fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Texas Tesla Y’all
By: Bernardo Escobedo
Tags: Automotive, Gigafactory, Texas, Tesla, Technology

It looks like Elon Musk is finally making the move to the great state of Texas. If you thought that Austin couldn’t get more packed, well think again. Tesla plans to build a $1.1Billion Gigafactory in the south-eastern part of Travis county. That puts it right off a toll road that will be in the surrounding area of The Circuit of the Americas F1 racing track.

What benefits does Tesla get from moving to Texas? Well moving to Texas will give the company several advantages. other than the $46.4 million tax break, Tesla will have an abundant amount of highly technologically trained candidates from Austin. To make things even better for Tesla, the state of Texas has less restrictions than California where the original factory is located in Hawthorne. Another big plus for Tesla is that the McGregor Space X location is about 103 miles north from the proposed location for the Gigafactory. This will also facilitate car deliveries for customers that are located in the eastern part of the US. The Gigafactory, or “GigaTexas”, will be developed on 2100 acres of land and will employ around 5,000 texans. The Factory that Tesla plans to build will focus on manufacturing the Tesla Semi-Truck, The Cybertruck, and Model Y. Central Texas has become one of the most desired destinations for tech companies. Google, Apple, Indeed, HP, Dell, and many more have been settling in this area of Texas for some time now. This cluster of high-tech companies has developed a new nickname, “Silicon Hills”.

So what are my thoughts on this? Well actually I live in Texas somewhat close to where the factory is set to be built. This area has been growing tremendously in the past few years. There is tons of construction everywhere you go and taxes seem to be getting more expensive every year. However, I do believe that its for the best because it will push the automotive industry way further into an electric vehicle market. I hoped that the factory would had been built in a more remote area where jobs are needed more, but it’s understandable with the highly qualified people in Austin. This just solidifies one of my previous statements from one of my other articles. In the article I mentioned that the electric vehicle market might not seem like a tidal wave now, but it is a constant drop that will eventually flood the market. This massive move from Tesla has sped up that drop to a leak because vehicle delivery will be more efficient and we will see even more Teslas on the road. The lightning speed of which these companies are moving to a greener future is one of the reasons I began writing these articles. I believe that we are in a new era where software meets hardware in a new category and when we look back at this era we will realize the leaps in technology that we accomplished in such little time. Thank you for reading, stay buzzed.

-Bear 07.23.2020

Photo Credit: Tesla

Photo edit: Bear
Amazon car insurance… whatever next?
By: Enrique Dans
Tags: Insurance, Automotive, India, Auto, Amazon

Amazon India has announced that its local payments arm, Amazon Pay, has partnered with insurers Acko, in which it has a significant stake, to offer car and motor-bike insurance.

India is the first market where the e-commerce giant has decided to provide car insurance, a business based primarily on statistics and risk analysis. Many other insurance companies offer policies through the web, although not through a platform like Amazon. In addition, the company will offer as yet unspecified discounts and special benefits to subscribers to its Amazon Prime service, indicating its interest in testing the effect of cross-selling on a service such as insurance.

What impact will the move have on India’s insurance market? Many insurance companies have been offering information and pricing of insurance policies via the web for some time now, but the arrival of a giant with the power and visibility of Amazon could bring about significant changes. The CEO of Amazon Pay in India, Mahendra Nerurkar, announced that the company was also planning to enter the health and travel insurance market, and that taking out a policy could be done in less than two minutes and would not require any paperwork.

In addition, Amazon offers other services, such as hassle-free, paperless claims, pick-up in less than an hour, repairs in less than three days, and a one-year warranty on city repairs, as well as an immediate payment option for low-value parts. Considering the company’s usual aggressiveness in calculating its prices, the fact that it is already well established as a regular channel in the minds of many customers, and its ability to develop a service that is fundamentally based on customer and market information and knowledge, Amazon’s move is sure to cause quite a bit of concern in the industry.

The Indian market, which is enjoying strong growth and many possibilities, is one of the most strategic for the company, prompting it to use Amazon Pay on several occasions to test products or integrate channels. Insurance is a highly regulated and competitive market, so it is still too early to know if Amazon will apply its experiment to other countries.

What about you? Do you see yourself using Amazon to insure your vehicle?
Music Producer + Criminal Justice Reform Advocate Weldon Angelos Pardoned By President Donald Trump
By: Maggie May Wilson
Tags: Cannabis News, Presidential Pardon, President Trump, Criminal Justice Reform, Weldon Angelos

There have not been many mornings in 2020 where some have woke up to really good news but for Weldon Angelos, the man who thought his life was ruined for selling $600 of Cannabis, that was just the case in December 2020.

President Trump has been the source of multiple media controversies over the course of his entire career and rarely are they for positive things. Lately, the presidential pardons are being spotlighted. Being pardoned by the President is for some, a second chance at life and for Cannabis prisoners, especially those who are serving time for non-violent offenses, a presidential pardon is their only hope.

President Trump pardoned Angelos on December 13 at the request of Alice Johnson, whose sentence was previously lifted by Trump at the request of Kim Kardashian.

Music is in his blood and quickly Weldon found himself around the movers and shakers of the hip hop world and became friends with Daz Dillinger and Napoleon from The Outlawz. He recorded an album with Snoop Dogg in the infamous Claremont Mansion (remember MTV Cribs y’all)which had an unreleased Tupac verse! Weldon was on his way to becoming a superstar. Snoop Dogg was quoted saying, “He had to provide means for his family and himself, It wasn’t like it was a violent crime he was committing — he was just hustling.”

“I’ve put most of my focus on advocacy and trying to get people out of prison so they don’t have to suffer what I went through.” -Weldon

Weldon returned from the White House earlier this year to deliver a letter on clemency. This letter was signed by celebrities and political figures and will actually be an open letter, enabling MORE people to sign it. With hopes for the president to grant clemency to what Weldon referred to as “the most deserving group.” You can see all the signatures here.

The Department Of Justice has been the gatekeeper of the pardon office since the 1930s.

“The people who prosecute us should not also be the people who decide that we get mercy or there was a mistake. The DOJ is not in the business of second-guessing their work. They always recommend a denial” — Weldon

Find more about Weldon and support Project Mission Green www.theweldonproject.org
Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana Passes In The House
By: Jessica Bugg
Tags: Investing, Politics, Marijuana, Criminal Justice Reform, News

And what comes next on the road to widespread legalization?

Photo courtesy of the author

In exciting news, the United States House of Representatives in Washington D.C. voted and passed a bill called the MORE Act.

What does the MORE Act entail?

The MORE Act removes marijuana from the federal list of banned and controlled substances.

Expunges some convictions related to marijuana

What is the benefit of the MORE Act?

While research has been showing the benefits of marijuana usage for certain medical conditions and as an alternative to pain medications, the Democrat controlled House also has another reason for passing the bill.

Equality.

Tupac Shakur summed it up best in his song “Changes”

Instead of having a war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.

Largely most convictions that are a result of a marijuana related offense are largely minority or lower income individuals. Democrats believe that this Act will do a service to those who have not committed violent crime. While I try to remain unbiased. I have to agree with their reasoning.

Show Me The Money

Wbat rules in politics? Sex, Money, and Power (and usually in that order). On the money side of the MORE Act there would be a 5% tax on the sale of marijuana that would benefit our empty federal coffers as well as the opportunity for federally backed micro loans for cannabis businesses.

What happens next?

Just because the bill has passed the House does not mean it will pass in the Senate which is the MORE Act next stop. The Senate is currently controlled by Republicans who have stated they will reject the bill because it is a distraction from coronavirus.

Sidebar: They haven’t passed any relief for the coronavirus either and it’s been months.

So before we get our hopes up too high . . .

Let’s see what Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans do now that the marijuana has been passed to them.
Demilitarizing the Police is Possible
By: Wayne Boatwright
Tags: Police, Criminal Justice Reform, Mass Incarceration, Crime, Police Brutality

Demilitarizing the Police is Possible

With the goal to provide expertise and immediately connect people in crisis to needed services, a Kentucky town hired a police social worker to spectacular results reports Wave 3 News.

The City of Alexandria in Campbell County tried something different. Instead of hiring an additional officer, the police chief hired a social worker to respond in tandem with officers.

“Every day is different. We have no idea what’s going to come our way,” said police social worker Kelly Pompilio. “The main calls are domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse.”

“I try to assist the family in whatever services they need so they don’t have to, whenever they’re having a crisis, or having a situation where they need law enforcement,” said Pompilio.

After four years on the job, Pompilio said there has been a significant drop in repeat 911 calls with approximately 15 percent fewer people going to jail.

“It was close to a $45,000 to $50,000 annual savings from hiring a police officer the first time to hiring a social worker,” former Police Chief Ward said. “They (police social workers) started solving problems for people in our community and for our agency that we’ve never been able to solve before.”

Alexandria has doubled down on its commitment and now employs two full-time social workers to work and respond with its 17 officers.

Kelly Pompilio has been a member of the Alexandria, Ky. Police Department for four years, but she’s not a cop. Pompilio is a social worker to respond in tandem with officers. (Source: James Dobson, WAVE 3 News)

This piece was submitted to and rejected by the San Quentin News editorial board.
What Do Prisoners Want?
By: Ben Lazaroff
Tags: Social Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Prison, Criminal Justice, Prison Reform

1. Dignity

Whether you have an idea for an intervention that might assist incarcerated individuals with their day-to-day, have a policy suggestion for your elected officials, or know someone in prison whose life you want to make just a bit better, this should almost always come first. Dignity is an amalgam of self-respect, respect from others, and an overall feeling that life still has some lasting meaning to it. A phenomenal piece by Aaron Ernst in The Marshall Project details how “dignity” might warp into a much darker search for respect, but, by and large, individuals are looking for something close to this definition.

Having sat and listened to dozens of individual stories from current and formerly-incarcerated individuals, one moment in particular shook me. During orientation to a new prison facility, a large, bearded man in his 60s with a full-sleeve tattoo stood up to speak to a group of fifty or so of us gathered in a mid-sized conference room. He shared that he had been in prison for nearly twenty years, and had been shipped around the state from facility to facility over the course of his stay. Some prisons he’d spent time in were passable, some were hard, a few were simply dangerous. Suddenly, his eyes welled and he began to stammer. Heads turned from fellow inmates as the group sent a combination of sympathetic glances and “Are you seriously about to cry” smirks his way. Speaking to the area where wall meets ceiling a few feet above the assistant warden’s head at the front of the room, he said:

“Today-for the first time since I landed in county jail-an officer called me ‘Sir’.”

We waited for what was only around 15 seconds as the air turned to cement. He pulled back his chair and sat down. As the group turned back to the room’s true north, all smirks had been noticeably replaced with guilty glances into palms. The assistant warden, leader of one of the more progressive facilities in the State, added “And that’s what we do around here. We treat you with respect, so long as you treat us the same way.” Without warning, I felt my own eyes well.
The Impact of Breaking Silence
By: Samantha Clarke
Tags: Relationships, Violence, Mental Health, Psychology, Criminal Justice Reform

The Impact of Breaking Silence

Shame In Silence Is Why Violence Continues.

Abusive people really hate transparency and people practicing it.

People who do bad things definitely don’t want other people to know about it — That’s why people who use violence against others try to silence those who speak out against it.

I won’t apologize for things I’m not sorry for.

I will not compromise with someone who wants to disagree in debate with factual reality.

If I know something is right, I will not change where I stand, nor say I was wrong if it isn’t true.

I will not live in lies.

Never regret telling the truth.

To withhold truth is to lie.

To lie is to become a liar.

To be a liar is to help others who lie.

Those who lie destroy life.

If people think badly of you, or say you’re wrong because you told the truth in good faith, then they are not trustworthy people.

Not allowing someone to speak, trying to silence their free speech of truth, is violence.

It’s an attempt to prevent a target from reasonable measures of protection or self-defense against other violations of human rights.

Autonomy is stripped so they can hold power over you.

Abusers want to push the victim off the deep end; They thrive on hostile reactivity of their target’s fighting back against violence.

They want you anxious, sad, suicidal. They want to break you, make you unhinged. Feeling afraid depletes rationality, so they can control you.

Intense gaslighting present in violent family dynamics is suffocating; If they can successfully take away your voice, by altering it, to convince that you did something wrong…then Truth will remain hidden in silent darkness, feeding demons. This is real violence.

Violent men who hurt women call their target’s taking back of basic human rights an “attack.” But, that’s not true at all. Why?

Because abusers strip you of autonomy to disempower you in the relationship, and if you’re a woman, you’re already deprived of equality.

Under the constant pressure of stress from living in violence, the body will begin to break down.

Many women who’ve been subjected to violence all their lives have been made to accept it as a mere reality, when it’s not proper behavior. They remain unknowingly drenched in attitudes that enable it to continue, by giving aggressors a beautifully painted face.

Until we step outside of the war zone, we really cannot see or fully understand what violence looks like from the outside looking in. For those who’ve been brave enough to step outside the matrix, we have chosen to become healers.
The Paradox of Criminal Justice Reform
By: Nancee Tomlinson
Tags: Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Criminal Law, Justice System, Criminal Justice

Criminal justice reform. Fixing the broken system. A system where individuals get railroaded, pressured into guilty pleas. A system that treats different people differently. The propaganda fails to acknowledge that in some cases, individuals across the racial and economic spectrum, are in fact guilty of crimes and convicted of those crimes justly.

97% to 98% of cases are resolved by guilty plea. Yes, that needs reform. Each and every individual is presumed innocent unless the State can prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. Without acknowledging the paradox though, we will never be able to change this system in need of reform, reimagination, restructuring.

When the argument for reform comes before a legislative body or a bill is presented to a governor, there will always be the outlier case, the justification for vetoing or ignoring a bill. A case of lenient resolution presented by a prosecutor to a judge, where the judge recalls “the last time I did something like this, the person committed armed robbery the next week” and rejects the plea because the judge is elected, too.

Failing to acknowledge that serious crimes occur and that care should be taken when addressing reform will create an incredible backlash that will undo the few strides that have been accomplished. Ignorance of the system’s structure, the day to day life of this beast of a system, will undermine any shred of credibility reforms might hope to gain. Missing the obvious ripple effects of well-intended changes in the law.

Individuals caught in the system understand all too well that the small, seemingly-beneficial changes create more bureaucracy and opportunities to trip on the path to freedom’s doorway.

Balance. Finding the middle ground which accommodates the need for incarceration at a much lower percentage, while also protecting individuals from the onerous burdens of being prosecuted for being singled out due to race or poverty.

Reform how police are trained. Reform how law enforcement are screened and selected initially. Reform how crimes are defined. Reform how diversion courts operate. Reform the proposed sentencing. Reform how prosecutors are trained. Reform how community operates. Reform each individual heart. Reform.

But understand, some cases will be trials. Some convictions will be just. Some people will need third, fourth, fifth, and infinite opportunities to change.
Calling out a Robert for racism
By: Ken Festa
Tags: Racism, Equality, BlackLivesMatter, Criminal Justice Reform, Allyship

I had to write a response to this guy’s Why Black People Are Not Good Judges of Their Own Racism screed.

Black people are so wrapped up in looking at the privilege and bias they see in White folk that they have a blind spot for their own racist attitudes. Anytime you criticize a person because they belong to a certain race, you are being racist. The hate in your heart against another because of their pigmentation is all that is required for you to be a racist. Even the resentment you feel, if it is directed toward another merely because of their race is in itself racist. You would be better off highlighting actual racist behavior than trying to evaluate and cure an entire race of people of their bigotry.

Robert, I know that you think that Black people hate you because of your race. But, news flash, nobody thinks about you. Yes, some Black people are biased against white people (and for good reason, as it turns out). But that’s not the essential nature of the effort.

White people instituted a system in which 10% of the country’s population have 1% of its wealth. The average Black household will have a negative net worth by 2050. If you think this is true because Black people are stupider or lazier than than white people, then you’re more of a racist than you’ve already let on.

White people instituted a system in which Black and Hispanic drug users and low-level dealers are incarcerated at 4–5 times the rate of whites, even though drug usage rates are nearly equal between races.

White people instituted a system in which Black men are shot by cops at 3–4 times the rate of white men. I know that your leader (who I assume is Trump) likes to fall back on the total numbers here, but he’s making an argument (more white people get shot by cops!) that only makes sense to people who are bad at math. Which is convenient, given that much of his base comprises uneducated white males.

White people instituted successive repressive systems, starting with slavery, mutating to chattel slavery, then Jim Crow, and finally to mass incarceration to make sure that all of above things keep happening and manifesting themselves in new forms.

You noticed how I kept using the word “instituted”? Racism happens at the institutional, systemic level. Black people (and their allies) are trying to make us white people aware of the all-encompassing corrosive nature of racism.

You’ve got racism confused with bias, which happens at the individual level. I understand that it’s unpleasant for you to think that someone might not like you because of your skin. But. like I said, nobody’s really seriously thinking about you, except at the aggregate level.

The good news is that you and people like you are going to be the minority in this country, at some foreseeable point. That’s why your leaders are engaged in voter suppression — your last, best hope is that the USA turns into some modern version of apartheid-era South Africa.

I don’t think you’ll succeed, by the way.
After reentry, Justice Impacted individuals (JII) are tasked with a variety of must-dos and don’t…
By: O Dell O Johnson
Tags: Mass Incarceration, Mental Health, Incarceration, Criminal Justice Reform

After reentry, Justice Impacted individuals (JII) are tasked with a variety of must-dos and don’t under the supervision of parole or probation departments. JIIs are those who have experienced incarceration and reentered society. JIIs must find suitable housing and employment, as well as pay supervision expenses, all within a designated time-frame.

If JIIs do not adhere to such agreements, violations can occur due to a breach, leading to recidivism. Based on empirical research studies, mental health factors that underlie dysfunctional behaviors are rarely considered when a violation is under review. Whether JIIs has been diagnosed with mental health disorder or not, their mental health is negatively impacted by the incarceration experience.

Further, JIIs experience both Post Traumatic Psychosocial Disorder (PTPD) and Post Traumatic Incarceration Syndrome (PTIS) after reentry and each can be detrimental to the successful reentry processes if not effectively addressed. According to Dr. Johnson, PTPD is the experience of living in infamy as a criminal for the rest of one’s natural born life after release, an experience that causes severe harm in daily life. PTPD is initiated by the internal felt sense of individual loss of wholeness within the self, as well as the loss of belonging. The felt sense of disconnect from society and family has been associated with progressive stress disorders, higher levels of anxieties, hopelessness, depression, anger, relational dysfunctions, suicidal tendencies or thoughts, and chronic substance use. Such comorbidity dysfunctions can be devastating to sustained reentry.

According to Terence T. Gorski, an international expert in the field of crime, incarceration, and mental health, PTIS is a serious problem that greatly contributes to recidivism if not addressed properly. PTIS is a mixed mental health disorder with five clusters of symptoms. Review the symptoms below:

INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONALITY TRAITS

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY TRAITS (ASPT)

SOCIAL-SENSORY DEPRIVATION SYNDROME

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

PTIS often coexists with substance use disorders and a variety of complex personality disorders. Currently, more than 70% of JIIs who reenter society from long stays in correctional facilities suffer from this syndrome. Additional evidence shows PTIS is a growing phenomenon in the expanding US reentry correctional populations.

Based on Dr. Johnson’s observations while providing services to JIIs in correctional facilities and after reentry, there appears to be a little emphasis by the Department of Corrections reentry or rehabilitation initiatives placed on the devastating effects of mental illness have on successful and sustained reentry.
Anyone Notice Chauvin’s Name?
By: Patsy Fergusson
Tags: George Floyd, Racism, Names, Criminal Justice Reform, Feminism

Anyone Notice Chauvin’s Name?

Back in the ’70s we had a term for misogynists. We called them male chauvinists. Sometimes the term was male chauvinist pig. But I never bothered to look up the word definition or origin until 2020, the year of perfect vision, when Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd while arresting him for spending a counterfeit $20 bill.

I myself have tried to spend counterfeit money, by the way. Police weren’t called. Four officers didn’t show up to push me to the ground and kneel on my neck until I was dead. After holding up the bill to the light and snapping it a few times, feeling its texture and testing its strength, the vendor handed it back and said “this isn’t good.”

A chauvinist is someone who displays “excessive or prejudiced support for their own cause, group, or sex,” according to Lexico, a free service powered by the Oxford English Dictionary. Huh.

Merriam-Webster defines chauvinism as “undue partiality or attachment to a group or place to which one belongs or has belonged.” I see.

The word stems from Nicolas Chauvin, Napoleon’s soldier and biggest fan, who “retained a simpleminded devotion” to his leader even after his downfall and “came to typify the cult of the glorification of all things military,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica. That tracks.

Then there’s the perpetrator’s first name — Derek: a massive tool for pulling the lifeblood out of our planet Earth, according to my own tree-hugging environmentalist interpretation.

So there you have it. Derek Chauvin was branded a lifesucking bigot from birth. Names don’t always define your destiny, as someone called Patsy will be the first to attest. But in the case of George Floyd’s killer, they did.
Incorporating Humanity in Corrections
By: Colten Robertson
Tags: Humanity First, Politics, Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Culture

Photo by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash

Throughout the decades the strategy to gain political points at the cost of livelihoods, commonly known as “tough on crime,” has led to a failed social experiment. The contemporary form of the criminal justice system holds both the sins of slavery and modern obstacles that make it nearly impossible for former inmates to regain control of their lives and pursue the American Dream. When an individual commits a crime, they have broken the social contract and therefore must be dealt with in a way that Cesare Beccaria believed regarding punishment: swift, severe, and certain. This punishment must also be proportional to the crime. That is not seen today. Instead, politicians have written laws where it is easier to arbitrarily throw someone in a cage and throw away the key. The first instance of this failure appears when an offender just arrives at the institution and goes through the degradation ceremony. This is when the person is stripped of their autonomy and becomes just another number in a complex full of forgotten people. In this process the psychological breakdown begins and prisonization starts to take root. At every step of the processes in the criminal justice system in America there is a lack of basic humanity and morality. As a criminal justice major at The University of Alabama I vividly remember being in a class called Women, Law, and Incarceration where we got the opportunity to speak with former inmates from Tutwiler Prison For Women. One woman had been imprisoned before technology exploded and debit cards were normal. She spoke of a time at a gas station when a gentleman finished getting gas and got in his truck to drive off and she tried to run him down because she did not understand how you could pay with a piece of plastic. Another story she told involved her learning how to use a computer way after they become the norm and this caused issues with job prospects. This is just one example of many about people who have been deliberately ignored by the people in power. The time for continuing the principle of less eligibility is no longer, we must set new precedents that replaces punishment with rehabilitation. Educational opportunities are the silver bullet to help reduce recidivism and make prisons a safer place for inmates and personnel. These opportunities should not only be limited to helping the prison population obtain a GED or enroll in college classes, but also expand to personal finance, trade skills, computer literacy, mental health, emotional health, and incorporate possible hobbies like gardening and yoga. The inmates should be on a schedule for these activities to reflect the real world. Providing productive programs in prisons and jails reduces prison idleness and the desire to partake in undesirable activities. When providing these opportunities inmates also have the opportunity to work towards something and gain confidence in themselves and provide better opportunities for when their release date comes.
MN Locks Up More Black Folk Than Any Place In the World.
By: Garrick Mcfadden
Tags: Racism, Minnesota, Prison, BlackLivesMatter, Criminal Justice Reform

In the Fire Next Time, James Baldwin wrote: And If the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.

With love I tell all those I have known and met in Minnesota that the looting you are experiencing, the uprising you are witnessing is the result of those you have ignored for too long. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that a riot is the language of the unheard. Then looting is the dialect of the ignored.

With love I tell you that in no time in the history of humankind has a state or country ever had a worst racial disparity in the incarceration of people than Minnesota.

During the 1980s and the 1990s Minnesota maintained an incarceration disparity rate of 20 to 1. For every twenty black people sent to prison one white person went.

Let me say that again: Minnesota had a 20 to 1 black white incarceration disparity rate.

Photo by Marco Chilese on Unsplash

Not even during the Civil Rights Era did Georgia boast such a disparity.

Not even when the boot of Jim Crow was stomping on the necks of black folk in Alabama did it come anywhere close to this appalling number.

In love I tell you that even while the oppressive blanket of Apartheid was wrapped around South Africa, they could not reach a 20 to 1 racial disparity, like Minnesota achieved.

Currently, Minnesota still leads the world in racial disparity with an incarceration rate of 12 to 1 (tied with Iowa).

Now to hold all to account. How did you allow this to happen? Better yet, did you even know that you live in the state with the worst racial disparity in the history of humankind?

I know some of you are frustrated and your friends, spouses, co-workers, family members are all expressing anger and disapproval of the looting and destruction of property. Yet, have they or have you ever expressed that you are complicit in the worst racial disparity in human history? Have you ever thought how the depravation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could be impacted by such a racist incarceration policy? Have you ever wondered what could be the kindling for riots and looting and death and entropy.

Target will be fine.

Autozone will be fine.

The Dollartree will be fine.

My question is why did you ignore the pleas of black people for so long. Why did you tolerate such an unjust prison disparity to exist for so long. Why have you failed to hold anyone to account for this collective sin, including yourselves? And what are you going to do about it now that you have been confronted, in love, with this reality?

With love,

Garrick Arvin McFadden, Esq.
The Rise And The Storm
By: Wanjiku Wanjiru
Tags: Short Story, Blm381, Poetry On Medium, Poetry, Short Read

Photo by Zane Lee on Unsplash

The rise and the storm. The longing of fire

From the smoke. Break a mirror and jeer.

Now there’s many of you as shards shown.

Wisdom left. You were first to throw a stone.

And they’re all blind hurling stones at you too.

Their colder glass plated faces pursue

To meet your cold frantic attention’s face.

This commotion will quiet to a dead place.



The rain will pour, the streams fill, all one,

They’ll snake your way as a precaution,

But they’ll seep through your broken vows.

They’ll always mention you bled them out,

Died of thirst, as fate had already decreed,

Then move on to water what roots or in need.



All of the above you’ve held in retrospection,

If you’ve read this far. It’s a reflection,

Where pain ends, wings open, sighing.

Let’s revisit the beginning. The rise and flying;

The longing of fire from the smoke;

Frame the mirror. Within, a friend cloaked

As the world and its children boned;

Instead of guilt, love sets away the stone,

It takes root within to increase for itself.

Rain and streams snake to you swelled.
Daily Meditation
By: Denise Shelton
Tags: Short Story, Money, Principles, Thoughts, Short Read

Daily Meditation

There’s no limit to the amount of money you can make if you refuse to burden yourself with principles.
Symbols
By: Darius Butkevicius
Tags: Philosophy, Meaninglessness, Meaning, Short Read, Dreamscape

Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash

“Second-hand car shop& garage “- she said.

I don’t know why she said that and what it all meant but I followed her orders.

I couldn't say whether it was a morning or evening, summer or winter.

It felt nostalgic and sad, at the same time it felt like a puzzle to be solved. Don’t ask me what it all meant, I have no slightest idea. I followed her orders.

Who was she? I never met this person before. Why is she in charge?

We arrived at the garage — old, dirty, under bridge garage.

There was a sound, not loud but persistent sound. I looked around but couldn't see the source of that sound.

Never mind the sound, I can get used to it. The feeling, that’s what bothered me.

What am I nostalgic about? What makes me feel sad?

Nothing made sense- the garage, the woman in charge, the nostalgic feeling of sadness, and the persistent sound.
To Infinity and Beyond?
By: Declan Wilson
Tags: Self, Inspiration, Self-awareness, Short Read, Life

I’ve seen Toy Story hundreds of times. I know all the Easter eggs. I know every line.

And only recently, while sitting with my youngest son, I saw something for the first time.

Buzz Lightyear is brave.

Buzz is, of course, a toy. But he doesn’t know yet. He believes he can fly, Woody says he can’t.

Either way, Buzz still jumps.

Too often we act just like Woody, seeing only our limits instead of what’s possible.

We think we know who we are and what we’re capable of and settle into a life of mediocrity.

We forget that life is malleable.

So whether you call it flying or falling with style, the real question is, are you brave enough to still jump?
Writers, Keep a Notebook for Your “Scrap Heap Ideas”
By: Declan Wilson
Tags: Writing, Creativity, Writing Tips, Art, Short Read

Neil Gaiman has a wonderful trick to ensure nothing goes to waste, not even ideas.

I think it’s really important for a writer to have a compost heap. Everything you read, things that you write, things that you listen to, people you encounter, they can all go on the compost heap. And they will rot down. And out of them grow beautiful stories. — Neil Gaiman, taken from his MasterClass

It’s so simple. Have a notebook solely dedicated to capturing random thoughts and ideas in your head. Every so often, revisit the old pages of the notebook to remind yourself of these old thoughts. Have they changed? Do they mean something different?

A friend of mine recently said during a phone call, “I have the most boring success story, I just show up to work every day.”

I liked that so I wrote it down. Will it become an article? Will I casually mention it in a post? I don’t know yet but I know it’s there, in my scrap heap notebook, bidding its time.

On another page, quickly scrawled at the bottom, is, “Just managing the middle.” I don’t remember writing this. I don’t even know what I meant by it. But maybe one day I’ll find myself in another conversation where this phrase comes to mind and it’ll spark a whole new idea.

Unlike a painter or a sculptor, you can’t go out and buy better paint or better marble to create your art. Your ideas are your raw material. Why let any of them go to waste?
The Tomb
By: J. Charles Ramirez
Tags: Flash Fiction, SciFi, Sci Fi Fantasy, Short Read, Quick Reads

The Tomb

Image public domain, courtesy of digitalcomicmuseum.com, modified from original.

“Retreat!”

The cries from his now deceased Captain had thrown the entire platoon into a frenzy. Men had scrambled in a vain attempt at preserving their own hides,

and doomed them all in the process. If only they had listened! He knew they had a chance; all the advantages his team had bought with their blood, sweat, and tears. With one simple word everything he had spent the last several months working towards on this god-forsaken planet was tossed aside, including the lives of those he served with.

True, they were outnumbered, outgunned. The measly light-rail rifles they had couldn’t do a thing against the type of machinery the indigenous aliens had. On a planet that seemingly consisted of endless desert, how could they manage to craft such advanced weaponry? Plasma emitters, sonic cannons, grav rockets, and some type of armor that he couldn’t even fathom. Weapons like those were impossibly expensive and rare, even on the home world, so how could they have so much of it here?

“Come on, soldier! Pick up your feet, let’s go!” he roared out at a younger member of his platoon, still green behind the ears and scared out of his wits. That green was shortly replaced with a fine red mist.

Scorch marks exploded all around him; the weapon’s ammunition vaporizing the materials it came into contact with. Shrapnel flew by and his power suit was quickly taking more damage than its energy shield could mitigate. He continued to run past his limits, watching helplessly as he slowly became the sole survivor.

Refuge came in the form of a small inlet into a cave system, and he dashed inside, hoping to lose them in a labyrinthian tunnel system. His hope turned into resignation as he realized his folly. Barely steps into the cave and it was a dead end, charred skeletons decorating the ironic tomb.

He knew he was to die, but he wasn’t ready.

He slumped down against the far wall in exhaustion, and drew his repeater from its holster on his side. His enemies showed no sign of care as they jogged into the caves, one after the other. His aim held true, and one by one they dropped under his volley. A scant few moments later his gun was dry, no batteries to rechamber it with.

He knew he was to die, and now, he was ready.

He took off his full helm, the intake and supply lines snapping from their quick releases and hissing out the pressurized elements. The man drew in a deep, unfiltered breath, ready for whatever. As he awaited his fate, he watched one of the enemy soldiers approach. They, too, removed their visage.

“They didn’t tell us you were human, too.”
An Evening With Fruit Salads
By: Pretheesh Presannan
Tags: Relationships, Ice Cream, Storytelling, Evening, Short Read

An Evening With Fruit Salads

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

They began a new ice-cream shop painted in white and blue colors. It looks good from the outside, so I went in there and bought three fruit salads (with ice creams). One for myself and two for my nieces who live nearby my house with their parents.

I handed over two of them to the elder one and then went to my home and began to eat mine. Shit, it was frozen cold, and it was highly possible that I would get throat problems if I eat it straight away. The same was the case with my nieces, and moreover, I would be blamed for making them sick by my brother, his wife, and my mother.

I ran towards them, and as soon as I reached there I asked them to consider eating it a bit later in the evening so that the coldness would pass with time. The younger niece replied, “It’s already evening, just relax,” in a gesture indicating “it is all fine”, as I just found out that they had already finished half of the fruit salad by the time I reached there.

So I asked them to drink at least some hot water once they finish it and went away. The younger one called me back. I turned back, she said “Thank You”, while waving her hands as if giving me a Goodbye and never to come back with concerns and advice.

She knew some things are best served cold no matter what.

And yeah, that’s all. I ate mine and drank and a hot cup of tea. We are all safe for the time being.
I didn't know knowledge has so much power
By: Pretheesh Presannan
Tags: Short Read, Funny, Humor, Creative Writing

I didn't know knowledge has so much power

She was in my arms. We were staring at the night sky. I am talking about myself and my little niece. Few days before I told her that those shiny things in the sky are called stars.

Last night, she told the same to me, “Look there, stars,” in a proud tone. I said “Who said they are stars? They aren’t stars and all.” She got triggered and immediately slapped my face, not minding that I was holding her.

Yeah, maybe knowledge is power.
Everything that’s built must fall apart
By: Darius Butkevicius
Tags: Buddha, Karma, Death And Dying, Short Read, Life

Photo by Samuel Austin on Unsplash

Everything that’s built must fall apart

If you are born you will have to die.

If you are healthy you will get sick.

If you are happy you will be sad.

If you love, you will hate.

Reverse

If you die, you will be born.

If you are sick you will heal.

if you are crying you will laugh.

If you hate, you fall in love.
One thing that pisses me off in Medium:
By: Pretheesh Presannan
Tags: Writing, Writing On Medium, Rant, Funny, Short Read

One thing that pisses me off in Medium:

Getting notifications when other people highlights the very text that I had already highlighted on someone else’s story.

I mean, I see the green light notification and get excited, only to find that it is not even my story, but a story that was written by someone else.

Please stop disappointing me by sending notifications for someone else’s story. I read, highlighted, and clapped. It is over for me. I mean, I am not supposed to celebrate and feel good about reader engagement on someone else’s story right?

Am I being selfish?. I am sorry.

Thank You.

You may read this especially if you write poems:
You love challenges and create great content in 150 words or under?
By: Moni Vazquez
Tags: Short Story, Submission Guidelines, 150 Word Story, Submission, Short Read

You love challenges and create great content in 150 words or under? Perfect, we’re here to give you a voice.

Rules: few.

This is not a self-promotion hub to write a short version of a longer story you’re promoting. Here we post stories with a start, an evolution and an ending. Fiction, non-fiction, if it is a complete, well written and edited 150 words story, we’re interested.

We encourage writers of all walks and ideas. The more the better. This is a real challenge, but if you’re up to it, send a link to your 150 words finished draft to moni_vzq@yahoo.com and SUBMISSION in the subject line.

Please make sure it is fully edited or we will not consider your piece.
My first short-form post
By: Karthick Thoppe
Tags: Médium, Short Read, First Post

My first short-form post

The year is… still 2020 and this is cool; Though Twitter is a can be exhausting when it comes to catching up, I take the short-form posts as a blinklist for Medium as it is a shorter version of what you really want to write and get the point across. You can always write a long term form post that spans across 150 words or more if it adds value to the readers. See the pointers from Thomas Smith below and an example.

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

See an example here:
What is neuro-nutrition?
By: Moni Vazquez
Tags: Food, Facts, Nutrition, Short Read, Non Fiction

What is neuro-nutrition? It is the science we’ve all been waiting for! It came late but we all know how big Pharma works; it needs to find pragmatic value in research before sponsoring any, and I believe losing massive amounts of clients due to easily avoidable illnesses made corporations drift towards real solutions –I shall say start the journey towards it.

Neuro-nutrition is the name of an interdisciplinary research field that investigates the impact of nutrition on brain health, which includes everything from dementia to mood swings to decision making abilities and memory loss. The doom of fast food and processed ‘foods’ and, hopefully, the door to bringing life back onto our planet, for us, and the planet itself. A start, but a good start. Because accepting the oil we use in our car is important for its life, but the food we eat is not for ours… insane!
I don’t feel good about asking for help. But I’m doing it here.
By: Don Karp
Tags: Memoir, Comment, Mexico, Short Read, Blog

I don’t feel good about asking for help. But I’m doing it here.

My monumental projects needing help are with a memoir: Better Living in Mexico, and a companion eBook. The eBook, Letters From Mexico, is a compilation of my blogs.

I’ve republished some blogs from my site to Medium. You’ll find them on Creative Cafe, and more recently on a column in Innovation.

I started the blog three years ago, writing monthly. My target audience is travelers and others interested in relocating to Mexico.

The most current blog to date is the most important: “Off Grid Living in Mexico.” At the end, I ask for volunteer commentators and help with promotion.

Is anyone interested in helping me, and I’ll offer mutual assistance?

Leave a comment or contact me Don Karp.
There’s this misconception floating around that in order to hit “publish,” your story has to be perfect. That every word has to be flawless, and each sentence has to flow effortlessly. Well, allow me…
By: Devin Arrigo
Tags: Writing, Freelance Writing, Writing Tips, Short Form, Short Read

Your Stories Do Not Have to Be Perfect

There’s this misconception floating around that in order to hit “publish,” your story has to be perfect. That every word has to be flawless, and each sentence has to flow effortlessly.

Well, allow me to be the first, or the hundredth, to tell you…

Perfection is a myth.

Perfect is the lie we tell ourselves so that we don’t actually have to hit publish. It’s what keeps us feeling “safe” and ultimately from taking action needed to make things happen.

As Gary Vee often says:

“Perfect is a veil for not doing.”

Please don’t get stuck trying to perfect your story so much that you never actually publish it. Perfection is out of reach. However, every time you do publish, you’re one step closer to it.
Height of Laziness explained in 5 lines sitting on the couch the whole day was Mr. Lee resisting all the time his natural urge to pee soon he felt thirsty putting himself in a perplexity for drinking…
By: Pretheesh Presannan
Tags: Limerick, Creative Writing, Humor, Laziness, Short Read

Height of Laziness explained in 5 lines

sitting on the couch the whole day was Mr. Lee

resisting all the time his natural urge to pee

soon he felt thirsty

putting himself in a perplexity

for drinking water might force him to get up and pee

“I’m not only lazy myself but I inspire laziness in others”― Marty Rubin

A humor piece: