#Colorado Springs Craft Fair

[loverofpiggies]

Do you have any upcoming cons you plan on going to?

Absolutely! Next weekend I'm in Indiana for Indiana Comic Con. Beyond that, this is what I'm scheduled for. El Paso Comic Con - April 12-14 Yellow City Comic Con - April 19-20 Palmer High School Craft Fair - April 27th Sabaku Con - May 24-26 Duke City Comic Con - June 14-16 Anime El Paso - June 22-23 Denver Comic Expo - July 4-7 Ama Con - August 3-4 Las Cruces Comic Con - August 17-18 Colorado Springs Comic con - August 23-25 Saboten - Aug 30- Sep 2nd Salt Lake FanX - Sep 26-28 Kadabra Con (In Corpus Cristi) Oct 4-6 Anime Banzai - Oct 18-19 I haven't gotten accepted into any of the November or December shows yet, but overall this is my list! It's possible it might change, depending on if I get off waitlists or not. Most of these are a lot more local for me, since flights have gotten so pricy. Doesnt mean I won't fly though, if the show is good! If anyone has any suggestions for shows to check out though, let me know! Some are so big I can barely chance to get in, like I've been applying to Anime New York and NY Comic Con for years, but I do my best to get into shows!

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.30

Holidays

Archivist Day (Kyrgyzstan)

AVID Day

Barberry Day (French Republic)

Commemoration Day for the Fatalities in Pre-Deportation Detention (Germany)

Frankenstein Day

Fred Hampton Day (Illinois)

Freeman-Moss Day

Huey P. Long Day (Louisiana)

International Day of the Disappeared

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (UN)

International Missy Barratt Day (Aenopia)

International Puma Day

International Whale Shark Day

Jimmy Buffet Day

Manu Ginobili Day (Texas)

Marcelo H. Del Pilar Day (Bulacan, Philippines)

Motel Day (Colombia)

National Ass Clapping Day

National Beach Day

National Bite People Who Annoy You Day

National Black Beauty Founders Day

National Grief Awareness Day

National Harper Day

National Holistic Pet Day

National Homecare Day of Action

National Press Freedom Day (Philippines)

National Screen Time Awareness Day

National Small Industry Day (India)

Pinaglabanan Day (Philippines)

Retrospection Day

Rowboat Day

Saint Rose of Lima’s Day (Peru)

Slinky Day

Talk Intelligently Day

Victory Day (Turkey)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cabernet Sauvignon Day

National Mai Tai Day (a.k.a. Real Mai Tai)

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

New England Apple Day

Independence & Related Days

Ashoka (Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

Constitution Day (Kazakhstan)

Constitution Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)

Kohlandia (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Leylandiistan & Gurvata (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Liberation Day (Hong Kong; from Japanese Occupation; 1945)

National Liberation Day (Gabon; 2023)

Tatarstan (from Russia, 1990) [unrecognized]

5th & Last Friday in August

Burning of Zozobra (Old Man Gloom effigy) [Friday before 9.1]

College Colors Day [Friday nearest 9.1]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Daffodil Day (New Zealand) [Last Friday]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Forgive Your Foe Friday [Friday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Peruvian Coffee Day (Peru) [Last Friday]

Positive Twitter Day [Last Friday]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

Tracky Dack Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

Wear It Purple Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

Sheep Market Fair begins (Denmark) [Last Friday through Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 31 (4th Full Week of August)

Labor Day Weekend (U.S. & Canada) [Begins Friday before 1st Monday in September]

Benton Neighbor Day (Benton, Missouri)

Britt Draft Horse Show (Britt, Iowa)

Bumbershoot (Seattle, Washington)

Central City Rock 'n' Roll Cruise-in & Concert (Central City, Kentucky)

Cleveland National Air Show (Cleveland, Ohio)

Clothesline Fair (Prairie Grove, Arkansas)

Colombia River Cross Channel Swim (Hood River, Oregon)

Colorado Balloon Classic (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Commonwheel Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Festival (Manitou Springs, Colorado)

Daniel Boone Pioneer Days (Winchester, Kentucky)

Fort Bridger Rendezvous (Fort Bridger, Wyoming)

Great Bathtub Race (Nome, Alaska)

Great Grove Bed Race (Coconut Grove, Florida)

Harvest Wine Celebration (Livermore, California)

Hog Capital of the World Festival (Kewanee, Illinois)

Hopkinton State Fair (Contoocook, New Hampshire)

Iroquois Arts Festival (Howes Cave, New York)

Johnson City Field Days (Johnson City, New York)

Jubilee Days Festival (Zion, Illinois)

Lifelight Outdoor Music Festival (Worthing, South Dakota)

Mackinac Bridge Walk (St. Ignace, Michigan)

National Championship Chuckwagon Races (Clinton, Arkansas)

National Hard Crab Derby and Fair (Crisfield, Maryland)

National Sweetcorn Festival (Hoopeston, Illinois)

Oatmeal Festival (Bertram/Oatmeal, Texas)

Odyssey Greek Festival (Orange, Connecticut)

On the Waterfront (Rockford, Illinois)

Old Threshers Reunion (Mount Pleasant, Iowa)

Oregon Trail Rodeo (Hastings, Nebraska)

Payson Golden Onion Days (Payson, Utah)

Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Colonial Festival (Greensburg, Pennsylvania)

Popeye Picnic (Chester, Illinois)

Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival (Independence, Missouri)

Scandinavian Fest (Budd Lake, New Jersey)

Sta-Bil Nationals Championship Lawn Mower Race (Delaware, Ohio)

Snake River Duck Race (Nome, Alaska)

Taste of Colorado (Denver, Colorado)

Taste of Madison (Madison, Wisconsin)

Totah Festival (Farmington, New Mexico)

Waikiki Roughwater Swim (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Westfest Czech Heritage Festival (West, Texas)

West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival (Clarksburg, West Virginia)

Wisconsin State Cow-Chip Throw (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin)

Woodstock Fair (Woodstock, Connecticut)

World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-Off (Brady, Texas)

Festivals Beginning August 30, 2024

Battle of Flowers (Laredo, Spain) [thru 8.30]

Brisbane Festival (Brisbane, Australia) [thru 9.21]

California Garlic Festival (Los Banos, California) [thru 9.1]

Calumet County Fair (Chilton, Wisconsin) [thru 9.2]

Casey Popcorn Festival (Casey, Illinois) [thru 9.2]

Coconino County Fair (Fort Tuthill County Park, Arizona) [thru 9.2]

Dice Con (Lviv, Ukraine) [thru 9.1]

Eastern Idaho State Fair (Blackfoot, Idaho) [thru 9.7]

European Medieval Festival (Horsens, Denmark) [thru 8.31]

Fall Fest 2024 (Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Idaho) [thru 9.2]

Galveston Island Wine Festival (Galveston, Texas) [thru 9.1]

Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off (Palmer, Alaska)

Great Pershing Balloon Derby (Brookfield, Missouri) [thru 9.2]

Harmony Fair (Harmony, Maine) [thru 9.2]

Marshall County Blueberry Festival (Plymouth, Indiana) [thru 9.2]

Michigan Bean Festival (Fairgrove, Michigan) [thru 8.31]

Midway Swiss Days (Midway, Utah)

National Hard Crab Derby (Crisfield, Maryland) [thru 9.1]

Nauvoo Grape Festival (Nauvoo, Illinois) [thru 9.1]

North Carolina Apple Festival (Hendersonville, North Carolina) [thru 9.2]

Obetz Zucchinifest (Obetz, Ohio) [thru 9.2]

Oktoberfest (Beaver Creek, Colorado) [thru 9.1]

PAX West, a.k.a. PAX Prime (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.2]

Payson City Golden Onion Days (Payson, Utah) [thru 9.2]

Red Rooster Days (Dassel, Minnesota) [thru 9.2]

St. William Seafood Festival (Guntersville, Alabama) [thru 8.31]

Washington State Fair (Puyallup, Washington) [thru 9.22]

Wilhelm Tell Festival (New Glarus, Wisconsin) [thru 9.1]

Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw & Festival (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin) [thru 8.31]

Woodstock Fair (Woodstock, Connecticut) [thru 9.2]

Feast Days

Agilus (a.k.a. Aile; Christian; Saint)

Alexander of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)

Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster (Christian; Blessed)

Anne Line, Margaret Ward & Margaret Clitherow (Christian; Saints)

Black (Positivist; Saint)

Camilla Läckberg (Writerism)

Candle in a Wine Bottle Day (Pastafarian)

Charisteria (Charis, Goddess of Mercy; Old Roman Thanksgiving)

Chatter Champion Announcement Day (Shamanism)

Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods; Ancient Egypt)

Eustáquio van Lieshout (Christian; Blessed)

Evelyn De Morgan (Artology)

Charles Chapman Grafton (Episcopal Church)

Fantinus (Christian; Saint)

Felix and Adauctus (Christian; Martyrs)

Festival of Charisteria (Day to Give Thanks; Ancient Rome)

Fiacre (Christian; Saint)

Guy de Lussigny (Artology)

Habetrot’s Eve Day (Northern Britain; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Isaac Levitan (Artology)

Jacques Louis David (Artology)

J. Alden Weir (Artology)

Jeanne Jugan (Christian; Saint)

Leonor Fini (Artology)

Mary Shelley (Writerism)

Narcisa de Jesús (Christian; Saint)

Pammachius (Christian; Saint)

The Pullover Sweater (Muppetism)

Robert Crumb (Artology)

Rose of Lima (Christian; Saint)

Rumon (a.k.a. Ruan; Christian; Saint)

Sacrifice to Tari Pennu Day (Indian Earth-Goddess; Everyday Wicca)

Santa Rosa de Lima Day (Peru)

Stephen Nehmé (Maronite Church, Catholic Church; Blessed)

Theo van Doesburg (Artology)

Third Onam (Rice Harvest Festival, Day 3; Kerala, India)

Thor Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

The Three Arts Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Virginia Lee Burton (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 16 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [16 of 24]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [39 of 60]

Premieres

Alice Chops the Suey (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Anna Karenina (Film; 1935)

Bad Girl, by The Miracles (Song; 1959)

Beer (Film; 1985)

The Big Snooze (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1957)

A Bird in a Guilty Cage (WB LT Cartoon; 1952)

Carnival Row (TV Series; 2019)

Dance, Girl, Dance (Film; 1940)

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV Series; 2019)

Emma (Film; 1996)

Flesh + Blood (Film; 1985)

The Funny World of Fred and Barney (Live Action/Animated TV Variety Show; 1978)

The Good Girl (Film; 2002)

Heart-Shaped Box, by Nirvana (Song; 1993)

Hey Jude, by The Beatles (Song; 1968) [1st Apple Records release]

Highway 61 Revisited, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1965)

Kravn the Hunter (Film; 2023)

The Late Show with David Letterman (Talk Show; 1993)

Little Cesario (MGM Cartoon; 1941)

Medúlla, by Björk (Album; 2004)

A Mouse in the House (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

Music of the Sun, by Rihanna (Album; 2005)

Never Kick a Woman (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1936)

Otello (Opera Film by Franco Zeffirelli; 1986)

Putting on the Act (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

Santana, by Carlos Santana (Album; 1969)

The School for Scandal, by Samuel Barber (Overture; 1933)

Short in the Saddle (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1963)

Side to Side, by Ariana Grande (Song; 2016)

Slow Days, Fast Company, by Eve Babitz (Short Stories; 1977)

State Fair (Film; 1945)

Surf’s Up, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1971)

Terror on the Midway (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#9]

The Three Bears (Ub Iwerks ComiColor Cartoon; 1935)

Top Hat (Film; 1935)

What Happened to Monday (Film; 2017)

Today’s Name Days

Felix, Herbert, Rebekka (Austria)

Aleksandar, Aleksandra (Bulgaria)

Didak, Margarita, Petar (Croatia)

Vladěna (Czech Republic)

Albert, Benjamin (Denmark)

Emil, Meljo, Mello, Miljo (Estonia)

Eemeli, Eemi, Eemil (Finland)

Fiacre (France)

Alma, Felix, Heribert, Rebekka (Germany)

Alexandra, Alexandros, Evlalios, Filakas (Greece)

Rózsa (Hungary)

Donato, Fantino (Italy)

Alija, Alvis, Jolanta (Latvia)

Adauktas, Augūna, Gaudencija, Kintenis (Lithuania)

Ben, Benjamin (Norway)

Adaukt, Częstowoj, Gaudencja, Miron, Rebeka, Róża, Szczęsna, Szczęsny, Tekla (Poland)

Ružena (Slovakia)

Íngrid, Pedro (Spain)

Albert, Albertina (Sweden)

Raisa, Rhoda, Rosa, Rosabelle, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosalinda, Roseanne, Rose, Rosemary, Rosetta, Rosie (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 243 of 2024; 123 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 35 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 28 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 27 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 26 Av 5784

Islamic: 24 Safar 1446

J Cal: 3 Gold; Threesday [3 of 30]

Julian: 17 August 2024

Moon: 11%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Fulton]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 72 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 9 of 32)

[brookston]

Holidays 8.30

Holidays

Archivist Day (Kyrgyzstan)

AVID Day

Barberry Day (French Republic)

Commemoration Day for the Fatalities in Pre-Deportation Detention (Germany)

Frankenstein Day

Fred Hampton Day (Illinois)

Freeman-Moss Day

Huey P. Long Day (Louisiana)

International Day of the Disappeared

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (UN)

International Missy Barratt Day (Aenopia)

International Puma Day

International Whale Shark Day

Jimmy Buffet Day

Manu Ginobili Day (Texas)

Marcelo H. Del Pilar Day (Bulacan, Philippines)

Motel Day (Colombia)

National Ass Clapping Day

National Beach Day

National Bite People Who Annoy You Day

National Black Beauty Founders Day

National Grief Awareness Day

National Harper Day

National Holistic Pet Day

National Homecare Day of Action

National Press Freedom Day (Philippines)

National Screen Time Awareness Day

National Small Industry Day (India)

Pinaglabanan Day (Philippines)

Retrospection Day

Rowboat Day

Saint Rose of Lima’s Day (Peru)

Slinky Day

Talk Intelligently Day

Victory Day (Turkey)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cabernet Sauvignon Day

National Mai Tai Day (a.k.a. Real Mai Tai)

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

New England Apple Day

Independence & Related Days

Ashoka (Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

Constitution Day (Kazakhstan)

Constitution Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)

Kohlandia (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Leylandiistan & Gurvata (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Liberation Day (Hong Kong; from Japanese Occupation; 1945)

National Liberation Day (Gabon; 2023)

Tatarstan (from Russia, 1990) [unrecognized]

5th & Last Friday in August

Burning of Zozobra (Old Man Gloom effigy) [Friday before 9.1]

College Colors Day [Friday nearest 9.1]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Daffodil Day (New Zealand) [Last Friday]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Forgive Your Foe Friday [Friday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Peruvian Coffee Day (Peru) [Last Friday]

Positive Twitter Day [Last Friday]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

Tracky Dack Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

Wear It Purple Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

Sheep Market Fair begins (Denmark) [Last Friday through Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 31 (4th Full Week of August)

Labor Day Weekend (U.S. & Canada) [Begins Friday before 1st Monday in September]

Benton Neighbor Day (Benton, Missouri)

Britt Draft Horse Show (Britt, Iowa)

Bumbershoot (Seattle, Washington)

Central City Rock 'n' Roll Cruise-in & Concert (Central City, Kentucky)

Cleveland National Air Show (Cleveland, Ohio)

Clothesline Fair (Prairie Grove, Arkansas)

Colombia River Cross Channel Swim (Hood River, Oregon)

Colorado Balloon Classic (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Commonwheel Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Festival (Manitou Springs, Colorado)

Daniel Boone Pioneer Days (Winchester, Kentucky)

Fort Bridger Rendezvous (Fort Bridger, Wyoming)

Great Bathtub Race (Nome, Alaska)

Great Grove Bed Race (Coconut Grove, Florida)

Harvest Wine Celebration (Livermore, California)

Hog Capital of the World Festival (Kewanee, Illinois)

Hopkinton State Fair (Contoocook, New Hampshire)

Iroquois Arts Festival (Howes Cave, New York)

Johnson City Field Days (Johnson City, New York)

Jubilee Days Festival (Zion, Illinois)

Lifelight Outdoor Music Festival (Worthing, South Dakota)

Mackinac Bridge Walk (St. Ignace, Michigan)

National Championship Chuckwagon Races (Clinton, Arkansas)

National Hard Crab Derby and Fair (Crisfield, Maryland)

National Sweetcorn Festival (Hoopeston, Illinois)

Oatmeal Festival (Bertram/Oatmeal, Texas)

Odyssey Greek Festival (Orange, Connecticut)

On the Waterfront (Rockford, Illinois)

Old Threshers Reunion (Mount Pleasant, Iowa)

Oregon Trail Rodeo (Hastings, Nebraska)

Payson Golden Onion Days (Payson, Utah)

Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Colonial Festival (Greensburg, Pennsylvania)

Popeye Picnic (Chester, Illinois)

Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival (Independence, Missouri)

Scandinavian Fest (Budd Lake, New Jersey)

Sta-Bil Nationals Championship Lawn Mower Race (Delaware, Ohio)

Snake River Duck Race (Nome, Alaska)

Taste of Colorado (Denver, Colorado)

Taste of Madison (Madison, Wisconsin)

Totah Festival (Farmington, New Mexico)

Waikiki Roughwater Swim (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Westfest Czech Heritage Festival (West, Texas)

West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival (Clarksburg, West Virginia)

Wisconsin State Cow-Chip Throw (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin)

Woodstock Fair (Woodstock, Connecticut)

World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-Off (Brady, Texas)

Festivals Beginning August 30, 2024

Battle of Flowers (Laredo, Spain) [thru 8.30]

Brisbane Festival (Brisbane, Australia) [thru 9.21]

California Garlic Festival (Los Banos, California) [thru 9.1]

Calumet County Fair (Chilton, Wisconsin) [thru 9.2]

Casey Popcorn Festival (Casey, Illinois) [thru 9.2]

Coconino County Fair (Fort Tuthill County Park, Arizona) [thru 9.2]

Dice Con (Lviv, Ukraine) [thru 9.1]

Eastern Idaho State Fair (Blackfoot, Idaho) [thru 9.7]

European Medieval Festival (Horsens, Denmark) [thru 8.31]

Fall Fest 2024 (Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Idaho) [thru 9.2]

Galveston Island Wine Festival (Galveston, Texas) [thru 9.1]

Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off (Palmer, Alaska)

Great Pershing Balloon Derby (Brookfield, Missouri) [thru 9.2]

Harmony Fair (Harmony, Maine) [thru 9.2]

Marshall County Blueberry Festival (Plymouth, Indiana) [thru 9.2]

Michigan Bean Festival (Fairgrove, Michigan) [thru 8.31]

Midway Swiss Days (Midway, Utah)

National Hard Crab Derby (Crisfield, Maryland) [thru 9.1]

Nauvoo Grape Festival (Nauvoo, Illinois) [thru 9.1]

North Carolina Apple Festival (Hendersonville, North Carolina) [thru 9.2]

Obetz Zucchinifest (Obetz, Ohio) [thru 9.2]

Oktoberfest (Beaver Creek, Colorado) [thru 9.1]

PAX West, a.k.a. PAX Prime (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.2]

Payson City Golden Onion Days (Payson, Utah) [thru 9.2]

Red Rooster Days (Dassel, Minnesota) [thru 9.2]

St. William Seafood Festival (Guntersville, Alabama) [thru 8.31]

Washington State Fair (Puyallup, Washington) [thru 9.22]

Wilhelm Tell Festival (New Glarus, Wisconsin) [thru 9.1]

Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw & Festival (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin) [thru 8.31]

Woodstock Fair (Woodstock, Connecticut) [thru 9.2]

Feast Days

Agilus (a.k.a. Aile; Christian; Saint)

Alexander of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)

Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster (Christian; Blessed)

Anne Line, Margaret Ward & Margaret Clitherow (Christian; Saints)

Black (Positivist; Saint)

Camilla Läckberg (Writerism)

Candle in a Wine Bottle Day (Pastafarian)

Charisteria (Charis, Goddess of Mercy; Old Roman Thanksgiving)

Chatter Champion Announcement Day (Shamanism)

Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods; Ancient Egypt)

Eustáquio van Lieshout (Christian; Blessed)

Evelyn De Morgan (Artology)

Charles Chapman Grafton (Episcopal Church)

Fantinus (Christian; Saint)

Felix and Adauctus (Christian; Martyrs)

Festival of Charisteria (Day to Give Thanks; Ancient Rome)

Fiacre (Christian; Saint)

Guy de Lussigny (Artology)

Habetrot’s Eve Day (Northern Britain; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Isaac Levitan (Artology)

Jacques Louis David (Artology)

J. Alden Weir (Artology)

Jeanne Jugan (Christian; Saint)

Leonor Fini (Artology)

Mary Shelley (Writerism)

Narcisa de Jesús (Christian; Saint)

Pammachius (Christian; Saint)

The Pullover Sweater (Muppetism)

Robert Crumb (Artology)

Rose of Lima (Christian; Saint)

Rumon (a.k.a. Ruan; Christian; Saint)

Sacrifice to Tari Pennu Day (Indian Earth-Goddess; Everyday Wicca)

Santa Rosa de Lima Day (Peru)

Stephen Nehmé (Maronite Church, Catholic Church; Blessed)

Theo van Doesburg (Artology)

Third Onam (Rice Harvest Festival, Day 3; Kerala, India)

Thor Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

The Three Arts Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Virginia Lee Burton (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 16 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [16 of 24]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [39 of 60]

Premieres

Alice Chops the Suey (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Anna Karenina (Film; 1935)

Bad Girl, by The Miracles (Song; 1959)

Beer (Film; 1985)

The Big Snooze (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1957)

A Bird in a Guilty Cage (WB LT Cartoon; 1952)

Carnival Row (TV Series; 2019)

Dance, Girl, Dance (Film; 1940)

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV Series; 2019)

Emma (Film; 1996)

Flesh + Blood (Film; 1985)

The Funny World of Fred and Barney (Live Action/Animated TV Variety Show; 1978)

The Good Girl (Film; 2002)

Heart-Shaped Box, by Nirvana (Song; 1993)

Hey Jude, by The Beatles (Song; 1968) [1st Apple Records release]

Highway 61 Revisited, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1965)

Kravn the Hunter (Film; 2023)

The Late Show with David Letterman (Talk Show; 1993)

Little Cesario (MGM Cartoon; 1941)

Medúlla, by Björk (Album; 2004)

A Mouse in the House (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

Music of the Sun, by Rihanna (Album; 2005)

Never Kick a Woman (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1936)

Otello (Opera Film by Franco Zeffirelli; 1986)

Putting on the Act (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

Santana, by Carlos Santana (Album; 1969)

The School for Scandal, by Samuel Barber (Overture; 1933)

Short in the Saddle (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1963)

Side to Side, by Ariana Grande (Song; 2016)

Slow Days, Fast Company, by Eve Babitz (Short Stories; 1977)

State Fair (Film; 1945)

Surf’s Up, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1971)

Terror on the Midway (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#9]

The Three Bears (Ub Iwerks ComiColor Cartoon; 1935)

Top Hat (Film; 1935)

What Happened to Monday (Film; 2017)

Today’s Name Days

Felix, Herbert, Rebekka (Austria)

Aleksandar, Aleksandra (Bulgaria)

Didak, Margarita, Petar (Croatia)

Vladěna (Czech Republic)

Albert, Benjamin (Denmark)

Emil, Meljo, Mello, Miljo (Estonia)

Eemeli, Eemi, Eemil (Finland)

Fiacre (France)

Alma, Felix, Heribert, Rebekka (Germany)

Alexandra, Alexandros, Evlalios, Filakas (Greece)

Rózsa (Hungary)

Donato, Fantino (Italy)

Alija, Alvis, Jolanta (Latvia)

Adauktas, Augūna, Gaudencija, Kintenis (Lithuania)

Ben, Benjamin (Norway)

Adaukt, Częstowoj, Gaudencja, Miron, Rebeka, Róża, Szczęsna, Szczęsny, Tekla (Poland)

Ružena (Slovakia)

Íngrid, Pedro (Spain)

Albert, Albertina (Sweden)

Raisa, Rhoda, Rosa, Rosabelle, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosalinda, Roseanne, Rose, Rosemary, Rosetta, Rosie (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 243 of 2024; 123 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 35 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 28 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 27 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 26 Av 5784

Islamic: 24 Safar 1446

J Cal: 3 Gold; Threesday [3 of 30]

Julian: 17 August 2024

Moon: 11%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Fulton]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 72 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 9 of 32)

[kae1crafts]

Silly Mistakes We Make

I had all the pieces crocheted and ready to assemble on the Beautiful Trellis Yarn poncho that I was making, laid it out quickly and started seaming at my Thursday knit group.  When I had it all together, I held it up to admire my work and discovered my mistake.  Instead of a poncho, I had a Mobius with 2 twists - creative but not the look I was wanting.!!!  Now that offending piece of crocheting went back in my bag in a flash and I went back to knitting a hat.  The next day, I picked out one seam, flattened out the poncho, and corrected my mistake.  I’m very pleased with the finished product and hope to get a picture of it soon so I can share the end results.

Today I started out on a new adventure inspired by one of the tassel making videos that I watched.  The instructor was salvaging beads from clothing - mainly bugle beads and seed beads.  The last time I was in the local thrift store I noticed some beaded clothing in the Halloween costume section so I headed out early this morning to take advantage of their 50% off sale.  I came home with a long blue dress heavily beaded with blue bugle beads, white seed beads and lots of sequins - blue and silver.  I quickly learned that it was much easier to remove the bugle beads than the seed beads.  The bugle beads could be removed by simply snipping the treads on the back and unraveling the thread.  Now the seed beads are much more difficult to do and I’m still seeking a better solution than anything I’ve tried so far. I’ve unraveled one and a half sleeves and have a large number of bugle beads to show for it so I think this may be a worthwhile experiment but I’m still not positive.  More on this later.

I also found a vertical wine rack that is on a sturdy turntable that I plan to repurpose into a bracelet display case for the craft fair next Saturday.  I need to find some dowels or rods to hold the bracelets.  I hope to have them organized as to sizes to make it easier for the shoppers.  The Craft Fair is from 9 - 2 on October 21 at the Regency Tower Apartments, 921 Green Star Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Public is invited and I hope that some of you can come.  If you come to my Kae1Crafts booth and mention that you saw this on Tumblr, you will receive a 10% discount on your purchases from my booth.

[nwbeerguide]

A handful of breweries from the Pacific Northwest converge with others at this year's Collaboration Fest.

Press Release

DENVER … Breweries from across the globe will showcase their one-of-a-kind craft masterpieces at Denver’s Sixth Annual Collaboration Fest. The world-class beer festival will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Colorado Convention Center (650 15th St, Denver, CO 80202).

Colorado Brewers Guild members partner with breweries from around the world to create the brews from their wildest dreams. Each brewery has the ability to choose who they want to work with, what style of beer they want to brew and what ingredients they want to include. Established in 2014, Collaboration Fest is the headline event that will kick-off Colorado Craft Beer Week, which will take place March 16-24, 2019.

“Collaboration Fest is essentially a huge family reunion for brewers and craft beer drinkers alike,” said Steve Kurowski of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “They’re so excited to reconnect, share their stories behind their collaborations and most importantly, share their amazing beer with you.”

Collaboration Beer Fest 2019 will feature collaborations from the following breweries. Additional breweries will continue to be added. The website will be updated soon with the full list.

105 West Brewing Company

14er Brewing Company

1623 Brewing Company

300 Suns Brewing

4 Hands Brewery

4 Noses Brewing

Accomplice Brewing Company

Alesong Brewing & Blending

Alternation Brewing Company

Altrevida Beer Co.

Altitude Chophouse and Brewery

Ancestry Brewing

Angry James Brewing Company

August Schell Brewing Company

Baere Brewing Company

Baerlic Brewing Company

Banded Oak Brewing Company

Barrier Brewing Co.

Bent Barley Brewing Company

Berthoud Brewing Company

Beyond The Mountain Brewing Company

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery

Black Bottle Brewery

Black Forest Brewing Company

Black Shirt Brewing Company

Black Sky Brewery

Blue Tile Brewing

Boneyard Beer

Border X Brewing

Bottle Logic Brewing

Brass Brewing Company

Brewability Lab

Brink Brewing Co.

Bruz Beers

Burly Brewing Company

Butcherknife Brewing Company

C.B. & Potts - Denver Tech Center

C.B. & Potts - Highlands Ranch

Calicraft Brewing Company

Call to Arms Brewing Company

Cannonball Creek Brewing Company

Capitol Creek Brewery

Carton Brewing Company

Casey Brewing & Blending

Cellar West Artisan Ales

Cerberus Brewing Company

Cerebral Brewing

Chain Reaction Brewing Company

Cheluna Brewing Company

Chilly Water Brewing Company

CO-Brew

Coal Mine Ave Brewing Company

Colorado Plus Brew Pub

Comrade Brewing Company

Copper Kettle Brewing Company

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

Crow Hop Brewing Co.

Crystal Springs Brewing Company

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

Dead Hippie Brewing

Declaration Brewing Company

Denver Beer Company

Donavon Brewing Company

Dos Luces Brewery

Downhill Brewing Company

Dry Dock Brewing Company

Dueces Wild Brewery

El Rancho Brewing Company

Elevation Beer Co.

Ellipsis Brewing

Endo Brewing Company

Epic Brewing Company

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

Fernson Brewing Company

FH Beerworks

Fiction Beer Company

Fossil Craft Beer Company

Freetail Brewing Company

Funkwerks

Gemini Beer Company

Gilded Goat Brewing Company

Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company

Goat Patch Brewing Company

Great Divide Brewing Company

Great Frontier Brewing Company

Grist Brewing Company

Guanella Pass Brewing Company

High Hops Brewery

Horse & Dragon Beer Company

Independence Brewing Co.

Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project

Iron Bird Brewing Co.

Iron Mule Brewery

Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery

JAKs Brewing Company

Jessup Farm Barrel House

Joyride Brewing Company

Kansas City Bier Company

LandLocked Ales

Launch Pad Brewery

Left Hand Brewing Company

Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co.

Little Machine Beer

Living The Dream Brewing

Locavore Beer Works

Lone Pine Brewing Company

Lone Tree Brewing Company

Lost Cabin Beer Co.

Mason Ale Works

Maxline Brewing

McClellan’s Brewing Company

Mockery Brewing

Mountain Cowboy Brewing Company

More Brewing Co.

Mother Tucker Brewer

Metropolitan State University of Denver - Beer Industry Program

New Belgium Brewing Company

New Image Brewing

New Terrain Brewing Company

Nightlife Brewing Company

Nynashamns Angbryggeri

Odd 13 Brewing

Odell Brewing Company – RiNo Brewhouse

Odyssey Beerwerks

Old 121 Brewhouse

Omnipollo

Other Half Brewing Company

Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company

Outer Range Brewing Company

Peak to Peak Tap & Brew

Pelican Brewing

Periodic Brewing

Pikes Peak Brewing Company

Pinthouse Pizza

Platt Park Brewing Company

Primitive Beer

Prost Brewing

Ratio Beerworks

Red Leg Brewing Company

Red Truck Beer Company

Renegade Brewing Company

Resolute Brewing Company

Reuben’s Brews

Revolution Brewing

Riip Beer Company

River North Brewery

Roadhouse Brewing Company

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Longmont

Rockyard Brewing Company

Sanitas Brewing Company

Scratchtown Brewing Company

Seedstock Brewery

Single Hill Brewing Company

Ska Brewing

Sleeping Giant Brewing Company

Snowbank Brewing Company

Something Brewery

Soulcraft Brewing

Spice Trade Brewing

Square State Brewing

Station 26 Brewing Co.

Steamworks Brewing Company

Storm Peak Brewing Company

Strange Craft Beer Company

Telluride Brewing Company

The Bakers’ Brewery

The Brew on Broadway

The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe & Brewery

The Hidden Mother Brewery

The Post Brewing Company

Thirsty Monk

Timnath Beerwerks

Tivoli Brewing Company

To Øl

TRVE Brewing Company

Twisted Vine Brewery

Überbrew

Upslope Brewing Company

Vail Brewing Company

WeldWerks Brewing

Westbound & Down Brewing Company

WestFax Brewing Co.

White Labs Brewing Co.

Wibby Brewing

Wild Blue Yonder Co.

Wild Woods Brewery

Wiley Roots Brewing Company

Wonderland Brewing Company

Woods Boss Brewing Company

Working Draft Beer Company

Wynkoop Brewing Company

Xicha Brewing

Zuni Street Brewing Company

Zwei Brewing

…

About Collaboration Fest: Collaboration Fest is the original craft beer collaboration festival that showcases the collaborative nature of the craft beer industry. Created by Two Parts and the Colorado Brewers Guild in 2014, Collaboration Fest pairs Colorado Brewers Guild members with breweries near and far to create unique, one-time-only beers for the public to enjoy. The Colorado Brewers Guild is a non-profit trade association representing Colorado craft breweries and brewpubs, and is dedicated to the improvement of business conditions and is an advocate for its members. Two Parts is a Denver-based event production and promotions company that coordinates with the best restaurants, bars, music venues, and other fine establishments to create craft experiences. More information can be found at https://www.collaborationfest.com.

from News - The Northwest Beer Guide http://bit.ly/2DNzMMh

[johnboothus]

Seltzer Ascending: Are Hard Seltzer Taprooms the Next Big Thing in Craft Beer?

This month, VinePair is exploring how drinks pros are taking on old trends with modern innovations. In Old Skills, New Tricks, we examine contemporary approaches to classic cocktails and clever techniques behind the bar — plus convention-breaking practices in wine, beer, whiskey, and more.

Don’t listen to the recent death knells ringing out for hard seltzer. Not only has the category’s market share exploded in five years what it took craft beer to do in 40, but much like when brewpubs started to emerge in the macro-brew- dominated 1990s, small seltzer-focused taprooms are starting to spring up around the nation.

These spots go beyond the slim-line cans and the standard White Claw flavors, too. Much like craft breweries, if you want to see where the innovation in seltzer is happening, head to one of the very few hard seltzer taprooms, not for the stacks of mixed 12’ers at the grocery store.

Outside of the White Claw world of Mark Anthony alcopops, nearly all of seltzer’s developments are coming from the world of craft breweries. Yes, Boston Beer is basically a Truly machine at this point. But in a world where thousands of brewery taprooms have experimented with a hard seltzer by now (if some only begrudgingly), it’s perhaps not surprising to learn that it took former craft beer lovers to come up with all-seltzer spaces. And if you’re searching for an innovative new drinking experience, these seltzer pioneers are your best bets.

Elevated Seltzer

Arvada, Colo.’s Elevated Seltzer opened its doors in July 2019 with Warren Wood and his brother Hunter at the helm. The Woods grew up in the brewing world, as their parents started Grand Lake Brewing Co. when Warren was 10 years old. After watching the explosion of craft breweries throughout Colorado, you can thank the increasing corporatization of those operations for Warren’s pivot to seltzer.

“We’ve been in the industry for so long that we’ve really seen it take a different turn than what we really loved about it. When we started up, it was my parents’ brewery and maybe like 25 others in the state,” Wood says. “It was a small craft community, everybody was super cool with each other. And now it’s turned into more of like…a business.”

Wood didn’t see a space in the market for the straightforward, untrendy beers like nut browns and lagers that they originally wanted to produce. ”We like to make straight-up beer. We don’t want to do the lactose sours and the double triple hazy IPA stuff,” he says. “It’s not where our passion comes from. And the fact of the matter is there wasn’t a place in the market for us.”

Enter: seltzer. The Woods were actually in the process of building out their own brewery when they decided to pivot fully into seltzer, a move that they expected wouldn’t be a popular one in the brewing community. “In the brewing industry at the time, like two years ago, if a brewery made a seltzer, you’re the devil, you know?” Woods says. “You went against everything that you believed in. [And] we were just like, let’s do it.”

It’s worked out so far. Elevated’s taproom currently offers nearly 20 seltzers (in 5 percent and 7.5 percent ABV) and seltzer cocktails alongside a small selection of beer and wine. Don’t expect to see just the standard mango, lime, and mixed berry flavors, though. “We don’t have to risk putting 2,500 cans of a small-batch thing out on the market. We can make one keg of it if we want and put it on draft,” Wood says.

Experiments like that led to a recent gin-barrel-aged blackberry elderflower seltzer release, and a Valentine’s Day special chocolate-strawberry seltzer packaged into 22-ounce bombers and sealed with red wax. As Wood puts it, “That’s the power of the taproom, to be able to experiment without the risk.”

In Seattle, San Juan Seltzery opened its taproom doors in September 2019, though the brand itself dates back to 2017, when a weekend getaway drinking huckleberry vodka sodas among friends turned into its own seltzer brand for founder Katy Enger. Her company now also boasts wine-flavored seltzers, cocktail-inspired seltzers and hard lemonade seltzers.

CEO Ron Lloyd, whose experience in beverages through the years runs from Capri-Sun and kombucha to wine and now to seltzer, says the taproom is not just a place to sip a seltzer; it’s a San Juan Seltzer experience. “This is really brand-focused. This is not a restaurant. This is not a full-service bar,” Lloyd says. “This is a taproom, and it is focused on San Juan Seltzer, being a seltzery, selling our story, talking about Katy’s vision, talking about our new unique flavors, and really leveraging one of our many firsts: first to be zero sugar, zero carb, first seltzer brand from the Pacific Northwest, and the first to introduce our product on draft.”

They also see the taproom as a way to test new ideas. “It really [is] a great place for us to not only showcase who we are and what we stand for, but it becomes the testing ground for new flavors, to see what consumers want,” Lloyd says. “Every one of our new flavors has gone through our taproom, and you can tell what’s really hot.”

Their 15 flavors on tap focus on ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, from the huckleberry that originally inspired the brand, to Rainier cherries, Fuji apples from a nearby orchard, and pears from Oregon (for a seltzer VinePair named among the best to drink last fall). Basically, if they can’t grow it locally, you won’t find it on their menu. “We can’t do a mango or a pineapple because those don’t grow here,” Lloyd says.

San Juan is also the only “seltzery” on this list because it managed to snag the trademark on the term. Yes, in a world full of breweries, distilleries, and wineries, there’s but one “true” seltzery on the continent and it’s San Juan — at least until someone wants to let their lawyers fight that out in court.

Credit: Summit Seltzer

Another recent entry to the taproom seltzer space is Charlotte, N.C.’s Summit Seltzer, opened in September 2020. Founder/owner Kristin Cagney spent a decade in the craft beer business before leaping onto the seltzer side of things. “I really had a passion for craft beer,” she says, “and when I saw this craze for seltzer I [said] what if we opened up a taproom, and really just focused on inviting people in to try all kinds of different seltzers at the same time and really explore the craft side of it?”

The opportunity to innovate in an industry that’s in its infancy was also a big appeal for Cagney. “Some beers have been around for 400 years. We’re never gonna compete with the craft aspect of the history of beer,” she says. “I don’t think that it’d be fair to even try and do that because there is just so much historical meaning to it.”

Seltzer, though? There are no “styles,” no rules just yet: “A lot of people think it’s for, you know, young girls or frat bros, but there is a craft side to it that we want to explore,” Cagney says. Summit has seltzers in a range of strengths from 4.2 percent to 7.5 percent ABV and a dozen flavors including a dry-hopped tropical fruit seltzer and an acai-blueberry-raspberry seltzer. It’s also creating cocktails using its 14.5 percent ABV seltzer base for things like a jalapeño Margarita seltzer cocktail and a riff on the kiddie classic called a “Shirley Seltzer.”

Though most of its sales are on the seltzer side of the menu, there are a few beers on the list, and true to the small-craft nature of Summit, Cagney still has nothing but love for her industry peers. “I got into this industry because I love beer,” she says. “Beer and breweries and all the amazing brewers; they’ve paved the way for the seltzery to even open, so I want to definitely give my appreciation to the brewing culture.”

What’s next? Most recently an all-seltzer taproom temporarily popped up in a Chicago hotel and a pair of Kentucky brothers and nascent seltzer barons announced plans to open The Local Seltzery in Louisville, telling Louisville Business First their new process would include a proprietary seltzer “gun” for their taproom-exclusive seltzers this fall.

Seltzer taprooms aren’t quite taking over the world just yet. But don’t underestimate them, either. As the seltzer market matures and draft seltzer expands its reach, it may be only a matter of time before your neighborhood taproom is working with a lot less grain and a lot more fermentable sugar.

The article Seltzer Ascending: Are Hard Seltzer Taprooms the Next Big Thing in Craft Beer? appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/hard-seltzer-taprooms/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/seltzer-ascending-are-hard-seltzer-taprooms-the-next-big-thing-in-craft-beer

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.4

Holidays

Alice in Wonderland Day

Apocalypse Day

Army Day (Guatemala)

Baal Fire Day (Northumberland, UK)

Buffalo Bill Day

Bullion’s Day

Caribbean Community Day

Commemoration Day of the Victims of the Genocide Against the Jewish People (Latvia)

Damavand Național Day (Iran)

Day of Agwe (Haiti)

Dree Festival begins (Apatani people, India) [Ends 7.7]

F-Day (Alaska)

Fighter’s Day (Yugoslavia)

Filipino-American Friendship Day (Philippines)

Forensic Expert Day (Ukraine)

Garibaldi Day (Italy)

Helicopter Flight Anniversary Day

Hillbilly Day

Independents’ Day (UK)

International Whippet Day

Invisible Day

Jewish Genocide Memorial Day (Latvia)

Joey Chestnut Day

Jumping on the Mattress Night

King Tupou VI Day (Tonga)

Koko the Gorilla Day

Kwibohora (Liberation Day; Rwanda)

Liberation Day (Northern Mariana Islands)

Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day

National Architect Day (Venezuela)

National Karl Day

National Micah Day

National Police Day (Ukraine)

National Safe House Day

National Sophie Day

National Tom Sawyer Day

Queen Sonja Day (Norway)

Republic Day (Philippines)

704 Day

Steve Rogers Day

Stone Skipping Tournament (Mackinac Island, Michigan)

Tobacco Day (French Republic)

Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day (Hannibal, Missouri)

Unity Day (Zambia)

Virgin Islands Day (British Virgin Islands)

White Cloud’s Birthday and Tatanka Bison Festival (North Dakota)

World Day for Captive Dolphins

World Day of the eBook

World Sarcopenia Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Build a Pasta Sculpture Day

Caesar Salad Day

Honor American Beer & Cyder Day

Independence from Meat Day

Independent Beer Day

Jackfruit Day

National Baked Beans Day

National Barbecue Day

National Barbecued Spareribs Day

National Caesar Salad Day

National Pub Opening Day

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day

Independence & Related Days

Abkhazia (from Georgia; 1993)

Caricom Day (Barbados; 1973)

Hawaii Statehood Day (#50; 1960) [observed 3rd Friday]

Lanao del Norte (Philippines)

Lunar Independence Day (from “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”)

North Carolina (Readmitted to the Union; 1868)

Orly (Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

Philippines (from US; 1946)

Providence Day (Rhode Island; 1636)

United States (from UK; 1776) a.k.a. …

Barbecue Day

Boom Box Parade (Willimantic, Connecticut)

Firecracker Day

Holy Firecracker Day (in John Updike's Couples)

Independence From Meat Day

Independent Beer Day

Indivisible Day (Minnesota)

National Country Music Day

Valnor (Declared; 2006) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in July

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

Ommegang Pageant ends (Belgium) [1st Thursday]

Thirsty Thursday [1st Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 4 (1st Week of July)

Freedom Week (thru 7.10)

Festivals Beginning July 4, 2024

Anime Expo (Los Angeles, California) [thru 7.7]

Anthrocon (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.7]

Berrien Springs Pickle Festival (Berrien Springs, Michigan)

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bucheon, South Korea) [thru 7.14]

Buxton International Festival (Buxton, United Kingdom) [thru 7.21]

Eurockéennes de Belfort (Belfort, France) [thru 7.7]

Fan Expo Denver (Denver, Colorado) [thru 7.7]

Fishin' Fiesta (Freeport, Texas) [thru 4.6]

Lexington County Peach Festival (Gilbert, South Carolina)

Main Square Festival (Arras, France) [thru 7.7]

Mountain State Art & Craft Fair (Ripley, West Virginia) [thru 7.7]

Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog-Eating Contest (Coney Island, New York)

Northern Lights Festival Boréal (Greater Sudbury, Canada) [thru 7.7]

Old Fashioned Farmer Days (Van Wert, Ohio) [thru 7.6]

Ottawa Bluesfest (Ottawa, Canada) [thru 7.14]

Portland Craft Beer Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 7.6]

Quebec City Summer Festival (Quebec City, Canada) [thru 7.14]

Red, White, and Blueberries BBQ Bash (Lahaska, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.7]

Rock Werchter (Werchter, Belgium) [thru 7.7]

Sand Mountain Potato Festival (Henegar, Alabama)

Shoals Catfish Festival (Shoals, Indiana) [thru 7.7]

Tech Open Air (Berlin, Germany) [thru 7.7]

Tremolo (Tolyatti, Russia) [thru 7.7]

Waterfront Blues Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 7.7]

Feast Days

Admiral Abigail Breeze (Muppetism)

Andrew of Crete (Christian; Saint)

Bertha of Artois (Christian; Saint)

Bolcan (Christian; Saint)

Build a Pasta Subculture Day (Pastafarian)

Build a Scarecrow Day (Pastafarian)

Carolus-Duran (Artology)

Catherine Jarrige (Christian; Blessed)

Day of Pax (Ancient Roman)

Elizabeth Montgomery Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal; Christian; Saint)

Feast of Translation (Ordination of St. Martin; Christian)

Finbar (Christian; Saint)

Flavian (Christian; Saint)

Jumping on the Mattress Night (Shamanism)

Mescalero Apache Gahan Ceremonial (Spirit of the Mountain; Everyday Wicca)

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Writerism)

Nellie Mae Rowe (Artology)

Odo of Canterbury (Christian; Saint)

Old Midsummer’s Eve (England)

Peter the Hermit (Positivist; Saint)

Pier Giorgio Frassati (Christian; Blessed)

Procopius, Abbot of Prague (Christian; Confessor)

Rube Goldberg (Artology)

Sam Eagle (Muppetism)

Sisoes (a.k.a. Sisoy), Anchoret in Egypt (Christian; Saint)

Solstitium IV (Pagan)

Sun Dance (Paying homage to the god who dwells within the fire of the sun; Ute Indian Tribe; Utah)

Tomaž Šalamun (Writerism)

Ulrich of Augsburg (Christian; Confessor)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [38 of 71]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

About Last Night (Film; 1986)

Alice in Wonderland (Novel; 1862)

America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee), by Lowell Mason and Samuel Francis Smith (Song; 1831 or 32)

American Top 40, by Casey Kasem (Radio Show; 1970)

Bats in the Belfry (MGM Cartoon; 1942)

Bedtime Bedlam (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1955)

Big Trouble in Little China (Film; 1986)

Cats & Dogs (Film; 2001)

Die Hard 2 (Film; 1990)

Doomsday for the Deceiver, by Flotsam and Jetsam (Album; 1986)

Droopy Leprechaun (MGM Cartoon; 1958)

Farnham's Freehold, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1964)

Fernwood 2 Night (TV Series; 1977)

Foo Fighters, by the Foo Fighters (Album; 1995)

Gonzo (Film; 2008)

The Great Mouse Detective (Animated Disney Film; 1986)

The Green Berets (Film; 1968)

Greenfields, by The Brothers Four (Song; 1959)

The Great Escape (Film; 1963)

Hail to the Chief, performed by the U.S. Marine Band (Song; 1828)

Jungle Jumble (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1932)

Kylie, by Kylie Minogue (Album; 1988)

Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman (Poem; 1855)

Mamma Mia! (Film; 2008)

Mexicali Shmoes (WB LT Cartoon; 1959)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Film; 1969)

Poor Little Butterfly (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1938)

The Schooner the Better (Phantasies Cartoon; 1946)

Summer in the City, by The Lovin’ Spoonful (Song; 1966)

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy (Novel; 1891)

Tony Orlando & Dawn (TV Series; 1974)

U.S. Declaration of Independence ratified (Political Document; 1776)

Walk This Way by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith (Song; 1986)

Washington Monument (Cornerstone Laid; 1848)

The Werewolf of Paris, by Guy Endore (Novel; 1933)

Today’s Name Days

Berta, Elisabeth, Ulrich (Austria)

Berta, Elizabeta, Elza, Laura (Croatia)

Prokop (Czech Republic)

Ulricus (Denmark)

Virgo, Virmo, Virvo (Estonia)

Ulla, Ulpu (Finland)

Florent (France)

Berta, Else, Elisabeth, Ulrich (Germany)

Loukia (Greece)

Ulrik (Hungary)

Antonino, Cristina, Elisabetta (Italy)

Sandis, Uldis, Ulriks (Latvia)

Gedgailė, Malvina, Skalvis, Teodoras (Lithuania)

Ulla, Ulrik (Norway)

Ageusz, Alfred, Aurelian, Elżbieta, Innocenta, Innocenty, Józef, Julian, Malwin, Malwina, Odo, Teodor, Wielisław (Poland)

Andrei (România)

Prokop (Slovakia)

Berta, Isabel (Spain)

Ulla, Ulrika (Sweden)

Bohdanna (Ukraine)

America, Calvert, Calverta, Calvin, Calvina, Kalvin (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 186 of 2024; 180 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 27 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 26 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Geng-Wu), Day 29 (ji-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 28 Sivan 5784

Islamic: 27 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445

J Cal: 6 Red; Sixday [6 of 30]

Julian: 21 June 2024

Moon: 2%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 17 Charlemagne (7th Month) [Peter the Hermit]

Runic Half Month: Feoh (Wealth) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 15 of 94)

Week: 1st Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 14 of 31)

[brookston]

Holidays 7.12

Holidays

Alkanet Day (French Republic)

Battle of the Boyne Day

Carver Day (Missouri)

Day of Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Villages

Different Colored Eyes Day

Disco Demolition Night (Chicago, Illinois)

Divad Etep’t (Elder Scrolls)

Etch-A-Sketch Day

Fjord Day

Founder’s Day (Rhodesia)

Hijab and Chastity (Iran)

International Cabin Crew Day

International Day of Combating Sand & Dust Storms

International Malala Day

Internet-Wide Day of Action for Net Neutrality

Lawyer’s Day (Mexico)

Malala Day

National Cancel Culture Awareness Day

National Hair Creator’s Day

National Keder Day

National Rodeo Day

National Tyler Day

New Conversations Day

Night of Nights

Orangeman’s Day (a.k.a. “The Twelfth;” Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

Rainmaker Day (Salem, Oregon)

Ratha Yathra (a.k.a. King; parts of India)

Relieve Stress By Walking Outside and Calling the Hogs Day

712 Day (Iowa)

Shonen Knife Day (Japan)

Simplicity Day

Tirana Festival (Chile)

Tube to Work Day (Boulder, Colorado)

USA Woman VP Day

Visitation Day

World Paper Bag Day

World Penis Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Eat Your Jell-O Day

International Cava Day

Michelada Day

National Pecan Pie Day

Pani Puri Day

Independence & Related Days

Granda Aŭtista Duklando de Sophia (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Kiribati (from UK, 1979)

Pacificonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Pibocip (Declared; 2000) [unrecognized]

Sao Tome and Principe (from Portugal, 1975)

Unification Day (England; by Athelstan of England, 927 CE)

2nd Friday in July

Collector Car Appreciation Day [2nd Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

French Fries Day [2nd Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

National Motorcycle Day [2nd Friday]

Wayne Chicken Show begins [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

World Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

Worldwide Art Day [2nd Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 12 (2nd Week of July)

Kilburn Feast (Yorkshire, England) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Sea Festival (Jūras Svētki Sākas; Latvia) [2nd Friday]

White Cloud’s Birthday & Tatanka (Bison) Festival (North Dakota) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Festivals Beginning July 12, 2024

Art of Wine Festival (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Ballard SeafoodFest (Ballard, Washington) [thru 7.14]

Baltimore Washington One Carnival (Baltimore, Maryland & Washington, D.C.) [thru 7.14]

Bospop (Weert, Netherlands) [thru 7.14]

Boston JerkFest Rum & Brew Tasting (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 7.13]

California State Fair (Sacramento, California) [thru 7.28]

Copper Country Strawberry Festival (Chassell, Michigan) [thru 7.13]

Corn & Clover Carnival (Hinckley, Minnesota) [thru 7.13]

Dine L.A. Restaurant Week (Los Angeles, California) [thru 7.26]

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 7.21]

Famous Food Festival (Deer Park, New York) [thru 7.14]

Farm Toy Show (Metropolis, Illinois) [thru 7.13]

Halal Ribfest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Hanover Tomato Festival (Mechanicsville, Virginia) [thru 7.13]

Kaltenberg Knights’ Tournament [Kaltenberger Ritterturnier] (Geltendorf, Germany) [thru 7.28]

Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands & Brews (Loveland, Colorado) [thru 7.13]

McLoud Blackberry Festival (McLoud, Oklahoma) [thru 7.13]

New Jersey State Barbecue Championship (Anglesea, New Jersey) [thru 7.1]

North Carolina Blackberry Festival (Lenoir, North Carolina) [thru 7.13]

The Odessa International Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 7.20]

Ohio Brew Week (Athens, Ohio) [thru 7.19]

Parke County 4-H Fair (Parke County, Indiana) [thru 7.19]

Pori Jazz (Pori, Finland) [thru 7.20]

Rib & Wing Festival (Seven Springs, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.14]

Square Roots Music, Craft Brew & Local Food Festival (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Trempealeau Lions Catfish Days (Trempealeau, Wisconsin) [thru 7.14]

Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy) [thru 7.21]

The Wayne Chicken Show (Wayne, Nebraska) [thru 7.14]

Whiskies of the World (Dallas, Texas)

Wireless Festival (London, United Kingdom) [thru 7.14]

World’s Largest Wild Rice Festival (Deer River, Minnesota) [thru 7.14]

Feast Days

Alphaeus Philemon Cole (Artology)

Amedeo Modigliani (Artology)

Andrew Wyeth (Artology)

Carl Lundgren (Artology)

Day Sacred to Dikaiosune (Ancient Deity for Justice; Everyday Wicca)

Donald E. Westlake (Writerism)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

Eugène Boudin (Artology)

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)

Gaulbert (Christian; Saint) [Foresters, Parks, Park Rangers]

Germ (Muppetism)

Henry David Thoreau (Writerism)

Hermagoras and Fortunatus (Christian; Martyrs)

Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)

John Gualbert (Christian; Saint)

John the Iberian (Christian; Saint)

Kronia (Kronos Festival; Ancient Greece)

Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Christian; Saint)

Max Jacob (Artology)

Millennial Fairy Olympics, Day 7 (Shamanism)

Mr. Screech (Muppetism)

Naadam, Day 2 (Mongolia)

Nabor and Felix (Christian; Martyrs)

Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))

The Old Dances (For Yama, Buddhist God of Death & the Underworld)

Pablo Neruda (Writerism)

Pam Grier Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Paisios of Mount Athos (Greek Orthodox)

Requiem in D Minor, by Gabriel Fauré (Mass; 1900)

Solstitium VIII (Pagan)

Surrealism Day (Pastafarian)

Take a Walk in the Woods Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Festival; Armenia)

Veronica (Christian; Saint)

Viventiolus, Bishop of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

We Come to the River, by Has Werner Henze (Opera; 1976)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Luckiest Day of the Year (Everyday Wicca)

Lucky Day (Philippines) [39 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 193 [44 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Adventures of Sam Spade (Radio Series; 1946)

Alice Wins the Derby (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Amateur Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Booby Socks (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut (Novel; 1973)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (Film; 1941)

By the Sea (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

California Girls, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

A Dance of Dragons, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2011) [A Song of Fire and Ice #5]

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara W. Tuchman (History Book; 1978)

Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor (Short Stories; 1965)

Explorers (Film; 1985)

Family Feud (TV Game Show; 1976)

Fighton’ Pals (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

The High Window, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1942)

The Hunter, by Richard Stark (Novel; 1962)

I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, by The New Seekers (Radio Jingle; 1971)

Last Date, by Floyd Cramer (Song; 1960)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout (Animated Film; 2016)

Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (Film; 1985)

Monk (TV Series; 2002)

Northern Exposure (TV Series; 1990)

Oz (TV Series; 1997)

Pacific Rim (Film; 2013)

The Playful Pup (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1937)

Point Break (Film; 1991)

Princess Mononoke (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1997)

Road to Perdition (Film; 2002)

Rock-a-Bye Bear (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1952)

Rupert the Runt (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Salt Water Tabby (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

She (Film; 1935)

Silverado (Film; 1985)

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Novel; 1977)

Trouble for Trumpets, by Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith (Children’s Book; 1984)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Film; 1961)

When Harry Met Sally (Film; 1989)

Today’s Name Days

Nabor, Felix (Austria)

Fortunat, Hilarije, Mislav, Proklo, Tanja, Živko (Croatia)

Bořek (Czech Republic)

Henrik (Denmark)

Armand, Härm, Härmel, Härmo, Herman, Hermann, Hermo (Estonia)

Herkko, Herman, Hermanni (Finland)

Jason, Olivier (France)

Siegbert, Henriette, Felix, Elenore (Germany)

Veronike, Veroniki (Greece)

Dalma, Izabella (Hungary)

Ermacora, Fortunato (Italy)

Heinrichs, Henriks, Indriķis, Ints (Latvia)

Izabelė, Margiris, Vyliaudė (Lithuania)

Eldar, Elias (Norway)

Andrzej, Euzebiusz, Feliks, Henryk, Jan Gwalbert, Paweł, Piotr, Tolimir, Weronika (Poland)

Nina (Slovakia)

Fortunato, Juan (Spain)

Herman, Hermine (Sweden)

Hilary, Ilary, Larry, Veronica (Ukraine)

Bud, Buddy, Jason, Jay, Jayla, Jaylen, Laylin, Laylon, Jayson, Oscar, Osvaldo, Oswald, Oswaldo, Ozzie, Waldo (USA)

Jace, Jacey, Jacy, Jaison, Jase, Jasen, Jason, Jayce, Jaycee, Jaycen, Jayson, Live, Olivier, Olivia, Oliver, Ollie, Olly (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 194 of 2024; 172 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 28 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 7 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 5 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 14 Red; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 29 June 2024

Moon: 37%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Elizabeth of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 23 of 94)

Week: 2nd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 22 of 31)

[jobsearchtips02]

Stocks Rally as Trump Flags Deal on Oil Production: Live Updates

Right Now

Amazon said it hired 80,000 new workers to keep up with demand.

Oil prices surge after Trump tweets about production cuts.

Oil prices surged, setting off a rally in shares of energy companies, after President Trump said on Thursday that he expected that Saudi Arabia and Russia would substantially cut their oil production to halt the collapse of prices.

Mr. Trump said in a tweet that he spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had spoken with President Vladimir V. Putin. “I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 million barrels,” he said. That figure represents about 10 percent of normal world consumption. The president later said the cut could be as much as 15 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia called on Thursday for an urgent meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-producing countries with the “aim of reaching a fair agreement to restore” balance in the oil markets. The Saudis said in a statement that they were acting to support the global economy and in “appreciation” of Mr. Trump’s request.

The Kremlin denied that Mr. Putin had spoken to the Saudi crown prince, as Mr. Trump had said in his Twitter message. “No, there was no conversation,” Dmitri S. Peskov, spokesman for Mr. Putin, told the Interfax news agency.

Still, crude oil futures, which had already been climbing on Thursday, surged by about 20 percent, and shares of oil and gas companies rallied. Occidental Petroleum was the best performing stock in the S&P 500, with a gain of about 16 percent. Halliburton rose about 12 percent.

Oil prices had been hammered as the coronavirus pandemic all but eliminated travel and damped demand for energy. A price war that broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia last month intensified the decline. After the countries failed to reach a deal on production cuts, both instead increased output in an effort to gain market share.

The combination of slumping demand and the contest between two of the world’s largest oil producers had pushed crude oil prices down by 55 percent in March alone, wreaking havoc on the energy industry, with oil companies slashing budgets, and refineries cutting production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

The possibility of some relief to the industry was also welcomed by stock investors.

Though the rally in energy companies Thursday bolstered the stock market — with the S&P 500 rising as much as 2 percent at one point — those gains eventually faded. Earlier on Thursday, a report on jobless claims showed that 6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week in the latest sign of the economic damage wrought across the country by the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses dependent on consumer spending were battered as a result. Retailers ranging from Gap to Walgreens Boots Alliance fell. Live Nation Entertainment, which produces concerts and sells tickets to events, was one of the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500.

Another 6.6 million joined the U.S. unemployment rolls last week.

7

million

6,648,000

Claims were filed last week

6

Initial jobless claims, per week

Seasonally adjusted

5

4

The week before was revised

up 24,000 to 3,307,000

3

RECESSION

2

1

’04

’08

’09

’12

’16

’20

7

million

6,648,000

Claims were filed last week

6

Initial jobless claims, per week

5

Seasonally adjusted

4

The week before was revised

up 24,000 to 3,307,000

3

RECESSION

2

1

’04

’08

’09

’12

’16

’20

7

million

6,648,000

Claims were filed last week

6

Initial jobless claims, per week

5

Seasonally adjusted

4

The week before was revised

up 24,000 to 3,307,000

3

RECESSION

2

1

’04

’08

’09

’12

’16

’20

7

million

6,648,000

Claims were filed last week

6

5

Initial jobless claims, per week

4

Seasonally adjusted

The week before was revised

up 24,000 to 3,307,000

3

RECESSION

2

1

’04

’08

’09

’12

’16

’20

More than 6.6 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, setting a grim record for the second straight week.

The latest claims brought the two-week total to nearly 10 million.

The speed and scale of the job losses is without precedent. Until last month, the worst week for unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982.

“What usually takes months or quarters to happen in a recession is happening in a matter of weeks,” said Michelle Meyer, chief U.S. economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

A month ago, most forecasters still thought the United States could avoid a recession. Today, with the pandemic shuttering businesses and forcing vast layoffs, many economists are expecting a decline in gross domestic product that rivals the worst periods of the Great Depression.

Pressure builds on Congress to do more to help workers and businesses.

Image

Many economists have warned that the $350 billion included in that most recent package for aid to small businesses will not prove sufficient.Credit…Ting Shen for The New York Times

The Labor Department’s report on Thursday that 6.6 million Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week only increases the pressure on President Trump and members of Congress to ready another package to further aid workers and businesses through the coronavirus crisis.

The $2.2 trillion package that Mr. Trump signed into law last week includes enhanced benefits for unemployed workers for up to four months, along with aid for large and small businesses and direct payments to millions of individuals, as the country struggles through a shutdown of economic activity meant to slow the spread of the virus.

Many economists have warned that the $350 billion included in that most recent package for aid to small businesses will not prove sufficient to help all of the companies that might otherwise go under during the shutdowns.

R. Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University economist and former adviser to President George W. Bush, said in an interview that the necessary assistance was likely to be “closer to $1 trillion,” which would require another $650 billion appropriation from Congress.

Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have pushed for additional payments to reach more Americans, to help people continue to pay their bills through the crisis. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio has called for federally funded “hazard pay” for doctors, nurses, grocery store clerks, postal carriers and other workers on the front lines of the virus.

Mr. Trump and Democratic leaders have also called for a sweeping investment in infrastructure, like broadband expansion and bridge repair, that could put millions of Americans to work once the crisis abates. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have shown less enthusiasm for many of those ideas.

States are taking action to close Hobby Lobby during the pandemic.

The arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby was accused of defying stay-at-home orders in at least four states during the coronavirus outbreak, prompting officials to take action against the retailer.

The moves by state and local authorities in Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin to shut the stores down came as governors across much of the United States have signed stay-at-home orders and health authorities have urged Americans to practice social distancing. Still, some haven’t heeded the advice, from spring breakers to some megachurches. In Florida, a pastor was arrested after defying virus orders.

W. Eric Kuhn, the senior assistant state attorney general of Colorado, where there are 10 stores, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company after it had reopened its stores in the state this week. The letter said the company’s actions violated a March 25 executive order signed by Gov. Jared Polis directing Coloradans to stay at home and requiring all businesses to close that were not designated by state health officials as critical. Mr. Kuhn wrote that the company had until 5 p.m. on Thursday to comply with the closing order or the state would seek court relief, including a temporary restraining order.

Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that he had sent a similar cease-and-desist letter to Hobby Lobby and that the company had agreed to close stores in his state, where there are 10.

Banks say structure of new small business lending program is unworkable.

With a $350 billion emergency lending program for small businesses supposed to begin on Friday, bank lobbying groups have told the Treasury Department that the structure is unworkable and creates too much risk.

The program, created as part of a $2 trillion spending plan passed by lawmakers last week, offers companies and nonprofit organizations with up to 500 workers a low-interest loan to cover up to two months of payroll and other expenses. Most — and in some cases, all — of the loan will be forgiven if the borrower retains workers and does not cut wages.

In letters and telephone calls, the groups have warned the Treasury Department that the program as written will not be workable, and that millions of businesses expecting funds to be approved and released in a matter of hours are likely going to be disappointed if the current government guidance is not updated.

The top concern among banks is about their own liability as they try to rush money to borrowers while being required to verify their applications and keep tabs on potential fraud. Banks are concerned that they could be held liable for loans made to borrowers who provide inaccurate or fraudulent information.

Remuneration for taking on these risks is also a worry. The Independent Community Bankers of America sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday complaining that the existing guidelines that call for loans to be made with 0.5 percent interest rates means that banks will not be able to break even on those loans, creating “unacceptable losses” for lenders.

Amazon says it will improve worker safety after criticism.

Amazon, which has come under fire from employees and politicians for not taking sufficient steps to protect workers on the job during the pandemic, said it would ramp up safety efforts.

The company said in a blog post on Thursday that temperature checks, which it began at certain facilities last Sunday, were likely to be put in place across all of its U.S. and European facilities and Whole Foods stores by early next week, and that it was already checking the temperatures of more than 100,000 workers each day. Anyone with a fever of more than 100.4 degrees is sent home and asked to stay home until they are free of fever for three days, the company said.

The company also said it was in the process of procuring more hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes for workers, and that it was beginning to distribute millions of masks to workers.

Workers who learned they had contracted the coronavirus or presumed they had but were unable to get tested could receive extra paid time off, and any worker who had contact with a person with the illness would receive 14 days of paid leave, Amazon said.

Amazon also said that it had already hired 80,000 of the 100,000 new workers it had pledged to hire in mid-March to keep up with recent demand.

Delta to let employees stay at home if they are worried about the coronavirus.

Delta Air Lines told employees on Wednesday that it would allow flight attendants, baggage handlers, gate agents and other so-called front-line employees who were concerned about the coronavirus to stay home and still get paid.

Any employee concerned for their safety would be allowed to take voluntary leave and continue to be paid “in some form,” according to an internal memo to managers that was viewed by The New York Times. Managers, who are referred to as “leaders” at Delta were also instructed not to question the employees about whether they were personally at higher risk and were told to share guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on high-risk factors associated with the virus.

“This is the right thing to do for our people who may be part of a high-risk group based on the latest C.D.C. guidance,” the airline said in a statement to The Times.

Separately, International Airlines Group, which operates British Airways, Iberia and other airlines, said on Thursday it was slashing its schedule by 90 percent in April and May. And British Airways said it had reached an agreement in which each of its 4,000 pilots would take four weeks of unpaid leave over the next two months.

Catch up: Here’s what else is going on.

Governors and mayors across the country are answering questions about the virus on Twitter, using the hashtags #AsktheGov and #AsktheMayor. Governors from Rhode Island, California, Washington, Illinois, and 10 other states took questions on Thursday, while mayors from at least nine cities said they would answer questions on Friday.

Amazon said on Thursday that it was restricting the sale of N95 masks and large bottles of hand sanitizer to hospitals and government agencies in an effort to ease the supply shortages of medical supplies from the coronavirus. It said small-volume bottles of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes for personal use would remain available on the site.

Google said on Thursday that it was looking at relaxing some of its restrictions for ads related to the coronavirus to allow hospitals, medical providers, governments and nongovernmental organizations to place advertisements featuring information about the virus or next to virus-related searches. The company had been broadly blocking ads pertaining to the coronavirus since January under its “sensitive events” policy.

The aviation unit of General Electric said it would temporarily furlough about half of its staff involved in engine assembly and component manufacturing. The furlough will last four weeks and the thousands of affected employees will still receive health benefits and at least some pay.

Amazon announced that its Prime Video service had partnered with the SXSW Film Festival to offer consumers the chance to view some of the movies that were scheduled to screen during the March event in Austin, Tex. The 10-day virtual experience will be provided free to customers with an Amazon account. SXSW filmmakers have until April 7 to opt into the festival, which Amazon hopes to introduce by the end of the month.

The chief executive of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, announced voluntary layoffs in a note to staff on Thursday, with details on eligibility and benefits to come in three to four weeks. “We’re in uncharted waters,” he said, adding that the layoffs would provide a bridge to recovery, provided “we’re not confronted with more unexpected challenges.”

Reporting was contributed by Nicole Sperling, Niraj Chokshi, Jim Tankersley, Peter Eavis, Stanley Reed, Ben Casselman, Patricia Cohen, Clifford Krauss, Andrew E. Kramer, Mary Williams Walsh, Keith Bradsher, Neal E. Boudette, Kate Conger, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Stefanos Chen, Keith Collins, David Yaffe-Bellany, Mohammed Hadi, Carlos Tejada and Daniel Victor.

Updated March 24, 2020

How does coronavirus spread?

It seems to spread very easily from person to person, especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can be carried on tiny respiratory droplets that fall as they are coughed or sneezed out. It may also be transmitted when we touch a contaminated surface and then touch our face.

Is there a vaccine yet?

No. The first testing in humans of an experimental vaccine began in mid-March. Such rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, but even if it is proved safe and effective, it probably will not be available for 12 to18 months.

What makes this outbreak so different?

Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and little is known about this particular virus so far. It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions — not just those with respiratory diseases — particularly hard.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

How do I get tested?

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

What if somebody in my family gets sick?

If the family member doesn’t need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, according to guidelines issued by the C.D.C. If there’s space, the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs, toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently.

Should I wear a mask?

Experts are divided on how much protection a regular surgical mask, or even a scarf, can provide for people who aren’t yet sick. The W.H.O. and C.D.C. say that unless you’re already sick, or caring for someone who is, wearing a face mask isn’t necessary. The New York Times and other news outlets have been reporting that the wearing of face masks may not help healthy people, noting that while masks can help prevent the spread of a virus if you are infected, most surgical masks are too loose to prevent inhalation of the virus and the more effective N95 masks, because of shortages at health centers worldwide, should be used only by medical personnel. But researchers are also finding that there are more cases of asymptomatic transmission than were known early on in the pandemic. And a few experts say that masks could offer some protection in crowded places where it is not possible to stay 6 feet away from other people. Masks don’t replace hand-washing and social distancing.

Should I stock up on groceries?

Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong. And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.

Can I go to the park?

Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.

Should I pull my money from the markets?

That’s not a good idea. Even if you’re retired, having a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so that your money keeps up with inflation, or even grows, makes sense. But retirees may want to think about having enough cash set aside for a year’s worth of living expenses and big payments needed over the next five years.

What should I do with my 401(k)?

Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions — don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/stocks-rally-as-trump-flags-deal-on-oil-production-live-updates/

[etsyrippleffects]

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! If you're in the Colorado Springs area around December 7, then stop by the North Pole at Tri-Lakes Arts and Crafts Fair! Rippleffects will have a booth with all your favorite products, plus EXCLUSIVE gift sets!

[crazy-rebecca]

365 Days of Earrings Day 236. I got these at a craft fair in Colorado Springs. #365daychallenge #earrings https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kLxh2gkLc/?igshid=1qoprb5iwpqt9

[kae1crafts]

Wacky Weather

It isn’t even the middle of October and we had snow today.  It didn’t stick around very long but it did snow.  Certainly inspired me to stay inside!!!

Today was knit/crochet day in my building with only 3 people today.  Often a small group but usually 4 or 5 at least.  Guess some of them wanted to slog around in the slush - or - more likely had doctor appointments!!!  (It is a 55+ building.)

I worked on and completed another trellis yarn necklace and then worked on a simple beanie hat for the upcoming craft fair.  We only had an hour today for our knit group as there was an Activity Council meeting in the room at 2pm.  When I arrived a little before 1pm - maintenance was getting ready to shampoo the carpet in that room.  Fortunately I managed to convince them to wait until tomorrow morning.  The carpet will dry a lot better when it isn’t snowing outside anyway.  

The other crafty thing that I completed today was another yarn tassel.  I gave the others to the Yarn Outlet store in Colorado Springs so that she could use them for display.  What used to be ‘Knit in Public Day’ has a new name and she will be holding tassel making and pom pom making times on October 14th.  

[sigilmagic]

Hey! Colorado native here. I used to live in Denver so I can only give you Denver stuff, but:

- Sputnik is a cute cool little restaurant on Broadway

- little man ice cream is also good! and a landmark

- the museum of nature and science is sick as fuck (has an AWESOME geology exhibit) and has an entire hall of nature that’s all taxidermy (I hate it in there and never go but it’s big and has lots of cool variety especially of Colorado wildlife)

- oh DMNS also has cute fountains out back in the summer and a really excellent planetarium!

- the zoo is right next to the museum (like literally they share a parking lot) and it’s a very well-organized one with lots of cool animals and a stellar elephant exhibit!

- denver botanic gardens is famously good—go in late spring/early summer for the most stunning flowers as long as you don’t have allergies

- downtown is full of cool architecture, including some stuff that’s original from when Denver was a mining town! and there’s a lot of informative historic landmark plaques around as well

- some fave metaphysical shops (I like them bc I collect rocks): herbs & arts (my favorite one), spirit ways, shining lotus bookstore, goddess isis books & gifts

- Gameworks in northfield is a good arcade, not too crowded, and has laser tag I believe! For a cheap and old school experience try nickel-a-play

- nooch is a good vegan/gluten-free friendly health food store that my mom likes

- bookstores: tattered cover (a Colorado classic!!), bookies (my absolute favorite and a beloved small business), and the book rack (a very cute secondhand shop where you can donate books as well as get used ones!)

- watercourse is also a good restaurant with lots of character, and it’s all vegan! though you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell that tbh. I have good childhood memories of eating Charlie cakes there

- broadway is FULL of cute, quirky little small business type shops

- Santa Fe art district is very up and coming and has lots of cool galleries and public art

- the central library branch downtown is magnificent and has cool seasonal craft fairs every year where you can get stuff from a ton of small vendors

- it’s a fun city to explore! honestly it’s hard to run out of things to do and I love and miss it there. hope you have fun and that this is helpful!

A fat lizard, me, and an art piece I’m working on.

IF YOU LIVE IN COLORADO OR HAVE LIVED THRE IN THE PAST, PLEASE READ!!!!!!

I’m going to Colorado in April, and I’m looking for any lowkey stuff to do. I tried google but whatever I find is either over commercialized or kinda sketchy, so I wanted some advise from someone who have first hand experience. If you know any artsy resuruants, events, stores, book stores, etc, feel free to leave some advise!! Things I’m interested in

Paganism

Wicca (I’m looking for any temples to visit if there is any in Colorado!

Art

Yoga

Book stores

Vintage

Architecture

Funky fashion

FUNKY RESTURAUNTS!!!

Anything funky pls gimmie dat funk funk

Small businesses!

Nature

Interior room design

Animals

Animal shelters

BOTANICAL CENTERS

Gardens

Weird art museums

Arcades

Taxidermy

HAUNTED STORES/HOUSES

Escape rooms

Health food stores

ANY SPOOKY SMALL TOWNS OR CITIES WITH DARK HISTORY

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[notesfromthepen]

THE REFORMATION OF AMERICAN INCARCERATION; An Inmates Perspective

INTRO

It's Not Like This is New.

There's no shortage of opinions these days—not even when it comes to something as complex, and formerly taboo, as prison reform. From the masterfully crafted philosophical treatises of antiquity to the late-night drunken posts of the Twittersphere, people are finally talking about prison reform.

Only never like this.

All you have to do is look and you'll find readied articles, posts, and blog entries, Sunday-morning sermons, YouTube documentaries, ill-informed water-cooler talk, and even feature pieces for the 24hr news cycle, all on criminal justice reform.

The broad strokes and generalizations of reform are easy to find. They're everywhere. The detailed pieces—though much fewer in number—are still out there if you take the time to look.

In researching this project I came across plenty of contributors willing to point out the failures of our current criminal justice system, less who were willing to take on the details of the problems they perceived; and I was only able to find a few articles, written by passionate and committed minds, that actually offered up some solutions to the fiasco of our current prison system. What I have NOT been able to find is someone on the inside, with first hand knowledge of the successes and failures of our prison system; someone who is willing to wrestle with it all, who starts with questioning the very need for reform, examines the resulting answers, explains the problems, offers in-depth solutions and even lays out the actual mechanisms of reform and what the results would look like.

Not-a-single-one.

It's easy to point out the failures. But I want to know what would you do different? Given the chance, how you, specifically, would you make things better?

Radio silence.

Electronic silence.

In this absence I figured I should start writing.

FML.

Upon coming to prison I've repeatedly heard some version of the following: "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here..." They mean it as a compliment, but it's bullshit. They like it to mean that I'm somehow beyond this place, beyond these walls—out of place in the best of ways—but they're wrong; their perspective is skewed.

I AM supposed to be here.

And I know EXACTLY what I'm doing.

However reluctant I may be, I'm here to add another voice to the cacophony of opinions and ideas that have already sounded on the matter of incarceration in America; to add one of OUR voices to the mix. And regardless of my purpose—perhaps in addition to it—I have no choice but to get this off of my chest. My only chance of breathing a little easier is knowing that, whether or not anyone hears these muted cries behind these automated steel doors and razor wire, that at least I said something while I still had breath in my lungs.

THIS is why I'm here.

With that being said, I am no social scientist, no statistician, no professor of law, psychologist, therapist, addiction counselor, behaviorist, or criminologist���or any other type of accredited specialist qualified to write this article.

I am however an experienced inmate serving a twelve-year sentence, for involuntary manslaughter, in the American prison system, with a penchant for subversive writing, delusions of grandeur, and big-picture ideas...

This is what I've learned so far.

Morality and Criminal Justice

If we are indeed a nation of laws, a nation that aspires to uphold a just and fair society, then it is our duty to fearlessly and frequently check the moral source of our laws, and consequences. If what we uncover is a spring that has remained pure then we must ensure that no entity, idea, or political movement—popular or otherwise—is allowed to corrupt the systems of justice that flow forth. However, if we discover a spring that has grown contaminated, whether by manipulation, short sightedness, ignorance of the electorate, the leadership, or any other fault that draws us away from a foundation of morality then we, as a society, must pledge to reestablish a more worthy source from which to our justice system flows—for nothing is more important to a society's health and validity than a genuine and upstanding moral foundation.

The Question of Reform

Like many things, self reflection comes down to a question, for which the answer must be sought with honesty and fearless diligence.

The question—the hundred BILLION DOLLAR question—at hand is whether or not our current criminal justice system is in need of reform.

Now I could assume that we all agree the answer is yes, and I could skip over this next section, but that would miss the point entirely. The problems we're trying to fix here were allowed to grow in the darkness of people not asking questions and seeking answers. This article will not be another in a long line of false assumptions.

As far as I can tell, a successful modern criminal justice system should be judge by two major criteria, both of which must be met for success to be claimed and reform to be deemed unnecessary.

1. Is our criminal justice system successfully and efficiently providing the safety and security of its citizens to exercise certain inalienable rights—in our case, set forth in the Bill of Rights—of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? 

2. Is our current criminal justice system, designed to protect the rights of citizens, true to the ideals, moral standing, and virtues this country was founded upon? And if so, can these original ideals carry us into a future with the same moral standing that lifted America up as a beacon for freedom & justice throughout the world? Or will our current path, left unchanged, lead us into a future again clouded by the shame and regret of the lesser moments of our history, such as the genocide of Native Americans, slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, the Japanese internment camps of WWII, and our lag in the human rights revolution in general?

If the answer to just one of these questions is no, then it proves to be an indictment of a system in need of reform. You can't have safety and security at the cost of humanitarian atrocities and Draconian rule and expect to call it a success. Inversely, you can't have a moral foundation so liberal that it paralyzes a state into a lawless free-for-all without consequence for criminals and call IT a win.

Answers

1. Success & Efficiency.

Considering America's "Tough on Crime" mentality this should be the easier of the two qualifiers to prove in the affirmative. But like nearly every question simply worded, it excludes a genuine answer from being anything but simple. The question itself is lacking in specificity; sure SOME people are provided with the security that our criminal justice system is intended to provide, yet still, many OTHERS are not. 

It shouldn't surprise you to learn that affluent, predominantly white, areas enjoy some of the lowest crime rates in the country. Ask the members of an exclusive country club and they will likely tell you the prison system's success rate is nearing perfection. Ask the same question of in an impoverished neighborhood in DC, or a holler in West Virginia, and you would likely hear that the system is anything BUT successful at providing these basic so-called inalienable rights.

But even if the lower income areas were to somehow miraculously be redeemed into safety by extreme versions of mass incarceration and severe punishments—which they're not—that would only push the problem back, not solve it. For mass incarceration to be viewed as a truly "successful" solution to crime, there is an inherent assumption, that the inalienable rights of the millions of incarcerated American citizens somehow don't factor into the equation, that the failure to protect THEIR rights are not to be added to the scales of success.

Look close enough and the answer to this question is actually rather simple; if millions of citizens must lose their "inalienable rights" to ensure the rights of others then that, my friend, is a system of in need of reform.

To gauge efficiency, let's take a look at what our our current criminal justice system is costing us.

America spends roughly182 billion dollars annually, on criminal justice; just so you can see the zeros, that's 182,000,000,000 EVERY year. At this rate, every man woman and child in the county would have to kick in over $600 dollars every year. And a family of four would pitch $2,400 tax dollars into the coffers of the current criminal justice system.

Undoubtedly, there are many differing factors that go into determining the likelihood of criminality. But, many would argue, none more so than education. And our leaders know it. Studies show that as quality education rises, crime falls; and inversely, as incarceration rates rise, crime rates often follow. Still, education spending lags far behind funding for incarceration. In over thirty years, from 1980-2013, West Virginia increased its education budget by only 58% while its prison budget has grown 483%, out spending education eight fold. Arizona's education budget grew by 188% while its prison budget ballooned 491%, Colorado saw a 103% increase in education compared to 513% for incarceration, Oklahoma's difference was 60% 341% and Kentucky did slightly better with 102% to 259%, still more than double the investment into incarceration than education.

So what are we actually getting in terms of SAFTEY for all this spending? Oklahoma and Louisiana have some of the highest incarceration rates, yet maintain similarly high rates of crime in comparison with other states. In addition to the lack of correlation between spending and crime rate, is the ineffectiveness of actual incarceration. A 2005 study revealed that, after serving their sentence, nearly half of all inmates were rearrested within twelve months of their release. Another study showed that, within three years of release, two-thirds of inmates had reoffended. And given a nine year window the percentage of inmates who reoffend jumped to 80%. Yet instead of rethinking these outdated and ineffective policies, like a degenerate gambler, we consistently double down on our misguided efforts.

America's prison population has more than quadrupled since the early eighties. And though it is true that criminals tend not to commit crimes against society while they're incarcerated—mostly because they physically can’t—once they are released they're actually more likely to commit increasingly dangerous crimes after serving a prison sentence.

But just for arguments sake—taking into consideration the drop in violent crime since the 80’s—ignoring the numerous statistics pointing away from prison retribution and harsh sentencing as reasons for the drop in crime—let’s say that the criminal justice system, when it comes to providing the safety & stability for law abiding citizens is at least somewhat functioning, while being efficient is an undoubted failure. In this case we'll give America's prison system a generous C+, lest I come off as biased (when comparing America's crime rate to other western countries with a similar standard of living, studies suggest that most experts would agree this is indeed a generous mark). Nonetheless a C+ is a passing grade.

And thank god. If it wasn't I wouldn't have a high-school diploma stuffed in a junk drawer somewhere to use when I got out as a makeshift place-mat when I have company.

2. Morality and Incarceration.

These are just a few statistics to be added to the scales of morality when it comes to our criminal justice system.

America, the home of the free, has the highest incarceration rate on the planet.

2.3 million American citizens are currently incarcerated.

4.5 million are on probation or parole.

1 in 32 American citizens are under some form of state supervision or incarceration and 2.7 million children have parents currently incarcerated.

More than 10,000 US inmates are serving life sentences for nonviolent offenses.

Roughly 50% of all federal inmates are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses.

85-90% of those ensnared in the criminal justice system register below the poverty line.

With over 5,000 facilities of incarceration, America has more jails than colleges.

65% of households with an incarcerated family member are unable to meet their basic needs.

With the systematic closing of mental institutions, a considerable percentage of current inmates are mentally Ill. About 37% of people in prison have a history of mental health problems, according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Justice. 

These are just a fraction of the quantifiable statistics that point towards the moral failings of our current system. The tip of a terrifyingly deep iceberg.

The problem is, how do you really quantify suffering? How do you put a percentage on the hunger of an inmate who goes to bed without eating because a vindictive CO refused to unlock their door at chow time? How do you make a statistic of an inmate who has his visits permanently revoked because his cellmate had a bottle of spud juice hidden behind the toilet, in HIS designated area of "control"? How do you gauge the level of suffering on the years that pass without a parent seeing their kid, or a kid seeing their parent?

Forget the question of how these injustices could be quantified and, just for a second, ask yourself how they could ever be justified.

These aren't obscure examples collected by rumor and hearsay; these are all-too-common examples that I have witnessed or experienced first hand.

At this point, this could turn into a never-ending list of the moral failings I've witnessed since my incarceration, but since it is neither the sole purpose of this article, or entirely necessary, I digress. All we are doing here is determining if our justice system is operating on a morally upstanding ethos. I need only one example of a systematic moral failing of our current criminal justice system to show a need for reform.

No problem.

In 2010 Juan Méndez was appointed as the as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment by the United Nations. His specific mandate was to "expose and document torture wherever it exists on the plant today."

In 2011, Méndez wasted no time issuing a report criticizing the use of solitary confinement as a form of torture, stating that 22-23 hours a day of isolation for more than fifteen consecutive days can cause permanent, lasting, psychological damage. He also noted that extended and overly-used solitary confinement is particularly severe in the American prison system.

Méndez then sought to tour America's prison system to get a better understanding of it's excessive use of this practice. He has yet to be granted access to a single isolation unit by any U.S. prison.

But I have.

I spent years at OAKS, a facility infamous for their disciplinary practices and liberal use of the Hole. HALF of the six housing units were designated Segregation Units (Seg) with the sole purpose of isolating inmates for extended periods of time. Because there were so many cells dedicated to solitary confinement the institution, rather than using the THREAT of isolation as tool to dissuade inmates from committing more serious infractions, with the ultimate goal of the Seg units becoming increasingly empty due to the change in inmate behavior, making the practice of isolation less and less necessary, the facility began placing inmates in the hole for relatively minor infractions, just to make use of the facilities. I guess the mentality was, "Why have a hole if you're not gonna use it?…Even if you have to drum up the bullshit reasons."

The minimum stay in the hole, for the lesser infractions was 90 days. Tattoo equipment, substance abuse, disobeying a direct order, or a threatening behavior (which is never a physical altercation and is used as more of a loophole for correction officers to lock up the inmates they "feel" are a problem, or if they simply feel slighted, confronted, or embarrassed by an inmate who also happens to be right). Segregation is 23 to 24 hours a day on lock down, with no personal property, clothing, commissary items, shavers, TV, or radio. Showers are a brief ten minute affair, three days a week. You're shackled and led down the rock to and from the caged showers in shackles wearing nothing but a towel.

And remember, this is the punishment meated out to the inmates who commit the "less serious" disciplinary infractions.

I once saw an inmate pick up a traded chocolate chip cookie from another inmate's tray while in line for lunch. Upon witnessing this egregious act, a CO ordered him to throw out his entire tray and immediately return to his cell. Hunger is a very real struggle in prison. When the inmate explained what he was doing and why he should be allowed to eat, the CO pulled out his taser and ordered him to the ground. He was swarmed by five other COs and promptly disappeared.

It was almost five months before anyone saw him again. If I wasn't so familiar with the physical transformation caused by the hole, I wouldn't have recognized him. He was a gaunt thirty pounds lighter with sunken in eyes. He wore the distorted hue that human skin takes on in the complete absence of light. His face was covered in months of unchecked hair. But the most disturbing mark left on the inhabitants of solitary confinement is the thousand-yard stare. It's like the person in front of you is no longer the person you saw disappear into one of the many isolation units.

The mid level infractions would get you laid down (as they say) for longer stretches. A fight, which is nearly unavoidable in here, would most often get you six months to a year (though someone I knew did eighteen months in Seg for a rather violent altercation). The more serious infractions could land you in there indefinitely. A friend of mine, an inmate who was teaching a commutation class I took, served twelve consecutive years in solitary confinement. 

As terrible as it is to admit, these are not isolated examples—on the contrary, they are so common that it was difficult for me to decide on just one example of unnecessary isolation to use

I wonder if Juan Méndez has ever gotten into a prison to see what time in the hole is like. If he did I hope it was at a distance and he was able to maintain his sanity.

If this does not persuade you of a moral failing of our criminal justice system, then I fear your heart has grown so callous, so compartmentalized, that no example would suffice. It remains clear that for justice to be fair, JUST, and moral it must be administered blindly. Hence the depiction of a blindfolded Lady Justice holding her set of scales. It has become impossible to ignore the overwhelming statistics that reveal our justice system is anything BUT blind, that it always has one eye open, and that it is increasingly unjust. When all else is equal, our criminal justice system out prosecutes and out convicts our poorest and darker hued citizens at a staggering rate. This system has deeply ingrained mechanisms that specifically target the poor, such as our cash bail system. Apparently if, while innocent until proven guilty, you're deemed releasable by a judge to await trial so you can maintain employment and take care and provide for your kids, we don't think it's a good idea for you to actually be released unless you have a few thousand dollars of spare cash and collateral lying around to grease a the wheels of justice. There is no other way to spin this other than to admit this is a blatant, unashamed, example of outright classicism. How is that moral justice?

And this is to say nothing of the fact that a system that has to incarcerate or monitor 1 in every 32 citizens in the name of safety, must be considered a moral failure by the use of simple arithmetic.

If our myopic analysis, made while weighing the SUCCESS and EFFICIENCY of our current prison system resulted in a passing grade of a C+, then the evaluation of the second aspect of reform, the MORAL success or failure of the same system, could only result in one conclusion: 

America's current criminal justice system operates as an unmitigated moral failure on behalf of its citizens, perpetrated upon by its wards.

So where does that leave us? Moderately passing in one aspect, and miserably failing in the other. We've already established that a passing grade in a single category is no mark of actual success. A Totalitarian Dictatorship and a state of complete ANARCHY would both score stellar marks in one of the two categories. With that in mind, a failure on either side of the coin, moral or otherwise, makes for a worthless token of criminal justice.

Reformation then becomes the only logical solution.

The Problems

It's not enough to simply admit that our current system is in need of reform. Just ask any addict. There's a reason they say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. It's a great first step but it's not enough. That's why they have eleven more, pain-in-the-ass, steps to sobriety.

Before entertaining the idea of any solutions, we must first delve into the actual problems they are supposed to address. It is only through a deep understanding of the troubles you wish to conquer that you can gain the vantage point to clearly see the potentials solutions.

In an attempt to come to an analytical decision regarding the need for criminal justice reform, we've merely pointed out a few symptoms of a failing system. Each successive step in laying out the map of reform will grow in importance and as well as complexity as we work towards change—but one thing at a time. First, if we hope to find a cure, we must get to the deepest underlying causes of the problems belying our current system. Like any malady left untreated, an illness can cascade into many symptoms, making a swift diagnosis difficult to pinpoint.

Diagnostics

I've spent six years pulling at the strings of every systematic problem I've come across during my incarceration only to consistently—and rather surprisingly—find that they all led back to a single source. Only recently has this realization, nourished by intense contemplation, grown into the confidence to finally admit that there was indeed a preemptive root cause from which nearly every preventable problem facing our prison system arises.

Initially, a realization of this magnitude can seem daunting, but look close enough and you can find the upside. ONE overarching problem, though large in stature, provides the opportunity for ONE overarching solution. This means we can search for an actual cure rather than just treatments.

Every time I reverse engineered a problem back through the chains of cause and effect, I would always look up to see it wasn't an evil administrator, lack of money, corrupt corrections officer that had spawned the issue—not originally. For the first time, I saw clearly the preemptive flaw in our system. The entirety of our failures lie firmly in our PUNITIVE APPROACH to criminal justice. Retribution is the poison tainting the well of our justice system. A poison flowing from our choice of punishment over rehabilitation.

Since the inception of our county, our justice system, for all intents and purposes, has been operating on some form of punishment as a solution to crime.

Actually, this has been the dominant form of justice for most of recorded history. Although forward thinkers throughout time have long recognized the problems with this approach, these insightful minds were in the minority. As we've evolved culturally, over time, in nearly every area of human rights, science, technology, logic, reason, general knowledge and understanding, America has experienced a stagnation in our evolution of criminal justice to match the rest of the industrialized world.

Now I'm the first to admit that, in an attempt to keep up with popular movements, many of our practices have changed over time—especially as it pertains to types of punishment. In the case of the Humanist movement in Europe, which saw a sharp decrease in the use of torture as punishment, this evolution was a good thing. On the other hand, in the case of the Tough On Crime, fear-stoking, era of the 1990s, this regression was not such a good thing, as even the architects of the '94 Crime bill now ruefully admit. There are many current politicians who will be all-too-eager to tell you that the shift from punitive justice is, or has, taken place. But this is where theory departs from practice. Being in prison, I can tell you one thing for sure; Incarceration is NOT about rehabilitation. There are sparse and entirely ineffective programs tossed about here and there. I'm assuming, in an attempt to claim the progress of evolution. But on the ground level there has been no marked difference.

The reform I'm talking about isn't in simply addressing the individual methods of transportation here, those change over time with innovation, money, and technology. I'm talking about changing the actual destination.

Choices

Punitive Justice focuses on punishment as a deterrent to crime.

Rehabilitative Justice focuses on restoring the offender to the degree that criminality is abandoned.

Restorative Justice focuses on the offender-victim relationship in an attempt to repair any damages, monetarily, physically, or emotionally.

The fact that punitive justice is not the most efficient, effective, and definitely not the most humane form of criminal justice is an understatement that has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

The urge to treat illegal or unwanted behavior with harsh punishment is understandable on a base, instinctual level, just ask any parent (until very recently) what their preferred method of deterrence is. It wasn't until modern studies began to reveal that punishment alone, as a tool to curb behavior, is not only ineffective but actually harmful to the development of the child.

It is only through knowledge and insight, guided by logic, that we can overcome our baser instincts of our nature as factors in determining how to deal with the problems we face as a society. Violence as a teaching mechanism, murder as revenge, stoning adulterers, and pistol duels to project ones honor, are all real world examples of how following our lesser instincts over logic and reason can break bad.

Not only does punitive justice not work as a system, many studies show that jailing people without a focus on rehabilitation makes them more likely to commit increasingly serious crimes with the propensity to branch out into new ones. Not to mention the failing recidivism rates of inmates who have little opportunity and less capability to become productive members upon reentering society.

One only need look to a dog trainer, who's job is entirely dependent on the successful curbing of behavior, to understand the failure of our current thought process. Positive reinforcement works, negative reinforcement doesn’t—not in any meaningful way in which the positives outweigh the negatives. You don't beat a dog into a heel position and get to act surprised when it bites someone. You TEACH a dog that a heel position is a positive sum game in which all parties benefit; that a biscuit is better than a beating.

Save your hate mail, I'm allowed to compare inmates to dogs because I am one—an inmate, not a dog—though it's not too far off from the way we're treated in here.

Until we shift our current policy from a focus on punitive justice to a more effective and efficient mixture of rehabilitative and restorative justice we will be rendered incapable of accomplishing any reform worthy of donning the name JUSTICE.

As I mentioned earlier, our misguided approach to criminal justice is the cause from which all of our other related problems flow. Each consecutive problem, slightly smaller, leads to still more numerous and still smaller problems, and on and on, until an all encompassing solution seems impossible.

The initial problems spawned from punitive justice are the evil twins off, (1) mass incarceration and (2) lack of resources. And though they grew in the same womb, mass incarceration was the first to take breath.

Mass Incarceration & Warehousing 

What inevitably happens with a system focused on punishment, is that our laws are drafted and passed with punishment in mind.

At the legislative level, this becomes a scatter-shot, or better-safe-than-sorry, approach to locking people up. Since the avalanche of mass incarceration, which reached a fever pitch with the 94 Crime Act, this has been the modus-operandi of lawmakers. Politicians who let killers, rapists, junkies, and thieves roam the streets don't often get reelected. Politicians who keep a few extra (thousand) people in prison, on the other hand, have little to fear in the form of political backlash.

This politically expedient approach has lead to a prison population rivaled by no other nation on the planet. Our prisons are pushed beyond capacity, both physically and financially, due to PUNITIVE policies. The three-strike laws, habitual sentencing guidelines, and mandatory minimums all but guaranteed that we would eventually find ourselves with a severely overpopulated prison system.

The real problem with Mass Incarceration is neglect. When you lock EVERYBODY up, the system is stretched so thin that NOBODY gets the proper attention needed for rehabilitation. Which, would be fine (effectively though not morally) if inmates were never released from prison. But mass incarceration cannot abide by indefinite detention of so many inmates. There simply isn't enough money or bed space. And so, when a system that's already pushed beyond capacity is expected to perpetually take in the new inmates demanded by punitive legislation, something has to give. This means that most inmates, far from being rehabilitated, are kicked back out onto the street as soon as they're eligible for parole, regardless of their readiness to return to society.

Statistics show that, in comparison to other westernized countries, we aren't any safer for our practice of mass incarceration. In addition we're out spending every other nation on the planet.

Unless we're willing to reinstitute the death penalty with a medieval fervor, or we some how find the funding, bed space, and utter lack of morality to lock people up for the rest of their lives for minor infractions, then we must move from a system focused on punishment, to one based on genuinely fixing people—not for some moral high ground, or a bleeding heart compassion alone but, at the very least, in a pragmatic attempt to ensure the duties that our elected officials have been elected to uphold are successfully met. 

The fact remains that this society we're all a part of including you, me, and your loved ones, is infinitely safer when people are released from prison in better standing than when they came in, not worse.

Facts.

Lack of Resources

The latter born evil twin of Punitive justice goes by differing last names, depending on who you ask; "capital," "funding," "money," or "resources." Its first name, "Lack Of," is always the same.

First comes overcrowding then comes underfunding.

It didn't take long for states with overcrowded prisons to realize that their budgets couldn't keep up. Sure, most politicians did what they could to allocate resources, usually by cutting funding to sectors like education, infrastructure, and social programs. But it's never enough. At which point, their lack of "adequate" funding goes from a problem to a crutch. The go-to rally cry, or outright excuse, of every politician facing the results of failing policy and declining poll numbers is a lack of funding, resources, money, or capital...another "lack of" problem.

It's a good excuse. I understand why they use it ad nauseam. At first glance it does seem to come down to money; "If we just had more resources, we could solve these problems." But lack of funding isn't the problem.

Not really.

The REAL problem is where the money is going.

Michigan spends a higher percentage (20%) of its annual budget on its prison system than any other state in the Union, just short of $2 billion dollars, without much to show for it in lowered rates of violence or crime prevention when compared to states who spend much less. This is because, it's not LACK of funding, it’s the EFFICIENCY of the funding. If a train is on the wrong track, pointed in the wrong direction, no amount of coal heaped into the furnace is going to change the shitty town at the end of the line that no one wants to visit.

Money becomes a problem when you're using it in ineffective ways. Specifically, when you introduce a population, so massive, that the prison system is crippled into simply housing inmates rather than rehabilitating them. Then money IS a problem. However, more money is not always the solution—not a feasible one anyway. There isn't enough money in any state's budget to successfully address crime using our current technique of simply housing inmates until release—not without neglecting every other civic duty in the meantime.

Idle Hands

Left to their own devices, the twin children of punitive justice—mass incarceration and lack of resources—will come together in an incestuous affair to birth the ever-dangerous grandchild called Idle Hands. And you know what they say about idle hands. Though it's rather anticlimactic, apparently, they are the devil's play things.

If you were to contact a prison administrator they would likely be quick to tell you about all the programing they, not only offer inmates, but actually require for parole eligibility. Most prison systems have required programming based on the nature of your crime: violence prevention, substance abuse, thinking for a change, GED, and sexual offender class for instance. Which sounds good in theory.

This what it looks like in practice: 

Due to overcrowding, the limited programming they do offer are in such high demand that you can't even be considered for enrollment eligibility until you're within 24 months of your ERD (Earliest Release Date). And then, you can only enroll in the programming courses specifically required in your classification paperwork. There is no space for a motivated inmate with a desire for self improvement to seek out additional programming.

Twenty years of idle hands warehoused under the negative influences of an inmate-designed prison subculture, is—apparently—supposed to be undone with a six week class on welding or a hundred hours of a violence prevention program taught by a former corrections officer a few months before release.

And even if you manage to get into a class in time for your first parole hearing, the level of commitment and expertise involved in the design and operation of these classes leaves something to be desired to say the least. Many classes have to be extended for weeks on end due to instructors taking off obscene amounts of personal days which further extends the wait time of the already strained resources. And when they do show up, the classes are basically guided workbook lessons taught by under qualified, apathetic, "Instructors" with all the enthusiasm and commitment of a second-rate funeral director.

Offering these programming opportunities in the hopes of actually rehabilitating inmates is like giving a hospice patient, with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, a handful of generic aspirin, a pat on the malnourished ass, and telling them to get well.

I've been down for six plus years and have yet to see the inside of a single classroom that offers any hope for actual rehabilitation. Trust me, in theory it might sound good but rehabilitation is not the prerogative of this prison system. The actual operating procedure of your average American prison system, though you might not find it etched into their mission statement, is to warehouse inmates until release and cross all fingers as they're pushed out the door.

Once incarcerated, aimless inmates, most of which have never had any structure in their lives, are left to fend for themselves—to choose what to do with their never ending time. To expect anything other than frivolous actions and impulsive decisions by these inmates is ridiculous. At best, they spend their time reading, working out, playing dominoes, cards, or chess in a state of suspended animation. At worst, the majority of inmates fall into gang culture and other vices (see "From Junkies to Gangbangers” at https://www.notesfromthepen.com) spending their time embroiled in a mixture of mob mentality, extremely negative peer pressure, violence, theft, addiction, substance abuse, and gambling, just to name a few traits we pick up on the inside. With idle-hands syndrome most inmates fall into a state of perpetual regression until it's time to see the parole board.

When 95% of the prison population will, one day, be released, the practice of simply warehousing these inmates is a dangerously short-sighted and reckless approach to criminal justice.

Parole

The next domino to be toppled by punitive justice, or whatever clunky metaphor tickles your fancy, is the current parole process. 

The way it works here in Michigan is that a few months prior to your ERD you will be called in for your parole hearing. Most inmates spend the weeks leading up to this monumental event replaying every little detail of their case, analyzing their institutional record down to the simplest infraction, and painfully, fruitlessly, trying to predict the thoughts and attitude of the lone parole board member who will decide their fate. Many sleepless nights will pass leading up to that fateful day. When it finally comes, you'll head over to the control center with ten to twenty other inmates in the exact same shoes—literally. You'll line up, side by side, outside the door leading to the room where the hearing will take place, and wait. You'll watch, one by one, as each of your fellow, clammy handed, inmates head into the hearing room to plea their case of rehabilitation. You'll sit by and watch, hoping your heart won't explode before finally getting your long awaited chance to beg for mercy. As each bewildered inmate returns, their face painted in flop sweat, you'll try to guess their fate based on nothing but their expression. Finally, once it's your turn, you'll be lead into the room and sat down in front of a TV with a tiny camera perched on above the screen. This is the face of the parole board. The face you will plead to for mercy.

Currently there are over 40,000 inmates in the Michigan prison system and roughly a dozen parole board members. Each panel is made up of three members but you will only ever speak to the one on the screen who will then relay his or her thoughts to the other two members. The idea is that majority rule will decide parole or denial but the truth is that the likelihood of the other two going against the recommendation is highly unlikely.

So, there you are with the decider of your fate in front of you, his or her head three times its normal size on the TV screen, the decider flipping through your pre-sentence (PSI) report with all the interest of someone reading a weeks old newspaper in the waiting room of a dentist's office.

The PSI report is a document every inmate is issued covering the crime and ensuing investigation often written decades, earlier by a stranger with the same commitment to factual veracity as a Russian Twitter troll. My PSI, for instance, says that I'm Native America. I'm not. At least I wasn't before I came to prison. However, I WAS sentenced in a county where most of the brown people ARE Native American, and seeing as I'm part Korean, I guess it was close enough. Since coming to prison I've tried, numerous times, to correct this blatant, and slightly racist, mistake. I have been repeatedly told that, "There is nothing we can do. It's already in your PSI" as if it was etched in stone and laying next to the ten Commandments in the lost Arc of the Covenant. I make this point because the only two sources of information the parole board members have to go on when "determining" your parole is your PSI and your institutional record. Neither of which are exactly gospel.

The oversized head on the screen will then spend fifteen to twenty perfunctory minutes asking you questions that he or she already knows the answers to—or at least what the PSI is telling them is true. The one rule of parole hearings is to NEVER, EVER, contradict your PSI. If they ask me if I am Native American, I will have to, if I expect to get a parole, agree that I am. I just hope they don't ask me what tribe I'm from. The PSI never told me that. After your allotted time you will be dismissed with a ambiguous comment about your crime, your history in prison, and whatever you need to keep doing, or cease doing. After which you will then have to wait an indefinite amount of torturous, sleepless, time before receiving the fateful decision in the mail.

This is your run-of-the-mill Michigan parole hearing.

Just think about this for a second. An inmate comes to prison at 18 years old and does over a decade behind bars and, without any frame of reference as to who they were when they came in, we expect these parole board members to accurately determine if an inmate's subtle and meaningful personal evolution, if the shift in their thinking, their understanding, their compassion and self awareness is genuine. In the time it takes to check your email they're expected to decide if the inmate on the screen in front of them has undergone a deep, genuine, rehabilitation, or if they've just mastered the art of fifteen-minute deception.

I want to make clear, that the current parole process is not the fault of the individual board members. It's just another resulting flaw of this system. They parole board members are undoubtedly overwhelmed with the sheer number of inmates and equally underwhelmed with the options they have at their disposal.

But it is a problem nonetheless, in dire need of a solution.

The problems I've described are by no means the only issues facing our criminal justice system in need of reform. They are simply some of the larger problems that cascade down through the prison system. Thankfully, other writers with more expertise, experience, and general resources than yours truly, have addressed many of the problems I've been forced to omit in the name of crafting a (somewhat) readable piece of reasonable length. 

Cheers to those writers.

Solutions

Now I'll be the first to admit that pointing out problems is the easy part of change. Solutions are difficult. Any halfwitted jackass at your local pub can give you a three hour dissertation on the problems of the NFL's ever-softening concussion rules or how the local plumbers union is actually run by a satanic sect of the Illuminati and why that's a bad thing. Ask these bar flies for CTE or plumbing-related solutions and, more often than not, you'll be greeted with silence. In fact, I often find the quickest way out of a marathon gripe session is to ask the runner for solutions. Make the mistake of asking me, on the other hand, and I'll give you the ear beating of a lifetime that usually starts with…"Actually I've given it some thought."

Yet Another Disclaimer:

Again, I am by no means claiming to be an expert criminologist, statistician, political scientist, or any other professionally qualified expert in handling the details and minutia of the changes in policy and procedure I will be proposing. I don't have access to the resources, research materials, or expertise to fully elaborate on each and every detail that a successful implementation would require. That being said, I stand by these proposals as honest and valuable insights into the possible solutions of our current state of criminal justice and mass incarceration. The proposals to follow should be viewed as the first broad chisel strikes to a block of marble, from which a more detailed and realistic depiction can be brought to life by sculptors with the tools and expertise far exceeding my access and abilities.

Now, let's get down to business.

The Rehabilitative Scale.

The first pebble to fall in the avalanche of criminal justice reform must be in the switch from PUNITIVE justice to REHABILITATIVE justice with a RESTORATIVE twist.

Rehabilitation focuses on fixing people rather than punishing them. The idea is that maybe we shouldn't define people by their worst moment, that change is—I don't know—entirely POSSIBLE if you work for it, and that in understanding the causes of shitty behavior we can do what it takes to successfully address the causes of these behaviors, and to make sure the people we release are actually ready to reenter society. This alternative form of justice serves a multitude of mechanisms for positive change, all of which are bolstered by the fact that it actually works.

Restorative justice focuses on victims and reparations. Offenders work towards repairing the damage they've inflicted on victims and society alike. The purpose of this process is for offenders to gain a better understanding of the up close and personal consequences of their actions. And to then be guided through the process of restitution, in which the offender makes a genuine attempt to give the victim whatever they need to be made as close to whole as possible, for what is, ideally, a healing experience for all involved.

To institute these changes we must learn to clearly differentiate between those who absolutely NEED to be incarcerated, those who are ready for release, and those who would best be served through alternative options. This shift in justice will serve as the source from which all other change flows. It will both free up the funding as well as establish a more streamline, moral, and ultimately effective criminal justice system to serve this country.

Being aware that the following proposals would lose credibility if its success was dependent on a larger budget than is currently available, I will make my proposals within the current fiscal limitations, or perhaps lighter, maybe even much lighter.

The final word will be for the economists and accountants to have, for even though I'm half Asian—the complete and comprehensive tabulations are slightly (entirely) beyond my abilities of calculation. 

First, a few numbers.

In 2017 the Michigan Department of Corrections reported a prison population of 38,678 inmates with an annual cost $36,106 per inmate. For the fiscal year of 2017-18 the state allotted $1.95 billion to the Michigan Department of Corrections. These are the financial lines between which I will attempt to draw up the solutions to our problems of criminal justice as it pertains to incarceration.

The most obvious answer for allocating capital would be to simply let a bunch of inmates go. So that's my plan.

Gasp!

Now settle down. I'm not talking fast and loose widespread release. But if the ultimate goal is to lower the prison population, then that will eventually mean releasing inmates.

Before you grab your go-bag and retreat to your underground bunker, you should know that it's already happening. It's BEEN happening. Inmates are released from prison everyday, only currently it's done without a genuine attempt at reliably gauging rehabilitation.

Now, you can panic.

The way it currently works is that the prison system has been forced into a Faustian deal in which locking up all these people comes at the cost of a financial inability to keep most inmates past their first or second parole hearing. The terrifying reality is that the decision of who gets released is a rather arbitrary selection process. Ready or not, the system simply can't afford to keep inmates incarcerated beyond a certain point.

A wise man once said—a few pages ago—that when you choose to lock up EVERYBODY, you can't afford to truly help ANYBODY.

It is with this guiding realization that I will suggest a more in-depth, reliable, protocol for releasing inmates which would both free up the resources needed to begin addressing the fundamental problems of our current state of incarceration as well as to ensure the safety of our fellow citizens.

We need a better system.

And, as you may have guessed by now, I have a few ideas.

First we need information. I believe it was the great American hero, the immortal, GI Joe who said, "Knowing is half the battle."

The first step would be to undertake a federally funded study, where a panel of psychologists, sociologists, criminalists, behaviorists, addiction specialists, neurologists, social scientists, therapists, family counselors, psychiatrists, and any other pertinent experts in the surrounding fields would be formed with the primary purpose to design and oversee a comprehensive study on criminal recidivism, in an attempt to gain a more hearty understanding of the myriad of factors that come together in determining the success or failure after an inmate's release.

Next, we would use the results to come up with reliable methods for predicting each inmates chance of recidivism.

This information would then be entered into an algorithm that would also incorporate factors such as—I assume—the nature of crime, level of rehabilitation, mental health, familial and societal support system, meaningful remorse, level of education and any other aspects deemed necessary to make reliable determinations of rehabilitation. Each inmate would then be given a Release Eligibility Score, or RES. These results would then be used to create a graduating scale of rehabilitation.

The purpose of the scale would be two fold: (1) to allocate the funds for reform, by creating a safer mechanism for releasing inmates, there-by significantly lowering the prison population (2) while simultaneously providing the much needed incentive and structure for genuine rehabilitation and victim restoration. Both of which will provide a more effective criminal justice structure for a safer, more humane, society.

Adjusting the Scale; a brief aside.

If it sounds like this new scale could be too complex, I should tell you that the MDOC already operates using a scale system of its own (that, and "it's too complex" is the unofficial, all encompassing, excuse of the MDOC for everything from a mailroom policy that prevents me from getting my work mailed back into me for editing purposes, to why we can't get Good Time reinstated). The difference is that the current scale is a five tiered security classification scale based on a PUNITIVE approach. This system is a perfect example of ineffectiveness of negative reinforcement as a preferred tool of the MDOC for curbing behavior.

The individual prisons here are separated by security classifications 1-5, from minimum to super maximum institutions. Level 1 is minimum security, 2 is medium, 3 no longer exists, 4 is maximum, and 5 is super-max.

Inmates are separated into these varying security levels based on two factors: Disciplinary Points and Length of Sentence.

1. Points

Inmates are issued points for disciplinary infractions. A spectrum ranging from assault, to loaning & borrowing, and misuse of state property will result in disciplinary tickets and points being issued. Stack enough points and your security level will increase, and you will be relocated to a higher security facility This is one, of many, ways to get from a minimum, to a maximum security prison in the MDOC.

2. Length of prison sentence

This security classification tool is completely baffling. And frankly, it's ridiculously dumb! If you come to prison with a sentence of seven or more years you automatically go to a level 4 (maximum security) facility until you've either come within seven years of release OR until you've been in prison for at least three years. Which, coming down with a twelve year sentence, is how long I had to stay in a maximum security facility.

It doesn't matter what you do if you come to prison with over seven years—you CANNOT earn your way down to a lower level facility. No matter how closely you follow the rules, how much you changed or how many classes you complete, you're not getting out of max until you serve your three years or get below seven. In this reality, there is absolutely ZERO incentive for inmates to alter their behavior. So most don't. This is the reason level 4s and 5s become self-fulfilling prophecies of chaotic arenas of extreme violence and reckless behavior.

There is this unexplainable, almost mystical, quality of the MDOC that consistently reveals itself behind these walls. There is a total disconnect in the Department's ability to observe the natural relationship between cause & effect.

The stove is hot.

If I touch the stove it will burn me.

As far as the MDOC is concerned these are two entirely unrelated statements. The fact that they're both true is nothing more than coincidence to those tasked with the lives of over 40,000 of Michigans citizens.

It is terrifying, confusing, and utterly maddening to watch the administration willfully trigger a cause only to, later, show a genuine disbelief and confusion when the inevitable, and completely predictable, resulting EFFECT of their CAUSE takes place. For their first three years in prison, many inmates are forced into maximum security facilities that are populated by those hardened who've EARNED their residency through violence, gang affiliation, and countless other examples of a lack of manageability. Like the inmates in maximum security, the officers at these facilities have adapted their own demeanor and general lack of fucks-given, based on the environment and caliber of the inmates they're forced to interact with.

What a beautifully planned recipe for disaster.

How the MDOC can both, force this experience and then have the huevos to proclaim innocence and feign ignorance, to the causes of the inevitable effects of the continuing problems of the MDOC, is ridiculous.

I took this little aside to simply show that a newly scaled rehabilitative system is not something beyond the limited capabilities of the MDOC's current prison system when I unwittingly found myself with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the frustrating, counterintuitive, and all-too-common policies of our current system of punitive justice.

Now where was I?…

Right! The rehabilitative scale.

The following is a mockup of a hypothetical scale of rehabilitation.

The Scale

Tier 1: Release eligible.

Those inmates with an RES (Release Eligibility Score) in the 90-99th percentile range of rehabilitation would be placed in the first tier, the highest category on the scale. These inmates, the truly reformed, would be eligible for unconditional release, as they if they'd served their maximum sentence. And in addition, after paying their debt to society, their rights would be reinstated.

Tier 2: Parole-able release.

The second-tier is for those inmates with A RES between 80-90%. They would be eligible for release with similar guidelines for current parolees: employment, reliable housing, no drugs, no guns...etc, and a parole officer to report to. The main difference is that, in the switch from a punitive standpoint, is that, if an inmate violates the conditions of parole (aside from new crimes) the de facto response wouldn't be to reincarnate but to find other methods of compliance.

Tier 3: Conditional Release.

Inmates with a RES of 70-80%. Upon release inmates would be subjected to stricter guidelines and safety measures, such as the use of electronic tethers, community supervision, frequent drug testing, employment requirements, counseling, community service, curfew, no alcohol consumption...etc. These stricter conditions must be designed as a TEMPORARY tool with reasonable and completable guidelines that, if failed to meet, are not then used as justifications to re-incarcerate.

Tier 4: Low security-level incarceration.

A RES between 60-70% These inmates who are on the cusp of working their way to conditional, or unconditional, release who, though still incarcerated, would have more access to family and social reentry programs, victim restoration projects, more visits, supervised furlough, conjugal visits (if married), AA/NA meetings, anger management, counseling, therapy, intensive training in trade and employment skills, education courses such budgeting, financial responsibility..etc 

Tier 5: General population

RES of 0-59%.The last tier is for the remaining prison population and should be broken down into still smaller sub categories based on their individual Release Eligibility Scores. These subcategories should be designed with extensive behavioral, educational, victim restoration, employable trade and skill programming, and, ultimately, rehabilitation, all designed to MOTIVATE inmates, as well as give them the tools, the responsibility, and the freedom to graduate up the scale to gain a better understanding of the consequences of their previous actions all while gaining opportunities and privileges as they ascend the internal levels.

Level C: inmates scoring 40-60% 

Level B: inmates scoring 20-40%

Level A: inmates scoring 0-20%

This rehabilitative scale, put into practice, would make just those inmates in the top three tiers, at the highest 70% of rehabilitation, eligible for release. In order to prevent a flood of newly released inmates, each of the three tiers would be addressed individually with a predetermined amount of time between each tier's release—six months to a year, for example—to allow for minimal disruption to society. Over the next few years, in Michigan alone, that would be roughly 11,600 rehabilitated people placed back in society. At a cost of $36,106 per inmate the initial savings would be $418.9 million.

Reallocation of funds

Safely lowering the prison population by nearly 12,000 inmates in under three years and approaching half a billion dollars saved is a decent start.

Now it’s time to get SOMETHING for our money.

The newly allocated funds should be divided into 3 categories for investment/distribution.

1. Alternatives to incarceration.

With the switch from Punitive justice we can let go of punishment as being a motivating factor for the policies we cultivate. Specifically, we can provide alternatives to incarceration for two widespread afflictions, both identified in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), that beg for more compassionate and effective policies: Mental Health and Addiction.

If only 10% of inmates (an extremely conservative number), with a history substance abuse and related charges, could be better served through intensive inpatient addiction treatment, and another 10% of mentally Ill patients (again, very conservative) could be eligible for inpatient psychiatric care as an alternative to incarceration, at 20% of current inmates, that would free up another 7,734 inmates. That's $279.2 million of the state's annual prison budget, more than enough to pay for the construction, personnel, and operation of these facilities.

2. Supervision requirements 

This would be the funding needed to add and retrain personnel and provide equipment and service for inmates on conditional release and parole. 

3. The actual institutional changes to make the transition from punitive justice to rehabilitative justice.

This is the big one. Most of the newly allocated funds would go to providing the resources, programing, and structure for the remaining inmates of tiers 4 & 5, as well as hiring the professionals, experts, and the additional staff needed, in addition to retraining the instructors, the corrections officers, parole board members, and the prison administrators in behavioral modification, sensitivity training, cultural and racial bias, deescalation techniques..etc, to equip the staff with the ability, knowledge, and mechanisms to implement this new directive.

Rehabilitation in action

The inmates in this reformed prison setting would have their Unit Parole Counselors (UPCs), caseworkers, psychiatrists, therapists, counselors, teachers and instructors to guide, monitor, and evaluate them. But it will ultimately be up to them to earn their way to freedom through action and progress. Inmates would be given the tools and assistance to change their lives, to prove they're ready and capable to be productive members of society.

If, for instance, you came to prison with a ten year sentence and you wanted to sleep all day, gang bang, gamble, fight, and steal, then you could do every single day of your sentence (possibly more). If you wanted to participate in the bare minimum of available classes and programming then you would do a portion of your sentence commiserate with your effort and progress. If, however you wanted to commit yourself to 10+ hours a day of education, counseling, group therapy, solo therapy, work detail, skill development, job training, communication courses…etc, you would have the ability to reduce your sentence significantly. This new system would be a proactive Rehabilitative Meritocracy.

The way I see it, from the inside looking in, there are a certain percentage of inmates that you could release today with little chance of recidivism (some of which are currently doing life sentences). There are still MANY more that need rehabilitation before being released. And a small minority, maybe 5-10% of inmates, deemed "unreleasable" who can, likely, never be released without posing an immanent danger to society. However, if these same inmates ever show the signs of change nothing would keep them from climbing the rehabilitative scale. The goal should then be to get the prison population down to as close to that unreleasable percentage as possible while rehabilitating those who need it.

After the initial release of the top 30% of inmates, as well as the 20% eligible for alternative treatments (addiction/psychiatric) the rehabilitative scale should then be incorporated into the guidelines for judicial sentencing to prevent the immediate return to mass incarceration. The remaining prison population would use the scale, as a ladder to climb, with yearly evaluations determining their progress. To prevent a system where nearly every inmate is placed on conditional release with supervision as soon a they reach the second or third tier, they would be given the option to stay and attempt to further progress until they reach unconditional release, surpassing the tiers of supervised release and avoiding the more stringent guidelines and regulations.

My experience in prison has lead me to wholeheartedly believe that the majority of inmates are looking for avenues—but more importantly—tangible reasons, to evolve and progress into better lives and better actions. It is on us, the electorate, as the mechanism that lifts our leaders into the positions of power, not to stop until we've given them the tools and motivation to do so.

Programming

I will keep this section on programming short in saying only that comprehensive overarching programs should be created combining many fields of expertise, presumably based on the original recidivism study, and customized to meet the rehabilitative needs of individual inmates, taking into consideration a variety of factors such as mental health history, criminal history, current criminal case, social development...etc.

This comprehensive programming comprised of a litany of courses, classes, and groups would serve as the rungs of the ladder inmates would use to ascend the rehabilitative scale towards release eligibility.

I'll leave it to the experts to create the actual mechanisms in which this aspect of reform will operate. Not that it has stopped me up to this point, but my lack of general knowledge when it comes to the fields such as behavioral science and criminology would undoubtedly make any hypothetical planning or specific ramblings in this area sound under informed at best and outright silly at worst.

Plus I can't do it all you lazy fucks. After all, I'm just a lowly convict.

Parole

The success of the switch to rehabilitative justice after the implementation of the rehabilitative scale would then be dependent on creating a more efficient and successful parole process.

We have to rethink the parole mechanism as a whole and redefine the service it provides in this updated system.

We must find a way to give the parole board the time, resources, and ability to gain a more comprehensive, hands-on, understanding of each inmate and their case file during their entire incarceration, if we expect them to make informed decisions. The parole board, in this new system, would see their responsibilities shift from that of glorified doormen to involved sponsors and advocates for inmates as well as qualified decision makers. In addition, certain positions would be created and designed to provide guides and gatekeepers to lead inmates through the rehabilitative scale.

This comprehensive shift would be impossible with just the dozen or so parole board member currently working for the MDOC. The entire department would need to be expanded, requiring many new positions and serving several different capacities in the rehabilitative process.

We would need to hire more Parole Board Members (PBM) and we would need to create new positions such as Unit Parole Counselors (UPC) who would work directly in the inmate housing units to serve as a more direct contact with the inmates (we have unit counselors now, only their job descriptions are very different and seem to be predicated on being constantly annoyed, dismissive, or outright indignant with the inmates they some their days trying to avoid).

The insight into the progress of rehabilitation should flow upwards through the parole structure, starting with unit officers and the programming professionals—the therapists, psychologists, instructors, and teachers who have daily interactions with the inmates, up to the UPCs, who would forward their recommendations up to the actual PBMs. The board members would still serve as decision makers in regards to release but as well as in determining the programming modifications tailored to individual inmates, all based on the recommendations of the UPCs.

Nuts & Bolts

The way I see it, in order to build and maintain a meaningful and informed relationship, the UPC would need to meet with each inmate in his caseload at least once a month. In addition, the board members would also have at least one annual session with each inmate in their caseload, in order to become familiar with those individuals as well as to gauge their progress throughout their entire incarceration.

I figure in an eight hour day a UPC could manage five inmate sessions, leaving a few hours for paperwork and personal time. That's 100 inmate sessions a month per UPC. The Board Members would only have to interview two inmates a day, allowing for more comprehensive sessions.

Even if we were to get the prison population back down to 20,000 inmates, as it was in 1985, we would still need 200 UPCs and an additional 35 Parole Board Members to meet these needs.

Not only would we need to hire significantly more parole board employees, we'd also need to pay them significantly more in order to ensure that enough exceptional, qualified, candidates would seek to fill the necessary positions.

The importance of quality control in this aspect of rehabilitative justice CANNOT be overstated. All it takes is one wrong hire to result in a system tainted by an abuse of power. It would be good policy to have the parole board members check the individual UPC recommendations against broader UPC averages of success rates on inmates on the rehabilitative scale in order to prevent some vindictive or simply misunderstood asshole from corrupting the system and refusing to advance deserving inmates. Not quotas, but a safeguard in place to spot anomalies. Remember, an institution is only as good as the people comprising it.

Two hundred new UPC hires, at competitive annual salaries of $70,000, comes to $14 million dollars a year, and the additional 35 PBMs at an annual salary of $100,000 comes to $3.5 million, for a grand total of $17.5 million dollars a year.

Sounds like a lot.

And it is a lot, depending on what you're spending it on; if it's beer money, then I agree, it's slightly too much; if it's for safe, practical, and effective criminal justice reform, then I'd argue it is a more than reasonable price. To put it in perspective, these expenditures, in TOTAL, with new hires and increased salaries amount to less than 1% of the MDOC's current annual budget.

An important benefit of a more manageable prison population is that, in addition to freeing up the resources to pay for these reforms, it would also free up the bed space that would allow the parole board to make actual decisions concerning the inmates assigned to their caseload. If an inmate proves to be too dangerous, at the time of their first, second—or twentieth parole hearing—to be released back into society then that option would now be effectively back on the table with the resources to make it sustainable.

The point is that the parole board should be genuinely involved throughout an inmates sentence not just at the very last moment of their incarceration. That's like telling someone to learn how to swim and leaving them to their own devices for years, with no tutorials, no instructor, not even a pool, and then, just before throwing them into the ocean, asking them if they ever figured out how to tread water.

I haven't thought of everything—far from it. These reforms are simply meant to be the backbone of a rehabilitative system of justice that will focus on providing the tools, opportunity, and—most importantly—the motivation for change, for the betterment of the institution and inmates alike, and, ultimately, society as a whole.

This piece cannot continue forever. And since I'm not doing a life bid, I only have so much time—roughly six years—to get these proposals accepted, hashed out, and put into practice if I want to witness the benefits or failure of this maddening need to truthfully convey this experience. Luckily, for you, it's almost over.

I promise.

Plugging the Holes

Federal prisons vs State prisons.

Federal prisons and state prisons are completely separate entities. The recently passed bipartisan prison reforms of the 1st Step Act took place at the federal level—affecting federal inmates and, ONLY, federal inmates. These reforms do nothing for the inmates in state prisons who account for 90% of America's total prison population.

The difference is a source of frequent heartbreak for those of us in state prison. Especially those of us in states that are exceedingly behind the curve of cultural and social progress in the way of affective prison reform run by politicians who drag their feet as a political practice.

My home state of Michigan currently makes Texas look like a liberal safe haven by comparison. That's right, I said gun toting, everything's bigger, more inmates executed than all other states combined, Texas.

Not a typo.

For meaningful change to spread to the individual states one of two things would have to happen; the passing of federal laws forcing states to adapt reformative prison policies (highly unlikely), or citizens—like YOU—demanding change from their elected officials (only slightly less unlikely. But still infinitely more possible.)

Restorative Justice

There has been a recent push for a switch to Restorative justice, and though aspects should undoubtedly be integrated into the Rehabilitative reforms of our current criminal justice system, a single minded focus on Restorative justice would, I fear, fall short of addressing the comprehensive change we need. Restoration should be one part of rehabilitation while attempting to make reparations, whenever possible, to the victims.

The SOLE focus on the victims of crime, however, is to miss the point. Rehabilitation HAS to take a prominent place in the hierarchy of justice to ensure the benefits of a lowered crime rate and safer societies can produce an outcome with ultimately LESS victims who would need restoration in the first place. This is by no means a dismissal of the benefits of restorative justice. On the contrary, it is an inclusion into the process as an indispensable tool for rehabilitation. I'm simply making the argument of "Yes...and then some" when it comes to the tools at our disposal

Reality and Perception

It's important that, in my descriptions of the prison experience, I don't perpetuate the narrative that where we are today, when it comes to criminal justice, comes from evil men by evil design.

If only it were that simple.

The roots of our criminal justice system, though misguided, are far from evil and even somewhat understandable when taken in the context in which they were created. The lack of perspective and understanding, the limited knowledge of the fearful men and women, the religious fanatics, the judgmental and injured citizens forged by daily hunger and struggle, and the outright lack of viable alternatives to crime prevention all came together to inform this now archaic form of punitive justice. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that we were holding witch trials in this country. The point is, we must not make the mistake of confusing the ignorance of our past as actual EVIL. 

If evil does exist in our current criminal justice system it lies not in the ignorance of those men and women who came before us but in the clarity of those of us who no longer have the excuse of ignorance to stand aside and do nothing as injustice is perpetuated on a mass scale. Outdated concepts become evil when ignorance turns to understanding, when blindness gives way to sight, and when confusion resolves into clarity. Evil isn't in the misguided, unintended, creation that led to a system of oppression; it is in every moment that passes in which we sit ideally by and do nothing after the ignorance of our ways turns to clarity and we finally understand that there is a better way to do things, yet do nothing.

This is the only article of its kind. Trust me, I looked everywhere in an attempt to find a reason not to have to write this—to no avail. So I sat down and got started. While the rest of the prison yard swirled around me, I actively avoided gang fights, crooked COs, stabbing-happy convicts, buck-fifties artists, spud juice enemas, and lady boys with large hands—or I at least cut back a bit—while I wrote what needed to be written.

With that being said,

I am not perfect.

GASP!.

Neither is this piece.

Obviously.

There is no realistic way to address the cause, effect, and solution for every problem in our criminal justice system in a single article—no matter how verbose and drawn out it was originally written, or charismatic the author.

Admittedly, as in any system of change, many of the solutions I have proposed—all of them in fact—carry with them potential flaws. Even as I write this, I can think of details to be worked out before implementation. No system of change, no matter how necessary, has ever been instituted flawlessly. Slavery, desegregation, women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement all had detractors who stoked and exploited the fear of unforeseen problems in their attempt to lobby against change.

It's the mantra of the status quo, to accept the flaws we know rather than institute a change we don't.

This cannot be OUR mantra.

I'm OK knowing that perfection has not been drafted between these pages. This isn't about perfection. It's about recognizing the need for change, envisioning the possibilities of a better way, and putting forth the ideas to maybe, one day, get us there.

Let's be honest, the reformation of our criminal justice system will not lead us into a thousand-year utopia with us spinning through rolling green fields to the Sound of Music. Change isn't to be undertaken for the SAKE of perfection, it's to be undertaken in the DIRECTION of perfection. Which starts with incremental steps towards a better future—not a perfect one.

There will still be crime. And there will still be the need for mechanisms to deal with crime. The fact remains that, for the foreseeable future, some form of institutional segregation will likely be necessary. What is UNNECESSARY is the way in which we currently operate these mechanisms. Our knowledge, understanding, and insight to the factors leading to crime, as well as the rehabilitative techniques leading away from crime, has outgrown our mechanisms for dealing with crime. And so it is time to abandon this practice in place of something more compassionate, more efficient, more EFFECTIVE, and yes...MORE better!

That's all this is. The first few clumsy chisel marks on a slab of marble containing a criminal justice system we ALL deserve. It might not be pretty, it's definitely not done, but hopefully it will help you imagine the sculpture within.

In any case, I'm finally done! To never again broach the subject of prison reform, to never again opine on the theories of criminal justice..I'm finally FREE!...Right?…oh please tell me I'm right...

Now before you get back to binge watching the Bachelor or the next level of Candy Crush:

Call to Action

It all essentially comes down to what we are willing to accept, and at what cost. So I guess you have to ask yourself what it is you're willing to give up for an illusory sense of safety? Cash, votes, your fellow citizens...your moral integrity? How willing are you watch your money build prisons rather than fix schools? How willing are you to turn a blind eye to injustice as long as it's not happening to you? How willing are you to accept ideas because they're more comfortable than the truth? How willing are you to accept fuckery until it happens to you? How long are you willing to wait do something?...Until it’s too late?

And if you are willing to give all this up for a false sense of security, then I have to ask, what are you willing to sacrifice for a system that actually works? A system that can provide security without bankrupting the budget, our sense of self respect, or our humanity? Maybe it's not so much what we are willing to sacrifice but what were willing have taken from us.

But there is a better way—there has to be—we just have to make it happen.

The terrifying part is that NONE of this matters if we can't get the attention of those in the position to institute change.

If you've ever felt the NEED to fight against injustice, to help those who can't help themselves, or if you're just tired of politicians who won't stop taking your money under the guise of protection but who could give a shit less about you or yours as long as they can "count on your support," if you've ever given money to help a shivering puppy or malnourished cat but have stopped short of helping the actual people from your community, NOW is the time.

I don't want your credit card number.

We don't need your money.

We need your VOICE.

Please, spread, share, retweet, link, promote, do whatever it takes to make this thing go APE-SHIT viral—because it HAS to, and because we can't wait any longer! Write, text, email, snail mail, call, blog, drop a message in a bottle, or a smoke signal to everyone you know, your local representatives, morning radio DJs, Instagram models, any and all Kardashians, CNN anchors, Van Jones, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmir, Johnny Depp, the ghost of Tom Joad, the President, or one of his kids, Bill Maher, the editors of Rolling Stone, Playboy, the New York Times, the Washington Post, your local newspaper, and any magazine, celebrity, or website who will post, rerun, or share this piece and let's FINALLY do SOMETHING.

I like to think of my self as somehow above leaning on other people's quotes to end a piece, but considering the source, and the fact that there's simply no better way to put it, I'll swallow my remaining pride and simply say that MLK, a man much better than me, once said that injustice ANYWHERE is a threat to justice EVERYWHERE.

This is one last plea from those of us in the darkest corners of ANYWHERE, for justice EVERYWHERE.

'Till next time, if there is a next time, remember to appreciate the small things. Now stand up and FIGHT!

Your friendly neighborhood convict…Now I gotta go, it's chocolate chip cookie night.

Please help share this important message. Listed below are just a few people who are committed to prison reform.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Twitter: @gretchenwhitmer FB: @gretchenwhitmer Office: 517-373-3400

John Legend Twitter: @johnlegend

Meek Mills Twitter: @MeekMill

Van Jones Twitter: @VanJones68

Bill Maher Twitter: @billmaher

Jay-Z Twitter: Mr. Carter @S_C_

Michael Moore Twitter: @MMFlint

Geraldine Sealey (The Marshall Project) Twitter: @geraldinesealey

Joe Biden Twitter: @JoeBiden

Elizabeth Warren Twitter: @SenWarren

Bernie Sanders Twitter: @SenSanders

Senator Kamala Harris Twitter: @KamalaHarris

Pete Buttigieg Twitter: @PeteButtigieg

Contact info for Robert Caldwell: Twitter: @notesfromthepen FB: Notes From The Pen

Further prison reform pieces written by Robert Caldwell:

Good Time, Killers Monsters and Regular People Everywhere, From Junkies to Gangbangers, and Slavery. https://www.notesfromthepen.com

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.12

Holidays

Alkanet Day (French Republic)

Battle of the Boyne Day

Carver Day (Missouri)

Day of Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Villages

Different Colored Eyes Day

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Divad Etep’t (Elder Scrolls)

Etch-A-Sketch Day

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Hijab and Chastity (Iran)

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Night of Nights

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Food & Drink Celebrations

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Michelada Day

National Pecan Pie Day

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Independence & Related Days

Granda Aŭtista Duklando de Sophia (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Kiribati (from UK, 1979)

Pacificonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Pibocip (Declared; 2000) [unrecognized]

Sao Tome and Principe (from Portugal, 1975)

Unification Day (England; by Athelstan of England, 927 CE)

2nd Friday in July

Collector Car Appreciation Day [2nd Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

French Fries Day [2nd Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

National Motorcycle Day [2nd Friday]

Wayne Chicken Show begins [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

World Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

Worldwide Art Day [2nd Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 12 (2nd Week of July)

Kilburn Feast (Yorkshire, England) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Sea Festival (Jūras Svētki Sākas; Latvia) [2nd Friday]

White Cloud’s Birthday & Tatanka (Bison) Festival (North Dakota) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Festivals Beginning July 12, 2024

Art of Wine Festival (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Ballard SeafoodFest (Ballard, Washington) [thru 7.14]

Baltimore Washington One Carnival (Baltimore, Maryland & Washington, D.C.) [thru 7.14]

Bospop (Weert, Netherlands) [thru 7.14]

Boston JerkFest Rum & Brew Tasting (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 7.13]

California State Fair (Sacramento, California) [thru 7.28]

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Corn & Clover Carnival (Hinckley, Minnesota) [thru 7.13]

Dine L.A. Restaurant Week (Los Angeles, California) [thru 7.26]

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 7.21]

Famous Food Festival (Deer Park, New York) [thru 7.14]

Farm Toy Show (Metropolis, Illinois) [thru 7.13]

Halal Ribfest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Hanover Tomato Festival (Mechanicsville, Virginia) [thru 7.13]

Kaltenberg Knights’ Tournament [Kaltenberger Ritterturnier] (Geltendorf, Germany) [thru 7.28]

Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands & Brews (Loveland, Colorado) [thru 7.13]

McLoud Blackberry Festival (McLoud, Oklahoma) [thru 7.13]

New Jersey State Barbecue Championship (Anglesea, New Jersey) [thru 7.1]

North Carolina Blackberry Festival (Lenoir, North Carolina) [thru 7.13]

The Odessa International Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 7.20]

Ohio Brew Week (Athens, Ohio) [thru 7.19]

Parke County 4-H Fair (Parke County, Indiana) [thru 7.19]

Pori Jazz (Pori, Finland) [thru 7.20]

Rib & Wing Festival (Seven Springs, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.14]

Square Roots Music, Craft Brew & Local Food Festival (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Trempealeau Lions Catfish Days (Trempealeau, Wisconsin) [thru 7.14]

Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy) [thru 7.21]

The Wayne Chicken Show (Wayne, Nebraska) [thru 7.14]

Whiskies of the World (Dallas, Texas)

Wireless Festival (London, United Kingdom) [thru 7.14]

World’s Largest Wild Rice Festival (Deer River, Minnesota) [thru 7.14]

Feast Days

Alphaeus Philemon Cole (Artology)

Amedeo Modigliani (Artology)

Andrew Wyeth (Artology)

Carl Lundgren (Artology)

Day Sacred to Dikaiosune (Ancient Deity for Justice; Everyday Wicca)

Donald E. Westlake (Writerism)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

Eugène Boudin (Artology)

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Germ (Muppetism)

Henry David Thoreau (Writerism)

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John Gualbert (Christian; Saint)

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Kronia (Kronos Festival; Ancient Greece)

Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Christian; Saint)

Max Jacob (Artology)

Millennial Fairy Olympics, Day 7 (Shamanism)

Mr. Screech (Muppetism)

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Nabor and Felix (Christian; Martyrs)

Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))

The Old Dances (For Yama, Buddhist God of Death & the Underworld)

Pablo Neruda (Writerism)

Pam Grier Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Paisios of Mount Athos (Greek Orthodox)

Requiem in D Minor, by Gabriel Fauré (Mass; 1900)

Solstitium VIII (Pagan)

Surrealism Day (Pastafarian)

Take a Walk in the Woods Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Festival; Armenia)

Veronica (Christian; Saint)

Viventiolus, Bishop of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

We Come to the River, by Has Werner Henze (Opera; 1976)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

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Lucky Day (Philippines) [39 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 193 [44 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Adventures of Sam Spade (Radio Series; 1946)

Alice Wins the Derby (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Amateur Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Booby Socks (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut (Novel; 1973)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (Film; 1941)

By the Sea (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

California Girls, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

A Dance of Dragons, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2011) [A Song of Fire and Ice #5]

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara W. Tuchman (History Book; 1978)

Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor (Short Stories; 1965)

Explorers (Film; 1985)

Family Feud (TV Game Show; 1976)

Fighton’ Pals (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

The High Window, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1942)

The Hunter, by Richard Stark (Novel; 1962)

I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, by The New Seekers (Radio Jingle; 1971)

Last Date, by Floyd Cramer (Song; 1960)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout (Animated Film; 2016)

Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (Film; 1985)

Monk (TV Series; 2002)

Northern Exposure (TV Series; 1990)

Oz (TV Series; 1997)

Pacific Rim (Film; 2013)

The Playful Pup (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1937)

Point Break (Film; 1991)

Princess Mononoke (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1997)

Road to Perdition (Film; 2002)

Rock-a-Bye Bear (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1952)

Rupert the Runt (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Salt Water Tabby (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

She (Film; 1935)

Silverado (Film; 1985)

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Novel; 1977)

Trouble for Trumpets, by Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith (Children’s Book; 1984)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Film; 1961)

When Harry Met Sally (Film; 1989)

Today’s Name Days

Nabor, Felix (Austria)

Fortunat, Hilarije, Mislav, Proklo, Tanja, Živko (Croatia)

Bořek (Czech Republic)

Henrik (Denmark)

Armand, Härm, Härmel, Härmo, Herman, Hermann, Hermo (Estonia)

Herkko, Herman, Hermanni (Finland)

Jason, Olivier (France)

Siegbert, Henriette, Felix, Elenore (Germany)

Veronike, Veroniki (Greece)

Dalma, Izabella (Hungary)

Ermacora, Fortunato (Italy)

Heinrichs, Henriks, Indriķis, Ints (Latvia)

Izabelė, Margiris, Vyliaudė (Lithuania)

Eldar, Elias (Norway)

Andrzej, Euzebiusz, Feliks, Henryk, Jan Gwalbert, Paweł, Piotr, Tolimir, Weronika (Poland)

Nina (Slovakia)

Fortunato, Juan (Spain)

Herman, Hermine (Sweden)

Hilary, Ilary, Larry, Veronica (Ukraine)

Bud, Buddy, Jason, Jay, Jayla, Jaylen, Laylin, Laylon, Jayson, Oscar, Osvaldo, Oswald, Oswaldo, Ozzie, Waldo (USA)

Jace, Jacey, Jacy, Jaison, Jase, Jasen, Jason, Jayce, Jaycee, Jaycen, Jayson, Live, Olivier, Olivia, Oliver, Ollie, Olly (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 194 of 2024; 172 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 28 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 7 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 5 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 14 Red; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 29 June 2024

Moon: 37%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Elizabeth of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 23 of 94)

Week: 2nd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 22 of 31)