Where's the Townsend thread?

[SINthysist]

I read something good this morning, let me go look...


Exclusive: Pete Townshend's Thoughts on Pedophilia
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75414,00.html

The Who's Pete Townshend has been arrested in Britain for suspicion of making and possessing indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute indecent images of children, relating to research he claims to have been doing on the subject via the Internet.

The Fox 411 has obtained an impassioned letter Townshend wrote and posted to his own Web site a year ago — and since deleted — which may or may not demonstrate that he was doing what he said he was doing.

Titled "A Different Bomb," Townshend discusses his own difficult childhood at the hands of a domineering grandmother. He writes about the suicide of a friend who was the victim of child abuse, and then observes: "On the issue of child-abuse, the climate in the press, the police, and in Government in the U.K. at the moment is one of a witch-hunt."

"The world of which I speak is that of the abusive pedophile. The window of 'freedom' of entry to that world is of course the Internet. There is hardly a man I know who uses computers who will not admit to surfing casually sometimes to find pornography. I have done it. Certainly, one expects only to find what is available on the top shelf at the news agents."

Townshend, possibly to his own detriment, exhibits in this article a wide range of knowledge on this subject.

End of Exerpt




The Author postulates: Crusade or self-prediction?

 

[Gord]

He has been busted because he gave his credit card details to a known child pornography site.

His " defence " is that it was purely for research purposes and for his web site and how to advise other people.

Seems a bit weak to me - there have been over 1300 people in the UK that are due to have a visit from Plod over this - more in the states -

 

[Gord]

He has been busted because he gave his credit card details to a known child pornography site.

His " defence " is that it was purely for research purposes and for his web site and how to advise other people.

Seems a bit weak to me - there have been over 1300 people in the UK that are due to have a visit from Plod over this - more in the states -

 

[bluespoke]

He has been busted because he gave his credit card details to a known child pornography site.

His " defence " is that it was purely for research purposes and for his web site and how to advise other people.

Seems a bit weak to me - there have been over 1300 people in the UK that are due to have a visit from Plod over this - more in the states -

Technicality.

It's 7,000 and 1,300 have already had the visit!

I've tried to visit his site to see of he has mentioned this before but it's permanently busy.

According to sources last night there is a TV presenter to be visited, another rock star and two MPs!

 

[Soblue]

Here

 

[SINthysist]

It wasn't a very good thread. Pete deserves better.

Is it possible he was on a crusade or does money. power, boredom, lead a man to SIN? Could our fore and founding fathers have been right with their Puritanical Work Ethic?

Even if guilty, won't he be able to buy his way out while others pay a different sort of price?

How long before the EU, US, etc., emulate China and take over the Internet?

I know many people in flyover country hate the access to porn and most State Governments are screaming foul because they are not collecting sales tax on Internet Sales.

There's more to this than just a simple, Pete may be a perve...

(then again he had friends like David Bowie...)

 

[Rex1960]

(then again he had friends like David Bowie...)

ashes to ashes

 

[Gord]

What about the banks , the credit card companies, the ISP's that keep theses sites running - are they completely innocent.

My gut feeling is that Pete is probably guilty of something. It is hard subject to get round and understand. Is accessing pics as bad as harming kids - probably. It is something that I do not even feel easy thinking about

 

[bluespoke]

Even if guilty, won't he be able to buy his way out while others pay a different sort of price?

Money didn't help Gary Glitter. Prison, went to Thailand then Cambodia. They've just chucked him out and sent him back to Thailand. Guess who wants to chuck him out now?

 

[SINthysist]

Yeah, but Gary had ONE song...

He should head to South America where most American Pedo's go. I saw something about it on one of those network news magazine shows that was actually following the guys down and filming them picking up young girls.

I have felt uneasy about the direction of some of the stories I have run across here too!



Ya'll know to which I refer...

What happened to the Who's Next thread?

 

[bluespoke]

I'm going to be unpopular here but what the hell.

I don't and have no wish to look at kidddie porn. I accept that in the UK it's illegal to download kiddie porn.

However, who is the real criminal?

The person who 'grooms' the child?

The photograher?

The distributor?

The ISP?

or the poor sap that looks at the pics?

If you think that all people that look at kiddie porn are paedophiles that will hunt down and abuse children then don't you have dilemna?

The obvious correlation is that all men who look at adult porn will go out and abuse women. Not so?

I'm not saying that any of the above is right or wrong, just posing a question or two.

 

[Gord]

I'm going to be unpopular here but what the hell.

I don't and have no wish to look at kidddie porn. I accept that in the UK it's illegal to download kiddie porn.

However, who is the real criminal?

The person who 'grooms' the child?

The photograher?

The distributor?

The ISP?

or the poor sap that looks at the pics?

If you think that all people that look at kiddie porn are paedophiles that will hunt down and abuse children then don't you have dilemna?

The obvious correlation is that all men who look at adult porn will go out and abuse women. Not so?

I'm not saying that any of the above is right or wrong, just posing a question or two.

all are involved and are guilty to a degree. It is the fact that he paid cash to access a site that had these images. But the others in the chain are just as culpible - I think that the ISP providers whould be hunted down as well - they must know what sort of site they have on their books - ignorance is no excuse.

 

[sterlingclay]

I wonder what the truth is?
Fucking media PR.

 

[SINthysist]

All equally culpable. Unless, unless, one is firmly in the moral relativist camp. If one is absolved of personal responsibility, let us say, the end user, then one is victimized, or entrapped by his/her basic human instincts and animal nature.

The photgrapher can hide behind Art and Freedom of Expression.

The ISP can say, hey I just provide a service, the onus is on the users.

The BBS host can hide behind Free Speech.

If you are a moral relativist, you see, no one has done anything wrong, there is no crime, it would seem only the child would bear some responsibility for breaking the law. Since they have engaged in such an abult manner, they should also be tried as adults and put away to teach them a lesson.




Yes, I agree. A lot of good questions on this issue.

 

[sterlingclay]

Whether Petie was telling the truth or not, the kids in his collection suffered. Poor kids. This is a rather sensitive issue for me.

 

[bluespoke]

Whether Petie was telling the truth or not, the kids in his collection suffered. Poor kids. This is a rather sensitive issue for me.

Please expand. I think it's a subject that needs to be aired and discussed.

 

[Lancecastor]

In Related News...I've heard that before Brittany Spears was of legal age, she was making suggestive "music videos" that were being shown on television networks.

Her underage body was also the most popular download on the Web.

Apparently, American authorities have the cable tv bills for the 79.6 million US adult males who jerked off on her underaged visuals and will be seizing their computers shortly.

The other 895.2 million owners of Brittany-induced pedo-erections in other countries will be handled by domestic law enforcement agencies.

No charges have been laid, but the FBI says they are "Pretty sure" the 5 Mystery Canadian Raghead dudes are also involved, eh.


Lance

 

[sterlingclay]

*deep breath*


There are large patches in my childhood that are lost from memory. I have some pretty serious trust issues. These trust issues sometimes show themselves in the form of being an anti-social prick. No one gets close to me, not even my closest friends. It's extremely hard for me to open up to people in person. And I don't know why.

Internet anonymity allows me to give in a little. So does writing. For that I am thankful.

But was I abused? I have no idea, but there were others in my family that were. I see no reason for them to leave me unscathed. I give forgiveness easily though. I know how stupid and horrific people can be, including myself.

It's the abuse of some of my friends that kills me. My ex was abused for nearly ten years and it greatly affected our relationship to the point of termination. My cousin is a raging alcoholic. It's the only way she can deal with her past. And there are many other examples of heinous pedophilia too close for comfort.

 

[bluespoke]

That's quite a catalogue.

You must have great strength of character to carry all that.

Where would you stand on who is or is not guilty?

 

[sterlingclay]

You must have great strength of character to carry all that.

Where would you stand on who is or is not guilty?

Like the title says - almost perfect.

I like to think I'm watched over from above (so to speak), because I do make a lot of errors but on the whole, I'm a good guy.

The Petie issue is quite the conundrum. If he was telling the truth, then his intentions were good but the kids still suffered. If he was lying and the collection was for his personal use, hang him.

No. I don't wish for that. That's too easy. Somehow the cycle has to stop. So, he's either psychotic and doesn't care about the feelings of the kids or he's already torn up inside. If he is guilty, he needs some serious help.

I still wonder what the truth is. Everyone's story, truthfully told from memory will paint reality. But that will never happen.

 

[bluespoke]

Like the title says - almost perfect.

I like to think I'm watched over from above (so to speak), because I do make a lot of errors but on the whole, I'm a good guy.

The Petie issue is quite the conundrum. If he was telling the truth, then his intentions were good but the kids still suffered. If he was lying and the collection was for his personal use, hang him.

No. I don't wish for that. That's too easy. Somehow the cycle has to stop. So, he's either psychotic and doesn't care about the feelings of the kids or he's already torn up inside. If he is guilty, he needs some serious help.

I still wonder what the truth is. Everyone's story, truthfully told from memory will paint reality. But that will never happen.

When I heard Pete's story at first it sounded quite genuine but it just goes on and on and maybe he protests too much.

We should know quite soon if he is to be prosecuted.

 

[satyrsoul]

From the Limbo of Fallen Heroes

The funny thing about the Pete Townshend bust is that his 1993 solo album Psychoderelict is set up like a radio play with dialogue about an aging rockstar who receives a naked photo and a letter from a 14 year old girl in San Francisco (!) and they begin corresponding by mail. News of this illicit relationship leaks to the press and there is a scandal. (It turns out that the girl was really a sneaky journalist in bed with his manager.)

To Townshend's credit, I think, the subject of their correspondence is indeed that they have both been victims of abuse and he shows her how to turn that anger into art.

 

[RhumbRunner13]

I'm going to be unpopular here but what the hell.

I don't and have no wish to look at kidddie porn. I accept that in the UK it's illegal to download kiddie porn.

However, who is the real criminal?

The person who 'grooms' the child?

The photograher?

The distributor?

The ISP?

or the poor sap that looks at the pics?

If you think that all people that look at kiddie porn are paedophiles that will hunt down and abuse children then don't you have dilemna?

The obvious correlation is that all men who look at adult porn will go out and abuse women. Not so?

I'm not saying that any of the above is right or wrong, just posing a question or two.

If you keep making sense like this, we will have no choice but to totally ostracize you!

If his name had been Bernie Ostwiger, do you think it would have made the news...do you think they would have "investigated"?

Rhumb

 

[sterlingclay]

When I heard Pete's story at first it sounded quite genuine but it just goes on and on and maybe he protests too much.

We should know quite soon if he is to be prosecuted.

That's the thing. It's already being twisted all over the place and a trial will not sort it out. The judicial system, wherever it may be, cares not for truth, but resolution.

If Pete were genuine, if Pete weren't sharing a brain with Roger, his good guy effort should have been in the media from the get-go. A man with his status should have made his plans public at the start, to avoid a debacle like the one he is in.

Good dimwitted guy with honest intentions?

-or-

Sick pedophile who will get off on his money and high status?

 

[SINthysist]

That was pretty good saytrsoul.