Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016

• One-punch Reynolds
• Weak Labor
• Special Beer
• Average Precipitation
• Bird Cannons
• Yesterday's Catch
• Third-party Candidates
• Loyalty Oath
• Marco Radio
• American River Reduction
• Conflicted Medics
• Trump Doggerel
• American Prisons

CHARLES WALLACE REYNOLDS hit Kenneth Fisher so hard that the one punch killed the Laytonville man. Reynolds was arrested and charged with murder last Sunday night with bail set at a million dollars.

BY WEDNESDAY Reynolds was out on $50,000 bail on reduced felony charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, his fists, if he's a trained fighter, but an odd charge unless he used a club or some kind of punch-enhancer like metal knuckles to kill Fisher.

BUT GIVEN the radical and sudden reduction in charges, the investigation of the death of Kenneth Fisher must have clearly demonstrated that either the deceased started it or it was the usual bar room "mutual combat." But if it was just the two guys out in the parking lot and Reynolds hit Fisher for no reason, Reynolds should have some serious explaining to do.

WITNESSES cited in the police report said there was no prior argument between the two men. Reynolds is 5'11", 190 pounds and certainly presents a fearsome visual with his head-to-toe tats, and unless he's just one more psycho walking around slugging people who annoy him, the premeditation required for murder doesn't exist here. It will be interesting to learn exactly why Reynolds struck Fisher. As it stands, Reynolds didn't seem to have had any reason to hit the Laytonville tow truck driver. But he did, and Fisher died.

A UKIAH MAN knows Reynolds. Robert Briseño writes on Facebook:

"To the victim's mother (Allison Doran of Laytonville). My deepest condolences to you and your family for your loss. My family and I believe that this was totally preventable. The suspect Charles Reynolds has a history of violence. In 2013 he assaulted my uncle, Salvador C. Rojas in Ukiah. My uncle was homeless and sleeping near the train tracks off of Gobbi Street in Ukiah. When he was attacked, unprovoked, by Charles Reynolds. S. Rojas was beaten unconscious by C. Reynolds and had his head stomped on repeatedly. A witness had tried stopping Reynolds and she was pushed away. Reynolds fled the scene and my uncle Salvador was left hemorrhaging and bleeding till police and ambulance arrived. S. Rojas was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial for emergency surgery where doctors drilled a hole in his skull to release the pressure on his brain. After C. Reynolds had fled the scene, the Ukiah Police Department and ambulance had arrived. A trail of blood from the scene led police to C. Reynolds' home where he was arrested. Unfortunately, charges for attempted murder were never brought up against C. Reynolds. Instead the District Attorney minimized the crime to assault and battery and imposed a $50,000 bail on Reynolds which he paid and was simply released back into our community. All this while my uncle Salvador C Rojas remained in the hospital for 3 months recovering from his injuries. My uncle and our family were let down by the justice system of Ukiah and the Superior Court of Mendocino County. Yes, my uncle was homeless. We tried to have his story printed in the papers but the DA had refused to let the Journal post his story of this assault, claiming it would hurt their on-going investigation. This crime (charges and court minutes are public record) you can find in the Ukiah (Superior court of Mendocino) if you have an attorney have the criminal record of C. Reynolds pulled and look back to 2013 for this case. Charles Reynolds should have been locked up for attempted murder. He may have still been locked up if it wasn't for the DA of Mendocino County at that time. (Lintott was DA.) My uncle has recovered since but is not the same. Apparently the family of C. Reynolds are prominent members of the community. His father owns a storage facility in Ukiah and put up the bail. Insufficient evidence was later ruled even though there was a witness to this crime. I hope this will never happen again in the future to anyone else's family. I pray for justice for your son and your family."

ALSO ON FACEBOOK, we find Reynolds' sister writing on his behalf: "This is my brother.

He lives in Oklahoma (the Bible belt), he's a tattoo artist along with a motorcycle mechanic. Has 5 children he raises. Has a wife who he loves deeply. He has never committed a felony. He is loving and has morals. He's always been a great brother. He's ALSO covered in tattoos… Including a large one on the front of his neck, along with his knuckles. He's also been angry enough to punch someone in the face. No one is exempt!! This could happen to anyone. God bless all the families involved and the people who are affected. Please don't judge and remember everyone involved probably has access to Facebook and the horrid things you say." (Erika Rene'e Tyler)

THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE described the fatal encounter between Reynolds and Fisher this way:

"On Sunday, August 28, around 8:42 pm, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was advised of an assault that occurred in the parking lot of Boomers Bar in Laytonville. Deputies were advised that an adult male, suspect Charles Reynolds (age 32 of Willits), had assaulted another male, victim Kenneth Fisher (age 29 of Laytonville) in the parking lot of the establishment and the victim was unresponsive due to his injuries.

"INFORMATION provided indicated the suspect was seen walking from the area towards another business in Laytonville. As Deputies responded they received reports that the victim's injuries were life-threatening and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was being administered at the scene. Laytonville Ambulance Service responded and transported the victim to Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits where he succumbed to his injuries.

"THE California Highway Patrol responded to assist MCSO with the call and observed the suspect near the Wheels Café in Laytonville and detained him until Deputies arrived.

"THE MENDOCINO County Sheriff's Detective Unit responded to assist with the investigation. Witnesses indicated there did not appear to be any type of altercation between the two men, prior to the assault. Witnesses indicated the suspect struck the victim one time with his fist. Charles Reynolds was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on an open charge of murder (187 PC). His is being held on a 'no bail' status.

"ANYONE with information regarding his incident is encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Detectives Unit at (707)234-2100."

REYNOLDS’ preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, September 14th at 1:30 pm.

LABOR DAY

In honor of Labor Day, here are 16 jobs that don't exist anymore

Today, we're worried about being replaced by robots. But fear of the machines isn't new...

http://www.sfgate.com/weird/article/careers-jobs-that-dont-exist-anymore-obsolete-9198294.php

LABOR hasn't been this weak and as at the mercy of the owning classes since the 1920s. Other than public employee unions, most wage workers are unprotected and powerless to determine pay and work conditions, although there are signs that labor is beginning to stir. The Occupy Movement at least awakened millions of people to the true state of the economy and their place in it. But as any student of history can tell you, if it weren't for organized labor millions of people would be a lot worse off than they are.

EVERY LABOR DAY I think of an old classmate, who probably held the age group record for bad jobs. Robert 'Sonny' Lauren was 12 and a sixth grader when he pulled a full night shift setting pins in a San Rafael bowling alley. That would have been about 1950, a few years before mechanization when the pins were still arrayed by hand.

AS I RECALL, Sonny was responsible for three or four lanes, meaning he worked half-hidden, bent over, a dim form hopping and back and forth to scoop up the pins and put them perfectly in place in the few seconds before he had to do it all over again. He set pins non-stop. Occasional sadists got their kicks hurling a ball down the hardwood at him as Sonny scrambled to the get the pins in place. Kinder people skated coins at him as tips and laughed as he scooped them up as fast as he could between balls. He'd often fall asleep in class, of course, because he'd be up late at night working the alleys. Weekends I'd see him pulling weeds, delivering newspapers, always doing something for whatever people chose to give him. I have no idea what happened to Sonny, but according to our national mythology he became a millionaire and lived happily ever after.

I WAS GIFTED (sic) with a bottle of beer called Pliny the Elder. (Groan, and steeee-rike one through three!) I know there were two Plinys, elder and younger, and they were philosophers, but I refused to investigate further. We all know that the wine industry moved past pretentious many years ago, but beer seems to be trying to catch up.

THIS STUFF goes for four or five bucks a bottle and, my gifter told me, "You can only buy three bottles at a time at the local liquor store, first come, first served."

SO, HOW IS IT? To my jaded palate, it tastes like every other "craft" beer I've tried. Given the choice between an ice cold Bud and this stuff, I'd go for the Bud, although lately I've enjoyed Stella and Red Stripe, especially the latter because this snooty kid — nose rings, tats, mohawk — at a city market told me, "We don't carry Red Stripe because they're homophobic." Huh? What? Who? "Jamaica. It's made in Jamaica. They're homophobes." All of them? I guess I was asleep when the righteous took over the country, but they seem to be everywhere.

NO RAIN?

Dear Editor,

I read with dismay in Todd Walton's column (August 24th AVA) that NOAA's long range forecast was for "zero, zilch" rain this winter rainy season, 2016-2017. I have good news to report that when I checked the NOAA models it seems we are due for average rain, although there is considerable uncertainty. Areas south of Santa Rosa appeared to be below normal with a weak La Nina, and some areas of Washington and Oregon expecting above normal. Readers are invited to do their own investigation and also to sing any rain songs or do any rain dances if they feel so inclined.

Bill Taylor, Redwood Valley

WINE COUNTRY’S BOOMS FOR BIRDS ARE NUISANCE FOR SOME

Across the North Bay, residents have raised concerns about bird cannons — devices used by grape growers to keep birds from picking their vineyards clean.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6033022-181/booms-for-the-birds-are

CATCH OF THE DAY, September 3, 2016

BAILEY, SKYLER AMON, Willits – Under The Influence Of Controlled Substance; Probation Revoked-Rearresting Probationer; Suspension.

BOCCALEONI, ROCKY GENE, Laytonville – Under The Influence Of Controlled Substance.

BOLTON, JOHN WILLIAM (Frequent Flyer), Willits – Probation Revoked-Rearresting Probationer; Suspension.

CARTWRIGHT, BRUCE EVAN, Ukiah –Parole Violation-Remain Under Legal Custody To Return To Prison.

CASTANON, CECELIA SILVIA, Lakeport [Ukiah] – Public Intoxication Of Alcohol.

CONTRERAS, RICARDO, Calpella – Battery With Serious Injury Inflicted On Anyone.

DOAK, BILLY RAY, Willits – Violation Of Protective Order.

DODSON, TRACY, Fort Bragg – Failure To Appear; Battery Against Person Defendant Had Dating, Engagement, Marriage Or Domestic Relationship.

DWYER, RUSSELL NORMAN, San Mateo [Leggett] – Driving Under Influence.

ETHERTON, RYAN LEE, Ukiah – Possession Of More Than 28.5 Grams Marijuana.

FERGUSON, BRANDON JOSEPH, Quincy [Ukiah] – Probation Revoked-Rearresting Probationer; Suspension.

HANOVER, PATRICK HENRY, Covelo [Ukiah] – Violation Of Protective Order; Probation Revoked-Rearresting Probationer; Suspension.

HINTERMANN, CATHRINE, Ukiah – Battery Against Person Defendant Had Dating, Engagement, Marriage Or Domestic Relationship; Public Intoxication Of Alcohol.

JENELL, AMANDA, Willits [Ukiah] – Receiving Stolen Property; Probation Revoked-Rearresting Probationer; Suspension.

LARSEN, JONATHAN ADAM, Ukiah – Shoplifting.

MACLEAN, KRISTIN MARIE, Ukiah – Assault-Domestic Violence/Inflicting Corporal Injury (Spouse Or Cohabitant Abuse); Battery W/Serious Injury Inflicted On Anyone; False Imprisonment.

MARINPENALOZA, JOSE ARTEMIO, Redwood Valley – Driving Under Influence.

MCCLOUD, DONALD RALPH, Ukiah [Willits] – Possession Of Controlled Substance; Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia; Resisting/Delay Police Officer; Parole Rev/Sent CJ; Resisting/Delay Police Officer; Fugitive From Justice.

PANKEY, CRYSTAL DAWN, Redwood Valley [Ukiah] – Driving Under Influence; Driving Under The Influence Blood Alcohol Over .08.

SMALL, KIRSTYN ARIAL APRIL, Clearlake [Ukiah] – Assault W/Deadly Weapon Other Than Firearm; Assault-Domestic Violence/Inflicting Corporal Injury (Spouse Or Cohabitant Abuse).

TURNER, MATTHEW ARRON, Calpella [Ukiah] – DUI Causing Injury: Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol And/Or Drugs; DUI Causing Injury: Driving With Blood Alcohol 0.08 Or More.

VINCENT, LYLE LUKE, Ukiah – Battery Against Person Defendant Had Dating, Engagement, Marriage Or Domestic Relationship; Second Degree-All Kinds Of Robbery Other Than Those Listed In Subdivisions (A) & (B).

VORIS, ANGIE LEE, Willits – Battery Against Person Defendant Had Dating, Engagement, Marriage Or Domestic Relationship.

WILLIAMS, KASHIA MORNING STAR, Ukiah – Public Intoxication Of Alcohol.

JILL CAN'T GET ANY REAL TRACTION

Libertarian Gary Johnson, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and independent Evan McMullin have all qualified to be on the Virginia ballot which required valid signatures of more than 5,000 voters, at least 200 from each of the state’s 11 congressional districts. Johnson has been polling nationally just below 10% on average while Stein remains in the single digits. McMullin has not been included in national polls.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE is not an expression of patriotism. It is a loyalty oath that one normally associates with totalitarian regimes. People who love freedom, should be appalled by the idea that our children are being coerced to stand and declare their support for the state.

— Mike Whitney

AND ONLY I AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE

“Adulthood is like the vet, and we’re all dogs excited for the car ride until we realized where we’re going.” –Kangarudy

The recording of last night's (2016-09-02) 107.7fm KNYO (and 105.1 KMEC) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show is available to download and listen to via http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a virtually essential compendium of links to not necessarily radio-useful but worthwhile things to see and do and learn about, such as:

The illusion of transparent cloth, hammered out of a rock. A human just like you or me saw this in his head, figured out how to do it, and did it with a hammer and a chisel and a rock.

http://imgur.com/gallery/Ck2vZMo

I love this. It’s like a cross between the Boom King song and Bret’s Angry Dance (in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords). This is the way I think most people feel, inside, stuck in meetings of any kind.

http://boingboing.net/2016/08/30/bizarre-perfume-ad-by-spike-jo.html

When puppets fight.

http://boingboing.net/2016/08/29/thunderbolt-fantasy-anime-esq.html

And this shows why to sneeze into your elbow. The examined sneeze is entirely out of the mouth, where I like to sneeze through both my mouth and nose, to do what sneezing’s for in the first place (clear the throat /and/ nose). (Into a handkerchief, though, then wash hands with soap before handling anything public.) Sometimes I mismanage the nose/mouth pressure ratio and it stops up this or that ear; clearly none of this entire system is the result of any kind of intelligent design. In the not-too-distant future, precise machines, improving on nature, will sneeze for us and we won’t have to worry about it anymore. http://newatlas.com/mit-high-speed-sneeze-cam/45133/

Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

PS. MARCO ON CLAY GODS

Clay gods are at least useful. You can hold a door open (or shut) with one, or hold down a pile of papers on a desk by the window, or keep a picnic blanket from the wind blowing a corner up and getting it in the potato salad. Artist and improv comic and roofer Steve Weingarten encrusted a whole barn with clay figures of Ta-urt, originally the Egyptian hippopotamus god(dess) of fertility, but improved to be a happy rampant cow. The barn is thus protected from lightning, elves and golems. In the Crusades, almost 1,000 years ago, both sides used holy hand grenades-- little religious-themed pots filled with explosive oil and resin and fitted with a burning wick, to explode on contact and destroy property and people. Also plastic gods. On my show last night I read a story where a clever woman removed the demon of sassiness from her daughter by digging it out of her throat with a crucifix. The girl died of this surgery, alas, but demon gone, problem solved. The right tool for the right job.

Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

BUREAU WILL SLASH LOWER AMERICAN RIVER RELEASES TO 1,500 CFS

by Dan Bacher

(Sacramento) The Bureau of Reclamation will reduce water releases from Nimbus Dam into the American River from 1,750 cublc feet per second (cfs) to 1,500 cfs on September 6, much to the consternation of anglers and conservationists concerned about the low water conditions that fall-run Chinook salmon will face as they enter the river this autumn.

The reason? “Storage conservation,” claimed Randi Field, Reclamation spokesperson.

The ramping down in releases took place after Reclamation reduced releases from Nimbus Dam from 3,250 cfs to 2,000 cfs by August 21 and then cut releases from 2,000 to 1,750 cfs on August 26.

The reduction in releases comes as Reclamation has all summer dumped high releases of up to 5,000 cfs into the river for export by San Joaquin corporate agribusiness interests and Southern California water agencies.

The American River fall Chinook run is a significant contributor to the ocean and river salmon fisheries. From 1996 to 2015, the American has provided 19 percent of the fall Chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River system, the driver of West Coast salmon fisheries.

A total of 19,013 adult salmon and 6,935 jacks (two-year-old fish) returned to spawn in the American in the fall of 2015, according to CDFW documents distributed at the annual salmon information meeting in Santa Rosa on March 2, 2016.

When the river becomes low and warm, both salmon and steelhead, which need cold water conditions to spawn, rear and migrate, are imperiled.

Fortunately, the water temperature on the American River is relatively low for this time of year, 65-½ degrees to 66 degrees. The Nimbus Fish Hatchery ladder will go in on November 1, according to Gary Novak, hatchery manager.

Fishing pressure on the American remains light, due to the slow salmon fishing.

“A few salmon are being caught by anglers fishing below Nimbus Dam,” said Dennis Phanner at Sacramento Pro Tackle. “I haven’t heard of any bank anglers hooking salmon on spinners at the mouth of the American at Discovery Park lately. Usually we don’t see the main run of salmon on the American arrive until late September.”

Daily information on expected flows in the American River can be found on the California Data Exchange Center website at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/queryRes.html or on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website at http://www.spk-wc.usace.army.mil/reports/release_changes.html.

I'VE TALKED TO SOME MEDICS, and the thing is that, what's bothering a lot of them is if you feel bored and you want work, somebody has to die. Somebody has to get blown up. Somebody has to die. Somebody has to get shot, all because you're bored and you want some work to do. And then when it starts, you can't stop it. I think that's what a lot of guys carried around. They can say, "Oh yeah, I got nothing to do today. It's slow." All of a sudden it opens up. And now you've got kids coming, seventeen, eighteen years old, blown apart, mutilated, all because you got bored. I mean, it's not that, you know, you didn't do it, but you kind of feel if I didn't say I wanted something to do, maybe these kids wouldn't be coming in. And you can't say, "Stop," because they come in until it's over.

_ Carey Spearman, Medic, 91st Evac, An Hoa, II Corps, Vietnam, in The Soldiers' Story

EGG McTRUMP

Letter To The Editor (with a nod to Mother Goose...)

Tumpty dumpty sat on a wall

Tumpty dumpty had a great fall

All of Ryan's horses

And all of Ryan's men

Couldn't put the party together again.

–Clint Miller, Half Moon Bay

WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICAN PRISONS

by Paul Jorgensen (a federal prisoner)

The three main things are: overcrowding, long prison sentences, and no help and very little care.

Federal law states that 90 square feet of floor space is required for each prisoner locked in a room overnight. The federal government has exempted itself from that law. Virtually all the federal prisons built since 1990 were built for a population of 750 prisoners. They all currently hold 1400 prisoners each. There are two men in each 90 square feet of cell space and all the departments: education, recreation, chapel, dining hall, etc. are overwhelmed. (Most of the prisoners shouldn't even be in prison. More on that later.)

Prison sentences today in the United States are much too long. Originally the life without parole sentence was meant for Mafia dons and the most egregious sociopaths. However, prosecutors have the power now that judges once had and are pursuing convictions which automatically result in life without parole for common and nonviolent felony convictions. That, and the sentences less than life without are so long that prisoners have developed a strange subculture.

Medical care is minimal for prisoners who have reasonably good health and less than that for prisoners in need of medical treatment. It's obvious that cost is the deciding factor — even cancer patients are delayed treatment until the prisoner is beyond the ability to function. The medical staff is pressed by the prison wardens to keep costs down.

As for help, virtually all the prisons staff should be educated and trained to provide some level of help. Presently the staff is as ignorant as the prisoners.

None of the current drug programs work as a deterrent to further drug use. Change must come from within. A good teacher tries to find and develop motivation with a student to "want" to learn and improve. Many students come ready to bloom. Others become ready later and some never, but even the last can be directed toward a more sociable way of life while continuing their drug abuse.

For example, let's say there is a competent foreman or small business manager who is also a hard-core, never quit, drug addict. He can be best helped by buying his drugs cheaply and safely from the government so he may go on being a taxpaying citizen. The alternative is what is currently practiced where he is arrested, convicted and kept in prison, thus becoming a negative element of society.

The majority of prisoners in today's prison population are failed citizens as their leisure activity of taking drugs took over their lives. The United States government's "war on drugs" has led to millions of citizens who are not quite able to live up to the responsibilities of citizens, being arrested and treated worse than traditional criminals. The drug prisoners lack maturity, job experience, goals, critical thinking abilities and general education. All of those things should be provided at outpatient facilities, but for now there are none of those so those services should be available in the prisons where the failed citizens now reside.

To help imagine a failed citizen, imagine this: a young boy playing with finger paints decorates his face and arms then joins other similar children playing games. Adults look kindly on that behavior. Now think of that child than 45 years of age with tattoos on his face and arms and still playing childish but now sometimes lethal games with like with similarly immature middle-aged men.

We need a major upgrade in staff training and reorientation away from the myriad punishments to a system conducive of producing a whole mature personality. Presently the entire staff from the warden down to the last guard hired perpetuates a chaotic confusion of nonsense, injustice and violence.

Today, in virtually all federal United States prisons the wardens practice a policy of mass misplaced punishment. The wardens encourage gangs to flourish and when the inevitable fight occurs between two gangs and guards, who have the superior force with arms, gathers all participants and puts them in the secure housing unit away from the rest of the population and soon after that transfers them all. The warden begins the mass punishment of the entire prison population right at the occurrence of the fight and the mass punishment of the non-offending prisoners goes on for weeks or longer. First there is a general lockdown then loss of privileges and the use of exercise equipment. This injustice incubates resentment and distrust yet it is repeatedly used.

Individual punishment is just as nonsensical, as when a prisoner who is in prison because of a drug use problem is discovered to be using nonprescription drugs and the punishment is loss of visiting and telephone privileges and pay restrictions. It is a proven and rehabilitative activity for a prisoner to have visits and to telephone his family, yet the punishment is to curtail the very few rehabilitated activities prison has to offer.

The pay restriction is another retrograde punishment which goes like this: Pay restriction means that if a prisoner has a job and is paid (usually a pittance, as they are slaves after all by the authority of the 13th Amendment) he may now only receive $5.25 per month no matter how hard or long he works. It's called maintenance pay and it goes against the work incentive of good and hard work equals reward.

So a prisoner may find himself cut off from his family, not being paid even the pittance if he works and nothing has been done for his ongoing drug addiction. That prisoner will find many others just like himself and they form groups, then gangs dedicated to continue drug use.

Education, maturation, work, self-understanding and social responsibility need to be proven to individuals to have immediate benefit. They should have learned this as kids and for those who did not we need to develop methods with sociologists for retro-educating without the negative causing punishments presently employed.

Any education obtained in prison comes about in spite of the prison system. A convict must fight against and push through all the barriers to books and knowledge, and for as long as I have been doing time in this country (since 1968) books are hard to get and hard to keep. The prison authorities put out propaganda saying they are pro-education and the prisoners have access to books and there are libraries in the prisons. The practice of education in prison is still divided, cumbersome and the staff is employed mostly with filling in government forms for each student and they are left with no time to teach if they even know how to teach.

The library books are hard to check out and in some prisons impossible. At the US prison in Atwater all the books are locked in a room with a cagelike door which has a wide enough slot to pass a book through. But the library clerk is not allowed to do that unless the prisoner requesting a book has presented a green library card which takes 6-8 weeks to get. Then he still does not does know what titles and authors are in there because there is no catalog. The much bragged about interlibrary loan system which is supposed to give a prisoner access to the books in the local community library is often suspended and when it does work it works poorly.

There are organizations in various United States cities which try to give books to prisoners free. At the US prison in Hazleton, West Virginia, the warden has stopped all donated books from reaching the prisoners by sending them back and telling the charity group not to send anymore. This practice is becoming common. They also do not allow paid magazine or newspaper subscriptions to be delivered to the prisoner if he is presently housed in the secure housing unit. They throw the magazines and newspapers away.

At all prisons there is a limit to how many books a prisoner may have, usually set at about five, which includes any reference or religious books.

There are many prison operations which interrupt those few prisoners who are determined to read and study and the overcrowding exasperates it all.

Physical health and fitness experts say it is never too late to start exercising and eating right. So too it should be that it is never too late to start maturing, learning, thinking — becoming a citizen.

We as a society must invest in a holistic maintenance or our citizens just like we invest in our infrastructure to become whole and strong.

This essay is one man's opinion. If you know the subject and feel something should be added or expanded upon then please write it and send a copy to

Kevin Ring, 1100 H. Street Northwest, Suite 1000, Washington DC 2005.

Email: famm@famm.org. (Families Against Mandatory Minimums.)