Re: francoise, Tough on Crime?

I feel your passion and the conviction of what you're doing in your words.
Nurture that spark, but keep your eyes open along the way.

Peace/Faith/Hope/Love

Loren

"Friendship is even, if you like, angelic.
But man needs to be triply protected by
humility if he is to eat the bread of angels
without risk." - C.S. Lewis


"Bruce Reilly (a.k.a Bruha)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Dear Judges, Lawyers, Policemen, Guards, Counselors, Taxpayers, et. al.,
>
> We are here.  Like it or not, for good or bad, we are here.  Who are we?
We are the
> downtrodden and dispossesed, the self-torturing, the disenfranchised
convicts,
> drug and alcohol addicts, the unemployed and unemployable.  We are the
children of
> poverty, financial and spiritual.  We have and will have children of our
own,
> grandchildren too.  We are ex-cons, uninsured, homeless, of many colors
and speaking
> many tongues.  We are the enemy in what has become a domestic war against
ourselves.
>
> And who are you?  You who like the tough talk of Tough on Crime?  You who
watch as
> budgets are cut in education and health care while you militarize a police
force?
> Bullet-proof vests, automatic weapons, helicopters, tanks, robots ... the
> testosterone is oozing through the streets, more prisons, longer
sentences, tighten
> the belt, spartan conditions, task forces, gang units, gun courts.  And
what is there
> to show for it?  Unemployent stays low because half the population
oversees those
> "out of the workforce", the dregs, the rabble, the enemy?  Please tell me
there is a
> deeper reason.  Do you feel safer?  More humane?  More like a cohesive
society with a
> shared sense of purpose, who can identify Us and Them?  Do you live in a
gated
> community or gentrified neighborhood?  By the way, have you read the
Declaration of
> Independence and US Constitution - or do you only know the first phrases?
>
> It's about time we got together.  Please know that I have yet to meet a
convict who
> wants their child to be a thief, an addict, a dealer, a prostitute, or a
violent
> individual.  Most of us still have hope for ourselves even when stuck in
the darkest
> dilemmas, ruts and catch-22s.  Most of us believe in crafting laws and
instilling
> order.  Many of us have burrowed beneath the surface to find a spiritual
sense of
> being, an understanding force at least as powerful as those we succumbed
to, and many
> of use wouldn't escape if you opened the front door.  Did you know that
approximately
> 10 million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, on parole or
once were in
> those categories?  Each of those 10 million have families, friends,
neighbors ... and
> so closer and closer does the We interface with the You.  Don't you think
it's time we
> talked?
>
> Are you ready?  Can you accept that the road we are travelling points
toward a grim
> and painful future?  Do you have the heart to face monumental failures
while bravely
> struggling beyond where we are now?  I know that some of you are, and that
some of us
> are, and this is what gives me hope.  You need our insights just as we
need your
> structure.  It is never over, especially when a real solution, a real
treatment for
> our sickness, is yet to begin.
>
>                                                    In Solidarity,
>
>                                                    Bruce Reilly (a.k.a
Bruha)
>                                                    P.O.Box 8274
>                                                    Cranston, RI 02920 USA
>
> P.S. - I am trying to conceptualize an effective guerilla media campaign
to promote
>        this cause.  Ideas are welcome.  Collaboration is prayed.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> part, "send usenet/news.answers/pictures-faq/part2" for the second,
> and "send usenet/news.answers/pictures-faq/part3" for the third, or e-mail
> to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "send NEWS.ANSWERS/pictures-faq/part1",
> "send NEWS.ANSWERS/pictures-faq/part2", and/or
> "send NEWS.ANSWERS/pictures-faq/part3" in the body of the message.
>
>
> II. DOWNLOADING AND DECODING FILES
>
> Basic checklist: Alternate checklist:
> ---------------- --------------------
> News reader News reader (optional in some cases)
> Text file editor "Super-decoder"
> UUDECODEr
>
> By far the most common method of posting files to the pictures
> newsgroups is the UUENCODE standard.  This program, shipped standard
> with most implementations of UNIX, converts binary files into plain-text
> ASCII files which can be handled by the mail system.  You will need a
> version of UUDECODE before anything else in order to view anything
> downloaded from the net.  If your system does not have a version of
> UUDECODE available, you can get one via anonymous ftp from
> bongo.cc.utexas.edu, in the gifstuff/uutools directory.
>
> The format of a uuencoded file consists of an optional "table
specification",
> which consists of the word "table" alone on a line, followed by one or
more
> lines containing the characters that will be used in the remaining encoded
> data.  Following this, the standard requires the line containing only the
text
> "begin <permissions> <filename>" (where "<permissions>" is a
three-character
> numeric string, and "<filename>" notes the name of the decoded file - for
> example "begin 640 myfile.gif").  This "begin" line is then followed by
> several lines of approximately 61 characters, all beginning with a capital
> "M", and containing any non-lower-case printing character (and very rarely
> resembles anything but absolute gibberish).  Optionally, one to two lines
> may be blank or contain less than the norma
>
>