Cry Baby!

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(Posted to gonzobeats 6/04.)
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KATHLEEN: "I THANK GOD for our system (flawed as it is). I would gladly go to jail unjustly and wrongly accused if it would save one child from the abuse I suffered FOR YEARS till help finally came."
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FWIW, I have no tolerance for those who abuse children -- emotionally or any other way. I've been known to force cars to the side of the road until the drivers quit reaching behind the seat and pounding on some poor kid. I WILL get in someone's face at each and every opportunity to save a kid from the BS I grew up with. I wish I had a video camera to keep with me at all times to document those who abuse their children and I would be an active advocate in their prosecution. People who abuse children should be sterilized immediately as they have proven their inability to nurture and encourage. Until they make me king, though, we and our children suffer in the presence of countless inequities but our system is more than flawed. If it was broke, we could fix it. We can't fix it. It is beyond repair -- like a cancer growing out of control which contaminates everything it touches. From 1980 to 2000, our nation's population grew 20%. In that same time, our prison population grew 315%! We are putting Americans in cages 16 times faster than they are being born! That reality is absolutely NOT acceptable to me! Actual crime rates declined during most of those years and only an estimated 25% of the decline was due to our massive increase in incarceration rates. That means 75% of the decline is due to "other" reasons: like high rates of employment, less racial discrimination in the workplace, fewer trained killers returning from wars begun by stupid politicians, the decline in the crack epidemic, etc. 29% of the black men born today will spend some portion of their life in prison. (In Washington D.C., the figure is 75%.) 1 in 8 black men ages 25 through 29 is already IN prison -- as we speak. In poor black communities, there are only 64 adult men for every 100 adult women -- the rest are in prison. It is proven that children from fatherless homes have a MUCH higher rate of imprisonment, so the cycle continues generation after generation with absolutely no end in sight.
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By far, the largest increase in prisoners is due to drug use and possession -- which hasn't changed significantly -- only the politics and policy have changed. The lion's share of increasing rates of incarceration is due to IDIOT campaigns like "war on drugs" and "just say no" and IDIOT legislation like "three strikes and you're out" and "truth in sentencing" which requires offenders to serve 85% of their sentence absolutely no matter what with NO regard for the big picture and NO regard for the whole story. As an example, in CA a young Spanish male was convicted of burglary as a juvenile. Later -- as an adult -- he was convicted of armed robbery. His cousin was new to the states and needed a driver's license for work but couldn't read English so good. So this poor man took the written portion of the test for his cuz' and got caught. Apparently such an unacceptable threat to our personal security is a felony in CA so that was his third strike. He's currently serving 26 years to LIFE in a CA shithole. His incarceration will cost the state of CA one million dollars over the next 26 years. Does the system get any dumber than that? Do I feel sorry for CA and it's budget crisis? Hell no!
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Despite such lunacy in action, TX and CA (#2 and #3, respectively, in the $40 BILLION dollar per year domestic livestock industry -- the feds get top honors) have actually managed to reduce their incarceration rate slightly (due to the rising cost of their structural insanity, no doubt) while other states continue to corral free-rangers in increasing numbers. Rates of increase in federal prisons in recent years have been SIX TIMES those of the state averages. (Thank ya' Bushy -- I feel SO much safer now -- you moron.) Oklahoma (of all places) has the highest STATE rate of incarceration so you might want to travel AROUND that state. (Any bets on whether the Native American rate of imprisonment is 4 or 5 times their percentages in the general population of the state?) HOW has any of this made our country safer and free-er?
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Most of these drug-related incarcerations are not even criminal offenses. They are "moral" offenses -- the result of our legislators staggering up on their moral high horses and -- in all their infinite wisdom -- knowing so much more about what is good for each and every one of us than we could possibly EVER know. These friggin' hypocrites have higher rates of DUI convictions in the last year than the general population . . . higher rates of domestic abuse than the rest of the population and they're laying down the rules for the rest of us? There is something seriously WRONG with that picture! And we are to place our faith in a solution to this problem with them? Gimme' a freakin' break!
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Less than 50% of our prisoners are doing time for violent offenses but they ALL suffer the same indignities and loss of respect and loss of reputation (for life!) REGARDLESS of their offense. Some states have actually finally figured out that "short" prison terms do more harm than good (read: cost the state more than they ever imagined) because of "interruption" of family relationships, jobs, friends, etc. All states count cons when it will increase their political receipts and yet cons aren't allowed to vote (ever again -- even after release in some states).
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KATHLEEN: "We have a freer country than so many others BECAUSE so many people that dare to take away our freedom are in prison."
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As long as we have the highest rates of incarceration IN THE WORLD, this is NOT "land of the free" for you or me or any one of us. For every 100,000 U.S. citizens, 715 of them are in prison (that's dangerously close to 1% and we'll be there in no time at our current annual growth rates). Our nation's prison population recently went above TWO MILLION! This is not a nation of free people. This is a nation imprisoned by its own government. (Someone hit the nail on the head by recently proclaiming WE are the ones in need of liberation.) For comparison, Canada has 116 in prison (for every 100,000 of population). Most of our European nations (who we are considered to be "most alike") have numbers below 100.
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I refuse to tap into his "climate of fear" campaign this son of a bush and his frenzied, wrinkle-dicked, jacked-up-on-Viagra, chronies whip up in their secret circle jerks and drip out like salty pablum for the masses to lick up off their shiny shoes. Let em' go home and attempt sex with their ugly wives and enjoy a "sweet death" in the effort. Their balding craniums surely contain no more than a small ball of white puss sloshing around in clear fluid. I fear the ultimate consequences of their Satan-spawn-inspired, John-Wayne-testosterone, brain-fart-adventures FAR more than I could ever be afraid of some dumbass, suicidal "terrorist." In fact, I think we should do all we can to hasten these little tyrants into martyrdom at a very young age -- BEFORE they have a chance to breed. Let's do the human gene pool and future generations a huge favor. With our fear, we have given these flakes in power a blank check to do whatever the hell they want to do for as long as they choose to do it. And, believe me, they're taking FULL advantage of us praying our hearts out and sobbing and wringing our hands in fear of the boogie man. Because we think the boogie man is out there somewhere -- someone other than US. And we think our leaders can protect us (how is not clear) from the boogie man. But our leaders know the real boogie man is US and that prize fighter is their fearless leader.
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Our entire political system has been bought and sold to the highest bidder. We already have the best democracy that money can buy. Business need no longer fear government regulation because big business IS the government regulators. Their CEOs and piss-boys head up all those agencies anymore and they simply do whatever they want. Who is going to challenge their authority? Some of us city-zens here in this great ole' "land o' the free?" Unless we have more money than humans should ever be allowed, we're not even in the game anymore. This game was over before it began. We already know how this story ends. We're all like the goofy kids with bad skin, buck teeth and cheap glasses -- clinging to the fence crying after the teams have already been chosen and the muscle heads are out there slippin' on their dainty little jock suits. Yeah -- you go ahead and tell the teacher, you little pussy! Cry Baby!
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sail4free
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