It has been a few weeks and I decided I needed to update my new blog. Here is me on Halloween this year as a black cat. I know I slightly resemble either David Bowie in Labrinth or one of the blue men (made black) meeting a leather daddy, but hey, you only can dress like a freak once a year and have it be perfectly fine.....at least that's how I justify it, haha. :)
I've had a lot on my mind these past few weeks, which isn't abnormal. However, I think autumn is definitely a time of reflection--more so than other seasons. The leaves change colors and fall, the weather becomes much colder (depending on where you live), and what sunlight loses in intensity it makes up in orange brilliance on beautiful autumn sunsets. Here are some of my thoughts these past weeks.
RAW IS BEST!!!
It's that time of year again....the time of year we crave comfort food to help us get through the winter and to help our bodies store fat to keep our bodies warm. Do you hate that you gain weight and look like a bear in the winter? I personally do. For anyone who hasn't watched Food, Inc., it changed my life (I know that sounds cliche, especially since my life has only existed for 3 weeks since I watched it). Nonetheless, I have made some serious switches in diet and habit that I wouldn't have had the motivation to make had I NOT watched the enlightening documentary.
Food, Inc. is a documentary on food (duh). It goes through history and the history of our foods, focusing on how in the past few decades, since so many things have become processed, unorganic (using un-natural ways to make more food or to kill pests in a uniform way), and prepared through cooking, we basically are feeding ourselves food with little to no nutrients. Have you ever tried to build a house out of rotting wood? That's the analogy I am going to use. One of the many things that really resonated with me was the fact that if you cook your vegetables, basically all of the nutrients are cooked out of it. The documentary suggests eating at least 51% of your diet raw (mainly vegetables here, folks). I have tried doing this by buying lots of fruits and vegetables and trying to eat at least 51% raw, giving me the actual nutrients my body needs to build a healthy immune system and a working active body.
The other big thing that stuck with me from the documentary was that our bodies have lots of toxins and junk stuck in them...most of it residing in our colons (GROSS). Just thinking of all that gook in my colon made me want to change. The movie recommends drinking 1-2 liters of water every morning before eating a single thing. It's been difficult to do, but I've been doing it nearly every morning....and boy....a lot of junk came out of my body (via my lower end) from drinking so much water. We are harboring pounds of junk in our colons and this is a great way to: 1, detoxify our bodies each day and in general; 2, speed up our metabolism (more fluid to move nutrients, oxygen, and blood in and out = faster metabolism); and 3, re-hydrate our bodies first thing in the morning so that they are operating efficiently through the day, while flushing out all the gross stuff your body couldn't use from the less healthy food you ate the day before.
RESULT: I have trimmed down my belly area for the first time in years, without a crazy work-out schedule. By altering my diet and continuing moderate exercise (1-4 times a week), I have gone to a size 31-32 again and I look and feel great. My desire to eat unhealthy foods has dissipated. I still have the occasional cookie, bowl of ice cream, and unhealthy foods, but I'm doing a lot better. I recommend doing cardio at least 3 times a week to supplement this diet change. I can't tell you how much I enjoy eating as much as I like of the raw foods, such as broccoli and carrots.
POLKA-DOT ANGELS
For this blog's plant I will focus on is my favorite plant in my entire collection--the Angel-winged begonia. Have you heard of it? I fell in love with this plant when I first met my friend, Devon, another plant-lover. He had a variety of this plant that made me love it. It's a stalk plant, whose leaves naturally form to look like "angel wings". Angel-winged begonias vary from loving indirect bright-light to medium-light situations (medium means some direct some indirect light). I have four varieties at home that I've collected, my very favorite being a variety from the Miami area (top picture) with large polka dots with bi-colored leaves of green on one side and red on the other.
These beauties typically have beautiful coloring on the leaves, and beautiful pearl-shaped string formation flowers which hang down from the plants and last for up to a couple months at a time (see picture below right). Three of my varieties are bi-colored, the front side being green with white polka dots and the back under-side being from light green to pinkish to even a reddish color, which makes for an amazing show when the light shines on them and they look like red leaves. These beauties love lots of water, and can even survive in just water (which I have two right now in just water while they sprout their roots) (see the pictures with the two in vases).THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT!
I work part-time as a public defender, to ensure that people charged with crimes have adequate and fair representation in the justice system. I only defend people who are charged with misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, which includes charges such as DUIs, Theft in the third degree (under $1500), Assault in the fourth degree (including domestic violence), and other lesser charges. One of the cities that I work in (I work in several) has a very strict police force and an even stricter probation department. Habitual offenders often state that they'd rather serve their time in jail (a few months to a few years) rather than be monitored by probation, because of the Probation department's onerous mothering.
When I am required to head to the local jail to be present with clients who are habitual offenders, I sometimes smell liquor (if they were recently arrested) and I often see mental health issues. It is hard for me to be excited to assist these habitual offenders who can't comply with the simplest of orders, including to successfully go through drug treatment. It makes me wonder how we help people like these? Do we rehabilitate them? Much of the time, this does not work with repeat offenders--I have seen this both in my experience and heard from the police officers and local prosecutors themselves who deal with these people on a daily basis. It's also very very very costly to rehabilitate repeat offenders, especially when many of them never successfully complete the therapy, usually due to many factors.
California submitted a proposal to the voters in 1992 called "Three Strikes and You're Out." See Link. http://kenmentor.com/papers/3strikes.htm. Basically, the gist of it is for serious crimes (usually felonies), the third time you are convicted or plea guilty to a serious crime, you are put in prison for a much longer period of time. Washington has something similar it enacted for repeat offenders, however it extends even to gross misdemeanors such as traffic crimes (e.g. DUIs, driving while license suspended) and other charges. The policy stems behind the philosophy that by the third strike, it is evident that a person is unwilling to conform to society and that their behavior is best dealt with by imposing an extreme prison term rather than risk the person committing the crime again.
Studies have shown that these prison terms do not prevent people from committing crimes or being repeat offenders in states where this structure of law is passed (including WA). In fact, it is just the opposite--states that don't have the Three Strikes legal structure have less inmates proportionally, although so many factors influence crime rates.
Nonetheless, it is equally expensive to hold someone in jail for years as it is to unsuccessfully rehabilitate them. A police commander I spoke with this week told me it costs the city $40,000 a year to jail one person per year. So how many chances do we give to repeat offenders who can't help themselves? What do we do to deal with the burden on society, both financially and policy-wise?
Nonetheless, it is equally expensive to hold someone in jail for years as it is to unsuccessfully rehabilitate them. A police commander I spoke with this week told me it costs the city $40,000 a year to jail one person per year. So how many chances do we give to repeat offenders who can't help themselves? What do we do to deal with the burden on society, both financially and policy-wise?
The same police commander said that there was a study out of California which seemed to be the most effective, though he didn't give me a reference or cite to the study. Unfortunately, I can't do more than just paraphrase his understanding of the study, but it's good food for thought. The basics of the study were that each time someone fails to comply with a court order or gets in trouble again (which are treated differently by the law), the repeat offender must do an automatic 10-15 days of jail. For example, Betty plead guilty in municipal court to her third DUI and had a mandatory X number of days in jail, was released on the condition that she is monitored by probation, comply with the random testing for alcohol and drugs, and must attend AA meetings three times a week and get an alcohol and drug evaluation. However, Betty did not comply with any of the conditions within three months and therefore was ordered to return to jail for X number of days. Betty goes to jail, gives a sob story to the judge during a review hearing, and is released after 30 days. She fails to fully comply and has a relapse and is again put in jail, this time for 60 days. Her next relapse she is in jail for 120 days and decides it is better to just sit out her 3 year sentence in court (she had plead guilty to the first two DUIs).
Clearly, the extensive jail time is not changing Betty's behavior. Also, she is a burden on the taxpayers. Of course, her behavior is high-risk. Do we lock her up? Perhaps that may be the best answer. But in some circumstances, the charge is not related to a huge public risk (e.g. shoplifting, possession of marijuana). The California study which I cannot cite basically said the best way to deal with repeat offenders is to slap them in jail after each noncompliance for 10-15 days, just enough to get across a message. They are then released and become accustomed to trying to have a life outside of jail, rather than getting used to jail. Because they have more time to invest in a life outside of jail, like a bad puppy, they get a short punishment each time they mess up (a smack on the back) and feel a greater need to change because they are more invested in life. Putting someone in prison long-term almost guarantees that they will be unable to adjust to life outside of prison once they finish their sentence....at least that's my opinion (and the police commander's opinion).
It's definitely food for thought, and an interesting study. What are your thoughts? How do we address this burden on society of repeat offenders (of less than serious crimes), assuming their offense isn't for murder or rape, which carries hefty penalties for first-time offenses? Is there a solution?
