November 22, 2007

Columns

Last Days

The Week in Review

by David Schmader

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 This week of deluded despots, solicited MILFs, and the dropping of the other shoe of justice kicks off today with—brace yourselves—the world's horniest nun, who appeared at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court to claim her title this morning. That's where 79-year-old Sister Norma Giannini, a Roman Catholic nun and former Catholic school principal, stood trial today on charges of indecent behavior with a child after allegedly engaging in numerous sexual encounters with two male students during the 1960s. Both students—James St. Patrick, now 53, and Gerald Kobs, now 55—appeared today in court, ready to defend their remarkably similar stories of abuse at the hands of Sister Giannini. In their criminal complaint, the Associated Press reports, Mr. Kobs recounts his experience as a 13-year-old at Milwaukee's St. Patrick's School in 1965, when Sister Giannini told him to unbutton her habit; when Kobs's shaking hands made him unable to comply, Giannini undid her habit herself, then had Kobs touch her breasts. After this first incident came 60 to 80 others, including two involving sexual intercourse. Mr. St. Patrick also reports being propositioned by Sister Giannini in seventh grade, after which he and the nun had sexual contact more than 100 times, with at least one incident involving intercourse. Today, Sister Giannini was scheduled to begin answering all these accusations in court; instead, she preempted her defense, entering a plea of no contest to two counts of indecent behavior with a child, for which she faces up to 20 years in prison.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 Speaking of troubled religious figureheads: The week continues with the gusty bluster that stinks up the region whenever Reverend Ken Hutcherson opens his mouth. For an account of Hutch's awesome day of adventure, we'll turn to the words of Hutch himself, who addressed his meeting with Microsoft—the company he's battled over its refusal to oppress the gays—in an e-mail sent to his "Prayer Warriors" and Stranger writer Eli Sanders. "Bill Gates, Chairman; Steve Ballmer, CEO; Brad Smith, Executive Vice President of Legal; and Chris Liddell, CFO, were present in today's meeting," wrote Pastor Hutch to his flock. "I addressed the meeting, letting them know I would love to work with them. However, if they refuse, I am putting together the largest contingency of Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims to challenge Microsoft's support of people and policies that challenge America's moral beliefs since its inception. My final comment was, 'I could work with you, or I could be your worst nightmare, because I am a black man with a righteous cause, with a host of powerful white people behind me. I hope to hear from you and if not, you will hear from me.'" What Hutcherson neglects to mention to his flock is that his meeting with Bill Gates, et al., occurred during the Q & A portion of Microsoft's annual shareholders meeting, in front of 500-plus other shareholders. "Any stockholder can attend and speak at a stockholder meeting," confirms Slog commenter/meeting attendee the Gay Curmudgeon. "[After Hutch spoke], another stockholder asked what they could do to counter the hateful ideas and actions of people like Hutcherson. No Microsoft executive agreed to meet with him. Microsoft's policy in no way agrees with him. Just another sad grab for PR from a man with a size 4 soul in a size 12 body."

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14 As regular readers are aware, this column is typically awash in dramatic criminal charges, often reported with a closing command to "stay tuned." Today, Last Days revisits three such cases, all of which moved from dramatic charges to dramatic judgments this week. First up is Dr. Charles Momah, the notorious South King County gynecologist convicted of raping patients and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005. Today, three of Momah's victims got some compensation to go with their justice, as a King County jury awarded $2.3 million to three unnamed women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by Momah. On Friday, two more Northwest villains will get their comeuppance: Mary Jane Rivas, the 32-year-old Seattle woman who sped through a red light and killed 26-year-old police officer Joselito Barber in 2006, will be sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. And Marie Robinson, the 39-year-old Kent woman who let two of her children starve to death while she was passed out drunk, was sentenced to 34 years in prison on two counts of manslaughter and one count of reckless endangerment (for the child she tried to starve but failed).

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15 In somewhat lighter news: Today brings the aforementioned solicited MILFs, courtesy of a report from KIRO 7 News. The solicitor: A man in his 20s driving a dark-red hatchback through "some of Seattle's upscale neighborhoods." The solicited: Young and attractive mothers out walking with their children in said neighborhoods, whom the hatchback man reportedly flatters with praise before inviting them to appear in a pornographic film. "He called me a hot mother," said Jennifer, who was propositioned while walking her two young children to a park in the View Ridge neighborhood. "Then it got more disgusting and made me feel uncomfortable." Jennifer's story was echoed by a young mom in Laurelhurst, who told KIRO she was walking with her kids when the man offered her $10,000 to star in "a mommy porn movie." Even creepier: In each case, Mr. Hatchback asked where the woman lived and trailed her for a couple blocks after she shot down his offer. Watch your backs, hot moms.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Nothing happened today, unless you count the Friday stuff we prematurely reported on Wednesday.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17 The week continues with the publication of a terrifying report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a nutshell: Polar ice sheets are melting faster than originally thought, and even moderate amounts of warming—1 to 3 degrees—could lead to a rapid rise in sea levels and the extinction of large numbers of species (and more than a few Southern American cities). The solution: immediate governmental response and concrete policy changes. While we're fantasizing, Last Days would also like a flying motorcycle and a surgically implanted iPod.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18 The week ends with whatever led up to the nonfatal shooting of three people inside the Capitol Hill nightclub Sugar about 90 minutes after midnight tonight. The shooter: an as-yet-unidentified male who opened fire inside the club. The shot: a 22-year-old man (abdomen), an 18-year-old woman (leg), and a 20-year-old man (wrist). For more on the shootings, see Jonah Spangenthal-Lee's story on page 10.

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