Thought Picnic: Is our childhood sexual abuse their therapy now?

He was abused

This is as worrisome as it is upsetting to read that it would have been best that the case was not made public at all.

A primary school teacher now aged 39 has been sentenced [1] to a “three-year internet sexual offending treatment programme by Manchester Crown Court.”

Whilst he lived in the US he had subscribed to child sex abuse websites and when his laptop was seized in March after having been teaching in the UK since 2007, 88 quite extraordinarily and deeply unpleasant pictures were found and another 2,968 had to be recovered by experts after they had been deleted.

He sought closure

In mitigation, he was abused between the ages of 6 and 8 by his grandfather and the court accepted the plea that he “started to look at images as a source of comfort to himself, so he could appreciate he was not alone.”

Now, given that none of the images involved any of the children we worked with as a teacher or had any contact with, that it completely beside the point; it is the material that is at issue regardless of its normal titillating usage by criminal child sex abusers or in this case an unusual therapy aid to deal with previous horrible experiences.

None of which is right or excusable, what makes this matter so difficult to read is the way the judge appears to have bought into this precedent making excuse in words that are best quoted verbatim.

“To any normal person these pictures are quite extraordinarily and deeply unpleasant. You carried on accessing the indecent images to prove to yourself you were not alone and it provided you with some sense of calm and closure. I have never seen quite so glowing references to a man in all my long experience of sitting in this court.”

Is our abuse their closure?

As I read that, I imagined the situation of those who abused me as a child and that was from 7 onwards and the idea that those events were recorded with some other person who experienced the things I did but already an adult seeking “some sense of calm and closure” from viewing the rape of my innocence.

There is no doubt that man needed help and probably had issues that required professional help, now, if some registered psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist had recommended continued exposure to such material as a way of dealing with previous sexual abuse, there might have been an interesting and plausible excuse but this is just beyond the pale.

As damaged people

The untold damage done to children with the rape of their sexual innocence and sexuality cannot be properly profiled for understanding, too many things are left in the inner recesses of the mind that will never be revealed but might well determine the course of many lives.

If they ever get to learn to use sex in any healthy and wholesome way, it would be by the grace of some power beyond them, the others trod through life damaged goods seeking temporary respite and succour at the mercy of other unspeakable experiences.

For all the empathy I can have for this man and for the mercy the court was willing to show to this unfortunate man, this was one judgement that simply accentuates the hurt of a lost childhood, abstracts the reality of those who were depicted in those images and condemns many who still suffer to the possible justification others might have for abuse, the production of the images, the trading of the images and probably a free pass to a treatment programme.

Setting a bad precedent

That memory is still etched on my mind along with that of others that I recall as I write through the tears welling up in my eyes is served an injustice so cruel as if my sexual innocence were being made to count for nothing once again.

This is hardly the message that we all need to hear especially where the person has been caught and it sets an unhealthy precedent very much along the lines of those who plea insanity for murder or even gay panic defence [2] for hate crimes with the prospect of getting off lightly.

I would hope no one else gets to use this strategy much as I hope that the man does find “some sense of calm and closure” for the rotten abuse he suffered of his grandfather.

Sources

[1] BBC News: Tameside abuse image teacher spared jail sentence

[2] Gay panic defence: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Powerless against the 'Gitmo' noose

Our Imperfect World

When news arrived that 3 inmates of Guantanamo bay had committed suicide by hanging I was not surprised, rather I was taken aback by how long it had taken for anyone to come to that point of absolute despair.

Like it or not, regardless of the purported evil and despicable intentions of those inmates, they are flesh and blood like you and I, they were born into this world and have had their lives shaped by the circumstances of upbringing, society and environment like any other human being.

If this world were a perfect place

+ where everyone lived in peace and harmony,

+ where the strong helped the weak out of the milk of humanity rather than ideological domination,

+ where sickness and disease were met with the concerted efforts of all mankind deploying their compassion and knowledge,

+ where leaders really did command the respect of their people through probity, honesty, wisdom and prudence

We would not be in the in the state we are in now where globalization, war, disease, unrest, inequalities, tyranny and corruption are competing elements thwarting every attempt at human progress.

The most important element to progress is fairness expressed and justice seen to be done with the highest moral standards.

The Genesis of our times is in the past

America as a superpower had been attacked by a terrorist organisation that did not fit the mould of nation state but religious ideology built on the abhorrence of certain America activities around the globe.

Whilst it is enough to give platitudes to the inclination that these terrorists are against our freedoms, democracy and liberty, we would be remiss to think that is the whole story. The catalogue of American activities in other lands where they have purported to offer a lifestyle similar to theirs is almost bloodier than conquests of the Jews, Normans, Vikings and Crusades put together.

America might not have been the primary cause in some of these even but it is questionable that some of their activities were pro patria even if their leaders have presumed their acts have been in the best interests of the American people.

Guantanamo Bay not Montego Bay

Guantanamo Bay is the culmination of all that is wrong in the pursuit of peace in the world we are today. The benefactor superpower in this situation has done little to benefit the war on terror and done a lot to recruit malefactors that continue the make the Middle East the cauldron of human conflict and other arms of law enforcement in “free” countries jittery, lacking in resolute analysis and prone to procedural error.

Soon after 9/11 the goodwill America garnered in abundans cautela non nocet as to retaliation allowed level heads with the support of the many to invade Afghanistan going after the Taleban who gave refuge to Al Qaeda.

However, this is where the whole value system began to break down as prisoner swept up by this war lost the title of “prisoner of war” and became “enemy combatants” and were transported to Guantanamo Bay under circumstance less humane of what is to be expected of leaders of freedom albeit aggrieved from loss.

Enemy Combatant’s Lot

The Enemy Combatant appellation allowed for extra judicial and extraterritorial exercise of domain outside the scrutiny of due process, the courts and civil oversight from which the American democratic project derives its legitimacy and validity.

So, beyond the scrutiny of organs that ensure that rights, freedoms and liberties are protected, the hapless pawns in Afghanistan and other places ended up in that Cuban enclave feeding every speculation and conspiracy about the untoward.

Abu Ghraib gave us unprecedented insight into the way things were done at Guantanamo bay since the man-in-charge there took responsibility of retraining people in the way “things are to be done”.

Guantanamo Bay as it stood with its inmates was the middle of nowhere and the pit of despair as many did not know their status, the semblance of justice or the possibility of freedom – all we were fed by Donald Rumsfeld was that they were very horrible people who were humanely treated – Mr Rumsfeld is a very smart man, but I cannot take lessons of justice, fairness and due process from him.

Power against hunger powerless against the noose

Only recently, we were told a number if inmates had gone on hunger strike, I would think the only reason anyone would go on hunger strike is because the system is failing to apply reason to their plight.

Those people were force-fed to prevent the separation of soul from body to much disdain as the voice against Guantanamo Bay gets louder and clearer and the people in charge are beginning to have no other options but to begin to oblige.

With all the supervision, deprivation, inspection and surveillance in the dog cages these people occupy three people having not been able to bring reason to bear through other means took their apparel and hung themselves by the neck till death.

One could cynically surmise you can force-feed a hunger striker but how do you mend a broken neck?

Act of war – my foot!

So, in all the circumstances and the depth of despair that represented the fact that many had resolved they were incarcerated epso perpetua the suicide being depicted as an act of war or rather “an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us” by the camp commander is a complete dereliction of responsibility in a policy that would have made Stalin’s Gulags look like play school.

Asymmetric warfare? You must be kidding me, I have never heard such tripe, ever!

I will not buy that view no matter the preponderance of law, evidence or inclination, the reaction is beyond belief and Mr George W. Bush with his concerns are much more about the new low to hit the unpopular Guantanamo Bay than the death of enemy combatants.

The 3 men of blessed or cursed memory took the only avenue to their freedom and liberty and many ore would if that aberration called Guantanamo Bay is not consigned to history before it becomes the cornerstone of the Bush II presidency.

quidquid Latine dictum sit altum viditur – just exactly what I mean to say whatever has been said in Latin seems deep.

Old-age Rum's field day

Old-age rights

Any septuagenarian can exercise the inalienable right to be subconsciously forgetful to the extent that recorded statements of views expressed years ago may not be remembered.

However, if there is anything anyone would deny is happening as one matures; it is the loss of hearing, the loss of memory and probably the loss of energy.

The loss of hearing plays a great part when the elderly listener who by happenstance has not been pensioned off, holds more meetings with his team than any other predecessor and still does not seem to end up with the substance of their ideas.

Note however, that due diligence is served by being in the meeting and presiding over that meeting.

Blessings of old age

A well known trait of the elderly when entering those stages of hearing loss might be grumpiness, irascibility, stubbornness, dogged determination and downright rudeness which in some other quarters can be utterly unacceptable.

The elderly by their wealth of experience gained through years of toil or service can offer us gems of wisdom and thoughts to ponder; some can quite imponderable that you end up in the unknown unknown.

That is a place that only too few people have been to, because they are the only ones who can reveal the existence of that place. They are the sages of our age.

Bliss of old age

The loss of memory presents convenience for those who cannot remember and frustration for those who can remember but cannot find correlation with the main proponent of the subject.

If no record can be found of the subject being addressed for the proponent to remember, then it one man’s word against another. We are left to decide on the ability of either to convince with conviction and hopefully, truthfully.

This era of mass media however offers the ability to record, replay, review, research, recall and reproduce whatever material has been subjected to scrutiny.

The loss of energy might inform the reason why a mechanical device might be required to do the routine task of signing letters that should be of great import to the recipients.

Unequal values of old age

So, if at any time in the future after that recording; someone who remembers or who researches asks a question about a statement made in the past, the expected response should be concurrency.

Where there is no concurrency, the person being asked can defer to check the facts of that event and respond at a later time.

However, if the person being asked is generally given to bluster and falls into the demographic of the type of elderly person described earlier; then the person would not deny, rather suggest that something else was said or they have been misrepresented - conveniently.

Truth about old age

The reporters of this current event can then search their archives and return with the recording of that earlier event which has concurrency with the questioner’s assertions, not once, not twice, but thrice.

I would then assume that the septuagenarian has been caught in a lie – Never! The old man is never ever wrong.

You ask me, “Could that particular septuagenarian be Donald Rumsfeld?” Well, Go Figure!

References

CNN.com - Hecklers interrupt Rumsfeld speech - May 4, 2006:

Target Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld Defends His Record Against Critics - New York Times:

Rumsfeld Blog Archive

The defence of the YesMen Generals

A time to go

The clamour for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld has not gone unnoticed, as retired generals have wrangled with each other taking on whether or not to defenestrate the embattled Secretary of Defense (American spelling).

To date, a 4-star General, two 3-star Generals and four 2-star generals have voiced their opinions about the fitness of Mr Rumsfeld for the duties that he has been assigned.

In the numbers game, of all retired generals, this could be insignificant, but when viewed in the context of the fact that six of those generals have reported up the chain in his tenure, you begin to wonder if it is the generals or the secretary that is the issue.

Yes, from the Generals

However, two other 4-star Generals have come forward to defend the tenure and abilities of Donald Rumsfeld; they being General Tommy Franks and General Richard Myers.

One could feel great sympathy for their stance since they represented the highest link in the chain between the forces and their political masters.

The risk of having both their reputations and legacies sullied is evident if tactics and modalities surrounding the execution of Iraqi war and peace are brought under the harsh light of unrelenting scrutiny.

However, if people in authority cannot speak up when they should on matters of expertise, principle, honesty, integrity, tactics and/or experience, they are bungling miscreants not worthy of giving counsel to anyone.

This was not helped by the fact that the Secretary of State in the person of Condolezza Rice did say there were tactical errors regarding the execution and process of the Iraqi war when she was in the UK powwowing with Jack Straw.

Donald can dismiss, disdain and disparage

Rumsfeld in his characteristic manner dismissed her comments with the flippant “I do not know what she is talking about”.

It goes without saying that Mr Rumsfeld’s arrogance sometimes beggars belief, the unparalleled hubris with which he singularly deprecates other views to the elevation of his opinions is dangerous at best and globally lethal at worst.

Since the Abu Ghraib episode, anybody of useful and commendable reputation has asked for Rumsfeld to step down, for the sake of loyalty, dignity and possible self-pride.

However, he has stuck to the position, clammed shut and irretrievable from the Pentagon whilst the White House engages in the Window-dressing of changing staff to raise the popularity of the president.

Sack him for the polls

I could almost promise an amazing 10 to 15 point surge in the president’s popularity if he left that office this afternoon. Changing the press secretary, budget director, chief of staff or some other brown-nosing functionary would do nothing to budge the downward spiral of squandered opportunities the president finds himself in.

Enter the Economist through a piece by Lexington and suddenly, I read a whole message that shows the Rumsfeld should long have been pensioned off to some home for bureaucratic bottlenecks and enemies of reasonable discourse.

Yes, from the generals, again

Here, we find that General Tommy Franks is considered a one-dimensional strategist and General Myers is a yes man– call me anything but never a yes man.

Then we hear from Dr. Henry Kissinger who would be so welcome for trial in any international court of justice commend Donald Rumsfeld as “the best practitioner of the art of bureaucratic infighting” he had ever seen.

It is then no wonder that he can disparage the Secretary of State, dismiss the opinions of the generals, deny that there is a problem anywhere whilst opportunistically linking his efficacy to the wishes of the president to keep him there.

Load bearing furniture

A contemporary assessment of the Bush Presidency is beginning to look like a case of moving around the furniture to keep a building from collapsing; furniture might bear up the building for a while, but the problem is structural and fundamental.

Some of the major players in the President’s team need to be sent packing of which Mr Rumsfeld is the chief liability and millstone around the president’s laden neck.

An opinion worthy of attention

The Economist says this better as the casualties of the tactical errors continue to rise in Iraq and in America; Mr Rumsfeld is worth the greater sacrifice for the nation and fatherland, regardless of the idea changing horses mid-race, it might be the right thing to do to win the race and turn this sordid matter around – once and for all.

Judicial Backwaters - Guantanamo Countdown

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The poor cannot be innocent

A saying once ascribed to a prominent law professor and defence lawyer in America suggested “everyone is innocent until declared broke”.

This opens the subject of the backwater of American justice where the privileged and the rich can get away with anything if they have the representation and resources that can bamboozle the judges, the jury and the legal system.

Too many examples exist as to how rich and famous Americans have walked free from murder, child abuse and fraud charges with just a dent to their egos.

If one were to commiserate, it would be for those who have no means of getting real justice in the land of liberty and freedom because the equality of man in America is only there when you are equal to the system by being able to pay your way out of the clutches of the law.

The equality of certain death

In fact, I would go on to say the only equality of opportunity in America of today is the equality of the certainty of death. Some might delay it by being of means, those who have not, arrive there quicker. It is a sad fact of life as exemplified by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

One profession that brings home the bacon every time is that of the high-profile lawyer as they argue and settle marital, criminal or civil matters. In a quest to help healthcare organisation that crumble under the strain of class-action suits, Mr Bush has clipped the wings of Tort cases which really make lawyers so rich at the expense of the claimants.

Abyss of injustice

Spare a thought for the aberration, anomaly or abomination that is Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It is amazing that this place has been leased in perpetuity from Cuba which has suffered decades of sanctions and bad blood with America. Sometimes international treaties and diplomacy make no sense but there we are with an aberration.

It is an anomaly because people are in detention created by the US government but outside the jurisdiction of American courts and justice; because we have allowed the bastion of human freedom and democracy to assign untrammelled powers to their president to protect the American people.

Protecting the American People however includes the ability to take America from the safety of the high moral ground to the moral valley illustrated by the despicable state of affairs that feeds our disgust from the pictures and videos of Abu Ghraib Prison.

The abomination of justice is where those who do not have a strong ally or country to defend them and demand their rights are kept as enemy combatants outside the reach of even the Geneva Convention.

No voice for the voiceless

It pains me that whilst Britain has successfully extracted their citizens from Guantanamo Bay, they have not spoken up for those who are kept outside justice, outside review, outside care, outside concern and outside reach of their people in that utterly forsaken place.

It is a luxury of American royalty that men who are going to live full and fulfilled lives having extricated themselves from the travesty of war and the defence of the realm and now hold the power to send others to their untimely deaths as martyrs to a cause that is defeating reason and purpose as days go by.

If any of them had attended one funeral of any of all those killed in the cauldron of terror call Iraq, I might even find one word of praise for them.

As well run as Abu Ghraib?

However, Mr Rumsfeld says Guantanamo Bay is a well run detention centre, I am wont to believe him, but can I really do that?

The detention centres in Iraq produced those stomach churning pictures and the British soldiers meting out “justice” to the teenagers, as the cameraman in seemingly sexual ecstasy urges them on – are situations open to public and press scrutiny.

One commentary contends that Guantanamo Bay served as the incubator for those activities.

We cannot have one standard for our convenience and exculpation then have another for those who are not like us.

Here lies the unjust

The unknown unknown of Guantanamo Bay requires that the people there know if they would get justice somewhere on earth, and if America cannot give it to them, then it is really time to close Guantanamo Bay and let the wild bunch lose.

Mr Rumsfeld is a smart man; he is probably a fair man too, but nay a just man.

We should call to notice that all in leadership who have the power to send men to war should ensure that their epitaphs include the phrase “he/she was a just man/woman”; God have mercy on your souls, if fortune obliterates that legacy.

"The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth." Alan Dershowitz