Throttle back for a minute...What's this about?

[Antigen]

No kidding! That's what galls me. Know what else? I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think I ever knew about Melvin's cancer until the lawsuit. That's their big claim to martyrdome; that Richard went and told everyone about the illness. Well he didn't.

I wonder how he's doing. Anyone heard from him lately? I hope he's ok.

I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't
agree with each other, but that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it
would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.
--GW Büsh, CNN.com, December 18, 2000

[Anonymous]

Write the judge! Write the court!
(might need to check the address)
SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL DIVISION
Judge Walt Logan
Rm. 211, 545 First Avenue North
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 582-7288

Judge Walt Logan
Family Law Section 24
Judicial Practice Preferences for Attorneys and Support Staff
 St. Petersburg Judicial Bldg.  
545 First Avenue North
St. Petersburg, FL   33701
727/582-7200

Write letters to the St. Petersburg Times!
E-Mail: [email protected]

Write letters to support the accusations against the Semblers and about your experiences in Straight in support of Richard.

[Anonymous]

Whether your oppinion is simply that this was a desperate measure, or that of a man who has cracked after relentless efforts to uncover the truth, or even a brave attempt to shine light on that truth, and whether or not the judge allows testimony regarding Straight, it HAS ALREADY brought attention to Straight and the Sembler's.  It made the paper.  They acknowleded a link to Straight.

Now it's up to everyone to bombard the, judges, the courts, and the media while this window is open.  Use it!

We can only hope that as this evolves enough people will raise their voices loud enough in an effort to let the media, the judge, and whomever else will listen, that the survivors of these programs have not fallen asleep, are not all dead, and will not stop until those involved are exposed for who they really are.

Just hopefully some brave mental health professionals, journalists, authors or elected officials will be paying attention.  It would only take one person in the right
position...

Write the paper!
Write the media outlets that haven't covered this story!  
Write the judge!
Send a letter to Richard's lawyer!

[Antigen]

How would we go about entering an Amicus brief?

Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.
-- John Muir

[Anonymous]

Wayeast:
Let's just keep things in perspective here.

"Richard appears to have found a (sort of) SYMPATHETIC REPORTER at the SP Times."   ?WAYEAST

Let's encourage and applaud the one brave reporter who is willing to rehash anything that involves what happened at Straight and print anything Richard said. Let's applaud Richard for succeeding at least in that light, regardless of the measures taken.

(1) definition
SYMPATHETIC: existing or operating through an affinity, interdependence, or mutual association.

Sympathetic: Mutual association & interdependence btw. the wealthy and privileged who make campaign contributions, and perpetuate the re-election and appointment of politicians. Politicians who are the fabric that uphold the laws and limitations which protect perpetrators of crimes against minors from being held accountable., and insuring that victims and survivors are silenced. Politicians who instead of searching for the truth and holding criminals accountable, appoint them ambassadors,  pump up their books, and promote programs and individuals who were a part of the organized intimidation, depravation, harassment, and abuse of children, adolescents, teens and adults.

Politicians, privilege, wealth, campaign contributions, and connections = clemency.




"But being right doesn't justify UNNECESSARY CRUELTY."  ?WAYEAST
Excuse me? Are you implying that Richard's actions are "Cruel"?

(2):definition
CRUELTY: 1) the quality or state of being cruel 2a) a cruel action b) inhuman treatment  
3) to endanger life or health or to cause mental suffering or fear


"Unnecessary Cruelty":  Straight, Kids of BC, Kids of NJ and programs like them.
Absence of professional supervision by psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, or other mental health professionals. Ignoring the required staff to patient ratio. Denying the "bill of patient rights". Refusal to provide necessary medical attention or medication.  Malpractice, misdiagnosis, insurance fraud, false documentation. Inadequate treatment of chemical and psychological disorders. Depravation, including an education or adequate sources of nourishment, hydration, sleep, sunlight.  Refusal of bathroom use, resulting in these individuals defecating on themselves and forcing them to wear soiled clothing. Shaming incest survivors and rape victims.  Calling them "gay".  Calling it "sex" with an adult, blaming them for the heinous crimes committed against them.  Forcing and subjecting children as young as 10-14 to hear sexually explicit "confessions", sexual language, and detailed stories of rape, sex, masturbation, etc.  Sexual abuse and molestation. Subjecting minors to witness and engage in violence and assaults. Organized, systematic efforts to convert homosexuals.  Coercing and insisting a pregnant teen get an abortion. Violations of privacy.  Control of bodily functions, eye, hand, leg, mouth, head, and extremity movements 24 hours a day. Restraint and assaults as a result of un-allowed eye, finger, hand, movements, speaking, not sitting up straight, or crossing one's legs. Force feeding. Using the withholding of food, hydration and sleep as a motivational tool.  Controlling the rate and frequency that a child may defecate, urinate, and the speed that they must wipe themselves.  The prevention of air flow to the mouth and nose simultaneously (sometimes referred to as "suffocation" in some schools of thought) as a means of controlling a restrained individual who is crying, or speaking, or "talking out."  Wrongful imprisonment, kidnapping, assault, violent physical attacks, emotional battery, harassment, coercion, intimidation. Instilling extreme fear and suffering.  Organized inhumane treatment of minors. Endangering children's safety, and their mental, emotional and physical health. Bite marks, bald spots, broken bones, bruises...torture.  (Please correct me if I have forgotten something or in error, added anything which you know to be incorrect.)


What happened in Straight, Kids, and other programs WAS and IS ILLEGAL.
The question should be: Why have they and continue to get away with this!

[Anonymous]

Does a lawyer need to file an Amicus Brief? I think I read that somewhere.

[Anonymous]

On 2003-09-05 08:47:00, Antigen wrote:

"Wayeast, I don't know how the legal battle will play out. I do know that Richard has worked for 20 years to bring to light the abuses that continue to go on at Straight descendant programs. And I will do my level best to help get media attention to this case.

"

I think most of us consider Richard a hero for successfully suing Straight. Years ago, he brought much-needed media attention to the abuses there. Lawsuits like his helped shut down some of the Straights, and it forced the others to hide their true nature even further.  I understand and respect your loyalty to him. I can't and won't agree with his recent methods, but like you, I wish him well.

[wayeast]

Anonymous said:


"But being right doesn't justify UNNECESSARY CRUELTY."  ?WAYEAST

Excuse me? Are you implying that Richard's actions are "Cruel"?



I'm not implying it. I'm saying it outright. He took medical information of a most personal and humiliating nature and broadcast it on the Internet. The fact that we understand what motivated him to do so, and that we can sympathize with the anger Richard feels, doesn't change the fact that what he did was cruel.

How sorry do I feel for Sembler? I'm as aware as any of you what he is responsible for, and how he's been rewarded for his actions instead of punished. But after what I've seen, I refuse to start down the same path he took, justifying my own unacceptable actions in the name of a cause.




What happened in Straight, Kids, and other programs WAS and IS ILLEGAL.

The question should be: Why have they and continue to get away with this!

"
[/quote]

I know.  You've got about a hundred good reasons there to hate Sembler and everything he stands for. We all do.  It's nothing short of an ongoing outrage.  And I hope like hell some good comes of this situation, and it might.  

I can't get on the bandwagon, though, and defend something I think was a poor choice. If Richard was my closest friend,I'd be giving him hell over what he's done, and I'd be trying to talk him into taking a less self-destructive path.

[Antigen]

Here's the thing, Wayeast. I don't care whether Richard hurt Melvin's tender feelings. And I think you're mistaken in saying that Richard exposed any medical condition.

I think Richard found an interesting and commical item in Melvin's trash (Melvin being WAY over the line between private and public citizen) and he used it to draw attention to a cause. Until Melvin's lawyer mentioned it, it had never even occured to me that the pump had anything to do with any medical condition. Actually, I figured someone probably had sent it to him as a joke.

But, at the bottom of it, I feel the same about Richard as I do about Colleen. I don't think I ever met Colleen and I've only met Richard once. I'm very sure that they're both legal adults and that I'm not their mommy. It is not my place to tell them what to say to or about whom. I'm also not Richard's lawyer nor his judge and, as such, am mostly uninterested in the particulars of the civil suit in question.

What I'm interested in is the same as it ever was. I'm interested in the reasons why a guy like Richard would dedicate so much of his life and take such risks just to get journalists interested in Melvin's history with Straight, Inc.

Whenever these Program people whine and complain about all the horrible, mean and spiteful things we all have to say about them, it makes me think of Charly Brown. No, not the popular and affable comic strip character created by Charles Schulz, but the protagonist in the hit song by the Coasters, "Charley Brown".

"He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see
(Why's everybody always pickin' on me?)"

Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300001479/circlofmiamithem' target='_new'> Ben Franklin Letter to M. Leroy, 1789.

[sammiegirl]

Richard is a HERO and he has sacraficed more than we will ever know.. IMO We should all give a big HORRAH Hurray!!! to richard...

[Anonymous]

"I'm not implying it. I'm saying it outright. He took medical information of a most personal and humiliating nature and broadcast it on the Internet."

So, let's see here. When the members of ISAC, that cruel graduate husband and wife team, with a last name that begins with "E", when they listed the names of girls who they assumed had been "forced" to have an abortion, when they did that, where was your indignation then, Wayeast? And when someone spoke up and they launched an attack on the person who pointed out that what they were doing was wrong and, as you say, revealing private medical information of a most personal and humiliating nature, again, where was your indignation for their unrepentant defense of what they had done? And don't tell me you weren't on the board, as one of the people they named got on and was quite upset, just recently, so they finally removed the names. But still the question remains: Where is your indignation for survivors being cruel to other survivors with their lies and their propaganda and their posting of things that they haven't even verified as truth? As least R.B. posted the truth, "cruel" or not. But what I can't understand is how instead of defending innocent survivors, you get on here and you defend Sembler!?!   ::puke::

[Froderik]

I agree that defending the Semblers is a crock. They can eat shit and die for all I care. But I thought we were all past the "confidentiality" thing already...Shelby's intentions were good, AND she wiped the names and apologized. What more do you want? How about I send you a dead horse so you can beat it?  :flame:

[Antigen]

Yeah, I've made the same mistake passing on inaccurate information and attaching it to the full names of people who just didn't want it out there. Correcting the error and apologizing is the thing to do.

That's quite different from what Richard is doing. You can tell what his intentions are by carefully examining his real actions over the last 20 years. It's not about inflicting humiliation or emotional distress on the Semblers. It's about uncovering past and ongoing incidents of child abuse.

You should also remember that Richard found the damned thing at least 12 years ago and, in the mean time, has tried just about every legal and peaceful means at his disposal to draw attention to these child abusers. I really can't get too hung up on poor Melvin's privacy. Especially in light of his history of using humiliation and emotional blackmail against children.

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
--

[Anonymous]

Froderik, aren't you the same guy that can't seem to manage reading cryptic messages?

And aren't you the same guy that doesn't understand why a large number of persons are angry with ISAC?

And aren't you the same guy who doesn't understand exactly what is happening off of this board behind the scenes? (Not to mention your blatant ignorance of what's happening right in front of your damn face on the board).

Then why do you keep sticking your foot in your mouth and defending what you can't fathom?

So comprehend this Froderik: You are the proverbial program parent. You are defending what you can't see and what you don't understand and you are so fucking wrong that in the near future, you are going to feel like an utterly blind fool.

But here's some advice for you. If you don't know what's going on, try shutting up and paying attention for a change.  :roll:  

You might just learn something. :eek:

[Anonymous]

WTF Anonymous? You speak as though you are on a verge, of sorts. A verge of what? That rant makes you look a lot like you berate people on purpose. Besides, you never know what goes on behind the scenes. I think a reader here could perceive your comments as being, at the very least, mildly threatening. Should someone allow another to step on their toes? Only time will tell