Sunday, December 31, 2017

Voting for the 2017 Shiitake Awards January 1, 2018 through January 31, 2018

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XLFLZBF --  The 2017 Shiitake Awards is finally here, click the link to cast your ballot today!

Below is the list of finalists for review before you vote. 

DUMBEST BILL/LAW OF 2017

1. New York S6021: AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting child SOs from possessing a depiction of any minor during their incarceration. I can see a lot of issues with this bill. If a teen gets locked up on an R&J, he can't have pics even of his siblings because they are minors? A father can't have pics of his kids? What about pics of yourself as a kid? Thankfully, it stalled in committee.
2. Nebraska LB 60: If the bill had passed, it would’ve require registrants dating someone with kids to send humiliating letters to baby mammas/ baby daddys to warm them their exes are dating registrants. This bill thankfully did not pass.
3. Texas HB 821: A bill to prevent those convicted of sex offenses from having penpals. Thankfully, it died in committee.

DUMBEST NEWS MUTT OF 2017

1. Jeff Edelstein, The Trentonian (NJ): Applauds the fact the US will mark passports like the Nazis and Soviets used to do. “I’m all for the law, for the record. It’s just a shame we need it. Because if it was up to me, anyone convicted of molesting a child would never get a chance to “move into town.” Life imprisonment is fine by me. Heck, you could convince me of the death penalty in certain cases…I don’t care about the rights of these people. I don’t care about the fact they’re forever marked wherever they go. They should be marked. The end.”
2. Ashleigh Banfield, HLN: She lied on national TV about reoffense rates, claiming the US Dept. of Justice stated reoffense rates of up to 37%. We all know that's a lie, but on her 9/7/17 show, she really took her stupidity to a whole other level. She lied about recidivism rates, lied about those post-Katrina rapes which were debunked by numerous sources, and even erroneously claimed the National Sexual Violence Resource Center is a government agency. She is taking over the Nancy Grace spot on HLN in more ways than one.
3. Dennis Robaugh (Patch National Staff): I’m reluctant to place independent, self-published articles on the awards, but the Patch has a large readership base. This “reporter” used a person with no criminal background and myths as a justification for the SOR. “In all the years we've published sex-offender maps or sat in bond court, we've never heard of people marching with torches to a child predator's home. We have, however, seen many parents weep in court because their child was raped or molested…Some studies show there's a one-in-four chance a convicted sex offender will run afoul of the law again, but most sex crimes go unreported, which means the true recidivism rate among molesters and child rapists cannot be known.”
4. Brad Schmidt/ Danny Moran/ John Canzano/ Mark Katches, The Oregonian: When Oregon State baseball was in the College World Series, one of the star pitchers for the team was outed as a level 1 (that means low risk for you outsiders) registered citizen for an offense committed when he was 15 in Washington state. These reporters teamed up to engage in a targeted campaign to damage the career of a young man who has served his time as a juvenile.

DUMBEST/ WORST POLITICO OF 2017

1. Chris Smith, R-NJ Congressman: Three words. International Megan’s Law. Need I say more?
2. Connie M. Leyva, D-CA State Senator: Bashes registry reformists in slanted Op-Ed. “I met with sex offender advocates throughout the legislative process and was disappointed at how serious sex-related crimes continued to be minimized. I clearly remember how one sex offender tried to minimize his offense by saying that ‘it was just child pornography.’ Well, in my world and that of most Californians, possessing pornographic images of children is absolutely wrong. Though some sex-related crimes may not have caused direct physical harm, even sex offenders convicted of “lesser” crimes like child pornography are still dangerous. These offenders should never be around children unsupervised. I authored SB26 because children should always be protected from dangerous sex offenders. We can and must err on the side of caution when it comes to the safety of our kids.”
3. Eric Zahnd, Platte Co MO Prosecutor: Threatened and intimidated people who wrote letters of support to a man on trial for a sex crime. “Zahnd’s office did something highly unusual: It contacted the people who had written character letters on behalf of Paden and told them to get in touch with assistant prosecutor Chris Seufert. When they did, Seufert told them that, unless they withdrew their letters, he would expose them as supporters of a defendant who had engaged in pedophilia. Zahnd’s office also subpoenaed the letter writers, ordering them to appear at Paden’s sentencing hearing. But when they showed up, none of them were called to the witness stand."

DUMBEST QUOTE OF 2017

1. Rick Perry, US Energy Secretary: If you use wind or solar, apparently you're just setting yourself up to be raped if you believe another one of Trump's esteemed cabinet members. He said a young girl told him that energy is important to her because she often reads by the light of a fire with toxic fumes. “But also from the standpoint of sexual assault,” Perry said. “When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will on those types of acts.”
2. NY State Sen. Jeffrey Kline: Stole a line from Lauren Book. “State Sen. Jeffrey Klein says a state law designed to keep sex offenders away from schools doesn't include universal pre-K and kindergarten facilities. Kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs that exist physically outside of actual school buildings do not receive protection under the law barring convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet. ‘What we found was astonishing,’ Klein says. ‘These ticking time bombs can attack our kids at any time, and the law unfortunately isn't there to protect them.’”
3. John Canzano, The Oregonian: In attacking the USO baseball player for his juvenile record, Canzano stated, “Can we start with the premise that human life matters? Anyone disagree on that? This isn't a complicated starting point. The young relative who was molested by Heimlich deserves your thoughts and respect. The victim matters. She matters more than Heimlich. She matters more than baseball. She matters. Period. Anyone disagree there?” Sounds like Orwell’s Animal Farm

SHITPOSTING SIGNPOSTER 2017

1. Olean NY residents: Two nosy neighbors posted signs together read “Sexually molest a child and you get your home remodeled for free!” This was in response to the mother of a registrant who received home weatherization assistance for her home. “He’s sitting in jail for molesting a child and he’s going to come home to a brand new, remodeled house that the taxpayers paid for,” said Barbara Whiteman of 371 Fountain St., in whose yard the signs about free remodeling were posted. “Does that sound right to you?”
2. City of Salesville, Arkansas: This is not just one person’s effort; the city government approved signs targeting one registrant in town. “It is the total responsibility of this body to make sure the people who come here to visit and the people who live here are notified that that person is in the area,” Mayfield said. “I don’t know if it has ever been done, but I see this big lawsuit that you didn’t do your duty as a public officer to make sure it was known to the public that the person was known to be in the area … I want everyone to know that he’s here.”... “He is a Level 4 sex offender, which is a sexual predator,” Mayfield said. “It’s not if he’s going to offend, it’s when he does.”
3. Shelton Kitchens, Arkansas: Shelton Kitchens said he learned recently that his daughter was in a sexual relationship with a 21-year-old man. "She got lured in by puppies," he said. “He called Crimes Against Children in Little Rock. They said they can’t do nothing about it because she’s 16 years old,” he said. In fact, 16 is the age of consent in Arkansas. There was nothing law enforcement officers could do. So he started a public awareness campaign, putting a sign up that reads, "Danger! Child molester lives in first house on the right.” It lists the man's last name at the bottom.

EVERYDAY ZEROES OF 2017

1. Austin Strickland of Mulberry, FL: Attacked the man who found his lost daughter, then went online to Facebook and continued his attack online, forcing the good Samaritan to leave town. Like a coward, he shut down his FB page after thousands of folks attacked him online for his stupidity.
2. Trae Dorn of “Nerd and Tie”: Outed a convention photographer as a registrant and engaged in an online attack against the photographer.
3. Dana Delaney Loyd, Brevard Co., FL: I guess we can call her Dana BALONEY Loyd after a jury convicted her of making a false claim of receiving reports of CSA. No doubt, at least part of the false claim was likely to increase exposure for her alternative news site "Brevard's Best News," but now her news site has turned into a site defending her actions. She even made her own GoFundMe page to beg for help after getting arrested. Maybe "Safe Kids International"should reconsider their support of this convicted criminal. (She was sentenced to a year in jail but no registry.)

HOLY SHIITAKES/ DUMBEST SO-RELATED STORY OF 2017

1. St. Charles Parish LA bribes kids with toys to use the public registry: “Upon completion of the program, and with parental assistance, children will print a map of their local area, sign it, and submit it to their teacher. Once the assignment has been completed, children will receive a safety prize from Adventure Quest Laser Tag, providing children with a choice of a FREE Laser Tag or Bumper Car Ride or Putt-Putt Game, according to the news release issued by the sheriff.”
2. Battle Creek MI refuses to let registered citizen open a place of business to help the hungry and poor: Major Jim Grafton of the Battle Creek Police Department said Wednesday that Adkins was told Monday not to be in the space that houses his business because it is within 1,000 feet of Battle Creek Central High School and St. Philip Catholic schools. "The idea of the business is to help low-income people with food," Dian said. "I have taken this week off to think and pray as to how to proceed.”[
3. British inmates complain their blankets were made by sex offenders: Inmates at Walton prison fear they could be sleeping under blankets made by SOs. The prisoner describes himself as “horrified” to learn a “sex offender’s hands have been all over my blanket” and questions why they are distributed throughout the prison system
4. Oh, SNAP! Leader of SNAP resigns amid lawsuit over exploiting abuse "survivors": So SNAP has "allegedly" been exploiting their clients by sending them to their special lawyers in exchange for some kickbacks? What a shocker. If she wins, founder Barbara Blaine will receive the award posthumously.

KEYSTONE KOP OF 2017

1. Butler Co OH Sheriff Richard K Jones: Aside from proclaiming a “76% re-offense rate,” he also lied on the Ashleigh Banfield show that Ohio does not welcome registrants in any homeless shelter.
2. Shady Grady, Sheriff of Polk Co FL: Shady Grady told registrants NOT to seek shelter except for prison during Hurricane Irma and bragged about it on social media.
3. Fairfax Virginia Police Detective Jeremy Hoffman: He actually tours the country to promote making bestiality a sex crime while claiming that child abusers also have sex with animals. “I found that people who were engaged in crimes against children were also engaged in sexual crimes against animals,” Hoffman said.
4. Homer "Gator" DeLoach, Putnam Co. Sheriff (FL): Narrowly wins a hotly contested and controversial election, apparently by only 13 votes, reorganized resources and created a position known as a “Sex Offender Compliance Specialist.” “We refuse to allow Putnam County to become a safe haven for sexual offenders and predators,” said Gator Deloach, who was elected Sheriff in Nov. 2016. “While we can’t control in which county they choose to live, we can certainly make Putnam County as inhospitable as possible for them.”

ICBS NAT'L CHUMPS AKA DUMBEST STATE OF 2017

FloriDUH: Is the ongoing drama of the homeless camp in Miami and the potential "solution" of criminalizing homeless and the hurricane shelter bans by Shady Grady enough to help the "land of 'Duh" continue its dominance over this category? Or, will it be upended by...
Ore-GONE PLUM CRAZY: Oregon sentenced a guy to life in prison for flogging the bishop on a train. If that wasn't enough, the reporters at the Oregonian engaged in a targeted campaign to derail the career of a young baseball player who made a mistake in his teenage years. 
JOKE-lahoma: Oklahoma gave us Danyelle Dyer, the campus feminist who wants to increase the number of places registrants cannot legally live, getting blind support from legislature. Expect to see Danyelle's law in next year's voting.