Sexual Abuse

Unforgivable!




…

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to at least 30 years in prison - effectively a life sentence - in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno's downfall.



A defiant Sandusky gave a rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.



Three victims spoke, often fighting back tears. One looked Sandusky in the eyes at times.



The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. Witnesses said Sandusky used the charitable organization he founded for troubled children as his personal hunting ground to find and groom boys to become his victims.



His arrest 11 months ago, and the details that came out during his trial over the summer, transformed Sandusky's public image from a college coach who had been widely admired for his work with The Second Mile charity into that of a reviled pervert who preyed on the very youngsters who sought his help.



Eight of the boys he was found guilty of molesting testified at his trial, describing a range of abuse that included fondling, oral sex and anal intercourse. One of the prosecution's star witnesses, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a locker room shower.



Among the three who spoke Tuesday, a young man who said he was 11 when Sandusky groped him in a shower in 1998. He said Sandusky is in denial and should ''stop coming up with excuses.''



''I've been left with deep painful wounds that you caused and had been buried in the garden of my heart for many years,'' he said.



Another man said he was 13 when, in 2001, Sandusky lured him into a Penn State sauna and then a shower and then forced him to touch the ex-coach.



''I am troubled with flashbacks of his naked body, something that will never be erased from my memory,'' he said. ''Jerry has harmed children, of which I am one of them.''



Sandusky has consistently maintained his innocence and plans to appeal. One element of the appeal is expected to be a claim that the defense did not have time to adequately prepare for trial. Sandusky was charged in November, following a lengthy investigation.



In a three-minute monologue aired Monday night by Penn State Com Radio that used some of the same language as his courtroom statement, Sandusky said he knows in his heart that he did not do what he called ''these alleged disgusting acts'' and described himself as the victim of a coordinated conspiracy among Penn State, investigators, civil attorneys, the media and others.



His statement in court lasted 15 minutes and his voice cracked as he spoke of missing his loved ones.



Judge John Cleland sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison. Under Pennsylvania law, Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.



''The tragedy of this crime is that it's a story of betrayal. The most obvious aspect is your betrayal of 10 children,'' Cleland told Sandusky. ''I'm not going to sentence you to centuries in prison, although the law will permit that.'' Still, Cleland said, he expected Sandusky to die in prison.



Before sentencing, Cleland designated Sandusky as a sexually violent predator under the state's Megan's Law. The label essentially has no effect on Sandusky, since its requirement is lifetime registration after a convict is released from prison.



In sentencing the ex-coach, Cleland called Sandusky dangerous, saying, ''You abused the trust of those who trusted you.''



The scandal brought devastation in State College that will take years to fully assess, as Sandusky's victims are pressing civil claims and a January trial is pending for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, two university administrators charged with failing to properly report suspicions about Sandusky and lying to the grand jury that investigated him.



Soon after the three were arrested in November, the board of trustees fired Paterno, the school's most famous figure and a man who won two national college football championships in the 1980s. Paterno died of lung cancer in January.



Over the summer, an investigation commissioned by the university and led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and other top officials covered up allegations against Sandusky for years to avoid bad publicity.



The scandal also toppled university President Graham Spanier and led to crippling NCAA sanctions against the football team that included a $60 million fine, a ban on postseason play and a reduction in the number of football scholarships the school can award. The NCAA also erased 14 years of victories for Paterno, stripping him of his standing as major college football's winningest coach.



At least four young men have sued Penn State over the way the university responded to disturbing complaints about Sandusky.



Eight legal teams representing at least 20 young men have surfaced, and the school recently announced an effort to settle as many claims as possible by the end of the year.



Penn State President Rodney Erickson released a statement shortly after the sentence was handed down.



''Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky's abuse,'' Erickson said. ''While today's sentence cannot erase what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected by these horrible events.''



The third victim who spoke had testified that he was raped over the course of years by Sandusky, including on team trips to bowl games in Texas and Florida.



''I want you to know I don't forgive you and I don't know if I will ever forgive you,'' he said. ''My only regret is that I didn't come forward sooner.''



30 - 60 years! Is that all? I don't care how old he is, he should have gotten more time than that! I have kids, and I pray to God that something of that nature never happens ( they are grown now, so I'm sort of 'out of the woods' on that one ). But folks, that's why as a parent you keep your eyes on your kids like a hawk. You talk 'openly' with them about everything. You have got to get to KNOW your kids. That's how you can tell when something is 'wrong' with them, before they open up and tell you. That monster deserves a lot more time for what he did. And, he still insists that he is innocent. Throw the book at someone like that. But that's ok. The prisoners are following the developments of this case, too ( they've got tv in prison ). I will bet he will get a rousing welcome. But those are just my thoughts. What's yours?



excerpted from the Associated Press

kcasrkev

http://goo.gl/gMiir

Just A Little Bit About Life Itself

A Changing World




Oh but how the world has changed

It ain’t at all how it used to be.

Coming out of high school you had several options

One of them was going into the military.

Having been there done that currently

A military stint I wouldn’t recommend.

Dealing with the misjudgments of the powers-that-be

Your butt to the Middle East they’ll certainly send.

It’s one thing to fight the war on terrorism

And to me Syria was the biggest threat.

Jumping on Iraq with insufficient evidence

There’s more to this story you can certainly bet.

Times like these call for strong leaders

Not leaders who ‘talk strong’.

Our troops are worlds away in the midst of chaos

And our leaders won’t admit to this being wrong.

I remember the days of President Reagan

And Iran releasing hostages by the time he said ‘I do’.

Times like these call for tough leaders like him

He’d knock ‘em out no matter who.

We’ll just have to say a prayer for the troops

And hope that they all safely return.

We won’t forget they put their lives on the line

And in doing so our respect they all have earned.



10-12-06

kcasrkev
http://goo.gl/gMiir

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm....

FDA Accused of Mass Homicide of 1 Million Americans Each Decade




(NaturalNews) The biggest threat to America today is not terrorists or global warming, but the mass genocide of Americans who die every year at the hands of the corrupt U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a recent report, investigative reporter Jon Rappoport uncovers the dirty truth that FDA-approved drugs kill at least 100,000 people every single year -- the FDA actually lists this figure on its own website -- and the agency is doing absolutely nothing about this disastrous trend.



On a webpage entitled Why Learn about Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR)?, the FDA admits that 100,000 people die every single year as a result of taking FDA-approved pharmaceutical drugs. Citing figures from three different published studies, the figures also reveal that two million people a year suffer from serious ADRs, which include things like stroke, heart attack, and permanent neurological damage.



You can view the FDA page for yourself here:

http://www.fda.gov



Since these figures come from studies dating back to at least 1998, it is clear that the FDA is fully aware of the extensive harm being caused by supposedly "safe" drugs. And since it has done nothing to address the problem, the agency is complicit in willfully harming and murdering tens of millions of Americans throughout just the past several decades, which makes it one of the most murderous government regimes in history.



Based on the figures presented by the FDA, at least 30 million people have suffered serious injury or death as a result of taking FDA-approved drugs just since 1998 when the first cited study was published. If you go back several more decades, it is clear that potentially hundreds of millions of people have been directly harmed by the FDA's "negligent homicide."



"It is time for these murderous government crimes to end," writes Rappoport in his report. "It is time for all responsible parties to be brought to justice, to real justice. It is time for the public to realize that 100,000 people dying every year in the U.S., because they take medical drugs, is the equivalent of 33 airliner crashes into the Twin Towers, every year, year after year."




Why the FDA and its drug lords are the real terrorists

Since the FDA is the official gatekeeper of pharmaceutical drugs, it is directly responsible for the harm they cause. And yet agency officials have never, in any meaningful way, been held responsible for their crimes against humanity. And the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as Rappoport points out, has failed to step in and pursue those responsible for peddling poison as medicine.



If al-Qaeda operatives were caught dispensing toxic chemicals disguised as medicine to innocent civilians, they would be sent off to Guantanamo Bay without trial, and locked away indefinitely. But when the FDA does the very same thing on a much more massive scale, nobody bats an eye. And yet the number of people that the FDA has killed with its drugs is far more than the number killed during 9/11 or the Oklahoma City bombing.



The organized crime ring that is the federal government today is the real terrorist threat that we all face on a daily basis. And until the American people collectively wake up to this reality, we will continue to watch our friends, our families, and our children, which are the casualties of this ongoing terrorist attack, lay waste at the hands of Big Pharma and the FDA.



Sources for this article include:



http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com



http://www.naturalnews.com/030461_Senate_Bill_510_Food_Safety.html



Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035936_FDA_homicide_victims.html#ixzz20LZ91i8Y



kcasrkev

http://goo.gl/gMiir

Socially Speaking, In Other Words, Conversation Starters

Woosah! Get It Off Your Chest! And I Do Just That!



This is the venting area for me. The government, FDA, banks, the military, politics, news-of-the-day, facebook-manics, nothing is off-limits for me. So, put your seat belts on, and hopefully you will enjoy this sometimes bumpy ride. And please remember, even if I don't, your comments ( let's all play nice now ) are always welcome.

It Wasn't That Long Ago

It wasn’t that long ago
People of color weren’t allowed to vote.
They weren’t allowed to eat in restaurants
Books they weren’t allowed to tote.
They weren’t allowed to assemble
In public or private like today they do.
Once they were allowed to do such things
Oh my how the hatred grew.
Many people were lynched
Churches were burned to the ground.
All for the sake of the freedoms
That the fathers of this country had found.
This is what astonishes me
It’s the attitudes of the youth of today.
They act like all that they have now
No one in the past had a price to pay.
Just study your history young folks
A history much deeper than the one in school that is being taught.
Take note that many in the past paid the ultimate price
And your casual freedoms with their lives they bought.
So next time you go to the movies and sit where you wish
Or on the bus you sit in the front seat
Take time to thank a person of color from the past
Who tried the same thing and got beat.

11-7-06
KCASR

Pieces of Me

Nearly twenty years ago
You took a part of me.
Up until a couple of years ago
The parts you’ve taken I didn’t really see.
Over the years
You’ve really picked me apart
You’ve taken precious blood from me
You’ve even taken pieces of my heart.
Now you’ve taken another slice
There doesn’t seem to be many pieces left.
No matter how hard I try to hold on
There’s just no way around death.
The rich, the poor
The old, the young
The sick and the healthy
Over their graves eventually a song will be sung.
Reminiscent of life
Nowadays I often ponder.
Through all that I have been through
What’s around the next corner I sometimes wonder.
But as surely as I live I know
An abrupt end of my life shall come one day.
Maybe then I’ll be able to gather all the missing pieces
By living my life the righteous way.

8-16-06
KCASR

It's the Little Things in Life

It’s the little things in life
That matters to me the most.
My son intercepting a pass
My daughter hitting a jumper from the post.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me.
My daughter taking piano lessons
My son’s report card with nothing less than a ‘B’.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me.
My daughter going to homecoming
My son wanting to ‘hang out’ with me.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me.
My mom telling me how smart my niece is
My brother telling me how much my nephew acts like me.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me.
My son tutoring one of his cousins
My daughter’s induction into the National Honor Society.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me.
The way that I was raised by my parents
Eventually becoming the pinnacle of my family.
It’s the little things in life
That matters most to me
The ever-growing pride that I have inside
Of my little family.

10-18-06
KCASR

A Changing World

Oh but how the world has changed
It ain’t at all how it used to be.
Coming out of high school you had several options
One of them was going into the military.
Having been there done that currently
A military stint I wouldn’t recommend.
Dealing with the misjudgments of the powers-that-be
Your butt to the Middle East they’ll certainly send.
It’s one thing to fight the war on terrorism
And to me Syria was the biggest threat.
Jumping on Iraq with insufficient evidence
There’s more to this story you can certainly bet.
Times like these call for strong leaders
Not leaders who ‘talk strong’.
Our troops are worlds away in the midst of chaos
And our leaders won’t admit to this being wrong.
I remember the days of President Reagan
And Iran releasing hostages by the time he said ‘I do’.
Times like these call for tough leaders like him
He’d knock ‘em out no matter who.
We’ll just have to say a prayer for the troops
And hope that they all safely return.
We won’t forget they put their lives on the line
And in doing so our respect they all have earned.

10-12-06
KCASR

A Whole Lot Different Than Yesterday

To see the looks on their faces
Each morning when they awake.
Trying to figure out what’s on their minds
A lot more than a genius it will take.
The kids of today
A whole lot different than yesterday.
Most of their time is spent indoors
When we were forced to go outside and play.
From laptops, to videos, to Play Station 2
From their elaborate toy chests they’ve got their pick.
If we were lucky enough to even have a toy chest
Fanciest thing inside may have been a horsey stick.
Having all of the niceties of today
However comes with a very high price.
Kids today bore quickly and have nothing to do
When we’d make up a game and wouldn’t think twice.
And to make matters worse
Childhood obesity is on the rise.
Due to their almost sedentary lifestyles
This really comes as no big surprise.
Parents need to get their kids hooked on going to the park
They’ll be doing the kids a really big favor
‘Cause when it comes to having a well-rounded life
It’s the time spent outside the kids will truly savor.

12-14-06
KCASR

Blood is Thick

Blood compared to water
It is really quite thick.
You choose your friends in life
But relatives you don’t pick.
We’ve got all types
From the bad to the good.
The good you’ll claim really quickly
But the bad you rarely would.
Like the fruit that grows
Up high in your family tree
Some fruit are just luscious
And some are less desirable quite honestly.
Some look simply scrumptious
Until you inspect them closer
And just like the rotten-seeded fruit
You don’t want to touch them, no sir.
But they are your family
So you don’t have a choice
When it comes to who sits at the table
Good and bad they all have a voice.
And remember one thing
Fruit don’t fall too far from the tree
Although one piece may outshine the other
They all still are family.

8-16-06
KCASR

Dare to Change History?

Contemplating going back in time
To do it all over again.
Would you have the guts to do it?
The only stickler would be when.
I’d go back to high school
And work on my grades being even better.
I’d participate in all the sports
They’d give me a jacket with the big letter.
I would visit different colleges
And let them drool and fight over me.
Then off to play my favorite sport
Baseball at Clemson University.
I probably would have enrolled
In the ROTC program.
I still had a taste for the military
Baseball, apple pie, and Uncle Sam.
Afterwards a 5-year military commitment
Or being drafted by a major league team.
That’s about the time I’d wake up
And realize that this was all a dream.
Or would I consider this a nightmare
At stake, my kids and my new love?
Those things being considered
I wouldn’t do it even with help from above.
So reminiscing of changing history
Of your life dream or nightmare.
Depends on what’s at stake for you
If you could do it though, would you dare?

7-19-06
KCASR

Lasting Friendships ( Inspired by Claudia G. )

The graduating class of '81
Fortunately most of us are still here.
We've all come quite a way in life
Some from afar, others from near.
Many of us have kids
Some of us, perhaps by choice, do not.
A few of us have various college degrees
Degrees of life's experiences we've all got.
Some of us look better now
Eerily, a few of us look the same.
Everybody here looks good to me
Alive and kickin' so I won't complain.
Most faces in the crowd haven't changed
Stoking the embers of memories that are embedded in my mind.
The days of traversing cherished hallways
Seems like yesterday and mostly consists of good times.
As I look into the eyes of each adult
The thing that stands out mostly for me
Is that when I look at each one of them
Deep down it's the kids inside that I really see.
So as we gather together from now on
To celebrate friendships of the past
Let us remember those who couldn't be here
Through thoughts and prayers may our friendships forever last.
As I see, if they've lasted this long
Another 25 years should be a snap.
Let's just try to keep in touch with each other
Regardless of where we may be on the world's map.

KCASR
7-29-06

Humble Enough to Ask

Caught up in the struggle
Of every day living
Trying in vain to get out of the hole
But not an inch is life giving.
Life is what you make of it
Not what it makes of you.
There's hills and valleys at every turn
How you traverse them is what'll get you through.
So you happened to fall down
Well get up like you're supposed to.
Go ahead and dust yourself off
Life isn't nearly finished with you.
'Cause an entirely new dawn
Appears every day that you wake
And as surely as night shall fall
Life's decisions you'll have to make.
And of the choices you've made
Positive results are for what you strive
'Cause if things don't work out choose another
You'll be doing this as long as you're alive.
Although some would disagree
For every good point you'd come up with
They'd come up with a bad one most vehemently.
And as long as you are living keep in mind
That life owes us nothing at all.
You have to accept the good along with the bad
Remember, as long as you are standing you may fall.
But that won't be the end of the world
Even if you need a helping hand
Be humble enough to request it
Regardless of your feelings for your fellow man.
So you may just need a little help
'Cause the climb from the hole can be quite a task
That's when you'll learn who's the big man
The big man has no problem, he'll ask.

5-11-06
KCASR

Born to Lead

A leader of men
No guts, no glory
Pay special attention
Or you may miss this story.
Not everyone was born
To take the lead.
Some were born to follow
And there's a big difference indeed.
A leader knows the weaknesses of his people
And knowing their strengths can get from each their best.
A leader is a tireless striver
He just seems to need little rest.
A leader sets the example
You tend to see his ups more than his downs.
A leader makes possible the seemingly impossible
Regardless of who may be around.
A leader will be the first to take a stand
His people will inevitably know what to do
And even if there's pressure from the top
His vision will allow all the best view.
Being a leader is not easy
Although he may make it look that way.
A leader's ability to take all pressures off of you
Makes for a more tolerable working day.
But if you think being a leader is easy
Ask if you can give it a try
Then and only then will you see each situation
And for each what he does, now you'll know why.
So when the going gets tough
Are you being led appropriately?
The followers will be in the crowd looking confused
Out in front cooly, calmly, and collectedly the leaders will be.

6-9-06
KCASR

Spare the Rod Spoil the Child

Temptation's all around
You're itching to get in it
You dare not though
Consequences being you'll get it.
You spare the rod
You spoil the child
The Bible teaches this
A lack of and they may grow up buck wild.
From teachers to neighbors
Or anyone who was a grownup
They all had unspoken permission to unleash
Whenever and wherever you slipped up.
But there were always a few
Who didn't require as much
Just the threat of a butt-whipping
Really kept those few in touch.
And as for all the rest
I'm not saying their heads were hard
They'd slip up once in a while
Only to be confined to the yard.
And if penalized to confinement and a whipping
They really had screwed up bad
But once the grownups were through with them
They'd wished they never had.
Which is why most kids today
Act the way that they do.
The law has gotten involved
And the law don't allow you to punish the way they used to.
But take this advice from me
And your kids will turn out just fine.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't
When it comes to whipping your kids' behinds.
'Cause when we were growing up
Of whippings we had our share.
Seemingly every move we made
Someone from the village was right there.
'Cause it takes an entire village to raise a child
But today the village walls have been knocked down.
Take a good look at the current situation
The main wall, daddy, is not around.
And as for the rest of the village
They are into their own thing.
They dare not say anything to many kids
Or a whipping they may end up taking.
Then the establishment wonders why
There's such an increase in teen violence
Spare the rod, spoil the child
It's not at all rocket science.

4-4-06

KCASR