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I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

theguardian.com

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Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#241

Post by sethrin »

linkregister wrote: post #223
sethrin wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"with the help of the French" is an understatement. It was better described as a proxy war between Britain and France.

The war was almost certainly unwinnable without French loans, arms, and naval support, but the bulk of the fighting was done by the Continentals.

Wouldn't that be the definition of a proxy war? However, even that claim is suspect. The Continental Navy was a joke and had zero effect on the war. The French fought a global naval campaign with the world's largest navy. They also supplied the vast majority of gunpowder, cannons, and muskets used in the initial years of the war, and landed several sizable armies. At any point in the conflict the loss of French aid would have meant instant defeat for the colonists. The French or French allies engaged in more or less continuous warfare for decades both before and after the American Revolutionary War.

It's most accurate to say that the American Revolution was a notable but not decisive campaign in the Second Hundred Years War. Americans blow their participation in the conflict wildly out of proportion -- patriotic textbook revision has produced an epic creation mythology. Panamanian schools seem similarly to omit the role of the US in the creation of that country. It's not just that history is written by the winners, it's that it's continually rewritten by the winners.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#242

Post by detritus »

gallerdude wrote: post #9

Maybe I shouldn't post this online, but this is one of my biggest fears. Just, being trapped somewhere, alone with your thoughts, with nothing to do. After reading The Jaunt by Stephen King, I was on edge for a day or two afterwards.

Ooh, I'll have to read this - thanks for the pointer.

When I was a much younger human I took quite a lot of drugs like mushrooms and MDMA. Toward the end of one such session I found myself in my kitchen, staring into the dark space behind the window and was struck with a realisation of what Hell would be, should it exist. Not spewing fields of lava and endless pains of torture, rather unending consciousness with no inputs or outputs. I imagined black (although that would technically be an input - I am unable to imagine literally nothing!) but just as easily, an infinite field of white would be as horrifically terrifying.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#243

Post by anon182429 »

ars wrote: post #122
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a small windowless room ever be necessary? How would an unarmed person harm someone from inside a normal prison cell?

You should look at photos. Most prisons don't have single cells, they have large rooms with bunks, or they have shared cells with 2 or more people in each one. They should make cells that are tiny and fit one person - but have lots of opening and permission to talk to anyone around them. That way there is physical isolation, but not mental isolation.

The problem is prison gangs can still communicate. Often times isolation is used to prevent gang leaders from interacting with other prisoners and giving orders / running the gang. By allowing communication, gang leaders can order footsoldiers to carry out assaults, thefts, etc.

These aren't nice people, they are criminals. They will take advantage of anything you give them.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#244

Post by anon182429 »

adekok wrote: post #172
kerbalspacepro wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do men commit more crimes than women?

If only there was a study which explained this... or maybe an "internet search engine" where you could find references. I'll summarize for the lazy: taking everything else into account, men get 63% longer sentences for the same crime than women do. If you look at crimes: http://law.jrank.org/pages/1250/Gender-Crime-Differences-bet... About 80% are committed by men. But 93% of inmates are men: https://www.bop.gov/abou…

Yes well women are oppressed, so when women finally get a win vs men you have to complain about it. Women make less than men, so a female suspect won't be able to afford as good of a lawyer as a man. Therefore, giving them lesser sentences to compensate for this is only fair.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#245

Post by ars »

coldtea wrote: post #230
ars wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should look at photos. Most prisons don't have single cells, they have large rooms with bunks, or they have shared cells with 2 or more people in each one. They should make cells that are tiny and fit one person - but have lots of opening and permission to talk to anyone around them. That way there is physical isolation, but not mental isolation.

> They should make cells that are tiny and fit one person - but have lots of opening and permission to talk to anyone around them. Actually there's no need for the cells to be tiny -- even if they are meant for just one person.

That's not entirely true. If the cell was large people would attempt to get into them on purpose to get a private room.

The cell has to be small enough that no one would prefer it over general.

Additionally if the cell was larger then the number of neighbors each prisoner could interact with is reduced. But the goal is to give them the opportunity to interact with as many people as possible.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#246

Post by linkregister »

sethrin wrote: post #241
linkregister wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The war was almost certainly unwinnable without French loans, arms, and naval support, but the bulk of the fighting was done by the Continentals.

Wouldn't that be the definition of a proxy war? However, even that claim is suspect. The Continental Navy was a joke and had zero effect on the war. The French fought a global naval campaign with the world's largest navy. They also supplied the vast majority of gunpowder, cannons, and muskets used in the initial years of the war, and landed several sizable armies. At any point in the conflict the loss of French aid w…

At no point did you contradict any of my points. What is your goal?

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#247

Post by mnm1 »

drewmol wrote: post #191
koenigdavidmj wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The will of the people on 2001-09-12 would be to get rid of jury trials and allow arbitrary searches and seizures. People are emotional and dumb, and sometimes it is helpful to build an intentional slowness into the process. If it's truly the will of the people, you should have no problem getting 2/3 of Congress to agree on it, followed by 3/4 of state legislatures.

I agree, pasted from a comment I made in a thread on a Western Union wire fraud case earlier this year: "those who may be unfamiliar: look into the passing of the USA P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act passed shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a bill of over 2000 pages which was rushed through congress in span of a few days from finalization to ratification under the prosumtion of necessity to provide the tools to combat terro…

When that bill was signed into law, it was a clear indication that the 9/11 terrorists had indeed won (achieved their goals) and our own representatives and President had just handed them that victory willingly, albeit rushed and unscrutinized. Requiring a 2/3 majority before passing legislation that brings down the whole country is a great idea indeed.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#248

Post by whiddershins »

nether wrote: post #62

This is the worst of racism. The next time a white HNer tells PoC to just turn the other cheek toward racist words, point them to this. Racist attitudes are what enable horrific crimes against blacks, such as these.

Is it reasonable to entertain the hypothesis that perhaps the focus on addressing word choice and speech patterns drains energy from combatting real abuses from the legal system?

Wouldn't most minorities prefer to live in a world where people often say insensitive or prejudiced things, but the legal system does not enact violence against them based on their minority status?

Have we conclusively proved that altering speech patterns and day to day expressions of opinion changes the likelihood of state violence against a particular group?

I intuitively feel that a tremendous amount of consciousness raising has happened during my lifetime, but the vicious prison sentences haven't changed much. The massive inequity in legal outcomes continues to be a topic of discussion in the press, and I know people who work for The Innocence Project who feel things are better, but not nearly better enough.

I am concerned that we might be engaged in placebo-like or symptom treating behavior, while the underlying disease goes unaddressed.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#249

Post by thinkmilitant »

anonacct37 wrote: post #185
rhino369 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the problem is that even thought a lot of people generally agree that we are too harsh on criminals, they don't stick to that viewpoint when the rubber meets the road during situations they care about. People who are liberal on sentencing get angry if short sentences are handed down in rape or financial crime cases.

There's an appropriate amount of punishment. It's too much for a joint and too little for the people who broke the economy. This is not a contradiction or indication of hypocrisy.

If it's still about punishment, it's still coming from the wrong place, imo. Furthermore, everyone will have different opinions on which crimes are more heinous than others.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#250

Post by [deleted] »

jernfrost wrote: post #69

I really shouldn't be reading stuff like this. It makes me so angry. It is odd that so many conservative Americans think racism isn't a thing. Blacks are dismissed as violent thugs, who are the fault of their own problems. But who had acted peaceful and well adjusted if they were subject to as much oppression, prejudice and brutality as the blacks of the US? People are products of their environments just like animals…

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