The quote in the post title appears at the end of an article in the NYT about Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett:
Mr. Corbett, as state attorney general, had begun an investigation in 2009 into allegations that a former Penn State assistant football coach had abused young boys, and that university officials might have covered up the scandal. He had convened a grand jury, and his prosecutors had taken testimony. But when he ran for governor, and even after he took office, he was obligated to keep the investigation secret, even as he saw the university officials at the center of the investigation doing little to address the substance of the inquiry....When the report became public, Corbett seems to have been key to the quick removal of Joe Paterno and university president Graham B. Spanier. According to NYT sources , Corbett, as a Roman Catholic, "was struck early on in the Penn State investigation by the similarities between the university’s failure to report allegations of sexual abuse involving Mr. Sandusky and the church’s failure to report pedophile priests."
Interesting. And good for Corbett. But let's hear more about that computer glitch.
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52 comments:
People seem to treat computer systems as some mystical, magical entity, whose bad behavior can be explained away with the utterance of the words "glitch" or "bug." This has to stop. Computers do exactly what they're told, and whoever told that system to make the indictment public needs to be found and dealt with. If it is a bug then the people that designed the system should be held accountable. That's why software companies carry E&O insurance.
Realistically, though, it's most likely human error. Or malice, which is indistinguishable.
Computer glitch or contrived computer glitch? You never know with those computers and their artificial intelligence. The computer just may have decided on its own.
Bad link on first sentence.
Let me guess. It talks and its friends call it Hal. 2011's Space Oddity.
Would the investigation have become a campaign issue? Grand Jury investigations are generally secret.
Where the victims of the pedophile priests black?
I read the grand jury finding of fact, which I assume is the document talked about here. Whole thing was disgusting.
This is the document I read. NSFW descriptions.
Those "glitches" just happen all the time Althouse, I'd explain but its all very high tech - almost magic like.
So, don't worry your pretty little head about them.
Help me out here, Professor. If the all-caring, all-concerned, good-Catholic Governor of Pennsylvania had gone so far in his prior life as State Prosecuting Attorney to gather evidence and seat a Grand Jury on the Sandusky matter, what could possibly cause such a lengthy delay in finishing the job? Am I to conclude that the Governor illegally leaked the data to the public? I simply do not understand why the evidence would have been sealed in the first place.
If the leak was deliberate, wouldn't that become a basis for getting Jerry Sandusky off, Scot free?
It's unwise to trust a seal to stay put long enough to keep an indictment secret. Plus it invites killer whales.
Might help hear more about it if your link wasn't broke.
Glitches.
They happen all the time.
The grand jury first leaked back in March. PennLive cited 5 sources closet to the investigation on March 31, 2011.
The media knew. Something to keep in mind when they get all self-righteous about cover-ups.
We're going to be hearing a lot about the Catholic Church given
the clear analogy to the Penn State administration's conduct. Both institutions covered up allegations of sexual molestation of children.
There are equally obvious cover-up analogies, however. Climategate, anyone? I wonder if we'll be hearing about them from the press?
"If the leak was deliberate, wouldn't that become a basis for getting Jerry Sandusky off, Scot free?"
I don't think you need a PA law license to realize the answer is NO. Common sense. which is often lacking here, should tell you that. You would never have a criminal prosecution for anything were that so. Jeeeeeeeeeshh!
The Maestro of the American office of climate deception was Michael Mann at Penn State.
When the East Anglia E-mails were exposed many were Mann planning fraudulent facts. He was supposedly investigated by the University and given a clean report...which everyone knew was false. The investigators only demanded that his accusers be arrested for seeing Mann's private incriminating E-mails.
Mann then sued a commenter that joked that Mann should be in the State Pen rather than in the Penn State.
Will we see slap suits out of the Pedophiles-R-Us University? A reputation is a valuable thing to lose merely for getting caught.
I blame David Axelrod, he seems to have the ability to unseal things. In Chicago and among the bitter clingers.
Wait a minute --
Corbett started this investigation over two years ago, and only in the last few days was Sandusky arrested?
You mean, law enforcement allowed this guy to run free to continue to molest kids for two years??
Where's the grand jury investigation into the inaction on the part of law enforcement?
Corbett needs to resign, or be fired, NOW.
At any time in the last two years, regardless of the grand jury action, he could have sworn out an arrest warrant for Sandusky and he did not. Rather, he allowed Sandusky to roam the streets.
Corbett needs to go.
"traditionalguy said...
The Maestro of the American office of climate deception was Michael Mann at Penn State.
When the East Anglia E-mails were exposed many were Mann planning fraudulent facts."
Climate change--sure sounds queer to me.
Bad link on first sentence.
Or is it a glitch?
I thought judges could unseal the transcripts after indictments come down...
There wasn't supposed to be a link at that first sentence at al. Sorry.
There's a dead DA! He had taken a pass on prosecuting Sandusky back in 1998. And, he saw the case re-opening in 2005. When he drove somewhere. To meet someone. And, his computer was found in the river. Sans its hard drive.
What if there's a pedophilia ring at Penn State? What's with Sandusky's "charity" for troubled youth. That has been in business since 1977?
The showers used by the Penn State football players had to be some kind of a draw ... So the kids would disrobe without screaming. To go into them.
I'll bet, ahead, there will be at least 2000 victims. Adults, now. Who can sue.
And, yes. This whole case got opened by ONE MOM! Her son is "Victim #8."
IF the pedophile "group" was able to strike fears into the hearts of grown men ... Who kept what they knew SECRET, then there's hell to pay, ahead.
Agree with BobPlankers, but I was under the impression grand jury indictments were supposed to be sealed until the prosecution was ready to go to trial.
And Amartel makes a good point.
This is a good point:
"We have a cooperating witness [Paterno], an individual who testified, provided truthful testimony," Hagen-Frederiksen [a spokesman for the AG office] told ABCNews.com, "but two others who were found by a grand jury to commit perjury whose legal expenses are being paid for university. One is on administrative leave. Very interesting development."
"It's certainly curious and [has] not been explained yet," he said. "Speaking as a prosecuting agency, we have a cooperating witness who has not been charged, while two individuals accused of committing crimes continue to be affiliated."
Ann, often people will blame a computer 'glitch' for problems that they inadvertently created because of their inability to properly use a computer.
For example, imagine there's a court computer system that is used to file all grand jury presentments. Imagine that the court clerk, once s/he's received the findings from the jury has to click a few buttons to save the file and then lock down the security so that only authorized judicial employees can access the file.
Imagine that the clerk, harried and under time pressure, clicks the check box that says 'Open access' instead of clicking the check box that says 'Restricted access'. And then clicks the 'Save' button, without noticing the mistake.
Now the document is in the system, and the clerk thinks the job is done and goes home.
Then an enterprising citizen, who always scours the Centre County Judiciary's website for any new public documents that may be of general interest, finds this new document, reads it, realizes its explosive nature, and passes it along to a wider audience.
That's a very possible scenario.
And if it turns out that something like this is what happened, it'll be easy enough to blame the human error on a computer 'glitch', but it'll be the wrong thing to do.
Kirby Olson:
I heard you the first time!
So you are saying that Sandusky represents Vito Spatafore in this scenario?
SHIT--I'm gonna reread 'The Da Vinci Code' or 'Sherlock Holmes'!!
Madden reported on a rumor, that someone was investigating the possibility of the pimping.
Kirby, is there a more recent story than that?
I've been working with computers for 47 years and haven't seen one make a mistake yet.
Seen 'em die? O yeah! But just get a little sick and make a mistake? No way.
Human error? Let me count the ways.
And I thought I posted this quote from the spokesman for the PA AG office, who makes an interesting point, but I don't see it now:
"We have a cooperating witness [Paterno], an individual who testified, provided truthful testimony," Hagen-Frederiksen told ABCNews.com, "but two others who were found by a grand jury to commit perjury whose legal expenses are being paid for university. One is on administrative leave. Very interesting development."
"It's certainly curious and [has] not been explained yet," he said. "Speaking as a prosecuting agency, we have a cooperating witness who has not been charged, while two individuals accused of committing crimes continue to be affiliated."
So the person not in trouble with the law is fired by the University; the perjuring enablers continue to draw a paycheck!
So, when is either skirting or skirting-around, or both, protocol OK and when is it/are they not? This is important. When ought one imperative--keep stuff private--trump another imperative--keep stuff private? There's a shared urgency, for sure, in terms of imperative. What's trump?
Notice that Kirby Olson posted the same thing 3 times. It's called a computer glitch, or as regulars to this blog call it Blogger.
The glitch I always get is conflicting edits. Man I hate that one.
The glitch I always get is conflicting edits. Man I hate that one.
If instead of hitting the back arrow (or quitting and starting over), you instead, from the "conflicting edits" notification window, right away hit refresh in your browser [and then patiently WAIT for a minute, or even 5 to 15 seconds, give or take, in order to verify, in a separate tab, if necessary, though mostly it's not], nine times out of ten, if not more, your original comment will post.
Seriously. Discovered this years ago. Works 99% of the time. No fuss, no bother, and a reduction of about 85% in frustration.
In short, resist the instant urge to start over, much less bang keyboards and such.
Try what I said, instead. It could change your blogger commenting life!
Sorry to triple post. It's a glitch probably associated with 11/11/11.
I don't know anything past Madden's rumor.
But let's say it's true, then what else could help this story be any more bizarre?
UFOs?
To put it in a different way: The Conflicting Edits thing appears to more about the functionality supporting immediate posting of a comment as opposed to the functionality of that comment being available for acceptance into the database queue for posting. (And yes, I realize I'm not using the precise, technical terminology here: My aim is to share useful info in the sense of practicality, not to be technical in the big "T" sense.)
I have confirmed that John McQueary is a physician's assistant. His position is Chief Operating Officer/Administrative Director at Centre Medical and Surgical Associates, P.C. State College, Pennsylvania.
Please keep this in mind when thinking about why Mike McQueary called his dad rather than law enforcement and protective services.
Think about why a healthcare professional, a doctor's assistant, who is capable of treating patients himself---
DID NOT REPORT the sexual assault of a 10 yo boy immediately.
Or advise his 28 yo son to call.
"Dr" John McQueary was a coach for years, himself. He was in the Navy. He knows right from wrong. He knows the physical and emotional damage a rape victim will sustain.
It seems that every person along the way who could've stopped Sandusky--made a conscious choice not to do anything that would jeopardize their own well-being.
I have yet to find any evidence to convince me that they ever considered the victims, the community, the college, the student body--never considered anyone but themselves, the Team, the Program.
Absolutely disgusting. Sickening.
HAL doesn't like Ann wanting to check on a glitch......
As I write this I am in State College for today's Penn State game against Nebraska. Talk about a somber mood. No one, I mean no one, is talking about the football game. As it should be.
As a season ticket holder, it is fortunately the last home game of the season. It will take decades to repair the hit.
Moody's is reviewing PSU's bond rating. I was not aware we had a bond rating.
Oh..you hysterical Catholic bashers and pedophilophobes are just showing your intolerance.
I like Peter V Bella's take..a computer w/ common sense and a conscience. We can only hope that is the evolution.
He was in the Navy
Which has a long history of papering over problems & scandals "for the good of the Service." But that's usually the senior officers.
The 2002 shower victim has not been identified or come forward, if I read that correctly. No one has mentioned any statue of limitations that I've heard.
Clearly, not enough punishment has been handed out to non-perpetrators.
So, in addition to deposing the governor of the state [for not immediately arresting the accused instead of building a prosecution case], the entire football program needs to be chastised.
To wit, all games dating back to 2002 need to be forfeited, all awards and trophies from that same period returned, and net proceeds from any post-season events placed in an account to compensate victims. Wake up NCAA! You can pile on as well...
Game Day! On the broken backs of children.
They all hid it. Those motherfuckers hid it all to further their careers on the literal backs of those young boys. Pennsylvania is one fucked up state. They should all be prosecuted at this point from top to bottom
The Penn state football program needs to be shut down and before i said for 3 years. Now i'm saying it needs to be permanent. Everyone involved needs to be prosecuted. McQueary really at this point, should go shoot himself in the fucking head for what he did and didn't do. Piece of cowardly shit. Paterno should be disgraced forever. The board of trustees that knew about it and did nothing. Anyone who knew anyting about this from police officials to public servants. All of them. Who were these donors that Sandusky pimped these boys too? They need to be found. That many is pedophile child rape money and Penn. State took it. You know what? Fuck it. Shut the school down for good. It is a rancid cesspool of deviancy at this point and it should not stand. It has been disgraced and will forever be tainted.
Well, the pdf I saw was scrubbed of any metadata, so I'm thinking it was cleaned up and leaked deliberately. A complete error wouldn't have been so clean. Not to mention that the version I saw starts midstream. There is no cover, title, index or style of the matter.
Tons of information is yet to make it into the public domain on this, but based on the limited information available (at 5:54 pm EST today) you can see some interesting coincidences - for instance Sandusky resigned from the 2nd Mile Foundation in December 2010, just as the grand jury was taking testimony from the graduate assistant who witnessed the assault in the shower in 2002. He must have assumed that once that was in front of the jury that an indictment was immediately following. But sometimes grand juries are very slow. If it turns out that he assaulted some kid between December 2010 and his recent arrest...
Any time a mistake is blamed on the computer, there are really two mistakes. And one of them is blaming it on the computer.
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