Remembrance

Over the past year I have gone from thinking that none of my family served in either of the World Wars (because no one had ever told me they had) to knowing that several fought in both as well as in the Boer War. So today, I remember 3 men who died in the Great War:

My great grandmother's cousin Sgt William Harry Sansum, 20th Battalion
born 25 September 1874
killed in action 19 August 1916 at Ypres, Belgium.

My great, great uncle Corporal William Henry James Josey Clanfield, Reserve Mechanical Transport Convoy
born 3 March 1873
died 29 October 1918 at Rouen, France.

My great, great uncle Albert Lay
born July 1883
Killed in action 29 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras, France. Below is how that day of the battle was described in the History of the 2nd Division, Berkshire Regiment:

"The Berkshires at once established blocks and flank defences and snipers were pushed forward into Oppy
Wood where they also established themselves. Here three enemy machine guns were captured and used with
considerable effect upon the retiring Germans. A number of the enemy's troops were also captured, some of whom pretended to be dead until tiurned over in order to be searched. Thes prisoners were immediately evacuated. Thus far the Berkshires held all they had so gallantly won. The right flank of the battalion was heavily counterattacked. Nothing daunted however, the enemy with great courage came on again and again, his troops being decimated by the splendid marksmanship of the Berkshires. Between 5 and 9.30 am he launched five separate attacks against the battalion. Four were repulsed but during the fifth the supply of grenades gave out and, almost exhausted and much reduced in numbers, the Berkshires were forced to give ground. And then as the men filtered back through the battered trenches they came suddenly upon a store of German bombs. Arming themselves with these they again faced the enemy and, attacking him furiously, won back all the ground they had lost.
Once more the enemy launched a heavy counter-attack against the right front and centre of the now very thin line of Berkshires. But ever as they came on the enemy's troops were shot down by rifle and Lewis gun fire. and this attack also was bloodily repulsed. Fresh enemy attacks continued to develop until at last
reduced to less than half their original strength and scattered over a front of about 500 yards the gallant
Berkshires were compelled to withdraw to the line of the sunken road running south west from the west corner of Oppy Wood.
The left company (C) holding its objectives north of the sunken road, now numbered only 35 other ranks, moved north along the trench taking with them their wounded and three captured machine guns until they joined hands with the 5th Infantry Brigade about B.12, d.0.4 Here the survivors of the company remained.
The remainder of the Berkshires their left flank in the air and all their bombs expended, retired to the old British line and. there maintained their ground. No wonder the Brigadier of 99th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier-General R O Kellett) said in his report to Divisional Headquarters "During this severe fighting the action of the 1st Royal Berks was beyond all praise ... towards the end practically all the Lewis gunners were killed or wounded." During the day's fighting the Berks had captured about 70 prisoners and 3 machine guns and had killed large numbers of the enemy."

Out of 200 Berkshire soldiers that staged the attack, 151 were killed.

TDCJ online commissary system by eCommDirect

TDCJ have finally rolled out their new inmate "care package" system that allows friends and family (F&F) to purchase items online from the unit commissary to be delivered to the inmate. Inmates are also allowed to purchase packs of items, such as a hygiene pack or a snack pack, through the usual commissary window. You have to give them points for trying I suppose.If you want to use the service, the URL is https://tdcj-ecommdirect.portal.texas.gov/ but it is only available between 4am and 9pm Texas time.

The charge for F&F purchases is $3.75 for each transaction. Each inmate can receive up to $50 worth of outside purchases per quarter. F&F can also deposit funds into the inmate's trust fund account, for a lower fee per transaction than Jpay charges.

Hubby and I talked about this new system at our visit last weekend. He doesn't like it that I send him money, he would rather be able to earn his own. He enjoys the books I send but has limited space so I try not to send too many. He said he has seen some of the packs and other items that other inmates have bought themselves, and he feels that they are not worth the money. In the snack pack, the only item he said was worth it were some smoked almonds, and he can always acquire those from someone else if he wants some.

So we agreed to watch and wait for now. I'm wary of giving my bank details directly to Texas.gov, and as with all new systems, there will be teething troubles until it all beds down. We may use the money transfer section in the future simply because it is cheaper, but I'm happy enough with Jpay for now.

Of course if F&F could send items through this service that are not available to inmates through commissary, then it might be more attractive. Other states manage to accommodate that. Or if F&F could purchase postage stamps of course because those are the things hubby runs out of most frequently. But TDCJ are obsessed with the idea that inmates would gamble all of their stamps away if they were allowed an unlimited number (as if they don't gamble with everything else they own, and plenty of stuff they don't own too) so I can't see that happening.

I realise that I'm a minority in all of this, but this care package system really isn't much use to us.

Security

Some words have both a positive and a negative connotation, and security is one of those words.

Sometimes security means a source of comfort; where or what makes you feel safe, and also the word Yes. For me, one source of security is often knitting, and on my travels in Texas last week my friend and I found a great yarn shop near to Spring called The Hen House. We'd already been into the local Hobby Lobby and I'd bought some yarn that I thought would make some pretty socks, but they didn't have any individual patterns for sale. So by word of mouth, we found The Hen House and what an Aladdin's cave it is! Not only do they have an amazing selection of traditional, specialist and novelty yarns and yarn equipment, but they also have a large stock of quilting fabric and equipment and a range of finished quilts on display. The ladies there were very friendly, and I would absolutely recommend the shop to anyone in search of yarn in Texas. In fact next time I visit, I intend to save some extra cash to spend on some of their yarns.

For other people, the word security is more related to restrictions and closely related to the word No. We experienced that kind of security this weekend when I went to visit my husband. Usually we get 2 x 4 hour contact visits - always with the proviso that if it gets crowded we may have to have the visit cut short. This time, my husband's wing had been placed on security lockdown because allegedly a gun and some bullets had been discovered. This is not a new situation at this particular unit; they have been on various lockdowns for similar reasons all through the summer this year.

However, this time it meant that not only were we not able to have our usual contact visit (which is only contact in as much as we get to hug and kiss briefly at the start and end of the visit and can hold hands across a wide table), but that my husband was not permitted to sit in the open run with the other inmates behind the glass but had to sit in a cage instead, like the inmates in Ad Seg do. No contact absolutely means no contact. We could have had photos but we chose not to, given the circumstances.

While we dealt with it as an inconvenience (albeit an upsetting one, as I can't just pop back in a week or so and get a hug and a kiss, this is it for us for the next year now), we discovered on the Sunday that some of the inmates who were supposed to be participating in the Day With Dad event on the Saturday from my husband's wing had been told at the last minute that they could not now take part. The couple next to us were one such family; the lady had 2 small children of about 2 and 3 years old, and had been told she would have to wait up to 3 hours for a regular visit instead on the Saturday. She decided to find a motel and come back for a visit on the Sunday, adding considerable expense and inconvenience to her weekend. The children were obviously used to seeing their dad in the contact area as neither understood why he couldn't open their packets of sweets for them or why they couldn't sit on his knee.

Some will say, I'm sure, that the bottom line is if the inmates had behaved in the first place then this would not be an issue. I agree to a point, but when the inmates do behave while incarcerated, and then still receive extra punishment for something that they had no part in, how is than an incentive to keep behaving correctly? And more of an issue is the punishment of innocent people like those two children and their mother. Visitation is not just about the inmate.Phone calls are not just about the inmate. TDCJ states that it works to encourage friends and family to stay in touch with the inmates, but one has to wonder just how hard it works to enable this when it comes to explaining to a 3 years old why daddy can't give them a hug this weekend.

TDCJ and many other similar organisations fall into the habit of only seeing the inmate. Peer pressure is all well and good, but when the target has not done anything wrong, it simply breeds resentment and reduces co-operation from others that are affected by the punitive measures. Inmates rarely talk to other inmates in the visit room. Inmates, even locked in single line cells, have far more opportunity to talk. The reasoning behind the severe segregation of the inmates in my husband's wing this week was, on the surface, flawed.

For those who think we should just be thankful that we were able to have any kind of visit at all, I would ask what kind of person would you prefer to return to society - one with the support of friends and family who finds work and contributes through taxes, or one with no support who very quickly returns to crime and continues to cost the state and tax payers money? Have you ever tried to spend a whole year away from your wife or husband, with no phone calls? My husband might have broken the law, but I haven't.

We did have a good visit, despite the high noise level. I also had more of a holiday this time, instead of just flying in and out either side of a weekend. And now I am back home and ready to refocus on building our own security further by buying the flat that I live in. Positive steps usually work better than negative ones.

On the road again

Well in a day or so anyway. Today I'm doing the last minute laundry and checking of flight details etc before I head out over the the Atlantic (hopefully avoiding Hurricane Sandy!) and down to Texas to see my husband.

I found myself wondering earlier, just how many other people do this. I say people, although I guess the vast majority are female, though surely there are at least one or two guys who write to American female inmates and make the journey to see them occasionally. I doubt there is any way to officially count the numbers entering the USA to visit penpals and husbands/boyfriends/fiances each year, simply because most would not give that as their reason for entering the USA. I answer the border guards' questions as and when they are asked, I don't generally volunteer any unrequested information. I stay with an English friend while I'm over there who has been there for 30+ years, and once a border guard did ask me why I would want to go to the small town my friend lives in. I told him that is where she lives, and I could tell he thought I was crazy just for that. I can imagine his opinion if I'd told him that 2 days later we'd be driving up to Palestine to visit my husband in prison. That's why I, and many people I know who do this, don't mention visiting prisons when we travel. It's really not worth the hostility and condescension you receive.

But still I wonder how many people from Europe, Canada and even Australia make this journey each year - and some, multiple times a year. This will be my 10th or 11th visit, I'm not really counting. Each time I'm there, I spend around $500, which isn't much really as I don't treat it like a holiday. Might not sound like much going into the American economy just by myself, but what if there are thousands of people doing the same thing - and spending considerably more than I do - each year.

It is interesting to note the difference in attitudes at the moment between President Obama and Mitt Romney when it comes to all things foreign. Mr Romney says that to be effective overseas, America must be strong at home. That's a very insular view, as if we over here care much in general about how America is at home. We just want to be sure that America isn't dragging the world into yet another war it can't win and has no business financing or facilitating. Mr Romney didn't make a good impression when he recently visited Europe and the Middle East. Someone should remind him that you don't make friends by insulting people or insinuating that you're better than they are.

By contrast, Europe seemed to enjoy President Obama's visit a couple of years ago, particularly his Irish "relatives" the O'Bamas. That was pure genius. It doesn't matter what his political leanings are, or his social policy or even his foreign policy, what Obama has that Romney doesn't is an understanding of people. He doesn't talk down them, he doesn't take a paternal stance and speak as though he knows what's best for us if we would only listen in some Victorianesque tone voice and painted smile. But he can be decisive, and he leads quietly. Maybe Americans would rather have a noisy blusterous individual who stumbles over malapropisms and unimportant things like the truth, and leaves a trail of destruction in their wake. If they do, I'll be leaving America with Mr Romney in charge. And if that happens, it might just get even harder for me to return, because I'm sure I'm not the kind of person he wants hanging out on his turf, even if I am spending my money there for a while.  

Song of the moment

The Gaslight Anthem "Handwritten"

Just has the most appropriate word right now. Enjoy!

"Improvements" to the Offender Telephone System in TDCJ

Hot off the press from The Echo (the inmate newspaper inside TDCJ), here are some details of the "improvements" to the system:



"Offender Telephone System Implements Changes
Changes are happening to the Offender Telephone System (OTS). Some were effective on August 8, and other will be phased in as enhancements are made to the automated system to support changes.

Offenders are now allowed an unlimited number of minutes each month. Also, the maximum duration of each call has increased from 15 minutes to 20 minutes.

Another immediate change now allowed offenders to hear a list of family and friends (F&F) who are registered to receive their telephone calls. A voice prompt provides offenders with instructions for listening to their list of registered F&F.

Offenders are also able to purchase an unlimited amount of phone time on a monthly basis from their Trust Fund Account. F&F will be allowed to fund their Securus Correctional Billings Service (SCBS) accounts or pay their bill, up to $250, through the web or the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, and up to $500, through the call centre (800-844-6591) in one transaction.

Phased in changes will include an offender-approved calling list, separate from the offender visitor list. Once implemented, an offender will no longer have to add a F&F to his/her visitor list if they only want to have telephone contact. An offender will have up to 20 approved registered F&F, excluding attorney(s), on his/her approved calling list.

Until the approved calling list changes are fully functional, offenders must continue to add F&F to their visitor lists in order to have telephone contact. As important note regarding these changes is they impact only the offender telephone list; all current policies and procedures regarding the offender's visitor list will remain in place.

Another phased-in change will allow offenders to call approved registered postpaid/contract (no prepaid) cell phones. F&F can only register their postpaid cell phones by calling the Enrollment Centre (866=806-7804) and speaking to a representative. During the registration process, the representative with F&F in the call and with their permission, will contact the F&F's phone company to verify the owner of the phone and that the cell phone is postpaid/contract.

Any previously registered landline telephone number that is switched to a cell phone by F&F will be inactivated and will require a re-registration of the telephone number as a cell phone. Once the landline is switched to a prepaid cell phone, the number cannot be re-registered and will be permanently inactivated as long as it remains prepaid.

If a F&F has previously registered a landline, they can keep receiving calls on that landline as well as any approved registered postpaid cell phone. It is important to note that each approved, registered phone number counts as one of the 20 allowed numbers an offender is allowed to contact.

Announcements regarding the OTS changes will be available to offenders through the offender phones and printed materials and to F&F through websites and printed materials.

Here is a recap of the changes:
Immediate:
* Offenders will have an unlimited number of minutes each month.
* Offenders will have 20 minute maximum duration calls, up from 15 minutes.
* Offenders can listen to their list of approved and registered F&F when making calls.
* Offenders can purchase an unlimited amount of phone time st the commissary.
* Offenders will experience an increase in the transaction amount of F&F SCBS accounts.

To be phased in:
* Offender telephone list will be separate from the offender visitor list.
* Offenders may have up to 20 registered F&F on an approved calling list.
* Offenders can call approved, registered, postpaid/contract cell phones.

Important telephone numbers and websites for F&F are:
F&F Registration: 866-806-7804
www.texasprisonphone.com

F&F Billing
800-844-6591
www.securustech.net/tdcj

Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Ombudsman Coordinator:
936-437-4927
ombudsman@tdcj.state.tx

[end]


Still no mention of extending the system - as many other states and the Federal prison system does - to include overseas phone calls. Given the information above, the only reason I can see for this lies firmly with the phone company itself. Securus has no way of enforcing someone overseas to take up a phone contract with them in order to use the service. A way round this could be for Securus to provide remote phone numbers for overseas F&F - as many other phone companies do. These are acceptable for jails all across the US including those in Texas. Those numbers could be available only on a pre-paid basis (as most others currently are) with a debit or credit card with the same address as the phone account would be registered to, so the company gets the cash up-front and overseas F&F are able to receive calls on an approved number.

We live in an era of instant remote payment transactions with the tap of a cell phone. There is no logical reason why Securus is still resisting this revenue opportunity.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...

You'd be forgiven for thinking this was about ancient Rome, but actually it really is about forums.

I'm a member of a few, have been for ohhhh about 15 years now, covering very random and different subjects. One, associated with an inmate penpal site, often has colourful arguments and falling outs, and when those happen some members post that they wish everyone would just play nice and "aren't we all here for the same thing?" and even recently "grow up"! It makes me chuckle when I see those kind of posts because (as I have been known to say on the forums) humans are not very good at playing nicely and it happens everywhere.

The disadvantage with public fall outs on a forum related to inmates, is that any passer by could get the impression that those who write to inmates are all a sandwich short of a picnic. The stereotypes must be true if that's how we behave!Well, some are, but most arent. We just have strong views on things and generally when you feel safe somewhere, you feel more able to discuss meaty subjects, and it's usually those that turn into the major slanging matches.

So I thought today I would just mention that a similar thing has happened on another forum I have been a member of for about a year. Now, before you go jumping to conclusions and think I might be the causal factor in all this, I have hardly posted anything on this other forum for weeks, mainly because I didn't feel I had anything to contribute. But I went for a look today and found that one of those fall-out things has occurred. In true human fashion, the forum has divided into factions, with one side taking their metaphorical ball home, and others setting up camp elsewhere.

What could this forum be, I hear you ask? Could it be a sporting forum, as we all know that passions run high with sport supporters. Could it be politics, given the frantic American presidential posturing at the moment? Could it even be a forum about the use of the hyphen in the English language (certain to raise the blood pressure of any pedantic academic)?

Nope. It's a forum about knitting dolls.