Paula Poundstone update

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Monday July 9, 10:48 am Eastern Time

Press Release

SOURCE: Cron & Isreal

Attorney Discloses Paula Poundstone in Rehab

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Steven M. Cron released the following statement today on behalf of his client Paula (Butch) Poundstone:

``Well before the start of the investigations that led to her arrest, Butch came to grips with the fact that she had a serious problem with alcohol that was adversely affecting both her personal and professional life. After discussing the situation with her family and close friends, she made arrangements to enter a residential treatment program. As it happened, her children were taken from her the weekend before she was scheduled to enter the treatment program. Nonetheless, she went ahead with her plans and entered the program as scheduled, believing this to be the best thing she could do for herself and her children.

``Except for the several hours she spent in custody after her arrest and the time she spent in court for her arraignment, Butch has been in treatment ever since. For her children's sake as well as her own, she is determined to deal with her drinking problem and reunite her family.

``Butch is enormously grateful for the overwhelming support she has received from friends, neighbors, and fans ever since her arrest. Indeed, it is because of this outpouring that she felt an obligation to disclose publicly these intensely private matters.

``It is my belief that Butch's drinking problems clearly had a bearing on the allegations that led to her arrest. Nonetheless, after having had a chance to study the details of the case against her, I remain convinced that she is not guilty of the lewd conduct charges pending against her.''

SOURCE: Cron & Isreal

-- (Paula@Rosie's.hot tub), July 09, 2001

Answers

‘Butch’? Am I the only one who finds irony in this lovely nickname?

This statement by Poundstone’s lawyer is classic damage control spin at it’s best. How many celebrities have we seen use this transparent maneuver of running off to rehab the minute they are busted for this transgression or that?

It would appear that this woman has a history of problems so you have to ask the question: “How the hell did she qualify to receive these children into her trusted care as a foster parent”? The child protection agencies have become a talent pool for these sick perverts like Poundstone to draw from……funded by you and I of course.

Time to stop the madness!

-- So (cr@t.es), July 10, 2001.


Am I the only one who thinks the poster rewrote the press release?

-- Get Real (cant@fool.me), July 10, 2001.

No, I believe it was rewritten in an attempt to bias the reader against her also.

The child protection agencies have become a talent pool for these sick perverts like Poundstone to draw from……funded by you and I of course.

Why are people who take children into their home always treated like they do it for immoral reasons. And stop bitching about your tax dollars being thrown away, you do not get "paid" for taking in foster children, they reimberce you for the cost of having the child in your home, usually way below what it actually cost you. $12.00 a day is not a hell of a lot of money for the cost and effort it takes to give a home to a child, especially whith all of the emotional baggage that comes along with them. You probably spend more than that for your lunch.

-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), July 10, 2001.


Get Real

Of course the poster added the ‘Butch’ name to this piece of spin…… with the desired result I might add. Other than that, the words are verbatim from the published press release.

Cherri, you asked the following question:

“Why are people who take children into their home always treated like they do it for immoral reasons”? Did you leave out the word ‘some’ perhaps? If so, then I would like to answer your question.

Because Cherri, that is exactly what ‘some’ people are doing and it pops up in the news far too often for even a knee-jerk liberal such as yourself to explain away. Yes, these sickos are but a small percentage of the foster parent pool but here in Southern California it seems that we hear about this on a weekly basis. But then, its most likely just a local problem of ours and should be of no concern to the rest of you.

My personal complaint regarding wasted taxpayer money was directed at the incompetent social service agencies, not at any insignificant funds that might be provided to the foster parents themselves.

Just out of some morbid curiosity, I would be interested on your take regarding the culpability of Ms. Poundstone…..that is the issue here is it not?

-- So (cr@t.es), July 10, 2001.


Socrates: "Time to stop the madness!"

What do you suggest? There are a variety of possibilities to choose among.

For example, the great State of California could insitute much more stringent supervision over all foster homes. Let's say, twice as much might be sufficient to ensure no repetition of such an (alleged) abuse.

Of course, supervision takes a large amount of time and effort. In order to do it properly, they would probably need to hire, train (and retain) about double the number of caseworkers as they now employ to supervise the same number of cases. That would probably require about twice the budget.

Or maybe you think the solution is to filter out every applicant about whom there is the merest hint of possible trouble. Maybe they could do something like the background checks the FBI runs on people who are considered for Top Secret clearance.

Of course, that would mean coughing up more money, too.

And it would require the State of California to recruit a larger pool of applicants from which to select foster parents, to make up for the ones who are rejected. It is already difficult to recruit good people. They are paid a pittance and subjected to a lot of bureaucratic red tape already. They would probably need to produce some greater incentives to increase the applicant pool. That also takes money.

Or you could just have the state leave children with their real parents more frequently. But that might be a problem in that the state already has very little desire to take kids out of the home until they are subjected to grave abuse or dire neglect. They are overloaded with cases already and underfunded to take care of them. Such a 'solution' might leave kids to be abused at home just to avert the chance that they might be abused at a foster home. That seems awfully self-defeating to me.

What would you do to "stop this madness", Socrates? Enquiring minds want to know.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), July 10, 2001.



Well Nipper, I suspect that my suggestion will cause severe heartburn within the liberal community but I was thinking along the lines of value for money spent. I know, leave it to a for-profit businessman to come up with such a fantasy scenario. A government agency actually giving a quality service return on investment……THE HORROR!

Sorry I even brought it up.

-- So (cr@t.es), July 10, 2001.


Soc, I love you.

But you don't appear to have a clue what to do to improve the situation without admitting you would need to spend more money. You know as well as I do that you can't make a service improve by standing around demanding that it must improve or heads will roll. Because after you chop off the heads, you are still stuck with having to do something else before anything improves. All you have accomplished at that point is to reduce your ability to deliver services. Meanwhile, what are you doing for your clients, the kids?

Since the idea of spending money to get government services gives conservatives major heartburn, I am not surprised you are sorry you brought the whole thing up.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), July 10, 2001.


Gee Nip, I guess I have a confession to make. This may sound rather cruel but in my world incompetence is rewarded with a request to seek employment elsewhere….’head rolling’ if you wish. Only we call it ‘upgrading’. A silly concept based on the necessity that one must receive at least a $1.15 of productivity for each $1.00 spent. Of course, in my world there must always be more cash flowing ‘in’ than ‘out’. Hell of a deal huh?

Not to change the subject but I'm interested in your take on Ms. Poundstone.

-- So (cr@t.es), July 11, 2001.


Socrates, there is an underlying implication in your arguments I'd like to bring to light....

If you were to guess, would you say that most pedophiles are "conservative" or "liberal"?

-- Bemused (and_amazed@you.people), July 11, 2001.


Socrates?

You can use your own definitions for those categories if it helps.

-- Bemused (and_amazed@you.people), July 11, 2001.



Soc, in your world incompetance is quite prevalent. You just refuse to see it.

Every large organization I have ever observed in action has been shot through with incompetance. That includes every Fortune 500 company. If you believe that somehow making a profit is evidence that a company is competant from top to bottom, then you are blinded by ideology.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), July 11, 2001.


Wow Bemused, your transition to that sort of question might be the stretch of the century. However, seeing as how you have asked I’ll assume you have a good reason to discuss such a topic.

(1). I don’t really think that pedophile’s can be categorized by political orientations. My guess is that they can be found throughout the ideological spectrum, from far right to far left.

However, in your quest for knowledge I offer this professional profile that you may find enlightening.

_______________________________________________________________

A pedophile will usually exhibit a series of personality characteristics that are common in this type of offender. It is important to understand that these characteristics alone do not conclusively determine that a person is a pedophile. But if these indicators, combined with a pattern of behavior that arouses suspicion, are present then there may be enough probable cause to believe that the person is a pedophile.

He carries on what can be termed “a special relationship” with a wife. Often pedophiles have failed marriages due to their sexual interests but remain in the marriage to mask their true intentions. Sadly, the wife sometimes knows about her husband’s preference, but prefers to keep quiet to avoid social stigma and disgrace.

He displays a fascination or unusual interest in children. If an adult has an inordinate amount of interest in pre-pubescent children, it doesn’t confirm he is a pedophile, but it should at least arouse suspicion.

He makes frequent references to children in exalted or exaggerated terms such as “pure”, “innocent”, ”God sent”, “blissful” and other descriptive labels that seem inappropriate and excessive. Remember that a pedophile cannot help the way he behaves and therefore will inadvertently reveal aspects about himself during speech.

He has hobbies or interests that commonly belong in the realm of a child’s world such as toy collecting, building models of cars or planes. His home or room is decorated in a child’s theme. And often, that theme will reflect the age bracket of his preferred victim.

He is over 30 years of age, single and has few or no friends his own age. He may also have frequent and unexplained changes of residence. He may be unable or unwilling to discuss why he lost his last job. He may have a military discharge that he cannot explain and a past that he cannot easily talk about.

He has systematic and prolonged access to children. Pedophiles, because of the wide age disparity between themselves and their victims, cannot simply just hang around children. It would immediately arouse suspicion. The pedophile has to find a way to legitimize his contact with kids. He usually accomplishes this by obtaining employment in a field where he is forced to deal with children on a daily basis. Jobs like schoolteachers, bus drivers, camp counselors, photographers and sports coaching[1] serve their needs perfectly. They will always volunteer for activities in which they are left alone with children with no parental supervision (Lanning, p. 19).

Pedophiles are also very adept at locating troubled or withdrawn children. This is a skill they have acquired through years of trial and error. They have come to identify what usually works and what usually doesn’t. The most common technique employed by pedophiles to obtain sex from children is the seduction method. This process is very similar to the classic boy/girl courtship. Though the child will typically be under ten years old, the pedophile will lavish gifts upon the target, take him or her to amusement parks, museums, restaurants and other places of interest. This author recalls a case in which a pedophile attempted to seduce a child who had an interest in music. The suspect escorted the boy to expensive Broadway plays like Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. Afterwards, they ate in fashionable Manhattan cafes and went sightseeing. The child was just 8 years old. In another recent case, reported by the N.Y. Times (February 2, 2000), a Bronx man lured neighborhood children to his apartment with Pokemon cards and Chinese food. He then abused a number of children after giving them marijuana and screening pornographic videos. The abused children later got together and attempted to set fire to the suspect’s apartment.

If the target is a troubled child, the pedophile will comfort and sympathize with him or her. Often, over a period of time, the child will develop feelings for the offender even though he is being actively abused. The dynamics at work in this type of situation are well known to psychologists. This process of sympathizing with the offender has been called "The Stockholm Syndrome." It was first recognized in 1973 after a notorious bank robbery in Sweden in which the hostages taken by the suspects began to develop feelings of attachment toward their captors. Children who are sexually victimized can feel the same way. This is often the case when the offender happens to be a member of the clergy or another traditional figure of trust. The event will not be reported because of the emotional attachment between offender and victim. Remember that pedophiles are masters in the manipulation of children. However, as the victim matures into adulthood, these benevolent feelings toward the abuser often dissipate and the painful truth of the abuse sets in.



-- So (cr@t.es), July 11, 2001.


OK Nipper, I’m waving the white flag. But on my way out of the room I’d like to leave behind a word for you to chew on:

Accountability

-- So (cr@t.es), July 11, 2001.


"Accountability"

I'm all for it. Also, I'm for truth, justice and the American way.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), July 11, 2001.


Don't forget apple pie and motherhood. On second thought, given the news stories of late, maybe we should strike the motherhood thing.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), July 11, 2001.


How about hair pie and motherhood?

-- (Paula@Rosie's.hot tub), July 11, 2001.

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