Kids in Crisis Behind Bars

The opinion in the New York Times triggered some souvenirs of my different jail stays.  

The Jail/prison issue requires a whole book and more vivid descriptions.  The strip-search procedure, which inmates have to suffer every time they have a visit, is a procedure I experienced first hand while serving a 30 days sentence in Walhalla.  I was jailed for fighting against the installation of surveillance cameras in Peekskill, NY see NY Times for some context.  Here are my first recollection:  "After spending six hours in a holding pen, I was brought to a small room.  There a female guard ordered me to undress, to bend over, spread my cheeks open and cough".  The idea is that inmates bring in drugs carrying them in their orifices.  But it is more frequent for the drugs to be walked in by guards. 

Inmates are not assessed emotionally.  One of the girl who was in jail with me, hanged herself  a couple of weeks after my release.  We all knew she was depressed, she was crying all the time.

A huge number of people jailed, who should be in mental hospitals, end up in jail for several years.  In Walhalla, there were women with mental disorders who were with me for my first sentence and I saw them again several years later when I spent an overnight in jail this time for fighting against the Iraq war.  

The jail commissaries sold terrible products at inflated prices; since my release from Jail I have boycotted Colgate, the only tooth paste you could buy in Walhalla County Jail.

MCI was the only phone company and the inmates could only call collect leaving families  with huge bills.  Who awarded the contract to them?  And why inmates could not use a calling card like they do in Israeli prison where I spent 9 days for fighting against the occupation of Palestine?   (Not that the conditions in Neve Tirza were good).  Inmates in the US come from the lower socioeconomic stratum and thus they can't afford the calls.  Calls which are important to their families and children.

And then, we are not discussing the women jail population which is mostly drug addicts and prostitutes; no rehab centers for the poor and the pimps rarely end up in jail.

The idle life in jail does not prepare the inmates for their release.  There are not enough classes to help them acquire skills which would help them get a job once they are released.  But the few classes offered will probably be cut under Obama's budget freeze.

There are many other issues, overcrowding, sex...  You can't keep humans, who are sexual animals, in cages and think there won't be any sexual activities.  How can this be resolved?

Certainly, placing all delinquents together under one roof can't be a solution.  Most people I met in jail were known to the guards and to other inmates; they were recidivists.  This could only convince us that the system of incarceration does not work.

Risky to walk and talk on the phone

Cell phones have been responsible for many deaths and injuries while driving or while walking.   Check the article in New York Times

Plastic contains BFA (bisphenol

Until regulation is passed to totally remove BFA from our products, it is a good idea not to eat foods which are in plastic containers, or wrappers.   It is also a good idea to restrain from eating canned food and drinking plastic bottled drinks.  A boycott of plastics will result in change.  See the story in the New York Times 

Learning from Europe

An article worth reading which dismisses many beliefs held about Europe, its economy and social blanket.    Check Mr  Krugman's article in New York Times.

Women and their treatment in the US, writing in progress

I get tired of reading of the plight of women in Afghanistan, when I don't hear about their plight in the US.

In the US women are adorned with tight jeans, and cancer causing cosmetics. They wear synthetic fibers in their vagina. They take estrogen/progesterone cancer causing pills to prevent pregnancies, then later in life to keep bleeding. They get injected with disarmed virus particles. All these to satisfy their males' libido. 

Women are subjected to the violence of men, often their husbands. They are raped by them, they are battered. 

And in the best of circumstances they suffer a lower social status and a lower median income for the same jobs.

Women are living in a culture which shows 13 year olds girls bikini models in Sports Illustrated magazines.

Big bonuses for the bailed out bankers

We must stop the bleeding.  The middle class does not have any more savings, they have been stollen; now they loose their jobs and their homes.    Stop the thieves, stop the bankers.  How can these private banks have the interests of our nation in mind?   Impose an "embargo" on bonuses until the wealth is redistributed more equitably and let's consider de-privatizing banks.

Keeping Urban chicken

A great video to encourage having chicken for organic eggs.  Check it in the Guardian.

Maine to consider warnings on Cell Phones

Like cigarettes, cell phones must be banned from public places, and you must be 18 or older to own one.  Cell phones micro-waves are dangerous and possibly cumulative when in enclosed public places.  Several studies have been publish one more recently in israel which show the connection between brain tumors and cell phone usage.  Maine is in the lead we should all follow.  The story is in the New York Times.

Readability

Readability is a wonderful gadget which is free and let's you get rid of the clutter; it is easy to install and it works.   

Get it here: http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/   I found the information in the New York Times article which discussed the gadgets of 2009.  For the whole story here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/technology/personaltech/31pogue.html?hpw