The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Strangler Lewis]

Of course, you don't have to be at the murder to be guilty of murder. Manson was guilty of murder as a conspirator in the specific killings that he ordered. Convicting him of murder for uttering vehement, violent generalities would have been a much tougher sell.

I would agree, though, that depending on the level of control involved, a religious leader could be viewed as ordering a hit on some little kid. Why the hell not?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

Of course, you don't have to be at the murder to be guilty of murder. Manson was guilty of murder as a conspirator in the specific killings that he ordered. Convicting him of murder for uttering vehement, violent generalities would have been a much tougher sell.

If we were talking about generalities I'd agree. But I make no exaggeration when I say that Michael and Debi Pearl literally detail what materials to purchase, where to purchase them, and how to use them, and who to use them on (your children). Their book, their website, their preaching is chock full of specifics.

Would I advocate the arrest of the author of Anarchist's Cookbook? No. However, if it, along with instructions on how to build explosives, also contained instructions on the best way to use those explosives to murder politicians, and the author were to regularly speak to people saying, "Use the techniques in my book against any politician that voted to invade Iraq. They are evil and should die!" yes I most certainly would advocate his arrest.

[scaeagles]

Hmmm.....I suppose I have to think about this more. Valid points, it is just difficult to determine where lines should be drawn.

[Strangler Lewis]

As an aside, I noted with some interest that when our school district spent several thousand hiring a "positive discipline" consultant to work with teachers and parents, hundreds of parents apparently showed up. Much less interest in attending meetings to address the budget shortfalls that will result in firing teachers that will result in more kids ending up as discipline problems.

[Ghoulish Delight]

So lets see, facts that Lower Merion school district is not disputing:

1) They put software on the laptop that could be remotely activated to record images
2) They did so with zero notice to parnts
3) There exists an image that was remotely captured
4) They viewed that image and used it as evidence to discipline a student.

Their only defense so far is that they claim to only activate the camera if the laptop is reported stolen. As if A) that explains why this camera was activated since the laptop was clearly not stolen and B) having activated it and seen that it was obviously not stolen, used the image against the student.

And now it seems that one of the security people charged with setting it all up had been running his mouth online about all the effort he put in to make it as hidden and un-disableable as possible.

Me thinks the school district is royally b-o-n-e-d on this one.



link for those that haven't seen this story

[Gemini Cricket]

This story dates back to 2006:

A few years ago, Lynn Paddock sought Christian advice on how to discipline her growing brood of adopted children. Paddock -- a Johnston County mother accused of murdering Sean, her 4-year-old adopted son, and beating two other adopted children -- surfed the Internet, said her attorney, Michael Reece. She found literature by an evangelical minister and his wife who recommended using plumbing supply lines to spank misbehaving children.
Paddock ordered Michael and Debi Pearl's books and started spanking her adopted children as suggested. After Sean, the youngest of Paddock's six adopted children, died last month, his older sister and brother told investigators about Paddock's spankings.
Sean's 9-year-old brother was beaten so badly he limped, a prosecutor said. Bruises marred Sean's backside, too, doctors found.
Sean died after being wrapped so tightly in blankets he suffocated. That, too, was a form of punishment, Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said.

Source

ETA: Not sure why it's in bold. Couldn't un-bold it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yes, the Schatz's are not the first to have killed their child based on the Pearl's teachings, and sadly are unlikely to be the last. But even if not one child died, they are still responsible for countless cases of what should be prosecuted as child abuse.

[Ghoulish Delight]

While I worked out in our company gym today, one of the TV's was tuned to coverage of Toyota execs being questioned by a House committee. I learned something very interesting, of which I was not previously aware:

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is a blithering idiot.

[Gn2Dlnd]

She's hysterical whenever Colbert gets ahold of her.

[Ghoulish Delight]

That may be, but she was demanding a 100% guarantee from Toyoda that her car will never be recalled.

Blithering idiot.