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Saturday, August 9, 2008
BBQ with a Justice
I will be be attending the social event all lawyers... okay that might be a bit overstated. In either case I will be attending the Justice's annual barbecue. I look forward to it!
Prison Trip II
This is part of a series on my trip to the Colorado Department of Corrections. See the other posts: The Supreme Court Sent Me To Prison and Prison Trip I.
We also visited the Colorado Women’s Correctional Facility. There were striking differences between the men’s and women’s prison. First, the women inmates actually greeted us. Second, the women’s facility featured a Curves program. The tour guide had stopped counting at 1,200 pounds lost for the women inmates due to the program. Third, the women had more amenities, like koi ponds.
However, the most striking feature of the Women’s Correctional Facility was the “Incentive Hall.” This place looked more like a very nice dormitory at a college than a prison. Each “cell” had only two inmates. Further, they were given keys to their rooms. They could come and go (within the building) as they pleased and had better restrooms and showers than any other prison. They even had a pool table.
We then traveled down the road to Four Mile Correctional Center, where we had a very nice lunch. The culinary arts students made us an excellent three course meal. The salad and homemade dressing were excellent. The chicken parmesan was delicious. The cheesecake with cherry sauce was better than I have ever had at any restaurant. During lunch, representatives from CCI detailed some of their programs.
Tomorrow I will detail the final and the most profound part of our trip: the SuperMax.
We also visited the Colorado Women’s Correctional Facility. There were striking differences between the men’s and women’s prison. First, the women inmates actually greeted us. Second, the women’s facility featured a Curves program. The tour guide had stopped counting at 1,200 pounds lost for the women inmates due to the program. Third, the women had more amenities, like koi ponds.
However, the most striking feature of the Women’s Correctional Facility was the “Incentive Hall.” This place looked more like a very nice dormitory at a college than a prison. Each “cell” had only two inmates. Further, they were given keys to their rooms. They could come and go (within the building) as they pleased and had better restrooms and showers than any other prison. They even had a pool table.
We then traveled down the road to Four Mile Correctional Center, where we had a very nice lunch. The culinary arts students made us an excellent three course meal. The salad and homemade dressing were excellent. The chicken parmesan was delicious. The cheesecake with cherry sauce was better than I have ever had at any restaurant. During lunch, representatives from CCI detailed some of their programs.
Tomorrow I will detail the final and the most profound part of our trip: the SuperMax.
Return to Old Ways
I just wanted to quickly comment on the day's development: Russia has invaded Georgia. This invasion is outrageous and against American foreign interests.
This greatly concerns me. The Russian Federation has been moving to it's old Soviet ways under the control of Putin. First, Putin violated and then amended the constitution so he could run again for Russian president. Then, as the U.N. and other bodies began to criticize the Putin for acting like a dictator, Putin stepped down. However, he handed the government over to one of his cronies, who is basically acting like puppet. Further, Russia has used our renewed efforts to protect ourselves from nuclear missiles from rogue nations (i.e. anti-ballistic missiles) as a pretext for revamping their arms production. The government tried to equivocate our actions with theirs: but there is a fundamental difference between defensive missiles and offensive programs.
Now, in the pretext of protecting a region from sectarian violence, the Russians have invaded Georgia. This is the same excuse used by Stalin to keep Eastern Europe in his grasp and start the Cold War. All Americans should be outraged. Georgia has been an excellent ally in the War on Terror and the Operation Iraqi Freedom. Up until the invasion, Georgia had a few thousand troops in Iraq. Now, of course, they must recall those troops to repel the invasion.
If I were President, I would seriously look at our military force structure it see if we could help our ally. I would like to avoid the weakness that Truman, Eisenhower, and especially JFK showed against Russian/Soviet aggression. The fact is that Putin wants to return to the "glory days" of the CCCP. He and his party are starting to re-form the iron curtain.
Such is much quick opinion on the subject. If you disagree, please feel free to comment and perhaps I can flesh out more later. However, I wanted to get some background info out there because this is a serious threat to world and American security.
This greatly concerns me. The Russian Federation has been moving to it's old Soviet ways under the control of Putin. First, Putin violated and then amended the constitution so he could run again for Russian president. Then, as the U.N. and other bodies began to criticize the Putin for acting like a dictator, Putin stepped down. However, he handed the government over to one of his cronies, who is basically acting like puppet. Further, Russia has used our renewed efforts to protect ourselves from nuclear missiles from rogue nations (i.e. anti-ballistic missiles) as a pretext for revamping their arms production. The government tried to equivocate our actions with theirs: but there is a fundamental difference between defensive missiles and offensive programs.
Now, in the pretext of protecting a region from sectarian violence, the Russians have invaded Georgia. This is the same excuse used by Stalin to keep Eastern Europe in his grasp and start the Cold War. All Americans should be outraged. Georgia has been an excellent ally in the War on Terror and the Operation Iraqi Freedom. Up until the invasion, Georgia had a few thousand troops in Iraq. Now, of course, they must recall those troops to repel the invasion.
If I were President, I would seriously look at our military force structure it see if we could help our ally. I would like to avoid the weakness that Truman, Eisenhower, and especially JFK showed against Russian/Soviet aggression. The fact is that Putin wants to return to the "glory days" of the CCCP. He and his party are starting to re-form the iron curtain.
Such is much quick opinion on the subject. If you disagree, please feel free to comment and perhaps I can flesh out more later. However, I wanted to get some background info out there because this is a serious threat to world and American security.
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