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PRIVATE PEOPLE, OR JUST HIDING AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Private people learn the lesson early. Don’t talk. But is that good manners, or something more complex. Call me suspicious, but quiet people need to follow the rules just like everyone else. Engage, contribute, and make it count. Do that when it’s called for be as quiet as you want the rest of the time. […]

BETTER DAYS AND THE RANDOM MOMENTS THAT INSPIRE THEM

We had a table discussion about historic moments that led to better days. Four adults, three of whom don’t like things called table discussion. Me: But we’re at the table. One in the group gave their version of a history and moved on. But another in the group made a correction. The rest of group […]

WORDS: FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD? NO, NO IT’S NOT

Words change with age. For a few years I lived next to a quirky neighbor. Sound familiar? Most folks have either had one, or been one. I was already there when he moved in, a ripped muscle-man with a crewcut. ‘Great,’ I thought, I’ve got either a policeman neighbor, or a gym kook. Either way […]

FREEDOM SINGS: JAILHOUSE ROCK FROM CELL BLOCK D

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” Was Kris Kristofferson right? Nothing left to lose is the same as freedom? Ask someone who lost everything in 1969 what they think. It might go like this: “How did you lose everything?” “I got drafted.” “Drafted?” “Yes. Conscripted into the United States Army.” “I […]

HOMEWARD BOUND, I WISH I WERE

Homeward bound? I’m home, not sitting in a railway station with a ticket for my destination, but I would be if I screwed up and my family found out. I’ve got a wife and two kids, two boys now men, who have never cut me any slack. All three are accomplished ass-kickers and mine would […]

CAMBRIDGE KILLERS FIND NO HONOR IN ENGLAND

                    “Alexander Lloyd was 23 when a man wielding a Swiss Army Knife plunged the blade into him seven times – including once through the heart. “Bakri Siraj-Eldin, a retired petrol industry scientist from Cambridge, received 10 years for wounding Alexander Lloyd with intent, seven-and-a-half years […]

MALHEUR SEVEN JAIL LESSON

Anyone feeling revolt needs the Malheur Seven Jail Lesson. Law and Order sounds like a good idea for bad guys, until you fall into bad guy status. Then it’s persecution, oppression, tyranny, etc. Call it what you will, but you’ll be calling from jail. If you’ve been in, or known anyone who’s done time, pass […]

A NEW VOICE FOR PRISON RAPE AWARENESS?

What happens when your young son starts his prison rape term. From esquire.com: “A New Mexico judge had a warning for a young man convicted of robbery in her courtroom, Time reports, but it wasn’t your standard shtick about making bad choices. After 20-year-old Isaiah Gay expressed remorse for a string of robberies committed as a teenager, saying he was “young […]

STEVE PREFONTAINE UNLOCKED

Prison Running Winner: Steve Prefontaine. Great sports events trap time in a bubble. You remember your favorite player scoring the winning points like it was yesterday, locking the image into your mind and throwing away the key. Yours for life. If the event was big enough, you learn more about the player and the game. […]