Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - cmack

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 16
1
Tacitus' Realm / MK-ULTRA: Family sues gov't over death of scientist father
« on: November 29, 2012, 10:32:59 AM »
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCIENTISTS_DEATH_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-28-16-47-42

Family sues US over scientist's mysterious death

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The sons of a Cold War scientist who plunged to his death in 1953 several days after unwittingly taking LSD in a CIA mind-control experiment sued the government Wednesday. They claimed the CIA murdered their father, Frank Olson, by pushing him from a 13th-story window of a hotel - not, as the CIA says, that he jumped to his death.

Sons Eric and Nils Olson of Frederick, Md., sought unspecified compensatory damages in the lawsuit filed in federal court, but their lawyer, Scott D. Gilbert, said they also want to see a broad range of documents related to Olson's death and other matters that they say the CIA has withheld from them since the death.

Olson was a bioweapons expert at Fort Detrick, the Army's biological weapons research center in Maryland. Their lawsuit claims the CIA killed Olson when he developed misgivings after witnessing extreme interrogations in which they allege the CIA committed murder using biological agents Olson had developed.

The CIA had a program in the 1950s and `60s called MK-ULTRA, which involved brainwashing and administering experimental drugs like LSD to unsuspecting individuals. The project was investigated by Congress in the 1970s.

Olson consumed a drink laced with LSD by CIA agents on Nov. 19, 1953, the suit says. Later that month, after being taken to New York City purportedly for a "psychiatric" consultation, Olson plunged to his death.

At the time - when Eric and Nils Olson were 9 and 5 years old, respectively - the CIA said he died in an accident and did not divulge to his family that Olsen had been given LSD.

But in 1975, a commission headed by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller released a report on CIA abuses that included a reference to an Army scientist who had jumped from a New York hotel days after being slipped LSD in 1953. Family members threatened to sue, but President Gerald Ford invited the family to the White House, assuring them they would be given all the government's information. CIA Director William Colby handed over documents and the family accepted a $750,000 settlement to avert a lawsuit.

In an email, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said that while the agency doesn't comment on matters before U.S. courts, "CIA activities related to MK-ULTRA have been thoroughly investigated over the years, and the agency cooperated with each of those investigations." She noted that tens of thousands of pages related to the program have been released to the public.

In a statement, Eric Olson said that the CIA has not given a complete picture of what happened to his father.

"The evidence shows that our father was killed in their custody," he said. "They have lied to us ever since, withholding documents and information, and changing their story when convenient."

3
Public Sector Gulags / Eckerd facility reopens
« on: March 24, 2012, 02:48:09 AM »
http://www.journalpatriot.com/news/arti ... f6878.html

Eckerd facility reopens

Posted: Friday, March 23, 2012 2:23 pm | Updated: 2:27 pm, Fri Mar 23, 2012.

Jule Hubbard | 0 comments

After nearly a year of dormancy, the Eckerd property in Boomer is alive again with trained staff counseling and teaching youths with behavioral problems.

In partnership with the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Division of Juvenile Justice, the 600-acre Eckerd property on the western end of High Rock Road is home to a new short-term, residential, campus-style program.

Linda Hayes, chief deputy secretary for the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice, and Eckerd Chief Operating Officer Ron Zychowski attended an open house there today and discussed the property’s transition from an Eckerd therapeutic “wilderness camp” to the short-term, campus-style program.

The wilderness program, called Camp E-Ma-Etu, operated for about 10 years before it was closed last spring after Eckerd lost a state contract for serving youths referred by the state juvenile justice system. Camp E-Ma-Etu was among Eckerd’s four remaining wilderness camps in North Carolina. All four are closed now and only two remain elsewhere—both in Florida.

In North Carolina, Clearwater, Fla.-based Eckerd transformed itself from focusing almost exclusively on serving youths in wilderness camps to a wide range of child welfare, behavioral health, and juvenile justice services.

Eckerd announced in May that the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice had awarded it a multi-year contract for providing the new residential program in the Montgomery County town of Candor and then announced in September the award of a second the program in Boomer, celebrated today.

Officials said today that the new Eckerd program reflected increased emphasis nationwide on the importance of letting troubled youths remain with their families in their home communities as much as possible and less on long-term residential programs like the wilderness camps.

“If you treat a youth without his family, you don’t have as much success,” said Cindi Blackburn-Jones, who is program director for Eckerd’s new short-term residential service in Boomer. “We always had an emphasis on transitioning youth back to their home community, but it wasn’t as intensive or supportive as it is now.”

Ms. Blackburn-Jones said Eckerd staff have extensive interaction with parents after their children complete the new program and return home. This includes helping parents implement certain structure for youths to make the transition home as seamless and successful as possible.

The goal of the new Eckerd program, which started in Boomer early last month and in Candor in October, is to provide participating youths with complete rehabilitative experiences in three to four months.

How do wilderness camps compare to the new short-term residential service? Housed with their counselors year-round in rustic, open-sided shelters with detached bathroom facilities, camp participants stayed an average of 10 to 12 months at Camp E-Ma-Etu. The shelters had heaters in the winter.

Two of three planned “dormitories” have been completed so far, each with their own names. Each have heating and cooling systems, bathroom facilities and bunk beds for participants and their counselors. Truth Hall is currently occupied by program youth, Wisdom Hall is completed in anticipation of the next group of youths and Honor Hall is under construction.

The new program utilizes experiential education, but the wilderness camp program had more of an emphasis on experiential education and group dynamics in an outdoor setting. Like the wilderness program, the new program’s school curriculum is accredited with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

“The new program is designed to address each youth’s behavioral challenges through a strength-based approach with evidence-based practices,” stated Eckerd literature. Services include individualized treatment and academic plans using formal and experiential education, vocational education, community service, behavioral health and family counseling in a non-punitive environment.

Specific features include a “Forward Thinking” interactive journal program, social skills and life skills training, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, community service work and individual, group and family counseling.

Camp E-Ma-Etu typically had around 60 male and female participants ages 10 to 17. When at full capacity, the new program in Boomer will be licensed for 36 youths ages 13 to 17, male only. It now has about 10 male youths receiving services.

Only adjudicated youths (youths found guilty of juvenile offenses) participate in the new program in Boomer. Although referral from a state juvenile justice official was needed in the wilderness camp program, adjudication wasn’t required.

Both level I and II offenders were accepted at Camp E-Ma-Etu, but the new program is only for level II juvenile offenders. Ms. Blackburn-Jones said a juvenile is designated a level II rather than a level I offender because of having more offenses rather than more serious ones.

Initially, youths from across the state will be accepted in the new program at Boomer, but there may be a shift to serve only youths from the region in the future.  

With the new program, said officials, Eckerd should eventually have about 40 employees on its property in Boomer.

4
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/mar ... n-collier/

Special report: Driver in Collier 'Swamp Boys' fatal crash had undetected record

    By JACOB CARPENTER
    Posted March 17, 2012 at 6 p.m.



Daniel Huerta


OCHOPEE — Trapped inside an SUV overturned in a creek, water gushing into the cabin, 16-year-old Joseph Wilson felt a tug at his leg.

Somebody was underwater below him.

Wilson plunged his hand into the icy water, feebly grasping for the passenger, trying to pull him up.

"His hand slipped," Wilson said. "And I knew right then that it was Daniel."

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Huerta drowned in December when a Ford Expedition driven by Johnson Atilard, a 25-year-old employee of a juvenile justice contractor, flipped into a small creek on an eastern Collier County road. Atilard also drowned, and seven other at-risk teens returning from a trip to Daytona Beach suffered minor injuries.

The fatal crash prompted a review of how officials at Big Cypress Wilderness Institute, an Ochopee-based juvenile justice center run by state contractor AMIkids, let Atilard behind the wheel despite at least 18 traffic citations since 2006.

In addition, a Daily News review of employee files and records related to the crash shows:

? Administrators knew of Atilard's extensive traffic record, once banning him from driving Big Cypress vehicles, yet he drove on company business at least five times. Atilard also failed to list a no-contest plea to selling alcohol to a minor on his job application, as well as his numerous traffic citations.

? Another driver on the trip, acting director of operations Frantz Lindor, also had a spotty driving record. His company driving privileges were once revoked, and he'd been subject to recent complaints of texting while driving in the Naples area.

? The night of the crash, Big Cypress' executive director, Daniel Washington, allowed eight juveniles to ride in Atilard's car, a violation of at least two state regulations.

Huerta's parents are suing Big Cypress and Atilard's estate, alleging negligence.

"What the Huertas are looking for is to make sure this doesn't happen again, that there should be standards for who drives the kids around," said the Huertas' lawyer, Steve Schwed. "The sad thing about this case is the parents don't have any say in who was driving, so they're totally trusting Big Cypress and AMIkids."

Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice is investigating the crash and looking at changing its transportation policies.

Shawna Vercher, spokeswoman for AMIkids, a Tampa-based national nonprofit with a three-year, $4-million contract to run Big Cypress, said officials are cooperating with DJJ and have made several changes. Following the crash, Lindor was fired and Washington resigned.

"This is a tragedy and it's unacceptable when something like this happens, so of course we're taking every step and every precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again," Vercher said. "We're just learning the answers that we need and we're taking aggressive measures."

A fatal ride

In separate interviews last month, two passengers in the vehicle — Wilson, the 16-year-old from Bonita Springs, and Luis Lopez Meza, 18, of Miami — provided matching accounts of the day Huerta and Atilard died. Their stories are supported by documents obtained from Big Cypress, the Florida Highway Patrol and DJJ.

On Dec. 8, 14 juveniles from Big Cypress, known locally as "Swamp Boys," left the Ochopee campus. They went to a flag football tournament in Daytona Beach, about 250 miles away, where they competed against teams from AMIkids' other Florida campuses.

After playing a few games that afternoon, the teens left in three vehicles, driven by Washington, Big Cypress' executive director; Lindor, its director of operations; and Atilard, a cook.

Near the end of the return trip, the vehicles stopped at a gas station. Some of the juveniles from Washington's vehicle piled into the SUV driven by Atilard. In all, the SUV had eight passengers. From the gas station, Atilard and Lindor drove to Big Cypress. Seven miles from campus, Atilard approached a 90-degree curve on Wagon Wheel Road at about 10:15 p.m.

While talking on a cell phone, Atilard couldn't control the vehicle and slid into the outside lane. The SUV then hit a sign, flipped onto its roof and landed in a creek.

The speed limit is 30 mph, and accounts of Atilard's speed vary from 35 to 50 mph. FHP troopers estimated it at 45 mph.

"Everybody told Mr. Johnson to slow down, and he said, 'No, I got it,'" said Wilson, who knew Huerta for about five years. "I guess he tried to drift the turn and he just didn't slow down. He was probably going at least 45, 50 (mph) when we hit the turn."

Lopez Meza, who was in the front passenger seat, started to escape from the partially submerged SUV.

"My side got in the water first," Lopez Meza said. "Everybody was crowded up in the back. It was super cold and already touching my feet. Then the water was already up to my legs and chest."

Seven of the vehicle's passengers escaped or were pulled out safely. They were hospitalized for a day or two.

Rescuers reached Atilard and Huerta, but both were pronounced dead within an hour. Autopsies concluded they drowned.

Checkered records

In the crash aftermath, attention turned to Atilard's driving record and a 2008 misdemeanor charge he didn't list on his job application.

Court documents show Atilard had accumulated at least 18 traffic citations since 2006, including four for speeding. The citations ranged from leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage to driving on a suspended license to making an improper turn.

On his April 2010 job application, Atilard said he had received traffic citations in the past three years, but when asked to explain, he only wrote "seat belt and window tints."

Big Cypress administrators later learned of Atilard's checkered driving history and banned him from driving company vehicles in February 2011, placing a memo in his personnel file. Washington, the executive director, signed the memo.

Despite the ban, driving logs show Atilard drove company vehicles at least four times before the fatal crash — twice in August, once in October and once in December.

"My understanding is that they were not aware of that being in his file," Vercher, the AMIkids spokeswoman, said of Big Cypress administrators. "Not that it's acceptable, but we believe that's what happened."

Washington declined comment and efforts to reach operations director Lindor were unsuccessful. At Lindor's North Naples address, a man who identified himself as Lindor's brother said Lindor didn't want to comment.

Further review of Atilard's background shows he didn't report on his job application a no-contest plea for selling alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor. In August 2008, Collier sheriff's deputies caught Atilard selling a six-pack of beer to an undercover 20-year-old while he worked at a Naples gas station. The case didn't end in a conviction due to a deferred prosecution agreement.

A background check, however, didn't show the no-contest plea, and Big Cypress officials weren't aware of it until after the crash, Vercher said.

Lindor's personnel file also raises questions about whether he should have been driving juveniles on the Daytona Beach trip.

Lindor received a memo nearly identical to Atilard's in January 2008, revoking his driving privileges. In the three years before his 2008 ban, Lindor had nine traffic citations and had his license suspended twice, records show.

A January 2011 driving record check found Lindor had one violation — failing to pay a toll — since 2008, which would have made him eligible to drive under AMIkids policies. However, Collier court records show he also was cited in May 2009 for not carrying a driver's license and August 2010 for disobeying a "no passing zone" sign.

AMIkids officials didn't respond to questions about whether the January 2011 driving record check should have caught those two citations, and what effect those tickets would have had on his driving privileges.

Lindor also was subject to complaints in September and October for texting while driving company vehicles. He denied both accusations and records don't show any action was taken. Washington was aware of the complaints, signing documents about them.

The response

Following the crash, Lindor was fired in late December and Washington was demoted. He resigned in mid-January.

Vercher said AMIkids officials had hoped to keep Washington, an employee of 18 years with no disciplinary record in his personnel file. He was given a $25,690 severance.

"(Washington) gave AMIkids a number of years and we wanted to ensure there was some continuity of staff for the kids there," Vercher said.

AMIkids officials have since completed this "corrective action plan" with DJJ:

   
? A Big Cypress supervisor will now run driving record checks on all new hires, with checks then done twice a year.

? A list of eligible drivers will be made for managers to review before any employees drive company vehicles.

? Staff members will be retrained on transportation policies.

? Before any off-campus trips, a plan must be approved by supervisors and seat belts must be checked.

In a statement, DJJ spokesman C.J. Drake said Big Cypress "does not have any outstanding major or minor deficiencies" and DJJ will oversee the corrective action plan. DJJ officials also are looking at using state databases to monitor traffic records of juvenile justice program drivers.

The changes, however, don't satisfy everybody.

Christy Wilson, whose son, Joseph, tried to save Daniel Huerta, said family members should be contacted if Big Cypress juveniles are being driven long distances. And that's just one example of the changes needed.

"Right now, I wish that whole place would close down, because I don't think it was right what happened at all," Christy Wilson said.

© 2012 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/mar ... n-collier/

5
About the time the "Kidnapped for Christ" movie trailer came out the Escuala Caribe and New Horizon websites stated that they had been acquired by Lifeline Youth & Family Services who until recently only dealt with kids placed by courts or CPS, etc. They seem to be operating EC and the other New Horizon programs now.

http://lifelineyouth.org/default.asp

The site linked below also mentions the acquisition.

http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/tag/new-ho ... inistries/

From reddit; http://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/c ... ry_in_the/

An alumni site with pictures and personal testimonials for EC and other New Horizon programs.

http://nhym-alumni.org/

A couple of old student rule books from 1991 & 1999. Can't say if things have changed much.

http://nhym-alumni.org/documents/rulebo ... _09_15.pdf

http://nhym-alumni.org/documents/rulebook_1999_02.pdf

Keep in mind that these are old rule books and things have likely changed somewhat. They use a level system, mail is read on lower levels. Corporal punishment is used. It doesn't sound quite as harsh as Tranquility Bay but certainly not a place I'd want to spend any time. Obviously very heavy on Christian indoctrination which could be especially troubling for those who weren't Christian. Seems like a lot of physical labor. In the students' Q&A's there are reports of staff kicking students and other physical abuse.

6
Teen tied and shocked for hours; mom calls it "torture"
Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzPNrze

Updated: Monday, 20 Feb 2012, 11:18 AM EST
Published : Sunday, 19 Feb 2012, 11:17 PM EST

        Mike Beaudet
    http://www.twitter.com/channel_mike

Kevin Rothstein Producer http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzZMqC0

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Video of a disabled teen tied down and given painful electric shocks for seven hours should be made public, the youth's mother said, so everyone can see what she describes as the "torture" her son went through at the controversial school, the only one in Massachusetts that uses pain to treat its clients.

"This is worse than a nightmare," Cheryl McCollins said about her disabled son, Andre. "It is horrific. And poor Andre, who had to suffer through this, and not know why."

The ordeal began after Andre hit a staff member. Inside a classroom, as a camera was recording, he was tied to a restraint board, face down, a helmet over his head.

He stayed like that for seven hours without a break, no food, no water, or trips to the bathroom. Each time he screamed or tensed up, he was shocked, 31 times in all. His mother called the next day to check on him.

"I said, 'Andre.' I said, 'Hello.' And so he said, 'Help me,'" McCollins said.

After spending three days in a comatose state, not eating or drinking, Andre was taken to Children's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with "acute stress response" caused by the shocks.

"The doctors took all the shackles and all those things off of him. Andre's not talking to me. I'm just holding him and telling him how much I love him, and asking him please to talk to me, just tell me what happened," McCollins said.

What happened that morning in October 2002 became clear after the Rotenberg Center showed her the video of Andre's ordeal, recorded by the classroom camera.

"When I viewed the tape, I saw Andre walking into a room, someone asking him to take off his coat. Andre said no, they shocked him, he went underneath the table trying to get away from them. They pulled him out, tied him up and they continued to shock him," McCollins said.

"When you look at that videotape, what was the purpose of all those shocks?" asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.

"I have no idea," McCollins replied.

"Did you get an apology?" Beaudet asked.

"No, they felt what they did was therapy," McCollins replied.

"Does that look like therapy to you?" Beaudet asked.

"No, it was torture," McCollins said.

For now, the public can't see for themselves what Andre's treatment looks like because the Rotenberg Center asked a Norfolk Superior Court judge to seal the video tape, saying it would be unsettling for viewers who didn't understand the context. The judge agreed, and the video remains under a protective order.

"This is video they fought vehemently not to release, fought vehemently to keep quiet and I think now are very concerned that this tape is out there," said attorney Andrew Meyer, who represents Andre McCollins in a lawsuit against the Rotenberg Center.

"The Judge Rotenberg Center has consistently gotten away with being able to soft sell their treatment, to whitewash what they've done about it being therapeutic: 'It's not so bad, it helps these children.' But the eyewitness accounts that we now have about what actually goes on at this center puts to lie everything they've been saying," Meyer said.

But not everyone agrees. When asked about the perception that electric shock therapy is torture, school attorney Michael Flammia said, "Absolutely wrong."

Flammia would not talk about Andre McCollins.

"But I can tell you I'm familiar with every kid who has been at the school, who have been at the school over 20 years and I can promise you the treatment here is safe, it's effective, it's administered properly and every kid has benefited enormously from it," Flammia said.

"We talked with a parent who says, 'Put that video out there, let the public see what happened to my son here. Let them see what she calls torture,'" asked FOX Undercover's Beaudet.

"The matter is in the hands of the courts and we have complete confidence in the court system on that particular matter," Flammia replied.

"So you don't want us to see that video?" Beaudet asked.

"It's in the hands of the court," Flammia replied.

But McCollins says the public needs to see the video of what happened to her son.

"I hope this stops it. I hope this tape being exposed puts an end to this torture. Because I feel it. You watch it, you feel it," McCollins said. "How do we sit here and let this go on?"

It's certainly getting tougher for the Rotenberg Center to use these shocks.

New York and Massachusetts recently barred shocks on new students, though the school is fighting those restrictions in New York and is planning to do so here.

This is also not the first time this kind of video has become a problem for the center. Last year, the school's founder, Matthew Israel, was indicted on charges that he ordered video of improperly shocked students to be erased despite an ongoing investigation.

Israel agreed to a deal that gives him pre-trial probation in exchange for his stepping down from the school.

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzjuJtI

7
The Troubled Teen Industry / Second Nature "Success" Story
« on: February 20, 2012, 05:32:06 PM »
http://www.psychforums.com/therapy/topic25992.html

Wilderness Therapy?

Postby JustTony » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:40 am


I am not officially against psychiatry YET...key word yet, becaus I dont know all the facts and I am posting even this on pure suspicion and fear. Fear that I have been messed with beyond repair.

I was a troubled youth, i can admit that. My folks split up when I was young. I was raised by a single-mother who had alot of issues and was always bringing different ppl in the house for personal reasons. We also were not that well off financially, but my mom later got a govt. job and that changed 4 the better a little bit.

She also went from secular to devout christian in a matter of months and next thing I know my butt is stuck in christian camps and church schools learning how evil I was and how imperfect I am. I was also taught a bunch of #######4 morals that had nothing at all to do with Christianity, which ###$ me up alot honestly cause it was soo confusing.

Anyways I got kicked out of alot of schools because i couldnt tolerate verbal persecution and other injustices brought upon me so I chose to fight people. And one thing my hockey playing taught me, I was a great fighter and to this day have lost few, and have fought MANY. I also joined in with a "sub-culture" as my parents and teachers refferred to it, and began partying and drinking yadda yadda, honestly it was all typical teenage behavior blown out of proportion by a confused Christian parent with an even stricter Christian husband, who became known as my sted-father, who I suspect truly cares little about me and my siblings. And because the wilderness program I was basically kidnapped and taken to against my will was run by former military personnel, and he is a retired lt. colonel, I suspect it was his idea, not my REAL parent's.

Anyways I was out in the Utah dessert at a wilderness camp called 2nd Nature, based in Duchesne, for 4 months and did a month in "after-care" but I got kicked out. I was supposed to do 9 months but I said "###$ that" and caused a little arguement and got expelled. But while I was out there, we were over 50 miles away from ANY civilization and miles from any road. We had nothing except hiking and camping gear and ate dehydrated $#%^ the whole time except for a few special occasions, that werent too special if u ask me. They evaluated our every move, we were forced to write daily journal entrys and do psychological excercises and group therapy. We had NOTHING from the modern world, and were not kept up to date on anything, not news, not date, not even time of day.

Now that Im back, I am SOOO different. I used to have friends and do ALOT of sports and activities. I could get along fairly well with others and loved to be "nice" to other ppl. NOW, my life sucks! It already sucked but now it is living hell. I obsess about the smallest $#%^. I cant even hold a decent conversation with my own family, let alone one of my old friends. I feel brainwashed, I feel they told me a great big lie that I cant even re-call. All I know is now the world is crashing down on me, and it wasnt before I went. I have even heard ppl from my group tell me they put $#%^ in the water we drank out there, which they forced us to drink nearly a Gallon per day to "avoid dehydration." I was not depressed b4 I went out there, now I am, and was prescribed Lexapro which I took for about a month, hated it, and quit cold turkey. $#%^ is worse than it has ever been tho. Everything I say offends ppl, Im arrogant, Im provocative. I feel like $#%^, my family and friends hate me, and I feel crazy... Why all this $#%^ happen after 2nd Nature. How could my own parents do this $#%^ to me? Am I really such a failure? Did I really deserve to be put through this living hell? everyday is torture, what do I do? And can I reasonably place any blame on 2nd Nature, or is that just looking for an excuse? I dont even know anywore!!!!

8
http://www.reflector-online.com/news/ex ... yzMYch0pew

Experiencing reparation therapy

By ZACK ORSBORN

Published: Friday, February 3, 2012

Updated: Friday, February 3, 2012 10:02


In mid June 2008, Beth, a student of Mississippi State University, boarded a plane with no luggage and no idea about what she was about to experience. All her father told her was she was going to camp in Utah.

 "I didn't really know that it was going to be so terrible. I didn't want to go, but I wasn't refusing to go because I thought it was going to be kind of like summer camp. I figured there would be therapy there. I didn't realize that it was going to be like boot camp," she said.

Raised in a conservative home, Beth's "lifestyle choices" were deemed immoral and wrong by her parents. Beth first discovered she was a lesbian in the sixth grade.

 "I just kind of never liked boys. I liked girls," she said.

The only gay person in her family, Beth had apprehensions about telling them. She wanted to be able to control her sexuality.

"If I didn't want to become gay, I should be able to make myself not gay," she said.

In high school, Beth developed self-esteem issues due to being teased. The word "DYKE" was written on her car.

The only guidance Beth had was from her open-minded friends and her theatre troupe.

When her family found out about her sexual preference, they were shocked. They believed it was just a way for her to act out and get attention. To them, being gay was just a phase.

To get rid of the phase, Beth's father sent her to boot camp, thinking time in nature would be therapeutic for her. Beth traveled to a secluded area in Utah. In the airport, a man dressed in hiking attire held a sign bearing the camp's name. Driving out into the wilderness, Beth was supplied with clothes and boots to wear. Trekking into the woods, she wondered when she would be able to leave.

Eventually, she met a group of six girls and another counselor. The other girls were at the camp for different reasons: car-jacking, running away from home, drugs and promiscuity. Beth was to be handled on the same level as a criminal. Beth's father believed her sexuality was a behavioral problem.

"I felt like I was in jail. Worse than jail," Beth said.

Living arrangements were appalling. The campers slept on the ground.

"They gave us a tarp and a sleeping bag and a bag of food, and the tarp was our tent. If we couldn't find trees, we had to tie the tarps to bushes. It was very uncomfortable. They suggested for us to dig a hole in the ground to put your hip in while you were sleeping," said Beth.

After waking up 30 minutes after sunrise, the group members hiked all day in 100-degree weather. The campers also had to worry about scorpions in their sleeping bags. The group members were only given a bag of rice, a bag of granola, an apple, an orange and a jar of peanut butter for the whole week. In order to cook her food, each camper had to make her own fire using rocks and sticks. If she failed to do so, she had to eat her rice dry.

The campers could contact their family; however, the therapists gave them assignments to write.

"I had to write about whatever they told me. Like what I appreciated about my family and what they meant to me, and how I was going to change my behavior when I got home," she said.

Every week, Beth met with therapists who tried to figure out the "roots of her problem." The therapist asked her why she became gay. Beth's desperation to leave camp led her to answer the questions with what the therapist wanted to hear.

"I was trying to get out of there. You just stayed until they released you. There were girls that had been there for 12 weeks. I just went along with what they said. He asked leading questions, so I could guess what to say," she said.

However, Beth had a different philosophy on sexuality than her therapist.

"I don't think anything led to my homosexuality. I think that it is just a natural thing that you are born with. At first, I didn't feel natural. But I do now," she said.

The day after Beth's 18th birthday, her father came to pick her up. After 42 days, Beth was physically and mentally exhausted. The happiest moment of her camping experience was her exit. Camp helped her to appreciate the things she had in her life, like shelter and food, but, to this day, Beth is still a lesbian.

"I don't think you can stop being gay. I think you can stop your homosexual behavior. That's like being abstinent. You're always going to have the thoughts and feelings," she said.

Eventually, Beth's father began supporting her, but her sexual orientation is not a subject they talk about.

For people who have experienced reparation camp or therapy, there is a safe place to get support on campus. Harry Hawkins, a graduate student studying mental health counseling, is the president of Spectrum. Spectrum is a student organization on the Mississippi State University campus dedicated to promoting awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/question issues. Hawkins said he also believes people cannot change their sexuality.

"The whole idea that someone can change their sexual orientation by going through this non-empirical and unethical therapy is ridiculous. It is on the same lines of ignorant as sending someone to therapy to change their ethnicity," he said.

Telling someone they are diseased because of their homosexuality harbors bad thoughts which can lead to low self-esteem and making them feel worthless.

"Homosexuality has been removed as a disease from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual many years ago," Hawkins said.

He said the role of the counselor should always be to do no harm.  The accreditation organization for MSU's counseling program has strict guidelines when it comes to being ethical. Therapists who practice reparation violate the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics., he said.

Hawkins also said he believes homosexuality is not a choice.

"I do not understand how one can choose to live a life where you know that you will have less rights than an illegal immigrant. Or how one can choose to live a life where they know that they will be ridiculed by some and misunderstood by others. To imply that it is a choice is just insulting,'' Hawkins said. ‘‘I can understand how it is hard for those who do not understand; however, it is the same as me saying you choose to be straight. I know those who are heterosexual will say that it is just a natural feeling. Well it feels the same way on the other side of the street."

9
Open Free for All / Re: Things You Didn't Know About Your Penis
« on: January 09, 2012, 03:21:57 AM »
My penis thanks you. :seg:

10
http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm#trails

Trails Carolina in Lake Toxaway, NC is confirmedly abusive.  We received a report from a former staff stating that this program is abusive.  We are currently working on the staff list for this program.  In the meantime, please see the complaints confirmed by the Division of Health Service Regulation.  If you were abused or had your rights violated at Trails Carolina, please contact us and we will post your story here as a warning to others.

 http://www.heal-online.org/trails.pdf

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26502

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26502&start=45#p368695

STATEMENT OF DEFICIENCIES AND PLAN OF CORRECTION

Postby Ursus » 06 Jul 2010, 01:01
Okay... here we go, no more muckity muck.

Given my predilection for appropriate attribution, y'all would be so good as to note that this doc was obtained (somehow) by Angela & Company at HEAL. I have, as of yet, been unable to reach her re. more details.

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

NORTH CAROLINA Division of Health Service Regulation

    PRINTED: 03/23/2010
    FORM APPROVED


STATEMENT OF DEFICIENCIES AND PLAN OF CORRECTION


(X1) PROVIDER/SUPPLIER/CLIA IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: MHL088-020
(X2) MULTIPLE CONSTRUCTION

    A. BUILDING ______________________
    B. WING _____________________________

(X3) DATE SURVEY COMPLETED: 03/04/2010

NAME OF PROVIDER OR SUPPLIER: TRAILS CAROLINA
STREET ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE:

    500 WINDING GAP ROAD
    LAKE TOXAWAY, NC 28747

An annual and complaint survey was completed 3/4/10. The complaint was substantiated. (Intake ID #NC00062564). Deficiencies were cited.

This Rule is not met as evidenced by:
Based on review of facility records, and interviews, the facility failed to implement their policy requiring and ensuring the Department of Social Services (DSS), in the county where services are provided, was notified of all allegations of resident abuse by health care personnel, affecting one of four sampled clients (#4). The findings are:

A review of facility records on 3/1/10 revealed an incident report dated 12/23/09 and 2 incident reports dated 12/24/09 addressing a restraint of Client #4 which occurred on 12/23/09. The report by the Facility Manager dated 12/23/09 stated he "restrained (Client #4) to ground and held until staff intervened." The attached Physical Intervention report also completed by the Facility Manager on 12/23/09 revealed, in the section asking if the student was injured during the intervention, Client #4 got a "bloody lip trying to bite staff."

Review on 3/1/10 of the 2 incident reports completed 12/24/09 revealed Staff #1 and Staff #2 witnessed the Facility Manager strike Client #4 during the restraint on 12/23/09. The incident report by Staff #1 revealed he "saw [the Facility Manager] hit [Client #4] in the face ... and observed [Client#4] had blood in his mouth." The incident report by Staff #2 revealed the Facility Manager "took student to ground and punched [Client #4] in the lip."

A review on 3/1/10 of an internal investigation report revealed the Executive Director(ED) was out of town and learned of allegations by Client #4 and Staff #1 and #2 in a phone call from the Admissions Director(AD) on 12/23/09. The AD was in charge of facility in the absence of the ED. The AD documented an interview at approximately 4:30 PM on 12/23/09 with Client #4, during which Client #4 told him he had hit the Facility Manager in the face and the Facility Manager hit him back in the face.

Review on 3/1/10 of facility policy and procedures for reporting allegations of abuse revealed: "Policy: The therapist shall provide a leadership role in the identification, reporting, and follow-upon child abuse issues. ... Procedures: ...3. The therapist will receive supervision from a clinical supervisor and the Executive Director to determine if there is enough data to warrant a "reasonable suspicion" that a student has been the victim of abuse. That is all that is required for a suspected report. ... 6. c. Documentation will be made on the Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Report, Attachment 2 and will be forwarded to the Department of Social Services (DSS)."

Review of facility records on 3/1/10 revealed no Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Report, Attachment 2 was on file, nor was there documentation that such a report had been forwarded to DSS.

11
The Troubled Teen Industry / Re: Suicide at ChildServ
« on: January 06, 2012, 07:46:39 PM »
Quote
...police records showing Naperville police were called to the home 625 times in just two years.

Nah, No problems there.

12
Feed Your Head / Re: I believed that this school was a joke
« on: January 06, 2012, 07:44:14 PM »
It's California. That New Age sounding name probably went over well there. They're on the forefront of all kinds of crazy ideas. Didn't EST and Synanon both start in California?

13
The Troubled Teen Industry / Re: Parent Empowerment by Lon Woodbury
« on: January 06, 2012, 06:46:22 PM »
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html

At the beginning of every Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, someone reads out loud a plastic-laminated document that says, among other things, that this Twelve-Step program has rarely been known to fail, except for a few unfortunate people who are "constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves":

    RARELY HAVE we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are those who cannot or will not give themselves completely to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way.
    A.A. Big Book, 3rd & 4th Editions, William G. Wilson, page 58.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Even the most ardent true believers who will be honest about it recognize that A.A. and N.A. have at least 90% failure rates. And the real numbers are more like 95% or 98% or 100% failure rates. It depends on who is doing the counting, how they are counting, and what they are counting or measuring.

A 5% success rate is nothing more than the rate of spontaneous remission in alcoholics and drug addicts. That is, out of any given group of alcoholics or drug addicts, approximately 5% per year will just wise up, and quit killing themselves.6 They just get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and of watching their friends die. (And something between 1% and 3% of their friends do die annually, so that is a big incentive.) They often quit with little or no official treatment or help. Some actually detox themselves on their own couches, or in their own beds, or locked in their own closets. Often, they don't go to a lot of meetings. They just quit, all on their own, or with the help of a couple of good friends who keep them locked up for a few days while they go through withdrawal. A.A. and N.A. true believers insist that addicts can't successfully quit that way, but they do, every day.

Every disease has a spontaneous remission rate. The rate for the common cold is basically 100 percent — almost nobody ever dies just from a cold. People routinely just "get over it", naturally. Likewise, ordinary influenza — "the flu" — has a very high spontaneous remission rate, greater than 99%. Yes, some old people do die from the flu every year, but not very many. Most people just get over it.

On the other hand, diseases like cancer and Ebola have very low spontaneous remission rates — left untreated, they are very deadly and few people recover from them.

Alcoholism is in the middle. The Harvard Medical School reported that in the long run, the rate of spontaneous remission in alcoholics is slightly over 50 percent. That means that the annual rate of spontaneous remission is around 5 percent.

Thus, an alcoholism treatment program that seems to have a 5% success rate probably really has a zero percent success rate — it is just taking credit for the spontaneous remission that is happening anyway. It is taking the credit for the people who were going to quit anyway. And a program that has less than a five percent success rate, like four or three, may really have a negative success rate — it is actually keeping some people from succeeding in getting clean and sober. Any success rate that is less than the usual rate of spontaneous remission indicates a program that is a real disaster and is hurting the patients.

Continue reading article at: http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.peele.net/lib/diseasing3.html

The actual scientific evidence, however, strongly contradicts the contentions of the alcoholism movement. or example, the standard wisdom is that AA is unmatched in effectiveness for dealing with alcoholism and that alcoholism would be licked is only everyone joined AA. Certainly, many people who belong to AA tell us that AA stopped them from drinking. However, this no more demonstrates the general effectiveness of AA than testimony that some people decide not to kill themselves after they discover Christ is evidence that Christianity is the cure for suicide. In fact, research has not found AA to be an effective treatment for general populations of alcoholics. Consider the following summary by researchers at the Downstate (New York) Medical Center Department of Psychiatry:

    The general applicability of AA as a treatment method is much more limited than has been supposed in the past. Available data do not support AA's claims of much higher success rates than clinic treatment. Indeed, when population differences are taken into account, the reverse seems to be true.2

Not one study has even found AA or its derivatives to be superior to any other approach, or even to be better than not receiving any help at all for eliminating alcoholism when alcoholics are assigned to different kinds of treatment. At the same time, other methods that have regularly been found to be superior to AA and other standard therapies for alcoholism have been completely rejected by American treatment programs. To preview the startling proposition that therapies that are universally advocated have already been shown to be ineffective and that more effective approaches are available, consider the prevailing approach to drunk-driving convictions in America—remanding drinking drivers for treatment. Advocates of a humane, informed approach to the problem continually plead for more referrals and bemoan primitive programs that simply arrest, imprison, or place on probation those caught driving while intoxicated (DWI). Meanwhile, comparative studies of standard treatment programs versus legal proceedings for drunk drivers regularly find that those who received ordinary judicial sanctions had fewer subsequent accidents and were rearrested less.3

Continue reading article at: http://www.peele.net/lib/diseasing3.html

14
Tacitus' Realm / Re: The Video the US Military Doesn't Want You to See!
« on: January 06, 2012, 06:14:28 PM »
Taliban Abuse of Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emMrn9ja5iU

Saddam Hussein's Torture Chambers

260 mass graves found with an estimated 400,000 bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge4nXHa5eBk

15
The Troubled Teen Industry / Re: Bill Lane & Associates
« on: January 06, 2012, 06:02:24 PM »
http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm#cherokee

Cherokee Creek Boys School--Located in Westminster, South Carolina.  HEAL has received a report of fraud and abuse from two former staff at this program.  We are working on verification.  The preliminary report from the staff states: "...We had actually both suspected for awhile that the entire school was based on lies, primarily due to the fact that everything that happens there is kept as quiet as possible.  The students have almost no privacy in anything they say or do.  Their outgoing and incoming mail is read and regulated (Civil Rights/Constitutional Violation--Illegal Practices) so that they can’t say anything damning about Cherokee Creek.  Their phone calls are always scheduled and monitored by the primary counselor or therapist for the same reason.  Also, Cherokee Creek will hire anyone to watch the students during the day as long as they have at least an Associate’s degree (it doesn’t particularly matter what the degree is in), and these people are called “counselors” to the parents.  On third shift, the students’ needs are taken care of by individuals that only have to have high school diplomas.  There is never a doctor on campus, but a LPN from 7:30 to 3:00 on the weekdays.   On the weekends, there are no medical personnel at all, and pretty much anyone is allowed to disperse medications (which almost all of the students are on).  There are many other questionable practices at Cherokee Creek that I’m aware of, especially pertaining to the psychological well-being of the students.   I actually thought when I was hired that my job was to ensure the students were  taken care of both psychologically and physically, but the closer I got to the students and the more they liked me and talked to me, the more it seemed the “powers that be” wanted me gone.  I’ll put it this way, when I stopped following what the people over me said and began questioning now some of my co-workers were dealing with the students…well, I didn’t last long after that..."

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 16