This week I have been reading Jon Ronson's book The Psychopath Test. It's been on my list of ”˜must reads' since it came out earlier this year, and just a couple of days ago I downloaded it on to my Kindle. I finished it within 24hours. Jon Ronson is a British journalist who, among many other things, wrote the film Men Who Stare At Goats, which was made in to a movie starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. Jon interviewed my friend Mary Turner Thomson (author of “The Bigamist” detailing her marriage to the sociopath Will Jordan) and became fascinated with the subject of psychopaths. He subsequently attended Dr Robert Hare's training programme to understand the PCL-R checklist that many …
Lessons from the Penn State scandal
Like most of the United States, all of us at Lovefraud were horrified by the sordid story of child sexual abuse that emerged from Penn State University last week. Unlike most of the United States, we probably weren't surprised. That's because all of us at Lovefraud have learned a very difficult lesson that millions of other people have not learned. This is the lesson: Evil exists. For most of us, however, there was a time before the lesson. At that time we didn't know evil existed—let alone what it looked like or what to do about it. So at that time, we were vulnerable to the sociopaths. The sociopaths came into our lives, showering us with affection and maybe gifts, asking about o …
The manipulative man interview
Lovefraud's friend Ann at WomenExplode.com recently posted an interview with a 49-year-old man who had never been married. The man engaged in serious impression management. But, since Ann had known him for 10 years, she knew when his words were BS—and pointed them out in her story. It's hysterical. Read Interview with a never-married 49-year-old man on WomenExplode.com. …
LETTERS TO LOVEFRAUD: Pornography Effect 101
By Marilisa Walker Following a heart wrenching break up of our nearly 11-year marriage, and after he ran our Chamber of Commerce award-winning businesses into the ground, stole all my money and drove off in our only car on a sizzling hot summer afternoon in August while I was taking a nap, I experienced "an overwhelming and overpowering feeling of not being able to make sense of it"—which is what I logged in my journal four months later. Throwing myself on the kitchen floor and sobbing uncontrollably, while these antics provided some emotional relief but horrified my dog—yet was I still left with an irreconcilable quandary. If I could only make sense of what happened between my hus …
A powerful sociopath taken down, and why we need to understand him
It's been awhile since I wrote about Vince Fumo, former Pennsylvania State Senator, representing Philadelphia, and now a resident of the federal prison camp in Ashland, Kentucky. In 2009, he was convicted of 137 counts of fraud, conspiracy, tax offenses and obstruction of justice. His crimes cost taxpayers and nonprofit organizations $4 million. Yet he received a sentence of only 55 months, which many, including me, considered to be a mere slap on the wrist. Federal prosecutors were so outraged at the leniency of Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter's sentence that they actually appealed it. The feds won. The appellate court found that Buckwalter had erred, and on Wednesday, Fumo will be in court …
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Identifying speech patterns of psychopaths
Researchers used a computer analysis to compare the language of psychopathic and nonpsychopathic murderers. They discovered distinct differences. Read Psychopaths' words expose predatory mind on Futurity.org. Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader. …
Online Dating Scams: Don’t Get Caught
By Brittany Lyons For many busy people, online dating has become a normal or even preferred method for meeting potential love matches, and it's easy to see why it's so popular. Singles are often bombarded with stories of success featuring married couples who met online, and continue to live happily ever after, so they don't see the possible harm. However, because of the anonymity offered by the Internet, it's easy for predators and scammers alike to misrepresent themselves. Both are impossible to identify 100% of the time, which is why it's best to avoid online dating. But if you do choose to try it out, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from scammers. If you aren't …
Instead of protecting children, abusing them
Lovefraud readers have forwarded a rash of sordid stories about adults in positions of trust over children who turned out to be molesters and child porn addicts. They should all be prosecuted, along with those who covered up their actions. Records show Boy Scouts failed to report abuser, on USAToday.com. Stacy Schuler, Ex-Ohio teacher, convicted of having sex with 5 students, on HuffingtonPost.com. How child-porn case led to Hershey School, on Philly.com. Roman Catholic church's paedophile investigator jailed for possessing thousands of child porn images, on DailyMail.co.uk. And then there is a child beater and a serial killer: Judge so furious at abusive mother who left …
Cats, dogs and psychopaths
Sarah Strudwick draws interesting analogies about pets and humans in her new blog post. Read Cats or Dogs on WakingYouUp.Wordpress.com. …
Spotting sociopaths by intuition
Russell Williams was a colonel in the Canadian Forces, a pilot who flew dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, and commander of the largest airbase in Canada. That is, until he was arrested for breaking into women's homes and stealing their underwear, sexual assault and murdering two young women. Lovefraud has written about Williams before: For Halloween: A real monster who liked to dress up. The question, of course, is how did such a predator achieve the rank of colonel? Should he have been flagged along the way? How was it that Williams received nothing but stellar reviews, and turned out to be a murderer? The Canadian Forces, stunned by what happened, launched an inquiry into …