Here I sit, at my sister's apartment, trying to stay warm. It's an older building in a small town in Massachusetts, and like most older buildings, it hasn't been kept up too well. There's no real insulation in this building, the windows are leaky, the floors are getting a bit less sturdy, the electrical wiring is a bit on the weak side, and the heat is one small unit in the middle of one room. When it's windy, like it's getting tonight, the windows rattle because they aren't too tight anymore. My sister worries that a good gust will knock the windows out totally.
Even with all the problems, it's a roof over my head right now. There are so many people who don't have that roof right now. So many who don't have the ability to eat a good meal or get warm at all, or sleep safely without worrying about what they're going to lose if they sleep deeply. It's a crying shame.
This country that I love is such an apathetic mess. Let me say that again. The United States of America is an apathetic mess. We see someone hurting and we complain that their hurts ae their own fault, that if they don't like hurting here, they should go back to where they came from. We read about someone dying in prison because medical care is lacking and we say that if they didn't want to die in prison, they shoudn't have committed the crime. We complain that the cost of their medical care is too high for someone who is the dregs of society.
Our legislators are yelling all over the place about how high the costs are for certain things, how we should continue to punish certain crimes over others even if the crime itself isn't as serious, how no one wants to deal with the problem but them, and then nothing gets done because if they actually did something to fix the problem, most of the voting public wouldn't vote for them anymore.
I'm tired of people who want to play it safe, who don't want to care for anyone but themselves, who want nothing more than their cushy jobs and paychecks that are far higher than they should be for the job they do and they get to give themselves a raise every year. It's time for America to wake up and realize that change is positive even if it doesn't look so in the beginning. It takes time to make changes so let's take that time and at least begin.
Let's start to care again. It's what made us great.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Remembering Randy Pausch
A slight change in topics for this post. In early 2008, I watched a video on a local PBS station that ended up having a major impact on my life. It was called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" and it was incredible.
Carnegie-Mellon University has a long-standing lecture series that used to be called 'The Last Lecture' and is now called Journeys. The premise was, if you only had one lecture left to give, what would it be about. In 2007, they asked Professor Randy Pausch to give the lecture. What I'm not sure they did or didn't know was, it was to be his last lecture at C-M. He'd been diagnosed in 2006 with pancreatic cancer and had found out in August of 2007 that it had recurred and metastasized. He was given 3-6 months of good health left to live.
His lecture was taped and uploaded to YouTube. It hit 1 million views in that first month alone. As of just the other night, it was closing in on 11 million views. And that's not counting how many times it's been downloaded for free from iTunes or bought from C-M University.
What's the big deal about the lecture? He used his greatest gifts of humor and intelligence and gave a lecture that wasn't about how he was living the last few months of his life but how he'd lived his life, period. All the best pieces of advice that anyone could give anyone were in that lecture. Lots of laughter, intimate stories from his life and teaching days, and all given in such a way that you didn't realize what you were really learning, which was how to live your life the right way. He celebrated his wife's birthday at the end of the lecture and he ended it by telling everyone that the lecture wasn't meant for those who'd just finished hearing it. It was meant for his 3 children.
Dr. Pausch died on July 25, 2008. He has been given tons of recognition. Carnegie-Mellon has named a bridge at their campus after him, because he bridged the distance between the different studies there. Disney has awarded 2 fellowships in his name and they have a plaque at Disney World with two of his favorite sayings written on it.
JT's Bottom Line: If everyone could just live their lives the way he did, this world would be a much better place.
Carnegie-Mellon University has a long-standing lecture series that used to be called 'The Last Lecture' and is now called Journeys. The premise was, if you only had one lecture left to give, what would it be about. In 2007, they asked Professor Randy Pausch to give the lecture. What I'm not sure they did or didn't know was, it was to be his last lecture at C-M. He'd been diagnosed in 2006 with pancreatic cancer and had found out in August of 2007 that it had recurred and metastasized. He was given 3-6 months of good health left to live.
His lecture was taped and uploaded to YouTube. It hit 1 million views in that first month alone. As of just the other night, it was closing in on 11 million views. And that's not counting how many times it's been downloaded for free from iTunes or bought from C-M University.
What's the big deal about the lecture? He used his greatest gifts of humor and intelligence and gave a lecture that wasn't about how he was living the last few months of his life but how he'd lived his life, period. All the best pieces of advice that anyone could give anyone were in that lecture. Lots of laughter, intimate stories from his life and teaching days, and all given in such a way that you didn't realize what you were really learning, which was how to live your life the right way. He celebrated his wife's birthday at the end of the lecture and he ended it by telling everyone that the lecture wasn't meant for those who'd just finished hearing it. It was meant for his 3 children.
Dr. Pausch died on July 25, 2008. He has been given tons of recognition. Carnegie-Mellon has named a bridge at their campus after him, because he bridged the distance between the different studies there. Disney has awarded 2 fellowships in his name and they have a plaque at Disney World with two of his favorite sayings written on it.
JT's Bottom Line: If everyone could just live their lives the way he did, this world would be a much better place.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
California's Parole Idiocy Continues
OK, here's a perfect example of the sheer idiocy of the Parole system in California. If you're a reader from California, you know that our prison system is under fire. We're overcrowded to the max, to the point of it being totally unsafe for the Correctional Officers to even do their job, and we have a shortage of them, as well. Even our Governor has declared that the system is collapsing under its own weight.
One of the biggest problems feeding into the overcrowding is the parole system. Out here, when you're released from prison, EVERYONE does time on parole. The rules for you to follow while you're on parole aren't as cut and dried as one might think. Everything depends on the parole agent that you're assigned. That agent might be more easygoing than some or they might be a wannabe cop who will put you back in prison for sneezing and not saying excuse me after you've sneezed. The truth is, even the hard and fast rules get played with by each and every parole agent. But some of the reasons for returning someone to prison on a violation are so asinine that even the Legislators who want to be tough on crime would be scratching their heads and saying "What???" This case is just one such case.
Part of every parolee's life for up to 5 years (depending on the crime you were convicted of) is reporting to your parole agent. How often you report in person depends on your agent and your parole custody level. Certain parolees have to report weekly and have more frequent contact with their agent. Others only have to report in once a month in person, and still more only have to fill out a form once a month. If you fail to report in, they can violate you immediately. From what I've been told, the usual procedure after failing to report is for the agent to call the number they have for you and/or drive out to try and find you. If they can't, then they fill out a report and have a warrant issued for your arrest. Leave the area for long enough and the violation becomes a bit more serious and it's called absconding.
The parolee I'm discussing here did just that. 5 years ago, with only 10 months left to go on parole, he screwed up and absconded all the way to Pennsylvania. Once there, he went about the business of living his life. He got a job, something that is nearly impossible for parolees in California. He paid his bills on time, building up a good credit record. He stopped using meth and getting arrested. He worked full time as a mechanic and went to college classes at night. For all intents and purposes, this man turned his life around. He literally did exactly what parole's main purpose is; he reintegrated into society without problems. But he absconded to do that. And California never lets an absconder just disappear into the night.
Earlier this summer, this man had a traffic violation. When they ran his license, it came up with the warrant for violating parole in California. So, off to jail he went, until California came to pick him up. They did and for the last month or so, he's sat behind bars waiting for the first hearing that they're supposed to have within 10 business days. He finally had the hearing today.
At his hearing, his lawyer showed everything that has happened since he absconded 5 years ago, how well this man had adjusted, a job, the college courses and his being on the Dean's list, all the things that made this man a good candidate for being continued on parole without going back to prison for the violation. Now, you would think that with California being broke and the prisons are all overcrowded, someone like this who had actually done 5 years without any further criminal activity and had even turned his life totally around, this person should be cut loose to get back to his life. Right?? But remember, this is California we're talking about, the state where compassionate release is only on paper, where they have to get their pound of flesh so that the politicians can espouse how much crime has been averted by their being tough on crime. The deputy commissioner who held this parolee's hearing decided he couldn't just let him go, he had to serve time. So he sentenced this parolee to 87 days in a drug rehab program inside the prison. 87 days inside prison so he can attend a program (for perhaps 20 days of that time if he's lucky) that will teach him something he has already learned how to do on his own. And the cost to California will be approximately $11,679.75. (average yearly cost to house/feed/clothe an inmate is 49,000. Divide that by 365, you get a daily cost of 134.25, multiplied by the 87 days he has to serve and you get that $11 grand figure.) $11 thousand to punish someone who has already done on his own exactly what he should have done. No crimes committed except a violation of parole.
And then we wonder why California's prisons are so crowded, why we have recidivism rates that rank us in the top 5 in the country, and why California is spending more money on inmates than on educating children so they don't become inmates in the first place?
My bottom line: As long as California wants to continue to LOOK tough on crime, it will continue to look STUPID overall.
One of the biggest problems feeding into the overcrowding is the parole system. Out here, when you're released from prison, EVERYONE does time on parole. The rules for you to follow while you're on parole aren't as cut and dried as one might think. Everything depends on the parole agent that you're assigned. That agent might be more easygoing than some or they might be a wannabe cop who will put you back in prison for sneezing and not saying excuse me after you've sneezed. The truth is, even the hard and fast rules get played with by each and every parole agent. But some of the reasons for returning someone to prison on a violation are so asinine that even the Legislators who want to be tough on crime would be scratching their heads and saying "What???" This case is just one such case.
Part of every parolee's life for up to 5 years (depending on the crime you were convicted of) is reporting to your parole agent. How often you report in person depends on your agent and your parole custody level. Certain parolees have to report weekly and have more frequent contact with their agent. Others only have to report in once a month in person, and still more only have to fill out a form once a month. If you fail to report in, they can violate you immediately. From what I've been told, the usual procedure after failing to report is for the agent to call the number they have for you and/or drive out to try and find you. If they can't, then they fill out a report and have a warrant issued for your arrest. Leave the area for long enough and the violation becomes a bit more serious and it's called absconding.
The parolee I'm discussing here did just that. 5 years ago, with only 10 months left to go on parole, he screwed up and absconded all the way to Pennsylvania. Once there, he went about the business of living his life. He got a job, something that is nearly impossible for parolees in California. He paid his bills on time, building up a good credit record. He stopped using meth and getting arrested. He worked full time as a mechanic and went to college classes at night. For all intents and purposes, this man turned his life around. He literally did exactly what parole's main purpose is; he reintegrated into society without problems. But he absconded to do that. And California never lets an absconder just disappear into the night.
Earlier this summer, this man had a traffic violation. When they ran his license, it came up with the warrant for violating parole in California. So, off to jail he went, until California came to pick him up. They did and for the last month or so, he's sat behind bars waiting for the first hearing that they're supposed to have within 10 business days. He finally had the hearing today.
At his hearing, his lawyer showed everything that has happened since he absconded 5 years ago, how well this man had adjusted, a job, the college courses and his being on the Dean's list, all the things that made this man a good candidate for being continued on parole without going back to prison for the violation. Now, you would think that with California being broke and the prisons are all overcrowded, someone like this who had actually done 5 years without any further criminal activity and had even turned his life totally around, this person should be cut loose to get back to his life. Right?? But remember, this is California we're talking about, the state where compassionate release is only on paper, where they have to get their pound of flesh so that the politicians can espouse how much crime has been averted by their being tough on crime. The deputy commissioner who held this parolee's hearing decided he couldn't just let him go, he had to serve time. So he sentenced this parolee to 87 days in a drug rehab program inside the prison. 87 days inside prison so he can attend a program (for perhaps 20 days of that time if he's lucky) that will teach him something he has already learned how to do on his own. And the cost to California will be approximately $11,679.75. (average yearly cost to house/feed/clothe an inmate is 49,000. Divide that by 365, you get a daily cost of 134.25, multiplied by the 87 days he has to serve and you get that $11 grand figure.) $11 thousand to punish someone who has already done on his own exactly what he should have done. No crimes committed except a violation of parole.
And then we wonder why California's prisons are so crowded, why we have recidivism rates that rank us in the top 5 in the country, and why California is spending more money on inmates than on educating children so they don't become inmates in the first place?
My bottom line: As long as California wants to continue to LOOK tough on crime, it will continue to look STUPID overall.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
First Words on a Blog
Here it is, my first thoughts on this blog. I've blogged before but they've always been private blogs, available only to one or two of my friends. This on is for the general public and I'm sure that at some point in time, there are going to be people who totally disapprove of what I'm saying. That's okay. I'm open to free speech. Beware: I WILL challenge you to prove your point or to back up your words with facts if I feel what you're saying makes no sense or defies logic.
I love to argue. I've been known to argue for hours, even switching my point of view if I think that will help someone else clarify their thoughts. I grew up in a home with parents who knew how to argue. I learned that, in my home, the only way to get your point across was to do it logically and loudly. Now that I'm more than grown up, I may not like to be quite as loud as I had to be then but I still love to get my point across. I'm emotional, as many people can be, when the topic is close to my heart.
I'm not an angel. I've had my moments of stupidity that ended up with being in places that no one wants to go to if they can possibly avoid them. But I've learned from those moments of stupidity and my biggest growth times have been in the months directly after those moments. Be prepared to read emotional posts that challenge your long-held beliefs.
This is My Bottom Line blog. Welcome!
I love to argue. I've been known to argue for hours, even switching my point of view if I think that will help someone else clarify their thoughts. I grew up in a home with parents who knew how to argue. I learned that, in my home, the only way to get your point across was to do it logically and loudly. Now that I'm more than grown up, I may not like to be quite as loud as I had to be then but I still love to get my point across. I'm emotional, as many people can be, when the topic is close to my heart.
I'm not an angel. I've had my moments of stupidity that ended up with being in places that no one wants to go to if they can possibly avoid them. But I've learned from those moments of stupidity and my biggest growth times have been in the months directly after those moments. Be prepared to read emotional posts that challenge your long-held beliefs.
This is My Bottom Line blog. Welcome!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)