according to Derrida, "learning to live should also mean learning to die, taking into account and accepting the absolute nature of mortality with neither resurrection nor redemption."
i'm not so sure about his view of after-life, but shouldnt it at least mean that those who have encountered and come to understand death know how to live?
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did you know there are roughly 5 million disenfranchised ex-felon citizens in this country? felon voting itself varies from state to state, with vermont and maine being the only two that allow inmates to vote. fourteen others like my home state of ohio allow felons to vote as soon as they leave prison and a handful of others like new york allow them to vote when their parole is up. seven states, like florida and mississippi never let ex-prisoners vote.
just as unfortunately, not only are the ex-prisoners confused over their voting rights, those in charge are confused. the Prison Reform Advocacy Center, a nonprofit group in ohio conducted a survey and found that most were unsure of their voting rights and 21 of 88 election boards either gave out misinformation or were just confused. in cincinatti alone, more than half were told they were never allowed to vote again.
why is this an important issue? aside from the basic fairness and social issues surrounding the prison and justice system, todays elections are so close that every vote counts. in the end, bush only "won" florida by 537 votes. florida has over 600,000 disenfranchised felons.
why else is this an important issue? over 10% of black adults are disenfranchised for life, and everybody already knows the infamous fact that 1 in 3 black men will spend some time locked up. all said, 1.4 million black men - 13% of all black men cannot vote b/c of state felon laws.
dont think this or crime is a race issue? you arent alone as many social scientists doubt not only felon disenfranchisement but racial discrimination in crime and the impact of felon disenfranchisement among minorities is undeniable: 1 in 4 black men will never vote in iowa, mississippi, virginia, new mexico and wyoming. 68% of all those incarcerated are minorities. a black male faces a 30% chance of lock up, a hispanic 17% and a white 4%.
my sources? the u.s. department of justice claims a large bias/target/focus on drug related convictions starting in the 1980's. there are disproportional stiffer penalties for drugs associated with low-income minority urban areas, with notorious police sweeps sending waves of blacks and latinos to prison.
still dont believe the race link? with blacks being sent to prison at a 7x higher rate than whites, and with the current felon voting laws, what do you think that does to minority political clout?
some cynics say who cares, felons never vote. wrong - the rates of number of people registered to vote before entering prison are similar to those in the general population. however, the rate of number of ex-prisoners who vote is significantly lower after incarceration than the general population - mostly due to barriers and misinformation surrounding their voting rights.
there are several individual cases making their way through the courts that will probably/hopefully end up in the supreme court, where among other things the Voting Rights Act will be re-examined. YET another reason Bush cannot be elected - as several supreme court justices may retire in the next presidential term, the new justices may have significant sway on this issue when it gets to them.
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i love and miss my baby so much. the spirit has no cage, especially not hers.
i'm not so sure about his view of after-life, but shouldnt it at least mean that those who have encountered and come to understand death know how to live?
**************
did you know there are roughly 5 million disenfranchised ex-felon citizens in this country? felon voting itself varies from state to state, with vermont and maine being the only two that allow inmates to vote. fourteen others like my home state of ohio allow felons to vote as soon as they leave prison and a handful of others like new york allow them to vote when their parole is up. seven states, like florida and mississippi never let ex-prisoners vote.
just as unfortunately, not only are the ex-prisoners confused over their voting rights, those in charge are confused. the Prison Reform Advocacy Center, a nonprofit group in ohio conducted a survey and found that most were unsure of their voting rights and 21 of 88 election boards either gave out misinformation or were just confused. in cincinatti alone, more than half were told they were never allowed to vote again.
why is this an important issue? aside from the basic fairness and social issues surrounding the prison and justice system, todays elections are so close that every vote counts. in the end, bush only "won" florida by 537 votes. florida has over 600,000 disenfranchised felons.
why else is this an important issue? over 10% of black adults are disenfranchised for life, and everybody already knows the infamous fact that 1 in 3 black men will spend some time locked up. all said, 1.4 million black men - 13% of all black men cannot vote b/c of state felon laws.
dont think this or crime is a race issue? you arent alone as many social scientists doubt not only felon disenfranchisement but racial discrimination in crime and the impact of felon disenfranchisement among minorities is undeniable: 1 in 4 black men will never vote in iowa, mississippi, virginia, new mexico and wyoming. 68% of all those incarcerated are minorities. a black male faces a 30% chance of lock up, a hispanic 17% and a white 4%.
my sources? the u.s. department of justice claims a large bias/target/focus on drug related convictions starting in the 1980's. there are disproportional stiffer penalties for drugs associated with low-income minority urban areas, with notorious police sweeps sending waves of blacks and latinos to prison.
still dont believe the race link? with blacks being sent to prison at a 7x higher rate than whites, and with the current felon voting laws, what do you think that does to minority political clout?
some cynics say who cares, felons never vote. wrong - the rates of number of people registered to vote before entering prison are similar to those in the general population. however, the rate of number of ex-prisoners who vote is significantly lower after incarceration than the general population - mostly due to barriers and misinformation surrounding their voting rights.
there are several individual cases making their way through the courts that will probably/hopefully end up in the supreme court, where among other things the Voting Rights Act will be re-examined. YET another reason Bush cannot be elected - as several supreme court justices may retire in the next presidential term, the new justices may have significant sway on this issue when it gets to them.
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i love and miss my baby so much. the spirit has no cage, especially not hers.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
dravenraine:
Thank you for the birthday wishes! 
hyenahell:
one of my good friends is an ex-felon. he's also a chemistry major going to school full-time, a full-time resturaunt manager, and a really fucking smart guy. he can't vote here in louisiana. 