A Good Friday Sticky, of San Diego, California Written on Good Friday, March 25, 2016 As much as I love my job and what I "get" to do on the daily, there is one aspect that frustrates the hell out of me. My supervisor is one of those typical state employees who finds an excuse to take all or part of most Fridays off. If it is not a funeral or speaking at one, it is some online college course he has to go use a specific computer to do an exam, an event at his kids' school or any number of "the dog ate my homework" type of excuses. All of these things seem to pop up, conveniently, on Fridays. Most of these days, I go in at 8 AM and the class leaves by 10 AM. Big secret revealed here: This is so students can sign in for the day and the state can take credit for a full day of class, ultimately shortchanging the taxpayer. On those days, I usually go to my volunteer assignment in the library, as I did today. For once, I am happy he decided to leave early because things were much more interesting at my 2nd job. On this day, the Parole Board had set up shop in the library back room. When I arrived, many of my peers were already there, on the edges of their seats, chewing fingernails to the quick. As I did my porter duties there was plenty of time to speak with many, as each waited his turn. My six-fingered cabinetmaker friend, whom I've known for about seven years, did not fare so well. Sixteen years ago he decided it was safe to drive home from the bar with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit. All was fine until he rear-ended that special education bus, killing the kid in the back seat. My friend was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 to life. This was his 2nd parole hearing where, this time, he was denied and told to return in seven years. Another guy I've known from around the yard told me his story for the first time. To me, parts of it were humorous but I'm sure he doesn't think so. It seems he wanted to rob the local liqueur store but didn't have a weapon. His roommate had a terrarium with a rattlesnake in it. He put the snake in a burlap sack, went to the store, plopped the bag on the counter, and told them to put all the dough in a paper bag or he'd let the snake out. The cashier called his bluff; out came the snake. The plan backfired when the snake reared & bit the robber. I can understand why he's been so tight-lipped about his folly. He, too, was denied. I don't remember his exact conviction but it was something like "wildlife mayhem." The best one I heard all day I have saved for last. Another friend I have not known long has been down for twenty-seven years for a string of twenty-nine armed robberies. In speaking with him, I've a feeling there were many more and those were the ones he was caught on. Almost three decades ago, the jury sentenced him one life for each, all to run consecutively. Today, after all this time, the board finally recognized a mistake had been made. Those convictions were supposed to be run concurrently. This afternoon I saw my friend with his first genuine smile, ever. He reported that they'd dropped 28 of the life sentences and told him to come back next year. Also, they said, they saw no reason why he would not be released at that time. I guess it really was a Good Friday, for him. I absolutely LOVE to hear about guys getting out, especially the ones who have more than served their time. It's gotta be a great feeling going from thinking, one minute, that you are going to die in prison, to realizing you'll be a free man when the day comes you meet your maker. God Bless. Stray Thoughts
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Letters to the Editor Re: Robert H. Outman, Prisoner P-79939 Great reply when you said, "machianography [neologism] to defend the honor of the motherland. It's called denial." Yeah, you are right. Well said. Absolutely well said, had to look up those $10 words to figure out the meaning, but I got it now. Charles Dickens said that the Quaker penitentiary was "cruel and wrong" and that "this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain, to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body." http://hubpages.com/politics/AmericanPrison —Ptosis
Greetings Sam: .... As I read through your feedback section, I was quite blown away about all the comments concerning the condom dispenser in "Anybody's Guess." [April issue, page 1] It would seem there are more people (and prisons) experiencing the same issues. I love the feedback, myself. .... It seems this institution did not stop with the dispenser. Now, there is a higher stainless steel "privacy" wall in our showers so that non-showering people can't gawk at the transgenders' boobs. Seriously. Apparently, it is okay to take a gander to your left or right once you're in there but, no peeking from outside.... I thank you for the new April issue that you sent me. Now, my dad can have the non-coffee stained — donut spooged version. My dad has retained a couple of lawyers to dig into my [case information omitted] case and now, suddenly, out of the blue, the judge decided to reopen my case to "have another look". This is the same guy who denied the same case two months ago. They assigned a public pretender and then notified me. I think dad is going to have his lawyer take over. It makes me wonder. Perhaps a couple of lawyers poking around the courthouse and into my records got the DA (or judge) thinking that they better have another look-see. What do you think? Wish me luck. It could be good, or nothing, but they can't give me more time.... I hope you are well, my friend.... Keepin' it real bro, —Robert, of Soledad, California Some Important Things to Know About the U.S. Constitution Sam Aurelius Milam III Introduction There are some clauses in the U.S. constitution that most people don't seem to have noticed. If they noticed the clauses, then they don't seem to have understood their importance. In my opinion, those clauses are among the most important clauses in the entire document. They address citizenship, constitutionality, the Supreme Law of the Land, and the status of the states. Citizenship
Jurisdiction means power and control. In the government schools, they taught us that the citizens control the government. In fact, citizens are under the jurisdiction (power and control) of the government. Thus, they cannot control it. Instead, they are controlled by it. That being the case, citizenship differs from slavery only if it is voluntary. It seems to me that citizenship isn't voluntary. Instead, it's a prerequisite to everything that people need to do, making it, in effect, mandatory. I believe that U.S. citizenship is an unrecognized form of slavery. Constitutionality
The only valid test of the constitutionality of legislation is that it was deemed, at the time and by the members of the Congress, to be necessary and proper. The only restriction is that the legislation enables the execution of some power that's vested in the government, by the U.S. constitution, including powers added by amendments. Any other effect of any such legislation is irrelevant. Concerns about constitutionality, beyond the "necessary and proper" consideration, are irrelevant. The clause provides a legislative carte blanche.
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Acknowledgments My thanks to the following: SantaClara Bob; Lady Jan the Voluptuous; my mother; and Betty. — editor
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•I don't know whether to kill myself or go bowling. •If I'd shot him when I met him, I'd be outa jail by now. •I wouldn't take her to a dawg fight, 'cause I'm afraid she'd win. •I'm the only hell my mama ever raised. •If you leave me, can I come too? •My wife ran off with my best friend, and I sure do miss him. •We're not really strangers 'cause I've already loved you in my mind. •Thank God and Greyhound she's gone! •You're the reason our kids are so ugly. Frontiersman Availability — Assuming the availability of sufficient funds, subscriptions to this newsletter in print, copies of past issues in print, and copies of the website on CDs are available upon request. All past issues are available at http://frontiersman.org.uk/. Contributions are welcome. Cancellations — If you don't want to keep receiving printed copies of this newsletter, then return your copy unopened. When I receive it, I'll terminate your subscription. Reprint Policy — Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other sources. For that permission, you must apply to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material. Submissions — I consider letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. Payment — This newsletter isn't for sale. If you want to make a voluntary contribution, then I prefer cash or U.S. postage stamps. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.org.uk. In case anybody's curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. I don't accept anything that requires me to provide ID to receive it. — Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor
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