Global Crisis

Darryl K. Blackwell’s Global Crisis music: Wes Montgomery – Bumpin’ on Sunset [This was performed by Darryl Blackwell recently as part of an inmate-generated, recorded program for other inmates at Pennsylvania’s Mahanoy State Correctional Institute, near Frackville, PA.  At Darryl’s request, I also post this link: http://www.connectnetwork.com 1. It’s a global crisis/Invisible enemy/Grips east to…

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10-Minute Bible Studies

Index: O Mary, Bounce on Your Donkey (poem);Daniel’s Prayer;Repentance;Visions from God:Spiritual Growth and Psalm 119;Verses and Prayers for HealingPraise and Prophecy: Mary and ZechariahComfort Amid UncertaintyVerses and Prayers from 1 JohnFive Steps for Spiritual Growth – Psalms 20-24Isaiah Prays for the Nation (Parts I and II)The Raising of Lazarus _________________________ First, a poem, by way of…

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Additional Thoughts about Medical Parole

Some Additional Thoughts About State Senator Sharif Street’sProposed Medical Parole Program for Pennsylvania Inmates____________________________________ Issues to Consider with respect to extending medical parole in Pennsylvania: How old is the individual? How much of the sentence has the incarcerated individual served? What proportion of that is his or her sentence? Is the individual lucid, rational, self-aware,…

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A Seven-Terraced Triple-Journey through the Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu comes to visit on the terrace of the Coffee House of Grace, my imaginary, spiritual rest-stop near Jerusalem-from-above. We read over his book of brief anecdotal stories, called the Inner Chapters. They are related to disclosing the Tao, an interior, spontaneous type of spiritual or philosophic practice which may be translated as the…

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O, Man of Islam

Recently, I was visiting my friend and Christian brother, Darryl, in Mahanoy State Correction Institute (SCI) outside Frackville, PA. Darryl is serving a life sentence, and has been at Mahanoy about four years. Although Mahanoy is a medium security institution, it is a newer facility and a preferred place to Huntington SCI, where he spent…

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PROPOSED PENNSYLVANIA AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

PENNSYLVANIA AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION   The people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, being a calm and rational people, worthy and capable of self-government, hereby assert their right to such self-government. a.         Hence, the United States Supreme Court and all inferior federal courts are deprived of any subject-matter jurisdiction in matters pertinent to…

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The Developing Conflict Between China and Japan over Senkaku Islands

The Senkaku Islands (China) also known as Diaoyu Islands (Japan) are the Excuse, not the Reason The Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands, are a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea.  There is no civilian population and no economic assets are located on the islands.  Japan obtained control of them from the U.S., who had…

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Middle Class Criminal Defendants

When middle class people commit crimes and become involved in the criminal justice system as defendants, they form a very distinctive group.  First, they have no prior criminal record whatsoever.  Typically, the offense(s) which they are charged permit of no defense with respect to the underlying acts.  Generally, they have ‘snapped out’ for some reason,…

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John Locke and the Foodstamp Program

My mother used to say that when all else failed, ‘read the instructions.’  In the current political confusion, it helps to go back to primary sources.  John Locke is a primary source for American political thought, a British philosopher of the 17th century whose political writings were a major influence with the American revolutionaries.  Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and a Letter Concerning…

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