This year, Norway will hunt and kill nearly 1,300 minke whales in defiance of an international ban on commercial whaling. Norway sees itself as a progressive and modern country, but this year’s quota of 1,286 minke whales puts Norway years behind the times.

Despite boasting a new Animal Welfare Act, the country has made no provision for marine mammals at all. Because there is no known humane way to kill whales at sea, some whales endure an hour of suffering before finally dying an agonising death after being shot with exploding harpoons and rifles.?

Norway is one of three countries flying in the face of the international ban %u2013 both Japan and Iceland also carry out this bloody and violent crime. Only 1 per cent of the Norwegian public eats whale meat on a regular basis, and the majority of Norwegians agree that the suffering caused by whaling is unacceptable.

This year’s quota is the highest in 25 years. Take action by writing to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and asking him to stop the suffering of whales today and to live up to Norway’s desire to be seen as a progressive and modern country by promoting whale watching, not whale hunting.

But when do aggressive emails and comments cross this line? This has been an issue in so many areas of our modern life. Sure, the occasional controversial academic could get used to attacks, but in the climate change arena, the discourse is getting seriously out of hand.

When a steady stream of vitriolic hate is directed at a whole pack of prominent scientists whenever they dare venture beyond obscure journals, I think this line is surely crossed. Some of it is almost certainly from individual crazies. Others suggest these attacks are orchestrated, and blogger Tim Lambert notes that one high-profile spokesperson for the climate denial machine regularly publishes the email addresses of “target” scientists. Regardless of the source, I fear it is only a matter of time before abusive words translate to abusive actions.

The Guardian in the U.K. has compiled some of this hate mail, much of it directed at scientists whose private email exchanges were published by unknown hackers last year. These scientists were called “Nazi morons” and told to “gargle razor blades” and “rot in hell,” in a small sampling of hundreds of expletive-laden rants, many from anonymous writers. (I actually can’t a imagine a U.S. paper publishing the language in the above link.) They’ve also received many death threats and been told to commit suicide. Phil Jones, the scientist at the center of the “Climategate” scandal, said a few months ago that he has indeed had suicidal thoughts.

These scientists have called out for help, but U.S. local police and the FBI have generally not taken any action, citing free speech rights. Instead, researchers are left fearful and paranoid, which surely affects their ability to concentrate on their job and most certainly colors what they are willing to say in public.

“The effect on me has been tremendous,” Stanford University scientist Stephen Schneider told The Guardian. “Some of these people are mentally imbalanced. They are invariably gun-toting rightwingers. What do I do? Learn to shoot a Magnum? Wear a bullet-proof jacket?”

Earlier today, Change.org blogger Nikki Gloudeman wrote about growing calls for transparency in the climate science process. I wonder how in the world scientists can be more “transparent” when they fear for their lives. Clearly, these anonymous attackers — the original Climategate hacker, likely among them — are not after any real honesty. They are after blood. I truly hope they don’t ever get what they came for.

Photo Credit: Alan_Cleaver2000, Flickr User

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For Climate Scientists, Death Threats Come With The Job

But if you have a Wonder Woman costume left over from last year that you thought you’d don again this October, be warned that you’ll be woefully out of date, as DC Comics is presenting a Wonder Woman for the 21st century. In celebration of reaching issue number 600 of the Wonder Woman comic series, the superwoman is finally getting some pants.

That’s right: pants. (Well, leggings, if you want to get technical.) The traditional Wonder Woman, who debuted in 1941, fights crime in a leotard and legs that are bare except for high red boots. The new-and-improved Wonder Woman gets to wear black leggings and a rad motorcycle jacket (check out a drawing of her new ensemble here). Basically, she’s going to be a lot warmer during the winter months (as will be those who choose to dress up as her to go Trick-or-Treating).

She also looks a lot more like the kind of superhero who demands respect and can kick butt in the name of justice, rather than somebody who belongs in the Miss America swimsuit line-up. This is a refreshing update, even if Wonder Woman writer Jodi Picoult couldn’t convince DC Comics to ditch the bustier, of which she complained, “as a woman, I know you wouldn’t fight crime in a bustier.” While we’ll have to see how the new Wonder Woman’s sales go (and there are tales of a movie in the works), tuning in to female preferences for an empowered 21st century image might prove to be a big win for DC’s marketing plan.

Photo credit: Loren Javier

It’s About Time for Wonder Woman to Wear the Pants

But if you have a Wonder Woman costume left over from last year that you thought you’d don again this October, be warned that you’ll be woefully out of date, as DC Comics is presenting a Wonder Woman for the 21st century. In celebration of reaching issue number 600 of the Wonder Woman comic series, the superwoman is finally getting some pants.

That’s right: pants. (Well, leggings, if you want to get technical.) The traditional Wonder Woman, who debuted in 1941, fights crime in a leotard and legs that are bare except for high red boots. The new-and-improved Wonder Woman gets to wear black leggings and a rad motorcycle jacket (check out a drawing of her new ensemble here). Basically, she’s going to be a lot warmer during the winter months (as will be those who choose to dress up as her to go Trick-or-Treating).

She also looks a lot more like the kind of superhero who demands respect and can kick butt in the name of justice, rather than somebody who belongs in the Miss America swimsuit line-up. This is a refreshing update, even if Wonder Woman writer Jodi Picoult couldn’t convince DC Comics to ditch the bustier, of which she complained, “as a woman, I know you wouldn’t fight crime in a bustier.” While we’ll have to see how the new Wonder Woman’s sales go (and there are tales of a movie in the works), tuning in to female preferences for an empowered 21st century image might prove to be a big win for DC’s marketing plan.

Photo credit: Loren Javier

It’s About Time for Wonder Woman to Wear the Pants

According to The Tennessean, “In 2005, police cleared 211 cases without making an arrest. One year later, the number jumped to 3,866, and by 2009, it was 5,600. Police cited the victims’ lack of cooperation for not pursuing those arrests, but state law says that cannot be an excuse if there is other evidence or probable cause.” As the paper clarified in a second article, Tennessee law very clearly states that “a victim’s cooperativeness ‘shall not’ even be considered when considering whether to make an arrest.”

Although it’s clear that the Nashville Police Department has broken the law thousands of times, the members of the department have tried to place the blame on small, administrative stuff: Interim Chief Steve Anderson “chalked up the spike to a new police form that came online that year to simplify the classification of such cases.” Or, he later mused, “It could be something as simple as a training issue.” Right. This could only be a “training issue” if police are trained not to take domestic violence seriously. And what kind of “form” lets police get away with closing a case with the words, “The victim in the case doesn’t wish to prosecute at this time,” ignoring the photos in the file of her severely bruised arms.

Ever think that a woman may decline to prosecute because she could face a lot worse than black-and-blue arms? Why on earth let a woman go home to a man that had just severely beaten her? The investigation turned up other anecdotes in which women tried to follow-up and have the man who abused or threatened them arrested, only to find out their cases had been closed and couldn’t be reopened.

The Tennessean talked to a retired lieutenant who worked in the domestic violence division from 2004-2009. He believes that officers and detectives were wrongly classifying cases as “unfounded,” giving the appearance that they were doing a better job than they actually were, and felt that the department pressured officers to close cases and return to handing out traffic tickets. He made complaints about it that never went anywhere. Others feel the department was understaffed; once home to over 20 detectives, the domestic violence unit dropped to only 8 in 2008.

Nashville’s mayor has requested an audit  based on The Tennessean’s piece and the police department is looking into the problem. But if they’re looking for poor training or an online form to blame 5,600 dismissed cases of domestic abuse on, they are looking in the wrong place. This looks like a deep-seated problem in the Nashville Police Department.

It is also a symptom of a problem across the nation: not taking domestic abuse and violence against women seriously. Thousands of rape kits are stored, untested, across the country; in Washington, D.C., a young woman begged police to take her rape seriously, to no avail. Refusing to address almost 6,000 cases of domestic violence in violation of the law is criminal; sadly, it’s more indicative of how we (mis)understand domestic abuse than an exception to the rule.

Photo credit: SashaW

Nashville Police Prioritize Traffic Tickets Over Thousands of Domestic Violence Cases

“Pennsylvania is still in the stone ages when you talk about prison reform,” Democratic Rep. Kenyatta Johnson recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As criminal justice-watchers have seen elsewhere, reform is earning bipartisan support in Harrisburg.

One of the alternatives being considered by Pennsylvania lawmakers is abandoning the War-on-Drugs approach to non-violent offenses, and distributing less severe sentences for drug-related offenses, as well as for parole violations.

“We’ve been tough on crime, but we haven’t been smart on crime,” says Republican Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, who chairs the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

The numbers support Greenleaf’s view: in 1980, Pennsylvania’s state prison population was around 8,000. Today, though, the population has ballooned to over 51,000. As for the fiscal consequences? These days, Pennsylvania spends around $2 billion annually on its correction budget — more than 55 times what the state spent 40 years ago.

Now, though, the state — which spends more than 44 other states do on its “tough-on-crime” policies — might be on the verge of a revolution for reform. 

There are presently three criminal justice bills already passed by Pennsylvania’s Senate and awaiting House action. These developments join other reforms being considered to the state’s juvenile justice system, too (in the wake of a massive juvenile justice scandal).

The state’s fiscal crisis, combined with the momentum behind such proposals, suggest that Pennsylvania’s in a position to enact some real change in its system. In the coming months, let’s hope that Pennsylvania’s lawmakers don’t lose their appetite for reform.

Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000

Piggy Bank-Inspired Reform in Pennsylvania

Jonathan Downing was found in a wooded area 20 miles from the home where his wife was found slain, police say.

Jonathan Clyde Downing, 31, was being held without bond and will be tried in civilian court in the killing of 25-year-old Sena Marie Downing, said Jim Knoll, public information officer for police in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Police officers went to the couple’s Clarksville home shortly after 3 a.m. after receiving notice of a possible shooting, Knoll said.

“When the officers responded, the door was ajar; they went in and found her inside of the garage, and she had been shot,” Knoll told CNN in a telephone interview.

A few hours later, officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office located Downing’s vehicle about 20 miles away in Robertson County and found Downing in woods nearby, Knoll said.

“That’s where he finally gave up,” Knoll said. “It took them almost two hours to convince him.”

Downing, who had recently served at Fort Knox in Kentucky, was taken into custody shortly before noon and was charged with criminal homicide.