An Old Timer’s Christmas Wish

An Old Timer’s Christmas Wish

By Carl R. ToersBijns

 

Life in the late 50’s and early 60's was simple as there was a limited amount of income coming in for a lot of families who lived on the minimum wage. The economy was fair and crime was low but the pay for those lucky to be employed was low. The cost of living was rising and the only way one could survive is to have both parents working so they can consolidate their income to meet their needs.  Only a few families could afford to celebrate the holidays and then, on a very limited level. The cold war was looming and the air raid drills were real in school and in the city.

 

The holidays were always celebrated with vigor and blessings of all that we were thankful for either during the holidays or the entire year. Thanksgiving is a special occasion where we could express our appreciation for the good things in life and the ability to pursue our own version of happiness down the road.

 

Anxiously waiting, we could hardly wait for the arrival of Christmas.  The economy was so bad, it was hard to earn a dollar and more stressful just to make ends meet as jobs were hard to find and parents were struggling to make ends meet. Living on meager wages, we stretched the food thus it was urgently important that we saved every bit of scraps we had and make a meal from the leftovers the next day's supper. Money tight and clothes worn out, we made sure we had what we needed to get by for Christmas as we wanted this holiday to be special as we just had a baby girl in the family and she was a treasure to say the least.

However, when it came, it was a simple celebration focusing on God, the birth of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit.  Gifts were meager tokens of our appreciation for our blessings. We did not splurge or attempt to buy any more than we could afford. Times were tough and it was like that all over in America and not just in Ohio.

 

Growing up in the ghetto tenements of the south end of Columbus Ohio during the early 60's was ethnically challenging and a time for constant friction and controversy. Racial issues in our neighborhood continued to dominate our family's daily strife as the black and white environment we lived in was frequently falling short for reaching a harmonious relationship. Witnessing the racial wars and conflicts grew us closer together as we saw how cynical and ridiculous adults behaved related to the world being black or white. The deployment of the Ohio National Guard into our neighborhood heightened our awareness of how divided we really stood on life. Those who knew how to live in harmony were ridiculed and those who spewed hatred into every direction were martyred by their own in their respective neighborhoods.

 

Learning slowly the perils of mixing racial relationships in this side of town could end up inside a hospital emergency room waiting for the doctor to stitch you up after you just survived a razor blade attack on your body thinking to yourself "what did I do to deserve this".  

Thinking more of the offspring’s state of mind and personal wellness than the impact on adults, kids these days endured much harassment and bullying inside the school and playgrounds.

 

Life in the 70’s was not so simple as before as there was the end of the Vietnam war that left many homeless and traumatized because of the conflict and shock they were involuntarily inflicted by and sadly left untreated to fend for their own with no help from the government upon discharge of service. The music was rocking with big name bands and the mood was laid back as the world tried to find peace with the nuclear war still hanging over our heads and communism spreading like wildfires in Asia and Eastern Europe.

 

Life in the 80’s was much different from the 70’s as things began to come together and the world seemed to have settled down a bit. The economy seemed to have picked up and more jobs were available and more plenty in Ohio and other places. Moving to New Mexico to follow my parents, it was a new journey that allowed me to leave all my troubles behind and start fresh with a new mindset that allowed me to gather my thoughts and heal my aching heart for all the misery and pain I had left behind to start anew.

 

The 90’s brought more joy and the families I once knew to be far apart were coming together as we saw a new direction and new hope for changing some of the things that had happened in the past. Stability was a main ingredient and the ability to launch new ideas and new challenges grew into a reality unmatched by anything in the past.

 

The coming of the new millennium brought more opportunities and happiness. Children, my children, were growing into adults and having families of their own makes the heart fonder of the good things that happen in life with faith and hope coming from above. The world seemed to get better and the air was filled with fresh feelings of hope and prosperity for many.

 

But the happiness was short lived as the morning of 9/11 revealed that America was again engaged in war but this time, the war had come to New York City and the Twin Towers were assaulted by radical Islamic terrorist flying two large commercial aircraft into the gigantic and elevated skyscrapers making them easy targets to hurtle into with loaded fuel and innocent Americans unaware that danger had came from above and brought them immediate hell, death and disaster.

 

Recovering from the Twin Tower disaster was most difficult for Americans. Their own sovereignty had been endangered by small groups of radicals preying on large commercial ports of entry and landmarks that represented America’s power and influence throughout the world and Christianity. No longer safe inside the own territorial borders, the new Homeland Security Agency promulgated policies that would invade the privacy of our lives forever as new technology advanced body [scans] searches and the detection of weapons and other contraband determined by the TSA coming onboard aircrafts.

 

Moving to the Grand Canyon state in late 2005 brought a new element of hatred into our lives. The subject of illegal immigration had invaded Arizona politics and statutory legislation as well as regulations.

 

Suburban and rural neighborhoods were once again divided and many left to avoid the persecution of laws that focused on legal and illegal residence status that had been ignored by the federal government for years if not decades and now making a political impact for those running for elected office.

 

Families became divided under SB 1070 as the law demanded ICE detainments and eventual deportations and compliance with the laws of the land. Congress offered no resolution as states drafted their own immigration laws to control their sovereignty and borders within their control.

 

Then almost inconspicuously, some of the old ideology from the 60’s crept back into our lives and on television and newspapers. The country elected a black president for the first time and the world [as we knew it] inside America rocked with a renewal of racism as many could not understand, accept or conform to the new ideology created by those born in earlier decades that all men are created equal regardless of race, creed, color or nationality and that anyone could be president if they get the electoral votes to win the office.

 

The likes of the infamous Klux Klux Klan were reborn geographically and demographically as the hatred spewed up everywhere with provocation to incite racial hate crimes through written dialogues and detestable language and social media cartoons. Muslims sought shelter inside their mosques as they became targets of a new generation of haters and degenerates. Gangs grew inside our large cities and crime took a rise that would fill our prisons to the brim of hell’s own periphery of insanity and madness. Black killing blacks and inter-racial killings that had no boundaries or honor.

 

There was also a significant change in the way we celebrate our holidays nowadays. Compared to the old ways where we focused on Christ, the angels and the celebrated music as our means to find happiness and peace with God, we are losing the bonds we established so hard in the past. Commercialism invaded our ideology of celebrating the holydays focusing on gifts and other self fulfilling presents that were meant to please oneself rather than others. 

 

The spirit of giving had changed to the spirit of receiving and ignoring the giving aspect of a most worthy cause to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  It appeared the word “reborn” had taken a new meaning as it again divided our neighborhoods through extreme ideologies and biases. Xboxes and large screen televisions invaded the homes as the Holy Bible was put on pause and stashed away in a drawer somewhere collecting dust and ignorance by those who chose to cast it aside for personal pleasure and addictive entertainment. Technology was swallowing life into a vacuum that would be difficult to recover from if at all.

 

After every Thanksgiving after 2001, the mood on the street never changed, it was naïve to believe that with Christmas nearing and only a few weeks away, there would be peace and joy throughout the world and angels singing hymns to bring the faithful gathers together for a song or two. Caroling in our streets during Christmas used to be a common event but is hardly happening anymore, anywhere in America today.

 

The economy was so bad, it was very hard find a good job and to earn top dollar for good work done. Life was becoming more stressful just to make ends meet as jobs were hard to find and parents were struggling to make ends meet. Savings accounts depleted and Wall Street taking a deep tumble into corruptive practices and financial troubles, the earnings of a life’s savings disappeared for many Americans.

 

The newly elected president in 2008 ended one of the Middle East wars and promised to end another in Pakistan. These senseless wars have been fought for decades and as these fine and honorable young men and women came home, they found empty hearts and pockets leaving them at the mercy of a struggling economy and high unemployment rate. Many experienced PTSD from the war and received no assistance for such service as they were discarded and many left homeless for service to their country and injured in the line of duty. Many came home broken in spirit and mind as they suffer irreparable harm to their wellness

 

After the elections of 2012, fifty states have filed petitions to secede from the union. A re-elected president ponders how to heal the nation. The citizens’ viewpoints are different than those elected in Washington DC and wish to rule their own way of life began to appear in society just like it did before the start of the notorious American Civil War. Although symbolic in nature, they represent the truthful feelings of the many as they struggle with the social and political conflict that impairs them daily to be productive and gainfully employed as the economy and debt has faltered to a new low each day we go on.

 

The world appears to be riding on the shoulders of Satan and Judas as it has been turned upside down in morality and tranquility. The lyrics sung in the past have been replaced with slogans of war, violence, corruption and power as the government struggles to meet the solutions to its humongous debt and our burdensome fiscal cliff is ready to fall off into the ocean and drift towards the economically dominant Republic of China that today holds our debt as collateral and owns what we once had as our own. Our national security and defense at jeopardy, we pray change will come from Congress and reshape our journey to financial and economic independence once again.

 

The spirit of Christmas has dwindled down to a silent wish for hope. Hope that America will wake up from this nightmare and turn it around with those same ingredients our founding father had to birth this nation. A dire need to re-birth America will require strength and courage by those elected as leaders as we journey and navigate these dire straights to hell.

Negativity is ascending as hope dissipates into thin air. It appears the electoral vote is now in direct disagreement with the popular vote and people are upset their candidates lost. So in the end I have a Christmas wish that would end all the fighting and all the misery inside our country and in our neighborhood.

 

My wish is to restore the faith in God that built this great nation. Allow the pledge of allegiance to return back to the classrooms and stop banishing the words of in “God we Trust” from the lips of our children. Let us find the courage to again place our hands crossing our hearts as our Flag passes by and represents what is the greatest nation on earth, indivisible and under God. Reestablish patriotism as it was once before and bring home our men and women in uniform and keep them safe with support to assist them back into civilian livelihood and become good civilians again.

 

My wish is to rebuild and rekindle our spirits that allowed us to feel good about ourselves and others as friend and neighbor rather than enemy or foe.  Stop the fighting, the racism, and the hatred and become good neighbors again. Let our children live in peace and love each other unconditionally.

 

My wish is a return to good economics and stop sending jobs elsewhere around the world to allow us to prosper again and make us free. Free from the slavery that these conditions impose on us as we must follow involuntarily the whims of those in power that benefit from free labor of men and cheap products that need to be replaced often to increase the profits.

 

My wish is an end to these chains of entitlement feelings and give each man or woman an opportunity to work for a living and support those whom they love. Free those enslaved and dependent on government services and put them back into the hands of themselves so they may become self-reliant again and earn and learn the meaning of self-responsibilities, self-efficiency and self-support.

 

My wish is to heal America and bring us all back together again. Stop the violence and bring a level of sanity back into our lives. Allow each one individual the rights conceived by our Constitution and let no man or woman alter the meaning of our “Bill of Rights” to shadow and destroy the main fiber of our nation.

 

My wish is to stop the congressional bickering and unite this nation as a one party family that will heal all wounds and bring us together again and bring our nation back into a resolved condition and strength with reserves independent from foreign powers or influences.

 

My wish is to bring peace, hope and faith into our lives and allow us to be a nation whole once again and without the division we have today. Bring back contentment and allow us the bliss we so desire in God’s name and spirit and bring us together into one accord.

 

 

Report card on Arizona prisons ~ my perspective

Arizona Prisons, Too Little, Too Late

A Report Card

 

By Carl R. ToersBijns, former deputy warden, ASPC Eyman

 

Introduction – This report card is used for the purpose of evaluating and documenting information collected in local media streams with the sole purpose of providing guidance and support to those advocating better, safer and less costly prisons inside Arizona. Arizona spends more than $ 1 billion dollars on prison management in the past fiscal years and continues to ask for additional funding to keep their agency afloat.

 

Background – The opinions expressed in this report are those of its author and takes into consideration that most data received or collected is anecdotal in nature and may be personal or subjective based on inferences or cultural insights.

 

Overview – This overview is based on rational conclusions acquired and gained a period of time working inside southwest prisons and throughout the approximately thirty years in law enforcement having the experience of working the Arizona prisons for five years and working another twenty years in the New Mexico prisons offering a valid southwest cultural viewpoint on how prisons are management in this part of the country.

 

Report Card – In January, 2009, a new agency director was appointed by then governor Janice K. Brewer. His appointment was interim and pending permanent appointment and approval by the Legislature. Between the years 2004 and 2009, the Arizona prison system was under the directorship of Dora Schriro, a progressive liberal minded individual who focused on inmate programming and education priorities.

 

Mr. Schriro started a new trend in Arizona by promoting self-help programs, therapeutic environment conditions for the mentally ill and expanded the inmate employment program to the point where there was between 79 % to 84 % of the inmate gainfully employed or going to school.

 

This report card will document the progress made since her departure in January 2009, and the arrival of a new director, Charles L. Ryan, a former Arizona corrections official who had returned from tenure with the federal government and assigned in an official capacity at the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prison to train and develop prison programs for that country.

 

 

Summary of Findings – The prevalence of mismanagement complaints about public prisons inside Arizona has made the headlines now for more than three years. These events are well documented and warrant research and analysis by those responsible for public safety and the preservation of civil rights inside Arizona.

 

The reader should focus on the number of staff assaults that have occurred, the number of “natural deaths” reported, the number of suicides committed within the last two years and the flawed delivery of medical and mental health services that are neglected and delayed raising an awareness issue of known cases of communicable diseases, chronic illnesses and other sanitation and health conditions that may impact the communities when prisoners are released,

 

Government’s Response – There have been no significant, positive developments to report since the arrival of Charles L. Ryan as director. Although it appears he might have implemented a number of strategically goals and objectives within his five year plan, they have not made any noteworthy impact through these initiatives and leave much of these problems status quo for the time being.

 

It is clear that government has failed to provide the resources, leadership and vision necessary to address in a comprehensive and progressive manner those issues raised by their own investigative reports, and those by the media or advocacy groups vocal about changing the manner prisons are being operated.

 

There appears to be a lack of coordination and harmonization between this agency and those assigned required services according to the rule of law and internal policies and procedures. As a result, the standards of care related to custodial and healthcare available to prisoners varies between failing and barely meeting minimum requirements per law, standards and contractual obligations.

 

Conclusion – Prison systems have a moral, but also a legal responsibility to act without further delay to address these urgent issues reported and known to be deficient in nature or operation. Today, the government continues to fail to meet its responsibilities for public safety, staff safety and prisoner related safety issues.

There are few positive developments that have occurred since 2009 but the government is clearly not doing all they can do in the matters presented in this report card. It comes down to the quality of leadership within this agency that will make the difference between meeting its moral and legal obligations to the public and do much more to improve the current conditions as they stand.

 

Staff Issues – Cumulative Grade – F

 

Since January, 2009, the number of staff:

 

• resignations have increased
• disciplinary actions have increased
• grievances have increased
• assaults have increased

 

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• manpower resources have decreased
• availability on shift have decreased
• training quality has decreased
• protective measures for staff decreased
• morale has decreased

 

Security Issues – Cumulative Grade – D

 

Since January 2009, the number of:

• escapes or escape attempts have increased
• inmate assaults have increased
• double bunking of prisoners in all custody levels has increased
• hostage situations have increased
• disturbances have increased
• contraband found has increased
• drug related violence has increased
• gang related violence has increased
• prisoners housed in max custody has increased

 

Prison Self- Improvement Skill issues – Cumulative Grade – F

 

Since January, 2009, prisoner:

·        educational programs have decreased

·        vocational programs have decreased

·        employment opportunities have decreased

 

Prison Medical / Dental / Mental Issue – Cumulative Grade – F

 

Since January, 2009, prison health:

 

• medical treatment delays have increased
• medical community health risks have increased
• medical communicable/infectious diseases have increased
• medical services for the geriatric elderly has increased
• medical related “natural deaths” have increased
• medical related mistakes e.g. needle control have increased
• medical use of out-of-date medication has increased

 

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• medical priorities have decreased
• medical education/prevention on infectious diseases has decreased
• medical education of drugs or substance abuse have decreased
• medical staffing has decreased
• medical treatment has decreased
• medical prescription drugs have decreased
• medical referrals have decreased
• medical appointments have decreased

 

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• dental priorities have decreased
• dental services have decreased
• dental appointments have decreased

 

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• mental illness population has increased
• mental illness housing in solitary confinement has increased
• mental illness related suicides have increased
• mental illness housing in general population has increased

 

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• mental illness services have decreased
• mental illness treatment has decreased
• mental illness prescriptions have decreased
• mental illness cultural sensitivity has decreased
• mental illness segregation has decreased

 

 

 

Child Molesters R Monsters ~ awarenss video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYVOlOyFHkk&feature=plcp

How important is your vote this elections? Read this Crystal Vision and decide

Crystal Visions ~ Apocalyptic Events

 

We are nearing the end of a crystal vision of apocalyptic magnitude. I don’t know where this vision came from but I fear it to be true in nature as I see the lightning strike the ground and hear the sky rumble with thunder. This vision may be one of the most important of all my visions as it can be summed up to be the end of free societies everywhere and the destruction of our safe and secure way of life throughout our country and the world. Everything I have read, observed and experienced is coming to a non-telepathic message that can be heard and understood by many yet nobody is listening to the words or warnings.
 

I could hear my inner conscious saying to me “even if you followed what you have been taught and live the same way you have lived for the last 64 years, all that you know will come upon you but you can’t change it, nobody can.” The message was clear, it was a time for war as I envisioned horrible scenes of violence and senseless killing among those imprisoned by oppression and depression throughout the world and at home living so close to me.

It was not without warning this war would break out. The writing has been on the walls for decades as society ignored these visions projected numerous times on the front pages of most newspapers and societal blogs. This was not“nuclear fallout” or an out of control communicable disease breakout killing innocent babies as well as man and woman.

 

Looking at how 2012 is ending with the highest rate of violence within our societies it was inevitable the chaos would break loose and run rampant and out of control. This was a man-made war that was fueled by greed and corruption by those who planned to destroy all that was God made and good to mankind. This destruction of hope and freedom targeted those who believed in the preservation of life and human dignity. Crossing religious beliefs, they cursed the good and slaughtered the “worst of the worst” to send a message of fear and domination to the world.

In my visions, I was in a hundred places at once, from the Arizona deserts to the forests of Russia all the way down south in the rain forests of Brazil and the mountain tops of the snow capped Andes Mountains in Peru. Somehow it was clear to me an Armageddon will come projected and caused by fear.

This feeling of fear is not an unnecessary one for it includes the fear that humans have given up on other human beings and stripping them of all their civil rights and dignity in the name of public safety and tough on crime. Fear of the being neglected, tortured or hidden out of sight to avoid culpability and liabilities. Fear of being left for dead and unburied so that the birds can scavenge their flesh and soul down to the bones.

As the internal and world-wide economy suffers and our lands become dry and parched, our wheat and corn are ruined by month long droughts compounded by the numerous waves of attacks by tsunami caused waters and torrential rains flooding parts of the world.

I see more natural disasters coming our way. The splitting of the earth by Southern California originating earthquakes and man-made famine that will cause suffering as people give up on hope in keeping their freedom for the sake of being kept safe by their governments.

 

Corruption and greed in control and wielding the power, governments are demonstrating a willingness to habituate with the cartel and other criminals to profit from illegal activities and political games.

My visions expanded to the poor, the middle class as well as the wealthy. I saw beggars starving and rich ones in expensive suits holding out their hand begging for food in the streets holding a cup or a bowl seeking for scraps of food or water. Losing hope of ever recovering from such a disaster again, many are too weak to fight the fear and are seen curled up in the fetal position waiting on death to knock on their door seeing the gift of death a most reasonable relief of their plight and sorrows.

This crystal vision was endless for it included civil wars in Mexico and the Central Americas. Now, our North American Continent, a mass of lands with no real borders, immigrants become refugees, desperately struggling to safely reach outside the war zones and climbing high perforated steel walls and chain link fences; running for their safety and freedoms as the war on the border intensified.

This sea of refugees overtakes any obstacle and rush into the deserts and nearby cities driven by fear and the loss of faith in God and religion. Not looking for a new life or a new beginning they are fleeing the cruel and brutal regimes in power now just to survive and start life all over again.

So before you think this vision is a dream, you better wake up along with others that this election this year is the pivotal point of our entire existence as a free society and as a decent and orderly human race that is compassionate, kind and helpful to others without levels of entitlement to entice the vote and without the influence of greed to buy your vote.

Dealing with Negativity

Video link

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