The Gaytheist Agenda

This sort of predation truly angers me. (Via Fetid Fruit)

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49-year-old Richard Chotiner arrived in a Tampa courtroom with Bible in hand. He’s been out on a post-conviction bond since early 2009. That’s when Judge J. Rogers Pagett sentenced Chotiner to 15 years in the Florida State Prison.
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Nice touch, bringing a Bible to court. Was he hoping the Judge would see how “religious” he was and let him off?

The appellate court re-affirmed Chotiner’s conviction. Judge Chet Tharpe on Monday morning revoked Chotiner’s appeal bond and ordered deputies to take him into custody.
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Detectives say in May of 2007, Chotiner befriended a 23-year-old mentally disabled man at Adventure Island. Investigators say Chotiner then lured the man to his home on 39th Street, where he sexually battered him.

The sick piece of scum should never have been allowed to roam free while appealing his case. At least now he’s where he belongs.

 

I tend to find most television ads boring or downright annoying. But once in a while there’s a real winner among all of the dreck.

In the twelve years it took to get the Matthew Shepard Act passed, and even in the months since it was finally signed into law, members of the RRRW have whined about how their precious “religious freedoms” will be denied because they can no longer beat and kill homos with impunity. But the MSA didn’t only add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing hate-crimes laws. It also added gender and disability. Of course the RRRW would have gladly seen these individuals go without hate-crimes protections just to see LGBT people do so. Such is the intensity of their hatred for us; that no amount of collateral damage is too much in their quest to see us suffer. Jennifer Daughtery would be part of that collateral damage if they’d had their way.

A bloody metal crutch, a knife, a pair of white high-top shoes and a plastic bag full of hair were among the items detectives pulled from an apartment where a woman was held captive and tortured last week, according to a police report that offers new glimpses into her slaying.
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The items, listed in an inventory of seized property, fit disturbingly with what police said unfolded in the apartment over 36 hours — that the group beat Ms. Daugherty with household items including the towel rack, the crutch and a vacuum cleaner hose, bound her with Christmas decorations, painted her face with nail polish, cut her hair, and forced her to write a fake suicide note.

They fed her medication, oil and urine and stabbed her to death for reasons police said are still unknown. Ms. Daugherty’s body, found in a garbage can at Greensburg Salem Middle School on Thursday, was the first in a string of gruesome discoveries for detectives investigating the crime and the tangled relationships of those charged in it.

Jailed without bond on charges of homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault and conspiracy are Ricky Smyrnes, 23, Robert Masters Jr., 36, Melvin Knight, 20, Peggy Miller, 27, Amber Meidinger, 20 and Angela Marinucci, 17.

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Still unknown was how Ms. Daugherty came to know her attackers. Her relatives have said she had the mental capacity of an adolescent, a disability that made her especially trusting and kind. She went to the apartment willingly, police said, boarding a bus from Mount Pleasant, where she lived with her mother and stepfather, on Feb. 8.
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Further charges under the recently signed Hate-Crimes Act are being considered though it’s too early to tell if such charges will be added.

I worked for 20 years with adults who had developmental disabilities. I find it despicable that anybody would prey on such vulnerable individuals. I’d like to see the accused, if found guilty, put away for the maximum allowable time–including any hate crimes enhancements.

In the meantime, my thoughts go out to Jennifer’s family. She was a beautiful woman and what happened to her was an abomination.

 

Many readers are probably wondering who Temple Grandin is.

Dr. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Curved chute and race systems she has designed for cattle are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many people to reduce stress on their animals during handling.

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She obtained her B.A. at Frankin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State Univeristy and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare….. She has also authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design. She is the author of “Thinking in Pictures”, “Livestock Handling and Transport,” “Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals,” and “Humane Livestock Handling.” Her books “Animals in Translation” and “Animals Make Us Human” were both on the New York Times best seller list. “Animals Make Us Human” was also on the Canadian best seller list.
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What is the significance of this? Dr. Grandin also has Autism. Given that she was born in 1950 and originally diagnosed with “brain damage” she could easily have been placed forever in an institution. Fortunately she was not and she went on to accomplish great things.

I learned more about people with Autism from Temple Grandin than I ever did from any training at work or college course. It was from her writings I got a real glimpse into what life is like for a person with Autism, and it was truly enlightening. Naturally I’ll be watching this upcoming biopic, which HBO has scheduled for February 6.

Temple Grandin succeeded because her family and others chose to see her as a person first, rather than focusing on her disability label. Imagine what could happen if this concept were applied to the millions of others who have disability labels.

 
For further reading:

Dr. Temple Grandin’s Web Page

Here are all the things I’ve had sitting around in my temp folder but haven’t gotten around to blogging about in depth:

 
Healthcare reform, poverty and privileged whiners.

Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are working hard to prevent healthcare reform because they don’t want their profits to be impacted. Do you know how much their CEOs make every year?

 
The brutal truth about America’s healthcare
No, we don’t have “the best healthcare system in the world”.

 
The ‘Me-First, Screw You Crowd’ Are No Longer Hiding Their Antics
Indeed. They’re proudly beating the poor with their hardcover copies of Atlas Shrugged then laughing as they bleed to death in the street because they have no health insurance.

 
Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?
Yes it is. Republican Jesus said “Go forth and multiply your wealth, and screw the poor for they are unworthy.”

 
Squeaking by on $300,000
She wears Armani suits, pays $200 for a visit to her colorist, $500/month for her gardeners, $35,000 a year in property taxes (on her three acre N.Y. estate), $40,000/year for a nanny, etc, etc. My heart is not breaking because she’s finding it difficult to “squeak by” on $300K a year. Maybe she needs to just live a less lavish lifestyle.

 
Religion, atheism, etc.

Why Religion is the Enemy
Homophobia, misogyny, slavery, miscegenation, and more all have their roots in religion.

 
Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Social Scientists
According to a recent study one’s choice of college major could affect their religiosity. Those who studied the social sciences and humanities were likely to be less religious by the end of college than those who studied business, economics, education or clerical fields. It must have been majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology that did me in….

 
Two related stories:
Afghan Husbands Win Right to Starve Wives
And,
Brutal Law Strips Afghan Women of Rights — Where’s the Outrage?
But they’re just enacting laws that are in accordance with their “deeply held religious beliefs” so it’s all good.

 
LGBT

The Christian Medical & Dental Associations - another group, another batch of lies
There is a significant danger when religious dogma trumps accepted science and professional obligations to patients.

 
What if it was a gay world?


 
The Golden Girls on Gay Marriage


 
Miscellaneous

Students With Disabilities Face Corporal Punishment At Higher Rates
Why corporal punishment is still legal I’ll never know, but the fact that some people feel it’s appropriate to utilize it on disabled children sickens me.

 
The Pledge of Allegiance
An informative and intersting history of the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

People already have federal hate-crimes protection based on their race, color, religion and national origin. In most states they have similar protections. The proposed hate-crimes bill would merely add, on a federal level, sexual orientation , gender identity, and disability. It doesn’t provide any “special protections” or rights. It merely affords protections already enjoyed by many to groups who don’t have them.

Please, call your Congressmembers and ask them to support the Hate Crimes Bill.

 

So many headlines and not enough time to write individual posts on them all…

 
When You Can’t See
A must-read by Matthew Good.

 
New Study Finds Gap in LGBT Health Services
The only surprise is that this is a surprise to anybody.

 
‘Gayby boom’: Children of gay couples speak out
No, they aren’t traumatized for life by having two mommies/daddies despite popular claims. But they are sick of know-nothings and bigots mucking things up with their intolerance.

 
July 4th Tea Party in Dallas.
Angry, illiterate white people go teabagging in silly outfits and carry misspelled signs. It’s to protest taxes (which are the same as, or lower than, they were under GWB), the war (started by GWB) and excessive government surveillance (Patriot Act, anybody?).

 
Accused of attacking man for speaking Spanish, man charged with hate crime
I wonder how many “white pride” groups Parker belongs to.

 
Case of autistic Marine brings recruiting problems to the forefront
People with autism (who are clearly not suited and highly susceptible to manipulation and abuse), Neo-Nazis, ex-felons… Apparently the only criteria for the military these days is “No Homos”.

 
The Psychology of Anti-Gay Aggression
Nice analysis of a 2008 study.

 
Boy Scouts: You’ve Been Cast Out

The Boy Scouts of America are notorious for acting like a public institution when it’s time to collect Federal money, and for enjoying the freedoms reserved for private institutions when they feel like being bigots.

 
Religion is Not about Tolerance
Yet another example of how “deeply held religious beliefs” can make people act like hateful lunatics.

 
Bigots or sociopaths?
jesurgislac asks whether the anti-gays are merely bigots, or are they really sociopaths?

 
Keepin’ the rich, white, Christian man down with political correctness
Jesus’ General nails it, as always.

 
Pharmacists can’t refuse Plan B pill, appeals court says
Pharmacists are told to do their jobs rather than engage in moral grandstanding. What a novel concept.

 
Mass. bill promotes transgender equity; Foes say it would open restrooms to sex predators
Kris Mineau, professional hater of LGBTs, says the bill is bad because “here’s no clear way to determine if an individual is transgender”. Funny, there’s no clear way to determine if an individual is religious yet religious people have superior federal and state constitutional protections.

 

There is plenty of scientific, fact-based information available about Autism. Unfortunately some celebrities are promoting anecdote and pseudoscience which may ultimately cause more harm than good. But legitimate science has a new weapon on its side. Her name is Leeann, and she is is the friend of a family with an autistic child. Enjoy her videos, and visit Rethinking Autism for more information.

According to reports Aaron Hart has an IQ of 47 which would indicate a diagnosis of moderate mental retardation/Intellectual disability. Having worked with adults who had developmental disabilities for 20 years I know very well someone with his level of disability, particularly someone who hadn’t had sufficient education and training, could not be held legally responsible for a criminal act–particularly a felony. Sadly Aaron Hart not only has been convicted of one but has been sentenced to 100 years.

When an 18-year-old with profound mental disabilities performed sexual acts on a 6-year-old neighbor, the small town of Paris, Texas, was unforgiving.

But Aaron Hart’s punishment - 100 years in prison for a single incident - has stunned veteran disability rights advocates, who believed counseling, probation or even placement in a group home would have sufficed for a first-time offender with the mental maturity of a second-grader.

“Aaron is 18, never committed a felony, had no violent record. He couldn’t understand the seriousness of what he did,” said his father, Robert Hart. “I never dreamed they would think about sending him to prison. When they said 100 years - it was terror, pure terror to me.”

The sentence raises serious questions about how people with profound disabilities are prosecuted in Texas, at a time when both state lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court are considering the appropriate punishment for people who are young, mentally disabled or both. Repeat child molesters and rapists routinely receive lesser sentences than Hart’s.
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Pearson blames Hart’s trial attorney, who had the burden of explaining Hart’s disability to the judge and jury. That attorney, appointed by the court because Hart’s family couldn’t afford counsel, did not ask for special accommodations, such as a liaison who could help the defendant understand what was happening in court. Nor did he try to call witnesses who could testify to Hart’s mental condition, Pearson said.
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Faced with a five-count guilty plea signed in wobbly block letters, a jury sentenced Hart to three 30-year prison terms and two five-year terms - one for each class of offense. Lamar County Judge Eric Clifford, who made the decision to stack the sentences into one 100-year prison term, said neither he nor the jury loved the idea of prison for Hart, but they felt they had no other option.
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Guilty plea signed by the defendant? The defendant can’t read or write, and he has the mental capacity of a second-grader. What the heck is wrong with that judge that he considers that signature valid?

Jurors tell a different story. They say that during their deliberations, they repeatedly sent notes to the judge asking if there were alternatives to prison, which they said the judge didn’t answer clearly. They said they were sure Hart would serve a concurrent sentence and were flabbergasted when Clifford stacked the sentences.
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Pearson, the appellate attorney, and disability rights groups say the trial was riddled with errors from start to finish.
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Pearson said the court-appointed doctor who evaluated Hart did the bare minimum to determine competency; he didn’t talk to any of Hart’s teachers, and ran tests geared toward mental illness, not mental retardation.
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Pearson said Massar was ruled an ineffective counsel in a 2007 case the 6th Court of Appeals in Texarkana overturned. That court is expected to hear Hart’s appeal later this year.
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Hart’s father, Robert, said that while his son may look like a man, mentally, he’s as young as his victim. He said the one silver lining in this case is that his son doesn’t understand how dire his situation is.
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This case is a travesty of justice and I hope his appeal goes well. Hart doesn’t belong in prison. Possibly he would benefit from a structured, supervised living arrangement and instruction in, among other things, human sexuality. Had he had such instruction previously it may have prevented this entire mess but at the very least further incidents can be prevented without resorting to barbaric tactics like 100-year prison sentences for someone who can’t possibly grasp why he’s there or learn anything from it.

 

I’ve been told repeatedly how atheists by their very nature cannot be moral because they don’t believe in gods, and that gay people are hideously immoral because of (insert Bible verse and reams of religious dogma here). Funny how the usual suspects are so silent when it comes to things like this:

A Baltimore pastor who worked with developmentally disabled people was charged Friday with befriending a blind and disabled man in his care, then paying a hit man $50,000 in church funds for an execution so he could collect life insurance money.

Police say Kevin Jerome Pushia, 32, who worked for four months as an operations manager for the Arc of Baltimore before abruptly quitting in January, confessed to plotting to kill Lemuel Wallace.

Pushia told police he persuaded Wallace and “numerous” other mentally challenged individuals to list him as a beneficiary on insurance policies.

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Pushia was in custody while police look for other possible victims and examine whether Pushia had been plotting similar killings, said Maj. Terrence McLarney, commander of the city homicide unit. “We have a lot of work left to do,” McLarney said, adding that the case remains open
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Taken to the homicide unit, Pushia asked for an attorney, then admitted to the scheme, Ross wrote. Pushia said he had taken out as many as six insurance policies in Wallace’s name, worth nearly $1 million combined, and said he had policies on others.
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What kind of greedy, heartless SOB preys on disabled people like that? I worked for two decades with such individuals and it infuriates me when anybody takes advantage of or abuses them.

But then maybe he was just acting in accordance with his “deeply held religious beliefs” so I probably should hold off before I give him such a hard time.