Air conditioning needed for survival in Texas prisons

Slowly roasting alive should not be part of the punishment doled out to Texas prisoners, but all too often it is as many state-run correctional facilities lack air conditioning. This means summer temperatures frequently hit 100 degrees or higher in the cell blocks. Night brings little relief as concrete retains heat.

SB321 in the Texas Senate would solve this issue by requiring Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities maintain a temperature between 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 85 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. County lockups already have to meet this requirement. State Senator Jose' Menendez, D-San Antonio, introduced the bill. The House version is HB936.

This article from the Marshall Project spells out the problems many Texas prisoners and guards face.
At least 24 prisoners have died from heat-related illnesses in the past 20 years, according to research from the Texas Observer. Ten alone died during a heat wave in 2011. And summers have not gotten any cooler since then.

What would this act of decency cost? Some Texas officials put the price at $1 billion. However, this article from the Texas Tribune explains how previous AC installation costs have been significantly less than initial estimates.

Even lower and more realistic cost estimates may be a hard sell for fiscal conservatives. I have three responses. 1. This is not coddling; this is basic humanity in a harsh environment. 2. Wrongful death lawsuits will continue to cost Texas taxpayers until this issue is corrected. 3. Renewable energy like solar power can greatly mitigate those costs.

Prisons in several states are seeing the benefits of solar energy. One example is St. Brides Correctional Center in Chesapeake, VA where solar power saves them $35,000 a year. It is little surprise that progressive California leads in this. The state saves tens of millions of dollars per year thanks to solar panels in at least four prisons. These panels did not cost the state's taxpayers a dime as utility company Sun Edison Corp. paid for the installation and sells the resulting energy to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at a discount.

I am not seeing a downside to this approach. Also, couldn't prisoner trustees be trained to do some solar panel installation and maintenance? This would not only save on construction and labor costs but also provide job training for a post-incarceration career.

Prolonged exposure to excessive heat can cause serious health issues, including coma and death for the most severe cases. Lesser but still significant symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke include nausea, vomiting, disorientation, confusion, and fainting. Such symptoms not only stress prisoners both physically and psychologically, but also make correctional officers' jobs even more dangerous and unpleasant. Is that inmate fake fainting to catch a CO offguard or is it a genuine medical emergency? Is that inmate intentionally being insubordinate or is she disoriented?

Lots of concrete and asphalt, poor air quality and a stagnant environment increase the likelihood of heat stroke. This describes Texas prisons. Certain health issues also make people more prone to heat stroke. Such factors include being over 50, mental health problems, being over or underweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, and sickle cell anemia. Many Texas prisoners, whose health care needs are seldom sufficiently met, suffer from at least one of these issues.

We are warned as the weather warms about the danger of locking pets and children in small, stifling spaces, e.g. cars, during the summer. Texas' inmates and COs face similar dangers and it is long past time Texas does the humane thing by ensuring all our correctional facilities can maintain a tolerable temperature between 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Support SB321 and HB936.
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Congress should follow New Zealand's example on massacre response

The root of gun violence is guns.
Duh.
The simplest and most logical solution to gun violence is to limit access to the deadliest of weapons, such as semi-automatic assault-style weapons like the AR-15. This is the weapon of choice for mass shooters. It does not need to be in the hands of civilians. Period.
Australia figured this out. After a mass school shooting, the nation banned assault rifles. No more mass shootings.
New Zealand just figured it out, too. Hours after gunmen murdered 50 people at two Christchurch mosques, the nation's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Attorney General David Parker announced gun reform legislation, including a semi-automatic weapons ban. Similar legislation has been proposed and rejected before. Not this time.
That is how moral people in authority act in a national crisis.
Not with "thoughts and prayers."
Not with "Now, now, let's not rush to conclusions."
Not with talk of "hardening targets."
Decisive action.
We in America need some long-overdue decisive action from our legislators.
We have suffered too many mass shootings, too many to even count. High schools, college campuses, churches, daycare centers, night clubs, outdoor music festivals, and movie theaters are among the facilities targeted in recent years. The gunman is typically white, male, and armed to the teeth.
Our so-called leaders want us to be afraid of those from outside our country and outside our ethnic demographic, anything and anyone except the actual problem: guns.
In this country, guns are sacred. Our political officials too often value gun rights and NRA dollars over people's lives. That must change.
We must no longer tolerate a "do nothing" Congress on this issue.
It is not a matter of if but when and where the next massacre will happen on American soil. And it does not matter to some who the victims are. They can be children. They can be teenagers. They can be gay. They can be African-American church goers. They can be country music fans. "They" will not convince the American government to end the slaughters.
Only we altogether as the American people can and we must band together now. We must continue to push for gun reform until it happens. We can point to New Zealand as an example of a government that takes needed action. This can be done.
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Bibles, boobs, and John Hancocks

I am a bit of an autograph hound myself so I can understand the MAGA crowd wanting 45's John Hancock. But on your Bible?? On your bosom? Hell, no. That is just wrong on so many counts.

So who was John Hancock and why is his name still American slang for a signature? We late Baby Boomers who grew up in the 1970s with the Bicentennial and Schoolhouse Rock can recite his story in our sleep. Hancock led the First Continental Congress. As such, he was first to sign America's Declaration of Independence. He and the other signatories pledged "their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" to the cause of liberty from Britain and its tyrannical, mentally unstable ruler (sound like anybody we know?) King George. That signature was a solemn vow to high ideals and and marked the individual for instant death for treason should he be captured by the British.

I have gotten famous musicians to sign their albums and CD covers, and authors to sign their books. I once traded (nerd alert) prizes won at a charity Monopoly marathon with another player. All the various merch I'd won for being first to land on this or that property square for one prize that had evaded me and whose worth was beyond reckoning - an autographed copy of Nicholle Nichols' first autobiography. She played Lt. Uhura on Star Trek. I do not get to many Trekkie conventions so I figured this was as close as I would even get to meeting this incredible woman who has done so much to break down ethnic and gender barriers in TV and science fiction.

Whatever is being signed should have direct relevance or be neutral. An example of that latter: a friend once served coffee to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. Knowing I am a big fan, she got him to sign what she had on hand for me, a paper napkin. I still have that memento. Would I have rather gotten the autograph by meeting Tyler myself? Sure. But having a friend who knows me that well and serving as a proxy is also great.

Speaking of "proxy 'graphs" I once got members of Pink Floyd to sign a blank sheet of paper for a co-worker who was a huge Floyd fan. I had an autographed picture of the band and was feeling a bit guilty for wanting to keep it rather than give it to my colleague. Anyhow, the drummer even drew big cartoony letters to spell out "Pink Floyd" for said co-worker on that sheet of paper. But that encounter is a long story. Involves a hot air balloon. And migas.

Autograph giving and receiving has an aesthetic, an ethic. For example, only the author or subject of a book should sign that book. I would not ask Nicholle Nichols to sign Star Wars memorabilia or Steven Tyler to sign a Boston album. That is just not cool. Use a neutral stand-in. One final autograph anecdote regarding preparedness and persistence. I once got Ronnie Wood (a Face and then a Stone) to sign a solo album. My thinking: an obscure solo album displays a higher level of fandom than just showing up with the latest Rolling Stones best-selling album. My strategy - waving it at him from the front row of a Dallas solo concert until he finally surrendered his John Hancock between songs.

Newsflash: Donald J. Trump did not write the Bible. Hell, he did not even write "The Art of the Deal." So I join those aghast that the Donald is signing Christianity's sacred foundational text. Get him to sign a MAGA hat for heaven's sake. His hateful policies and rhetoric go against everything the Bible stands for. You know, all that "justice for poor, mercy for the weak, kindness to the stranger" stuff. IMHO those autograph seekers should be opening their Bibles for contemplative reading and not for a maniacal megalomaniac to write on. That is sacrilege.

Writing one's name on something implies ownership, "property of ..." "product of ...." A human being is never the property or product of another human being. I have never understood the practice of women getting rock stars and Hollywood heartthrobs to autograph their breasts. Exchanging one's dignity and bodily autonomy for a moment of fake intimacy with fame? No thanks. A mega rock star might be able to get away with this. An "elected" official should know better than to submit to such optics and the autograph seeker should have more self-worth.

(Here's a piece of paper, Steven. Please sign this piece of paper.....)

The only place I want to see DJT's John Hancock is on a letter of resignation. I would trade a lot for such a document to exist.
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Beto, please run - against John Cornyn

So it is now mid-March and Beto O'Rourke has yet to officially state his intention of running for president, though the popular ex-congressman from El Paso is widely expected to join the already crowded Democratic 2020 field.
I had a Beto sign in my yard last year when he ran against (and was narrowly defeated by) Texas junior Republican Senator Ted Cruz. I even "door knocked" on Beto's behalf. I think Beto is a man of intelligence, charisma, deep moral conviction, and character. He should be in Washington's halls of power.
I hope Beto does not run for president this time, however. That field is already brimming with intelligent women and men of integrity, any one of whom would be an excellent nominee.
Beto's services are urgently needed in the U.S. Senate. John Cornyn, the senior Republican senator from Texas, is up for re-election. As with Cruz, Cornyn's rhetoric and legislative "priorities" clearly show he does not have America's and Texas' best interests at heart. Cornyn continues to provide legislative cover from the Trump administration's misdeeds and immoralities while steadfastly refusing to meet with or engage constituents.
So I am going to plead with Beto O'Rourke. Please, please run for John Cornyn's Senate seat. You have the apparatus in place for an effective state-wide campaign and thousands of eager volunteers waiting to help. (Yours truly included). You came closer than anyone thought possible to unseating Cruz last year. Use that momentum to push through to a 2020 victory in the Senate. Yes, a few other Democrats are mulling a run against Cornyn, according to this Texas Tribune article. They include MJ Hegar, Joaquin Castro, Wendy Davis, and Joseph Kopser. Cornyn reportedly not nervous about any of these. He is nervous about you.
This election cycle is hardly your last chance to run for our nation's highest office. After a term or two in the Senate you would be even more of a powerhouse presidential candidate and you would have provided much-needed ethical leadership as a senator from the great state of Texas.
At least think about it. We'd be so f-ing proud of you.