The Return of Debtors' Prisons?

Its been a while since these were around and its actually quiet shocking, though predictable, that they've began to return.The last known debtors' prison to close was in 1833, the United States abolished federal imprisonment for unpaid debts, and most states outlawed the practice around the same time. Before then, the use of debtors' prisons was widespread; signatories to the Declaration of Independence, James Wilson and Robert Morris were both later incarcerated, as were 2,000 New Yorkers annually by 1816.

Six states (Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Washington) still allow debt collectors to seek arrest warrants for debtors in default if all other collection methods have failed. Whether a debtor will actually be prosecuted or not varies from state to state, county to county, and town to town.Other states like Tennessee and Oklahoma have ruled it unconstitutional and done away with it unless the court finds that the debtor actually possesses the means to pay—except in the case of child support obligations.

Most state constitutions, including Minnesota's, have clauses dating to the 1850s that expressly prohibit the jailing of people for their debts. Some people make the claim that it is unconstitutional in the United States to incarcerate someone solely for failing to pay a debt. However, there is little settled law on this matter and plenty of precedent for de facto debtors' prisons.

More than a third of U.S. states allow borrowers to be jailed for non payment of debts. Judges have signed off on more than 5,000 such warrants since the start of 2010 in nine counties.Because of sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation, many borrowers facing jail time don’t even know they’re being sued by creditors.

So what brings this topic back to light? Breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay was recently sent to jail after she received a $280 medical bill in error after calling in regards to the billing she was told she didn't have to pay it however the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs. Although the U.S. abolished debtors' prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don't pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff's deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up

Nothing Wrong

In response to the viciousness of those without a clue, with complete respect to all those this is about and in honor of some of the greatest people I've met in my life so far.


No person nor government has the right to tell anyone when or whom to love, yet here we are in an era when tolerance is supposedly at its peak and we still have to vote for people that love each other to be able to marry one another while still despised by most of the world. Who's to decide what's right and what's wrong? What if opposite sex marriage was treated as same sex marriage is, we love who we love for reasons that cannot be explained (unless your one of the goons who claims to be a cousin of a monkey) so why should anyone have to? War.  Rape.  Murder.  Poverty.  Equal rights for gays. Guess which one people are fighting against?In truth there is rarely anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not horrify, surprise or detest so why is it that everyone is so sanctimonious on this issue? I have not once met a gay or lesbian that is worth detesting, in fact those that I have met are some of the most incredible people I have ever met. Not only do they have incredible courage for showing their pride in a time when they aren't fully welcome, not only are they striving to be happy like the rest of us but they also put up with all the venom spewing hate groups in passive ways (unlike those belligerent morons who corner them and beat on them in an unfair fight).Equal rights are not special rights, you shouldn't have to earn them or convince people of their worth. Why is it about the world as a whole that we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? Soldiers who are not afraid of guns, bombs, capture, torture or death say they are afraid of homosexuals.  Clearly if everyone is so afraid of them they perhaps they should not be used as soldiers but as weapons. 

These are fellow human being we are talking about here, they need the same things we need, if you cut them they bleed like us, if you open their chest they are made exactly the same as us in every way (aside from the male/female differences ) yet we treat them as lesser people. If I recall correctly it was the same with the Jewish and the Blacks. When will we learn from History and put the petty differences aside and realize there's absolutely nothing wrong with being of a different skin, religion, land, language, sex,or sexual orientation.
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Who would give a law to lovers?  Love is unto itself a higher law.  ~Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, A.D. 524

If homosexuality is a disease, let's all call in queer to work:  "Hello.  Can't work today, still queer."  ~Robin Tyler

If male homosexuals are called "gay," then female homosexuals should be called "ecstatic."  ~Shelly Roberts

Debt

There is no such thing as true freedom in todays world, we are in debt the moment we are born possibly even farther back to when we first became a single celled organism. No matter what those lightly powdered faces and carefully manicured nails of the government tell you, its all just about lining their pockets no mater who it is that they have to step on to get it, greed has infested the once shining halls of the white house and bred with lust, ignorance and blinded all those who have stepped into its yawning doors. (for an idea of how bad its getting ) However what we (much less the government) don't seem to understand is this:  the truth is nobody owes another person anything and no one owes us anything, at least nothing physical in the sense that everyone claims that they owe someone (pieces of paper or plastic or even a few pieces of shiny metal) or someone owes them that. we scramble, steal, fight and kill for these pathetic things that can easily be destroyed and seem to care for nothing else when all we ever really owe anyone or anyone's owes us comes down to two things. Trust, without it we're completely unable to do much of anything, EX: Credit, love, etc. However we mustn't forget the most important. Human decency, a simple thing that is slowly disappearing along with many of our memories and youth.

The Small stuff

The leaves slight change from green to yellow, orange and red. The sound of the a loved one breathing as they sleep. The smell of flowers. For most people these are the small unnoticed thing in day to day life as we fight to keep our heads above water, gasping for air, fighting past mounting debt and despair that the government is so willing to lay upon us without blinking. Why? We are the little things that go unnoticed to them. Our suffering, our pain and loss as they place higher and higher taxes on the middle class.

Trickle-down effect. Some of the more commonly used words in politics referencing to the theory that if given less taxes the upper class will spend more, more freely. However the presumption is grossly incorrect. No matter how little taxes you give them its not going to encourage them to spend more then they feel they need to because lets face it they got to where they are now through hard work and major penny pinching or like few they got lucky. That being said why isn't the government pushing higher taxes onto the peoples who have so much money that they can afford to have at least one car for every day of the week if not more. Sure we look at all those hot shots on "Cribs" and say "Gee, I'd like to be like them" but how is it that they can have a bathroom the size of a ten car garage while we scrounge around enough money to fill up our gas tanks. Sure not everyone faces the same dilemma but lets face it we could all benefit from some taxes lowered off our shoulders and some hefted onto the shoulders of the society that can send their children to a private/prep school where they get three or more gourmet meals every day while have children and families that go hungry. It makes absolutely no sense to me but if you can figure it out let me know.

For so long....

"With all the hatred in this world, in this good world, let us be kind to one another," Breuning, the world oldest man said when recently interviewed on his one-hundred and fourteenth birthday. A simple comment, or wish, that so many others hunger for. In this time we are surrounded by war not on just foreign soil over foreign politics but also on our home soil and our home politics. In the mornings and late afternoon as we watch the news and commercials we tend to forget about the 'small' battles that are faced every day on our own soil. As few people notice we too have many of the same problems our foreign friends do, a few examples are: hungry/homeless people due to the growing instability of the economy, corrupt government officials, declining values (ranging from moral/social to property), increasing population and decreasing space, increased crime, skyrocketing taxes for the lower and middle class (while as I stated earlier the upper class get a tax cut), rampant diseases, the list goes on and on yet people seem oblivious though its right beneath their noses. When we turn on the television we see commercial that bombard our nightly shows preaching (not just religiously) about how we need to support the troops (whom I've nothing against) while they fight a war over things in a foreign country that also happen in our country, or to (this ones my favorite) send so much money over to foreign orphans so they can be fed. My point is this: instead of belligerently invading other countries to 'help' them (even, no especially if they don't want it) while quietly swindling them, pushing our belies upon them and digging ourselves into a deeper money pit we should probably fix our problems first. What we are doing is the equivalent of a dysfunctional family that has an ever diminishing income going out and preaching to others, fighting others fights while destroying much of their homes and convincing them that they owe us money. Doesn't make much sense to me.

However moving on to this weeks question for the readers. One of the things I have been doing is reading others blogs to gain some useful insight on what others think of the way things are going about and though I didn't find a shortage of opinions, one of the more interesting sights I came across (not because I agree with it but solely because of the sett up and such) was pushhamburger.com. One of of the interesting things I found there was this  "The more we become informed the greater will be the movement and end result in our war to oust the extremists, the impostors, the traitors that now reside in our  so called government. They have been elected to office by lies and fraudulent representations. Sooner than later they will pay the price. Don't give up Americans. " Which brings me to this weeks question. What do you think of the economy, how the government is handling things and of this article. Please don't P.C or censorship, tell me exactly what you think as you think it. I'm interested in what you have to say and why, I'll read every letter I receive as long as it isn't terribly dull and lacking actual proof or any intellectual weight.

Innocence long lost

    One thing that has been troubling me recently is greed. No no not my greed but the worlds greed, our greed that has devoured all that is, or was, pure. When some one robs a bank we're willing to kill that person to get back a few measly pieces of paper, yet when a pervert cant keep their hands off of an innocent child we slap them on the wrist, give them three square meals a day and protect them from society behind metal bars and concrete slabs while the very people they victimized pay the taxes that pay for their luxuries. Monsters like that shouldn't be allowed to get away with that much less live. In todays society we have our values so screwed up its pathetic. Molesters, Rapists, Murders deserve to die not the men and woman so hungry for bits of paper and metal of all things fueled by the greed that the government breeds into us.

We're willing to kill some one that steals from us yet unwilling to defend innocence. Well if we're going to kill or punish everyone that steals from us driven buy the greed (or in rare cases need of the item they're taking) then what about the Government? The Banks? The lazy bums who sit at home all day popping out babies living on welfare? We put so much effort into gathering these things, and for what? To prove we're better? Surely not, if one wanted to prove they were a better human all they need do was walk down the street and help the family that has to ration the few slices of bread that they have for the week to accompany what ever small morsels to go with it. It doesn't even have to be food, what about cloths or a small donation to help them pay the bills? When we look at our neighbors or even other relative we only see a competition, a chance to prove we can get better or do better then them. We have no trust in each other or ourselves, only the images of who we or others want us to be. Its a terrible thing that in today's world we have to hide, destroy, forget ,deny, or sell the very thing that once gave us power and freedom in order to fit into others idea of what is right or what should be. We are so consumed with greed that we forget what really matters. Perhaps the only thing we need is to learn what that is and how to preserve that. Grapes of Wrath like so many other books so close to the truth out there has been despised by many and left in the dust like many of our own values. Perhaps if more people read it we could all see what really matters and perhaps restore innocence long lost to the rush of greed.

present president review

"Grasping for peace, President Barack Obama on Thursday challenged a pessimistic world to overcome decades of shattered promises and help Israelis and Palestinians close a historic deal within a year. "This time will be different," he declared."   

 

 Whoa, wait it sounds like he's saying there's going to be a change, like he's going to make a change. Now I'm not sure about you guys but but last time he promised change and delivered it i wanted to mail it right back to him and now he's calling us pessimistic man does he even watch The Colbert Report? Of course we're pessimistic, look at how screwed over we are, which really it isn't even all his fault we've been screwed since Clinton. However him throwing all that money at companies like GM and Chrysler that cant afford to do things correctly the first or even second time is ridiculous, if a company is going under because it pays their executives enough to be able to buy a jet and pay to send them to resorts that for one night costs more then most middle class members will see in one year. To top it all off he decided to support the bums who sit at home claiming to be illiterate or disabled and unable to work, popping out children every few months. (Keep in mind I'm not bashing the families who truly try by working at a break neck pace with two three or even four jobs just to pay the bills, buy groceries and cloth the youngsters.)

Even after twenty months in office, Obama no longer made a point of breaking away from George W. Bush and embracing the multilateral approach of the United Nations. The record of the White House is now his to defend ( Lord help us all ) and he did so, particularly U.S. efforts to avoid a global economic catastrophe.

His hand bobbed in time with his words as if he were trying to beat the idea into someone or everyone's skull, the lights glaring off his smooth ebony head as he verbally shook his all mighty smiting finger, the block and white hounds of secret service following his every move, for how Russia, China, and North Korea were "Repressing their people" (Like we don't?). With Mideast peace talks seemingly on the brink of collapse, Obama took on skeptics directly.  He challenged Israelis and Palestinians to make amends, supporters on both sides backing him instead of useless words and  grim painted pictures of what will surely happen if all efforts are consigned to the growing list of failed attempts.

That's us, The U.S the great pessimistic sanctimonious bully of the planet earth for you. Tell everyone to cheer up then pour all that hope down the drain watching it slowly slip away. Wow, I give the performance a three, the over all theme a six and the his consistency of saying one thing while in turn doing another a solid eight. Lets hear a hand for the amazing shrinking man.