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“A NECESSARY INTRUSION (Part 4) – PERHAPS THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE BEHIND BARS”

On By Tony CassonIn A Necessary Intrusion5 Comments

By Tony Casson

“What sorrow awaits the world because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.” Matthew 18:27 NLT

“He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.” Seneca

Many of you are familiar with a series of fast-car movies, the first of which was “Fast And Furious”. Those words also signify a disturbing willingness on the part of certain government officials to be as complicit in criminal activity as those they are trying to bring to justice.

“Fast And Furious” was also the code name given to a ‘gun-walking’ operation conducted by some members of the Department Of Justice in Arizona. Thousands of weapons were allowed to be sold illegally with the intention of tracking them to those who purchased them. It seems that “Fast And Furious” was the appropriate code name, for the weapons disappeared ‘fast’ and now the citizens of this country should be ‘furious’.

It was a misguided effort that has resulted in terminations, reassignments, and even a contempt of Congress citation for the Attorney General of the United States.

One of the weapons that was allowed to be sold turned up at the location where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was murdered.

Putting weapons into the hands of dangerous criminals who are known to have a proven willingness to use them should be treated as a criminal offense, NOT as a misguided attempt at ferreting out criminals in a search for ‘justice’. The responsibility of law enforcement is to enforce and uphold the law, not break it. It is the responsibility of law enforcement to apprehend those who have committed a crime, NOT to create opportunities for crimes to be committed.

Succumbing to temptation does not relieve an individual of the consequences of their actions, but it could be argued that if it were not for the temptation the action itself might not have occurred in the first place. A person who commits a crime of convenience – or opportunity – is guilty, as is the one who planned it before hand, but if the opportunity can be denied; if the temptation can be removed; if the criminal act can be PREVENTED in the first place, should that not be the overwhelmingly preferred method of dealing with crime?

Preventative medicine is practiced and promoted as being more prudent, responsible, and economical than waiting for illness and disease to occur. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. And a doctor does not make people sick in order to create business for himself… that would be unethical, irresponsible, and illegal. The same should hold true for criminal activity. Crime PREVENTION should be the first order of business for those who make, enforce, and adjudicate our laws.

A bank does not leave its money sitting on the counter in the hope that no one will take it. It locks it securely in a vault.

A teacher does not leave the answer key to a test sitting on an unattended desk, hoping no one will cheat. They are locked away.

Nor does a jewelry store display all of its wares on open shelves and counters trusting all who enter their place of business to remain honest. They are kept under lock and key and removed as required.

We are all aware that banks are held up, test answers are stolen and sold, and jewelry stores are robbed. These crimes occur, but reasonable, responsible steps are taken to prevent them from happening in the first place. If any of these items were left out accidentally and they were stolen, the person leaving them out would be guilty of negligence, but not necessarily guilty of a crime.

But what if the item that is ‘left out’ is an item that is illegal to transport, distribute, or possess in the first place? If that item could be locked up to prevent anyone from picking it up, but is intentionally left out to see who comes along and picks it up, is the one who leaves it out guilty of negligence, a crime, or both? Is it RIGHT to intentionally tempt someone with something illegal just to see if they will succumb to the temptation? If the item itself is against the law to possess and possession of that item is PREVENTABLE, should it not be prevented?

Child pornography is just such an item. With available technology, the overwhelming majority of it can be prevented from ever reaching the computers in our homes in the first place. The technology also exists to first send a warning to the user that a transmission containing possible images of child pornography has been detected trying to reach their computer, giving them the opportunity to refuse the material.

Neither of these things is being done and as a result, the spread of child pornography and the exploitation of innocent children is being perpetuated in another ‘fast and furious’ attempt at luring individuals to crime through the use of acts that are, themselves, criminal. As a result of this irresponsibility, I submit that any corporation – such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) – or government agency, or individuals belonging to any corporation or government agency that allows illegal material to reach its destination without attempting to prevent it or warn of its transmission is complicit in the commission of an illegal act and is guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. 2252 (A), distribution of child pornography. These same individuals and entities, because they have continued their illegal acts for years and have distributed to millions of individuals are also guilty of violation of 18 U.S.C 2252 (A) (g), which is operating a child exploitation enterprise.

In addition, civil suits have been filed by attorneys for many of the victims of sexual abuse who have been identified. Restitution in the millions of dollars has been awarded and those found guilty of possessing their images have been deemed liable for damages as a proximate cause of the emotional distress and trauma these victims have suffered. It only follows that a more direct contributor to the trauma of these children would be the very entities who can PREVENT most of these images from being viewed in the first place. That said, ISP’s and the U.S. Government should be held liable for civil damages as well.

Possession of illegal drugs is a crime. PROVIDING those drugs is a more serious crime. I see no difference here. Internet Service Providers and the U.S. Department of Justice are providing child pornography to MILLIONS of people resulting in the ongoing exploitation of innocent children. Anyone involved in these misguided attempts to create criminals rather than prevent crime is involved in behavior that is irresponsible, immoral, and illegal. Those who have the power to stop this horror and don’t should share bed space in the prisons to which they send the criminals they have created.

Let us examine the following scenario:

An armored truck is traveling on the interstate when its rear doors pop open accidentally. Several bags of money fall out onto the highway, spilling their contents. Hundreds of motorists stop and begin stuffing handfuls of money into their pockets, caught up in the moment. A police officer happens upon the scene and begins to arrest people as they try to leave. Of course he manages to detain some, but he only stops a fraction of those who took advantage of the opportunity. The damage has been done. They are guilty of a crime, but the crime obviously was one of opportunity. Had the doors not popped open, their crimes would have gone uncommitted. Since they popped open accidentally, no crime was committed by anyone inside the truck, although there certainly was negligence. But what if they had been opened intentionally?

The ‘doors’ to child pornography have been intentionally left open in order to catch as many of those as possible who succumb to temptation. This is wrong. But can the ‘door’ really be closed? What do we need to do to close and lock them? I am not a very technologically savvy individual, but a couple of news stories I have read make it very obvious that there IS a way, the way is known, and it is purposely NOT being used to prevent the exploitation of innocent children and the ruination of tens of thousands of lives.

First, let’s look at something that happened in south Florida earlier this year. The Southern District Director for Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) was arrested for possession of child pornography. What I found fascinating was HOW he was caught. AOL was his provider and they run software that apparently all ISP’s do that scans all images transmitted through it servers looking for child pornography. The software reads the ‘digital fingerprint’ of the data and can tell which images contain child pornography. What a great idea! This means they stop it before it ever gets in our homes, right? Wrong. They simply allow it to proceed and then notify the FBI. In other words, they opened the door of the armored car intentionally.

The first point in my argument is that if these images passed through servers that belonged to AOL and were identified, then they were allowed to pass through the control of AOL. If AOL’s servers detected child pornography, which is illegal – we are not talking about a freedom of speech issue here – and yet they did nothing to stop it, then from that point onward, AOL DISTRIBUTED child pornography. They had identified it for what it was, they had it in their control, they could have prevented it from going any further and they did nothing. This would also make them responsible for any of the trauma endured by the victims in those images through their negligence in not preventing the commission of a crime that they were aware of.

Another story I read more recently was regarding services Google provides to its users in China. It seems that searching for certain words or phrases in China can lead to the government cutting the user’s connection. As a service to their users, Google now has warning ‘flags’ that drop down and inform their user of the possibility of the loss of connection when they type certain words into the search field. It should be a very simple thing to provide the same type of warning ‘flag’ when certain phrases used to search for images of child pornography are typed in. Something to the effect of:

          WARNING: The use of certain search terms could result in
the intentional or accidental downloading or viewing of child
pornography, which is a serious crime. Penalties for these
crimes could result in imprisonment for terms of TEN YEARS
or more.

In the case of the transmission in progress, if the material isn’t going to be blocked completely, at the very least a warning ‘flag’ should pop up prior to the completion of the transmission. Something to the effect of:

         WARNING: Your Internet Service Provider’s software has detected
images that may contain child pornography being sent to your computer.
The possession of child pornography is a serious crime punishable by up
to 10 years in prison or MORE.
                                            DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?
                                                          YES                  NO 
If you click ‘YES’, your name will be forwarded to the FBI.

Obviously, such a warning should give pause to all but the most determined individuals. Perhaps the very ones in need of the most help or posing the most threat to society.

These things can be done. The images can be stopped completely, or at least a warning can be given. A last chance to come to your senses and return to decency. Proceeding can destroy peoples’ lives. We require a warning on cigarettes for goodness sake. How many lives can warnings such as these save?

In speaking with men around me, I asked if such a ‘flag’ would have provided some sort of wake up call. All answered without hesitation that a warning would have woken them up. Our individual morality and character can be debated all day long, but if these things are not implemented to help those who seek, or stumble, into immorality and a road that leads to ruin, we should consider those who OUGHT to be the primary focus here. Above all else, the protection of innocent children should be the objective.

Using every tool that is available, the victims of child sexual abuse whose images circulate on the Internet should be protected from further victimization and exploitation. The technology exists to stop, or at least severely limit, the spread of these pictures that myself – and many, many like me – wish had never crossed our computer screens. Protection of the innocent should be our first consideration. This is what everyone always claims, and yet the technology to do these things I suggest has existed for years. Those in charge have decided it is best to allow this filth to spread in the pursuit of justice. This time, they are wrong. They are exploiting the children of this country. How would you feel if the children they were NOT protecting were YOURS?

We can never control the thoughts that may run through people’s minds, nor should we try. But if we can control what they see, when what we are controlling is illegal, immoral, and destructive to all involved, then we have no choice BUT to do it. To do anything less, no matter what the justification may be, is not only wrong, it is simply illegal no matter what anyone may think.

Tell Internet Service Providers and the United States Government that it is time for a NECESSARY INTRUSION into our lives to prevent the spread of this epidemic that is killing our families and placing our children at risk. Tell them that it is time to LOCK THE DOOR ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

There are, of course, UNnecessary intrusions into our lives. The sex offender registry, in the manner it is now being used, is such an unnecessary intrusion that, again, puts YOUR children at great risk. I will try to explain what I mean in a future article.

I thank you for your time.

“A NECESSARY INTRUSION (Part 3) – UNWINDING THE SPIN ON SIN”

On By Tony CassonIn A Necessary Intrusion1 Comment

By Tony Casson

“By smooth and glowing words they deceive innocent people.”
Romans 16:18b NLT

“A word is not a crystal – transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

If you ever thought that you made your own choices and exercised control over your own life, consider the following:

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country…. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes are formed on ideas suggested largely by men we have never heard of.”

These disturbing words were published in a book written by a man who has been called “The Father Of Spin”. Edward Bernays wrote the above words in a book entitled “Propaganda”, which was published in 1928. Bernays’s methods, his philosophy and his theories helped him to become a leader in the art and business of public relations – or ‘spin’, as it is commonly referred to today. Other titles authored by Bernays speak loudly as to their content and INtent, and are still widely read today. They include: “The Business Of Propaganda”, “Crystallizing Public Opinion”, “The Engineering Of Consent”, and “Manipulating Public Opinion”.

Those titles are as disturbing as are some of his “achievements” in his field. Among them are the following few examples:

  • In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson formed the “Counsel On Public Relations”. Bernays was a prominent member of this group whose responsibility it was to influence public opinion toward supporting American participation in World War I.
  • In 1929, Bernays was hired by the American Tobacco Company to find a way to increase cigarette smoking among women. Women smoked, but were hesitant to do so publicly, so Bernays hired attractive models to march in a New York City parade. He had arranged for the press to be there to photograph them as they lit their ‘torches of freedom’, as they were called. (They were, of course, Lucky Strikes, an American Tobacco Company brand.) Encouraged, women around the country participated in ‘smoke outs’ to break the taboo.
  • Bernays also manipulated the CIA, the American Government, and public opinion to win support to overthrow the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arblenz. Bernays had been hired by the United Fruit Company which had found itself unable to maintain its low cost of doing business there when Arblenz’s government took over. During the first half of the 1900’s, United Fruit Company wielded tremendous influence with the United States government and Bernays capitalized on it, painting Arblenz as a communist and securing his forcible removal from office by revolutionary forces led by the CIA. As an interesting side note, one of the CIA’s top operatives selected to orchestrate Arblenz’s removal was E. Howard Hunt, who went on to gain notoriety in Nixon’s Watergate debacle.

In 1933, a foreign news correspondent with the Hearst Corporation told Bernays that his book “Crystallizing Public Opinion” was a favorite tool of Joseph Goebbels. The correspondent told Bernays that Goebbels used the book as a basis for his destructive campaign against the Jews.

While many American politicians and businessmen paid top dollar for Bernays’s skill at manipulation, many others criticized his methods, motives and character. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter referred to Bernays and others of his ilk as ‘professional poisoners of the public mind’. “Editor And Publisher” portrayed him as ‘the young Machiavelli of our time’.

Bernays’s uncle was Sigmund Freud and Bernays revolutionized public relations by combining the traditional functions of a press agent with the methods used by psychologists and sociologists to create what one writer labeled as ‘The Science Of Ballyhoo’, or what we now know as ‘spin’. Edward Bernays died in 1995 at age 103, but the ‘Science Of Ballyhoo’ lives on and the ‘professional poisoners of the public mind’ still ply their trade. Utilized extensively by politicians and large corporations, their value today is greater than ever before as everyone searches for an idea to sell or a cause to spin that will deliver the desired results of election to office, or financial profits, or both. And let there be no mistake about it: Nothing gets done, no law is passed, no action is taken until it has been packaged and processed for public consumption resulting in one of two things: it must advance someone’s career or increase their electability, or it must be profitable to them or someone they know.

Wars on poverty, crime and drugs were all wars that were declared first by these people we can’t see, with the voices we can’t hear. Long before anyone recognizable in face or name stood before the American people to cry out for the need to man the battle stations and confront those plagues on society, consultations were held with those who knew Bernays’s craft and could advise those who hired them on what to say, how to say it, and when in order to galvanize public opinion in support of their cause.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on these societal problems that have been ‘spun’ into attacks on us and our families that we are then convinced must be beaten back at all costs. We have been made to believe that spending the futures of our children, of their children, and THEIR children is the only way to counteract the different evils that we have been manipulated into believing affect each and every one of us. Through obfuscation and misdirection, we have been convinced that spending to create prisons and then filling them to overflowing is the way to security, safety and well-being for this nation. But as those who build the prisons and supply their needs rake in billions and billions of dollars and destroy millions and millions of lives, the real issues of education, real economic growth, retirement security, and others that DO affect the lives of ALL Americans remain on the back burner because the public’s eye has been drawn elsewhere.

In the wars on crime and drugs, the most egregious criminal act is the wholesale incarceration of hundreds of thousands of men and women for unconscionably long periods of time which accomplishes nothing other than putting money in the pockets of those promoting the wars and writing the laws in the first place.

Our prison system is overflowing with no end in sight as a result of all of this. Billions of dollars worth of business requires prison populations to remain constant or – better yet – to increase. But is the American public as exposed to danger as the well-orchestrated histrionics of our politicians and the media would have us believe? Or is it conceivable that laws are intentionally created and designed for the sole purpose of maximizing incarceration levels to benefit private and corporate profits? I submit that the latter is closer to the truth.

Consider the following facts taken from the 2011 edition of “The World Almanac”: In 2009, Florida’s population was 18,537,969. The state of New York’s population in the same year was 19, 541, 453, or slightly over one million MORE than Florida. At the same time, Florida’s prison system held 103,423 inmates while New York had 59,778 incarcerated individuals. With slightly more than one million FEWER residents, Florida incarcerated enough people to fill New York’s prisons almost TWICE. The racial make-up of the 2 states is fairly equal, so that is not an issue. What, then, could cause such a radical difference in the number of people in prison? It is impossible to examine that situation without taking the following facts into consideration:

  • Florida is home to GEO, the second largest private prison company in the world. Headquartered in Boca Raton, GEO contributes significant amounts to the political coffers in Florida and highly paid lobbyists work diligently to increase the already significant business presence of GEO in the state. Correction Corporation of America (CCA), which is the LARGEST private prison company in the world also has a significant presence in the state and contributes significant amounts to political campaigns as well.
  • Conversely, in New York state, private prisons are AGAINST THE LAW.

There are people… many people… working daily across this country to find the next occupant of a 7X11 cell and they are now focused on everyone who owns a computer because some estimates indicate that 75% or more of ALL computers have some form of child pornography on them.

So another war has been declared, this one ostensibly to protect the young and defenseless. On the surface, this is the most noble of causes. But it is a war that simply does not need to be fought at the level it is being fought.

As I have said repeatedly, in one form or another, I simply cannot put a ‘spin’ on child pornography that makes it anything other than the horribly permanent record of child sexual abuse that it is. Nor will I ever try. At the same time, a trusting public is being enraged and incensed against a segment of the population that is growing at a frightening rate and, while the public has the right level of moral outrage directed at the images themselves, they are being mislead as to the dangers presented by those foolish enough, curious enough, or misguided enough to think that it is an innocent thing to view images of innocence stolen. It is far from innocent behavior, but it can, and should, be dealt with differently.

Instead, those trained in the Machiavellian ways of Edward Bernays are now FURTHER exploiting the very children who have been so tragically exploited. As difficult as that may be to believe, there is an enormous amount of empirical data to substantially refute the claim of danger that is presented by those who view child pornography. This in NO WAY indemnifies those who view it or possess it, but it does need to be taken into consideration when addressing the problem as a whole.

Moreover, the problem itself need not exist to the extent that it does. With technology that has been around for YEARS, much of the child pornography that circulates on the internet does not even have to reach the computers in America’s homes.

Next time, I will explain why an intrusion by the U.S. government is necessary. In fact, I will show why the American public should DEMAND this intrusion and I will tell you why failure to intrude to the level of current technological capabilities should result in criminal and civil action being taken against those who fail to do so.

Next time, “A NECESSARY INTRUSION – PERHAPS THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE BEHIND BARS.”

More to follow tomorrow…

A NECESSARY INTRUSION (Part 2) – SUMMIT FEVER CLOSER TO SEA LEVEL

On By Tony CassonIn A Necessary IntrusionLeave a comment

By Tony Casson

“They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.” Philippians 1:17b NLT

“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upwards on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” Joseph Conrad

History has taught us that just because our government embraces a particular course of action doesn’t mean it will always prove to be the most prudent one to take. Many mistakes have been made in this country’s relatively short lifetime that could have been avoided with better information, more thought, less emotion and a greater concern for humanity. Personal ambition and desire for financial gain have also factored into these decisions. Lives have been destroyed; lives have been lost; homes and possessions of many innocent people have been forfeited and immeasurable pain and suffering have been inflicted. And all because someone was quick to paint a target on a particular group or cause and was able to point the emotion of this nation at that target. It was then easy to let loose our considerable resources with the single-minded objective of destroying it. This objective was usually met, although often with unpleasant, embarrassing or disastrous consequences later on.

Examples can be found going back to the earliest footsteps of our forefathers upon the soil in which are now anchored the flagpoles that proudly fly the greatest symbol of freedom and fairness the world has ever known. However, it was soil that was taken from a native people whose home it had been long before the first “civilized” steps were walked on it.

From the original oppression of Native Americans to slavery, from segregation to the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II and the national embarrassment of McCarthyism in the 1950’s, targets have been selected and groups singled out to be relegated to a class of people who are to be feared and reviled.

Far too many of those in power use the fear, ignorance and complacency of those they “serve” to carve paths to their own personal summits, climbing over or walking around the bodies of those they destroy on that path to the top. Our short history is too full of examples of the new lows to which people will descend in their efforts to reach new highs in personal recognition, power and financial gain.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the “war on crime” that was begun in the 1970s and still rages to this day. Millions of lives have been ruined and countless families have been sentenced to something less than the “American Dream” because we have allowed those who profit from other people’s pain to create the “American Nightmare.”

A prison industrial behemoth has been created in this country. It has put untold billions of dollars into the pockets of individuals and corporations wily enough to take advantage of the very windfalls they themselves helped to create. The American public blessed this beast as necessary to calm their fears; fears that are sustained by media that surrounds us and inundates our daily lives with shocking stories of murder, mayhem and man’s inhumanity to man. Highly paid and practiced individuals put a “spin on sin” that sends Americans running into their homes and locking their doors in the sure knowledge that rape, robbery or death await them on the other side.

The simple truth is that the average American lives a life untouched by crime from unknown sources. The closest most people ever get to criminal or unlawful activity is through their own actions or those of a family member. Speeding, running a stop sign, drinking and driving, and abusing prescription medications are just a few examples. Much of the crime reported in this country is domestic in nature. This does not mean that a person beating their spouse is not criminal. This does not mean that a person sexually abusing a member of their family is not a criminal. This does not mean that a person shaking a child who won’t stop crying is not breaking the law.

All it means is that we are more likely to face dangers or be exposed to criminal behavior by a person known to us than by a stranger.

Unfortunately, because we are so influenced by the internet, television, radio and newspapers, the criminal behavior that we are deluged with around the clock has us convinced that the monster is lurking just outside the doors.

Our prisons are full or people incarcerated for drug-related offenses. Many of their offenses occur in the poverty-stricken areas of our cities. The average American never gets near those areas so there is little to fear. If you do visit those areas to feed your own bad habits, then locking your door at home will not keep you out of harm’s way. Billions are being spent on a war that no one wants to win, although many jobs and many fortunes are dependent upon keeping Americans convinced otherwise. Legislators on the state and national level have wasted billions upon billions of dollars fighting the combined wars on crime and drugs. Prosecutors and juries have aggressively backed them up by sending those taken prisoner in those wars to institutions throughout this country. In 1980, the population of the U.S. was roughly 226.5 million people. In 2010, census figures placed the number at roughly 308.5 million for an increase of 82 million citizens, or roughly 36%. In the same timeframe, the prison population has grown from approximately 350,000 to over 2.1 million. That’s an astonishing increase of 600%.

These figures should sound a warning to sensible Americans everywhere. There is an explanation for this massive growth, but it is not the one that those who put the “spin on sin” would have us believe. The explanation is no more complicated than “summit fever closer to sea level,” as thousands of individuals seek financial profit, career advancement or both, locking up the prisoners of those wars that no one wants to win.

It is true that criminal behavior needs to be dealt with and there are many honest, hard-working diligent individuals who do their part to capture and punish those who step outside the boundaries of decency that society establishes. That said, it is also true that far too many profit or advance their careers from the incarceration of the very individuals they capture and prosecute.

The wars have been expanded now to include a crime that any decent moral person would find detestable and indefensible. I include myself among those who find it thus, even as I serve my sentence for being guilty of it. I speak, of course, about the possession of child pornography.

This crime affects us all, not just those who have been caught and labeled as “monsters.” Just like a California wildfire fanned by the Santa Ana winds jumps across a road or ravine, it jumps across all levels of our society. Just as any virus experienced by mankind, it spreads with the same lack of concern for who it infects. In fact, its spread has reached “epidemic” proportions as one federal prosecutor puts it.

Those whose job it is to put a “spin on sin” will tell you that this “epidemic” is being fought aggressively by the United States government. In actuality, in their efforts to catch the guilty, the United States government is actually perpetuating the spread of both the vile, disgusting images themselves as well as the destruction their possession wreaks not just upon the guilty, but upon the innocent as well – including the very victims of child sexual abuse who are the subject matter in those images.

I will explain how this could possibly be when I begin “Unwinding the Spin on Sin.”

More to follow tomorrow…

A NECESSARY INTRUSION – Part 1

On By Tony CassonIn A Necessary Intrusion3 Comments

By Tony Casson

“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.”     Matthew 5:6 NLT

“Few consider how much we are indebted to government, because few can represent how wretched mankind would be without it.”     Joseph Addison

Jus-tice (jus’ tis) n. 1. Moral rightness; equity 2. Fairness.

“Buried in the Sky” is a book written by Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan. The cover of the book says it is “The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2’s Deadliest Day.” It most assuredly lives up to its billing and is well worth anyone’s time spent reading it.

For those not familiar with K2, it is the tallest peak in the Karakorum range of mountains. It rises from the earth 28,251 feet on the border of Pakistan and China. K2 is second only to Mt. Everest, which lies 882 miles to the southeast. Although the summit of K2 is “over seven” hundred feet lower than Everest, K2 has proven over time to be a much deadlier mountain and has claimed a significantly higher percentage of the lives of those who have attempted to reach its summit than those who have attempted Everest.

The book centers on the Sherpa climbers who guide individuals and teams from all over the world as they pursue their single-minded objective of standing where so few have stood before. While the book describes the events that surrounded the loss of 11 lives in early August of 2008, it is full of vivid background on the history of the two mountains, the regions in which they lie and especially the people who inhabit those areas and risk – and give – their lives as porters and guides on those expeditions to the top of the world.

I am certainly not a mountaineer but I purchased the book to learn a little more about an activity that my beloved son has expressed an interest in. If his interest grows to the point that he attempts to climb the likes of Everest and K2, all I can say is, “I will kill you if you die up there.”

In my quest for knowledge as a father who loves his child and wants to learn about the things that interest him, I was stunned and exhilarated and sobered by the lives – and deaths – of the people who risk it all for that moment when the summit is reached and their eyes behold the view that so few can claim to have seen.

In the process, I encountered a story which made me think that perhaps some of the pursuers of those lofty goals are so fixated on their own personal pursuit that their obligation to other human beings is forgotten. This particular story is told about an incident that took place on the “other” mountain – Everest – in 2006.

A 34-year-old man had summited Mt. Everest and experienced his moment looking down at the rest of the world. As mountaineers say when they reach the summit, “You’re only halfway.” Now you have to go back down and while it surely must be easier, it is safe to say it is not easy.

When this man was still about 800 feet above the closest camp, he collapsed with exhaustion. Still attached to the fixed line, he was in need of assistance or he would surely die.

Mt. Everest is extremely popular among climbers. In a recent television news report, two hundred were lined up to make their way to the summit, so it is a fairly well-traveled route as mountains go. According to the story in the book, as many as forty individuals walked past this man on the day he lay there in need of assistance. None were willing to stop and help him back down to camp because it would have put an end to the pursuit of their own moment standing on the highest point on this planet. The window to reach the summit is open only for short periods of time and the cost is an enormous one: from $30,000 to $120,000 per individual. Some have saved – others have corporate sponsors whose reward is a picture of the climber wearing, or displaying, their product on the top of the world. Surely some of them thought, “Someone else will take care of him. It is not my responsibility.” There was a lot at stake to risk it on any display of humanity.

By the time the first party had summited and returned to where the man had collapsed, he was dead. Surely he was aware that people had died before him, even on the way down. More have died since. He was doing something dangerous and he died doing it. But he died because all those who passed  him ignored his needs as a result of their own “summit fever.” Their own need to reach the pinnacle of mountain climbing success was greater than saving another human being. After all, he did it to himself, didn’t he?

They all later claimed not to have seen him at all or to have thought he was just resting. Possibly true in a few cases. Probably not in all. But it was “just” a life lost. It was also easy to not consider the man’s family. They were not there and the pain and emptiness, the loss, will not be seen by those who clamored to reach the top.

Those ambitious men and women unknowingly made a statement from high above the rest of the earth. That statement said simply, “My goal, on my terms, at any cost.”

And so it is, back down here where the majority of us live and die. People closer to sea level also set lofty goals and are ambitious and, for many of them, the statement is the same. “My goal, on my terms, at any cost.” If the cost is the destruction of human lives, even when the cause is “honorable,” if the destruction is preventable and is not prevented, then the victims may as well be high up on the side of a mountain because the ones ignoring them are in the throes of their own brand of “summit fever.”

The primary responsibility of any government should be the protection of its citizens. First and foremost should be protection from foreign powers and influences trying to do harm. Secondly, there is a responsibility to keep us safe from groups or individuals within this country who endanger the safety and welfare of the general population. Thirdly is the government’s responsibility to protect its citizens from themselves, where possible, when doing so clearly benefits the greater good.

There are those who speak out against some of these laws and regulations. But sometimes these intrusions are necessary for the greater benefit of all and ultimately save lives, families and – of course – money. These intrusions include seatbelt laws, helmet laws for both motorcycles and bicycles, speed limits, drinking ages, and on and on. Intrusions that are irritating to some, perhaps, but are generally seen as necessary intrusions that benefit the greater good.

So finally, after taking you on a journey up the two highest mountains on earth and back down again, I am ready to tell you about a different kind of “summit fever” right down here where most of us live – and die – and why it is time for “A NECESSARY INTRUSION.”

More to follow tomorrow…

A CALL FOR COURAGE

On By Tony CassonIn A Sex Offender Like Me, Volume 32 Comments

By Tony Casson

“Seek to do what is right” Zephaniah 2:3b NLT

“Courage is that virtue which champions the cause of right.” Cicero

Those who choose to serve the public are often confronted with unpleasantness and difficult decisions. Oftentimes those decisions, in order that they be correct ones which benefit society as a whole rather than one small segment of it, must fly in the face of public sentiment.

The issue of child pornography is a highly volatile, emotionally charged one, but where it is the right of parents to be emotional where children are concerned, it is the DUTY of those who serve the public to look beyond the raw emotion and examine the full impact of the decisions they must make regarding how to deal with the issue on all of its complex levels.

The United States Sentencing Commission (U.S.S.C.) is considering changes to the sentencing guidelines relating to many issues. Possession of child pornography is one of them. As distasteful as this whole business is, it has become a plague upon this nation that cannot be ignored. The U.S.S.C. is accepting public comment on this topic. I encourage all who read this to offer their own opinion in the matter, regardless of what that opinion may be. My own letter to them follows so that my opinions, and the basis for them, may be known.

You can visit cautionclick.com for more information and to obtain contact addresses. The deadline is July 23rd.

Here, then, is my letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

I would think that the volume of letters containing arguments both for and against the reduction of sentences for possession of child pornography is formidable. With the following words, I shall try to do my part to help turn the tide in favor of compassion, common sense, and commitment to working towards a sensible approach to dealing with the epidemic that has gripped our nation and threatens to squeeze the very life out of it.

My name is Tony Casson and I am a 58 year old man who has served 28 months in federal prison in Oakdale Louisiana for possession of child pornography. With ‘only’ 23 months remaining, I am considered to be one of the ‘lucky’ ones. Most of the men who occupy space here with me for similar charges have longer -some MUCH longer- sentences to serve.

None are more aware than those who serve on this commission that there is no empirical data or substantive reason to support the length of sentences imposed upon those convicted of the crime of possession of child pornography. The public outcry against men like me is justifiable on a purely emotional level. All of the anger that is directed at those who would sexually abuse and exploit a child and then exacerbate that abuse by making a digital record to forever preserve the pain, humiliation, and horrific loss of innocence is brought to bear on those who would willingly participate in the abuse by viewing and possessing those digital records.

On the surface, this would seem fair. I certainly cannot put any ‘spin’ on child pornography that will make it anything less than the horrible permanent record of innocence stolen and child sexual abuse that it is.

At the same time, it is evident to many that the wholesale incarceration of anyone and everyone who has downloaded images of this abuse is as wrong and misguided as the abuse itself.

The merciless mass jailing of ever-increasing numbers of those who possess child pornography without first affording them ANY opportunity at redemption is inconsistent with what justice should stand for in this great nation of ours. In fact, many on the commission and in the courtrooms of this country realize this. It is now time to send a strong public message to Congress that their insistence on condemning tens of thousands of otherwise hard-working, contributing members of society to destroyed lives, broken families and bleak futures will ultimately create a problem with more disastrous consequences than the problem of possession of child pornography itself.

Many victims of child sexual abuse captured in digital images that circulate on the Internet have been identified by the authorities. They all have names. They are all living, breathing human beings. They have all been severely mistreated and they are ALL deserving of all of the physical, mental, and spiritual help that they require as they struggle to put things back into a perspective that might give them peace and dignity and restore their self-esteem and their ability to trust and live normal, happy lives. They are entitled to see those who perpetuated the abuse and produced the record of it be dealt with severely.

Those whose lives are destroyed by curiosity or an addiction to pornography that leads them down this well-travelled road of looking at images that shouldn’t exist in the first place – those individuals all have names as well. And so do their children, their spouses, their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

Their names are Stanley, who received 25 years for receipt, possession, and distribution of child pornography. The FBI showed up at Stanley’s house looking for a computer that Stanley had bought for his 12 year old grandson. In a misguided attempt to protect his grandson, Stanley laid claim to the computer and all that it contained, thinking that he might get a year or two in prison. His prosecutor said that they were going to ‘make an example’ of Stanley. They ‘stacked’ his charges and sentenced him to 25 years. Stanley is now 61 tears old and has been incarcerated for 7 years. During those 7 years, Stanley has had a quadruple bypass and a stroke. Stanley’s wife has cancer and emphysema and will most likely not survive until the end of Stanley’s sentence. But that’s ok, because it is highly unlikely that Stanley himself will live to the end of it. While Stanley had a few scrapes with the law during his younger, friskier days, he lived a quiet existence for 30 years before this epidemic of indecency invaded his home, destroyed him, took all he had worked a lifetime for and condemned those who love him to live without him.

Their names are also Jason, who is 20 years old and a recent arrival, sentenced to serve 7 years. Jason has been addicted to pornography since he was 13 years old. Back then, they were his peers he was looking at. At 20, it is a crime punishable by 7 years in prison, labeling as a sex offender, and a future destroyed.

Their names are Ken, 29, sentenced to 17 1/2 years because he went to trial and lost and that angers ‘them’. He is a father, a son, a brother, and a business owner.

Their names are Rob, sentenced to 9 years. Rob is 47, a homeowner, a father, an uncle, a brother, and was a long-time employee of an airline.

Their names are Aaron, 32, sentenced to 6 years. He is a very smart man who did a very stupid thing. His daughter is growing up without him but but she loves him and is waiting for Daddy to come home.

Their names are Derek, 29, sentenced to 9 years. His mom passed away recently. They were very close. He is a former member of the Air Force and is a talented artist.

Their names are Rob, 56, a retired naval officer with years of service to his country, doing jobs he can’t even discuss. He was sentenced to 5 years for fragments of images found on unallocated space on his hard drive by NCIS. He is a father, a husband and has given this country more than most of us can imagine.

Their names are also Pete, 62, 15 years; Ben, 28, 9 years; Steve, 68, 7 1/2 years; Michael, Randy, Dave, Jesse, Phillip, Alan, Floyd, and the list goes on and on and on.

What were we thinking? Obviously, we were not thinking at all. We were, for the most part, wrapped up in a cloud of confusion where decency was not allowed to enter and common sense was left outside. We all acted as if we were devoid of the intelligence, the heart, and the morality that God gave us. We were all caught up in something immature, irresponsible, and reprehensible. Our punishments, however, far exceed anything that begins to make sense or contribute to solving this terribly invasive problem that has reached into more households in this country than we can possibly imagine.

Congress must stop making laws that act as an emotional salve and are designed to gain favor and votes. Congress must start looking for answers and those answers do NOT lie within the confines of a razor-wire enclosure. The answers are not in a sex offender registry that hides those who need watching in the midst of those who need God.

Somewhere, the courage to stand up and say, “STOP!” must be found by someone who is truly looking out for the PUBLIC good. This frightening trend of locking away this country’s future must be reversed. At risk of losing votes, Congress must stand up for what is right, not for what is easy. Congress must look for solutions to build a healthier country, not for stepping stones to a brighter political future.

In his book, “Profiles In Courage”, John F. Kennedy wrote, “It may take courage to battle one’s President, one’s party, or the overwhelming sentiment of one’s nation; but these do not compare, it seems to me, to the courage required of the senator defying the angry power of the very constituents who control his future.”

May God Himself guide all of you and give you the courage to address this horrible thing that eats at us and to recognize that incarcerating people, while it may make good business, does not make good sense.

Let us seek, resolution, not retribution. Let us fix something that is broken and not just discard it. Let us save families, not destroy them.

I thank you for your time.

If you publish this letter, as you have so many in the past, there is no need to redact my name. I have made things right with God and He and I know that I am not what some would have society think.

We are not all monsters. Most of us are men who made mistakes.

Sincerely,
Anthony E, Casson
91153-004 A-1
Box 5000
FC!
Oakdale, La 71463

The Son, He Lives

On By Tony CassonIn Side StoryLeave a comment

It’s incredible seeing the amount of traffic TOC is getting, even when nothing is being posted. Thank you all for reading my dad’s posts!

I don’t remember the last time I wrote for TOC — how sad. But this place is about my dad, not me. It continues to grow, and he continues to write. I’m off job-hunting and feeling life’s path.

These days I’m in Oregon, working for my alma mater (Oregon State University) temporarily. I’m spending weekends climbing mountains and running long distances on Northwest trails. But I’m never too busy to respond to questions.

Having a family member in prison is difficult to endure. We ask ourselves questions — most of which we cannot answer. That’s what friends are for.

If there’s something you wish to ask me, don’t hesitate. I’m here: anthony.casson at gmail dot com

Forgive the odd address. It’s to (help) save me from spammers.

Cheers,

Anthony

God is my Cellie

On By Tony CassonIn Volume 32 Comments

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”             – Psalms 23:1 NASB

“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”              – William Cowper

God is my cellie.

No, I am not talking about that overweight, sixty-something man who snores in the bunk beneath me, silly. That’s Pete. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pete and he’s probably as good a person as can be found with whom to share a sleeping space that doubles as a bathroom as well. My personal habits are – hopefully – no more disgusting to him than his are to me. We don’t argue or irritate each other excessively. We both make an effort to be considerate of the other person’s need for space in an environment where there is precious little of it to let the other person have; and we both retire relatively early.

All of that said, let me turn once again to my other cellie. I am certain there will be some who will be offended at my little attempts at humor in an article concerning God; others will be offended that I am talking about Him at all; still others will blow off anything I say simply because they feel prison converts are a dime a dozen and our motives and sincerity are suspect.

That leaves the rest of you and I do hope there is someone left to continue to the end. No matter the words that I write, for the most part each one is chosen carefully.

Once again, I say, “God is my cellie.”

I am indescribably happy to be able to say that. I am humbly grateful that He did not allow me to enter this place alone. In spite of the relative safety of this particular institution, prison – even this one – is a lonely, scary place. It may not be for the most hardened among us, but for any with the least amount of civility and decency, it most certainly is. I do like to think I have retained a little of both. Were it not for God being close at hand, I cannot imagine what it would be like for me.

Contrary to what many may think, the majority of people who pass the wrong way through these gates of hell-on-earth are not converts to Christianity, or anything else for that matter. There are those living in freedoms who believe that many in prison lay claim to the discovery of God as a way of offering proof of their rehabilitation and their willingness to be involved in something uplifting and beneficial – even absolving to some extent. I would not argue that, for a few, this is the case. But I think the largest number of those seen with Bibles, making the walk to the chapel for services, partaking in Bible studies and participating in prayer groups within the individual housing units are sincere in their efforts to draw closer to the One who can truly help them change.

That said, let me just make the observation that, once a decision has been reached to move closer to God in prison, everything becomes more difficult. It is assumed by many that it is an easy thing to be a convert while incarcerated. The skeptics and the cynics would also throw in the word “convenient.” The simple truth is that, while many attempt to look to God for answers in here, actually making the change from a life of sin to a life for Him is complicated and frustrated by the prison environment, not enhanced by it. The one true benefit to pursuing a relationship with God while incarcerated should be obvious: the time available to spend in the quest for truth, peace and a renewed spirit for those who truly wish to do what is required.

Prison is an environment where the literacy rate hovers around 50% compared to the national average of 97%. The facilities, programs and opportunities to exercise one’s mind and one’s faith follow at a very distant second to those available for exercising one’s body or to entertain, rather than to educate or enlighten. The number of individuals taking advantage of recreational facilities far exceeds those seeking the mental or spiritual advancement of the library or the chapel. The number of individuals watching mind-numbing hours of mindless television; shows that only serve to point out the negative direction the values and morals of this country are taking, greatly outnumbers those trying to build a relationship with God or improve their minds. The number of people using their time to play card games, dominos, chess or role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons for hours on end dwarfs the number of those seeking answers that they obviously were not in possession of when they did whatever it was that earned them their passage here.

Those who do attempt to walk a different path than the one that led them here are faced with all of these “opportunities” to use their time differently. The urging of their friends to play ball, play cards, work out or watch TV is constant and vocal. For many, ‘going with the flow’ or ‘following the crowd’ is indicative of the behavior that lies at the root of their anti-social attitudes. Looking closely, one can see the efforts at change begin to falter. For some, being one of the guys is more attractive than being one with God.

Using my time differently than many others does not make me a better person than them. However, using my time to build a relationship with God does make me a better person than I was when I arrived. Unfortunately, even this has not lifted me as high above myself as I want to be. You see, in addition to those legitimate pursuits that can cause one to lose focus, prison life is rife with less-than legitimate pursuits which can cause one to lose sight of the prize of becoming renewed in principles, morals, attitude and character.

Even though we may be working conscientiously to move closer to God and a new way of living our lives, prison is full of “opportunities” to wander onto the wrong path. Some will continue down that path once they have rediscovered it. After all, it was once very familiar to all who reside here. Others will retreat rather quickly and get back onto the new path they were following, apologizing to God and anyone else who will listen in the process. Giving in to temptation is always regrettable but it seems as if human weakness presents no greater disadvantage anywhere than it does in a place like this.

Prison presents countless ways to continue the lives we may have led on the outside. Stories abound throughout the country about gambling, drugs, alcohol, pornography and other illicit activities that can be found within prison themselves, that can keep one at or below the level they were when they arrived here. All of these things and more make moving towards being a better Christian more difficult in prison rather than less. It is true that just as a doctor can be found amongst the sick, so can God be found amongst the sinners. Unfortunately, the devil is here as well, trying to retain those already in his ranks and to add to them if at all possible.

Recently, I succumbed to temptation in my job and was found to be doing something I had no business doing. My job was cold, wet, sometimes hard, but I liked it and it paid well by prison standards. But then stupid stepped in and I was caught removing something from the kitchen that was not mine to remove.

The exact specifics are unimportant. They are recorded as a blemish in a file I had hoped to maintain blemish-free. Suffice it to say that the result was costly. Of course, the highest cost was not the resulting loss in “grade’ that dropped my monthly pay to about $20.00 from its high closer to $100.00, although yes, that does sting. No, for me, the higher cost was the blemish. The higher cost was in the loss of the little bit of trust I had earned and the occasional sign of respect I was shown for the job I had done.

The higher cost was the disappointment I engendered in myself that I could travel so far down the right path and still find the wrong one so close by. The higher cost was in lowering myself to a level I had no desire or need to visit.

The ultimate cost was in needing to ask God for forgiveness after falling into temptation rather than asking Him for the strength to resist it in the first place. It is a comfort that His forgiveness is always available, yet it is an irritant that I always find myself in need of it.

I will offer no excuses, for I have none. There is no one to blame but myself. If I attempted to excuse my behavior by claiming that I simply joined a “game’ -that many others were playing, I would only be admitting to being a lemming headed for the cliff’s edge with all of the others.

I could make light of it and just shrug it off as most are prone to do. After all, did I not just say it was a game? I will resist that particular urge, though, and say instead that what I will do is use the opportunity to continue my efforts at transformation. I will continue to pray, to read God’s Word and to seek his wisdom. I will look for the doors that open when others close and ask Him to point me to the one that best serves His needs. I am certain only good things will come of it all.

That is one of the benefits of claiming God as my cellie.

He will help me get back those things I lost. He will also help me to stay in His “game” and no one else’s. As “I said before,

Pete is a pretty good guy and makes a decent cellie. But God is the best cellie I could ever ask for. And I doubt Pete would have a problem with that statement.

Now, to those who think that it is easy to get close to God in prison, I say, “Think again. It is not easy at all. But it is logical.”

To those who think humor is inappropriate, I say, “Nonsense! God created humor.”

To those who doubt His existence at all, I say, “For 40+ years, I was right there with you! Thank God He didn’t hold that against me when at last I needed Him and called out to Him!”

And to all the rest, I say, “Thank you for putting up with me.”

I would like to leave you with a poem written by Steve Marshall.

It is a prayer, actually, and I thank him for it:

 

A PRAYER FOR CAGED BIRDS

A prayer for lost souls

Locked away

Who gaze through bars to

Greet the day.

And bless the coming

Of the night

When dreams of freedom

May take flight.

With walls as far as

They can see,

Their minds are filled with

All things free.

Watch over them please

Keep them well

And lead them safely

Back from hell.

“Prison, Part II”

On By Tony CassonIn Part II1 Comment

  ” ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Lord’, he said, ‘I want to see!’  “  Luke  18:41  NLT

  “I said to the man at the Gate Of The Year, ‘Give me a light that I may go forth into the unknown.’ And the man replied, ‘Put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, safer than a known way.’  ”   Britain’s King George in a New Year’s message to his people at the beginning of World War  II

       I put my hand into the hand of God as I lay on the shower floor that was covered in my own blood. I have clung tightly to it ever since.

      I told the Lord that I wanted to see myself the way He sees me and He has lovingly helped me to heal the affliction that clouded my vision. He has allowed me to see myself finally as His child, His servant, His warrior.

      Today, I am able to look in a mirror without seeing the evil that had inhabited my body, consumed my soul, and transformed me into something less than God intended. I still see the scars on my neck, evidence – and reminders – of that bloody battle that was waged for my life. Looking at them, I am reminded of the pain that I had caused to those who loved me. Looking at them, I am reminded of the disappointment of those who counted on me to be a better person than I was.

      I am also acutely aware of how close I came to leaving this life as the broken, sinful person I had allowed evil to make me. But being the good Father that He is, God heard my cries of anguish and my plea for forgiveness. He saw me reaching out for His hand and it is because He is who He is that I am forgiven, that I am loved, and that I am able to sit here in this prison and consider to myself to be one of the most fortunate and blessed people on God’s earth.

      I recently passed the midpoint of my sentence. I look back in awe at the power of God as I examine how He has helped me to use the time here to build a relationship with Him that enables me to see in myself what He has always seen and use that person to serve Him and to glorify His name.

      I have tried to do for myself what no one else can, and what I would be unable to do were it not for the One who stands beside me, keeping vigil and offering guidance. Sin brought me to the brink of death. God caught my hand and pulled me back before I tumbled headfirst into the abyss and deposited me here. With God’s help, I have remained positive, tried to be productive, and tried to help myself and others understand that this should be viewed as the beginning, and not the end. Because of these things, I am able to look back and say, “Thank you, Lord. Now help me look forward and continue on exactly the same path.”

      As Paul said to the Romans, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans  6:23  NLT)

      I almost paid that high price. I am thankful that I was allowed one last chance to accept that free gift which is valuable beyond mere human comprehension.

      While this is far from being a horrible prison, any prison is a terrible place to be. However, to live without family, friends, and freedom does not have to change us for the worse. With God’s help, we can use the time to become better than we ever were before.

      One day I will be somewhere else. For the moment, I will continue to hold the hand of God and walk through Prison, Part II.

      I thank you all, and may God bless you and your families.

Apparently, I am my Brother’s Keeper and Other Prison Oddities

On By Tony CassonIn Inmates - In Their Own Words1 Comment

 By Steve Marshall

      When one first sets foot inside the stark confines of a prison or jail, the first lesson to be learned is that this is an entirely different world. Everything one has learned up to that point about to live life is placed on ho and a whole new set of instructions comes into play.

      For example, here at Oakdale, we take our meals in a dining hall comprised of about 50 four-man tables. When you finish your meal and prepare to leave, you knock on the table. The others seated with you respond by each providing an answering knock.

      During my first week here, I asked someone the meaning behind this odd custom. I learned that it was a throwback to a time when inmates were not allowed to speak during meals. (This situation still endures at some higher level facilities.) When someone prepares to get up from the table, his knock is meant to convey the following message: “Excuse me. I am getting up now. This only means that I am leaving. I have no intention to attack you.” The answering knock implies: “We understand. Thank you for not attacking us. We appreciate it. Good bye.” This custom is one that I have not adopted. Instead, as I rise, I usually say “Have a good day” (or evening.) This seems to work just as well in conveying the message that I do not intend to beat up anyone.

      Another timeless custom is the “cool” prison nickname. This is often employed s a defensive measure. For example, if one is named Marvin or Ronald, this does not serve to keep others at bay nearly as effectively as “Killer” or “Bruiser.” However, in practice, I have noted that some of the nicknames tend to defeat their purpose by turning out to be . . . well I’ll just say it, kinda silly.

      In my unit alone, we have a “Boo-Boo”, (shades of Yogi Bear) a “Ya-Ya” and silliest of all in my opinion, a “Hot Sauce.” I have thus far resisted the temptation to address him as “Mr. Sauce.”  You see, “Hot Sauce” sports the tear-drop tattoo. A single teardrop under one eye is meant to convey that the wearer has killed someone. “Hot Sauce” has a whole splash of them so I have opted to avoid him altogether and remain off his radar.

      These customs and many others like them are generated among the inmates themselves. But occasionally, I come across one that has originated with the prison staff.

      Last year, our unit counselor came upon an entire trash bag full of hooch. (“Hooch” is a prohibition-era term for illegal alcohol.) One inmate in my unit had created the forbidden elixir from pilfered oranges and the yeast from bread. You should know that most people in the prison population turn into McGiver complete with the ability to turn a paperclip into a Gatlin gun.

      While I have never imbibed, I am told this “hooch” ferments for only a week or so in a trash bag, so I am surmising that it does not have the woodsy tang  of Jack Daniel’s that has steeped for twelve years in a specially treated oaken barrel. But I’m guessing that it gets the job done nevertheless.

      Anyway, the unit manager assembled us all and announced that our beloved microwave ovens were being removed until further notice. I looked around to see who was going to raise his hand and object to the idea of punishing over two hundred men for the actions of a single individual but no one did. The microwaves were not returned for another six months.

      About a month ago, another bag of “hooch” was found, another meeting hastily assembled and once again, the microwaves were gone. This time, I raised my hand to ask the obvious question and the unit manager replied, “You are all responsible for policing your own unit.” This was news to me. Foolishly, I had assumed that my job was to follow the rules but now I was being told that I was expected to enforce them as well. The inmates refer to the Corrections Officers t here as “the police”, so it was a fairly natural assumption that they would be the ones doing the policing.

      I have not been successful in obtaining any information as regards what specific steps I need to be taking should I encounter anyone manufacturing “hooch.” Do I beat him senseless? Do I merely threaten to do so? In either case, I would be in violation of the rules and sent to the SHU (Special Housing Unit or as it is lovingly referred to by one and all here, THE HOLE.) Do I snitch on him? Well, if I do that, then I am the one who will be beaten senseless. Do I shake my finger at him and say, “Bad inmate”?

      Yeah, that’ll work.

      So I am left to ponder the imponderable. The only answer that I am left with is that the staff is saying with a wink and a nod: “Take care of this dude however you want. Just don’t let us know about it.” From my point of view, the easier course is to just do without the frickin microwaves.

      I cannot, in the course of a single article, begin to cover all the ways in which prison life differs from that of the free world. That would take an entire book and a very fat one at that.

      Perhaps one day I’ll write it.

      But for now, I am content to observe at a distance as prisoners bump fists rather than shake hands, hold extended conversations at the top of their lungs with others on the opposite side of the compound, or smuggle ten-pound rump roasts out of the kitchen concealed in their underwear.

      What do I know? It’s their world. I just live in it.

“TWO”

On By Tony CassonIn Volume 33 Comments

      “Time is the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions.”   John Randolph of Roanoke

     “For everything there is a season, A time for everything under Heaven.”  Ecclesiastes  3:1  NLT

       April 1 marked the passage of my second year paying the price for my own personal instance of freedom not used well. I feel that I have used these two years of freedom denied better than many of the preceding years of freedom itself.

      It has been two years of discovery, growth, and spiritual transformation that I am thankful to God for and that no one can take away from me. I have peered deep into myself, cleaned out all of my inner closets and, while I am far from perfect, I at least can say that I am a happier, nicer, better version of the man I was when I walked through the gates of this prison. I am humbly grateful to God for the spiritual cleansing He has provided and for the faith and hope He has firmly planted in the very core of my being for a future of His choosing.

      The future will not be easy, of course, but it cannot be harder than the past, which I made unnecessarily difficult through a decades-long search for myself wrought with myriad wrong turns and hard lessons that didn’t need to be. If I had opened my eyes, my heart, and my mind and accepted the direction of God a long time ago…….if only……if only…..if only……

      But I did not, and I am not sad; I am not full of regret; for the past is the past and it shall not be repeated in my future. There is still plenty of time to plant, to harvest, to heal, to laugh, to embrace, and to love – and perhaps all of these things can now be engaged in with honesty, integrity, and a freshness of spirit, mind, and heart.

      I may have a lot of baggage, but I have dumped out most of the contents and left them behind, so it doesn’t weigh much.

      I have God on my side and, even at this late stage in my life, I have to agree with Mick Jagger and say, “Time is on my side.”

      Oh yes. It most certainly is.