and learn to respect others - and themselves,' Janis-Norton tells the MailOnline.

‘Mothers need to allow dads to be dads and to have their own relationship with their children - and in particular with their boys - without trying to micromanage,' she says.

The parenting expert, who has been credited by the likes of Helena Bonham-Carter turning her family life around, also warns mothers about barking too many orders.  'A boy will lose respect for the mother who appears to bossing the father around – or criticising him,' she says.

So when Dad gets little Tommy dressed in the wrong clothes, feeds him the wrong breakfast and then starts a pillow fight should Mum just look on through gritted teeth?

'Yes - absolutely she should!' says Janis-Norton. 'And the gritted teeth part comes because mums assume they know best - but actually none of us is perfect. We’ve got weaknesses too.  'We’re not doing it right all the time. So really we shouldn’t be judging the dads!'

 Of course mums are usually more familiar with the routines: 'Even in families where both parents work long hours outside the home, children tend to spend more time with their mothers,' says Janis-Norton.

'That’s not a problem for a girl – but for a boy it is. Because the genetically preprogrammed urge is for boys to copy their fathers. And it’s hard for a boy to do that when he doesn’t spend enough time with Dad.'

'Mums generally don’t have an interest in play fighting and they worry someone's going to get hurt, or feelings will get hurt, or clothes will get ripped or something will get damaged.  'But none of that is as important as boys getting their energy out and through play fighting they learn a lot about how to fight fair.

'They learn how to control themselves, they learn how not to be too rough - and they also learn how to make amends if it does go too far.'

'Dads can teach boys all of that,' she says but does advise that play fighting that is likely to become manic or annoy others in the house is best taken outside.

Of course mothers are not the only ones that need to make an effort to encourage that father-son relationship to flourish. Fathers needs to work at it too:

'Because so many fathers are spending more hours at work and often have longer commutes their time at home may be taken up with household chores such as paying bills, mowing the lawn and doing repairs.

'You can see that even a loving, conscientious father can end up not being a very good role-model.  'They may be reluctant to insist on good behaviour, to enforce rules and routines and to follow-through when rules are broken or routines drift.

'The less involved a father is, the less confident he will feel and the less confident he feels, the less involved he will want to be,' she warns.

Janis-Norton decided to write the book, which adapts her tried and tested Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting strategies to focus on boy behaviour, after parents of boys kept asking the same questions.

'They were often frustrated exasperated and perplexed,' she says. 'Parents often complain that their boys are fidgety and easily distracted and socially immature. Parents worry that their son isn’t fulfilling his academic potential.

'Another issue that concerns parents of boys is the tendency towards disrespect, defiance and aggression. And parents don’t know what to do.'

The most important piece of advice Janis-Norton has for parents is to stop telling their children off.  It may not sound like a recipe for cooperative offspring, but according to Janis-Norton it is key: 'Telling off doesn’t work and motivate to improve,' she says.

'Thankfully there are strategies that can help parents get back in charge,' she says. ‘The strategies I teach parents will help boys to become more cooperative, more confident, more motivated, more self-reliant and more considerate.'

One such strategy is Descriptive Praise, describing what your child is doing right rather than what they're doing wrong.

‘Let’s imagine a family around the dinner table. The little girl is eating with her knife and fork properly and using her napkin properly and sitting with legs in front of her – and waiting to swallow her food before she talks.

'The boy is doing all the opposite - plus he’s singing and talking too loudly and interrupting and maybe doing a deliberate burp.

'So it’s very tempting to keep saying "no", "don’t", "stop".'

'Reprimands may - or may not - get you immediate cooperation, but in the long-term telling off and endless reminders make the behaviour worse – because when children keep hearing about what they’re doing wrong, they start to feel that’s who they are.

'So after a while they don’t even bother trying to improve their behaviour. 'In fact, boys often enjoy being able to wind up their parents by burping or making some kid of a vulgar joke.

'So I advise parents to focus most of their attention on the OK things that the boy is doing. Notice and mention the tiny steps in the right direction.

'I’m not saying it’s easy to stay positive; it takes a lot of self-control. But it’s worth practising this strategy, which is called Descriptive Praise, because the more we notice when our children are doing things right, the more motivated they will be to behave better.'

Within a meal a parent might say: ‘You’re sitting up straight’ or ‘You’re using your napkin instead of your sleeve’ or even 'Your chewing with your mouth closed and I cant see any of the food in your mouth’. 

'If you take a moment to look carefully, there’s always something your son is doing that’s OK that you can comment on,' Janis-Norton says.

'For example, if your son is talking too loudly, just look at him, with a friendly face, and wait a few seconds until he pauses. Then at that moment you can say, with a big smile, "And now you’re not talking too loudly. You’re using your indoor voice".'

Helena Bonham-Carter, who took a course in Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting in 2010 is just one mother who has been helped by Janis-Norton's strategies.

'It absolutely works,' the star said of trying Descriptive Praise with her son Billy, then seven. 'Billy is lapping it up. And as a parent, you become happier because you’re observing all these good things about your child, if you’re being specific about what they’ve done.'

SOURCE






Young Oakland Girls Called ‘Radical Brownies’ Learn Social Justice Instead Of Selling Cookies

Poor saps

After the recent Black Lives Matter protests, there is a new brownie troop in Oakland. Instead of selling cookies, they are spreading a message.

On a Saturday afternoon in Oakland, a handful of 8 to 10 year old girls are gathered, in brown uniforms, giggling and eating cupcakes. They look like Girl Scouts, but it’s not just fun and games.

And it’s not just fun and games. “White policeman are killing black young folks such as women, men and children,” one of the girls said.

Another girl said, “Mike Brown. He was shot because he didn’t do nothing. Only the police officer shot him because of his skin color.”

These girls are called the “Radical Brownies.” And instead of learning sewing, they’re learning social justice.

Even their uniforms have a message.  “The beret, it’s a Black Panther/Brown Beret twist,” one of the Radical Brownies said.  “I think it’s very appropriate. A lot of the work the Black Panthers did was community oriented,” Radical Brownies co-founder Marilyn Hollinquest told KPIX 5.

Hollinquest and her friend Anayvette Martinez co-founded the group about a month ago, after Anayvette’s daughter Coatlupe told her she wanted to join a girl’s group.

“How amazing would it be to have a girls’ troop that was really focused around social justice and where girls could even earn badges?” Martinez said.

Their first badge, a fist emblazoned with the words Black Lives Matter. They earned it for marching in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Oakland last month.

“The girls felt really just like passionate about the topic and they loved being there,” Martinez said.

When asked about the big issues they are tackling, Martinez said, “They are big issues. But we also feel like these are conversations that they’re not too young to be having.”

The Radical Brownies have triggered an avalanche of criticism online, with some accusing the group of brainwashing.

“We did strike a nerve. We definitely did strike a nerve,” Hollinquest said.

But Hollinquest said they are not telling the girls what to think. “Kids already understand fairness and unfairness, so we take that understanding at an age-appropriate level,” she said.

The girls said they feel like they are a sisterhood.

“It’s really good for me because it brings out who I am,” one of the girls said.

Martinez said, “After this first year, we’re hoping to be able to support other chapters starting.”

In a matter of weeks, the Radical Brownies’ Facebook page received 10,000 likes. There have been requests from as far away as France and Bermuda to start chapters there.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

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