Online Child Sex Trafficking Meets A Powerful Voice In Cyber Crime Prevention

Demi Moore: Sex Trafficking Happens Here, In Our Own Hometowns

By Demi Moore, Dec. 1, 2014, Ocregister.com

Demi Moore is co-Founder and president, Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children

My eyes and heart were opened to the issue of sex trafficking almost eight years ago when I saw a documentary about children who were forced into sex slavery in Cambodia. I was horrified, and I knew I couldn’t live in a world in which this was taking place without doing something about it. I became even more enraged when I learned that this wasn’t an isolated issue. Millions of children around the world, including children here in the United States and in Southern California, are victims of this horrible abuse.

Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to meet many survivors and hear their stories. While all of the stories fuel my passion to work on this issue, there is one in particular that I can’t shake. It represents how traffickers truly prey on the most vulnerable and steal the innocence from these children.

I met a young girl from Southern California who was taken in by her trafficker at 11 years old. He made simple promises – McDonald’s and trips to the mall. But, to this child, those were things she had never had and always wanted. To her, it represented someone caring for her. Her trust was quickly betrayed and, soon, her pimp had her given a nightly quota of making $1,500. If she did not deliver her quota, she was put into a tub of ice or beaten with whatever large object was close by.

Her trafficker would often take a group of little girls to another location, and on one particular trip he loaded all of them into the car to drive to Las Vegas. Since there wasn’t enough room in the car, he put the two smallest girls in the trunk. When they arrived in Las Vegas, he posted ads on Craigslist and other escort pages to activate business. None of the customers questioned her age, and the general anonymity of using the Internet to buy and sell sex provided the clients with a reassurance of safety. This girl was raped and sexually abused repeatedly for three days, then loaded back into the trunk and taken back to Los Angeles to start the cycle all over again.

Just as this child was sold online, thousands of children are advertised on the very online classified sites that people use to sell a bike or a couch. Pimps and traffickers use this technology to help market the individuals they are exploiting, and johns use it to look for an individual to purchase. When we looked at the response to this issue across the country, we realized it was missing one critical area of focus: If the perpetrators are using technology to exploit our children, why aren’t we channeling the best and brightest minds in technology to fight back? We decided to answer by forming Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children. Thorn focuses specifically on driving technology innovation to fight child sexual exploitation.

Read the full story:  www.ocregister.com

Source:  Human Trafficking Awareness USA

Reflection

Do Mother's Fully Understand How Daughters Identify With Body Image? Clinical Psychologist Explains The Parallels.

HuffPost:  How Your Body Image Affects Your Daughter's Self-Esteem

By Dr. Margaret Rutherford / Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health / Midlife Blogger
 
Sometimes a post just hits a nerve.

Anne Parris' recent offering on Midlife Boulevard was that for me. It was about another Dove commercial. Highlighting the unintentional messages about body image that mothers give daughters. It's pretty shocking. Please. If you haven't seen the commercial, you need to.

It's called "Legacy".



The subject? Moms talking about what they liked and disliked about their bodies. Stating with assurance that they had only taught their daughters positive messages about their own. The daughters, interviewed separately, were asked the same questions. The result? The daughters mirrored their mothers' criticism of her body. Almost exactly.
The mothers' surprise and sadness was palpable. What they had honestly tried to prevent, they were creating in their daughters. Self-consciousness and even self-loathing.

I read it slowly. Appreciated Anne's frank words. Thought I would tuck away the message. Maybe ask my son if I had affected him somehow.
Instead, the video stuck with me. I mentioned it to patients, struggling with their own image.

What I got from my mom was just wrong.

"Ladies never eat everything on their plate". I left more bites of food than I like to think about.

"You have never looked better!", she once exclaimed. I was 21. I weighed 101 pounds, 25 pounds less that I weigh now. Had had double pneumonia. Twice.

"You really need to do something about yourself". My mother had sat me down. Expressed what would pass for condemnation. I had gained 12 pounds after being married for 1 year.

I promise, sadly enough, that I gave my parents lots of reasons to confront me.

This was the only time in my life she did so.

What effect did all this have?

Full-blown anorexia in college. Not allowing friends to visit before I got married because I had gained 3 pounds since I had seen them. Seeking diet pills in my later 20s that left me so hyped up, I felt like I was practically flying.

Starving before trips home. Knowing my body would be quietly assessed. Always putting on a false front.

Acting like none of this got to me.

My mom was caught in the same trapped thinking she taught me. Without a doubt, she did not mean to hurt me. She wanted me to feel attractive. Have wonderful self-esteem. Catch a man.

It's just sad.

After she died, many people said, "Your mother was so beautiful. Always so well-dressed".

If she just could have valued herself.

Read more:  www.huffingtonpost.com

Virginia gets failing grade in human trafficking laws “We need to do better” says Fairfax County delegate

By Gregg MacDonald, Nov. 13, 2014, Fairfaxtimes.com

Virginia was recently given a near-failing grade for its human trafficking legislation by an international legislative watchdog group that also claims Virginia is the only state in the U.S. without a specific human trafficking law code.

Washington-based Shared Hope International’s Protected Innocence Challenge is a comprehensive study of existing state laws designed to combat human trafficking.

Under the challenge, every state receives a report card that grades it on 41 key legislative components in a state’s laws in order to effectively respond to the crime of domestic minor sex trafficking. In addition, each state receives a complete legislative analysis and practical recommendations for improvement.

The 2014 Protected Innocence Challenge report card, released Nov. 6, gives Virginia an overall grade of 62 out of 100, as well as a grade of “D” for its legislative initiatives toward battling human trafficking.

“This is the fourth year we’ve graded states on their laws against child sex trafficking. The first year, over half the nation failed,” said SHI spokesperson Taryn Offenbacher.

This year, the 56-page SHI report states that Virginia remains the only U.S. state without specific human trafficking code within its law books.

Read more:  www.fairfaxtimes.com

Mental Illness Should Not Be Punished As A Crime. There Is A Better Way.

Los Angeles D.A. Jackie Lacey Wants To Change The Way Police, Prosecutors Deal With Mentally Ill In Los Angeles

November 11, 2014, Scpr.org

The Los Angeles County criminal justice system – from police and prosecutors to judges and social workers – is failing to humanely and effectively deal with mentally ill people who commit crimes, according to a report District Attorney Jackie Lacey plans to deliver Wednesday.

The report, prepared by consultants with Policy Research Associates, Inc., calls for better training, coordination and resources to help the thousands of men and women who pass through the justice system each year.

L.A. County jails hold more than 18,000 people on any given night. An estimated 3,500 are mentally ill. Forty-three percent of them are African American, according to one study. (See the full report below).

The report comes as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to impose reforms on the way the county treats mentally ill inmates. Lacey formally delivers her report to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.

Too few police officers are adequately trained to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill people on the streets, the report says. In addition, there are insufficient resources for the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams.

Bottom line: It’s simply easier to take someone to jail than get them help.

“It is often more time efficient for law enforcement to book an individual into jail on a minor charge…rather than spend many hours waiting in a psychiatric emergency department for an individual to be seen,” the report says.

And while there are an estimated 1,800 hospital beds for psychiatric patients in L.A. County, “only a small percentage of those beds can actually be accessed by individuals who are uninsured.” Consultants collected much of their information during an all-day conference with law enforcement officials and social workers earlier this year.

The report describes a system in need of significant changes: In the jails, mentally ill people are receiving inadequate care. At the courthouse, prosecutors, judges and social workers often “lack alignment” when deciding whether its safe to divert someone from criminal prosecution into treatment.

Once someone is released from jail, there’s often no place to go for help. The Department of Mental Health “needs more resources to keep pace with the high volume of referrals and short time frames with which to link individuals to needed services.”

The report identifies five points at which the criminal justice system can divert a mentally ill person into treatment – starting with the moment of police contact. It recommends the Board of Supervisors fund more training for police officers and expand diversion programs. It also recommends creation of a resource center for “criminal justice/mental health technical assistance,” so the justice system can collect and share data on mentally ill offenders.

The report does not include budget recommendations, but mental health advocates have said treating mentally ill people will be cheaper in the long run than locking them up. The report acknowledges this.

“Alternatives to incarceration have gained momentum as a humane and cost effective strategy to reduce criminal justice costs, and improve access to needed services and support - without compromising public safety,” the report states.

“This is an excellent start,” said Peter Eliasberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Other activists agreed.

“We think the report exposes tremendous suffering for mentally ill people,” said Marc-Anthony Johnson of Dignity and Power Now. The report also is further evidence the county should abandon plans to spend $2 billion to replace the aging Men’s Central Jail, he added.

“We think the Board of Supervisors should stop the $2 billion jail plan and move forward with a mental health diversion program that is comprehensive."

Source:  www.scpr.org

This Mom Visited Her Daughter’s Facebook Page. What She Saw Made Her Break Down In Tears.

Make the most of every day!

Psychiatrist Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

By Kayla Robin, October 19, 2014, Forsythnews.com

FORSYTH COUNTY — A Tennessee doctor accused of sex crimes against a minor in Forsyth County was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison.

According to court records, John C. Neale was convicted of three counts of child molestation that involved a 6-year-old female relative.

The well-known psychiatrist from Johnson City, Tenn., was 74 at the time of his arrest in November 2012, according to an article in The Johnson City Press.

“Once he was caught, other people came forward with allegations of abuse dating way back,” said Sandra Partridge, Forsyth’s chief assistant district attorney.

However, Neale could only be tried for one case in Georgia since the other incidents occurred in Tennessee.

Partridge said Tennessee did not bring charges against Neale, but alleged victims were able to testify in the Georgia case because of a state code that allows relevant offenses to be used as evidence.

His 50 years of psychiatry practice gave him expertise in keeping his victims quiet, Partridge said.

While the trial was expected to last until Thursday, the verdict arrived two days earlier. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley presided over the proceedings.

“We were all pleased there was justice in this case finally,” Partridge said. “He’s gotten away with it for 50 years, and it’s about time.”

Source:  www.forsythnews.com

California: Sex Trafficking Victims Resuced By The Long Beach Police Department

Well done Long Beach PD!  Now begins the lifelong process of treating the victims and helping them heal so they can learn to live a better life.

Los Angeles News | FOX 11 LA KTTV

Never Forget 9/11

A Number That Saves Lives

Alexandra Datig: The Tragic Death Of Robin Williams Should Inspire A Greater Understanding Of Long-Term Recovery

A Healthier And Kinder Approach To The Challanges Of Subsrance Abuse Disorders

NY Times / Herald Tribune:  Alcoholism Center Rejects The AA Model


By The New York Times / Herald Tribune, Jul. 15, 2014

Their son’s psychiatrist, along with a few friends, suggested Alcoholics Anonymous. He had a disease, and to stay alive, he’d have to attend AA meetings and abstain from alcohol for the rest of his life, they said.

But instead, they turned to a group of psychologists who specialize in treating substance use and other compulsive behaviors at the Center for Motivation and Change.

The center is part of a growing wing of addiction treatment that rejects the AA model of strict abstinence as the sole form of recovery for alcohol and drug users.

It uses a suite of techniques that provide a hands-on approach to emotional and behavioral problems, rather than having abusers forever swear off the substance — a particularly difficult step for young people.

“The traditional language often sets parents up to feel they have to make extreme choices: Either force them into rehab or detach until they hit rock bottom,” said Dr. Carrie Wilkens, a psychologist who helped found the CMC 10 years ago. “Science tells us those formulas don’t work very well.”

When parents issue edicts, demanding an immediate end to all substance use, it often lodges the family in a harmful cycle, said Dr. Nicole Kosanke, a psychologist at the CMC. Tough love, she said, often backfires by further damaging connections to people to whom the child is closest.

The center’s approach includes motivational interviewing, a goal-oriented form of counseling; cognitive behavioral therapy, a short-term form of psychotherapy; and harm reduction, which seeks to limit the negative consequences of substance abuse. The psychologists also support the use of anti-craving medications like naltrexone, which block the high of using the substance.

A 2002 study in the journal Addiction showed that motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy and naltrexone, often used together, are far more effective in stopping or reducing drug and alcohol use than the faith-and-abstinence-based model of AA and other 12-step programs. Results of an updated study are not yet out.

Jack and Wendy’s son is in his early 20s. Friends suggested that if he did not attend AA, the only thing Jack and Wendy could do was attend Al-Anon.

“The implication was that there was no other solution,” Jack said.

On a warm evening last month, about a dozen parents gathered to hear Kosanke describe the center’s program for families, which goes by the acronym CRAFT, for Community Reinforcement and Family Training. It rejects, she said, the use of three words: “addict,” “alcoholic” and “enabling,” terms that help perpetuate unhealthy behaviors.

She prefers the terms favored by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, which says that patients suffer from “alcohol use disorder” or “substance abuse disorder,” terms that convey a spectrum of severity.

“There are real downsides to labeling a child with a lifetime identity, when that truly may or may not turn out to be the case,” Kosanke said.

CMC doctors say teenagers and young adults are neurologically, psychologically, socially and legally different from adults, and have different treatment needs.

In fact, a majority of college binge drinkers do not go on to become alcohol dependent, said Dr. Stanton Peele, a Brooklyn psychologist who is a critic of the AA model.

“Isn’t it more encouraging to know that most people are going to outgrow these habits than to think they’re going to have a disease for the rest their lives?” Peele asked. “The data show that the odds are in your favor.”

Source:  www.health.heraldtribune.com

Happy Memorial Day Pappa

Fred A. Datig Jr. driving the Jeep

My father, Fred A. Datig Jr., a veteran of the Korean War and World War II, was an armored infantryman and a scout-observer in the European Theatere of Operations of Italy, France and Germany, where his unit liberated the concentration camps of Dachau. He was awarded the coveted Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal with four Campaign Stars, the French Croix de Guerre and he was a Chevalier (Knight) of the French Legion of Honor. He also served with the ordinance Department at Aberdeen Providing Ground where he was associated with the Foreign Material Branch and was understudy to that Unit’s commanding Officer. He was retired from the Army in 1950 after having spent one and a half years in Army hospitals from being hit by shrapnel and of getting frozen feet.

The Independent: Deryck Whibley: Alcoholism And The Shocking Decline Of The Sum 41 Frontman - Get well soon Deryck. One day at a time.

Deryck Whibley in better times with Avril Lavign

By Ella Alexander, May 19, 2014

This weekend, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley announced that he is being treated in hospital after alcoholism “finally caught up” with him.

In a post shared on his website, entitled Rock Bottom, he discussed how his addiction to alcohol had led to his collapse, sharing a series of harrowing pictures from his hospital bed.

“Hey everyone, it’s Deryck here. Sorry I’ve been so m.i.a. lately, but I’ve been very sick in the hospital for a month and was pretty sick for a few weeks leading up to my trip to the hospital,” he wrote. “The reason I got so sick is from all the hard boozing I've been doing over the years. It finally caught up to me.”

He told of how he was “drinking hard every day” until one evening he poured himself another drink and sat down to watch a film when he collapsed unconscious.

“My fiancé got me rushed to the hospital where they put me into the intensive care unit,” he said.

“I was stuck with needles and IV’s all over. I was completely sedated the FIRST WEEK. When I finally woke up the next day I had no idea where I was. My mum and step dad were standing over me. I was so freaked out. My liver and kidney’s collapsed on me. Needless to say it scared me straight.”

Deryck defeated by alcoholism

The musician – who was once married to Avril Lavigne – can no longer drink as doctors have told him that if he has “one drink the docs say I will die”.

Whibley’s pictures will shock many, who remember the musician as a pop-punk kid pin-up; a skateboarding guitarist with huge dimples and enviably spiky hair.

The Canadian singer was born in 1980 to a single teenage mother. They struggled financially and were forced to move regularly to make ends meet. He never met his father and later in his career wrote a track, Dear Father, venting his frustrations with having been “ignored”.

His pop punk band, Sum 41, rose to fame in the early 00s, selling over 30million albums. He briefly dated Paris Hilton, before marrying Avril Lavigne in July 2006.

Source:  www.independent.co.uk

Radaronline.com: Pam Anderson: ‘I Was Molested At Age 6, Raped At 12 And Gang Raped In My Teens’

Pamela Anderson

By Radar Staff, My 18, 2014

Pamela Anderson shocked guests at a fundraiser during the Cannes Film Festival when she revealed a dark chapter from her childhood.

“I did not have an easy childhood. Despite loving parents, I was molested from age six by a female babysitter,” she told the 200 guests at the launch party for her animal rights charity, the Pamela Anderson Foundation.

“I went to a friend’s boyfriend’s house and his older brother decided to teach me backgammon which led into a back massage, which led into rape. My first heterosexual experience. He was 25 years old and I was 12.”

PHOTOS: Pamela Anderson Reveals Rape, Molestation and Gang Rape During Charity Foundation Speech

The former Baywatch babe added that a few years later a boyfriend “decided it would be funny to gang-rape me with six friends. I wanted off this earth.”

Anderson wore an extremely low-cut Vivienne Westwood maxi-dress to the event. There were several nip slips as the ruffled bodice struggled to contain her ample girls.

Anderson was accompanied to the glamorous event by husband Rick Salomon, who she married for the second time in January, and her son, Brandon Lee, whose dad is the blonde blombshell’s second husband, rocker Tommy Lee.

PHOTOS: The 28 Biggest Sex Scandals In Hollywood History

The actress told her audience that she was making the shocking revelations about sexual abuse to explain why she became so enamored with animals.

“This meant I had a hard time trusting humans,” she said.

“My loyalty was to the animal kingdom. I vowed to protect them and only them.”

Source: www.radaronline.com

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe Threatens To Punch Colbert In The Face (Video)

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

CBS News: Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls Spotlights Human Trafficking

The international outcry to "bring back our girls" is putting new focus on protecting young women from terrorists and human traffickers. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe and New York Times columnist and co-author of "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" Nicholas Kristof discuss the situation in Nigeria with the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts.

Source:  www.cbsnews.com

#BringBackOurGirls

Human Trafficking Survivor Michelle Knight Sings "Firework" with Band on Fox 8

Source: www.fox8.com

Reflection

The Day Mickey Rooney Told Me What I Needed To Hear

By Alexandra D. Datig

I remember it just like it was yesterday.  I was living in a lovely boutique hotel in Beverly Hills holding on to dear life while trying to kick my addiction to a variety of drugs.  I was 26 years old back then and the Hollywood party scene had gotten the better of me. I slept many hours each day hoping that sleep would eventually silence the neurological damage I caused to my brain with drug and alcohol abuse. 

Realizing that only two things would make the constant noise in my head go away, I kept on choosing the easy route which was to numb my mind, body and feelings with alcohol and drugs.  The tough route was going cold turkey.

Because of the damage I caused to the frontal lobe of my brain, I could no longer speak properly.  I decided to fight back and read books out loud to direct my thought process.  I needed books that were conversational and not too complex.  Books with wisdom, courage and happy endings.   Motivational books and Hollywood biographies seemed to be a good fit for what I needed.  I read “The Ragman’s Son” by Kirk Douglas,  “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, “The Life Of Lucille Ball” by Kathleen Brady and others. 

As I sat there on my bed in my elegant, cozy little room, drinking vodka and orange juice, high as a kite on uppers, I was wondering if the misery of addiction was ever going to end.  Then one day I found myself between the pages of Mickey Rooney’s biography “Life Is Too Short.”  I specifically remember reading the words out loud and how a psychic change overcame me when I read Mr. Rooney give his opinion on drug abuse.  It was a turning point for me.  It was a moment in time where I saw myself like I never had before.  The words I read said “what you’re staying up for all night,…it ain’t worth it.”

This Famous ‘Nerd’ Hits the Nail on the Head When It Comes to Ignoring the Haters

The Blaze: "Wait Until You See What She Looks Like Without Makeup"

Reflection

CBS Los Angeles: Man Sentenced To 35 Years For Kidnapping, Molesting 3-Year-Old Girl

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A 55-year-old man who kidnapped a 3-year-old girl from a Boyle Heights party and sexually molested her was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in state prison.

Edward Lopez, of Los Angeles, pleaded no contest to one count of kidnapping a child under 14 and two counts of forcible oral copulation of a child under 14.

Prosecutors say the mother of the toddler noticed she had disappeared from a party in the 3200 block of Malabar Street around 11 p.m. Nov. 16.

Neighbors said the little girl was playing with other children at a baby shower when she was reported missing.

LAPD officers found Lopez nude from the waist down in a locked shed with the child several hours later, according to Robison.

Source:  www.losangeles.cbslocal.com

PSA: End It Movement

Policy Mic: The City You'd Least Expect Has Just Decriminalized Marijuana - Washington D.C.

Lo and behold: Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States and the center of federal government, has decriminalized the possession and consumption of small amounts of marijuana.

By a near-unanimous vote, the D.C. city council has decided to eliminate laws that made possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a criminal offense punishable by a fine of $1,000 or a six-month prison sentence. When the new regulations go into effect this summer, possession will be punishable only by a fine of $25; public consumption will remain a misdemeanor, but with a maximum fine of $500 or 60 days in jail. D.C. joins the 17 states that have decriminalization laws on the books, and has become one of the most lenient cities in the country when it comes to marijuana offenses.

"This means that, outside of Washington and Colorado, marijuana penalties are now less punitive in our nation’s capital than anywhere else in the country!" Marijuana Policy Project federal projects director Dan Rifle wrote in an open-letter.

Council member Tommy Wells, chief sponsor of the legislation, says that "This is a major step since we are the nation's capital, and I am proud of that."

Source:  www.policymic.com

Dr. Sanjay Gupta Explores Politics Of Pot In "Weed 2: Cannabis Madness: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports"

Philip Seymour Hoffman Died Of Toxic Mix Of Drugs: Medical Examiner

At Least Marijuana Never Killed Anyone: Girl Smokes Marijuana, Leaves Her Baby On The Roof Of Her Car, And Drives Away

By Dominic Kelly, Wed, February 26, 2014

A 21-year-old Phoenix woman has pleaded guilty to charges against her after a 2012 incident in which she left her baby on the roof of her car and drove away.

Catalina Clouser was reportedly under the influence of marijuana at the time of the incident. She has been charged with single counts of child abuse and DUI.

According to reports, Clouser, then 19 years old, was at her friend’s home smoking marijuana after finding out that her boyfriend was arrested on DUI charges. When she left her friend’s home, she unknowingly placed her baby boy, who was strapped in his car seat, on the roof of her car and drove away.

Clouser drove 12 miles home before realizing that her son was not with her.

Witnesses discovered the baby still strapped in his seat lying in the middle of the road. The baby was taken to the hospital but did not sustain any injuries.

Following the incident, the child was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Source:  www.opposingviews.com

CBS: Cellphone Led To Capture Of Top Drug Lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

Yes, Alexandra Datig Supports the 2nd Amendment

USA Today: Feds Worry That Drug Cartels Are Moving Into Colorado With 400% Increase In Drug Cartel Activity

Sports Caster Dale Hansen Gets Real On Michael Sam Gay Issue

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Source:  www.investors.com

CALL TO ACTION! REVOKE Larry Brinkin's Pension! - Kiddie Porn Does Not Count as ‘Moral Turpitude’ to S.F. Govt.

A former high-ranking San Francisco government employee convicted of felony possession of child pornography will continue to receive his government pension because, according to city regulations, evidence of “moral turpitude” is required to revoke a pension yet viewing violent kiddie porn does not qualify as moral turpitude.

As reported here in the Tatler, Larry Brinkin, a prominent San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner and nationally known gay rights advocate, was arrested in 2012 for possessing and possibly distributing videos and images of babies being raped by adult men. Because of Brinkin’s “iconic” stature in the community as the person who pioneered “domestic partnership” laws nationwide, supporters at the time accused the police of framing him with false charges. But the evidence was so overwhelming that, after 18 months of legal wrangling, on Tuesday, January 21, Brinkin pled guilty to felony possession of child pornography, with various other more serious charges dropped as part of the plea bargain. He will serve just six months in jail and thereafter have to register as a sex offender.

But the scandal didn’t end there. A recent law defining which type of actions count as “moral turpitude” required to nullify municipal pension benefits does not include sex crimes involving children, and only refers to financial crimes: 

Knox said he did not believe Brinkin’s city pension would be affected by the plea because his conviction doesn’t fall under “moral turpitude.” Under Proposition C, approved by voters in 2008, a city employee convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude – usually theft, fraud or a breach of the public trust – cannot collect employer-funded retirement benefits.

In case you’re thinking that perhaps this is just an over-reaction to Brinkin possessing some pornography which, unbeknownst to him, just happened to depict minors under the age of 18: Nope. The details of what type of imagery he enjoyed (and what he said about it) are so horrifying and so unimaginably vile that to even describe it feels like a crime. But the exact nature of his conviction is necessary for the reader to assess whether or not Brinkin’s actions should count as “moral turpitude.”

THIS IS A CONTENT WARNING FOR ANYONE WHO DOES NOT WISH TO READ UPSETTING MATERIAL.

On the following page is a small sampling of the evidence presented in the case. Stop reading now if you don’t want to see any of the police evidence against Larry Brinkin.
Bay Area Reporter:

Court records showed that police seized two locked red plastic toolboxes containing videos, two laptops and a desktop computer, three thumb drives, and other items from Brinkin’s Waller Street home.
Among other items, attached to one email police found an image that showed “an approximately 2-3 year old child … Underneath the child is an adult male, using his right hand to hold the child and his left hand to insert his erect penis into the anus of the child,” the document says.
In the email, the user, who authorities indicated was Brinkin, wrote, “damn, what a sight seeing huge dick in tiny hole, tearing it open. That [n-word] must be in coon heaven stuffin it in the tiny white hole!“

San Francisco Chronicle:

Police say that Brinkin had pornographic images, some that appear to show children as young as 1 and 2 or 3 years old being sodomized and performing oral sex on adult men, in e-mail attachments linked to his account, according to a search warrant served by San Francisco police.

SFWeekly

Zack3737@aol.com — whom the police allege is Brinkin — provided graphic commentary on the photos of interracial adult-child sex. Comments included “I loved especially the nigger 2 year old getting nailed. Hope you’ll continue so I can see what the little blond bitch is going to get. White Power! White Supremacy! White Dick Rules!“

The Petrelis Files found other evidence of adult porn commentary by Brinkin which in itself was not illegal but which confirmed that the child porn comments found in Brinkin’s online accounts were written in his same distinctive style:

“Harold— i love all your messages. they make my big white dick hard and make me want to shit in your mouth while another nigger sucks my dick and drinks my piss….”
“You’re absolutely right, buddy. A coon is always a coon;a nigger can never get away from the fact that it’s a nigger. this nigger cunt was lucky to find an aryan god to have anything to with it, lucky to be able to suck his dick, eat his cum…”

(Ironically, Brinkin, in his official capacity as chair of the city’s Human Rights Commission, spearheaded a years-long investigation against a San Francisco sex club which was accused of discriminating against African-Americans.)
Brinkin’s lawyer insists that it was all just a mistake and that Brinkin simply didn’t fully understand how damaging child porn is:

“He made a terrible mistake,” Brinkin’s attorney, Randall Knox, said outside court. “He is genuinely remorseful. He has a much greater understanding now of the damage child pornography inflicts.”

Do Brinkin’s actions count as “moral turpitude”? Should the taxpayers of San Francisco continue to pay his pension for the rest of his life?

Source:  www.pjmedia.com

Alexandra D. Datig Appears On The Dave Bowman Show To Discuss The Tragic Death Of Philip Seymour Hoffman

Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman - 1967 - 2014

The song "Angel" was inspired by articles that Sarah McLachlan read in Rolling Stone about musicians turning to heroin to cope with the pressures of the music industry and subsequently overdosing. She said that she identified with the feelings that might lead someone to use heroin:  McLachlan says; "I've been in that place where you've messed up and you're so lost that you don't know who you are anymore, and you're miserable—and here's this escape route. I've never done heroin, but I've done plenty of other things to escape." She said that the song is about "trying not to take responsibility for other people's problems and trying to love yourself at the same time."

He Went Into a Brothel Posing As a Customer, and Came Out Changed Forever. His Story is Unforgettable.

Love146 History from Love146 on Vimeo.

Every Minute, 2 Children Are Sold Into Sex Trafficking.

Kitten & The Hip: "Don't You Worry" Song About a Chick Trying to Score Some Weed, Ends Up In Jail

Don't You Worry by Kitten and The Hip.

I got no papers, got no smoke 


Damn this night wont let me toke 


Wanna get hooked up with Mary Jane


She ain’t got none, missed the train


Pushy pusher, got no friends 


Until she’s got her s**t in again 


Got no crystals gleaming bright


I just wanna get high tonight


Feel that green go to my head 


Wanna get blazed fore I go to bed

Tried old Jonny down the road 


Says the feds just nicked his load


He told me that there’s none about


Damn I’m clucking fuck this drought


Looking for another clue 


Got the name of some dodgy dude 


Meet him at Builder’s Arms


Not that dodgy, full of charm 


He’s too spangled, in the zone 


Gonna have to grow my own

Bought some seeds from the internet 


2 working days and I’ll be set 


Light my lamps and sow my seeds


Snip and trim that sticky cheese


People told me watch your back 


Peel an eye for the boys in black


Police come knocking at the door


I’m out sparko on the floor


My mates ran out leaving me 


Now I’m in jail with nobody