The Official Unofficial Seminole Heights Blog

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Recently, we had a series focusing on several “thugs” that had lengthy criminal records, repeat offenses and and overall strain on our judicial system. Someone had pointed out that the 10-20-Life rule was an unrealistic practice seeing that our current penal system is overburdened and already overcrowded. However, after very little research, I found the following article that should be the next step in our governments path to reducing our state and federal deficits. Instead, our countries leaders continue to funnel billions of dollars to feed, shelter and cloth the criminals while the victims struggle to maintain sanity. go figure!  Collectively, how can we insists to our representatives to force similar prisons throughout all of our country? Could/Should this approach be implemented Nationwide? Read On:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) is doing it RIGHT!! He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but “G” movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn’t get sued for discrimination.

More on the AZ Sheriff:
With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks. “It feels like we are in a furnace,” said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. “It’s inhumane.” Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t commit any crimes… so shut your damned mouths.”

At a time when the world creates resolutions to resolve to change in some fashion, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past and find the many imperfections that we may have. As a neighborhood, we also have the chance to look at our historic progress and review our journey to the present day. While we have accomplished great feats, we still have so much we can improve on. Maybe as we all set our resolutions, we can work together as a community to develop NEW plans to help propel our neighborhoods to the next great level. Often times, we hear neighbors talking about a diversity out reach program. Maybe in 2009, this can be our goal. We talk often about our commercial corridors. Can our associations find innovative ways to work with BGoSH to develop a plan that can be supported by the business owners and the city? Our association has a very powerful voice. How can we use it more effectively? You have heard the saying, “Keep doing what you have always done and you will get what you have always gotten.” Sometimes, I feel like we continue to do the same thing over and over and over again. Not necessarily because it is the right thing to to, but more that it is the easy or comfortable thing to do. Typically, our boards meet in Dec/January to tackle the new agenda for the new year. I would challenge each of you to submit a comment to this post that would offer at least one CONSTRUCTIVE idea that would help better our neighborhoods. It’s your turn for input.

General Membership Meeting