Jared Ferguson’s online accouting of (in)significant events. Since 2002
I hate automobile maintenance. I say that as I sit at Les Schwab, getting my car maintained. My car has been shuddering for the last month or so, but being that I dont drive all that much, I didnt worry all that much. Yesterday though, was different. The car started shuddering quite badly on the way back from picking up my two lovely children.
When I returned home, I took a look at the rear of the car, this is what I found:
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, I’ve got a lot of personal stuff going on. However, this video has been going around various online biking communities and so I thought I’d share it to those who may not see it. Pay close attention to it as this is some of the most amazing trials riding I’ve ever seen. Oh, and if your connection allows it, turn on HD by going to the original YouTube link. The song is “The Funeral” by Band of Horses.
I’m so glad the nasty weather split for a while so I could enjoy the spring blossoms. I grew up with plum trees in my yard and every year when I catch whiffs of plum blossoms or budding Russian Olive trees, I’m taken back to some great memories. I guess this is a big reason I’ve been riding my new route to work; I get to ride right past those same old trees and their sweet scent brings me a sense of peace, if only for a minute.
I’ve been riding every day to work, which has been nice. Taking a new route, which is always good to mix things up. Today I decided I’m done measuring my distances in miles. 1.6 K to the mile, easy conversion. So, I wrote down the details of my distance and converted my cyclometer to kilometers. I figured since I measure bike stuff in metric form, why not the distances I ride on the bike? Okay, maybe I’m silly, but I don’t care. So, 21k to work. Not bad to do every day.
People, the War on Drugs has FAILED! Oh, and while I’m at it, why do we need to go to “war” with everything (war on drugs, war on terror, the war on Christmas, the war on the family…need I say more)? Drug rates have remained largely unchanged since the early eighties, while the power and ruthlessness of south-of-the-border drug lords has risen drastically as a result of US policy.
My domain of focus during my MSW was Criminal Justice. As such, I have some very strong feelings about the near absolute disaster that has become of the justice system in America. Ridiculous rates of incarceration among minority classes, overworked and underpaid public defenders, 1 in 100 US citizens being incarcerated…yes, those are all signs of a broken system; a system in dire need of reconstruction.
While working at the Utah State Prison, I worked with drug offenders and mentally ill individuals. My work with the mentally ill led me to realize that US prisons have fast become the new asylums for the mentally ill. The old state hospitals were closed (for the most part) and when that happened, there was no plan in place to help the people who were then discharged from the system. As such, today’s mentally ill individuals often go uncared for and wind up in prison after committing crimes. Pathetic. Furthermore, at the prison, I worked with individuals who were serving more time for drug charges than others were serving for manslaughter. Yes, you read that right; no, I am not exaggerating. If you think that’s fair, call me and I’ll evaluate you for mental illness.
So, as you can imagine, I was glad to hear that Senator Jim Webb (D, Va.) introduced legislation last month to evaluate and begin to reconstruct the criminal justice system here in the US. I won’t go into great detail here, but the purpose of the legislation is to cause the nation to look at the racial disparities, sentencing guidelines, and other factors that have largely crippled our justice system. So, before you go off on a rant, here’s a little something to consider: On average, it costs $27,000/year to incarcerate an individual on a medium security level. One can provide a pretty solid amount of treatment for about a quarter of that cost. Furthermore, recidivism rates for fully-treated individuals are MUCH lower than that of offenders who receive incarceration, but no treatment. I believe this begs the question of whether or not our money is being spent most efficiently. Keep in mind, I’m not speaking about truly violent offenders folks and I do believe there is a good portion of the prison population that deserve to be there, but I view the mentally ill and drug offenders quite differently (and you’d be surprised about how many of them are one in the same).
If you think I’m speaking crazily here, I encourage you to look at Senator Webb’s legislation and really do some research about the status of justice in America. I think, like I was when I first learned of it, you’ll be quite shocked. I’m not citing any of the information I’ve stated here because I encourage people to figure this out for themselves. I have a strong feeling though, that this is quickly becoming a hot-button issue that will (like so many other issues) divide the nation. Don’t be ignorant, get the facts. To get you started though, I am linking to an article by Walter Cronkite about the failure of the war on drugs and Senator Webb’s proposal.
Links:
Telling The Truth About The War On Drugs
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
