Those Crazy Czech Sex Offenders

CNN reports on the situation in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic's practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders is "invasive, irreversible and mutilating" and should stop immediately, the Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee said in a report made public Thursday.

The Council of Europe condemned the practice as "degrading."

The procedure is being performed even on first-time, non-violent offenders, such as exhibitionists, its investigation revealed.

It only takes a quick dance through the internet or a minimal familiarity with the conservative mindset to see that this barbarism will receive wide support. All the law-and-order types and the personal-responsibility folks will be quick to point out the efficacy a policy like this. All the vengeance seekers and the eye-for-an-eye characters will applaud this insanity. The Czech government is doing it, after all.

It argues the procedure is effective in reducing repeat offenses.

I wonder if that's true. Putting aside for a moment the questions of privacy and torture, of human rights, does it really work?

But the Council of Europe questioned the statistics on repeat offenses and said even if they were correct, castration was not an appropriate way to reduce recidivism.

"The committee's delegation came across three cases in which sex offenders had committed serious sex-related crimes, including serial rape and attempted murder, after they had been surgically castrated," the human-rights group said.

Studies, which I'm sure are just a click or two away, have suggested that rape is not about sexual attraction in many cases, but about power and violence. It's about subjugating another person and violating them. I suppose the theory is that the drive to harm others in this way does not come from the same testosterone that promotes the sexual urge. Of course, if this is true, then the Czech policy is all the more barbaric. What do you think?

But, what about gelded horses? Isn't that practice done to promote docility? Wouldn't the same thing work on humans?

And what does this say about the power of deterrence? I can't imagine how the would-be rapist who knows that the penalty could be castration, can go ahead and rape. To me this proves that deterrence does not work. The reason it doesn't work, as I've said before, is that criminals plan on getting away with their crimes, they don't plan on getting caught. Sometimes this is a calculated, well-thought-out criminal plan, while other times it's pure delusion. The result is always the same. Deterrence fails to inhibit criminals.

What's your opinion?

Gay Sex Scandal in Portland Oregon

The New York Times reports on an unusual sex scandal going on in Portland Oregon.

A confession by Portland's first openly gay mayor that he lied about having sex with a teenager is dividing this famously progressive city, as well as its gay community.

Just three weeks after Sam Adams was sworn in, many gays are questioning whether he is the man they want as their trailblazer.

I would imagine if many gays are questioning it, the straights are too. I guess Mr. Adams' days as the first openly gay mayor of a major American city are numbered.

It started earlier this week when the 45-year-old Adams admitted to an alternative newspaper, Willamette Week, that he lied during his election campaign when he denied having sex in 2005 with a teenage male who was a legislative intern.

So, when he was about 41, he'd had sex with a 17 year-old. That's against the law. But is it really that bad? I mean, there's a big difference between what he did and some of the child sex abuse we hear about.

For me, his being gay has nothing to do with it. The questions are simply how bad were his actions and how bad is it that he lied about them.

''Sam has been our guy forever, which makes this even harder,'' said Marty Davis, publisher of the newspaper Just Out, which has called for his resignation. ''It's completely dividing and tearing our community right down the middle.''

Davis of Just Out said she is not as concerned about Adams' relationship with the young man as she is about the lying. She said his actions have eroded the public's trust in her publication.

Sometimes it seems we're as hung up about lying as we are about sex. Is the idea supposed to be that politicians generally do not lie, so when we catch one at it, we're outraged? Or, is it a case of excessively punishing the ones who get caught lying because we know the rest of them are doing it too? Either way it doesn't seem right to me.

What's your opinion? Does the fact that he'd had sex with the intern and lied about it impact upon his ability to govern the city? Are we expecting too much from our politicians, complete chastity and total honesty? Do we demand that of ourselves?

Please leave a comment.

Home Invader Killed

The Indy Channel reports on the death of a would-be rapist.

A man who police said broke into a home with the intention of sexually assault a 17-year-old girl in her bedroom died early Sunday morning after a struggle with the girl's father.

David Meyers (pictured), 52, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after officers arrived following a report of a home invasion in the 3500 block of West 79th Street at about 3:20 a.m.

It seems Meyers, who had already served 10 years of a 20-year sentence for criminal confinement and sexual deviate conduct, entered the house with every intention of raping the teenager.

Indianapolis police Sgt. Matt Mount said Meyers had come into the home naked, except for a mask and latex gloves.

"He had rope, had a knife, had condoms, had a gag," Mount said.

I guess bringing a rope, knife, condoms and a gag to the scene is supposed to be proof of his intentions. What I'd like to know is, how exactly did he carry all that stuff while climbing through the window? Could all that rapist equipment be held in one hand while he pulled himself into the house with the other? Maybe he held the knife between his teeth.

In any case, the story is this: the evil sex offender climbed into the house, at 3:30 a.m., adrenalin pumping, wide awake. The father, Robert McNally, awoke out of a sound sleep by the sound of his daughter screaming and did what any father would do in this situation. He subdued the bad guy, who was ten years his junior and a hardened ex-con, and killed him with his bare hands. Now, I don't know about you, but to me this sounds preposterous. Maybe Mr. McNally was a tough 64 year-old karate expert who worked out at the gym three times a week, but it didn't say that in the article. Maybe he got lucky.

It seems to me there's more here than what's reported. Nevertheless, it brings up some good questions. Should more good guys be armed for home protection? Should sex-offenders be released after serving half their sentence? Is there something wrong with the sex-offender registering program? Can those guys ever be rehabilated?

What do you think?

George Michael in the Toilet Again

It's been reported that George Michael was caught in a public toilet, detained by the police in London, and released with a warning about some minor drug possession. CNN carried the story this morning. Three blogs had the honor of appearing at the bottom of the story.

One of them, entitled Maybe It's Just Me, asks the obvious, "Why, why, why!"

Another one, Nothing Personal, asks, "Has he really been reduced to scoring on the streets like Tatum O'Neal?"

And the third, Brad Laidman, hits the nail on the head. "Stupid Coppers - Been there, Done that. George Michael’s public bathroom vice is not drugs!"




Having a monkey on your back is a fairly old expression used to describe an addiction. The Urban Dictionary covers it pretty well.

Arkansas Evangelist's Compound Raided for Sex Abuse

CNN reports on the raid conducted in Fouke Arkansas. The compound near Texarkana, owned by Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, was invaded by 100 agents of the Arkansas State Police, who were met with no resistance.

"It's a hoax," Alamo said. "They're just trying to make our church look evil ... by saying I'm a pornographer. Saying that I rape little children. ... I love children. I don't abuse them. Never have. Never will."

It's clear the government doesn't like this guy. Whether they have enough reason is a good question. On the site Bible Belt Blogger, I found some background. It seems Rev. Alamo has had some brushes with the law, but the implications that he is involved in child abuse seem thinner than those of the infamous Warren Jeffs.

Alamo once was accused in California of directing the beating of a church member’s 11-year-old son. In 1994, he was sentenced to six years in prison on tax evasion charges filed in Memphis, tenn. The judge in the tax case ordered him held pending sentencing after prosecutors argued that the evangelist was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on married women and girls in his congregation. U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla said he was concerned over “the very great control Mr. Alamo has over a number of people.”

I wonder if the biggest concern isn't that last comment: “the very great control Mr. Alamo has over a number of people.”

What do you think?

UPDATE

CNN reports that six compound children have been removed.

Bartering for Sex

CNN reports on the fairly widespread phenomenon of bartering sex for something desired.

A recent study of 475 University of Michigan undergraduates ages 17 to 26 found that 27 percent of the men and 14 percent of the women who weren't in a committed relationship had offered someone favors or gifts -- help prepping for a test, laundry washing, tickets to a college football game -- in exchange for sex. On the flip side, 5 percent of the men surveyed and 9 percent of the women said they'd attempted to trade sex for such freebies.


Now, I realize these types of statistics are the least valuable. In fact, I'm not so sure that description above even makes sense. Nevertheless, it strikes me as credible enough. Do you think it's a sign of age that I shake my head at this and ask what's the world coming to? In these stats, 27% of men and 14% of women have actually done this. Is it the advertising that for decades has been using sex to sell? Is it rock and roll music and MTV? What is it?

Tell us your opinion? Feel free to link this question to the other threads, like, would you trade sex for a gun? Are college kids doing this because they never learned about evolution in high school? Or for you more conservative commenters, should this behavior be severely punished? Is it tantamount to prostitution?