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

[wayeast]

I have to believe that most of you who are cheering the E-bay ad regarding Sembler's pump don't realize he got it because he's had prostate cancer.  If the documents published on the ISAC site are true, then the medical device was taken from his trash, and his very private medical information has been broacast on the internet.

Am I wrong that you don't know this? I haven't been paying close attention to the threads, but it seems like most are as in the dark about that as I was.

I could be happy seeing Sembler in jail, and it ticks me off royally that he's being routinely rewarded for his cruelty.  Still, having had my own dignity robbed from me by Straight, I can't celebrate when someone else's is taken from them. Even Sembler.  

Understandably, some may not be able to feel any compassion for our embassador to Italy.  Fair enough.  But do any of you really think, as the ISAC site said, that this is going to result in the story of Straight being told?  They're not going to allow Richard to tell WHY he's been stalking the Semblers. They're just going to ask him factual questions about what he's done to them.  Based on those answers, he may or may not lose the suit.  When it comes to this case, information about Straight is going to be beside the point.

This is going to do nothing to harm the Semblers, and everything to destroy the credibility of the people involved in the case.  Richard, what were you thinking?

[85 Day Jerk]

See wayeast, most of us don't care.  The same as Sembler did'nt care when he allowed illegal drainage hook-ups to his Tyrone holdings which led to the drowning deaths of an Ohio woman and her daughter during the flood of May 8th, 1979.
For fifteen years he did'nt care, until he was forced to care in open court to the tune of 165 thousand dollars to the husband and surviving daughter.  Yeah, he's a real humanitarian.  Or how about how he destroyed and filled a lake that was home to countless endangered waterfowl near Tyrone so that yuppy scumbags would have a new Best Buy and a few other shops to play in?  Or how about the out and out RAILROADING of countless teens using trumped up COURT ORDERS to force teens into the program against their will, at TRIPLE the going rate as 'regular' clients?
Non-Profit Humanitarian my Ass!!!  He deserves every bit of humiliation he recieved and this coming lawsuit is what makes this country great!
(God already saw to it he did'nt deserve a natural erection anymore, what more proof do you need?)

[Anonymous]

Way to go 85!

I hear ya. That goon (Sembler) never cared about a damned thing but his bank account. His whole attitude seems to be ~ to hell with the kids that died from suicide after they got out of Straight Inc., the hell with the thousands of young people and their families forever altered for the worse from Straight Inc. Long as he got his money on time right Mel?

No, this is not about our past grievances as much as it is about showing present day and potential abusers out their that want to turn kids into cattle commodities like Mel Sembler's Straight Inc. did that there will be consequences for their actions. That those young people will some day reach adulthood and not give the courts a day of rest until justice is served. That has to be the message we are sending out there.

Too bad he had to deal with cancer, good people as well as assholes get cancer. It is still a fact that a lot of injustices from Mel's Straight Inc. still remain not addressed. Mel is still in denial about Straight Inc. for these reasons in my opinion. He is afraid of losing his money, properties, and ?prestige? with the general public.

[ClayL]

I agree with wayeast. Richard is going to be handed his ass and eaten for lunch. None of the straight stuff is going to be admissable or even allowed to be discussed. The only way I can see it being mentioned is if some head psyrinker say that Richard is nuts and the reason why is straight. Sembler was not on the "theraputic" end of straight and can claim he didn't know. So unless Richard has some tangible link where sembler gave directions for the "treatment" of a client, Richard is going to be handed his ass and eaten for lunch.

I also find the tactic of using personal items gleaned from ones refuse bin to be offensive and can guarantee that almost ANY jury can be made to feel the same way. It is going to be all to simple to paint Mel as the victim here. I would love to cause this guy pain and the best way to do that is make a rich guy poor. They don't know how to be poor. I also think Mel is a preditor who gets off on the shit he caused us. It probably tickles him to death. All that, and now he gets to look like the victim of the people he and his ilk have shat upon. JOY!!!!


Short term gratification causing this bastard momentary embarrassment is not what I have in mind when I think of justice. I think of huge fines and a nice, tidy tranfer of wealth.

Last, after reading the particulars of the suit, I decided this was something I was going to keep quiet on. Upon reading all the accolades for the suit I decided to say this is not the right way to do this. It cheapens the whole thing and destroys any credibility that some here have been striving so hard to gain. No one will take anything y'all say seriously after this. Just a fair warning.

CL

[Dr. Frank'nFurter]

Richard Bradbury's actions are more than just a mere childish prank.  By forcing a reaction from Melvin Sembler, and Mel's filing of a lawsuit, Mel has thereby agreed to "step into the ring" and settle this man to man.  This now opens Mel Sembler to public scrutiny as well as an extraordinarly important judicial process known as DISCOVERY AND DISCLOSURE.  Through D & D, Richard's lawyer can show that Richard's actions were entirely justifiable and in line with someone who suffered at the hands of an evil and perverse facility run solely for the collection of money and profits and that his actions were a "call to arms" and a "plea for attention" to see that present day teens do not have to suffer the same as WE ALL did.  Now all you "arm-chair quarterbacks" make such excellent commentators, but I prefer to be down on the field covered in mud and grass and sweat, this way, I don't have reach up and place my fingers on the side of my neck to know I am alive.

[Antigen]

I have less than no sympathy for Melvin Sembler's privacy, dignity or tender feelings.

I worked hard all of my early life to earn a reputation as a hard working, honest and integrous young woman. And I was winning my just deserts. My pastor, teachers, decons and even my employer at age 14 believed in me despite all my mother's bad mouthing. That is the life and world I remembered and what sustained me through two years of unmitigated hell in the care of Smell and Batty's "therapeutic" community.

When I got out, naturally enough I went back home to Pompano. But when I got there, all of my friends, neighbors, teachers, pastor... every soul I ever knew or trusted, had been fed a line of shit about what a junkie whore I was while I was locked away, unable to defend my hard earned reputation.

Fuck that selfish, sadistic son of a bitch!

Do you know that, even to this day, Small and Batty continue to brag about what they did to us? Check it out for yourself. Search on drug free america foundation and look at betty's bio. Search on melvin sembler and look at his official bio as ambassador to Italy.

Do you know that in the year 2000, long after Richard nearly single handedly forced them to close the last remaining Straight, Inc. facility under that corporate name, they were able to pass into federal law a piece of legislation that relagates all federal juvenile rehab spending to programs that employ their "sucessfull" tretment model?

And does it fly over your head that all this has been done and is being done in the name of modern medicine? These sad bastards are pulling down something on the order of $6,000,000,000 (with a B) every year through corporations with names like Alegent Health and Psychemedic?

Personally, I don't buy the cover story that Smell's doctor prescibed a sex toy as a first choice to keep his ailing prostate in shape. When I was pregnant, all three times, my doctors suggested natural, organic sex to keep my systems in shape. I wonder if Smell's doctor didn't give him essentially the same advice. But, for him, that would be a fate worse than death.

"Doc, is there any other way?", he pleaded. All the rest, as they say, is history.

Richard is not a dumb guy. He has not done any of this lightly. Remember that, when he first came to realize the monumental scam that had been perpetrated on him and his family, he was on staff and initially objected to the fact that other staffers were getting stoned on the job. God bless him cause I sure couldn't have at that time and under those circumstances. But he damned sure is a sincere man, whatever his cause. This is not a petty act of malice but a strategic move.

Duct tape is like the force; it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.
--Jedi Knight school drop out.

[ehm]

I want to add: Digging through other people's trash is NOT that big of a deal legally at all! Ever heard the term, "Dumpster Diving?" Hell, I've found a good sterio, a cool chair, the computer I'm on right now, and a collectable Red Riding Hood doll from the 70's. The kind with the two heads on either end and three faces that tell the story of little Red Riding Hood! To this day that is my favorite doll. (I collect old dolls) I am also a firm believer that, one man's trash, is another man's treasure. On trash day here, you'll always see people scoping out other peoples trash to see if what they didn't want is something they might want, especially when college is out and students are going home, but regardless, everyone knows that the 'richie' neighborhoods are the juicey prime rib trash areas. You squares that buy everything need to get with the program! Recycle!
(I mean that playfully, not as an attack.) Besides, no one knows what else Richard may have found... :wink:

[LeighBright]

Actually, digging through one's trash is perfectly legal. The cops do it all the time. There was a case about that many moons ago and it was found that trash on the curb is no longer your private property. So if going through trash is a problem for the Semblers, perhaps someone ELSE in Florida might want to enact their legal right to go through the Semblers trash - just to let them know that we are still not a fascist country and we are free to dig through anyone's trash that we want.

You'd think ding-dong and his wife would know that. Of course, since they have a "history" with Rich, they are playing the stalker card.

And incidentally, had Richard put a camera around his neck, they couldn't accuse him of stalking - because then he'd be paparazzi - or however you spell that word.

As far as how we feel about this - what's done is done. We may not agree with Richard's methods but he has managed to accomplish a very important goal - this will be in court, as a matter of public record! And whoever said that it all won't come out - must be thinking for the prosecution. Sembler's attorney won't ask for Richard's reasons - but Rich's attorney will and then, my friends, it will be a matter of public record.

Hopefully, there will be survivors in the courtroom and protestors outside.

[wayeast]

I recognize mine isn't going to be a popular opinion, so take it for what it's worth.  Please keep in mind that I don't wish anything bad for any of you, including and especially Richard.

First, though, with regard to the pump, we're not talking about the kind of thing they might sell at a porn shop. I'm pretty sure this is a pump that is used only by men who've had their prostates completely removed.  This isn't something anyone could use for anything kinky.

Second, I agree: dumpster diving is not illegal. Neither, apparently, was what they did to all of us.  Doesn't make either one desirable or acceptable.

Third, I stand by my belief that the judge is not going to let Richard explain why he has been going after Sembler.  The case is about whether or not Richard harrassed Sembler (and possibly extorted him).  Just because the defense attorney wants to talk about something doesn't mean the judge will let him. Discovery has its limitations.  

Will there be media coverage? Apparently there will. Richard appears to have found a (sort of) sympathetic reporter at the SP Times.  Others may also get on the bandwagon, and if it does get the Straight story out again, I'll be happy for that aspect of the situation. That may or may not comfort Richard if he ends up broke and/or in jail.

I understand being angry to the point of rage that this kind of bull***t still is going on. I was eaten up about Straight for years, and trust me: I'll never be able to forget what happened to my family.

But being right doesn't justify unnecessary cruelty, no matter what happened in the past. Lose track of that, and you're on your way to becoming a monster just like Sembler.

I sincerely hope Richard finds his way out of this with his life intact.

[Anonymous]

You don't think anything done at Straight was illegal?  Truthfully?

[Antigen]

Please see my response to the SPiT editors at http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... &forum=7&3

Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice.



--Hearst newspapers nationwide, 1934

[Antigen]

This is how deep and how wide and how bad this is:
http://www.radio4all.org/crackcia/castillo.html

The hypothalamus is one of the most important parts of the brain, involved in many kinds of motivation, among other functions.  The hypothalamus controls the "Four F's": 1. fighting;  2. fleeing;  3.feeding; and  4. mating.
-- Psychology professor in neuropsychology intro course

[ehm]

We were patsies.

[Antigen]

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.

Boundary, n.  In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of another.
-- Ambrose Bierce,  The Devil's Dictionary

[Helena Handbasket]

Yes, Bradbury is being charged with Stalking... and the language in the law (stated in the pleadings) pretty much states "Harrassment... causes emotional distress.... and serves no legitimate purpose" (Yes... I've truncated it)

Point is, and Bradbury states in his St. Pete Times Interview - that the  dumpster diving and the "whole schmear" - everything Bradbury has done - HAS a purpose: to GET THE WORD OUT!  In that he has been successful.  

What I find laughable is that the Semblers are claiming "Emotional Distress"....

The SEMBLERS are claiming EMOTIONAL DISTRESS!?!?!?!!!!

*knock knock knock*
*head twist*
*eyes open wide*
 ::jawdrop::