Arizona, a firestorm of hesitation

So much to do and so much to say about the political misfires in Arizona and its prison policies, it has becoming a losing cause as the clock ticks away precious time on any hope to reform the sentencing formats and pre-trial procedures for the mentally ill who suffer so greatly when they are incarcerated into prisons and lose their ability to cope and function with their constant challenges to survive and deal with the adversity that faces them upon entry into one of the worst prison systems in the United States regarding mental health care and treatment. Every convicted person, now becoming a number and prisoner faces tremendous stress and anxiety as they are hidden away among the masses of other prisoners, holding their breaths as they prepare themselves to face a dark world where kindness, understanding and acceptance takes on a complete new meaning to those who are mentally challenged and incapable of understanding their new environment without the help of others.

As the seconds on the clock tick away it has been illustrated by report after report that prisons in Arizona have replaced the role of the state hospital as masses are now incarcerated and mistreated or neglected in what would have otherwise been a more therapeutic milieu if offered out patient programming and mental health treatment in our communities. Although Arizona has some of the nation’s best mental health laws, it totally ignores the need of those who suffer disorders and commit crimes without criminal intent but do so because of their limited understanding, comprehension and ability to control their illness or disability.

Arizona, without any hesitation has opted to ignore their special needs and dispose of them into a cesspool of criminals who are convicted based on criminal intent and behaviors. Choosing to take the easy road and avoid the costs for outpatient treatment centers in our communities through approved health care channels, they ignore the fact that these mentally ill persons must now walk a line of fire among predators who will surely prey upon their weakness and inability to defend themselves. Their limited understanding of the new culture thrashed upon them will create tidal waves of anxiety levels that will make them potential suicide victims and to their family’s dismay, victims in a very predatory world.

Easily overpowered and influenced by behavioral career criminals into committing more crimes while incarcerated, they will receive limited treatment [if any] and sparse medication [due to costs] with the expressed inability to express what they have to say in order to protect themselves or keep themselves sane or treated. Rather than being locked into a prison of madness, they are locked inside themselves unable to fend for themselves and cope with the adversity that is surely a factor in their demise of becoming insane and unable to survive within the wilderness cast into. Suffering families, seeking closure on many of these tragedies have expressed hopelessness and fear that their relatives will be castaways in a system that doesn’t care about their civil rights or their right to exist in a safe and secure environment while in the custody of the state and the prison management.

Because of this misfire in direction and hesitation to take action, Arizona will most definitely weather many firestorms that will bring both tragedies and sorrow to the many who suffer from this illness or condition that seemed to be ignored and untreated for reasons beyond comprehension or human considerations. Arizona, must heed the incoming clouds of disaster that hides the sun and the reality of this problem. Shedding more light on this matter will reveal the critical need to help and manage these special needs offenders with a different stroke of the pen and allow humanity and rational thinking to take over and create better options for these persons who suffer greatly and often die inside of our prisons needlessly as many deaths are preventable and avoidable if the treatment programs are managed to identify their treatment needs before incarceration and followed up with treatment rather than incarceration as the first option on the judicial table of options. Politicians should be aware when the clouds hide the truth and the sun reveals the tragedy after the rains, it is time to change the way these persons are handled in our criminal justice system and allowed to retain their right to survive and live according to our laws and Constitution. Until this system is fixed, there will only be calm after the storm when the rains have cleansed the human spirits that rules the way our prisons are operated.

Border Patrol Agent Jesus Diaz, Human Dignity

Sitting in church today I found a pamphlet all crumpled up and thrown on the floor between the pews that read "Long ago, a Frenchman incurred the displeasure of the emperor Napoleon. He was thrown into a dungeon, forsaken by his friends, and forgotten by everyone in the outside world. In loneliness and near despair he scratched on the wall of his cell, "Nobody cares." So many forces in today's world want us to reach the same conclusion, to think that we don't really matter, at least not very much. But these forces are craftier than Napoleon. Instead of locking us in a literal dungeon, they scorn us indirectly. They tell us, for example, that our looks, bank account, career, clothes, résumé, talents, and self-esteem are most important. In short, they put the spotlight on all kinds of different things about us, but they ignore us. By overvaluing those good things, we end up undervaluing the most important thing, our very self that resides beneath. When that happens, we also start to undervalue other persons. This is the root of today's cultural campaign against human dignity." (http://www.mountsaintpeter.org)

I immediately thought of Border Patrol Agent Jesus Diaz who sits in a prison in Del Rio and confined to a small cell resembling modern dungeon used to isolate persons from society and other persons. It appears that human dignity is no longer one of the values possessed by those individuals who make leadership decisions of persons who are no longer in favor of their "own" standards and values such as the case against Jesus Diaz. Treated with total disrespect as well as total disregard for the own personal difficulties endured during his loyal service to this country for 8 years as a border agent trampled his rights, his dignity and his freedom as they never considered this to be a major factor when he was prosecuted and just recently denied bail bond to go home. Denied bail and pronounced to be a threat to the "community" that he fought so hard to protect, he will not be able to go home to his family as we all await his sentencing. Just like the lost and forgotten friend thrown into the dungeon centuries ago, Jesus Diaz sits there alone, with almost a degree of certainty to reach a point in his life where his faith in mankind could dwindle on the facts of his case and that he did not do anything wrong to deserve this kind of abuse and punishment from his former bosses, the government.

Jesus Diaz is receiving prayers and well-wishing from many out there in the free world who recognize the importance of his dilemma and wrongful incarceration. Those prayers and support provided must keep the hope in this man's spirit alive and to keep the flame of optimism gleaming and bring his life back in order. Time will tell of the injustice as others will see how he was wrongfully accused of an act that was not a violation of "color of law" as claimed but merely an act to maintain control over a suspect. An illegal alien who resisted his [Diaz's] efforts to take him into custody of the matter and process his apprehension according to due process afforded under the law and who today roams freely while Agent Diaz sits there in a dungeon like setting awaiting his destiny for a possible sentence of 10-35 years in prison.

Jesus Diaz, just like in the story where the prisoner saw a green shoot coming up through the cracks of the concrete stones on the dungeon's floor, will witness a growth of kindness and compassion from others until it flowers and blooms, showing him that when ever you feel down and out because of circumstances beyond your control, God will always give you a sign that He is there and that "He Cares" about you. The term "human dignity" is most important. It represents a universal declaration of human rights as our own constitution so states [so eloquently] that it preserves our individual rights. It is apparent and it is obvious that the U.S. government or its agents do not regard Jesus Diaz as a person who deserves to be treated with dignity as they have abused his case making a mockery out of the justice system by prosecuting an innocent man.

Treating Agent Diaz as mere specks of carbon, dust and without conscious matter, they have alienated themselves from the human race to punish someone who for political reasons have offended them in some way and who they decided must carry the brunt of their political message that entails their lack of human rights and lack of respect for Agent Diaz as they imposed on him cruel and unusual punishment and treatment. They did not support and value his life although he has provided for them faithful and dedicated service to protect this country. It appears that those responsible for his incarceration have lost their capacity to make sound moral choices, their capability to recognize his value to his country, his family and his community, and most of all, they have lost the ability to respect his dignity as a lawful citizen and a man who needs to be released and go home to his family.

Calderon gets another border cop

This story will not have a happy ending as the Department of Justice is picking up cold cases and targeting border patrol agents on their reports and the accuracy of their reporting. It appears to be a oxymoron from my point of view as the recent illegal activities of the ATF regarding the willingness to sell guns to the Mexican cartel and the allowance of these guns to kill American cops on the border or our cities has gone as a sanctioned event until a whistleblower revealed the corruption of those lying and hiding the facts of that case from the American citizens. To the best of my knowledge, these officials lied and deceived our citizens for purpose of not revealing their poor judgment and tactical mistakes in the war against the Mexican cartel who are buying guns in the USA. What gets this story twisted is they [U.S. officials] love the "lack of candor" charge, but the government’s top managers at Department of Homeland Security and the DOJ have been lying for years and continue to get away with it under the current administrative level of tolerances as they continue to push the blame of all this political whitewash down to the officers who work the trenches and give their blood sweat and tears to get the job done.

Today I read in a publication called The Hispanic Speaking News that “In Maine on Tuesday, a helicopter pilot with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency was arrested on charges of lying to federal agents in regards to an incident that occurred in the Rio Grande, and resulted in the death of Mexican man in 2005. the pilot, James Peters in now facing four counts of lying to federal agents who were investigating the death of Carlos Delgadillo Martinez, 22, who drowned in 2005 after Peters allegedly purposefully flew his helicopter too close to the victim. Federal prosecutors say Border Patrol agents working near one of the international bridges in Laredo saw a helicopter hovering low over two Mexican men on an inner tube in the Rio Grande on December 14th, 2005. According to federal records, radio transmissions revealed that the helicopter pilot told a Border Patrol agent that he was about to attempt to make the men “go back.” The helicopter’s rotor wash caused the inner tube the men were holding onto to flip over. At least one of the men lost their grip. Delgadillo Martinez’s body was found in the river on Christmas Day, 11 days later.”

Whatever happened to crossing the border is at your own risk and if for some reason the trip is too dangerous you assume all responsibility of your poor decision making on yourself.... or is there a double standards for illegal immigrants. It would appear that there is - One for citizens, one for Mexican Aliens. This madness if fed by the US government politically correct approach to all of Mexico’s complaints about border abuses by border agents that has netted numerous agents in a politically entwined web that has no purpose other than pleasing the Mexican government while demoralizing our border agents.


Source:

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/cbp-helicopter-pilot-arrested-in-immigrant-death-case/4906/

America without fences taints the fruit on the tree

The first question that pops into my mind was the one asked by so many about amnesty and the President of the United States wanting to legalize millions of illegal immigrants and give them citizenship in the most wonderful country in the world. The answer would seem obvious as the answer would be to deny all that came here illegally amnesty and deport all those who entered our country illegally. These people have already broken our laws as an indicator of their moral values and disregard for the American traditions of life and the pursuit of happiness as American citizens, here legally and not smuggled or transverses during the darkness of night across our borders and open spaces to avoid detection and capture by the law authorities o the broken spirited border patrol who have been under fire by its own administration for doing a job so well that in infringes on the government’s wishes to open up the borders in a most covert manner and allow as many illegals to enter without resistance.

The second question that comes to mind is what we do with all those 12 million or so illegal aliens that we have currently living inside our country and sponging off the social system that is going bankrupt because of the poor economy and the high unemployment rate. The most logical answer would be to enforce and uphold the immigration laws already on the books and deport them through an avenue that can track their identity and prevent repeat offenders from settling down thinking they made it safe and are now home free. According to the laws, these people need to be arrested when identified and returned to the custody of ICE and detained until they complete their processing and then returned to the border where they can arrange going back the same way they arranged coming in. Regardless, that is not America’s problem once they are back across the borders where they came in from.

Pondering the third question we must surely be mystified why the Obama administration is working so hard against the efforts of the border patrol and their associates in keeping the border secure and prevent anymore of the social systemic breakdown that has occurred within every law enforcement agency that aggressively and effectively enforce these immigration laws through the 287g laws on the book and why this administration is so hell bent on leather to make the cops the bad guys and the illegal aliens the good guys. Our moral values regarding this matter have been twisted into a new and unacceptable direction and must be changed in 2012. Cops are the heroes and the criminal aliens are the bad guys. Now before someone cries foul and calls me a racist, I am agreeable that if the person follows our laws to become a citizen and take the test and oath for their allegiance to our country, they are more than welcome to stay and remain free under the protection of the constitution that was founded by our fathers back in the colonial days but who drafted constitutional amendments to ensure that liberty and freedoms were protected as it stipulated that no man can become a president of the United States unless he or she was born here and an American citizen. Surely they must have thought that for the good of all, a good leader must be American to lead America in its destiny as the greatest and most compassionate country in the world.

Finally, people who follow the laws and live within the spirit of the laws are most welcome to join the melting pot of millions of foreign born immigrants who went through the established procedures to become citizens or permanent legal residents. Character must be sound and background checks must reveal no prior history of law breaking or immoral conduct. Self admitted turpitude disqualifies those who want to come here and enjoy the good life. The logic is simple, if a man steals he is willing to lie, and once one laws have been broken it becomes easier to break more and more laws creating a domino effect that is harmful to our nation and its moral fiber to remain America the beautiful.

All leaders are not equal

Taking the time to look inside the minds of those who seek absolute power, I found out one thing for sure and that is the fact that power corrupts but it corrupts only those who think they deserve it. Having the inability to look inside their heads since it was never one of my own ambitions, I looked it up to see how the psyche of such a person works and found it to be very interesting to say the least. Anecdotally, at least, the connection between power and hypocrisy looks obvious

Experiencing a culture of entitlement in today’s business place, there has always been the discussion between power by position or authority and those who gain power by influence. Needless to say those not in a position of power can’t compete with those who have the position thus it is often an unbalanced equation that results in the shifting of power to those who have the authority to do the things they desire. Studies have revealed that those who are powerful and who have been primed to believe they are entitled to their power readily engage in acts of moral hypocrisy.

People with power think that they are justified to break rules not only because they can get away with it but also because they feel at some intuitive level that they are entitled to take what they want. This sense of entitlement is crucial to understanding why people misbehave in high office. In addition, there arrives a sense which some powerful people seem to have that different rules apply to them and genuinely believe it. Regardless of what tests you apply to those in power, the results will show that the powerful do indeed behave hypocritically and relative to a higher their position, the less harsh they are on themselves thus suggesting that they condemn the transgressions of others more than they do their own.

This entitlement to power also applies to the entitled to abuse as it appears to be the way powerful people conduct themselves. It is speculation that corruption and hypocrisy are the price that societies pay for being led by alpha type persons although the opposite solution, although not acceptable in most cases, is to be led by wimps. We clearly do not want to be led by wimps as an alternative to the alpha's. There would seem to be another possibility though. If we selected leaders literally at random from a large pool of qualified people and gave them a fixed, non repeatable, term of power, that they were expected to serve as a public duty, then perhaps we would get the best of both worlds. Another option would be to invite being led by either corrupt "alpha males/females" or wimps, the alternative are not being led by anyone at all. Lead yourself, and leave everyone else to do the same. Follow your own moral compass and do the best job you can.

Age and the Job market

Record high jobless rates and new college graduates hitting the job market makes finding a job so much harder for those who have been laid off or can illustrate a “long and varied list of work experience.” Struggling through both time and financial constraints to earn a degree and acquiring “extensive training” in areas of specialties that normally would have guaranteed them a foot in the door, it has become harder to find a job at 50 plus. Seeking to compete with the younger, the techno knowledge of the internet and the more vibrant group coming out of college with no experience, their chances are slim of being hired.

However, there may be a hidden fact that impacts such action as many well qualified people over 50 and looking for a job have engaged in what we call a “self-fulfilling prophecy” or a self demise of their own confidence and ability to compete with others and maintaining the edge to compete. Thinking too much about your age can hamper your chances thus showing even the slightest about how your age applies to the job you seek your own words or actions may put the nail in the coffin to terminate your opportunities to be successful. Employers will never reveal the reason for the not-hire decision as they are most aware of federal discrimination laws and its impact on their business if suspected. However, it may be the applicant who directs themselves to such a decision based on their own concerns about age and the ability to compete in a particular market or job assignment.

Self-promoting of your experience and willingness to pass on that experience to others in an organization can in fact provide an effective management tool if recognized. Many employers have mentor programs that can benefit from such an approach and if used wisely, it could in fact be a growth factor for successful career development for others who may lack the experience or are novice but identified as being potential great employees with mentoring and training.

Talking to a career expert and proper preparation for future interviews should be considered if you are lacking the self-confidence to implement this approach on your own. Selling your own experience and wisdom can in fact be recognized as you forget about age discrimination and allow your creativity and energy to remain positive and pass this on to the future. Finally, as for age discrimination in the hiring process I am sure it does exist or happen but as career specialties will tell you “if you walk in the door believing that's what's going to happen, that's what's going to happen and it's not because of age. You are going to be discriminated against because you are not presenting yourself as the professional they are looking to hire."

Moral Compass = moral intellect = individuality

We all know that at times in our lives there are events occurring that cross our own moral values thus creating conflicts that have to be resolved most of the time, under pressure especially in the workplace. Working with individuals who are driven and influential in your personal and professional life creates situations or needs to resolve or find resolutions on both ends that require a certain degree of delicacy to fix the problem. Learning how to do the right thing is not easy and requires strength and internal fortitude to stay the course according to your own moral compass. Walking a fine line between being a compliant worker or a disgruntled worker, you try to meet your organization or your family in the middle balancing a tightrope that resembles walking on the top of a picket fence. Your first reaction is to react with anger and become verbally aggressive towards the source of the issue often resulting in shooting the messenger rather than the person sending the message. Executives walking a fence are rarely acceptable in leadership positions thus your own conscious must alert you to what direction to take as you expand your own personal and professional endeavors. Explaining his moral reasoning he writes “

So how do we do the right thing under pressure and strategies do we use to avoid conflicts? The answer is strength in emotional intellect [think smart] and moral intellect [think right] as you make your decision based on these two principles that are not the same in any way. Emotional intellect can be defined as doing something good or bad or ethical or unethical in many cases. Moral intellect is skills that are driven to do good and is a very important element of leadership. It is the cause and course we take that is worthwhile and gives us the necessary fundamentals for life’ challenges.

Being a good leader you must believe in holding on to a set of well developed principles and consistently use those principles to guide you through your daily events. This same set should be the same set that all organizations adhere to throughout time but as we already know, there are many who have drifted away from the “right” thing to do and created their own fundamental beliefs that are embedded to suit their own needs rather that the “good” for others. Embracing the universal principles throughout the business world and your personal life includes taking and recognizing the elements of personal responsibility, reciprocity of your acts or good faith, and the ability to empathize with others. Basically this resembles those qualities taught in most religions and preached throughout the world as sound guidance for positive behaviors that self respect, taking responsibility for your own acts and caring for others.

Antonio Rossini’s Theory of Ethics explains moral powers are “two kinds of moral powers: those moral in themselves and those moral by participation. The former direct the practical judgment and the latter regulate affections and external acts. External moral acts presuppose the power of acting externally, this becomes a moral power when moved by moral affectivity. This power in turn becomes moral when moved by practical esteem or practical judgment which in itself is a moral power. The others are powers by participation. When speaking on the “Conscience” Rosmini wrote “If I make a practical judgment based on non moral motives I sin, and certain affections and immoral actions follow. I am conscious of sinning, and experience interior bitterness. I am conscious of not assenting to direct knowledge and of violating it. I judge myself, declaring my practical judgment evil and immoral. This judgment is moral conscience. It is a speculative judgment on the morality of my practical judgment and its consequences. We say we must follow our conscience. That is, we must appreciate and judge things for what they are worth, love them proportionately, and then act according to this well ordered love. Conscience precedes practical judgment, indicating how it should be made. When it has been made conscience approves or disapproves of it.”

Explaining his definition of moral reasoning he writes “Practical Reason: Is the capacity of voluntary reflection to form decisive esteem of the object and consequently of the action which follows. As we saw above, decisive love is bound up with this esteem and the external action then follows. The practical reason is the power which controls the practical judgment. This power vacillates in its preference between moral and eudaimonological [concerned with human happiness. It is the power to apply being as a rule for judging our own subjective good] motives presented to it. After it has considered them, it makes the practical judgment or esteem which activates the affection and then issues in an external act. It is the judge between the utility and probity of actions. It judges what is better to do here and now and is based on moral and eudaimonological reasons. For example, 'Do I feed myself and leave my brother or sister to starve, or do I deprive myself and give them what they need?' Both ethical and eudaimonological reason are included in practical reason. These are theoretical and speculative and reduced to practice by practical reason. A comparison is made between moral and eudaimonological motives, their importance is weighed and an operative judgment is made. Affection and action follow immediately. This is the practical judgment as opposed to the speculative judgment and it is controlled by the practical reason.”


Walking the talk means to be in position with your self-identified moral compass [that includes your basic moral principles, personal values, and beliefs]; your goals and your behavior including those inward or unspoken thoughts, emotions and external actions. Living in alignment means being consistent with personal goals and is not something that is accidental in any means. Moral intellect is an outgrowth of “living in alignment,” the interconnection of an individual’s moral compass (basic moral principles, personal values, and beliefs); their goals; and their behavior, including inward thoughts, emotions, and external actions. “Living in alignment means an individual’s behavior is consistent with their goals and that their goals are consistent with their moral compass. Living in alignment is not accidental. It requires individual strength in understanding and building on each component while maintaining alignment among all components, especially during pressure points in our work or personal life.”

Just like your vehicle’s GPS serves as your navigational tool while you are on the road, your moral compass keeps you on track in your life’s journey, analogous to the GPS used in your vehicle. However, just like the GPS system it may lead you into the right direction but there are many individual and sometimes complicated decisions that have to be made to stay on course. Giving you the aide of general directions gives you confidence in your destination and goals but to achieve the best out of life you must be creative and use your personal strengths and potential to arrive at your destiny with a safe and sound attitude or purpose.

The bottom line is if you use your moral compass with good awareness of its power as it would be hard to conduct your business or personal life with ignorance and deniability of what is right or wrong in the matters at hand. A leader must recognize this advantage gives them the ability to achieve lasting personal and organization performance and dependability others seek to acquire through sound mentorship and leadership methods.