Jan 22, 2012

Dear Sis~

We had a bad stabbing last week over on one of the other (non-death row) wings.  A young white guy named Milkshake, who is rather slow and weighs barely 130 pounds, stabbed another guy who was trapped in the high-security, single-man phone booth sized shower, stabbing him repeatedly through the bars with a  foot-long shank.  This was the third or fourth time Milkshake has stuck someone; it doesn't take a lot to get him motivated.  This entire 1,300 man maximum security prison is a locked down joint.  Everyone is in their cells 24/7 (except the runarounds who are out of their cells a little more than others).  There is no open population here, so theoretically there should be very few acts of violence.  This place is a lot better than it was in the 70's and 80's when it was a serious killing grounds.  Still, we had a recent murder here, and this stabbing was only the most recent in a string of them.  But, there will be no repercussions to any staff, nobody will lose their jobs or be disciplined in any manner even though these stabbings and murders cannot occur without serious breaches of security.  Like most prisons and prison systems, the staff at the top (warden, assistant warden, etc.) views their top priority as protecting themselves and their staff.  There is no real accountability, no serious oversight ('cuz nobody really cares what goes on in prisons).  Prisons are uniformly inept, corrupt, incompetent and hidebound.  If there was any accountability the warden here would have been fired long ago.  He's the worse warden I've ever encountered in my 40+ years in the prison system.  But he's very safe here, ensconced in this parallel universe, this bastion of incompetence, and in fact will surely be promoted in due time.  That's the way it happens in the Florida Dept of Corrections; the bad apples get promoted while the good ones are forced out...

Well, the Miami Dolphins finally hired a new Head Couch, a guy named Joe Philbin, who was the well-respected offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.  In his first statement Philbin promised that the Dolphins will now be implementing a fast-paced, uptempo aggressive offense, which is exactly what I've been hoping for.  Ever since Dan Marion retired the Dolphins have been saddled with mediocre quarterbacks and conservative coaches who employed safe, plodding run-oriented offenses, coaches who play not to lose rather than playing to win.  Maybe now we've it a home run by hiring Philbin...

That's it for now, Sis.  I'll write you again later in the week.  Meanwhile, keep your chin up and your thoughts positive!

Love, Bill

To the Readers

Dear Readers:
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To the Readers

January 4, 2012 The New Year

Dear Sis~

Well, another year is upon us.  I feel like I ought to have something profound to say but all I can think of is the too many - over 40 - years I've spent sitting in a cell or prison dormitory watching another new year slide into my life.  New Year's is supposed to represent hope and potential but it's hard to convince yourself that hope and potential abounds when you're doing hard time!  Anyway, 2012 is the supposed end of the world according to the Mayan calendar (or at least the last year of that calendar; perhaps the poor soul writing out that calendar so many years in advance just got tired and quit when he reached 2012).  I don't put too much stock in apocalyptic predictions; humans have been making them since the dawn of time, after all, without any success, and I'm an optimist by nature.  But I confess that as I survey the world around me and what we humans are doing to planet earth it is increasingly difficult to envision a good ending.  There are many good, wise and caring people dedicated to doing right by our planet but they are vastly outnumbered by those who are greedy, desperate and/or just ignorant who are determined to exploit all resources until the last fish, mammal and mineral becomes a mere memory.  Maybe the Mayans were on to something after all...
The search team came and tore up my cell last week; it was a surgical strike (they came for me alone) and I was later told that "someone" wrote a snitch kite on me claiming (falsely) I had a weapon in my cell. I'm fairly certain it was someone trying to get a DR (disciplinary report) dismissed by dropping a dime on me on the hope they'd shake me down and find something, any kind of contraband, and the rat would then get credit for it.  But I had no contraband so the snitch struck out.  If the administration had any integrity they'd write the rat a DR for "lying to staff."  I spent several hours putting my cell back in order; it looked like a hurricane came through, all my property scattered everywhere.  This is the kind of bullshit you have to put up with in prison; it's the nature of the beast.  Hell, it happens on the streets, too, though.  Informants are master manipulators and the police routinely play their game even though they know the rats often fabricate stories and evidence to their own ends...
I just learned that Governor Scott has signed another death warrant and someone is on death watch on the bottom floor of Q-wing.  Scott didn't waste any time after the holidays; he seems determined to execute a record number of people at the pace he is setting.  I don't know whose warrant got signed, so I don't know if it's someone I know.  All I know is that he came from UCI, across the river, where most of the 390 death row prisoners are housed (only 60 of us are kept here at FSP).  This is a depressing turn of events, a lousy way to begin the new year, at least from my perspective.  The execution, when it occurs, will undoubtedly please some people, so it's all a matter of perspective...
With that  morbid news I'll close this up and mail it off.  Keep your chin up, Sis, and keep smiling!
Light & Love,
Bill 


Note:  The prisoner on death watch is Robert Waterhouse and his execution is set for Feb 15th...