Respire Haiti

If ever there was a worthy cause; Respire Haiti inspires the world!  Please take a moment and watch the video below:

COWARDS!

NEWSFLASH:  Children are human beings.  Not sub-human, inferior, or less than - but genuine, passionate, living, breathing, gifts from God who deserve our guidance and protection.  At the risk of sounding cliché, our young are our future, our hope and all that is right in our broken world.

Enter: The top ranking officials at Penn State. 

According to Penn State's long-awaited internal review over how the university handled the rampant pedophilia of Jerry Sandusky (which can be read in its entirety HERE), former President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz, Paterno, and former athletic director Tim Curley "never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky's victims until after Sandusky's arrest."  

"Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University --failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."

FOR OVER 10 YEARS?!?!?!

 

I’m sick.  We’re all sick.

Allow me to shine a light on our world's ultimate example of COWARDICE:

On Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno:

"On Friday, February 9, 2001, University graduate assistant Michael McQueary observed Sandusky involved in sexual activity with a boy in the coach's shower room in the University's Lasch Building. McQueary met with and reported the incident to Paterno on Saturday, February 10, 2001. Paterno did not immediately report what McQueary told him, explaining that he did not want to interfere with anyone's weekend."

"Paterno told a reporter (regarding the 2001 allegations) that 'I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn't work out that way.'"

"Paterno was asked, "Other than the [2001] incident that Mike McQueary reported to you, do you know in any way, through rumor, direct knowledge, or any fashion, of any other inappropriate sexual conduct by Jerry Sandusky with young boys?" Paterno responded, "I do not know of anything else that Jerry would be involved in of that nature, no. I do not know of it. You did mention -- I think you said something about a rumor. It may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody. I don't know. I don't remember, and I could not honestly say I heard a rumor."

Rot in hell, you son of a bitch.

On Penn State's President Graham Spanier:

"By not promptly and fully advising the Board of Trustees about the 1998 and 2001 child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky and the subsequent Grand Jury investigation of him, Spanier failed in his duties as President. The Board also failed in its duties to oversee the President and senior University officials in 1998 and 2001 by not inquiring about important University matters and by not creating an environment where senior University officials felt accountable."

"Spanier said, in his interview with the Special Investigative Counsel, that he never heard a report from anyone that Sandusky was engaged in any sexual abuse of children. He also said that if he had known or suspected that Sandusky was abusing children, he would have been the first to intervene."

On Penn State's Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz:

"Even after criminal charges were announced against Schultz and Curley in November 2011, Spanier continued to downplay the serious harm that could result to Penn State's reputation from the criminal charges, and issued a statement of 'unconditional support' for Schultz and Curley."

"... In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at the University -- Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley -- repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, the University's Board of Trustees, the Penn State community, and the public at large. The avoidance of the consequences of bad publicity is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities."

On Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley:

"These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the board of trustees, the university community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001."

"Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State," Freeh wrote. "The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized."

I'm not sure who deserves worse treatment in prison, Jerry Sandusky or every single on of these dirt bags.

Welcome To Prison You Son of a Bitch

Dear Inmate Sandusky  - 

It seems that you have finally lost control of the fantasy.  The darkness of lusting after young flesh has been brought into the light, and it seems “Coach" that you are now headed to prison. 

I wanted to offer you a word of welcome:

The nighttime is terrifying.  You will shiver often with the mind-numbing fear of his unwelcome hands.  The stench of his filthy teeth will commandeer your sense of smell.  Your body will be riddled with the aching aftermath of his carnal brutality.  Screams of protest will radiate from every cell in your body as your attacker marks YOU as his target.  A mark you will feel every moment of every day, even when he’s not there.  

Welcome to the nighttime that your victims, and your son, know well.

The showers will also pose a problem.  It is a place, as you know, that leaves one quite vulnerable.  Naked.  Exposed.   You will never again be able to bathe alone and in peace.  The cleansing warmth of a simple shower will forever be tainted by the horror of intrusion, the panic of constantly being preyed upon, and the anxiety of relentlessly being watched.  Unfortunately, "Coach", there is no soap that can wash away this fear; no salve that will bring back the experience of losing yourself in the warm embrace of a shower.

Welcome to the shower that your victims, and your son, know well.

All this, and yet the nagging and unyielding embarrassment will be your biggest challenge.  Congratulations!  Your diseased thirst for little boys is now infamous; your name synonymous with "pedophile", "pervert", and "molester".   Your journey on this planet, your legacy, will be forever connected to your predatory assaults on the innocent.  Your history is set in stone.   

Welcome to the hell that you must endure alone.  Every day.  For the rest of your life.

You see, "Coach", your end is your victim’s beginning.  A beginning marked with hope, healing, and light.  You no longer have control over anyone (including yourself).   My deepest prayer is that one day you will find the courage to admit to, for the sake of every boy you’ve ever put your hands on, what you’ve done.

Asking forgiveness is the least you could do.

So, without further ado, welcome to prison you son of a bitch.  May time with your demons usher you into the light.

Sincerely,
A Survivor 

    

Autism Awareness Day

In honor of Autism Awareness Day, please enjoy a short film put together by one of my students, Nolan Schmidt, who is a high functioning Autistic filmmaker.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AUTISM, PLEASE VISIT:  http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Are "Hot Saucing" and "Cold Showers" Child Abuse?

Please watch the video below before reading further.  Our exploration of the ramifications surrounding this story will never be fully understood without first viewing for yourself what we are dealing with here. . .

Is punishing a 7-year-old boy by putting hot sauce in his mouth child abuse? How about forcing him, pleading and screaming, into a cold shower?

This week in Anchorage Alaska, a jury will be reviewing the case of Jessica Beagley, a mother charged with misdemeanor child abuse after the above footage appeared on the Dr. Phil show last year.

To be considered abuse, the jury must decide if the punishment was cruel, torturous and disproportionate to what the child did. According to testimony, the boy, one of a set of twins recently adopted from Russia, got into trouble at school for sword-fighting with pencils and then denied it when his mother asked about it.  

To be clear -  he got into trouble at school and lied about it.  Did his "crime" warrant this severe of a punishment?

In my opinion - absolutely not.  I'm really disturbed on a number of levels and vehemently disagree with the methods used by this mother.  However, I'm also just the mother of one 2 year old and am really interested to hear what you think.

Is this child abuse?  Should this mother be thrown in jail?  Do you think punishing this mother would result in the government having more control over how we raise our children?    

A VIDEO OF THE FULL STORY, AS COVERED BY ABC NEWS,  IS BELOW: