Othniel Askew: Not The Story That You Are Expecting Here
No, the interesting story isn't that Othniel Askew murdered a political rival inside New York City Hall, nor is it that Askew was gay, and apparently HIV+.
The interesting story is this: This is not the first time I'm writing about the man who says he's Askew's lover. Back in February 2001, he wore a hidden video camera that was given to him by then-Special Schools Investigator Edward Stancik in a sting operation to bust a city high school dean who had sexually molested him 20 years ago.
The dean, Irwin Goldberg, admitted to the attacks and subsequently quit his job.
I've blogged previously about the curious correlation between being a victim of child sexual abuse, and adult homosexuality on one fairly large survey done by the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health. I've blogged about the
astonishingly disproportionate levels of female homosexuality among IV drug abuser--and suggested that both might be symptoms of an underlying problem, since drug abuse is a common adult behavior for child sexual abuse victims.
I've blogged about the widespread bizarre behavior of at least a large fraction of homosexuals, including
the assertion by some gays that opposition to public, anonymous sex is homophobia, comparable to the Holocaust, and
the exhibitionism of gay pride parades. I've blogged about the fact that, contrary to what some would like to believe, there are more than
a few pedophiles who consider themselves homosexuals. I've blogged about
the utterly insane unwillingness of at least some significant fraction of gay activists to sever ties to groups like the North American Man-Boy Love Association--even at the cost of losing observer status at the United Nations. I've blogged about
the study by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer--who led the effort to remove homosexuality from DSM-III, and now believes that
motivated homosexuals are capable of changing not just behavior, but sexual orientation.
Does anyone besides me start to see a pattern here? Is it is really so bizarre to suggest a connection between child sexual abuse and adult homosexuality, that needs to be seriously examined?
Labels: child sexual abuse, homosexuality, NAMBLA
posted by Clayton at 10:02 PM permalink
New Additions to My Primary Sources Collection: Colonial Sodomy and Other Capital Crimes
Right now, I only
have a few of them for Plymouth Colony, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York, but I will add others as I run into them. For Plymouth, New York, and Connecticut, these links show all the capital crimes, because unlike England at the time, there weren't very many capital crimes in America, and only for those crimes that were considered especially heinous. Of course, just because these crimes could be punished with execution doesn't mean that they usually were punished that severely.
posted by Clayton at 6:17 PM permalink
Reasons to Read the Statute Before You Plead Guilty
A few weeks back, my brother had a traffic accident. He made a turn a bit too abruptly, and plowed into a hedge.
My brother is a schizophrenic. At times he does pretty well; at other times, he does far less well. Rignt now, these are "other times."
After the accident, he panicked, and ran the two blocks to his apartment to call one of our sisters, to ask what he should do. As a result of this, the police charged him with "careless driving," ORS 811.135, and "Failure to perform duties of driver when property is damaged," ORS 811.700. The first charge should be obvious; the second one was described on the ticket as a hit and run, because he left (on foot) the scene of an accident.
These are both pretty serious charges, with hefty fines: $600 for the careless driving infraction--and $3700 for the "Failure to perform duties of driver" charge. My brother is currently hospitalized, and is hardly in a position to take an active part in his own defense--and the prosecutor, at least as my mother tells it, is completely unconcerned about this, threatening to have an arrest warrant sworn out for him, even though his hospitalization was not voluntary.
As I was suggesting a strategy for dealing with this problem in court in a few days, I had to see what the nature of these crimes were. Was one of them a misdemeanor, in which case he was eligible for a public defender? Sure enough,
ORS 811.700 is a misdemeanor. As I read the description of the crime, however, I suddenly realized that the police had charged him with a non-crime. It turns out that only a collision with
another car requires you to wait at the scene of an accident; a collision with property alone imposes no such requirement.
I don't think there's any malice on the part of the police officers involved; it appears that they charged him without bothering to re-read the statute. My brother, in his current confused state, would likely have either pleaded guilty to a non-crime, or been arrested on a bench warrant for a non-crime. Before you plead guilty to any crime--check to see if the officers have made a mistake like this.
I have had my misgivings about my brother driving for some time now, and it appears that he now shares those concerns, thank goodness.
posted by Clayton at 10:23 PM permalink
Java Software Engineer, Seeks Job in the San Francisco Bay Area
A friend of mine who is doing important volunteer work for NRA, is looking for new employment in the Bay Area. If you know of a position there, please see his resume
here.
posted by Clayton at 7:59 PM permalink
Pedophiles Aren't Homosexuals?
I keep getting told this by homosexuals who seem genuinely horrified by pedophiles. But pedophiles haven't gotten the message, it seems.
From the Morning Call: A convicted pedophile duped the Northampton County Children and Youth department and the state into placing a 12-year-old foster child in his Allentown home where the boy spent three months before the ruse was discovered.
According to court documents obtained by The Morning Call, Ira Butt, who was convicted earlier this month for possessing child pornography, used his adult son's Social Security number to elude a criminal background check required to place the child in the home he shared with his partner.
The sham by Butt, a former Boy Scout leader who admitted in court to sexually abusing a half-dozen children throughout his life, has prompted the agency to change the way it screens applicants.
''They pulled one off,'' said Kevin Dolan, director of Northampton County Children and Youth.
Children and Youth lawyer Dan Spengler is investigating whether criminal charges should be filed against Butt and his live-in partner, Kenneth Anthony Sr. He said the decision to prosecute will most likely be up to the Lehigh County district attorney because Butt lives in Allentown.
Obviously, most homosexuals aren't pedophiles. But it's clear that there are pedophiles who identify themselves as homosexuals.
posted by Clayton at 7:56 PM permalink
Not Blogging Much This Week...
I'm taking a Digital Imaging Fundamentals class. Some of it is review, some of it is completely new, and much of it is filling in gaps.
posted by Clayton at 7:53 PM permalink
