Doing, not saying

[jeanvieve]

O best beloved, I have not posted in a while due to spending some time doing rather than saying. But it's been very good, and I'm in the resting up stages before another whirlwind of activity. I watched a movie today that really got me going, in ways I didn't expect. I rented "Greenfingers" because it has Clive Owen, and I'm considering giving up my hopeless crush on Liam Neeson for him as Liam shows no sign of getting rid of that bombshell he married.

It's a movie about how a low security prison in England has some prisoners that get into gardening, and eventually enter the big gardening show at Hampton Court. Wow, farfetched, eh? But then they ran a few lines at the end that made me wonder, so I looked it up and found:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-seeds-of-redemption-538936.html

And I got teary, then mad. Why don't we do this in the US? Why don't we do anything short of turf prisoners out on the streets with $50 and sometimes, if they're lucky, a bed in a halfway house for a month? I'll spare you all my usual rant about how we have created a self perpetuating prison system that's only increasing in numbers, largely because it's the seeds of a futuristic dystopian story that Andy and I may write if I ever get my muse back. She's stirring at this one.

But anyway. If any of you in these hard economic times want to toss a dollar or two toward the one charity that lets riff raff like me sit on the board, please wander to simplegifts.us.

We have so many people in jail, and that number is only going to increase rather than decrease with the rise of privatization in prisons, and tougher sentencing laws. We're not getting tougher on crime. We're getting tougher on people that need, instead of a kick when they're down, a hand up to their feet and a door opened to new alternatives. Or at the very least, compassion.

That said, I'm off to the gym to ponder.

Comments

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

I wholeheartedly approve of dumping Liam for Clive. He's been a staple of my "men" since Second Sight (a great BBC Murder Mystery Show). Greensleeves, while slow-moving, deftly shows off Owen's ability to take any role and infuse it will likeability and emotive quality that few actors can pull off. See Bourne Identity for a real scene-stealing moment. He's in the film maybe two or three times tops and for a few minutes at the most. You feel his pain!

just saying

[d-mon-chick.livejournal.com]

You are so right! This is the cause my Dad's been fighting for most of his adult life.

[seussgirl27.livejournal.com]

Hey Squishie sista! Thanks for sharing the link and your thoughts. It isn't quite the same, but the CDF Fire crews, which is now Cal Fire, have prisoner crews out in the community doing projects for service as well as beautification. Mostly, they are a work crews for roadside weed removal and strenuous labor jobs no one else will do. However, they do participate in some local projects with our parks dept. They also run a portable, commercial food center for needed events, such as the area's Relay For Life. I do agree, it would be nice if it could be more tactile in efforts for beauty and public adornment...but we take what we get.