Hello Bella, our church is preparing to run a Vacation Bible School during the March break holiday. Bolivia is the focus of our mission stories, centering on the cities of Cochabamba, Sucre and La Paz. I'm hoping to incorporate extra information on Bolivian wildlife, hand-crafts, games and such. We also want to decorate the room with maps, travel pictures, camping gear and other fun things.
Do you know where I could find maps of the country, as well as the individual cities we'll be studying? Also, information on simple games and crafts that we could teach to and do with the children? Any information would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to find information over the web, but so far I've found very little to work with and this site is by far the richest in information about Bolivia. Thank you for it.
Perhaps if you contacted Artesanias Sorata they could give you some pointers on handcrafts to make with the kids. The website supports local handcraft makers and helps them earn income.
I don't have a section on hand crafts, just the Bella handcrafts store through National Geographic and Novica but maybe you could take a look at it and see all the types of hand crafts from Bolivia as it has GREAT photos of all kinds of masks, pottery, leather, alpaca, mirrors, etc.
"Sapito" is a very popular Bolivian game among both kids and adults. It has a table with a frog on it - with its mouth open - kids step back about 5 meters and throw coins, trying to get the coins into its mouth. The person who gets the most coins in, wins all the coins. It goes from simple to difficult. It has several holes and drawers. Depending which hole a coin goes into, it falls into a different drawer. The drawers are worth points, some more than others. The person with the most points wins all the coins or a prize. (You could also do this with bottle caps or candies and just give a prize to the winner).
Maps. I have maps of Bolivia for sale on my site here They are sent from the US to destination. Just click on a map to purchase online.
Camping in Bolivia is pretty much the same as anywhere else - sleeping bags, tents, camping stove, and other gear.


text:
Saturna Named on Investor's Business Daily Best HSAs List for Second Year
February 18, 2020 – Investor's Business Daily has for the second year in a row named Saturna Capital as a top health savings account provider for people who want to invest their HSA savings. IBD compiled its list of 11 "Best of 2020" providers from dozens of HSA account providers based on investment quality, investment options, fees, customer ratings, and feedback from industry experts. IBD names Saturna's HSA as one of the best in the category of "Investment Options" noting that "Saturna's offerings are expansive and include the option of a self-directed brokerage account."
"We are honored to be on the Investor's Business Daily Best HSAs list again this year," said Jane Carten, president and CEO of Saturna Capital. "HSAs are catching on as investment vehicles with lucrative tax advantages, yet many account holders remain unaware that they may invest their health savings. HSA data shows that the average balance of on an investment HSA is nearly nine times that of a non-investment HSA."
Saturna HSA investors can choose from Saturna's affiliated stock and bond mutual funds, including sustainable and certified halal funds, or broaden their choices further via a self-directed brokerage account. Saturna HSA account holders may also set up an automated investment plan for their HSA contributions, similar to what they may already be doing with their IRA or 401(k).
Learn more about Saturna Capital HSAs »
HSA contribution and other limits for 2020
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Contribution Limits 2019 2020
Individual Family Individual Family
HSA Contribution Limits (employer + employee) $3,500 $7,000 $3,550 $7,100
HSA Catch-up Contributions (age 55 and older) $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000
Qualified High-Deductible Health Plan Requirements 2019 2020
QHDHP Minimum Deductibles $1,350 $2,700 $1,400 $2,800
QHDHP maximum out-of-pocket amounts¹ $6,750 $13,500 $6,900 $13,800
¹ Including deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but excluding premiums. See IRS Publication 969 (www.irs.gov) for more information.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ericsson has joined the O-RAN Alliance, telecom service providers and suppliers with the commitment to evolving radio access network (RAN) architecture and orchestration built on openness, intelligence, flexibility and performance.
Ericsson has driven and continues to drive the industry towards open interfaces as part of its standardization work. The company is recognized as leaders in 3GPP and is actively contributing to several open-source communities including Linux, ONAP and OpenStack to secure open platforms useful for mobile networks.


text:
Pre application
Highways:
by Highways England
The list below includes a record of advice we have provided for this project. For a list of all advice issued by the Planning Inspectorate, including non-project related advice, please go to the Register of advice page.
There is a statutory duty, under section 51 of the Planning Act 2008, to record the advice that is given in relation to an application or a potential application, including the name of the person who requested the advice, and to make this publicly available.
Council Advice Meeting.
Please see attached.
Somerset County Council - anon.
Meeting note including comments and advice regarding draft Application documents
National Highways - anon.
Project Update Meeting.
Project Update Meeting
Good afternoon, Thank you for your letter of 2 March 2022, regarding A358 Taunton to Southfields scheme. The Planning Inspectorate has not yet received an application from National Highways regarding the scheme. We have been notified by the applicant that they are intending to submit an application in summer 2022. Please see our website for information received about the project. [attachment 1] The Planning Inspectorate is unable to consider representations about the merits of any application until the application has been submitted and accepted for Examination, therefore, you may wish to address your concerns to your local authority or National Highways directly. If the application is accepted to be examined, you will be able to register as an Interested Party by submitting a relevant representation. This must be submitted on the 'Registration and Relevant Representation form' which will be made available on the project webpage of the National Infrastructure Planning website if the application is accepted. Further information about registering as an Interested Party can be found in the Planning Inspectorate's 'Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination' [attachment 2] Information about the process is also available on our website: [attachment 3] You may find it helpful to subscribe to receive email notifications for key events that occur after an application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. You can find a link to this on our website. Please contact us if you need any further information, an email does reach us more quickly than a letter particularly now we are in the office less frequently as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yours sincerely, Deborah Allen Case Manager
Hatch Beauchamp Parish Council - anon.
We are writing to you on behalf of a Community of Parishes that encompasses 13 Parish Councils and Ilminster Town Council. We represent local communities through which the A358 scheme passes. The Minutes of a project update meeting held on 29th September between National Highways and the Planning Inspectorate grossly misrepresents our efforts in providing proposals to mitigate the adverse impacts the scheme will have on our communities. This is one example of how our participation is being suppressed in order to avoid proper scrutiny of the scheme. The attached letter A358 Scheme_Suppression of Concerns describes our concerns and details our engagement with National Highways and local authorities. We ask that you take appropriate measures to ensure that National Highways is honest and transparent in its development and presentation of the scheme, and the Community of Parishes is fully involved throughout the DCO process. Please acknowledge receipt. Yours sincerely Robert Burrough and Peter Gregory On behalf of: Stoke St Mary Parish Council West Hatch Parish Council Hatch Beauchamp Parish Council Beercrocombe Parish Council Curry Mallet Parish Council Ashill Parish Council Broadway Parish Council Ilton Parish Council Horton Parish Council Donyatt Parish Council Pitminster Parish Council Combe St. Nicholas Parish Council Corfe Parish Council Ilminster Town Council
Thank you for your email and attachment. You may be aware that the proposed application above is currently at the Pre-application stage of the Planning Act 2008 process. Further information about the process can be found in the link below to the National Infrastructure Planning website: [attachment 1] In respect of your concerns about the developer's pre-application consultation you should contact National Highways in the first instance to enable them to address the issues. In respect of your concerns about the about the merits of the application, The Planning Inspectorate is unable to consider representations until it is accepted for Examination. Further information about the process can be found in the link below to the National Infrastructure Planning website: [attachment 1] It is important that the developer is made aware of your comments at the Pre-application stage to enable them to consider the points raised before finalising their proposals and submitting the application. As you have contacted the developer but you are not satisfied that they have, or will, take account of your comments you can make your comments to the relevant local authority. The Planning Inspectorate will request the relevant local authorities' view on the adequacy of the developer's consultation when the application is submitted. Further information about the pre-application consultation process can be found here: [attachment 3] The Planning Inspectorate has published a series of Advice Notes about the Planning Act 2008 process. 'Advice Note Eight: Overview of the nationally significant infrastructure planning process for members of the public and others' can be found here: [attachment 4] You may find it helpful to subscribe to receive email notifications for key events that occur after an application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. I hope this helps.
Robert Burrough and Peter Gregory - anon.
National Highways (the Applicant) - anon.
Highways England - anon.
Project inception meeting
Upgrade of the A358 to a high quality dual carriageway between Southfields Roundabout on the A303 and the M5 at Taunton.
Visit developer's website
Sign up using email address to receive updates about the project
The A358 Trunk Road between Southfields Roundabout on the A303 and Junction 25 of the M5 at Taunton.
Planning Inspectorate case team:
Highways England - tel. 0300 123 5000


text:
Walter Branscombe (–1280) was Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280.

Origins
Nothing for certain is known of Walter Branscombe's origins and education, but he is thought to have been born in Exeter in about 1220. In the opinion of William George Hoskins he was a member of the family of de Branscombe seated at the manor of Edge in the parish of Branscombe east Devon, situated about 16 miles east of Exeter; although others appear to dispute this. John Prince (1643-1723), in his Worthies of Devon, says he was a native of Exeter, and "born there of poor and mean parentage". Prince appears to be quoting an earlier authority, Bishop Francis Godwin (1562-1633), who writes of Walter Bronscombe:"Patre natus Exoniensi cive, sed tenuissimae sortis et ex plebe infimâ", and it is not clear that the Branscombe family, who filled various positions of responsibility and authority in the fourteenth century, married into the high Devonshire families of Courtenay and Champernowne, held land at Colyton, and took their name from the parish ever lived at Edge, Branscombe which, from the reign of King Edward III, was home to the Wadham family.

Career
Branscombe held a prebend in of St Nicholas's College at Wallingford Castle, as well as a number of other benefices. He also was archdeacon of Surrey. In 1250, he acted as King Henry III of England's representative at the papal curia, and was appointed the king's proctor the next year. Besides being a royal clerk, he was often named as a papal chaplain also. Before 1254 he became a canon of Exeter Cathedral.

Branscombe was elected to the see of Exeter on 23 February 1258 and consecrated on 10 March 1258. He was ordained a priest on 10 March 1258, with both rites being performed by Boniface of Savoy, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was enthroned at Exeter on 14 April 1258.

Maurice Powicke's opinion was that, having been trained in the royal service, Branscombe settled down to become an assiduous diocesan bishop. He faced some problems at the start of his time as bishop, for right after the death of the previous bishop, Richard Blund, a number of Blund's officials and clerks had used Blund's seal to forge letters giving away benefices as well as Blund's property. This left Branscombe with debts and administrative issues.  He also continued to perform diplomatic missions for the king, as he was at Paris in 1258 and 1263. He attended a general council of the church held at Lyons in the summer of 1274.

Branscombe's register of his diocesan administration is the earliest episcopal one surviving from Exeter. He was a founder of a number of churches in his diocese, and issued sets of instructions for his cathedral church as well as others in his diocese. His last years were occupied with a dispute with Edmund the Earl of Cornwall over the earl's infringement of ecclesiastical rights.

Branscombe died on 22 July 1280 at Bishopsteignton. He was buried in Exeter Cathedral, where his tomb, with the bishop's effigy, still survives. It remained unscathed during the Exeter Blitz, being protected by sand bags.

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading

External links
 "Entry for Walter Bronescombe" in George Oliver's Lives of the Bishops of Exeter
 The Cathedral Church of St. Peter in Exeter: Bishop Bronescombe's Tomb

Bishops of Exeter
13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
Burials at Exeter Cathedral
Year of birth uncertain

1220 births

1280 deaths

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Tech Employment Grows Fastest Across All Industries in 2016 | MATRIX Resources, Inc.
According to Cyberstates 2017™, CompTIA's annual analysis of the U.S. tech industry, America's tech payrolls grew nearly three times faster than the rest of employees in 2016. Net new jobs totaled 182,000 in 2016, up nearly 3% and approximately 10% of all jobs added in the economy.
U.S. tech sector employment grew by nearly 3% in 2016, approaching seven million workers. Tech occupations across all other industries – the second component of the nation's technology workforce – increased by 2%, to an estimated 7.3 million workers.
About 60% of 2016 job gains occurred in IT services and custom software services. This category was also responsible for adding the most new tech business establishments in 2016 – more than 5,000 companies. Over the past five years, this sub-sector has added an estimated 48,826 new business establishments, a growth rate of 24%.
The top 10 states for tech sector employment are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Michigan. California's total pool of tech workers – nearly 1.2 million – is more than double the number of such employees in Texas, the nation's second-largest tech state.
America's tech sector employment grew by nearly 3% last year, compared with just 1% across all industries.
The tech sector employs approximately 4.4% of the total U.S. workforce, which is more than those employed in finance/insurance or construction.
The top five states for 2016 job growth on a percentage change basis were Utah (6%), North Carolina (5.9%), Michigan (5.1%), Washington (4.9%), and Montana (4.5%).
The number of tech startups and new tech business establishments increased by 12% in 2015 (the most recent year of available data).


Japanese experimental rock group Mono came together in 2000, choosing to forgo vocals and concentrate instead on atmospheric, classical-inspired rock music. They have crafted a dynamic, shapeshifting sound that lends itself to long compositions, delivered in varying ranges of dynamics, replete with improvisation, restraint, and an energy that bridges post-rock to heavy metal energy. Their recordings walk the line between spacious atmospherics, a lush yet delicate beauty, and overdriven, de-tuned raw power. Early recordings such as 2004's Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined, relied on the contrast of various tensions in soaring rock that explored margins in the same way that Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky do. Two years later, on Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain, they began collaborating with World's End Girlfriend (aka Katsuhiko Maeda), an underground Japanese producer, mixologist, and multi-instrumentalist. They also enlisted a string section, chorus, a classical pianist, and a jazz saxophonist as part and parcel of their attack. These collaborations only grew, culminating in 2012's acclaimed For My Parents. In 2014 they pared their sound back to the quartet on two simultaneously recorded and issued albums, Rays of Darkness and Last Dawn.
The foursome, bassist Tamaki (the lone female in the group), drummer Yasunori Takada, and guitarists Takaakira "Taka" Goto and Yoda, released their first full-length record, Under the Pipal Tree, in 2001 on John Zorn's Tzadik label. In 2003, after switching to Arena Rock Recording Company, Mono issued One Step More and You Die — a remix version came out the following year as New York Soundtracks. That same year, their fourth album, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined, recorded in Chicago with producer Steve Albini, was released on Temporary Residence. Albini also performed the same duties on Mono's April 2006 record, You Are There, and in September the band issued Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain, a mix between classical and rock that also featured a collaboration with World's End Girlfriend, among others. The fascination with classical arrangements, strings, and atmospheres became an integral part of the band's sound. In 2006 they recorded You Are There, which included cellos on one part of the album and a string section elsewhere while retaining the dynamic and tension-building sound that had become the band's trademark, where beauty and chaos are woven together until they're an inseparable whole. On 2009's Hymn to the Immortal Wind, the band played live with a 25-piece chamber orchestra that featured woodwinds, reeds, and strings — and added a Hammond B-3 in spots to extend the orchestral dynamic. This culminated in 2010's Holy Ground: NYC Live, with Mono accompanied by the Wordless Music Orchestra, another large chamber ensemble featuring everything from harp and strings to winds and piano, playing the band's compositions. For 2012's For My Parents, the band employed a smaller chamber group, conducted by Jeff Milarsky, dubbed the Holy Ground Orchestra, comprising two violins, two cellos, viola, upright bass, timpani, and cymbals.
After a global tour and a break, Mono returned to the studio in 2013 and recorded two albums simultaneously as parts of a whole. The Last Dawn was lighter, briefer, and more melodic; once again, it placed the band in sonic juxtaposition with strings. The second part, Rays of Darkness, included no strings for the first time since 2003. It was far blacker and heavier, and featured a guest vocal appearance by Tetsuya Fukagawa of Envy. Both albums were released by Temporary Residence in October of 2014. The following year, Mono signed with the Pelagic label of German metal act the Ocean. Both bands collaborated on a split album called Transcendental. The recording was a preface for a joint European tour. Each band contributed a single extended track. Mono's "Death in Reverse" served to complement the Ocean's "The Quiet Observer" in that both cuts explored themes of life, death, and rebirth/regeneration, as well as the in-between "bardo" states. The album was released at the end of October by Pelagic. In July 2016, Mono released the 18-minute "Ely's Heartbeat" via the Internet. It was the pre-release single from the full-length Requiem for Hell, issued by Temporary Residence that October.
In December of 2017, after the completion of an extensive world tour with the Ocean, Mono announced via social media that founding member Takada was leaving the group for personal reasons. He was replaced by Dahm Majuri Cipolla, just in time for the live performances that began in August of the following year. Mono entered Electrical Audio with Albini again earlier that year, and in September announced the full-length Nowhere Now Here, which was issued in January of 2019.


In honor of Noah and his legacy, Noah's Bandage Project and Agape Montessori School are proud to bring you Noah's Crown Town 5K Run/Walk. All proceeds, donations of funds, and bandages collected from this race go to support Noah's Bandage Project, and their mission to help fund pediatric cancer research.
AGE GROUP AWARDS! Top 3 in each division male and female!


Exploratory advanced research focuses on longer term, higher risk research with a high payoff potential. It matches opportunities from discoveries in science and technology with the needs of specific industries.
The uncertainties in the research approach and outcomes challenge organizations and researchers to be innovative problemsolvers, which can lead to new research techniques, instruments, and processes that can be of value to future advanced or applied research projects.
FHWA engages stakeholders in the EAR Program to evaluate potential research topics and through the transition of research results.
FHWA identifies and scopes topics through extensive initial-stage investigations. The EAR Program has supported scanning trips and meetings involving hundreds of national and international experts to assure use of the most recent advances in science and engineering.
FHWA uses expert panels to ensure the technical quality of sponsored research.
The panels are composed of Federal, State, academic, and international scientific and engineering experts who are vetted to avoid conflicts of interest. The panels frequently include members from multiple disciplines to assure that cross applications and novel approaches to research are fully assessed.
Access to international expertise is critical for the EAR Program. In some research areas, governments, industries, and universities in other parts of the world have developed important advances that could be applied to U.S. highway transportation.
The FHWA EAR Program has engaged international experts by sponsoring scanning tours, convening forums, inviting expert reviewers, offering postdoctoral research fellowships, and participating in international pool-funded (also known as common pot) research programs. FHWA expects to continue these collaborations and longer term relationships.
Connected Highway and Vehicle System Concepts — Emphasizes the longer term needs to reach critical FHWA safety and mobility goals by developing the theory and assessing the feasibility for systems that leapfrog current technological approaches for linking infrastructure with future vehicle and personal mobility technology.
Breakthrough Concepts in Materials Science — Leverages new approaches in materials science to produce innovative highway materials with characteristics that enable enhanced functionality (including multifunctionality), constructability, sustainability, and cost- effectiveness or operating characteristics of highway infrastructure.
Human Behavior and Travel Choices — Leverages research concepts from the social sciences, including psychology and economics, along with more traditional research for improving safety, reducing congestion, and improving the livability of the Nation's communities.
Technology for Assessing Performance — Seeks novel approaches and breakthrough technology that will revolutionize the use of performance management in the highway sector.
New Technology and Advanced Policies for Energy and Resource Conservation — Cuts across infrastructure, operations, and societal and complex natural systems to support innovative methods for reducing highway industry costs and moving toward sustainability.
The EAR Program strives to develop partnerships with the public and private sectors, because the very nature of the EAR Program is to apply ideas across traditional fields of research and stimulate new approaches to problem solving. Through eight solicitations, the EAR Program has awarded 79 projects involving both government and academic researchers. These projects represent the investment of $76 million in FHWA funds and leverage $28 million in matching funds.
The EAR Program bridges basic research (e.g., academic work funded by National Science Foundation grants) and applied research (e.g., studies funded by State departments of transportation). Research may improve the understanding of phenomena that can accelerate or allow for new lines of applied research. For example, EAR Program- funded projects are researching methods for automating analysis of video data that will provide researchers new tools for understanding driver behavior in order to increase roadway safety and mobility.
In addition to sponsoring EAR Program projects that advance the development of highway infrastructure and operations, the EAR Program is committed to promoting cross-fertilization with other technical fields, furthering promising lines of research, and deepening vital research capacity.
Cross-fertilization. Research may include the application of scientific and technological discoveries in other fields to transportation. An example is a project titled "Applications of Knowledge Discovery in Massive Transportation Data: The Development of a Transportation Research Informatics Platform," which is employing data analytic methods developed for financial and commercial retail industries to integrate and analyze disparate data sources, such as traditional structured crash data, with social media and sensor data.
Disseminating new findings. Each EAR Program-sponsored project includes a transition plan for finding appropriate research followup activities through disseminating new findings and pursuing the potential for continued research. Where the findings suggest the value of further investigation, the EAR Program identifies appropriate activities to engage interested stakeholders who may want to continue the research. For example, when new technologies developed in a project are meeting anticipated objectives, there may be interest in applied research at FHWA or among State departments of transportation, Transportation Research Board (TRB) cooperative research programs, or private industry. Other research projects may lead to unexpected findings or clarification about questions and approaches, which could suggest continued investigation under the EAR Program.
Building capacity. The EAR Program also furnishes value by increasing the capacity of organizations and individuals to conduct research. For example, the EAR Program supports the National Research Council Research Associateship Program, which provides postdoctoral and senior scientists and engineers with opportunities to conduct research on projects that complement other EAR Program research.
Greatly Increased Use of Fly Ash in Hydraulic Cement Concrete for Pavement Layers and Transportation Structures.
Innovative and Environmentally Beneficial Infrastructure Materials.
Next-Generation, Energy-Efficient Traffic Control Devices.
New Technologies for Development of Renewable Energy in the Public Right-of-Way.
A Remote, Self-Sustained System for Monitoring Water Quality near Highways.
Identifying and scoping topics. The EAR Program has identified and scoped topics as part of 50 meetings and scanning trips.
Reviewing proposals and projects. More than 200 experts provided assessments of proposals, ongoing projects, or possible new projects. Most reviewers are from academic institutions and, in descending order, State and local departments of transportation, other Federal agencies, private companies, and the international community.
Conducting research. The program has awarded 79 research projects on 47 different topics between 2007 and 2016. The research awards include work by multidisciplinary teams at 62 academic institutions, 39 private companies, 13 State and local agencies, 10 Federal laboratories, and eight institutions outside of the United States.
For more information, see the EAR Program Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch. The site features information on research solicitations, updates on ongoing research, links to published materials, summaries of past EAR Program events, and details on upcoming events.


MPWR (Mentoring and Partnerships for Women in RUME) is a daylong seminar that began five years ago as a means to support women at all career stages—graduate student, postdoc, faculty and professional—in the RUME (Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education) community. Each year, the leadership team conducts this seminar preceding the RUME Conference to address the personal and professional needs of women in this community. Dr. Stacy Musgrave of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona describes the MPWR (pronounced empower) seminar and the newly-integrated research component of her work in her answers to the questions below.
1. What issues did you seek to address with the development of the MPWR seminar?
As women academics with expertise in RUME, the MPWR leadership team (currently myself, Jess Ellis Hagman, Megan Wawro, and Eva Thanheiser) recognizes a need in our community for increased support and mentorship. Women in RUME are in the position of being part of the gender minority in STEM academic positions and often part of the mathematics education minority in mathematics departments. By providing ongoing support targeted to the unique needs of our members, we aim to foster a community of thriving, successful women researchers who contribute to the RUME knowledge base and instigate changes in the RUME (and broader mathematics/mathematics education) culture.
2. Tell us about the features and scope of MPWR.
and formal peer mentoring structures called MPWRment groups.
To date, we have hosted 179 women from the RUME community. To put this in perspective, 325 women attended a RUME Conference during 2014-2017, 44% of whom participated in at least one MPWR. Of the 127 women who have been to more than one RUME, 71% have been to at least one MPWR.
3. Now that the MPWR infrastructure is established, I understand you've added a research component to your work. What questions are you exploring?
What issues do women in RUME struggle with related to career success? What impedes women in RUME from social and academic integration into their research community? How do these issues compare to those faced by other subgroups of the mathematics education research community?
How does MPWR impact the RUME community, specifically attending to women in RUME who have participated in MPWR, women in RUME who have not participated in MPWR, and men in RUME?
What characterizes a successful MPWRment peer-mentoring group?
4. What surprises have you found during the implementation of your research?
There has been a lot of validation for the work we're doing. The vast majority of participants provide positive feedback, affirming that MPWR provides a space to connect with other women as a whole person – researcher, teacher, faculty member, collaborator, mentor, mentee, wife/partner, sister, daughter, mother, dog owner, traveler, etc. Based on how valued this space is, we face the welcome challenges of how to continue to fund and implement MPWR.
5. What new questions have arisen as your work progresses?
As participant feedback continues to highlight common themes, we are beginning to question how to increase the impact of MPWR. In an ideal world, we wouldn't need MPWR anymore – social structures that serve as obstacles to women (and other underrepresented and underprivileged groups) in RUME (and more broadly) would cease to exist, and the treatment of academics as more than paper-writers and grant-seekers would extend beyond the confines of a daylong seminar.
Although we acknowledge the support we provide as a much-needed first step, we are now asking much harder questions about how to create systemic and cultural change within our communities so that a structure like MPWR is no longer needed.
Erin Moss is a co-editor of DUE Point and an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at Millersville University, where she works with undergraduates from all majors as well as graduate students in the M.Ed. in Mathematics program.


You knew it was coming. After all, if Aston offers something in coupe form, the open-air variant is never far behind. Well, that, and we'd already spied loosely-camo'd prototypes running around last fall. Regardless of our level of surprise, the new Aston Martin DBS Superleggera continues this trend, offering the same stunning good looks and hair-tousling performance as the coupe.
Tesla's flagship Model S sedan blindsided the industry as the upstart winner of the 2013 MotorTrend Car of the Year award—largely due to its previously unheard-of long-distance driving range from its battery pack. Until then, electric vehicles were fortunate to reach triple-digit miles on a single charge. Tesla obliterated that "range anxiety" myth, then added Superchargers to refute the "it'll take all night to recharge" shortcoming.
It's almost impossible to write about the 2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e without mentioning snow. From the beginning, Toyota's been up front about the fact that it developed the all-wheel-drive Prius for snowy climates, even going so far as to show the car driving on snow in most of its press photos. It then launched the Prius AWD-e with a drive event on snow to drive home the point.
Ford will invest $500 million in Rivian, aligning the maker of the industry-leading F-Series pickup line with an upstart that's electrifying gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles.
The second-biggest U.S. automaker also is forming a partnership with Rivian, which Amazon.com backed with an investment announced in February. Ford will build a vehicle using the platform that Rivian founder R.J. Scaringe said last week he plans to share with several companies.
Ford has made the public very aware it will focus on SUVs and trucks moving forward, but many of its plans still remain a mystery. We know Ford will introduce a Bronco and baby Bronco, but official details haven't been released. Now, new trademark applications add fuel to the fire.
At the Shanghai auto show last week, Buick revealed a redesigned version of the Encore, as well as a slightly longer version called the Encore GX. Since Buick already sells the Encore here in the U.S., we assumed the redesigned version would be sold in our market, but that the longer GX would be something GM had cooked up exclusively for the Chinese market. Now, it sounds like it's probably the other way around.
Tesla Inc. and its Chinese competitor NIO Inc. are looking into fires involving their vehicles, as videos of a car bursting into flames circulate on social media in the world's largest electric auto market.
If you're in the market for a supercar you can drive daily, it's hard to go wrong with the Audi R8. It's comfortable, offers great ride quality, and in an era where forced induction is becoming increasingly common, it packs a fantastic, naturally aspirated V-10. But when Audi introduces its replacement in a few years, don't expect that V-10 to stick around.
At a meeting with investors today, Tesla detailed its full self-driving computer that is now in production. As usual, CEO Elon Musk offered some newsworthy tidbits, saying that the system is unlikely to falter.
Elon Musk has engaged in Twitter spats with a long line of folks, from rival automakers to short sellers and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He's at it again, but this time the stakes could be even higher. He's in a rare public dispute with a critical supplier: Panasonic Corp., the company that makes all of the lithium-ion battery cells that power Tesla Inc.'s electric vehicles.
This doesn't feel like an SUV. It's far too much flipping fun. Pop, snort, burble. Quick turn-in, followed by a long sweeper on some epic roads through the mountains from St. Tropez to Nice. Life is good behind the wheel of the 2019 Jaguar F-Pace SVR.
Jaguar had its work cut out for it. The XE compact sedan must compete with a new-generation BMW 3 Series that seeks to regain more of its mojo, a strong Mercedes C-Class, the ever-improving Audi A4, and other contenders in a crowded and diverse field that range from the Alfa Romeo Giulia to the Volvo S60.
More expensive cars typically eclipse mainstream cars in countless areas, from improved performance and ride quality to better materials and more creature comforts. But infotainment usability doesn't seem to be one of these areas. We've seen plenty of luxury cars with difficult interfaces, for instance, and plenty of mainstream cars with functional ones.


BSNL's online portal can now be used to generate an OTP for Aadhaar-mobile re-verification for select customers.
State-run telecom operator BSNL has started the online Aadhaar-mobile SIM re-verification process for select customers. The BSNL portal now gives NRIs, senior citizens and physically challenged customers an option to link their 12-digit Aadhaar cards with their mobile SIMs without visiting a BSNL store.
The new online Aadhaar-SIM re-verification service is now live and can be accessed on BSNL's web portal. BSNL users for whom the process applies, can head to the portal and sign-up for re-verification by creating an account. Post the sign-in/sign-up process an OTP will be sent to the mobile number which needs to be re-verified. Customers will then need to enter the OTP on the website to confirm and bring up an online form. Documents such as address proof, photos, etc need to be uploaded.
On submission of the form, a transaction ID will be generated and an SMS (Reverification CAF Submitted For GSMNO :xxxxxxxxxx TRANSACTION_NO:xxxxxxx ) will be sent to the customer.
This transaction ID will remain valid for 48 hours. Customer will then have to share this transaction ID and Mobile number with a known person (Trusted Person) having Aadhaar number registered with a mobile number (ARMN) and who is willing to share his/her Aadhaar number for the verification of senior citizen/NRI/physically challenged customer's Mobile Number.
The Trusted Person will then have to go to this link and enter the Mobile number and Transaction ID which is shared by the re-verification customer. The Trusted Person will be shown the details entered by the re-verification customer after which he/she will be required to enter their Aadhaar number. Another OTP will be received by the Trusted Person on their Aadhaar Registered Mobile Number. After OTP validation, an SMS will be sent to the customer for completion of process.
Once the process is complete, the entered details will be sent for verification to a Circle Admin who will once again verify the details. Finally, a SMS will be sent to the re-verification customer about successful completion.
BSNL couldn't have made an online process more complicated that this. All other users on any other telecom network can complete the Aadhaar-mobile re-verification process through the new IVRS service.


Training Hub is a 10-month discipleship programme encompassing theological teaching, leadership development, practical training & spiritual growth. It's a place for training and equipping everyday disciples to serve God in every area of life and culture.
Training Hub is open to anyone who is wanting to grow in the areas above. This is also the training programme our interns will taking part in. The course will run from September 2019 – June 2020. More details of specific dates will be coming soon. Course Fee details also coming soon.


text:
Q: Conditional plot according to a string value in gnuplot I have datasets like this:
   5.00  0.29490912E-08 CLOSE ENC
   6.00  0.23846514E-08 CLOSE ENC
   7.00  0.19817730E-08 CLOSE ENC
   8.00  0.16799040E-08 CLOSE ENC
   9.00  0.14454043E-08 CLOSE ENC
  10.00  0.12580897E-08 CLOSE ENC
  11.00  0.11051156E-08 CLOSE ENC
  12.00  0.97791894E-09 CLOSE ENC
  13.00  0.87057114E-09
  14.00  0.77883753E-09
  15.00  0.69961252E-09
  16.00  0.63056681E-09
  17.00  0.56991906E-09
  18.00  0.51628366E-09
  19.00  0.46856659E-09
  20.00  0.42589251E-09
  21.00  0.38755271E-09 FAR ENC
  22.00  0.35296719E-09 FAR ENC
  23.00  0.32165672E-09 FAR ENC

As you can see some times there are 3 data in a line (2 numbers and a string) and some times only 2 numbers. I want to know if it is possible to skip the data point when the 3rd value is the string "CLOSE ENC".
I have tried this:
plot "inputfile.dat" u 1:(trim(strcol(3)) ne "CLOSE ENC" ? $2 : NaN)

but it doesn't work.
The error message is:
gnuplot> plot "inputfile.dat" u 1:(trim(strcol(3)) ne "CLOSE ENC" ? $2 : NaN)

^

"Ploter.plt" line 14: x range is invalid

Thanks in advance for your help!

A: I didn't find a way to cleanly (without warnings) handle the varying number of columns, so I resort to this:
plot '<grep -v "CLOSE ENC" inputfile.dat' using 1:2

A: This is a "classical" data filter question, however, with the difficulty that the filter column might not exist, which requires a different approach.
If you are working with Linux you have the tool grep which makes it a one-liner as the answer of @Armali shows.
If you want to have a platform independent gnuplot-only solution, you have to spend a few more lines. The assumption here is that the column separator of the original data is whitespace.
However, this will plot the full x-range of your data. If you want to filter your x-range automatically as well, you can use the following slightly more complicated plotting line:
plot $Data u (y=myFilter(2,3,"CLOSE"),y==y? real(myStrCol(1)):NaN):(y) w lp pt 7 notitle

Maybe there are even simpler gnuplot-only solutions.
Code:
### conditional plot (with missing column)
reset session

$Data <<EOD
5.00 0.29490912E-08 CLOSE ENC
6.00 0.23846514E-08 CLOSE ENC
7.00 0.19817730E-08 CLOSE ENC
8.00 0.16799040E-08 CLOSE ENC
9.00 0.14454043E-08 CLOSE ENC
10.00 0.12580897E-08 CLOSE ENC
11.00 0.11051156E-08 CLOSE ENC
12.00 0.97791894E-09 CLOSE ENC
13.00 0.87057114E-09
14.00 0.77883753E-09
15.00 0.69961252E-09
16.00 0.63056681E-09
17.00 0.56991906E-09
18.00 0.51628366E-09
19.00 0.46856659E-09
20.00 0.42589251E-09
21.00 0.38755271E-09 FAR ENC
22.00 0.35296719E-09 FAR ENC
23.00 0.32165672E-09 FAR ENC
EOD

set datafile separator "\n"
myStrCol(col) = word(strcol(1),col)
myFilter(colD,colF,Fvalue) = myStrCol(colF) eq Fvalue ? NaN : real(myStrCol(colD))

plot $Data u (real(myStrCol(1))):(myFilter(2,3,"CLOSE")) w lp pt 7 notitle
### end of code

Result:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Tag Archives: corrections corporation of america
Deaths in Custody – Homicide: Nunuha family sues CCA and state.
Posted on February 16, 2012 by internationalprisonwatch
This poor man's murder was preventable – and horrendous. Condolences to his loved ones. I hope you make CCA and the State of Hawai'i pay – it's the only thing that seems to make these people change how they abuse and neglect other human beings. If you need the support of other prisoners' families surviving similar traumas, please let me know (Peggy Plews 480-580-6807 prisonabolitionist@gmail.com). I am in Phoenix, AZ.
Arizona State Legislature, Phoenix.
—————-from the ACLU of Hawai'i————–
Family of Hawaii Prisoner Murdered in Mainland Prison Files Lawsuit Against State of Hawaii, Corrections Corporation of America
By acluhawaii
Today the family of Bronson Nunuha, a 26-year-old Hawaii prisoner who was brutally murdered at a Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) (NYSE:CXW) private prison in Arizona in 2010, filed a lawsuit in state court against CCA and the State of Hawaii. The suit exposes CCA's business model of grossly short-staffing prisons and cutting corners in every way possible to make its private prisons profitable. These systemic practices violated fundamental safety requirements and subjected Hawaii prisoners to rampant gang violence in under-staffed prison units. Bronson Nunuha was just months away from release on a burglary conviction when CCA forced him to share housing with extremely violent, gang-affiliated prisoners in the same unit. A copy of the complaint is here.
"Bronson's death was senseless and preventable. CCA and the State of Hawaii needlessly put him in danger," said attorney Kenneth M. Walczak, who, along with the Human Rights Defense Center and the ACLU of Hawaii, represents the Nunuha family.
"Private prisons are known to have higher levels of violence due to understaffing and high staff turnover that result from their goal of generating ever-greater profits," added HRDC director Paul Wright. "But prison companies are not allowed to make profit more important than human life. Unfortunately, CCA's desire to turn a corporate profit needlessly cost Bronson Nunuha his life."
Bronson was transferred to CCA's Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona as part of a controversial practice in which Hawaii prisoners are sent to for-profit mainland facilities. He was serving a 5-year sentence for burglary and property damage when he was killed by other prisoners. Bronson, who was only months away from completing his sentence and returning to his family on Oahu, left behind a grieving mother, sisters, and his seven-year-old son.
Under Hawaii law, the State was required to return Bronson to Hawaii when he had only a year left on his sentence so that he could complete necessary programs to help him re-enter the community. The State ignored this law.
Bronson was murdered in CCA's "Special Housing Incentive Program," or SHIP. The SHIP program places rival gang members and prisoners who do not belong to any gang together in one unit, where they share recreation time and sometimes the same cell. Predictably, this practice results in violent incidents like Bronson's murder. Only one CCA employee was present to oversee approximately 50 prisoners in the SHIP unit where Bronson was housed.
While at the CCA prison, Bronson had asked to be removed from the SHIP unit but CCA staff denied his requests. On February 18, 2010, two gang members attacked Bronson in his cell; the cell door had been opened by a CCA employee, who then left. Bronson was beaten and stabbed over 100 times. His assailants carved the name of their gang into his chest and even had time to leave his cell, shower and change clothes before CCA staff knew that Bronson had been killed.
One of Bronson's assailants, Miti Maugaotega, Jr., had previously been involved in several attacks on other prisoners at a different CCA prison. Maugaotega, a gang member, was serving multiple life sentences for attempted murder, rape, and armed robbery. CCA and the State knew that Maugaotega was dangerous and capable of extreme violence but still housed him in the same unit as Bronson, a non-violent offender close to finishing a 5-year sentence.
CCA prisons that house Hawaii prisoners have been plagued with problems. In addition to Bronson's murder, another Hawaii prisoner, Clifford Medina, was killed at the Saguaro facility in June 2010. In 2009, Hawaii removed all of its female prisoners from CCA's Otter Creek Correctional Center in Kentucky following a scandal that resulted in at least six CCA employees being charged with rape or sexual misconduct. Other Hawaii prisoners have sued CCA, charging that the company has tolerated beatings and sexual assaults in its mainland prisons, and for refusing to allow them to participate in native Hawaiian religious practices.
"Why the State of Hawaii continues to contract with this company is mystifying, frankly," said Wright. "After two murders, disturbances, allegations of rampant sexual abuse and a lack of accountability by CCA employees, it's fairly obvious that CCA is unable or unwilling to safely house Hawaii prisoners, and the State is unable or unwilling to adequately monitor conditions at mainland prisons. Hawaii taxpayers are certainly not getting what they're paying for."
ACLU of Hawaii Senior Staff Attorney Dan Gluck added, "the ACLU has long warned the State about the damaging effects of its short-sighted policy of shipping prisoners to the mainland. This tragedy is bound to be repeated unless Hawaii adopts more effective prison policies."
Bronson's family is represented by the San Francisco law firm of Rosen, Bien & Galvan, LLP, by HRDC chief counsel Lance Weber, and by the ACLU of Hawaii's Dan Gluck. The attorneys ask anyone with information about Bronson's death – or information about violations of other safety rules at the CCA Saguaro Correctional Facility – to contact them.
The Human Rights Defense Center, founded in 1990 and based in Brattleboro, Vermont, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners' rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has almost 7,000 subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents.
Rosen Bien & Galvan, LLP has a unique practice blending public interest and private sector litigation. The firm represents individuals and companies in complex trial and appellate litigation in state & federal courts.
Posted in 2012, abuse, ACLU, Bronson Nunuha, corrections corporation of america, deaths in custody, Eloy, Hawai'i, Hawaii Department of Public Safety, homicide, Human Rights Defense Center, neglect, saguaro correctional center	| Tagged 2012, abuse, ACLU, Bronson Nunuha, corrections corporation of america, deaths in custody, Eloy, Hawai'i, Hawaii Department of Public Safety, homicide, Human Rights Defense Center, neglect, saguaro correctional center
Hawaii AG report blasts "humonetarianism" and dependence on private prisons
Posted on December 29, 2011 by internationalprisonwatch
This document could go a long way towards changing the Hawai'i prison system; I'm impressed that it was released by the state Attorney General. That, in turn, could have ripples elsewhere – certainly in Eloy, AZ, where Corrections Corporation of America incarcerates nearly 2000 Hawai'ians. Eloy has real problems – as does CCA.18 Hawai'ian prisoners are suing employees at Saguaro prison there for torture, and one is suing for sexual assault (the guard who perpetrated it was actually prosecuted).
All either Eloy or CCA seem to be concerned with is the money they can make in Arizona, of course, not reducing crime or victimization in Hawai'i or human rights abuses in their own community. If Hawai'ian legislators don't get on the ball with sentencing and prison reform, they should be called out as either incompetent or corrupt – no one can afford for any of them to be indifferent to the prison crisis anymore.
Read the report this links to, then find your state legislators here.
Call or write to them here:
Senate Clerk's Office
State Capitol, Room 10
415 South Beretania Street
(808)586-6720 phone
sclerk@capitol.hawaii.gov
House Clerk's Office
hclerk@capitol.hawaii.gov
The key term is "evidence-based practice". Good luck. I hope you manage to wage a successful boycott of Eloy and CCA by the time this battle is over. Israel outlawed private prisons because the profit motive is in direct opposition to human rights concerns – maybe Hawai'i will abandon them as well, for all the right reasons.
—from Hawaii.gov—
Hawaii's Imprisonment Policy and the Performance of Parolees
Who Were Incarcerated In-State and on the Mainland
This study examined the records of the 660 persons who were released on parole in the State of Hawaii between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006 (Fiscal Year 2006). It addresses two main questions: What are the demographic and criminal history profiles of parolees who have been incarcerated in Hawaii and in private prisons out of state? And, how do the recidivism rates of these two groups compare? Using records obtained from the Hawaii Paroling Authority, the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of the Attorney General, parolees were tracked for three to four years after their release from prison.
The study found that:
– 54 percent of Hawaii's prisoners are incarcerated in private prisons on the mainland — the highest percentage among all U.S. states.
– As of the end of 2009, it cost approximately $118 per day to incarcerate an inmate in Hawaii, and at least $62 per day to incarcerate him or her in a private prison on the mainland. Note, however, that unlike the in-state per day cost, the private prison cost estimate is not all-inclusive.
– 75 percent of Fiscal Year 2006 parolees never served time in a private prison on the mainland, while 25 percent did serve time there.
– Of the one-quarter of parolees who have been imprisoned on the mainland, 70 percent served half or more of their time there.
– The average time served on the mainland was 3.5 years.
The analysis of the parolees' demographic and criminal history profiles found that:
– Parolees averaged 56 total prior arrests and 24 convictions per parolee, including an average of 20 prior felony arrests and 8 felony convictions.
– Parolees in the mainland cohort had somewhat more felony arrests and felony convictions per person than did parolees in the Hawaii cohort.
– Parolees in the mainland cohort had been convicted of fewer property and drug crimes, and more violent and "other" offenses, than had the parolees in the Hawaii cohort.
– The average maximum sentence for parolees who had been incarcerated on the mainland was longer: 10.9 years, versus 8.5 years for the Hawaii cohort.
– The average time served by the mainland cohort was longer: 6.2 years, versus 3.2 years for the Hawaii cohort.
– The mainland cohort included substantially more males than did the Hawaii cohort: 20 male parolees for every female parolee in the mainland group, versus 4 male parolees for every female parolee in the Hawaii group.
– As compared to their male counterparts, female parolees in both cohorts were more likely to be property and drug crime offenders.
– There were no statistically significant differences in ethnicity between the two parole cohorts. Most notably, Native Hawaiians comprised 40 percent of each cohort.
The analysis of recidivism found that:
– Parolees in the mainland cohort received significantly lower scores on the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). Hence, mainlanders had fewer needs for service and a lower average risk of recidivism than did parolees in the Hawaii cohort.
– In the aggregate, the LSI-R scores predicted recidivism fairly well.
– A little more than half of parolees in both cohorts failed on parole within three years.
– The average time to recidivism in both cohorts was about 15 months.
– The recidivism rate for the mainland cohort (53 percent) was slightly lower than the recidivism rate for the Hawaii cohort (56 percent), but this difference is not statistically significant.
– There was more recidivism among the mainland cohort for parolees in the higher-risk LSI-R categories.
– There was more recidivism among the mainland cohort for violating conditions of parole.
– Nearly half of all rearrests were for violating the conditions of parole.
– In both cohorts, older people recidivated less than did younger people. Age is a powerful ally of efforts to stop criminal offending.
– There were few significant differences between the two cohorts in acts of misconduct committed while in prison.
– Parolees in the mainland cohort were more likely to violate parole conditions than were parolees in the Hawaii group.
– Furlough programs were related to significantly lower rates of recidivism among mainland parolees, but not among parolees who were imprisoned only in Hawaii.
Recommendations from this study:
– Since there is no empirical justification for the policy argument that private prisons reduce recidivism better than public prisons, the State of Hawaii should decide whether to continue, discontinue, expand, or contract its reliance on private prisons based on other criteria. While cost is one criterion, it is not the only one that is important to consider.
– It is ill-advised to rely on a framework for thinking about corrections (herein termed humonetarianism) that stresses short-term financial savings at the expense of programs aimed at improving the prospects for offenders' rehabilitation and the satisfaction of their basic needs and rights. Long-term savings are often found in forward-thinking policies and programs.
– The State of Hawaii needs to calculate more inclusive and accurate estimates of the cost of incarceration in-state and in private prisons on the mainland.
– Much more research needs to be done in order to adequately describe the contours and consequences of Hawaii's correctional policy. One high priority is a study that explores who gets sent to prison (and where). The present study examined only persons who were released on parole.
– The State of Hawaii should conduct more research about its correctional policies and outcomes, especially given a policy world that is increasingly evidence-based.
– The Department of Public Safety and the Hawaii Paroling Authority need an integrated records management system. At present, inmates' records are often incomplete, scattered, and difficult to locate.
Posted in 2011, CCA, Correctional Corporation of America (CCA), Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Eloy, Hawai'i, Hawai'i Department of Corrections, private prisons	| Tagged 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Eloy, Hawai'i, Hawai'i Department of Corrections, private prisons
Exile to the Desert: 3 more years of CCA's abuse.
Posted on June 25, 2011 by internationalprisonwatch
Shame on the state of Hawaii for continuing this contract after all the abuses (including torture and the sexual assault of a prisoner by a guard) that have occurred in Saguaro Correctional Center in the prison town of Eloy under CCA's watch. The people of the Islands should oppose this vociferously…your prisoners are just in for more abuse at the hands of Arizonans – especially your Indigenous. In fact, following this news article is a link to a decent piece by a friend of mine, Frank Smith from Private Corrections Institute, who's an expert on the private prison industry. He did some extensive research into the experience of Native Americans in private prisons – it's worth reading.
State Signs New Three-Year Arizona Prison Deal
BY JIM DOOLEY – The state has signed a new, three-year contract with Corrections Corporation of America to house up to 1,900 prison inmates at private prisons in Arizona.
The price carries a one per cent increase over the curent contract with CCA, which expires at the end of the month. The Department of Public Safety will pay CCA $63.85 per inmate per day. The old rate was $63.22.
CCA is believed to have submitted the sole bid for the contract.
The new deal, which carries two possible one-year contract extensions, was signed as Gov. Neil Abercrombie's administration is making plans to end the longstanding policy of imprisoning Hawaii inmates in out-of-state facilities.
Public Safety officials are drawing up a plan for the return of out-of-state prisoners, but its completion is sometime in the future and will depend on construction of new correctional facilities here and development of new community-based programs for men and women now locked behind bars.
The Hawaii State Auditor said in a report issued late last year the total cost of the private prison program more than tripled since 2001, from just under $20 million to more than $60 million.
The per-day charges under the new contract would total some $44.3 million, although there are millions the state must pay in associated costs which the contract with CCA doesn't cover.
The actual number of Hawaii inmates now held at CCA's Saguaro Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona is now believed to have dropped under 1,800 as the state has stepped up efforts to bring certain categories of prisoners home.
Some 60 Hawaii inmates are also being held at CCA's Red Rock Correctional Facility, next door to the Saguaro complex.
————————–Native Americans in Private Prisons——————
Native Americans in Private Prisons.
Arizona Prison Watch
The following is the intro to a piece written by my friend Frank Smith, an expert on private prisons with the Private Corrections Working Group (where I dig up all those rap sheets on prison profiteers). Here's the testimony he gave to the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons several years back – which makes some good points still relevant to the violence and abuse of prisoners at CCA's Idaho Correctional Center, among other places.
Follow the link for the full text of the article, which I found posted to a great website on Lenape (Delaware Indian) culture and issues. The article was originally published as a chapter in the book "Capitalist Punishment: Prison Privatization and Human Rights" (Elizabeth Alexander, et al), a worthwhile text for any library on crime and punishment.
Incarceration of Native Americans and Private Prisons
By Frank Smith
There are currently slightly over two million inmates in local, state and federal jails and prisons. Of these, some 1.6 percent are Native Americans and Hawaiian Natives; in Federal institutions, Native Americans constitute 2 percent of the population, since the U.S. government is involved in criminal justice enforcement on reservations. Because approximately 6 percent of all U.S. inmates are held in private prisons, the total number of Native Americans in these for-profit prisons is comparatively rather small. For that reason, this article presents a picture of the conditions in which Native Americans are held given that limited experience.
In order to achieve an informed understanding of the current situation with regard to Native Americans in prison, it is necessary to place it within a larger historical and sociological context. While most residents of the US have the notion their country was founded on the principles of justice and freedom, closer examination reveals that perception is not accurate, particularly in the case of Native Americans.1
The more progressive of our founding fathers whom we remember so fondly as protectors of these ideals include Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Paine consistently referred to Indians as "savages", and used them as a negative comparative stereotype. Jefferson considered his contemporary Indians to be hindrances to colonial progress. The US only granted Natives citizenship in 1924, five years after women and 59 years after Black males were allowed to vote.
African Americans have undoubtedly been pervasively discriminated against in US history–their dehumanization was even embodied in the Constitution. Schoolchildren learn of the more egregious Supreme Court-approved violations of the rights of Blacks such as the Dred Scott decision or Plessy v. Feurgeson,2 and that the Civil War was fought in part over slavery.
They may have read the Emancipation Proclamation and even the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The sordid history in America of slave owning, in the north and south, of lynching, of Jim Crow, is discussed in most schools. The role of such historic figures as Frederick Douglas or Sojourner Truth is widely recognized. Martin Luther King Jr., is certainly better known than many mediocre presidents. Selma, Alabama, and Little Rock, Arkansas are familiar mileposts, as is Brown v. Board of Education. Students may even understand the meaning of racial profiling, of the immensedisparity between sentencing for crack cocaine, more prevalent in inner-city neighborhoods, and powdered cocaine, more favored by wealthier uburbanites.
They may possibly be aware that a Black adolescent has perhaps a 50 times greater chance of being placed in an adult penal institution than a white youth who has been charged with exactly the same crime,3 and that perhaps one of three young Black men has been subjected to some criminal sanction, such as probation, parole, jail or prison.
Yet how many Americans, young or old, fully understand that this same disenfranchisement; this same disproportionate treatment by the criminal justice system, has affected Native Americans since the Articles of Confederation were signed? How many realize that broken treaties have been the order of the day for over two hundred years? Do they know that the early settlement of this nation involved pushing indigenous peoples into ever smaller, less habitable reservations?
How many school children are taught the cruel facts behind the genocidal removal of the inhabitants of the post-Revolutionary Southeast? There is hardly a Native American tribe that does not have a history of broken treaties and persecution. What this long, troubled relationship between European Americans and Natives constitutes is deliberate disregard for and discrimination against Native culture. Theft of lands, exiles, dispossessions, and a prevailing condemnatory and paternalistic attitude provide the background for the problems of Native Americans in prisons, both public and private, today. It particularly pervades the conditions of confinement of Indians in private prisons…
(follow for the full text)
Posted in 2011, abuse, CCA, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Hawai'i, Hawaiian prisoners, juvenile prison rape, pacific islander, prison privatization, private prisons, saguaro correctional center	| Tagged 2011, abuse, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i prisoners, Hawai'i, juvenile prison rape, pacific islander, prison privatization, private prisons, saguaro correctional center
Delay on Mainland Prison-building
Posted on June 1, 2011 by internationalprisonwatch
All the more reason to develop prison alternatives, folks…by all means, though, get them out of Arizona. We're just killing them here...
New Prison Contract Overdue
Posted by Jim Dooley
BY JIM DOOLEY – Although Gov. Neil Abercrombie has said repeatedly he wants to halt out-of-state incarceration of Hawaii prison inmates, the state is finalizing the award of a new, three-year contract for Mainland imprisonment of up to 2,000 convicts.
The contractor selection was supposed to be made at the beginning of this week, but a public safety official said the issue was still being finalized.
A spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the company that owns a private Arizona prison where some 1,900 Hawaii medium security inmates have been held, said he could not comment because contractor selection is still underway.
Abercrombie and other officials say new prison space, owned by the state or a private partner, needs to be developed here.
The new Mainland prison contract award is s being made against the backdrop of recent studies by the Hawaii Auditor and the Arizona Department of Corrections which question the true costs to taxpayers of privately-operated prisons.
CCA's current agreement to house Hawaii inmates at Saguaro Correctional Center expires June 30.
The new contract is to take effect July 1 and last three years, with two possible annual extensions beyond that, according to the bid request published by the state earlier this year.
The state can cancel the contract with three months' notice.
At present, the state is paying CCA $63.22 per day for each of the 1,900 or so inmates held at Saguaro, which is located in Eloy, Arizona, about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson.
Saguaro Correctional Facility (Hawaii Auditor Photo)
The present contract has an automatic escalator clause in the per diem rate and the charge has risen between two and three per cent annually since 2007, when it was set at $57, according to a December 2010 report Prison Audit from the office of Hawaii Auditor Marion Higa.
Costs to Hawaii for Mainland incarcerations have more than tripled since 2001, rising from just under $20 million annually to more than $60 million, according to Higa's audit.
In-state prison expenses were more than $167 million last year.
Higa's study was harshly critical of the state Public Safety Department's reports to the Legislature on prison costs, saying the department used different methods to calculate in-state and out-of-state expenses.
"Management chooses to report artificial cost figures derived from a calculation based on a flawed methodology, designed entirely on what is easiest for the department to report," Higa said.
"Because funding is virtually guaranteed, management is indifferent to the needs of policymakers and the public for accurate and reliable cost information. As a result, true costs are unknown," said the audit, which was prepared before the Abercrombie administration took office.
One of the audit's complaints was that didn't use exact inmate counts for its in-state expense numbers, instead basing its reporting on the total number of prisoners that could be held in state-owned prisons.
And some overhead and administrative costs assigned to in-state operations should have been counted as out-of-state costs, Higa found.
Each bookkeeping method increased the costs of in-state incarcerations and decreased out-of-state costs, Higa said.
A recently-released study by the Arizona Department of Corrections of that state's contracts with private prisons reached some of the same conclusions.
The study did not include the Saguaro facility. No Arizona prisoners are held there.
Like Higa's study, the Arizona the report found that per diem rates charged by private prisons did not include "inmate management" expenses which the state also had to pay for privately-incarcerated inmates.
"As a result, the 'real' costs for private contract beds are understated in comparison to the reported costs for state beds," the report said.
And the report pointed out that private prisons are selective about the types of inmates they accept.
Prisoners with severe physical or mental health problems are either not accepted by the private contractors or their treatment expenses are billed separately to the state, the report said.
That's the situation with Hawaii's CCA contract, according to Higa's report and language in the new contract bid.
One factor in deciding whether to ship a Hawaii prisoner to Arizona is that there are "no medical or
Halawa Correctional Facility (Hawaii Auditor Photo)
mental health conditions that may affect an inmate's ability to function within a normal range," Higa reported.
The pending contract requires the vendor to pay the costs of routine "medical, mental health, and dental service."
But some expenses must be paid by the state, including hospital physician reimbursements, surgeries and other "invasive procedures" and procedures involving anesthesiology, the contract language stipulates.
In those cases, the contractor must pay the first $2,000, but the state is responsible for the balance, according to the contract.
In a response to Higa's audit, newly-appointed Public Safety Department director Jodie Maesaka-Hirata made it clear that no matter how the numbers are sliced and diced, private prisons are cheaper than Hawaii lock-ups.
Maesaka-Hirata is a leading advocate for bringing Hawaii inmates home to local prisons or to expanded community release programs.
She told Higa the price for 1,000 or so inmates now imprisoned at the Halawa Correctional Facility is double what it would be if they were held in Arizona (assuming the private prison would accept them).
Posted in 2011, CCA, Correctional Corporation of America (CCA), corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i, Hawai'i Department of Corrections, Hawai'i prisoners, private prisons	| Tagged 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i prisoners, Hawai'i, Hawai'i Department of Corrections, private prisons
Hawai'ian prisoners may be doomed to more CCA abuses.
Posted on March 16, 2011 by internationalprisonwatch
The article below is from the Honolulu Star Advertiser – nice follow-up to the on-going story on your prisoners.
So, heads up, Hawai'i: Corrections Corporation of America still wants your prisoners here even though they just rape, beat, and otherwise abuse the ones they already have. Think again about whether or not you really want to commit your most vulnerable people (who are in with all the real thugs) to the care of a community such as Eloy. That whole community is feeding on the misfortune of your prisoners and their victims alike, and cares not one bit about your public safety.
The more endangered you are or think you are, in fact, the more prisoners they all get paid to warehouse. Eloy and CCA are are quite happy with your crime rate, I'm sure – try to kick it up a little, and they'll probably throw a party in appreciation. They don't care who you ship to them or why – just keep the warm bodies and dollar bills coming. The same people are trying to get the legislature to criminalize all of us, too.
Doesn't Hawai'i find that troubling? You are the hosts for parasitic entities who will cause you more trouble than an epidemic of bed bugs…speaking of, I hope you're testing your prisoners for Hep C, because we have an epidemic of that in our own prisons, and it's being neglected more so than most of the rest of the country. 25% of Arizona's prison population has tested positive for the virus, and they don't even test everyone about 30% of our prison deaths are due to the liver and kidney failure that results from chronic infection. HCV is far more destructive and malicious than most criminals – and goes home with almost all of them to spread insidiously through their own communities. I bet the people of Eloy don't even know what kind of risk their guards and community are at, too.
Don't think there isn't racism involved in your treatment here, by the way. It's tragic enough that Hawai'i incarcerates so many indigenous people – moving them off their homeland and away from their communities in the process – for the profit of the selfish, greedy white men who make their living off of people being victimized. It's even worse that you put them in the hands of Arizonans, of all people… this is, after all, the Deep South of the New Southwest: we collectively hate people of color unless they're doing our bidding, and we criminalize those who resist white supremacy here. The only reason we don't turn around and just lynch our prisoners to be done with them is because Joe Arpaio and Chuck Ryan are killing them off for us. I know this because I've heard from many of their family members. I don't want to start hearing from your devastated survivors, too.
It doesn't matter whose name the prisons are in, if you're going with for-profits: they're all evil. Here, though, Arizonans staff them, and our people are well-known for being unbelievably cruel to "outsiders." We even seem to be proud of it, looking at who we have in office here. Remember that, and if nothing else, at least find a way to get your people out of this god-forsaken state. Even if you bring CCA into your own backyard, at least you can keep an eye on them there, and have Hawai'ians be the ones to administer justice to Hawai'ians.
Let me know if there's anything I can do from this end to help.
Peggy Plews, Phoenix
Bids sought to house inmates
The state says it does not have the facilities to bring prisoners back to the islands
Honolulu Star Advertiser
By Rob Shikina
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 11, 2011
State prison officials are seeking proposals to house about 1,800 prisoners outside Hawaii after the current prison contract ends in June, despite Gov. Neil Abercrombie's call to bring inmates back home as soon as possible.
"It is very clear at this time that we do not have all the facilities to bring the inmates back," said Martha Torney, deputy director of administration for the state Department of Public Safety. "As the state moves toward bringing the inmates back to the islands, that will determine what our needs are in the future."
The state already has returned some prisoners since Abercrombie said in December that he wants prisoners to stay in Hawaii.
During the quarterly rotation in January, the state brought back about 125 more prisoners than were sent to the mainland, Torney said.
The request for proposals, published March 1, designates a three-year contract, but the state can cancel the contract and remove prisoners at any time, Torney said. The submittal period ends March 31.
One company that plans on submitting an offer is Corrections Corp. of America — the fifth-largest U.S. prison operator behind the federal government, California, Florida and Texas.
Hawaii has 1,699 prisoners at CCA's Saguaro Correctional Center and 58 inmates at CCA's Red Rock Correctional Center, both in Eloy, Ariz., Torney said.
Brad Regens, CCA's vice president of state partnership relations, said CCA is not lobbying to keep Hawaii's prisoners out of state.
Torney said the Public Safety Department is working on a two-pronged plan to return isle inmates and hopes to have the plan ready for the Legislature by year's end. She said it's too early to discuss any other time line.
The plan includes a re-entry project to get prisoners into the community and out of prison sooner, and a look at expanding the number of prison beds in Hawaii.
Sen. Will Espero, chairman of the Public Safety, Military and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, said he would like to see Hawaii prisoners returned rather than paying a private company $60 million a year to house them. He and Rep. Henry Aquino, chairman of the Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee, said CCA officials expressed interest in running a private prison in Hawaii.
Hawaii's prisoners were sent out of state 16 years ago as a short-term solution to overcrowding and have been under CCA's care since 1998.
Espero said there are many possibilities for returning Hawaii's inmates, such as reopening Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island, building a new prison on Maui, introducing electronic monitoring and expanding furlough programs.
"If the governor is serious about this, within his four-year term he should easily be able to bring back 1,000 or 1,500," he said.
Posted in 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, criminalization of dissent, Hawai'i, private prisons, s corporation of america, saguaro correctional center	| Tagged 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, criminalization of dissent, Hawai'i, private prisons, s corporation of america, saguaro correctional center
Hawaiian prisoners coming home
State Retrieves Inmates From Private Prisons
By PURNA NEMANI
Courthouse News
HONOLULU (CN) – Hawaii's new governor, Neil Abercrombie, kept his promise last week by bringing 243 inmates back to Hawaii from Arizona prisons run by the Corrections Corporation of America. Abercrombie acted after more than a dozen inmates filed lawsuits claiming they were subjected to brutal treatment inside CCA prisons.
Hawaii, which has been strapped for prison space, has relied on two CCA prisons in Arizona to house its inmates: roughly 1,800 Hawaiian inmates at the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy and about 50 at Red Rock Correctional Center.
But the Hawaii Department of Public Safety had to investigate CCA and intervene after a string of incidents brought inmate lawsuits alleging assault and battery, criminal indifference, cruel and unusual punishment, retaliation and negligence. One complaint claimed that even the warden joined in.
In December, 18 inmates at the Eloy prison claimed to have been "beaten and assaulted, including by having their heads banged on tables while they were stripped to their underwear and while their hands were handcuffed behind their backs," by a group of prison guards and "the warden himself."
According to that complaint, guards "deliberately destroyed and failed to preserve evidence of their wrongdoing, including videotapes," and "deliberately falsified reports," including threats of harm to inmates' families and death threats to inmates if they told anyone of the beatings. (Here is Courthouse News' Dec. 15 report on that lawsuit.)
Then in January, a Hawaiian inmate at Saguaro sued CCA, claiming a guard forced him to give the guard a blow job in his cell.
Both lawsuits were filed against CCA. The 18 inmates also sued Hawaii, seeking a protective injunction; they claimed that Hawaii's Public Safety monitor, on site at Saguaro, allowed the prisoner abuse incident to go unchecked.
Gov. Abercrombie brought the inmates back on Jan. 19-20, placing most of them at three Oahu facilities and 26 on Maui and the Big Island, according to Hawaiian news reports.
Public Safety Chairman Will Espero said: "If we're going to spend $60 million a year to house inmates, I'd rather spend it here in Hawaii."
Other states are using lockdowns – confining prisoners to their cells for a day – to save money by sending staff home during the lockdowns.
States use private prisons to try to reduce prison costs, particularly on salaries and benefits, as it relieves the states of pension obligations.
"If any state prison system needs relief, it's California's," Reuters reporter Jim Christie wrote last week. "The matter of its notorious overcrowding has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which could back a lower court's order to reduce the states' roughly 147,000 adult inmate population to 115,500 – still a tight squeeze in prisons designed for 84,000."
California is housing 10,300 inmates in CCA prisons, Reuters reported, and may increase that numbers to 12,850 this year. But California's prison guards union has immense political power, and surely will fight any efforts to reduce hours or benefits for prison guards.
Posted in 2011, California department of corrections, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i, private prisons	| Tagged 2011, CCA, CDCr, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i, private prisons
Taking prisoners: CCA and the outsourcing of Hawai'i.
From the weekly Criminal InJustice Kos blog at www.dailykos.com:
Out of State, Out of Mind
by Emmet
In 1976, Delbert Kaahanui Wakinekona was serving a life sentence in Hawaii State Prison, having been convicted in a Hawaii court. He was seen as a behavior problem in the prison. In a couple of botched hearings, prison officials decided that he was a troublemaker who had caused the "failure of certain programs" in the maximum control unit. Hawaii transferred him to Folsom Prison in California. He sued. The Supreme Court held, in 1983, that, first, a prisoner convicted of a felony has no constitutionally protected right to serve his sentence in any specific state (e.g. the one whose laws he violated). And Mr. Wakinekona had no right to have the Hawaii prison regulations applied, because they didn't really limit the State's discretion anyway.
What happened as a result?
Criminal InJustice Kos's diary :: ::
Well, because of Olim and similar cases, two things happened. First, states and the feds, which had been told in the past that they had to follow their own rules, realized that if they just made their prison policies and regulations good and vague, or better yet nonexistent, they wouldn't have courts looking over their shoulders. So they could put a prisoner in the hole indefinitely if they called the hole "administrative segregation" instead of "segregation" and said that the prisoner was there for "the security of the institution", instead of for "assault," e.g. smacking another prisoner over the head. Added bonus: they could do it even if said prisoner didn't smack another prisoner on the head. Extra added bonus, and the subject of this diary: they could even transfer the troublemaker out of state and never have to see him or her again, if they paid enough.
I saw this policy illustrated in 1985 in the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, when I watched a four year old boy sobbing and pounding at the glass that separated him from his father. Prisoners held out of state don't have the right to conditions like those in their own states. They're subject to the rules of the state/company to which they're sent. Federal prisoners at Marion didn't get contact visits, and neither did the state prisoners held there, who were one third of the population at that time. A couple years later I represented another prisoner transferred out of state and away from his family. They couldn't afford to go visit him at all. His six year old son told his mother, "I'm going to be really, really bad, so they'll send me to be with Daddy." Good times.
At first, involuntary out of state transfers were used for people like Delbert Wakinekona, "bad guys" who were disliked for one reason or another by prison authorities. Assaultive people and gang leaders were transferred, and so were writ writers and journalists and activists and political prisoners. Authorities got another state, or the Feds, to accept their bad guys, sometimes for money, sometimes in return for accepting the other state's bad guys. So a prisoner associated with a particular prison gang, or known as a "political" or as a gay rights activist, might be plucked out and sent alone to a prison where a large group of prisoners were hostile to his gang or his beliefs. And no one at the prison could vouch for him, because no one knew him personally. Sometimes he survived. Sometimes he didn't.
But sheer dislike is no longer the main reason for involuntary transfers. There was profit to be made. Corrections Corporation of America was founded in 1983, two months before the Olim decision. It opened the first real prison for profit seven years later. But it has never been about housing "bad guys." When possible, it has gone for the easy money, and prison overcrowding (brought on in large part by the War on Drugs and three strikes laws) offered a great opportunity. Nowadays, a prisoner is more likely to be transferred if he has GOODbehavior in prison. No escape attempts, good health, plus a long sentence yet to serve are other factors that make a prisoner, literally, marketable, and may put him or her on the chain to Arizona or Minnesota or any other of the 19 states and DC where CCA has facilities.
Five years ago, the National Institute for Corrections reported that there were then about 5,000 prisoners who had been transferred out of state, half to private prisons, the other half to the federal or other state systems. Almost all those transferred to private prisons were sent there because of overcrowding. Most sent to other state systems were sent for "security" reasons. 26 states had people serving their time in other jurisdictions (but remember that some may have been voluntary transfers — notorious defendants or convicted police or prison guards, moved for their safety).
That number has probably quadrupled or quintupled since then. California alone has more than 10,000 prisoners out of state, almost all because of overcrowding. It's getting ready to send more. In November, 2010, California entered into no-bid contracts with CCA and another company to place 5800 prisoners out of state over the next two years. Was incoming Governor Jerry Brown consulted? Not clear.
Pennsylvania shipped over 2000 prisoners to other state (not private) prisons because of overcrowding.
What will stop this banishment practice, apart from a complete rethinking and reorganization of our society?
Not the courts. At least, not directly.
(Lawyerly interlude: An argument I really like, that transfer is "banishment," forbidden by some state constitutions, has been made without success with one exception that I know of: West Virgina, whose Supreme Court held that there is a state-created right to serve your sentence in-state.)
At this point there's a lot of money invested in prisons for profit and consequently in continuing prison overcrowding. It's been my experience (YMMV) that at least since the Warren court, courts don't respond to big injustices which require big reordering of financial interests until public opinion –or overriding financial considerations — move in favor of change.
Recognizing the importance of economic considerations, enterprising prisoners and their lawyers have done their best to inflict death by a thousand cuts. They look at the fast-diminishing groups of rights they retain by constitution or statute. One is access to the courts. Another is the right to parole consideration (if their state has parole). So they demand access to their state's laws. You'd think it would be easy for a prison system to provide this, but it's not. Or they demand access to unmonitored phone lines to call their attorney. That can almost bring some private facilities to a complete halt. They demand in-person meetings with their parole board, demand that their records be transmitted to the board, demand that they have the progress meetings with prison officials that their state's parole laws mandate. And if a prisoner learns that he may be transferred because of overcrowding, he or she can always commit an infraction. There's a cost/benefit analysis there, and you have to choose your infraction carefully, so as not to screw up access to visits.
Current budget constraints may put the squeeze on private prisons too. In 2010, Kentucky pulled its prisoners out of a CCA facility IN KENTUCKY because some genius figured out that it was too expensive. There'd been over 500 Kentucky prisoners there at one time or another. Now the Ky CCA facility only has Vermont prisoners, sent to relieve overcrowding.
Many states have transferred prisoners out of state in order to relieve overcrowding and have resisted calls to release prisoners early, even people convicted of minor crimes. But when state budgets have to be cut past the point of pain, some states are going to realize that early release is a lot less expensive than paying a huge CCA bill every month. The more people talk about this, and write to their elected officials, and visit their elected officials, the more likely it is to happen. Like economic considerations, public opinion doesn't change overnight, but it does change and it can be nudged. For example, pressure from family members, especially in smaller states, can be effective if it's sustained.
And after the deaths and mistreatment of several Hawaiian prisoners in CCA mainland prisons, Hawaiian officials are taking another look. Incoming Governor Neil Abercrombie wants to bring Hawaain out of state prisoners home. Speaking about out-of-state transfer on December 16, 2010: "It costs money. It costs lives. It costs communities," he said. "It destroys families. It is dysfunctional all the way around — socially, economically, politically and morally."
The next day, the former Hawaii Attorney General, Micheal Lilly, who argued Olim for the state, wrote a letter to the editor of the Hawaiian Star-Advertiser. He applauded newly elected Governor Neil Abercrombie's proposal of bringing almost all Hawaiian prisoners home. He excepted only the very worst. I bet that if he were asked, he'd even concede that Delbert Wakinekona could come home. Over the years, Delbert has gotten a lot older. Now he's housed in CCA. If Red Rock Correctional Facility in Arizona can hold him, the Hawaaian prison system probably can, too.
(Second lawyerly interlude: Mr. Wakinekona has had the same lawyer who argued his case in the Supreme Court for all these years. He's trying to get his client's sentence commuted.)
As far as I could tell, in the 34 years since he was transferred, Delbert Kaahanui Wakinekona has never gone home again.
Posted in 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i, Hawaiian prisoners, private prisons, wakinekona	| Tagged 2011, CCA, CDCr, corrections corporation of america, Hawai'i, private prisons
Rape is Rape: More CCA abuses at Saguaro
From Arizona Prison Watch:
According to Courthouse News this week, a suit was filed against the State of Hawaii and Corrections Corporation of America due to the October 2009 sexual assault of a prisoner who was coerced to perform oral sex on CCA Saguaro Correctional Center guard Richard Ketland. Apparently in Eloy, Arizona, the rape of a prisoner brings – at worst – a felony charge of "unlawful sexual contact," and can be settled as a lesser offense so as to only require probation.
The guy he assaulted was just in on a drug charge, by the way, for those of you to whom it matters.
The real "truth in sentencing" in America is that you may be raped, regardless of the severity of your own crime. As for Ketland – on July 14, 2010 he plead guilty to "attempted unlawful sexual conduct" (a class 6 felony), and sure didn't hit the news or go to prison.
I doubt he did a day in jail, either.
You wouldn't know this kind of thing happens here from the mainstream media in Arizona. Here's an interesting article in the region's Tri-Valley Central notifying the nearby Florence community of sex offenders who have been released there. That was posted the day after Ketland's victim filed suit. I don't find any mention of a CCA guard sexually assaulting a prisoner at all, though, after a number of different searches of the publication: nothing on Ketland even in the deeper archives.
I only got six hits on Google when I looked up the terms " 'richard ketland' cca prison arizona", too.
I assure the uninitiated out there: being forced to your knees and having someone ejaculate in your mouth is a pretty heinous form of penetration. Most of us would call that rape. Prison guards in this state have the authority to use lethal force against prisoners to prevent them from harming anyone else or escaping – and no one believes a "criminal" over a "cop". The victim could have easily been crucified by Ketland and CCA if he even survived putting up a fight.
I'd hope that if the same thing happened to me in Pinal County, the good sheriff and prosecutor would call rape what it is and treat it accordingly – especially if my assailant wore a uniform and a badge, and carried the responsibility of the public's trust.
I guess I should commend the Pinal County prosecutor for calling it a crime at all. Still, I'm disappointed. Some of you should remember that in December 18 other prisoners from the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy filed suit over brutality by guards on a massive scale. I have yet to hear anything about criminal charges being filed for the assault, intimidation, threats to prisoners and families, etc. – crimes that were apparently perpetrated with the blessing of the CCA warden, however.
So, I again urge the public that cares – wherever you may be – to contact the Pinal County Sheriff, Paul Babeu, the Pinal County Attorney, James P. Walsh, and the Arizona media to shine a spotlight on this abuse and prosecute the criminals working for CCA at Eloy's Saguaro Correctional Center. All the contact info you need is here from December: "Prosecute CCA prisoner abuse." If you didn't speak up against violence and abuse then, please do so now.
For reference, here's the Private Corrections Working Group's rap sheet on CCA prisons across the country; they have four facilities in Eloy alone.
And here's the Hawaiian victim's actual legal claim…
Welcome to Eloy, AZ. Note their affection for Jesus.
He was a prisoner, too.
Posted in 2011, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Eloy, Hawai'i, jesus, pinal county, prison rape, saguaro correctional center	| Tagged 2011, Arizona, CCA, corrections corporation of america, Eloy, Hawai'i, pinal county, prison rape, saguaro correctional center


Spring Cleaning - The Natural Way! - Amphora Aromatics Ltd – Supplier of pure essential oils and aromatherapy Products.
Spring Cleaning - The Natural Way!
Spring Cleaning – the Natural Way!
This Friday will be the first official day of spring! It's that exciting time of year when after the long winter months, the Daffodils finally emerge, the days start to get longer and the weather (hopefully) gets warmer.
It's also the great chance to have a good old spring clean! It's a great feeling to get your home clean and free from clutter and ready for the warmer months to come!
Although the end results are most worth it, cleaning can be a tedious task so why not make it enjoyable? Stick some of your favourite music on and incorporate essential oils into your regime! There are many ways you can enjoy all the great benefits of essential oils whilst you clean! Not only this, but replacing conventional, chemical laden cleaning products with natural alternatives will benefit the health of you and those around you and have a much smaller impact on the environment.
Day 1 – spring cleaning the kitchen!
• Bergamot oil to freshen the air.
A great way to clear the air in the kitchen and combat old cooking or pet odours is to vapourise essential oils with deodorizing properties. Diffusing an uplifting scent will also help to motivate you during the big clean!
Simply put a pan of water on a low heat to simmer and add 3-4 drops of essential oil. Alternatively, you can use a traditional oil burner or vapouriser.
Bergamot makes a great choice because of its great deodorizing properties, a bright, uplifting and refreshing scent and its anti-viral properties will help ward off any airborne viruses.
Tea Tree essential oil is wonderfully versatile; not only does it help treat cold and flu symptoms, stimulate the mind and even treat acne. It also makes an incredibly useful cleaning product! It has been long praised for its anti-bacterial and disinfectant properties which makes it ideal for using on work surfaces to get them clean and free from germs.
Some people find the aroma of Tea tree alone a little too medicinal or overpowering. Luckily it blends wonderfully with more preferable scents such as Lavender or Geranium so don't be afraid to get creative and get blending to make something with an aroma you'll enjoy.
If you've got an old spray bottle, simply fill it up with distilled or filtered water and add your essential oils. For example, if you have a 300ml, you'd want to add between 50-70 drops of essential oil.
Give it a good shake and get those surfaces gleaming!
Lemon is renowned for its cleaning uses! It has the ability to naturally cut through grease and leave hard surfaces super shiny and clean! It's a great oil to use when cleaning as it has a lovely fresh, citrusy aroma whilst offering a host of natural disinfecting properties.
You can add 10 – 12 drops of it to a bucket of water, along with some castile soap or white vinegar next time you mop the floor. Enjoy the energizing aroma to make cleaning feel like less of a chore!