Working to Maintain and Improve Living Conditions for Death Row in Florida

Happy Thanksgiving!

A veteran remembers
By Howard Zinn

Boston Globe, 11/11/99
Let's go back to the beginning of Veterans Day. It used to be Armistice Day, because at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, World War I came to an end. We must not forget that conflict. It revealed the essence of war, of all wars, because however ''just'' or ''humanitarian'' may be the claims, at the irreducible core of all war is the slaughter of the innocent, organized by national leaders, accompanied by lies. World War I was its epitome, as generals and politicians sent young men forward from their trenches, bayonets fixed, to gain a few miles, even a few yards, at frightful cost. In July 1916 the British General Douglas Haig ordered 11 divisions of English soldiers to climb out of their trenches and move toward the German lines. The six German divisions opened up with their machine guns. Of the 110,000 who attacked, more than half were killed or wounded - all those bodies strewn on no man's land, the ghostly territory between the contending trenches. That scenario went on for years. In the first battle of the Marne there were a million casualties, 500,000 on each side.The soldiers began to rebel, which is always the most heroic thing soldiers can do, for which they should be given medals. In the French Army, out of 112 divisions, 68 would have mutinies. Fifty men would be shot by firing squads.The supposed moral justification of that war (the evil Kaiser, the Belgian babies) disintegrated quickly after it ended with sudden recognition of the 10 million dead in the mud of France and the gassed, shellshocked, and limbless veterans confronting the world. The ugliness of that war was uncomplicated by the moral righteousness that made later wars, from World War II on, unsullied in our memory, or at least acceptable. Vietnam was the stark exception. But even there our national leaders have worked hard to smother what they call ''the Vietnam syndrome.'' They want us to forget what we learned at the Vietnam War's end: that our leaders cannot be trusted, that modern war is inevitably a war against civilians and particularly children, that only a determined citizenry can stop the government when it embarks on mass murder. Our decent impulse, to recognize the ordeal of our veterans, has been used to obscure the fact that they died, they were crippled, for no good cause other than the power and profit of a few. Veterans Day, instead of an occasion for denouncing war, has become an occasion for bringing out the flags, the uniforms, the martial music, the patriotic speeches reeking with hypocrisy. Those who name holidays, playing on our genuine feeling for veterans, have turned a day that celebrated the end of a horror into a day to honor militarism. As a combat veteran myself, of a ''good war,'' against fascism, I do not want the recognition of my service to be used as a glorification of war. At the end of that war, in which 50 million died, the people of the world should have shouted ''Enough!'' We should have decided that from that moment on, we would renounce war - and there would be no Korean War, Vietnam War, Panama War, Grenada War, Gulf War, Balkan War.The reason for such a decision is that war in our time - whatever ''humanitarian'' motives are claimed by our political leaders - is always a war against children: the child amputees created by our bombing of Yugoslavia, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children dead as a result of our postwar sanctions. Veterans Day should be an occasion for a national vow: No more war victims on the other side; no more war veterans on our side.

Howard Zinn is professor emeritus at Boston University and author of A People's History of the United States.

News from the inside

Halloween is over us, Thanksgiving around the corner, and Christmas coming up. Please be sure to read the newsletter carefully this time, There might be some good offers for the holidays coming upJ. We are at this point awaiting a response from Mr. Crosby in regards to the hobbycrafts- you learn to be patient in this business.

Greeting cards

We still have greeting cards available - including Thanks Giving cards, and greeting cards in Spanish- (please also see the last page of the newsletter)so if you wish to have some cards sent, let us know what kind preferably, and we will do our best! And if at all possible…enclose postage - it is pretty expensive to sent the cards. (4-5 regular stamps every time) Please remember we pay out of own pocket. IN fact any stamp donation will be very appreciated. J

The Newsletter

We did manage to get the newsletter out last month , and in fact more than we have done the past months. 100+ were sent from members all over. We are aware that some of you might not have gotten yours - if that is the case, let us know and we will put you on the mailing list again. This of course, goes for new guys too. In the mean time…Please pass the newsletter on to your neighbor!

Your input for the newsletter

We still accept contributions to this newsletter. Gladly and with anticipation. It is being read by more and more people and the last development to this is the fact that last month front page and one of our articles are now on Sister Helens web page, which means that even more people might want to read it. Let us get your poetry, thoughts, artwork etc.

Introducing the FDRAG share-a-book program…

Each month, FDRAG will collect book wishes from the readers of our Newsletter.

In order to submit a book wish, simply fill out the form below, send it to FDRAG and your book may be one of the 10 book titles which will be drawn each month, and purchased via Amazon.com.

Because we want this program to benefit as many as possible on our shoe-string budget we ask that you pass on your book when you're done reading it.

Share-A-Book Name: DOC:                                              Housing: Author: Title:

Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition

Four years ago Jeff Dicks died in a Tennessee prison of medical neglect. His mother Shirley channeled her grief and outrage by forming the Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition (JDMC for short) as a way to fight against medical neglect and abuse for other inmates across the US. The Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition is a non profit organization that works to ensure that prisoners get medical care. It's as simple as that. They work through DOC channels when proper medical treatment is not made available to inmates, and will contact the wardens and governors in an effort to save the lives of those who are being mistreated in prison by medical negligence. The JDMC demands that all prisoners have access to proper medical care so that nobody has to suffer or die due to lack of medical treatment while behind bars.

After talking with Shirley, and discussing what their organization does to help inmates with cases of medical neglect and abuse, talk came around to the state of Florida, and whether JDMC had an active chapter here. Sadly, Shirley stated that she has been unable to find anyone willing to be an active coordinator for Florida, and without a coordinator to directly contact, the inmates have no easy way of reaching out to JDMC for help if they feel their medical needs are not being addressed properly. So, after a little (not much was needed) thought and a little more discussion with Shirley, we are proud to announce that we have now become associated with JDMC, and that several members of FDRAG are now joint coordinators for Florida.

In the next item, Shirley has submitted additional background information for you, explaining the events leading up to the creation of the JDMC back in 1999. Below is a release form, which must be filled out completely if help obtaining medical assistance is requested. Due to the highly confidential nature of many illnesses, those of us attempting to seek medical care on your behalf MUST strictly adhere to strict codes of privacy and confidentiality. It is for this reason that a limited number of people will be initially involved in obtaining medical care for those who request help. If simple letters and phone calls of intervention are not successful, members of JDMC from other states will be asked to join the effort on your behalf. The more people willing to join and help fight against medical indifference, the greater the odds are of assuring you get decent medical care when you need it. As Shirley urged, please mention JDMC to your families and loved ones and ask they get involved. And, if you have a serious medical condition that has not been satisfactorily treated, please use the form enclosed to contact us and let us know. Thank you!

The Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition

FDRAG asked me to write a little something about the JDMC so I'm going to do that. Some of you already know me as I've worked with death row inmates for over twenty years, fighting the death penalty issue and also with a pen pal section on my web sites. At any rate, my son Jeff Dicks was wrongly convicted and sentenced to die at the age of eighteen in 1980 and was sent to Tennessee's death row.In 1999, he suffered a second heart attack and it took them so long to get him to the outside hospital that he didn't make it. The first heart attack he had, they had left him sitting in his cell for three days with chest pains, knowing heart disease ran in our family. When finally they took him to the outside hospital, the damage had been done. The doctors told us a second attack would kill him. They were right and he was brought home in a box. We took him to NC to be buried and I started the Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition to fight for medical care for all prisoners.We have had many successes during the years since then, and we'd have so many more if more people would join up with us and write a few letters on behalf of the prisoners who need medical care and are dying because of it. If we could get families of prisoners to join up and fight, think of the power we'd have. However, that is one dream that is just that. A dream. Because over the past twenty years, I have found that families of prisoners on the whole, will not stand up and be counted. Why? I have no idea, but it's true.Access to medical attention is a fundamental human right, a right that belongs even to prisoners. Some say "who cares, they're just a bunch of scumbags." But these "scumbags" are the sons, daughters, parents, spouses, siblings and friends of someone you know. Many are misguided and even dangerous, but still they remain human beings. The most inhumane and disgusting weapon used in prisons today is medicine. The US condemns China, Peru, and others for inhumane treatment of their prisoners. Yet crimes against humanity in the US carried out on their own people are unrelenting and unabated. We can win the war against medical abuses in the system, but it will take everyone to help in the fight. Our web site is at www.jeffdicks.org or they can write to us for more information at JDMC, PO Box 343, Beechgrove, Tn. 37018.

Jeff Dicks Medical Release Form

Drug may reduce viral infection affecting millions, study finds

LONDON, Oct. 27 - A new drug that prevents a contagious virus from duplicating in the body could be a new weapon against hepatitis C, a disease that could kill more people than AIDS, scientists said on Sunday. MORE THAN 170 million people around the globe are infected with the virus that can cause permanent liver damage and in many cases death. There is no vaccine against the hepatitis C virus (HVC) and current treatments can cause unwanted side effects. But scientists working for the German drugs giant Boehringer Ingelheim have developed a drug that could offer new hope to patients with the illness. Called BILN 2061, the drug targets an enzyme to block the replication of the virus. In eight people given four doses of the treatment viral loads, or the amount of virus in the blood, dropped by 100 to 1,000 fold after 48 hours without producing any unpleasant reactions in the patients. "The antiviral results of protease inhibitor BILN 2061 in a proof-of-concept human trial clearly demonstrate the great potential of selective and anti-HCV agents," Daniel Lamarre, of the company research centre in Laval, Canada, said in a report published online by the science journal Nature. BILN 2061 is the first of a class of drugs called NS3 protease inhibitors to be tested in humans. Although more longer trials are needed to see if the drug keep the viral load down and if resistance develops, the scientists believe it "holds great promise to markedly improve treatments of chronic HCV infection." Former U.S. surgeon general Dr C. Everett Koop has described the illness as a graver threat to public health than AIDS.

New hope for hepatitis C victims

"Hepatitis C already infects three times more people than does AIDS. It is responsible for more than one-third of all liver transplants," Koop warned in an Internet message, adding that the illness could kill more people than AIDS each year. Hepatitis C is currently treated using interferons, including Pegasys produced by Roche Holding AG and PeginTron made by Schering-Plough Corp. Both treatments are given in combination with the antiviral drug ribavirin.

Canadian actress Pamela Anderson, who shot to stardom in the television series Baywatch, announced last year that she was being treated for hepatitis C. She claimed she was infected by sharing a tattoo needle with her ex-husband, rocker Tommy Lee. People can get the virus through any exposure to infected blood, including intravenous drug use, body piercing, tattooing, unbandaged cuts or poorly sterilised medical equipment and blood transfusions. Many people who are infected do not know it. Fatigue is the most common early symptom but it can occur years after the initial infection. In its later stages the illness causes jaundice, abdominal swelling and liver failure.

ART and POETRY corner

Spiritual Corner

Asiyu (hello) The Native American Brothers on Florida's Death Row, have made major advancements in getting our spiritual rights recognized by the prison. We are now able to receive authorized headbands, medicine bags, and prayer feathers. As well as being able to participate in a pipe ceremony every third Friday of even numbered months. We would now like help to achieve further advancements through setting up a website and newsletter. If you are interested in offering us assistance please contact the following address: Wado (thank you) Milo Rose # 090411 Union Correctional institution 7819 NW 228th Street P5112 Raiford Florida, 32026-4450

Eid Al Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawaal, the tenth month in the Muslim calendar. It marks the end of a month-long fast during the month of Ramadan. Eid Al Fitr is a day of joy and thanksgiving. On this day, Muslims show their joy for the health, strength and opportunities of life, which Allah has given them to fulfil their obligations of fasting and other good deeds during the month of Ramadan. It is considered unholy to fast on this day. It is also a day of forgetting old grudges and ill feelings towards others. In 2003, Eid Al Fitr takes place on 25 to 27 November. - Eid Mubarak

Announcements,birthday's, dedications and…

Congratulations!!! NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS Jermaine Foster Thomas Overton John Freeman Paul Fitzpatrick Jeffrey Hutchinson Loran Cole Alphonso Cave Robert Preston Jeffrey Weaver Anthony Farina William Cruse Roderick Orme Michael Bell Robert Gordon Olen Gorby Michael Robinson Micah Nelson Maurice Floyd	The Pumpkin Patch (warning- adults only) Police arrested Patrick Lawrence, a 22-year-old white male resident of Dacula, GA, in a pumpkin patch at 11:38 p.m. on Friday. Lawrence will be charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, public indecency, and public intoxication at the Gwinnett County courthouse on Monday. The suspect allegedly stated that as he was passing a pumpkin patch, he decided to stop. "You know, a pumpkin is soft and squishy inside, much like ... well you know what ... and there was no one around here for miles. At least I thought there wasn't," he stated in a phone interview from jail. Lawrence went on to state that he pulled over to the side of the road, picked out a pretty pumpkin that he felt was appropriate to his purposes, cut a hole in it, and proceeded to satisfy his alleged "need." "I guess I was just really into it, you know?" he commented with evident embarrassment. In the process, Lawrence apparently failed to notice the Gwinnett County police car approaching and was unaware of his audience until officer Brenda Taylor approached him. "It was an unusual situation, that's for sure," said officer Taylor. "I walked up to (Lawrence) and he's ... just working away at this pumpkin." Taylor went on to describe what happened when she approached Lawrence. "I just went up and said, 'Excuse me sir, but do you realize that you are screwing a pumpkin?' He got real surprised, as you'd expect, and then looked me straight in the face and said, 'A pumpkin? Damn ... Is it midnight already?'" ( sorry ;^))
A precious little girl walks into a pet shop and asks in the sweetest little lisp, "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?" As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees so that he's on her level, and asks, "Do you want a widdle white wabbit or a thoft and fuwwy bwack wabbit or maybe one like that cute widdle bwown wabbit over there?" She, in turn blushes, rocks on her heels, puts her hands on her knees, leans forward and says in a quiet voice, "I don't think my pet python weally gives a thit."

Christmas deal for all Spanish speaking guys.

We have gotten a real good offer on some cards including a CD.

Each greeting card has in Spanish a greeting with a beautiful picture, most are flowers. The inside of the card and the cd also have a matching design -cd in a slot, an envelope and a cd holder with a clear plastic view of the cd. On the backs are the names of the different songs on the cd...The cards greeting and songs on the cds are as follows

Cards 1 reads: Feliz Dia de las Madres and the songs are 1. Mujeres Divinas, 2. Amor Mio, 3. Novia Mia, 4. Poquita Fe, 5. Solamente Una Vez, 6. La Gloria Eres Tu, 7. Contigo A La Distancia, 8. Bonita, 9. Nosotros, 10. Toda Una Vida, 11. Contigo Aprendi, and 12. Como Yo Te Ame.

Card 2 reads: Las cosas mas bellas de la vida me las has ensenado tu and the songs on these are 1. Usted, 2. Mujeres Divinas, Costumbres, 4. Toda Una Vida, 5. La Gloria Eres Tu, 6. Sin Ti, 7. Jacaranda, 8. Todo Y Nada, 9. Tu Me Acostumbraste, 10. Historia De Un Amor, 11. Sabor A Mi, and 12. Bonita.

Card 3 reads: Una bella flor para una gran Mujer and the songs on these are 1. Usted, 2. Mujeres Divinas, Costumbres, 4. Toda Una Vida, 5. La Gloria Eres Tu, 6. Sin Ti, 7. Jacaranda, 8. Todo Y Nada, 9. Tu Me Acostumbraste, 10. Historia De Un Amor, 11. Sabor A Mi, and 12. Bonita.

Card 4 reads: Lor tu incondicional upoyo Gracias and the songs are: 1. You are so beautiful, 2. Power Of love, 3. Just The Way You Are, 4. I Believe in You And Me, 5. The Lady In Blue, 6. Endless Love, 7. Unchained Melody, 8. Always, 9. Butterfly Kisses, 10. Just Like Starting Over, 11. Tornero and 12. I Finally Found Someone.

Card 5 reads: Cudano pienso en ti Me transformo and the songs are: 1. The captain of her heart, 2. Ebony and Ivory, 3. Angel of the morning, 4. Nikita, 5. One more night, 6. The power of love, 7. The lady in red, 8. Love touch, 9. I wanto to know what love is, 10. Where do broken hearts go, 11. If you don't know me by now, 12. Unchain my heart, 13. Up where we belong, and 14. Hard to say I'm sorry.

Card 6 reads: Tu como La Buena Musica siempre se llevan en el Corazon; Beatles Instrumentals 1. All you need is love, 2. Michelle, 3. And i love her, 4. The long and winding road in love with you, 5. I want to hold you hand, 6. Eight days a week, 7. She loves you, 8. Yesterday, 9. From me to you, 10. Do you want to know a secret, 11. If I fell, 12. Something, 13. Hey Jude and 14. All my loving.

If you wish to send one of these cards including the CD to a loved one for Christmas, let us know. We cannot sent the cards to you for obvious reasons, but if you sent us A self addressed stamped envelope ( so we can inform you when it has been sent,) 5 stamps to cover the shipping, and a note to put inside the card or write inside the card to your loved one, we should be set to go. Just be sure to do it in good time before Christmas. If you only wish to receive some greeting cards in Spanish we have some available of those too.

Veterans Day

"I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind."
Kurt Vonnegut- 1973

FDRAG expresses its deepest gratitude on this Veterans Day.

News From the Outside

ROME (AP) -- The European Union called Friday for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in a declaration issued as it marked thefirst World Day Against the Death Penalty.

The European Union said Tuesday it would continue to use all diplomatic means to try to persuade China, Iran, the United States, Japan and others to abolish the use of the death penalty.

The Italian presidency of the 15-nation bloc called for countries that still have capital punishment to issue moratoriums, and to ban executions for people who were minors when they committed crimes.

About seventy countries worldwide still carry out the death penalty, said Michel Taube, head of the French group ECPME, or ``Together Against the Death Penalty.''

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly earlier this month urged the United States and Japan -- the only two democracies that still carry out executions -- to participate in a more ``fruitful dialogue'' on the abolition of the death penalty.

REMINDER

Don't forget we still have the information package for your family and friends to use.

The package includes Welcome and useful contacts, unwritten visiting rules, copy of visitation form, copy of visitation rules, direction to the facilities and lodging and transportation info, how to sent money to you and much more.

There are rules for how to send books and magazines, mail rules, addresses for innocence projects, explanation about the appeals process , useful links and much more. To get the package contact Jolanda mentioned below. You can have a printed version send, but also, if your family or penfriends prefer, we can sent it on disc or CD Rom. To get the package write to:

Jolanda Arends
C/O FDRAG
137 N Walnut Street
Box 10
Starke, Florida 32091

FDRAG & MEMBERSHIP

This group is created by families and friends of death row inmates in Florida. It is a given that this group is against Capital punishment. It is however, not the purpose for this group to do anti-death penalty work, instead this group concentrates on making the living conditions for death row inmates tolerable. We also commit to work on making changes that will improve the quality of living in that particular environment called Death Row, and to help keeping the standard that already exists. Everyone who is willing to work for basic human rights is welcome. If you are looking for a group who does anti-death penalty work, we suggest you join one of the excellent groups already up and running. For further information please contact a member near you:

USA

Hannah Floyd, (Can be contacted for info on newsletter, membership, visiting, places to stay, transport etc.)
137 N Walnut St, #14
Starke, FL 32091
E-mail: Hannahfloyd@yahoo.com
Tel: 904-964-4303 or 904 964 7303

Janice Figueroa
1120 Wild Oak Terrace
Deland, FL. 32720
E-mail: Tfigu@aol.com
Tel: 386-738-3968

Karin Elsea, (Contact person for the DC/Maryland area)
1400 East West Highway, #710
Silver Spring, MD 20910
E-mail: Karinelsea@hotmail.com
Tel: 301-565-3246

Dianne Abshire
9673 State Rt 65
Ottawa, OH 45875
E-mail: afua@woh.rr.com
Tel: 419-523-5816
(Can also be contacted re: legal matters for the attention of Florida Support Group)

The Netherlands

Jolanda Arends, Treilerstraat 168
NL - 1503 JM Zaandam
E-mail: jolanda-arends@zonnet.nl
Tel: +31-75-616-4862
(FDRAG membership and info pack)