Tag: scandal

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Diocese Of Brooklyn To Pay $27.5 Million To 4 Men In Sex Abuse Settlement

The New York Times reports that the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will pay out $27.5 million to four men who were sexually abused as children by a religion teacher. Each of the men will receive $6.8 million according to the settlement.
(image via Wikimedia)

The New York Times reports that the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will pay out $27.5 million to four men who were sexually abused as children by a religion teacher.

According to the settlement, each of the men will receive $6.8 million.

That amount ranks as one of the highest figures paid to survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

According to New York Law Journal, Angelo Serrano, a volunteer and director of religious studies at St. Lucy-St. Patrick’s, allegedly abused the plaintiffs between 2003 and 2009 when they were between the ages of 8 and 12 years old.

Serrano pleaded guilty in 2011 and is currently serving a 15 year prison sentence.

This comes in the aftermath of a stunning grand jury report in Pennsylvania which found more than 1,000 children had been the targets of sexual misconduct by hundreds of priests over decades.

Sparked in part by that grand jury report, the New York State attorney general announced two weeks ago a statewide civil investigation into sex abuse allegations within the Catholic Church and its possible cover-up by church leaders. The New York AG has reportedly issued subpoenas to every Catholic diocese in the state.

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HuffPost: How The Miss America Pageant’s CEO Really Talks About The Winners

Miss America Organization CEO Sam Haskell

Writing for the Huffington Post, reporter Yashar Ali dropped a bombshell today as he revealed several internal emails obtained from the Miss America Organization that shows how the folks at the top really feel about their pageant winners.

Name-calling, slut-shaming and fat-shaming are all involved.

From the article:

In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization, Sam Haskell, sent an email to the lead writer of the Miss America pageant telecast, Lewis Friedman, informing him of a change he wanted to make in the script: “I have decided that when referring to a woman who was once Miss America, we are no longer going to call them Forever Miss Americas….please change all script copy to reflect that they are Former Miss Americas!”

Friedman replied, “I’d already changed “Forevers” to “Cunts.” Does that work for you?”

Haskell’s short reply came quickly: “Perfect…bahahaha.”

At that point, Haskell had been the leader of Miss America for nine years, after rising through the ranks at a top Hollywood talent agency. Many prior winners, or as they’re called, “formers,” consider the pageant a wonderful, wholesome activity for young women. But Haskell’s behavior behind closed doors shows he regularly maligned, fat-shamed and slut-shamed the former Miss Americas, calling them shocking names and in one case laughing at the suggestion that one of the women should die.

That’s just the beginning.

In one email that discussed the passing of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, a MAO executive wrote: “It should have been (former Miss America) Kate Shindle.”

Another exchange about former Miss America Mallory Hagen wondered if four executives at the MAO were the “only four” men who didn’t have sex with her.

There’s much more at the link. Below is The Today Show’s segment on the story.

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Department of Human Services Called Police Over Concern For Minor At Duggar Home

In Touch Weekly, which broke the Duggar family scandal, advanced that there would “more” to come regarding the “19 Kids and Counting” clan, and it’s arrived.

According to the tabloid, the police were recently called in when a representative from the Department of Human Services was denied access to see a particular minor when notified via emergency call.

The Duggars made no mention of the fact that they have been under investigation again, but In Touch discovered what they are hiding via another Freedom of Information Act request that produced the 911 call.

After identifying himself as a Washington Country DHS employee and stating the Duggar family address, the caller tells the 911 operator, “We have an investigation and I guess they’re not being cooperative. We have to see the child to make sure the child is all right. So we just need police assistance.”

DHS records are not available to the public so it is unknown what prompted the investigation. Experts tell In Touch that an investigation can be triggered by a hotline complaint, even an anonymous one, if the trained operator determines the allegation is serious enough that it meets standards for child abuse maltreatment laws.

And on and on it goes…

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Duggar Sisters On Molestation Scandal: It Was Just Mild Touching Mostly While The Girls Were Asleep

Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald spoke to Megyn Kelly of Fox News last night regarding the ongoing scandal surrounding their brother Josh Duggar, who sexually abused the two of them (and three other girls) back when Josh was a teenager.

The long and short of the appearance is the sisters say Josh Duggar’s behavior wasn’t all that bad because it was just “mild inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims; most of it while girls were sleeping.”

And they totally forgive him.

Jill Dillard:

“I think in the case of what Josh did, it was very wrong. I’m not going to justify anything he did or say it was okay or permissible. But I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or pedophile or rapists. That is so overboard and a lie really. People get mad at me for saying that, but I can say this. I was one of the victims. I can speak out and set the record straight here.”

Jessa Seewald:

“I was one of the victims so I can speak out.”

“In Josh’s case, he was a boy, young boy in puberty, and a little too curious about girls and that got him into some trouble. And he made some bad choices, but really the extent of it was mild inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims. Most of it while girls were sleeping.”

“MOST of it?” So some of it was while someone WASN’T sleeping?

Most teenagers look at a Playboy, watch porn or make out with a girl when they are “curious.”

Watch the interview below:

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Armistead Maupin Weighs In On Gay Hoteliers Debacle

Writing on his Facebook page today, legendary gay author Armistead Maupin had this to say about the ongoing scandal/boycott of NYC gay hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass:

“I’m the only gay man I know who has never been to Fire Island. I have not made a point of staying away — its charms are legendary, of course — but the occasion has simply never presented itself.

“Now, it’s quite likely that I will remain forever virginal in that regard. Or at least until these guys are no longer collecting money at the dock. When I coined the term “A-gay” forty years ago, these were just the sort of creeps I had in mind. It was never intended as something to aspire to.”

The post was in response to a less than flattering profile in the New York Times about the two men and the scandal surrounding them.

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Fox News Barely Mentioned Duggar Scandal At All

According to Media Matters, Fox News pretty much ignored the Josh Duggar/child molestation allegations that dominated much of last week’s news cycle.

As many now know, last week In Touch magazine reported that in 2006, Jim Bob Duggar – patriarch of TLC’s reality show 19 Kids and Counting – waited over a year before telling police that his son, Josh Duggar, had confessed to molesting several female minors, including his sisters, when he was a teenager.

In the aftermath of the revelations, TLC pulled 19 Kids from its schedule.

From Media Matters:

The revelations drew widespread criticism in the media, with many outlets pointing out the Duggar family’s reputation as a torch-bearer for conservative values and strong involvement in Republican politics and anti-LGBT activism. The revelations look to many like hypocrisy from a family that’s become a political powerhouse in socially conservative circles in recent years by wielding its reality show influence to stump for “family values,” Republican politicians, and the repeal of legal protections for LGBT people.

But while MSNBC and CNN have reportedly heavily on the Duggar scandal, Fox News has largely ignored the story. According to a Media Matters analysis, Fox News spent less than two minutes covering the story between May 21 and May 25, compared to almost an hour of coverage from the other cable news networks.

Bolding is mine.

No big surprise here, although to see the actual disparity is telling. The Duggars are held up as bastions of morality by Fox News, so it’s no wonder they don’t want to highlight the clear hypocrisy in play here.

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Erick Erickson Goes After Rep. Aaron Schock On Spending Public Funds

Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois on one of “those” trips

Erick Erickson of Red State demands a resignation after “totally not gay” GOP Congressman Aaron Schock as more stories come to light about seemingly inappropriate spending habits.

I will not belabor the point.

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) Rep. Aaron Schock has proven himself incapable of handling his own money, the money of his donors, and taxpayer money. He has lived excessively off the backs of taxpayers who must be reimbursed and off of donors to whom he is now a servant.

His excuses are now met with revised excuses, further apologies, and corrections to corrected records of expenditures and campaign finance reports. He has lived a life as a celebrity in a city that more and more craves celebrity over competence in office.

His lack of responsibility with the funds of others shows him to lack the necessary integrity to handle the power of the purse in the House of Representatives, which remains the chief power of the House.

He should resign. Perhaps Downton Abbey needs someone else to fill the role of an American playboy chasing a Crawley. He can go spend time on the real set instead of trying to dress up his office at our expense or that of his donors.

Erickson also embeds in his post a link that shows Schock’s “Heritage Actions Scorecard” at 45%, while the House Republican average is 61%.

Whatever that means…

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It’s Friday! Time For One More Aaron Schock Debacle

Blue Nation Review reports on Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock’s sale of his home to a political donor for much more than the home was estimated to be worth.

Ruh-roh.

The month before the 2012 elections, Congressman Schock sold his house to a major Republican donor who was also one of his campaign supporters for a price that appears to far exceed the market value at the time.

Ali Bahaj – then a Vice President at Caterpillar – and his wife Gloria have donated more than $45,000 over the last decade to the Caterpillar PAC and various Republican officeholders – including Congressman Schock.

In fact, Federal Election Commission records show that Mr. and Mrs. Bahaj each made the maximum allowable donation to Aaron Schock’s campaign in 2008.

Congressman Schock on October 16, 2012 sold his home to the Bahajs for $925,000.

Zillow estimates that the house was worth approximately $695,000 that month. It’s possible Congressman Schock just got incredibly lucky finding the right buyer to throw him a life raft as homeowners around him were drowning.

But it begs the question: Was this transaction more than just luck?

Blue Nation Review found several nearby comparable homes that never got near that price range.

Well, things happen. I can attest that I got lucky when I sold my home in LA in 2004. I sold near the very top of the market then. Of course, I didn’t happen to sell to a political donor of mine. (p.s. I don’t have any political donors…)

According to Zillow, Schock sold his home at just about the rock bottom of the Peoria real estate market:

If Schock had sold to a stranger for a higher than average price, it might have been one thing. But, it seems that Congressman Schock sold his home at what appears to be an inflated price to a political donor.

First, “OfficeGate.”

Then, racist top aide calls African-Americans zoo animals.

Now, this.

Happy Friday, Aaron Schock. I’ll bet no one wanted to end the week more than you.

Good thing you’ve got your health.

Totally not gay Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois