Wanted In Thirty-eight States

Coming back from midtown Subway Sunday slow
A Train to Brooklyn
A younger older man
He asks,
"Are you famous?"
Like Ulysees to the cyclops I say,
"I am no one."
He begs to differ.
"You are someone.
My name is Prince.
From East New York.
I done twenty-five.
For five murders.
The po-lice shot me in the head.
My wife pulled out the bullet.
No hospital."
"When?"
"1986."
The crack years.
Young boys in wheelchairs,
The Rock on East 11th Street,
Gunshots in the night.
Day too.
He had a story.
Many.
"I been out fourteen years.
Never going back.
My wife ran the money.
I was a boss.
I was wanted in 38 states.
My name Prince."
We shook hands
His hand was rough.
I ran the numbers.
He had to be 60.
Almost half his life
Behind walls
Still smiling
Thinking I was famous
I decided to be honest.
"I'm not anyone but I'm not nobody too. Do you want to be not nobodies too "
I love Emily Dickinson.
So did Prince,

"Then we can be not nobodies together."

We didn't know each other
But we knew our Emily Dickinson
And me my Rilke.
Poetry time another time.

"387 Myrtle."

Him

"2078 Pitcairn."

We punched knuckles.
At Fulton Street.
Another time
Another smile
We both alive.
And free.
Free as a smile can make us.

His name is Prince. Mine.
Mine is no one.

White Collar Drug Dealers Off Scot Free

According to Al_Jazeera a US federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650m in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. Lake County is to receive $306m over 15 years. Trumbull County is to receive $344m over the same period. Polster ordered the companies to pay nearly $87m to cover the first two years of the abatement plan. In his ruling, the judge admonished the three companies, saying they “squandered the opportunity to present a meaningful plan to abate the nuisance”.

Nuisance???

Over a million people have died through the Oxy epidemic and over 10,000 in these two counties from 2001 to 2022

Do the math.

$650 million divided by 10,000 ODs rounds off to $65000 per death without considering the collateral damage to families, friends, and communities. The pain from losing loved ones isn't an issue, since drug addiction has been long considered a crime by most Americans as opposed to a sickness. As a recovering addict of fifty years I can attest to the ruination of relationships and work and health. There is no real price, yet the lawyer flacks for CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are considering a challenge to the award and no one from this corporate drug cartel has been threatened with prison.

Off Scot Free.

To vacation in St. Bart's in the winter and the South of France in the summer.

Dinners with politicians to protect them from legislation against their criminal conspiracies, complaining that they never targeted poor communities and aren't responsible for the Plague.

First of the list.

The Pfizer Family paid out billions to preserve their luxurious freedom.

Not one of them is in jail.

Criminals versus victims.

In this case crime paid royally.

Time to take all their wealth and treat addicts humanely everywhere.

Free the MIAs of the Drug Wars.

Reparations too.

Drugs won long ago and now it is time to clean up the mess.

Far From Home - Frank Hewetson

Frank is from London, United Kingdom.

He is a father of two.

Frank has worked for Greenpeace in the UK and Australia since 1989. His commitment to environmental activism is tireless, and he has taken part in many Greenpeace campaigns over the years. He is a respectfully determined and intelligent man.

Frank is a loving husband and father. He plays ping pong as a hobby, and gets intense pleasure from planning outdoor adventures with his family and their dog Pluto.

Frank was motivated to join the trip by his passion for protecting the Arctic from dangerous drilling for fossil fuels.

External websites and media

Menus and mundanity in Murmansk: A letter from Greenpeace activist Frank Hewetson from behind bars in Russia.

The Independent on Sunday, 26 October 2013

He's in a cell 23 hours a day, he's worrying about me and the kids — even in his sleep.

The Evening Standard of London, 9 October 2013

Reefer IQ

While searching for US arrests for marijuana I discovered this test from FRONTLINE. I got all the answers right. My IQ for weed is very most excellent. 1. Under which president have more people been arrested for marijuana crimes? a) Ronald Reagan b) George Bush c) Bill Clinton 2) What's the breakdown for marijuana arrests -- for dealing or for possessing pot? a. 90% for dealing, 10% for possession b. 60% for dealing, 40% for possession c. 30% for dealing, 70% for possession d. 15% for dealing, 85% for possession 3) How much money was spent battling drugs in 1997? a. $800 million b. $8 billion c. $60 billion d. $15 billion 4) What percentage of people in federal prisons are serving time for cannabis crimes? a. 70% b. 45% c. 25% d. 10% 5) What percent of federal marijuana crimes involved a weapon? a. 92% b. 50% c. 23% d. 8% 6) Growing 101 marijuana janga plants will get you a longer sentence than which other Federal crimes? a. manslaughter b. assault c. kidnapping 7. How many states have a life sentence for marijuana crimes? a. none b. two c. thirteen d. forty-one 8) How many people smoke pot every day in America? a. roughly three million b. approximately eleven million c. about one million 9) Marijuana is growing stronger as agricultural science advances. How many joints would you have had to smoke in 1974 to equal one joint today? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 10. How much does an average pound of marijuana cost? a. $100 b. $350 c. $800 d. $8000 There are the answers mostly from 1996, which means thing are more fucked up than ever. 1. c. Bill Clinton. Nearly 642,000 people were arrested for marijuana related crimes in 1996 (This represents an 80% increase since 1990.) 2) d. 85% were arrested in 1996 for possession; 15% were arrested for selling. 3) d. It's estimated that some $15.1 billion was spent in 1997 on the drug war (out of a total federal budget in '97 of $1.6 trillion.) 4) c. Between Oct 1995 and Oct 1996, marijuana offenses represented nearly 25% of all federal sentences. 5) d. 8% of federal marijuana cases involved a weapon (statistics are from Oct 1995-Oct 1996). 6) b. 101 plants will can get you a 5-year mandatory federal sentence. No parole. You would be in prison longer than if you were convicted of assault. crime sentence in months murder 296 months kidnapping 180 months marijuana (10 year min)* 120 months sexual abuse 67 months marijuana (5 year min)** 60 months avg: marijuana sentence 42 months assault 34 months manslaughter 27 months fraud 13 months *10 year mandatory minimum for marijuana (growing more than 1000 plants = 120 months ** 5 year mandatory minimum for marijuana (growing more than 100 plants = 60 months) 7. c. In at least thirteen states you can get a life sentence for marijuana. 8) a. A 1992 study by the National Institute for Drug Abuse found that roughly 3 million Americans smoked pot everyday; another 2 million smoked once a month; and some 12 million smoked pot once a year. 9) d. According to a 1997 U.S. Dept. of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration report, you have to smoke four joints to equal just one grown today. 10. c. The average price of a pound of marijuana was $800, in 1996. Depending on quality, however, a pound could range from $350 for homegrown to $8,000 for high grade sensimilia. Free the Weed To view BUSTED on Frontline please go to this URL

This Is Going On Your Permanent Record

Ihab Mishaal, below, a 14 year-old-Palestinian boy who was sentenced to 8 years in prison today by an Israeli military court. Israel tortures and detains up to 700 Palestinian children each year with impunity. After all, our kids can be subjected to the cruelest forms of treatment with scars lasting their entire lives because our lives aren't worth much as savage-terrorist-subjects. For more information on Palestinian children and Israeli military custody: http://www.childreninmilitarycustody.org/

The Fall of the Mighty

Thais and farangs living in Thailand are accustomed to the sight of police blocking a major thoroughfare or highway for the passage of a royal personage. Every intersections are sealed by police for the speeding cavalcade of luxury vehicles and security escorts. No one complains about this noble right of passage. Big people do what big people want and small people get out of the way, if they know what is good for them. The first time I ever saw such a security measure was on the autoroute out of Paris to Charles de Gaulle Aeroport. CRS police squads guarded the overpasses, exits, onramps, and highways. My VW was the last car allowed onto the road and the gendamerie waved for me to speed up for the approaching dignitary. I later learned that the VIP had been Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. The 'president' was a good friend of the French government. His policies regarding Israel were in accord with their strategy for the Middle East and he had a long run at the top, but the deposed ruler faces judgment by the court in Cairo. His days are spent in prison not a palace. The people want justice. Mubarak wants to be released from his cell to die in peace. Not a chance, unless the USA somehow ponies up enough money for the army to spirit him out of the country and cold cash is better spent on the the forces of now than the dictator of then. Thanks for the memories. ps at least they have cut off his supply of hair dye. He probably uses the same coloring as old Ronald Reagan.