What we really should be doing in prisons

What we really should be doing in prisons


I've posted it before but we really need to close for profit prisons and make them real rehabilitation centers. Teach criminals practical skills instead of letting private corps make money off of modern slavery.

Beating a Dead Horse: The War on Drugs

The war on drugs has always been a hot button issue in the United States. The problem is, one cannot fight a war on inanimate objects. One can only fight a war on people. The war on drugs isn't about drugs, it's a war on the addicts rather than the real issue, the manufactures and the dealers. William F. Buckley wrote a paper declaring the war on drugs dead, this paper will discuss his logic and options that might be viable if the war on drugs is indeed dead.

            In the 1970s, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. This wasn't a violent war in the traditional sense of the word, but a criminal war. He made federal drug control agencies larger and have more power in order to squash the rising drug using population (drugpolicy.org, 2015).  A year later, the very commission Nixon put in place recommended weed was made legal for personal use (drugpolicy.org, 2015). Nixon of course ignored this recommendation and chose to push forward banning all of what is now considered illegal drugs (drugpolicy.org, 2015). The view on personal use weed went back and forth like a pendulum until the 1980s (drugpolicy.org, 2015). By the 1980s and 1990s incarceration for drug charges went from 50,000 to over 400 thousand by 1997 (drugpolicy.org, 2015). This number is the equivalent of a small city’s worth of people serving time for some kind of nonviolent drug charge ranging from possession for personal use to manufacturing of the drugs themselves.

            William F. Buckley wrote a paper in the 1990 declaring the war on drugs dead. This author whole-heartedly agrees with him. Per Buckley’s paper, the US has wasted over 100 billion dollars a year in tax payer money to punish those who have the mental illness that is addiction and those who seek to use that illness against them.  Buckley cites money as a reason to legalize drugs, that if the state were to control the drugs and charge for them, it would put the US into the black as opposed to wasting so much money (Buckley). Buckley goes on further to talk about how crime rates have gone up over 400 percent since the grand war on drugs has started. The article further speaks of legalizing the sale of drugs, which this author disagrees with, citing that the country could make far more money that what it costs to prosecute and lock up those who are caught with only enough drugs to get themselves high (Buckley).

            Instead of keeping the possession of personal use levels illegal, the US should take a page from other first world countries and legalize possession for personal use amounts legal and instead offer options to treat the addiction which is the root of the problem. This would of course require other safety nets to be in place for those fresh from recovery. They would need jobs, housing, food, medical care, and of course steady mental and social support. Those who receive this support would be expected to pay the government back by participating in drug prevention programs and by paying their share of taxes based upon their tax brackets. The Portugal made possession of personal amounts of drugs legal in 2001 and instead started to treat the root of the problem, the addiction itself (Kain, 2011). For such a small country that equated roughly 100 thousand people nationwide (Kain, 2011). If the US were to do that same thing and get the same results that would mean an estimated 200 thousand people would become clean and sober over the course of ten years.

            The US has been fighting a losing war since 1971 thanks to the knee jerk reaction of the political sphere to people experimenting with drugs of various types. This has cost taxpayers more than t it would to treat the problem as a mental illness instead of a criminal one. While drug manufactures, distributors, and sellers should still face the fullest extent of the law, it does no one anyone good, but those who own for profit prisons, to keep those who are addicted to drugs going through the revolving door that is the current penal system. We should instead legalize possession of personal use amounts and offer to treat each person for their addiction and offer to help them get back onto their feet so that they might become productive members of society and pay back into the very system that helped to save their lives.

References

A Brief History of the Drug War. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war

Buckley, W. (n.d.). The War on Drugs is Lost. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://web.archive.org/web/20121116132827id_/http://old.nationalreview.com/12feb96/drug.html

Kain, E. (2011, July 5). Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/

I Am

I am loud, I am brash, I speak directly and don't believe in beating around the bush. I don't sugar coat things that don't need to be. 

I am an unrepentant liberal/socialist. I believe that it's no one's business, but my own what I do with my body and the same for everyone else.

 I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor, that there needs to be a redistribution of wage and money. 

I think that the rich need to be taxed at a HUGE percentage and ALL that money needs to be spent on those who need it most, with absolutely NO tax breaks for the rich or businesses. 

I think rapists need to be treated like terrorists and that the focus of all crimes in the news should be on the victims and their families NOT the people who commit the crime.

I think Muslims are awesome people with a bad rep and that conservatism is the greatest threat to this country and freedom. 

I believe that marriage is between consenting adults gender need not matter. I will NEVER back down from defending what I believe. 

I will post what I want about my beliefs and I will never remove them. I welcome open peaceful dialogue and enjoy debate. 

I will NOT tolerate hate speech nor will I allow comments that serve nothing but to inflame those around the post.

Man drugs and rapes wife for 3 years...His Sentence will Astound you!

Read Here

I have never been so horrified but such a case!

Every Mormon needs to read this.

http://rationalfaiths.com/combatting-cultural-lies-ambitious-lds-women/

Recent news

I've been seeing a lot of things on the news lately. Things I don't like. I have a beef with biggotism. A large beef with it. I also have a beef with classism and eliltism. Money does not mean everything. The fact that the richest people in the US and the large companies in the US do not wish to accept that they are responsible for their employees. They think it
is ok to pay a less than livable wage and to force their employees to survive on government assistance. They then lobby to have the same employees' wages taxed even higher to cover the cost of the government assistance while lobbying to have that same assistance reduced. It is time for an overhaul of the fed. It is time to let big business know that we will not take it anymore and we are taking the fed back as our own. For the People, by the People, of the People. Not the big business!!!!!!!

The Darker Side of My Life

As stated before, I'm a switch. This means I am both Dominant and Submissive. This also means that I have issues with certain labels in the 'kink' community. First off, let me say, I have no qualms with what people do in their bedrooms. What is done in people's private lives is their own choice and not much of my business.

But I am not part of the 'mainstream' 'kink' world. I can't be called a slave or a submissive, or a master or a dom in the truest sense of the word. I can dominate someone but I can't do it all the time or in every sexual encounter. Nor can I be submissive all the time or in every sexual encounter.

No one can own me...ever. I am the only person who owns me. I can give control over and let it go in certain aspects but I own myself and that's the end of it. I don't mind giving up control, but I can and do take it back. It's my personality.

I will never have a true master. I cannot have a true dom for myself. And it's not because I haven't met anyone who is more dominant then me, it's simply because I cannot and will not be owned.

Thoughts

Politics aren't about religious views, they are about important things, like education, taxes and safety. It is a woman's body and should she be raped whether it be a stranger, acquaintance or family, she shouldn't be forced to have the child, nor should she be forced to die because she has a medical necessity to have an abortion, a tubal pregnancy is a death sentence for a woman and so is uterian scar tissue. This doesn't mean I think a woman should use abortion as birth control, but it is her right as it is her body.

Rambles.....

I don't know why but for some reason I feel like rambling. Maybe it's because I've had a head ache for a few days, or because I over did it on food today, or because I'm really tired and should crawl into bed, but don't want to. But I do know that I've had a though going through my head for a few days now, everyone gets asked at least once in their life if they could go back and change anything, would they? Well for me at this point, my answer is: No, I wouldn't change a thing. Every ounce of pain, every tear I have shed, every drop of sweat that has fallen from my brow has helped make me who I am today. It has helped shape my life, my heart, my mind, and my soul. I would never have learned how to stand for myself, voice what I want and take what I want when I have earned it. With out that pain and suffering, I never would have learned how to savor the sweet things in life and with out those sweet things I wouldn't have anything to look forward to or remember when painful, scary, or stressful situations arise.

I've also come to the rather scary conclusion that I do truly love my boyfriend and that I do want to marry him... The reason this scares me is simple really, I don't want to fall for someone so hard and that deeply that I can become seriously hurt. What got me to come to this conclusion you ask? Well, I had a visit with my visiting teacher and she asked if the BF and I had talked of marriage. Truth be told, yes, have. It's normal in a young couple is discuss such things and it shows that we are both looking to be adult about our lives and not just "Go with the flow". I do actually want to get married again, despite the emotional pain that my first marriage was and the nightmare it became towards the end. Part of what holds me back is the fear of becoming a burden on someone again. I don't want someone else to have to take care of me after I just discovered my ability to stand on my own two feet.

Rant done for now. I may come back to this post again and add more as the time is needed.

The weekend

Things were...interesting this weekend. I offered to watch the BF's nephews, believing it was going to be only for the after noon, imagine my surprise when I find out his sis and her husband were going to be gone all night and I would have the kiddos that long >.< Now, don't take this wrong, if she had asked, I would have said yes, but it did tick me off that she assumed I would be willing. I did wind up watching the kiddos all night and thankfully the BF came over to his mum's after work. Like a respectful man, he slept on the couch, holding guard, while I slept in the spare room and the kiddos slept in their grandma's bed. I did enjoy it and I was glad the BF called his sis and made it clear she has to ask from now on if I'll watch the kiddos over night and not just assume I will.

I am looking forward to X-mas this year. This will be the first year where I think I'll actually feel welcome in a house since before my grandma died. The last few years, each Christmas, no matter where I go or who I am with, even if it's my own family, I've felt like an outsider. I hope to eventually have a holiday where I don't feel like I'm just along for the ride.

Falling

It's almost scary that I'm falling again. Only a man could get me this all tied up in knots... It scares the hell outta me. Opening my heart to another is just plain the scariest thing I can think of.

Hmm...

So life has been interesting...

The dating thing has seemed to have gotten serious...Not sure how to describe it. I mean, I knew from the beginning he wasn't looking to just casually date someone. I knew he was looking for his life long companion, but I'm beginning to think he really does want me and thinks that may be me for him... But the part of me that's been so hurt and scarred by the men in my past, that makes part of me wonder when he's going to change his mind. He tells me he won't, but a part of me is afraid he will...

How did this happen?

How did this happen? How did I let it happen? How did you do it? How did you steal my heart in just a few months? How did you sneak into my heart like this? And why does it scare the life out of me that you have? Love isn't suppose to be scary and yet this scares me more then holding a loaded gun. What am I to do now? You ninjaed my heart and you weren't even trying....

Bleh

The last few days have been Bleh to say the least. Between killing the battery of my car to the point I had to replace it, finding out I did indeed have an oil leak still, and finding out my car needed a 400 dollar repair or my alignment was toast, this week has just plain SUCKED. The only good thing has been my BF loved his hat for his bday and I'm trying to knit my first sweater. THat's about it really. It doesn't help I've had a couple of friends decide to fuck their lives up royally by one, getting back with an EX and the other deciding not to dump her stupid alcoholic, pill popping, dead end job having BF's butt >.< Why do I seem to be the only person with a brain around my friends?!

It's funny

I know I haven't written about my feelings in a while, but it seems things are coming to a head again... I find it funny that the friends I've made for games on Facebook are better friends then the ones I have in real life at times. My boy had to cancel on me twice in one day and it left me pretty depressed and that led me to notice that my "real life friends" aren't even friends anymore, the only time they seem to communicate with me is when they want something for their Facebook games... I mean really that's it. They never text or call, or even IM me when they see me on. A supposed "friend" only wants to hang out when he wants something I'm not willing to give and it's been steadily ticking me off to no end. I'm sorta projecting on the poor man and it made me vent to a friend the wrong words and feelings. I mean the insecure part of me does feel that maybe he's not as into me as I thought he was, but all he did was get real busy this week... He did promise that next Sat would be our day. Have I let my emotions get far too involved already? Could he just be using me to get a lot of attention? Am I reading too far into all this?

This is what goes round and round in my head when he doesn't respond to my texts or rushes off of our phone calls and says he'll text me later or call back but doesn't and I have to get his attention again... I did tell him I wanted to take this super slow, but it seems my subconscious is wanting to rush things and I'm not sure what to do about it. I fear talking to him to about these things because I don't want to drive him away.

But back to the friends. It really sucks that when I was at MJC, they always wanted to talk and do things, but then again most of them don't have cars and I tended to play chauffeur just to get their attention... I think that shows just what they thought of me if now that I'm not there to do those things, they don't talk to me anymore... I'm thinking I need to just delete them and get it over with. I mean it's not like they notice what I post anyway. It's the craziest thing that my getting dumped by my ex showed me just who my real friends are. And sadly that's not many. It seems the rumors a certain ex-friend are now spreading have set root and people are more apt to believe her then to look at the person they have been friends with for years. It also goes to show how intelligent they really are. People who will believe rumors over the person they know really don't have intelligence no matter what their grades, articulation, and conversational abilities are and that truly saddens me because it means the future of this nation (The US) and the world in general is pretty much screwed royally due to this being the people who are going to run it in a few years.

Interesting two days

Yesterday was interesting. So was today. I've spent the last couple of days looking at and viewing videos done by Muslims and learning what I can about their faith from their perspective. It has been interesting to learn from women why they wear the Hijab and why some men who practice Islam wish to marry a woman who wears the Hijab. This is interesting given many women in the LDS church won't even give a young man the time of day if he hasn't served a mission. Though in the case of the Hijab, some men will make an exception if it is her choice not to wear one. Many women in the church won't and sadly this hurts and discourages young men who don't have the funds to go on a mission or those who have converted too late to go on one. It's saddening to see these poor Brothers in Christ turned away because of something out of their control.

I've learned so much these last couple of days, not just about Islam, but a bit about myself. Since the Sunday before last, I've had to come to terms with the fact I can't be in therapy anymore. It's going to be strange not to have someone to talk with every week about the goings on in my life that isn't actually apart of my life. But I think I may be ready. I mean, I have you my readers as a bit of therapy. It's very therapeutic to write all my inner thoughts and feelings down and know that maybe someone is reading them. Even if no one does, it's nice to write things down and keep a memory of them as well.

Thoughts

So this week has been more uncomfortable then others. I've had to read chapters in class about things that brought back horrid memories, get my last wisdom tooth pulled, and trying this whole dating thing and realizing I'm not so great at it. In fact, I'm quite terrified of it to be honest. I don't want to get hurt again, nor do I want to be alone forever. I'm pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one. Trying to balance not losing my heart to quickly with this young man I'm talking with along with school, work, and friends hasn't made getting over my fright of being hurt any easier. The church doesn't want me in therapy anymore. They say if I still need it, I can use the therapists at school unless I start to get worse... again. I don't plan on back tracking. I've worked hard to get my eating disorder under control. And I don't plan on letting it get that bad again. My health is finally getting better even with the scare on my liver.


I'm finally getting down to the weight that I want to be, though the DR wants me to get down to 119 pounds. I just want a flat tummy and I'll be happy. For me it's not about begin a certain size, it's about having the figure I want and that figure happens to have a flat tummy and maybe still be full sized.


Idk, I think I'm way to tired to keep thinking this in-depth. I'm off to sleep for the night or at least relax with some Highlander.

It's been a while

It's been a while since I posted. Been busy. Got into the university I applied for. Got my loans and stuff squared away and wound up in the hospital. All in one month. I'm better now, it was a pretty bad infection though. And thankfully it looks like it won't be coming back. Now it looks like I may have endometrisis though which sucks and has pretty much screwed any chances of me ever having children royally. I'm still looking for an SO but I'm in no hurry after all I'm just starting university this month, I have plenty of time to find someone to love me. I'm still plugging away at my various passions and that makes me atleast a bit happy. I also found a place to live on a permanent thing and that has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. Also my therapist thinks I may be able to reduce our sessions to once or twice a month but it's only an experiment. Well, I'll write more later, more then likely tomorrow, but who knows.

It's official

Well, it's official. My therapist has handed down the diagnosis of Food Restriction Anorexia... It's not like normal anorexia where it's all about weight. This form is about control. I feel out of control so I starve myself of food. It can be a conscious choice or an unconscious one depending on the level of stress I'm under. There have been days where I will do this act without even thinking simply because I'm too depressed to care anymore. I've had this issue since I was about 12, most of the time I don't even realize I'm doing this anymore it's become so ingrained in my behavior. so with out further ado... this link will explain the steps that can be taken to combat the disorder, but by no means is it a way to treat ones self without help. I am seeking pro help and anyone else suffering or who thinks they may be suffering should as well.  My disorder

Interesting

So I ran a bit of an experiment after my blog post the other day and realized that maybe I have a couple more friends then I thought that I can add the they really care about me list. I posted a vague status about how I realized a painful truth after so long of pretending it couldn't be true and got a couple interesting responses. I have to say it does kinda bug the crap out of me that some people act like my status update doesn't exist and others just look and go away.

I may begin to "drop" people off my friends list and see what happens as most them are people who really only noticed me back at my community college and would whine about not having any money and yet they have mummy and daddy paying all their bills. I have a job, I work hard for my money and pay what bills I can when I can and these little "Children" who actually older then I am half the time aren't making anything and whining about not having the cash to buy soda, chips, and freaking junk food. Or because they can't afford their precious Magic cards or Yuugi Oh cards since mummy and daddy only gave them enough money to buy food and ride the bus. I've even seen them use said money for their wants and then call one of their parents saying they lost the money or they were never given it in the first place. I can honestly say I'm sick of it.

I'm tired of people who aren't going anywhere with their lives trying to drag me down and bring me to their level. I sit back and wonder why I'm friends with people who aren't even on my level of intelligence. They don't make me feel smarter, in fact most of the time they make me feel frustrated really.

Granted those people on the short list I mentioned before are so not like that thankfully. They are very intellectually stimulating and I can talk with them for hours about anything, but those who aren't our topics will usually stick to things I have read to death and they never have anything new to say or new for me to learn. I think I am just plain done with these people and may severely shrink my group of friends down over the summer.