Wednesday, March 15

SEX in our Prisons

Mugshots for former prison guards Emily Watson, Ayshea Gunn and Jennifer Gavan . 
 (View Finder Pictures)

At least 18 female guards in the U.K.'s "cushiest prison" have reportedly been fired or resigned amid a flurry of sordid sexual accusations — including claims of sex inside cells and one guard smuggling her underwear to an inmate.

HMP Berwyn, which is also Britain's largest facility, has been hit with various claims of illicit affairs and inappropriate relationships between guards and inmates since it opened in 2017, with three former workers sentenced in a 2019 scandal, the Mirror reported.

The publication obtained documents about the exits obtained through information requests showed the inappropriate relationships were more widespread than had been publicly known.

British outlets are reporting that the 18 women who were fired or resigned from a single jail is a "record," noting that since 2019, a total of 31 women across England and Wales have been fired from jails for intimate relationships with inmates.

Former HMP Berwyn guard Jennifer Gavan, for example, was sentenced to eight months in jail last year after pleading guilty to misconduct. She accepted £150 — or about $180 — from inmate Alex Coxon to smuggle him a cellphone, which they later used to exchange raunchy photos, according to the Mirror. Coxon was in prison for robbery.

Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, pinned blame on the recent spate of affairs and firings on "the wrong kind of women" getting hired.

"Staff being recruited don’t have face-to-face interviews… it’s all done on Zoom," Fairhurst told the Mirror. "A lot of people getting these jobs don’t have enough life experience and are susceptible to conditioning from prisoners."  READ MORE...

Moron

 

Tuesday, March 14

Inspirational

 

If The Truth Be Known

 When I was but a twinkle in my old man's eyes, the United States of America was involved in WWII...  with the Italians, the Japanese, and the Germans.  General Patton wanted to attack Moscow as he said in his words that he "JUST DID NOT TRUST THE BASTARDS..."  General Eisenhower said no and when the war ended with divided up the world, leaving Russia with the USSR...


In 1991 the USSR dissolved and many of the Republics claimed their independence and formed new countries and governments.  George W. Bush was the President during the collapse.  Before George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan was the President which I always thought was not just odd but dangerous because even though he was a previous governor of California, he was a FRIGGIN' ACTOR...


One if the former USSR Republics was Ukraine...  now, over 30 years later, Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine under false pretenses and Russia/Ukraine are in their second year of fighting with no obvious winner in sight.  The president of Ukraine is a FRIGGIN' COMMEDIAN...


While I don't have anything against actors and/or commedians, I am not sure if they make good presidents...  although, the conservatives say that Reagon's policies were right on the money.  The conservatives have also said recently that the policies of Donald Trump were right on the money as well...  and, during the first 2-3 years of his Presidency, we did have a very strong economy...  and then COVID-19 hit...


The Liberals, the Progressives, the Mainstream Media, and the Big Tech Giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon...   ALL HATED TRUMP...  and for his entire 4 years in office they did everything possible to destroy his Presidency and him as a man...  including creating a false dossier, creating a special prosecutor investigation, and a bogus impeachment process that the SENATE STOPPED.


Long Before All This Happened, I had become dissatisfied with the Democrats and their flakey Liberals and Progressives...  Not only had they become the party of cranks and intellectual liars, they were pushing policies of fiscal irresponsibility on the American Public who did not know the first thing about fiscal responsibility.


There is no doubt in my mind that greenhouse emissions are destroying the planet and there is a NEED to pursue GREEN ENERGY...  but, intelligent people do not push for green energy until they have created the infrastructure to support the transition...  The Democrats are putting the cart before the horse or what we call here in East TN...   ASS BACKWARDS...


These ASS BACKWARDS movements will take this country down the rabbit hole talked about by Jefferson Airplane long before they changed their name to Jefferson Starship.  Politics needs a little common sense and politicians need to be honest with the american people.


The rabbit hole that we are running down now because of over spending, liars, and misinformation will take us into an area from which a majority of us cannot escape...  and we cannot escape because we don't have the intelligence but because we don't have the money to extricate ourselves...


We live in a WORLD OF WEALTH...  WEALTHY people cantrol everything even though the people they are controlling do not want to admit it.  GEORGE SOROS controls the Democratic Party and he is taking the party where HE WANTS IT TO GO...  not where it needs to go...


Markets are opening up in China and India...  much bigger populations than the United States...   American Commerce is moving towards those bigger markets because the revenue streams are going to be GIGANTIC...  in a few years, the american public with get the MIDDLE FINGER from these commerce giants and at that point in time, it will be too late to stop them...


We will begin our slow gradual decline as China begins its rapid growth...  and American will stand in UNEMPLOYMENT LINES wondering JUST WHAT THE HELL HAPPEN?

International Church of Cannabis

A pink sculpture titled Public Defender stands outside the International Church
 of Cannabis
 (International Church of Cannabis)

The city of Denver is demanding the Church of Cannabis remove a statue that its co-founder says represents religious freedom and is used by its weed-smoking congregants for meditation.

"I hope the city of Denver recognizes our right to exist and our right to have this religious effigy, this representation of the freedom of religion that all Americans should have," International Church of Cannabis co-founder Steve Berke told Fox News. "Yet the city of Denver is really encapsulating the perfect example of big government passing unnecessary laws that don't protect anyone and infringing on our First Amendment rights."

The effigy at the center of the feud between the city and the smokers is called Public Defender, an eleven-foot pink android sculpture that sits in front of the church. The city has said the church must remove the sculpture because it is an encroachment on the public right of way and that neighbors sent in complaints, but the church says the artwork is central to its religion.

A city inspector reviewed the sculpture in September the day after its installation and didn't immediately raise any issues, according to Berke. Months later, in February, the city demanded the church must apply for a permit within 10 days to keep the statue in place.

"Ten days is not enough time to receive a land use survey and engineers study all the things that we need to apply for a permit," Berke said. "So the city basically gave us a deadline that was impossible to meet."

The city later said a permit wouldn't be approved even if the Church of Cannabis applied because "the sculpture as installed does not meet minimum placement, height, and vehicle sight line criteria of the Encroachment Rules & Regulations," according to an email the city sent to Berke.

The church's neighbors have also complained that the statue blocks visibility at the corner, a Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure official told Fox News.  READ MORE...

Just Poeple


 

Knowledge


 

Trust the Process


 

There Are Always Two Sides to Everything (allinclusive)

 I am a "tad" old fashioned as they say here in the south...  with the understanding that "tad" could just about mean anything...  but, one thing that I have learned in my short life is that EVERYTHING HAS TWO SIDES...

  • good/evil
  • right/wrong
  • black/white
  • up/down
  • inside/outside
  • liberal/conservative
  • democracy/communism

One of the concepts that I have always treasured about our democratic republic form of government, is that in order for it to work properly or any democracy for that matter, it MUST HAVE OPPOSING VIEWS...  it is the opposing views that counterbalance each other so that the scales do not tip too far in one direction.

If any of you have grown up in a household where the father, not the mother, is in charge of EVERYTHING, then you know what it is like to live in a ONE SIDED SOCIETY...  mother's opinion is completely ignored and father's opinion is how it is and is going to be, even it is is WRONG...

When children finally get old enough to escape that kind of control, they either continue to perpeturate the control or seek to find a relationship where that control is divided...

Sometimes that division is unequal meaning that sometimes the father is more correct and sometimes the mother is more correct...  but the responsibility for those decisions are divided...  and does not just represent one view...

My point here is that if the DEMOCRATS or LIBERALS succeed in silencing the Republicans or Conservatives, then will will have a government that is control ONLY BY ONE PARENT...

  • Democrats want to spend money and tax the wealthy
  • The wealthy hide their money away from taxes
  • The wealthy build churches, schools, and hospitals
  • Democrats want a reduced military
  • A reduced military makes our enemies happy
  • Democrats want an end to fossil fuels immediately
  • Our economy is not prepare for that transition
  • Our enemies do not want to end fossil fuels

So, here's the point...

  • Are the Democrats right?
  • Should we be weaker than our enemies?
  • If the wealthy hide their money, who will pay the taxes?

Democrats want to censor opposing views...

Democrats want to be the family's father...


Have you forgotten your high school history where it was the Democrats that wanted SLAVERY and the Republicans who stopped SLAVERY...  Think about that....  those historical facts should tell you something...



Enslaved


 

In Your Pocket


 

Stranger

 


White Privilege



By Jon Greenbereg
This article was originally published by Everyday Feminism. It has been edited for YES! Magazine. If you checked out the Jose Antonio Vargas documentary about White people, aptly titled White People, you’ll know that many White people struggle to discuss race (not that some of you needed a documentary to confirm this fact). Throw “White Privilege” into the discussion, and the awkwardness—and defensiveness—can multiply astronomically. What is White Privilege? The reality that a White person’s whiteness has come—and continues to come—with an array of benefits and advantages not shared by many people of color. It doesn’t mean that I, as a White person, don’t work hard (I do) or that I haven’t suffered (well, I have known struggle), but simply that I receive help, often unacknowledged assistance, because I am White.

Or, as Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, I “believe [I am] White.” I’ve yet to get a DNA test, which led to a surprising result for a White supremacist who thought himself 100% White. Perhaps most indicative of the power and prevalence of White Privilege is that, though people of color have been fighting racism since its invention, those who are most associated with White Privilege education tend to be White people: Tim Wise, Robin DiAngelo, Paul Gorski, and, of course, Peggy McIntosh, author of the 1989 article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” And I understand why Peggy McIntosh’s “Knapsack” article continues to fill anti-racist syllabuses 26 years later. 

Her list of privileges makes the concept readable and digestible—heck, the success of Everyday Feminism is largely because of this listing format. For example: “I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group” or “If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.” Taken together, McIntosh’s list reveals a privilege she never explicitly states: the privilege to feel normal. But how odd is it that White people are the ones who so often disproportionately get the credit for educating about White privilege? 

Think of it this way: Because I have always had full use of my legs, I’d be the last person you’d turn to to learn about life in a wheelchair. In fact, navigating a tour of the state capital with a student in a wheelchair for 30 minutes taught me more about life in a wheelchair than my previous 30+ years had taught me. Yet, when it comes to White Privilege, White people somehow become the authority. While I have indeed learned important lessons from prominent White anti-racist educators (like the above ability-privilege analogy that I pulled from Tim Wise), here are lessons people of color have taught me that have changed my life—and they could change yours as well.

1. I Have The Privilege Of Having A Positive Relationship With The Police, Generally
Sure, the police who patrolled the affluent neighborhoods of my youth were an inconvenience to a few keggers, and I maintain that a traffic violation from the late 90s was unfair, but I grew up thinking of the police officers as a source of safety if I were ever in danger; I certainly never viewed them as the source of danger. In 1999, Amadou Diallo—and the 41 bullets that police officers in plainclothes discharged at this unarmed Black man with no criminal record—taught me that not all share this privilege. Diallo was for me what Michael Brown has been to some White people. Too many Black and brown people are not safe with the police. 

Not even if you are child, a lesson Tamir Rice and Dajerria Becton taught me. Not even if you are seeking medical help, a lesson Jonathan Ferrell taught me. Not even if you call the police for help with your mentally ill son, a lesson Paul Castaway’s mother taught me. Not even if your back is turned, a lesson Rekia Boyd and Walter Scott taught me. Not even if you tell the police you “can’t breathe,” a lesson Eric Garner taught me. 

Not even if you have your hands up, a lesson Antonio Zambrano-Montes and Michael Brown (according to sixteen witnesses) taught me. Not even if you are “safe” in custody, a lesson Tanisha Anderson, Natasha McKenna, Freddie Gray, and Sandra Bland taught me. Not even if you plead for help while in custody, a lesson Sarah Lee Circle Bear taught me. 

These are just a fraction of my teachers, those whose names reached the media, which too often neglect reporting police killings of women of color and Indigenous people. Of course, I might not have learned any of these lessons if not for the efforts of Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, a movement that is changing White perceptions of racist policing, not to mention our entire political landscape.

2. I Have The Privilege Of Being Favored By School Authorities

Kiera Wilmot and Ahmed Mohamed, both of whom were arrested for bringing science projects to school while Black or brown, helped teach me this lesson. Recently, one Black 12-year-old was suspended for intimidating a White girl through his staring—staring that took place during a staring contest. Huh? Studies confirm such mistreatment of Black and brown students. In one, White students who reported that they committed 40 crimes in a year were “as likely to be imprisoned as black and Hispanic students who reported committing just five offenses.” 

In my hometown of Seattle, Black middle school students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as White students, a reality that has attracted an investigation by the federal government. One federal study found similar disparities start as early has preschool. Preschool. As a parent of a White 4-year-old, I can’t fathom how such heavy-handed practices would ever help my child (who recently smacked my face because he didn’t want me to leave his room at bedtime). But because we’re White, I’m unlikely to ever receive the call from school officials that Tunette Powell recounts in her article, “My son has been suspended five times. He’s 3.”  READ MORE...

Experimenting with White Privilege

 

Monday, March 13

Admiration for Jimmy Carter


Smart Window Technology

 

Africa Takes Action


Demonstrators at the COP27 climate summit on Novmber 15, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. A new climate financing mechanism for Africa, by Africa could reduce the continent's dependence on the West to deliver on its promises. [Peter Dejong/AP Photo)



Failure can, at times, inspire wins. Just ask Africa.

The recently concluded COP27 global climate talks witnessed the continent triumph over a status quo of consistent failed promises of $100bn in climate financing from rich nations.


The launch of the African Climate Risk Facility – a $14bn local, market-based funding tool to help African countries increase the resilience of their vulnerable communities – is a wake-up call for a world frustrated by the hollow commitments of wealthy countries. The financing is a climate solution designed by Africa, for Africa, to support losses and damage (L&D in climate negotiations jargon) caused by climate change. And it should serve as an example to Asia.

Of course, COP27 did eventually reach a historic agreement to set up an L&D fund. But the developing world is used to hearing big promises that never see the light of day. The $100bn in climate financing was supposed to reach poorer nations by 2020. That year has passed, and the figure has since become irrelevant. Pakistan alone requires more than $30bn to recover from just the direct losses caused by this year’s catastrophic floods.

Why should the new loss and damage fund prove any different? At the moment, it is an empty account. Who will contribute what is yet to be decided. It took the United Nations-sponsored COP process more than a decade and thousands of natural disasters to agree on establishing the fund, so one can only imagine how much loss and damage climate-vulnerable countries will have to bear before the money begins to flow.

There’s another risk too. By establishing an L&D fund while omitting language on phasing out fossil fuels, COP27 has come dangerously close to allowing rich countries to damage the planet as much as they please as long as they promise to pay for it after the fact.  READ MORE...

Meeting Up With Friends


 

Female Led Relationship

 


Climate Change & Global Warming