Hate medicine.... We watched him dying. Everyone on our wing had their own diagnosis. “Cirrhosis.” “It’s jaundice. Look at how yellow he is.” “How can you tell? He’s hispanic.” “Next time you get close to him, look at his eyes. They are yellow.” “I bet he has liver...
People hate us. It sounds melodramatic, but it is true nonetheless. We’re hated by each other, by people on the outside, and by people working on the inside. By ‘us,’ I mean incarcerated persons. Offenders, inmates, convicts, prisoners. And there are people who make...
David McCullough's The Great Bridge is an extraordinary book. It tells the tale of how the Brooklyn Bridge was conceived and built. As is the case with other McCullough works, it is superbly crafted and reads as well as any great work of fiction. The main focus of the...
Station Eleven is one of those books that is so well-conceived and executed that you are sad when there's no more to read. After reading so many post-apocalyptic novels, many which barely bother to explain what caused society's collapse, I expected another contrived...
The Imperfect Hero: 1776 - A Review All men are flawed and make mistakes. Character is that quality in a man that transcends his flaws and propels him to success. In reading David McCullough's 1776, one will become intimate with George Washington's flaws and...
An excerpt of a letter from Rick in February of 2014, when he was still in county jail, and about six months before he was moved to prison. He writes about his idea to start Adopt an Inmate. I feel as though I am the most well-taken-care-of inmate in Del Valle. Having...
Empires leave indelible marks on their conquests. Decades after they leave, voluntarily or not, their influence is still felt. Take Jamaica, for instance.Its natural resources and people had been plundered by the British for centuries. Even after slavery was finally...
We introduced you to our friend Martin Lockett in a previous blog post. We are thrilled to say that Martin will be a regular contributor both here and in our quarterly newsletter. Do yourself a favor and get this book! —♦— Good people make mistakes. Martin Lockett is...
What's Mercy, Anyway? Reading a book about the work of someone who has dedicated his life to freeing the innocent is inspiring. When you’re reading that book behind bars, it also evokes melancholy and wishful thinking. No matter where you are when you crack the cover...
Both proponents and detractors of the death penalty skip the question of authority. Due to history and practice, it is assumed that governments must possess the power to murder. Yet, no explicit power to murder is listed in our state or federal constitutions, a prerequisite to its legitimate use. Nor could it be, no matter how hard potential despots might wish it so.