Casey Anthony Trial

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Sweet! It's like a drug tax stamp law, but for kids dying!

Wait, drug tax stamps are silly, redundant, and awkward to enforce? And they're corner-case laws to attempt to get around existing issues with the legal system? And here, the thing you're getting around almost never happens, and when it does, you're simply adding onto a life sentence?

I will sign that petition post-haste, and sing its praises from the top of Mount Sarbanes-Oxley!

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Caylee went missing 3 years ago, and this comes only two days after people heard a "not guilty" verdict and became enraged because of it.

I wonder what would have happened (or not happened) if she was found to be guilty?



You crack me up.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I foresee a future movie plot involving parents who don't report their child missing because kidnappers threaten to kill the kid if the cops are involved. The twist...the parents are arrested because they don't notify the police within 24 hours that the child is missing. Oh the drama that will ensue...

I agree.

There are pros and cons to everything. I am not signing this petition. If this law is ever passed, I hope they consider the complexities of it all.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I foresee a future movie plot involving parents who don't report their child missing because kidnappers threaten to kill the kid if the cops are involved. The twist...the parents are arrested because they don't notify the police within 24 hours that the child is missing. Oh the drama that will ensue...

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I agree.

There are pros and cons to everything. I am not signing this petition. If this law is ever passed, I hope they consider the complexities of it all.

I'm having a Miss Cleo moment with so many scenarios. People attempting to leave abusive situations with their children, how it will shake out in communities who have a distrust or aren't treated fairly by law enforcement for whatever reason, custody battles. Or the child was killed by the person who is supposed to report so they make up an abduction disappearance story that targets someone and creates problems for innocent people, and that child is still dead regardless of reporting.

I'm pretty sure Law & Order SVU used a Caylee scenario already and with the verdict another one won't be far behind, definitely a Lifetime Movie.

I wish people would have been this moved or impassioned by the dozens of other children who haven't received "justice" and didn't get media attention. This isn't the solution to the problem of violence towards children, but I guess people can feel like they did something until something else gets their attention.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I wish people would have been this moved or impassioned by the dozens of other children who haven't received "justice" and didn't get media attention. This isn't the solution to the problem of violence towards children, but I guess people can feel like they did something until something else gets their attention.

I get your point, but if people don't know about a particular child, then why expect John Q. Public to become upset about it.

I presume we all understand that there are missing, abused and exploited kids out there. There have been similar cases in the Houston area that certainly received local attention, but for some reason did not make national attention. Maybe a local case that received some national attention is Andrea Yates. She is the NASA area mom who drowned her 5 kids.

Why the Anthony trial became so nationally sensational, I can't remember.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I get your point, but if people don't know about a particular child, then why expect John Q. Public to become upset about it.

I presume we all understand that there are missing, abused and exploited kids out there. There have been similar cases in the Houston area that certainly received local attention, but for some reason did not make national attention. Maybe a local case that received some national attention is Andrea Yates. She is the NASA area mom who drowned her 5 kids.

Why the Anthony trial became so nationally sensational, I can't remember.

It is kind of funny/sad to me that the incidents PiKA2001 mentioned earlier in the thread I knew about, and knew more about than the Casey/Caylee trial. I remember years ago when she went missing, but I couldn't tell you anything else until yesterday and today, and it still isn't that much.

I don't have broadcast or table television and I think that really allows me to be less inundated and I using different sources. I listen to NPR on the radio or online and some BBC broadcasts through my Droid apps, and get the rest from reading actual printed papers we get at my office or online.

I know you get where I'm coming from so the rest of my post is just general grumping. I think slacktivist, which my sister agzg and Drolefille used is a good description of how I see this and all of the other momentary important causes that pop up due to instant access and well, social media like facebook. I'm much more of a doer and being involved than just signing an online petition or getting outraged and emotional, especially when I know the issues of power, privilege, race, class, and gender that fuel and drive these situations with girls and children.

I just don't see any genuine or lasting effects or change with an online petition or facebook rantings that have me turning on a porch light. Why not do something with either time, money, or advocacy, with community building where kids are involved in activities and schools, and connected with people who would notice if something happened and may not be family members. Granted in Caylee's situation that may not have mattered but for many others having their membership/dues covered at the Boys & Girls Club, Campfire, Boy & Girl Scout, and so on will do a lot more than any porch light or online petition. There's also CASA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, churches, and local programming that need volunteers and/or fundraising.

Not that I'm really a fan of those rubber bracelets or colored bracelets for every cause, but at least in many of those situations money is going to something that may make a difference, even if it is a paper heart in a business someone writes I.P. Freely in the donated name spot is a lot less "slacktivist" than what people are doing via facebook status messages.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I know you get where I'm coming from so the rest of my post is just general grumping. I think slacktivist, which my sister agzg and Drolefille used is a good description of how I see this and all of the other momentary important causes that pop up due to instant access and well, social media like facebook. I'm much more of a doer and being involved than just signing an online petition or getting outraged and emotional, especially when I know the issues of power, privilege, race, class, and gender that fuel and drive these situations with girls and children.

I just don't see any genuine or lasting effects or change with an online petition or facebook rantings that have me turning on a porch light. Why not do something with either time, money, or advocacy, with community building where kids are involved in activities and schools, and connected with people who would notice if something happened and may not be family members. Granted in Caylee's situation that may not have mattered but for many others having their membership/dues covered at the Boys & Girls Club, Campfire, Boy & Girl Scout, and so on will do a lot more than any porch light or online petition. There's also CASA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, churches, and local programming that need volunteers and/or fundraising.

Not that I'm really a fan of those rubber bracelets or colored bracelets for every cause, but at least in many of those situations money is going to something that may make a difference, even if it is a paper heart in a business someone writes I.P. Freely in the donated name spot is a lot less "slacktivist" than what people are doing via facebook status messages.

See, I think people commit to a cause to a level that they feel comfortable. That threshold of "real activist" vs. "slacktivist" is different for different people and we need to accept that.

Where one person may be a real activist for one cause, they may slack a bit on another.

There are so many strong emotional causes out there, how do you pick which one should deserve the most attention? In the span of a 30 min news program, they showed stories on the Anthony trial, an Iraqi vet who is a quadruple amputee getting a new home, and terrible fighting between Northern and Southern Sudan in Africa.

You can only spread yourself so far.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

See, I think people commit to a cause to a level that they feel comfortable. That threshold of "real activist" vs. "slacktivist" is different for different people and we need to accept that.

Where one person may be a real activist for one cause, they may slack a bit on another.

There are so many strong emotional causes out there, how do you pick which one should deserve the most attention? In the span of a 30 min news program, they showed stories on the Anthony trial, an Iraqi vet who is a quadruple amputee getting a new home, and terrible fighting between Northern and Southern Sudan in Africa.

You can only spread yourself so far.

The issue isn't "spreading yourself too thin" - people who put in actual effort anywhere are awesome, and it's incredible they give their limited time and resources to the greater good.

The issue is people who click a Facebook link instead of doing something 'for real' because that satisfies their own personal desire to be a good person (or look like a good person). Lazy people have an escape hatch that really didn't exist before.

Of course, these people may have 9 kids and have absolutely zero time - in that case, of course a petition or similar might be all they can pitch in. That's fine. It just looks suspiciously like cause-jumping to say "I AM A GOOD PERSON, I AM A PART OF THIS" for so many people. It looks like clicking a link to impress friends and neighbors, or to create an image. I reserve the right to judge these people as assholes, even though that makes me an asshole in turn. I'm fine with that.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

The issue isn't "spreading yourself too thin" - people who put in actual effort anywhere are awesome, and it's incredible they give their limited time and resources to the greater good.

My point, which I did not explicitly make, is that there are tons of causes out there to which one can participate. How can one judge that one cause needs more attention than another?

The issue is people who click a Facebook link instead of doing something 'for real' because that satisfies their own personal desire to be a good person (or look like a good person). Lazy people have an escape hatch that really didn't exist before.

For them, clicking a face-book page is their reality. That is about the level that they want to participate.

Of course, these people may have 9 kids and have absolutely zero time - in that case, of course a petition or similar might be all they can pitch in. That's fine. It just looks suspiciously like cause-jumping to say "I AM A GOOD PERSON, I AM A PART OF THIS" for so many people. It looks like clicking a link to impress friends and neighbors, or to create an image.

And not unless you ask each and every person their real reason for just clicking a link, you will never really know their situation.

Take me as an example. I am active with a dachshund rescue org. The org is always asking for people to foster dogs which I would love to do, but I don't have the time and space to accommodate another dog. So, I just donate money and prizes for raffles they have to raise money. I consider myself active, but my level may not be as much as others in the org. Do I care about the cause any less? I don't think so. Right now I just can't commit the time I'd like, maybe one day I can.

I reserve the right to judge these people as assholes, even though that makes me an asshole in turn. I'm fine with that.

cool