December 2000 Sightings

Dare We Call This a Message of "Abstinence"?
Have they finally heard on Morrisey Boulevard about our telephone survey of 600 people from a year ago where 92% said that teenagers should not be encouraged to be sexually active? Of those 600 people, 47% said they were liberals and 91% of those liberals of all ages and sexes voted against sexual activity for teens.

The Globe quoted a Lexington psychologist, Catherine Steiner-Adair, as saying, "Wait! A bad early sexual experience can really affect you later on in having good, healthy romantic relations." She also said to forget co-ed sleepovers. She advised parents: "Teach 'remedial romance.' Tell boys and girls to wait until they are 18 or older to become involved in a sexually intimate relationship, and then only with someone who is equally committed to them. The longer you wait, the happier you will be, and the fewer health risks there are."

The parents were advised to turn on MTV and see what their children are facing. Most of the dance movements they watch mimic a sexual act. "The kids are swimming in this, and parents don't even realize it," said the assistant headmaster at a private school.

Different Message for 'Homosexual' Kids?
Someone should ask Renee Loth, Editor of the Globe's Editorial page, if this should also apply to "homosexual" teenagers. Does this mean that the paper has decided that what happened at Fistgate was a serious mistake and not just the normal banter between teenagers? Loth wrote in an Editorial that what happened there was just "the sorts of things teenagers ask every day." Fisting is asked every day? All of the other kinky and dangerous info at Fisgate that was given to children as young as 12-years-old is asked every day? It appears that Loth worked too long at the Boston Phoenix as their political editor before she reported to the Globe. Is that newspaper now saying that "homosexual" children should also "Wait"? Or don't we care as much about them because they're "different"?

Kennedy Well-Known, Not Well-Liked
Sen. Edward Kennedy is the most recognized name of all 100 senators but he's 84th in popularity. Kennedy has a high ranking of people who look at him favorably (39%), but there are more (43%) who look at him unfavorably. This results in a -4% in his popularity rating. His negative ratings were the highest in the country, followed by Jesse Helms at 40%. John Kerry fared better across the nation, coming in fifth in popularity. The numbers come from Rasmussen Research telephone surveys for Portrait of America.

Brookline Takes Political Prisoners
When Bill Cotter, director of Operation Rescue, Boston, was arrested by Brookline police while picketing against abortion outside the Ryder Cup, he said they were just trying to get him out of the way. "No matter what happens in court, I believe that the City of Brookline accomplished their mission, which was to keep me off the street for most of that day because they did not like my message." He appears to have called it accurately because the court found him not guilty of all charges.

Gore Lawyer Fought "Dimpled" Ballots in Delahunt Election
Boston lawyer Dennis Newman is one of hundreds of lawyers that Al Gore has flown to Florida to help overturn the presidential election results. Newman's trying desperately to convince the Florida Supreme Court that "dimpled" ballots should be counted. But in 1996 he complained about a hand recount when he was representing Philip Johnston who had defeated incumbent Democrat Bill Delahunt. His man won the election by 266 votes, and then prevailed in a recount by about 175 votes. Then a Massachusetts judge added 956 dimpled ballots to the returns and gave Delahunt the victory.

Johnston cried foul and declared, "What happened to me was unconscionable and I want to make sure that no other candidate is victimized in the same way." Massachusetts prohibited punch-card ballots in 1998, but Palm Beach continues to use them.

Nun Gets Award from Homosexuals at BC Law
A nun who was censured by the Vatican for conducting a ministry to homosexuals contrary to the Catholic faith was given the annual "Courage in Coming Out" award by a homosexual group at Boston College Law School. The group praised Sr. Jeannine Gramnick for encouraging homosexual Catholics to make "conscience decisions." What is surprising is that they gave the award to someone who believes that homosexual behavior is a decision.

Vatican Decries Civil Unions
The Vatican has denounced the replacement of marriage with "civil unions," either by heterosexual or homosexual couples. It described them as a "serious sign of the contemporary breakdown in the social and moral conscience." It also said that adoptions by homosexuals are a "great danger."

Six-Year-Old Kidnapped by Mother Goes Home to Father
When a six-year-old girl, who had been kidnapped sixteen months ago from the state of Washington by her mother after the father was given legal custody, was discovered in Greenfield, two dozen members of a battered women's shelter, NELCWITT, gathered in court  in an attempt to get the child back to the mother. There was a felony warrant for the mother's arrest from the state of Washington and a warrant for "Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution" from the federal government.     

The child was given to the DSS while a hearing was pending. When the judge ordered  the child returned to her father, DSS would not give her to the father who had flown to Greenfield. They flew the girl to authorities in Washington who then reunited the two. 

Many wonder if DSS would have done this if it were the mother who had legal custody.

SJC to Decide Fate of Meuse Baby
The fate of the 14-month-old baby who Judge Mary Manzi has refused to help, even though the child allegedly cannot crawl, walk or hold a spoon, will be decided this month by Justice Roderick L. Ireland of the Supreme Judicial Court. Judge Manzi has refused to even hear the petition presented by the father's attorney, Barbara Johnson, until the father returns the baby to the mother who is said to be on drugs and abusive to the child. The mother allegedly absconded to Florida with the infant last year although custody was in the father under a ruling of a Massachusetts court. Last month during visitation, the father took the child from Florida back to Massachusetts. A group of fathers' organizations say of Judge Manzi's action, "This is an extreme case of the way courts refuse to see fathers as capable parents in their children's lives."

Three Women Sue Oprah Winfrey
Three women in the Worcester area have sued Oprah Winfrey for falsely saying that they were victims of domestic violence, according to the Associated Press. The women, Tracy Hoaglund, Margaret Mitchell and Gloria Toney, say they were asked to discuss a computer training workshop. But when the show was aired in April, they were presented as "battered women." Since the show, they "have been approached by friends, co-workers, and even complete strangers wishing to discuss their alleged abusive pasts or demonstrating scorn, contempt or ridicule of their appearance on the program," they told the court.