Isaac Holeman

Recent Activity

• 

  Isaac signed the petition | 2 months ago

  Prosecute the killer of our son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin
• 

  Isaac commented on the article | almost 2 years ago

  In Mali, Using Cell Phones to Create Patient Records

  Thanks for writing about this Caitlin! The whole medic team is pretty proud of Dieterich (the main software developer for PatientView) and Alex (the project's main implementer for the MHOP pilot).

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?

  Hi Cee,

  
  

  You're right that category III sex offenders are more prone to violent sex offense than the rest of society. The point of my analogies was not to compare statistics or relative risk of repeated offense. My point is that we can't punish people based on assessed risk. The popular legal phrase is "INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY." This has nothing to do with love fests. Tolerance has nothing to do with love or acceptance - it just means you let people be unless/until there is a proven offence. The way I see it we have two options:

  
  

  1) Punish people for crimes they have committed.

  
  

  2) Punish people for crimes they have committed, AND crimes that we think they are likely to committ.

  
  

   

  
  

  If you think punishments for sex offenders should be greater, you're welcome to talk to your representatives. That would be consistent with option 1) above. In contrast, you seem to be advocating for increased punishments for people who have already served their alloted time. This falls under option 2) above. I am opposed to option two because I don't believe there is any mechanism that could implement it fairly.

  
  

   

  
  

  Do you disagree with this analysis?

  
  

   

  
  

  I would agree with you that increased survielence may be a good idea. As long as it's carried out by professionals (not the general public), increased survielence isn't the same as increased punishment for people who have already served their alloted time.

  
  

  It's another matter entirely for the state to facilitate permanent social alienation that prevents past offenders from finding jobs, let alone a place to sleep. Such alienation is a permanent punishment beyond what our legal system officially acknowledges, so it falls under option 2) above.

  
  

   

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?

  Dennis,

  
  

  It doesn't matter whether or not you feel "comfortable" living next to someone. Many people feel uncomfortable living next to gay people, or someone who practices a different religion, or people whose skin is a different color, or who were born in another country. A lot of law abiding citizens feel uncomfortable living next to police officers - with or without reason. This is something you just have to deal with.

  
  

   

  
  

  Coexisting, even when it makes us uncomfortable, is the nature of pluralistic democracy. If you don't like that, there are still places where you can be stoned, hung, or burned alive for breaking the strict and homogeneous moral code. I doubt you'd like them better than pluralism.

  
  

   

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?

  I'm loath to get involved, but the general direction of these comments is so viscious that I feel I need to stand up for compassion.
  A few major issues:
  - Everyone seems to be painting a black and white picture, saying every sex offender is from the same mold. This is shamefully, willfully inaccurate. Some are violent and wild and disgusting and have lost the capacity to be productive members of society. Others are stupid teenagers who had consensual sex with other stupid teenagers and became felon sex offenders for statutory rape because angry parents found out. Sexual offense and sex offenders are as diverse as sex and humanity itself. When we loose sight of context we loose sight of justice.
  - Sex offenders who are legally out of prison have served their alloted debt to society. Arguing for increased prison sentences is another matter, and arguing for continued punishment for people who have already served their time is wrong. The logic seems to be that they are dangerous to society - that they might do it again. Does anyone deserve to be punished because they "might" do something? Black males who live in urban areas are more likely to commit (or be victim of) a homicide. Does such a statistic justify punishing all of them to keep society safe? NO, it does not.
  - Please consider that our legal system is not omniscient, it frequently makes mistakes. Change.org recently reported that the difference between a life sentence and execution in texas depends mainly on the offender's lawyers.
  http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/hire_a_lawyer_avoid_the_death_penalty
  Sex abuse cases have similarities to murder cases, and in many courts the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony with predatory sex offender status comes down to the offender's ability to advocate for themselves and hire good (expensive) lawyers. Please find the humility to at least consider that in some cases our collective hatred and social alienation may be misdirected, and that in any case it does not serve the cause of justice.
  @melinda valdez and others who expressed similar sentiments. Who exactly are you to judge that any sex offender, let alone all of them, are beyond redemption, or not rehabilitatable?!? Shame on you.
  
  A few special points for my fellow Christians:
  - Last I heard, Christ died for us. His blood has the power to redeem any woman and any man. And you offend Christ's sacrifice when you say that his blood is not strong enough to redeem even sex offenders.
  - Perhaps some of you were saying that sex offenders are not beyond spiritual redemption, but that they still deserve life in prison etc. to keep society safe. @In God I Trust, you said specifically that Christ's call for forgiveness "does not mean that we are to allow ourselves to be put in dangerous situations." Actually, scripture does tell us to allow ourselves to be put in dangerous situations. I believe the specific language was "turn the other cheek," as in, let them punch you a second time.
  @Christine Clarke, this lesson applies very well to your mention of sex offenders and Churches with day care. Do look after your kids and your neighbor's kids carefully, they are precious. But do you really think Jesus would turn someone away from worship because of past offenses? No, he gives us example by sharing a meal even with the pharisees and tax collectors. Please, don't turn people away from your Church. Enough have lost faith already without you encouraging them.
  These issues aren't easy. Christianity was never meant to be easy. We must accept the enormous challenges of a Christian world view alongside it's comforts, and acknowledge our own difficulty in living up to these challenges. Only then can we truly take the moral high road without making ourselves fair and easy targets of cynicism like @Keith Bender's.
  
  And Amada Kloer, thank you for the single comment on this post that is compassionate, thoughtful, and productive.

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  It’s Time for a “TOMS Shoes Model” for Peanut Butter:

  Great idea Mark,

  
  

  You're producing the RUTF locally in Nepal, right? So what you're actually doing is sending a few cents to the factory in Nepal for each jar sold in the US.

  
  

  Here's an idea for down the road if the initial model is a success (I think it will be). Say you have multiple factories/locations where people are producing RUTF in the developing world. Put a numeric or QR code on each jar of peanut butter. The consumer can go to the product website, enter their code, and see pictures/video of the location and people their peanut butter purchase supported. Maybe they will even have the option to make a micro loan (partnership with Kiva or something). Once you get people thinking about your product while they are online, it's much easier to turn them into social media evangelists (e.g. tweeting "hei guys, come look at this picture of a kid I just bought peanut butter for!").

  
  

  Just an idea to help people be more connected to their food and the rest of humanity :).

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Family Values FAIL

  @Charlie Reed I like your comment.

  
  

  I think though that the infidelity of these politicians is, while gross, not as hypicritical as Michael and most of these commenters seem to think. You are making the assumption that when right leaning politicians talk about family values, they are talking about conjugal fidelity. For the most part, they are not. The sanctity of heterosexual marriage from the Christian conservative perspective doesn't have a lot to do with hetero patners being more loyal or loving each other more or treating each other better. It is about the way it structures the family with ONE PATRIARCH. The task of maintaining the familie's ideological purity falls on this one patriarch. Families with two daddy's or two mommies don't fit this structure, so they innately throw a wrench in the gears of the perpetual motion machine that reproduces Christian conservatism.

  
  

  As a devout Christian I'm not fond of Christian conservatism being reproduced by the perpetual motion of family structure, patriarchy, and ideological purity rather than being driven by serious theology or earnest faith experience. I think it's important for the rest of us to understand though that they don't just hate on gay people for grotesque, bull baiting-like fun. Their world view and way of life truly are at stake.

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  FrontlineSMS:Medic and The Extraordinaries Win Big at NetSquared

  Thanks for the positive press Nathan. Not sure if you remember meeting me at NetSquared last year, I was representing Squarepeg and you were with Asset Map. I thought we might catch up this time around (feel like I know you a lot better since you started blogging here), but I'm sure we'll cross paths at a conference eventually.
  Isaac

• 

  Isaac commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  An Open Letter to Paul Farmer

  During his campaign, President Obama said many times
  
  "Change comes to washington, not from washington."
  
  I think that's an appealing slogan. I would also say it's more hopeful than empirical when it comes to US International development policy. I think the strategy for putting someone like Dr. Farmer in that position is that you count on him rallying energy and pressure from outside of D.C. and use it to force change, rather than trying to create that pressure from within D.C. 
  
  Perhaps it's not possible rally enough outside interest to change D.C. without spending several relatively fruitless years slogging through the trenches. I don't know. But if there is any personality in America that is ready-made and perfect for that strategy - the populist pressure tactics approach to changing international development policy - I think Dr. Farmer is that person.
  
  

• 

  Isaac recruited Amy to sign the petition | about 3 years ago

  Donate Your Old Phone to Hope Phones