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R25288/Christopher Eckhardt

P.O. Box 5514

Clearwater, FL 33758-5514

Chapter Forty-One

We’re Engaged-Part Two

“Love all love of other sights controls,

And makes one little room an everywhere.”

John Donne, “The Good Morrow”

Because You Loved Me

As sung by Celine Dion

For all those times you stood by me

For all the truths that you made me see

For all the joy you brought to my life

For all the wrong that you made right

For every dream you made come true

For all the love I found in you

I’ll be forever thankful baby

You’re the one who held me up

Never let me fall

You’re the one who saw me through it all

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘coz you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me

You gave me wings and made me fly

You touched my hand I could touch the sky

I lost my faith, you gave it back to me

You said no star was out of reach

You stood by me and I stood tall

I had your love I had it all

I’m grateful for each day you gave me

Maybe I don’t know this much is true

I was blessed because I was loved by you

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘coz you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me

I received an email from a friend after last month’s chapter that read, “What???!!!” It was then that I realized that I had failed to mention that JD’s case is on appeal, and I intend to see that he wins his freedom.

Find Out Who Your Friends Are

As sung by Lawrence Tracy

Run your car off the side of the road

Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere

Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back

Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

This is where the rubber meets the road

This is where the cream is gonna rise

This is what you really didn’t know

This is where the truth don’t lie

(Chorus)

You find out who your friends are

Somebody’s gonna drop everything

Run out and crank up their car

Hit the gas, get there fast

Never stop to think ‘what’s in it for me?’ or ‘it’s way too far’

They just show on up with their big old heart

You find out who your friends are

Everybody wants to slap your back

wants to shake your hand

when you’re on top of that mountain

But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up and see who’s around then

This ain’t where the road comes to an end

This ain’t where the bandwagon stops

This is just one of those times when

Alot of folks jump off

(Chorus)

When the water’s high

When the weather’s not so fair

When the well runs dry

Who’s gonna be there?

(Chorus)

You find out who your friends are

(yeah, yeah)

You find out who your friends are

Run your car off the side of the road

Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere

(Well man, I’ve been there)

Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back

Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

(Man, I’ve been there)

Man I’ve been there

Oooh yeah.

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken…”

Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

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God’s Gunners, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

June 14th, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

www.facebook.com r25288

R25288/Christopher Eckhardt

P.O. Box 5514

Clearwater, FL 33758-5514

Chapter Forty

We’re Engaged

“Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death.”

Bible, Song Of Solomon 8:6

The Story In Your Eyes

By The Moody Blues

I’ve been thinking about our fortune

And I’ve decided that we’re really not to blame

For the love that’s deep inside us now

Is still the same

And the sounds we make together

Is the music to the story in your eyes

It’s been shining down upon me now

I realize

Listen to the tide slowly turning

Wash all our heartaches away

We’re part of the fire that is burning

And from the ashes we can build another day

But I’m frightened for your children

That the life that we are living is in vain

And the sunshine we’ve been waiting for

Will turn to rain

Listen to the tide slowly turning

Wash all our heartaches away

We’re part of the fire that is burning

And from the ashes we can build another day

But I’m frightened for the children

That the life that we are living is in vain

And the sunshine we’ve been waiting for

Will turn to rain

When the final line is over

It’s certain that the curtains gonna fall

I can hide inside your sweet sweet love

For ever more

My partner called this morning(06-14-’08) and said, “Christopher,” and I said, “James.” He said, “Eckhardt,” and I said, “Dean.” He said, “Remember this, it’s Saturday, June 14th, 2008. Will you marry me?” I replied, “Yes, I’d love to marry you!…”

I’d never had any one ask me that before. And the state of Florida recorded it all, as they tape all of our calls.

From the guy who caught my eye walking the track at Liberty CI, in 2004, who at first refused my love, and then returned my love, to now asking for my permanent love. Ain’t life grand!

Love Me Tender

(words and music by Vera Matson-Elvis Presley)

Love me tender,

love me sweet,

never let me go.

You have made my life complete

and I love you so.

Love me tender,

love me true,

all my dreams fulfilled.

For my darlin’ I love you

and I always will.

Love me tender,

love me long,

take me to your heart.

For it’s there that I belong,

and we’ll never part.

Love me tender,

love me dear,

tell me you are mine.

I’ll be yours through all the years,

till the end of time.

(When at last my dreams come true

Darling this I know

Happiness will follow you

Everywhere you go).

“It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks of it, but few have seen it.”

La Rochefoucauld, Maxims

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Gods’s Gunners, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

May 11th, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

www.facebook.com r25288

R25288/Christopher Eckhardt

P.O. Box 5514

Clearwater, FL 33758-5514

Chapter Thirty- Nine

Happy Mother’s Day To All

You Mother’s & Updates

“What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin.”

Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit

My Heart Will Go On

Sung by Celine Dion

Every night in my dreams

I see you, I feel you

That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you’re here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

Love can touch us one time

And last for a lifetime

And never let go till we’re one

Love was when I loved you

One true time I hold to

In my life we’ll always go on

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you’re here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

You’re here, there’s nothing I fear

And I know that my heart will go on

We’ll stay forever this way

You are safe in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

Virginia, I received my first ever Mother’s Day card yesterday from my partner, J.D. It partially read:

Sending

Mother’s Day Blessings

Across the Miles

Sometimes I’ll just be

going through my day,

and suddenly I’ll

remember something

you did or said

that touched my heart.

You have given me

a heart full of treasures,

and each time

I rediscover one,

I realize how blessed

I am to be able

to call you “Mom.”

“I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love….”

Philemon 1:7 NASB

Chris,

10 AM

5/7/08

Dear Luv,

Happy Mother’s Day, baby!! Yeah, I know you’re not a mom, but you’ve nurtured me just like one!! You’ve been there for me, & still are, that’s why I love ya so!! You’re my partner, Luv, & have a special place in my heart, & life, that no other can come between. Thanx for being real, being you!!

Much Love Partner For Life-J.D. xoxoxo

UPDATES

Refer to chapter 11 (July, 2006) and chapter 18 (January, 2007) for background.

Big Bobby Bee played the junkie stunt (=dumb) move of going psych at learning of his sentence, and went to Chattahoochee.

You see, Virginia, the smart criminal (oxymoron) knows that serving time in a psych facility includes more freedom, an allowance, more food, and better treatment. So, Bobby went pysch thinking that would land him back on the streets in a year or two, to avoid the inevitable reality which occurred in February, 2008, when he received a life sentence. He now resides in a northern Florida prison, short one testicle that got shot off during his attempted armed robbery of a Tampa restaurant in October, 2006. I previously wrote that Bobby would probably never see the streets again.

ANOTHER UPDATE

Refer to chapter 27 (March, 2007) for background.

Virginia, the good news here is that the Florida legislature finally gave Alan Crozier his due, and followed federal guidelines established in 2004, and will now compensate wrongfully imprisoned persons $50,000.00 for each year imprisoned. Sometimes justice is slow, but progress is always to be commended!

ANOTHER UPDATE

Refer to chapter 30 (August, 2007) for background.

I am happy to report that the inmate was never killed by the guards. However, for accidently dropping a food tray, he remains on CM (close management), even after his recent review, and six months of perfect behavior. He is on level 1, the worst, locked up 23 hours, and 55 minutes a day. So, they gave him another 6 months. So much for Florida compassion or rehabilitation. Cruelty, and systemic violence continues in the prisons of Florida and America.

Florida just decided to cut educational spending for our children so they could build 3 more prisons, and hire 1,400 more guards, so we could increase our already 100,000 prisoners up to 110,000. Those represent Republican leadership thinking, and family values.

Register to vote, and vote come this November. The only thing at stake is you, your family, your children, and your country. The question you need to ask yourself is shall we invest another 350+ billion dollars in Iraq, or in America?

Vote for change, vote for progress, vote for the Democrats!

I Shall Be Released

sung by Bob Dylan

They say ev’rything can be replaced

Yet ev’ry distance is not near.

So I remember ev’ry face

Of ev’ry man who put me here.

I see my light come shining

From the west unto the east.

Any day now, any day now,

I shall be released.

They say ev’ry man needs protection,

They say ev’ry man must fall.

Yet I swear I see my reflection

Some place so high above this wall

I see my light come shining

From the west unto the east.

Any day now, any day now,

I shall be released.

Standing next to me in this lonely crowd,

is a man who swears he’s not to blame.

All day long I hear him shout so loud,

Crying out that he was framed.

I see my light come shining

From the west unto the east.

Any day now, any day now,

I shall be released.

“In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.”

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

J.D. and I wish all you mothers a Happy Mother’s Day, and ma, thanks for all your love and guidance you gave me throughout your life. Rest in peace (chapter 14, August, 2006).

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

April 26th, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

www.facebook.com r25288

R25288/Christopher Eckhardt

P.O. Box 5514

Clearwater, FL 33758-5514

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The C & G Conversation

“Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?”

Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II

Shake That

By Eminem

feat, Nate Dogg

[Intro-Eminem]

Shady, Aftermath

There she goes shaking that ass on the floor

Bumpin and grindin that pole

The way she’s grindin that pole

I think I’m losing control

[Verse 1-Eminem]

Get buzzed, get drunk, get crunked, get fucked up

Hit the strip club don’t forget once get your dick rubbed

Get fucked, get sucked, get wasted, shit faceted

Pasted, blasted, puke drink up, get a new drink

Hit the bathroom sink, throw up

Wipe your shoe clean, got a routine

Knowin still got a few chunks on your shoestring

Knowin I was dehydrated till the beat vibrated

I was revibed as soon as this B is gyrated

And hips and licked them lips and that was it

I had to get Nate Dogg and his sing some shit

[Verse 2-Nate Dogg]

Two to the one from the one to the three

I like good pussy and I like good trees

Smoke so much weed you wouldn’t believe

And I get more ass than a toilet seat

Three to the one from the one to the three

I met a bad bitch last night in the D

Let me tell you how I made her leave with me

Conversation and Hennessey

I’ve been to the muthafuckin mountain top

Heard muthafuckers talk, seen and dropped

If I ain’t got a weapon I’ma pick up a rock

And when I bust yo ass I’ma continue to rock

Getcha ass off the wall with your two left feet

It’s real easy just follow the beat

Don’t let that fine girl pass you bye

Look real close cause strobe lights blind

[Verse 3-Nate Dogg]

We bout to have a party (turn the music up)

Let’s get it started (Go head shake your butt)

I’m lookin for a girl with a body and a sexy strut

Wanna get it poppin baby step right up

Some girls they act retarded

Some girls are bout it bout it

I’m lookin for a girl that will do whatever the fuck

I say everyday she be givin it up

[Chorus-Nate Dogg]

Shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

Come on girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

[Verse 4-Eminen]

I’m a menance, a dentist, an oral hygentist

Open your mouth for about four or five minutes

Take a little bit of this flouride??

Swish but don’t spit it, swallow and I’ll finish

Yeah me and Nate d-o double g

Looking for a couple bitches with some double d’s

Pop a little champagne and a couple E’s

Slip it in her bubbuly, we finna finna have a party

[Verse 5-Nate Dogg]

Have a party (turn the music up)

Let’s get it started (Go ahead shake your butt)

I’m lookin for a girl I can fuck in my hummer truck

Apple Bottom jeans and a big ol ??

Some girls they act retarded

Some girls are bout it bout it

I want a bitch that sit at the crib with no panties on

Knows that she can’t but she won’t say no

Now look at this lady all in front of me, sexy as can be

Tonight I want a slut, will you be mine?

I heard you was freaky from a friend of mine

[Bridge-Eminem]

I’ma hope you don’t get mad at me

But I told Nate you was a freak

He said he wants a slut, hope you don’t mind

I told him that you like it from behind

[Chorus-Nate Dogg]

Shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

Cmon girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

Ohh girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

Cmon girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me

We bout to have a party(turn the music up)

Let’s get it started (go ahead shake that butt)

I’m lookin for a girl with a body and a sexy strut

Wanna get it poppin baby step right up

Some girls they act retarded

Some girls are bout it bout it

I’m lookin for a girl that will do whatever the fuck

I say everyday she be givin it up

[Outro-Eminem]

There she goes, shaking that ass on the floor

Bumpin and grindin that pole

The way she’s grindin that pole

I think I’m losing control

God, come one

[Eminem makes noises]

I ain’t leavin’ without you bitch

Come here home with me

Ample boy, and his boy, and this boy, and this gurl

haha, they call

[deep breathing]

Virginia, the question of the month is, if I write you a check for anything, and you cash the check; may I then say I bought something from you? Legal semantics. Even if you never delivered what I bought from you, I would contend that I am within the law to say I bought it (whatever it is) from you, because you cashed the check, even if you never delivered the goods. So, even though the Library of Congress-copyright division cashed my check for my 2006 copyright and never copyrighted it for unknown reasons, I will continue to utilize “( c ) 2006-2008.” Mistakes happen, Virginia, so I’ll not request that anyone be imprisoned because I don’t believe there was any criminal intent. They have sent me my 2007 copyright certification with a promise of my 2006 payment.

Virginia, did I tell you that a record company wrote me last month with no initiation on my part, regarding my compositions and requested that I submit some for consideration? No? Well, here’s one of a few I’ve selected:

The C & G Conversation

By Christopher Eckhardt ( c ) 2008

C=me

G=a gangsta; thug; jit

C-Listen up my young bro

You’re on the wrong road

Too heavy a load

Your misery and pain is going to grow

G-You listen up, you gay old cracker

I ain’t your bro, and you got nothing I want to know

You play with a pen in your hand

I ride with a pistol in my lap, with plenty to blow

C-Your anger is self inflicted, your choices suck

You think you’re a man cause you know how to fuck

Baby, you’re a baby, making babies cause you like to screw

Rejected, unprotected, ignorant; what kind of man are you?

G-You listen pussy cracker, I got an 8 inch dick

That women love to fuck, ride, and lick

You’re just a frustrated old man, that probably can’t get it up

I was raised in the hood, with pop in the pen, and ma a whore

C-You ain’t got an 8 inch dick, that’s just an 8 inch clit

You need that pistol in your lap, cause your’re just a cunt

You just want to blame the man cause you live in a pit

You ain’t wearing blue jeans, they’re just a skirt

G-If I had my Glock, I’d blow out your lock

Relishing in your blood on the rock

You’re the real pussy working for the man from 9 to 5

My pockets full; ain’t playing your game; gonna get me mine

C-You got no solutions, you’re the problem, just a sociopath

Thinking that your needs are more important than anyones

Working legit, raising a family, helping others; that’s a man

You’re lazy and irresponsible thinking the world owes

G- You and your system use to hang niggas like me

You want me to respect and play that game?

I ain’t going to be your Uncle Tom, dying on minimum wage

Fuck your system, I ain’t voting either

C-I’m sorry about the hanging tree

I support us all living equal and free

You don’t play the game cause you don’t know how

You ain’t tried to learn cause thuggin and druggin is your now

G-I’m fucking different bitches day and night

You’re sucking dicks, and that just ain’t right

I’m a killer for hire, and I don’t mind causing pain

Your lifestyle is a waste; you’re the one going down the drain

C-You’re the one percent that’ll end up in prison

Blame it on pappy, mama, and the system as you run

You’re just a coward without your pistol, Glock, Z, or K

You think the head between your legs is your best attribute

G-You think you’re a real smart ass, don’t you?

You wish you could suck the head between my legs right now

But I save it for real bitches, not punks like you

For all your years old man, I’ve seen more than you’ll ever see

C-Let’s get one thing straight my young G, my young thug

I’m into real men, not babies like you

You were born, raised, and lived in the hood

TV is the only thing you’ve seen more than me

G-You’re just another hater

Wanting niggas to do your dirty work for minimum pay

Reparations you owe me; 40 acres and a mule, plus interest

From the 1800’s, and if you ain’t giving, I’m taking

C-When you going to learn? Is taxes another you don’t owe?

You don’t write the rules, we all write the rules

Since you’re not voting, the rules will never change

You may be high, but you live on the low road

G-I’m a soldier, bitch, I’ve done my time

I’m bitter is what you made me

You’re white in a white system

I’m your black nigga, never to be really free

C-Sympathy you want, sympathy you lack

Villainy is your knack

You cheat, steal, and hurt

Death is your flirt

G-You and your system blame me for everything

You put me in shakles, you kept me down

I drown my pain in your liquor and drugs

I’ve slept on the streets. Where is your love?

C-You are the sociopath; the conniving, manipulative bitch

The bad seed that chooses not to sprout

My heart is here offering education, hope, and faith

You need to be on your knees praying, maybe you’ll learn

G-Keep your religion that causes more wars and death

Keep your system that keeps us niggas broke

Keep your health care system that keeps me sick

Keep your vote, I’ve given up hope

C-When you going to give up your hate?

It ain’t productive, don’t make it your fate

There’s good people, hope, and education out there

Living and dying in the hood you don’t have to bear

G-Words, and promises, I’ve heard them all before

Rappin with you is just making my mouth sore

You do your thing, and I’ll do mine

I’m a violent muthafucker, and for me that’s just fine

C-Listen up my young bro

You’re on the wrong road

Too heavy a load

Your misery and pain is going to grow

G-You listen up, you gay old cracker

I ain’t your bro, and you got nothing I want to know

You play with a pen in your hand

I ride with a pistol in my lap, with plenty to blow

Piece Of My Heart

By Janis Joplin

Didn’t I make you feel like you were the only man, yeah

An’ didn’t I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can?

Honey, you know I did!

And each time I tell myself that I, well I’ve just had enough.

But I’m going to show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.

I said come on, come on, come on, come on and take it.

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah.

Hey, have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah.

You know you got it if it makes you feel good.

Oh yes indeed.

All right!

You’re out on the street looking good, honey.

Deep down in your heart I said you know that it ain’t right.

Never never never never never never hear me when I cry at night.

Honey, I cry all the time!

And each time I tell myself that I, well I can’t stand the pain.

But when you hold me in your arms, I’ll sing it once again.

I’ll say come on, come on, come on, come on and take it!

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah.

Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah.

You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good. Hey!

Now all right!

Now come on, come on, come on, come on and take it.

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break another little peice of my heart, honey, yeah.

Hey! Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.

You know you got it if it makes you feel good.

Hey! Hey! Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break it, break it, break it, yeah.

Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.

You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.

“Is sex dirty? Only if it’s done right.”

Woody Allen, film, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

March 22nd, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

www.facebook.com r25288

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Republican Religious Repression

“Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.”

Lenny Bruce, The Essential Lenny Bruce

What’s Going On

By Marvin Gaye

Mother, mother

There’s too many of you crying

Brother, brother, brother

There’s far too many of you dying

You know we’ve got to find a way

To bring some lovin’ here today-

Father, father

We don’t need to escalate

You see, war is not the answer

For only love can conquer hate

You know we’ve got to find a way

To bring some lovin’ here today

Picket lines and picket signs

Don’t punish me with brutality

Talk to me, so you can see

Oh, what’s going on

What’s going on

Ya, what’s going on

Ah, what’s going on

In the mean time

Right on, baby

Right on

Father, father, everybody thinks we’re wrong

Oh, but who are they to judge us

Simply because our hair is long

Oh, you know we’ve got to find a way

To bring some understanding here today

Picket lines and picket signs

Don’t punish me with brutality

Talk to me

So you can see

What’s going on

Ya, what’s going on

Tell me what’s going on

I’ll tell you what’s going on – Uh

Right on baby

I refer you to chapter 26, Religious Freedom Denied, in April, 2007, archives, here, for background.

I would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice for their assistance to my partner, J.D. You may see the cross that the State of Florida conviscated from my partner, and made him send home, in my pics at www.myspace.com/r25288. You could say they didn’t consider a cross medalion a religious symbol. You could say the State of Florida is racist. You could say the State of Florida opposes Christianity. You could say the State of Florida’s actions in this case were ignorant. Virginia, what do you think? For me, it’s easy, I just call it another example of systemic violence. I refer to it as Republican Religious Repression or intolerance.

The bottom line, Virginia, is I now wear the approved cross that the state had him remove; conviscated from him, and had him send home. That is the truth, Virginia. You may see him wearing it in his pics at www.myspace.com/jdluvsce. He wore it for months with no problems, before the state made him send it home.

So what would you do, Virginia? Well, we filed all the same paperwork that we had originally filed; I reordered another, just like the other; had it shipped to him through the approved methods as before, and today he again wears the same cross as I wear. What’s going on? What’s it all about?

Here is the test for you, Virginia. Does the above scenario mean the State of Florida:

A. Practices racism;

B. Practices religious intolerance;

C. Practices systemic violence;

D. Practices ignorance;

E. All of the above?

Virginia, don’t say the answer out loud, or you may get into trouble, just whisper the answer to me… I knew you knew.

Virginia, if you have not registered to vote yet, do it this week. Vote come November to save yourself, your children, your family, and your country. Remember too, that blessings continue, and so does the struggle for justice.

J.D. is fine, and today the State of Florida is treating him fairly and kindly, on the other side of the razorwire.

Imagine

By John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will live as one

“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”

Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

February 24th, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

Chapter Thirty-Six

Black History Month

“No one has been barred on account of his race from fighting or dying for America-there are no ‘white’ or ’colored’ signs on the foxholes or graveyards of battle.”

John F. Kennedy, message to Congress(on proposed Civil Rights bill, 1963)

We Shall Overcome

As sung by Bruce Springsteen

Hey we shall overcome, we shall overcome

We shall overcome someday

Darlin’ here in my heart, yeah I do believe

We shall overcome someday

We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand

We’ll walk hand in hand someday

Darlin’ here in my heart, yeah I do believe

We’ll walk hand in hand someday

Well we shall live in peace, we shall live in peace

We shall live in peace someday

Darlin’ here in my heart, yeah I do believe

We shall live in peace someday

Well we are not afraid, we are not afraid

We shall overcome someday

Yeah here in my heart, I do believe

We shall overcome someday

Hey we shall overcome, we shall overcome

We shall overcome someday

Darlin’ here in my heart, I do believe

We shall overcome someday

“It is not healthy when a nation lives within a nation, as colored Americans are living inside America. A nation cannot live confident of its tomorrow if its refugees are among its citizens.”

Pearl S. Buck, What America Means to Me

In January, 2005, while I prepared for my Black History Speech to present again to the inmates at Liberty Correctional Institution, I put these words together and gave them to my love, J.D.:

Dear J.D.,

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a hero of mine, and influenced my marching for the Civil Rights of African Americans, in the 1960’s, and for that, being labeled a “Nigger Lover,” which I remain today.

It was December, 1955, at the age of twenty-six, with Rosa Parks by his side, in Montgomery, Alabama, when Martin said:

“You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the brutal feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of…humiliation. We are here this evening because we are tired now. We had no alternative but to protest.

“For many years we have shown amazing patience. We have given our white brothers the feeling that we like the way we are being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice!

“Now let us say that we are not calling for violence, We have overcome that. I want it known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation that we are a Christian people. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. The only weapon we have in our hands is the weapon of protest.

“We are protesting for the birth of justice in our community…We are guided by the highest principles of law and order. In spite of our mistreatment, we must not become bitter and end up by hating our white brothers.”

In 1963, in a Letter From A Birmingham Jail, Martin wrote:

“…an unjust law is no law at all. It is better to go to jail with dignity than to accept segregation in humility…We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom.”

In Washington, D.C., on August 28th, 1963, I watched from a Philadelphia project TV, as Martin said:

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.’

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

“I have a dream today!

“I have a dream that one day in Alabama…little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

“I have a dream today!

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight…With this faith…we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day…And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true…

“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the Negro spiritual:

‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

In February, 1968, speaking at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin said:

“Every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then I ask myself, ‘What is it that I want said?’ And I leave the word to you this morning. If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long.

“Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards, that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

“I’d like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war-question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try to visit those in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.

“And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.”

On April 3rd, 1968, before 7,000 striking garbage workers, in Memphis, Tennessee, on his last night on planet earth, Martin said:

“If I were standing at the beginning of time, and God offered to let me choose what age I shall live in, I would choose this, our time.

“Now, that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. But only when it’s dark enough can you see the stars…

“It’s all right to talk about ‘long white robes over yonder,’ in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here.

“It’s all right to talk about ’streets flowing with milk and honey,’ but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day.

“Its all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, Gods’ preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee.

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind.

“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.

“And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land.

“I’m happy tonight. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

All My Love, Chris

I memorized it, and presented it in the Chapel at Liberty to J.D and 100 plus other inmates, all of whom gave me a standing ovation.

“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.”

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

What A Wonderful World

By Louis Armstrong

I see trees of green….red roses too

I see ‘em bloom…for me and for you

And I think to myself…what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue…clouds of white

Bright blessed days…dark sacred nights

And I think to myself…what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow…so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces…of people going by

I see friends shaking hands…sayin’..how do you do

They’re really sayin’…I love you.

I hear babies cry…I watch them grow

They’ll learn much more…than I’ll never know

And I think to myself…what a wonderful world.

(instrumental break)

The colors of a rainbow…so pretty in the sky

Are there on the faces…of people going by

I see friends shaking hands…sayin’..how do you do

They’re really sayin’…*spoken* (I…love…you).

I hear babies cry…I watch them grow

*spoken*(you know they’re gonna learn a whole lot more than I’ll never know)

And I think to myself…what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself…what a wonderful world.

“After all, there is but one race-humanity.”

George Moore, The Bending of the Bough

J.D. and I wish you and yours a Beautiful Black History Month, and I invite you to communicate with him at www.myspace.com/jdluvsce

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

January 26th, 2008

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2008

                        Chapter Thirty-Five

                     December, 2004 (Part 3)

                   “One hour of right-down love

                   Is worth an age of dully living on.”

                   Aphra Behn, The Rover

                 Like A Virgin

                 By Madonna

I made it through the wilderness

Somehow I made it through

Didn’t know how I was

Until I found you

I was beat incomplete

I’d been had, I was sad and blue

But you made me feel

Shiny and new

Chorus:

Like a virgin

Touched for the very first time

Like a virgin

When your heart beats (after first time,

“with your heartbeat”)

Next to mine

Gonna give you all my love, boy

My fear is fading fast

Been saving it all for you

’cause only love can last

You’re so fine and you’re mine

Make me strong, yeah you make me bold

Oh your love thawed out

Yeah, your love thawed out

What was scared and cold

(chorus)

Oooh, oooh, oooh

You’re so fine and you’re mine

I’ll be yours ’till the end of time

’cause you make me feel

Yeah, you made me feel

I’ve nothing to hide

(chorus)

Like a virgin, ooh, ooh

Like a virgin

Feels so good inside

When you hold me, and your heart

beats, and you love me

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Ooh, baby

Can’t you hear my heart beat

For the very first time?

From my journal of 12-15-’04:

First, I was conceived with God. Then, the way I figure it, he knew my feminine nature was not going to provide me any advantages, so at least, he’d stuck me in a white womb. Then he gave me another big break, and stuck me in a womb living on American soil. This way, I wouldn’t have to learn a foreign language. Thank you, Jesus!

I grew, and had many great teachers; Jesus, Gandhi, Thoreau, King, Jr., Malcolm X, Machiavelli, Mao, Kennedy, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Mandela, Whitman, Eleanor, Jacqueline, Lady Di, Churchill, ma and pa, and others.

My spirit forged with the underdog. I was with Tom of “The Grapes of Wrath”. I shared the cell with Mandela. I stood before the tank with the Chinese student in Tienanman Square.  I placed the daisy in the soldiers barrel. I cried at the cross. I still say, “Father forgive them for they not what they do.” And they still don’t, but we still have to try.

I was born in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. I took the meaning seriously, personally, and literally, and tried to love as many brothers that would let me. I’ve won at the U.S. Supreme Court. I’ve walked among the bunkers at Wounded Knee, while they were at war with America. I’ve shaken hands with American Presidents, and slept with priests and nuns. I’m the boy next door; I’m an American dream.

Give me the opportunity, a computer, and the software, and I can legally make millions of dollars, as I did as a Stockbroker, for my clients. Give me the opportunity, and if I had the desire, I could seduce your wife or husband. I use to rent a Holiday Inn room, and slept with a man’s wife in the morning, and him in the afternoon, in the same bed, but not at the same time, and neither knew, until we all ended up together in the same bed. I became the surrogate father to their daughter, the old fashioned way, naturally. I remain HIV negative. Ain’t life grand?

While receiving Secret Service clearance once, I was reminded that I was not born in the city of brotherly love, but rather one of her suburbs. The government, bueracracy, and technicalities; I’m surprised myself, sometimes, that I’ve not yet become a Republican, favoring limited government. However, with my sexually liberating, liberal politics, I’m sure they’re glad I’m a Democrat.

I’m a late bloomer; I was seventeen before I had sexual intercourse. She was a cute classmate. Barbara Streisand would have loved her nose. It was a drive-in theater on 63rd St. and Grand Ave., in Des Moines, Iowa. It occurred on the front seat of my 1953 Ford, in August. By the time we finished, got up, and looked around, the drive-in lot was vacant, the movie was over, the windows were steamed over, and it was 2am. I was an animal. Those were the days.

So, skipping over being a newspaper publisher, TV producer, an open marriage that closed, orgies, Quaaludes, Black Beauties, Coke and runny noses, pot and the munchies, protests, drop in and drop out, hide and go seek, charades, Academy Awards parties, Halloween parties, New Years Eve parties, Las Vegas, Jamaica, Bahamas, Canada, San Francisco, Hawaii, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Yellowstone, and Garden of the Gods, we’re now at the bar.

Not the corner bar; not the American Bar Association; but the bar. It is where all of your associates dress in blue. It is where once the soap hits the floor, that’s it honey, your shower is over, ’cause you ain’t bending over to pick it up. However, more accurately put, it’s behind the bars, behind the razorwire. This is the American nightmare, unless you’re Martha Stewart, or me.

So, basically, I’m John Heard in The Big Chill, where his college buddy, Kevin Kline, asks, “So, what is jail another experience you want to try?” Well honey, it’s not like I had a choice. But believe me, now that I’m here, it’s an opportunity, and God knows I like challenges and opportunities. So many men; so little time left to serve. And so this chapter of my life begins.

In prison, I became the Forest Gump of religion. Forest would say, “Life’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” I would say, “God don’t make mistakes; he made me gay, so it’s OK.”

So, while I feel I do not belong in prison; and while I like the color blue and men, I’d rather not be around them 24/7. But hey, what do I know, I thought I’d use my college degree to help improve the world. Little did I know that God declared a shortage of college educated inmates in prison, and that I would be drafted.

I’m never one to shirk personal responsibility. So, I yelled at God, “How about one of the Bush brothers, aren’t they educated?” All I heard back was a thick Bostonian accent that said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” So, I yell back, “My country wants my ass?”

But, what do I know, I read in my Wall Street Journal yesterday that, “A Suicide Bomber Killed 13 Iraqis,” so there are worse places to be. At least I’m not that suicider or one of those 13 Iraqis. Life is a gift, a blessing, and although I tried three times to give the gift back, God would hear nothing of it. I guess I wasn’t good enough with the faith thing, so I was sent to prison to learn more. God had more plans for me, and he placed J.D. in my path.

On 12-18-04, I wrote Mrs D.:

Dear Mrs. D,

At this holy time of year, I just write to tell you that I was blessed, and am now out of confinement. Over six months ago, I was blessed by meeting your son. You have much to be proud of.

We have spent the last six months working hard on his legal case. Normally, you’ll find us doing legal research in the law library every Wednesday and Friday afternoons. I’m not sure if any lawyer could have done more than we did. And I have much respect for the profession, as my brother was an attorney, before he passed.

My own case is on appeal, but regardless of its’ outcome, I will max out my sentence in less than two years. I hope by that time that J.D. may also be free, or on the road to freedom. His sentence is too harsh, and I will continue to assist him in or outside of prison, to secure his legal release, so he may return to his family, and bless others, as his friendship has blessed me these past six months.

Blessings to you and yours at this holy time of year.

Sincerely,

Chris

On 12-20-04, I wrote this for J.D.;

Thy Art A Blessing To Me

For My J.D., compiled by Chris

I John 4:12

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 139:2 & 3

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

John 5:20

For the Father loveth the son, and shewest him all things that himself doeth: and he shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

John 13:13 & 14

Ye called me Master and Lord: and ye say well: for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For My Dearest J.D.,

Learnest, Knowest, Believest, and Trustest, all of this, my boy, my son, my brother, my companion, my right hand man, my love, and I will always be yours, and be with ye always; that the almighty Lord workest in strange and mysterious ways, so fear not and haveth faith; that two are better than one, and that together we are stronger, healthier, and wiser, than if we were to drift apart; that ye are never alone, nor giveth more than ye can handle; that he is abundantly pleased with his loving creation of every glorious part of ye and me, so rejoicest in it all, as I rejoicest in all of ye; denyest me not, and I will never denyest thee; and I thanketh thee for loving me, as I love thee, and for being the daily comfort and blessing that thy art to me, and for sharing with me thy harvest of thy sweet fruit, that sustains my life. Thy art my bestest friend on this planet earth, and I thankest thee and gracious God for sharing thee with me.

All My Love,

Chris

From my journal of 12-21-04, 8:10am, Tuesday;

I went to jail 12-3-04 until 12-14-04, over Mr. B’s kitchen BS. I go to ICT at 9:30 for my new job-we’ll see. J.D. and I got together in his room last Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Sneaking into his dorm, which I often did, basically just entailed me changing out of my sneakers into prison boots, wearing a hat, and removing my glasses, and walking in with one of his friends who lived there, so it looked natural.)

We were doing law work, on his bed, at one point, when he whipped his enlarged dick out of his pants and told me to kiss it. ( Needless to say I did more than just kiss it, and we had a wonderful time. Oh, the hardships I suffered in prison. Did I ever tell you that prison was strange? )

Afterwards, we left together and went to the canteen. I bought him some food, paper, soap, and a pack of cigars. I bought myself some clippers, sunglasses, and a watch. We walked around the yard smoking cigars the other day. I also sent him some long johns I bought off the yard. I asked if we could get together again next weekend-we’ll see. He does love me in his own way. I sent him several notes with Bible verses the other day. I showed him the letter I had written his ma along with a Christmas card, and he told me to mail it; he was pleased with it. I received two books of stamp last night along with 14 blank Christmas cards. I had Juan sell 12 of them for $11.00, of which I gave Juan $4.00.

From my journal of 12-28-04, 7:20am, Tuesday:

I snuck in to see J.D. Friday, 12-24-04, in the morning.  He had bought us some sodas, chips, and chicken sandwiches from the canteen. I also took in my Christmas present for him-cigars, a lighter, and a lighter holder, and cigar holder that an inmate had made. Since creativity is punished in prison, we both knew it was only a temporary gift, because once the guards would find it , they would confiscate it as contraband. But he liked ‘em anyway.

We ate the chicken sandwiches on his bed, talked of the future and our love for each other. Our legs touched as we sat beside each other on his lower bunk, eating our sandwiches. There was no towel covering the windows, so anyone walking by could see us. I would run the back of my hand against his outer leg closest to me, or his left forearm, as I sat to his left, as we talked and ate. We finished eating, and he asked if I was ready for his Christmas present to me. I told him I was. He told me to sit on the toilet by the cell door, and close my eyes. I complied. I heard him get off the bunk, and sensed his presence in front of me. I heard him say, “Merry Christmas,” as I opened my eyes to see his dick in front of my face. Never before or since, had I ever seen his dick so full of protruding, pulsating veins. It was a glorious sight, and the best Christmas present he could have given me. He made it a Christmas to remember.

Same Old Lang Syne

By Dan Fogelberg

Met my old lover in the grocery store

The snow was falling Christmas eve

I stole behind her in the frozen foods

And I touched her on the sleeve.

She didn’t recognize the face at first

But then her eyes flew open wide

She went to hug me and she spilled her purse

And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand

The food was totaled up and bagged

We stood there lost in our embarrassment

As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two

But couldn’t find an open bar

We bought a six-pack at the liquor store

And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence

We drank a toast to now

And tried to reach beyond the emptiness

But neither one knew how.

She said she’d married her an architect

Who kept her warm and safe and dry

She would have liked to say she love the man

But she didn’t like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her

And that her eyes were still as blue

But in those eyes I wasn’t sure if I saw

Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores

And that I must be doing well

I said the audience was heavenly

But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence

We drank a toast to now

And tried to reach beyond the emptiness

But neither one knew how.

We drank a toast to innocence

We drank a toast to time

Reliving in our eloquence

Another ‘auld lang syne’…

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired

And running out of things to say

She gave a kiss to me as I got out

And I watched her drive away.

Just for a moment I was back at school

And felt that old familiar pain

And as I turned to make my way back home

The snow turned into rain-

“There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.”

George Sand, letter (1862)

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits & Bad Boys

December 31st, 2007

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2007

Chapter Thirty-Four

December, 2004 (Part 2)

“While there is a lower class I am in it, while there is a criminal element I am of it, while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

Eugene V. Debs, speech (1917)

“I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Christmas To Remember

By Dolly Parton (sung with Kenny Rogers)

You’ve made this a Christmas to remember

Springtime feelin’s in the middle of December

Strangers meet and they willingly surrender

Oh! what a Christmas to remember

Almost went to Aspen but something told me no

I considered Mammoth but there wasn’t enough snow

And I even thought of Gatlinburg but that seemed so far to go

So I headed up to Tahoe for a Christmas on the slopes

And I had fantasized about Christmas in this way

Curled up by a fireplace in a Tahoe ski chalet

With a fast talking lover and some slow burning wood

But even in my wildest dreams it never got this good and

You’ve made this a Christmas to remember

Springtime feelin’s in the middle of December

Change the radio and I’ll turn the lights down dimmer

Oh! what a Christmas to remember

Strangers when we met, lovers as we leave

Christmas to remember, too good to believe

Don’t know how or when, but I know we’ll meet again

We’ll come blowin’ back to somewhere like some wild restless winter’s wind

And you’ve made this a Christmas to remember

Springtime feelin’s in the middle of December

Neath the mistletoe you kissed me warm and tender

Oh! what a Chrstmas to remember

We loved and laughed and played and joked

Sang Christmas songs and talked to folks

Sleighed the fields and skied the slopes

Then to the lodge for dinner

But now it’s time for us to go

As our hearts melt like chimney snow

There’s just one thing I want to know

Can we do this next winter

Oh! what a Christmas to remember

You’ve made this a Christmas to remember

Springtime feelin’s in the middle of December

Though the fire is hot, we’ll just have to let it simmer

Oh! what a Christmas to remember

You’ve made this a Christmas to remember

Springtime feelin’s in the middle of December

Though it’s cold outside we’ll just stroke the burning embers

Oh! what a Christmas to remember

My notes from confinement of 12-9-04:

I came into prison scared to death, and it took awhile before I discovered that they (inmates and guards) weren’t going to kill me. My first fear was of the inmates, then that got transferred to the guards. Finally, I realized that the inmates really were no threat at all, and the guards were more afraid of me than I was of them.

Prison is a strange, crazy world. It stopped raining and five birds are bathing in the puddle outside my AC(administrative confinement) window. The puddle is on the cement slabs surrounded on all five sides with fencing, so there’s no way to climb over and escape. It’s the four enclosed exercise areas about 10′ by 20′ each. It is where AC and DC(disciplinary confinement) inmates are allowed to exercise after they have been in confinement for thirty days. Two inmates are allowed in each area for three hours, usually Saturday or Sunday. After your first thirty days then you are allowed to go outside for that three hours on a weekly basis.

They just brought around new pillows for those inmates who had none. I see it as the first-last principle. The first will be last and the last will be first. I now had a bunkie, who was sleeping, so I let the Sergeant know that he had no pillow, as he didn’t. The Sarge told control through his walkie talkie to open my cell door, so they did electronically, and the Sarge gave me the pillow for my bunkie, and I gave it to him when he woke up.

I came into prison wanting to be a good inmate. Now, after three years, I see it doesn’t matter. It’s all random, and you can go to the box on the house(prison speak), meaning you did nothing wrong. It’s a numbers game to justify extra staffing, extra salaries, extra benefits. Keep the taxpayer in fear, and he’ll pay what he’s told to pay every quarter, or by every April 15th. I am a former Teamster, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, etc., union member, steward, and vice-president. So, while I generally support unions, I also know the numbers game. So, you could be the best “shaking the bush” Cool Hand Luke inmate, and you could still end up in the box.

I hear Mrs. Sinata (humane guard) telling the tower over her walkie talkie, “Gate 5″, … “Gate 7″, as she instructs the tower to electronically open gates so staff or inmates may pass through the gates which separates the dorms from the chow hall, laundry, and administrative/medical buildings. I’d also say the school building, but they did away with teachers about a year ago, so the school classrooms are rarely used. Another numbers game to maintain employment. You see, Virginia, if we keep ‘em dumb, they’ll just go back to what they know, which is why the majority return to prison within three years of their release, most within their first six months of release.

For my J.D. 12-10-04:

Matthew 5:42

Give to him that asketh thee…

Mark 16:18

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Luke 4:18

The spirit of the Lord is upon me…to preach deliverance to the captives…to set at liberty them that are bruised.

John 7:24

Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment.

Act 5:19

But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth.

Romans 12:10

Be kindly afffectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another.

I Corrinthians 12:18

But not hath God set the members everyone of them in the body, as it has pleased him.

II Corinthians 2:4

For out of much affection and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

Galatians 6::2

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Ephesians 4:28

Let him that stole steal no more.

Phillippians 1:24 & 25

Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for the furtherance and joy of faith.

Colossians 3:17

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Timothy 6:7

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly love continue.

James 2:8

If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.

I John 4:7

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

For my J.D. 12-13-04

I Samuel 12:23 through 2 Samuel 5:4

…but I will teach you the good and the right way…for consider how great things he hath done for you.

But Jonathan…and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened…

Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight.

David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him;

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David,

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants that they should kill David.

But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David; and Jonathan told David,

And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.

And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence,

And David swore moreover , and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes;

Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.

And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

But also thou shalt not cut off thy kingdom from my house for ever:

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,

And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness.

And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.

And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four houndred men.

Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be safeguarded.

Then David and his men, which were about six hundred,

And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be King over Isreal, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Isreal, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

…and David rescued his two wifes.

…and the Philistines slew Jonathan.

Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

And the men of Judah came, and there they annointed David king over the house of Judah.

…and they annointed David king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

For my J.D.

As Jonathan loved David, so too, do I love thee.

All My Love,

Chris

12-13-04 I2-1-20L

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

Anais Nin, diary entry (The Diary of Anais Nin)

Blowin’ In The Wind

By Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they’re forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist

Before it’s washed to the sea?

Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist

Before they’re allowed to be free?

Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,

Pretending he just doesn’t see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind,

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

“Here I stand. I can do no other.”

Martin Luther, speech (1521)

At this holy time of year, J.D. and I wish you and yours joyous days, and a prosperous new year!

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

November 26th, 2007

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2007

Chapter Thirty-Three

December, 2004

“It is not the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change that survives.”

Charles Darwin

Livin’ On The Edge

By Aerosmith

There’s something wrong with the world today

I don’t know what it is

Something’s wrong with our eyes

We’re seeing things in a different way

And God knows it ain’t His

It sure ain’t no surprise

We’re livin’ on the edge

There’s something wrong with the world today

The light bulb’s getting dim

There’s a melt down in the sky

If you can judge a wise man

By the color of his skin

Then mister you’re a better man than I

chorus: We’re livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself from fallin’

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself at all

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself from fallin’

Livin’ on the edge

Tell me what you think about your situation

Complication-aggravation

Is getting to you

If chicken little tells you that the sky is fallin’

And even if it wasn’t would you still come crawlin’

Back again?

I think you would my friend

Again & again & again & again & again

Tell me what you think about your situation

Complication-aggravation

Is getting to you

If chicken little tells you that the sky is fallin’

And even if it wasn’t would you still come crawlin’

Back again?

I think you would my friend

Again & again & again & again & again

Something right with the world today

And everybody knows its wrong

But we can tell Oem no or let it go

But I would rather be hanging on

Livin’ on the edge

Livin’ on the edge

Livin’ on the edge

Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself from fallin’

You can’t help yourself at all

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t stop yourself from fallin’

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself

You can’t help yourself

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t help yourself at all

You can’t help yourself

Livin’ on the edge

You can’t stop yourself from fallin’

Livin’ on the edge

They sent me back to isolation from December 3, 2004, until December 14, 2004, because I refused to sign my name. Yes, Virginia, in our prisons in America, in the beginning of the 21st century, refusing to sign your name to false statements is grounds for isolation; they call it refusal to follow orders. So if they tell you to suck their dick, or kill another inmate, or sign your name, you’d better do it, or they’ll put you in isolation, and you may never come out, until you’re in a body bag.

On December 5th, 2004, I wrote some verses to J.D.’s mom, and mailed it to her after I got out, with his permission, to try to comfort her in the loss of her mother:

Proverbs 18:24

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

Phillippians 4:11

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

John 1622

“And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

Galatians 6:10

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

I Corinthians 15:10

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but by the grace of God which was with me.”

Ecclesiastes 3:18

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born and a time to die…A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Eccesiastes 4:9-15

“Two are better than one…again, if two lie together, then they have heat…For out of prison he cometh to reign…I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall up in his stead.”

Job 30:29-30

“I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.”

Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me…to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

I John 4:7

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

2 Timothy 4;7

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

2 Corinthians 3:17

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

“Finally, brethern, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”

On December 6th, 2004, from isolation, I penned these words for my J.D.:

May All The Saints Protect You

by Christopher Eckhardt

(12-6-04, I2-1-20L)

for my J.D.

At this holy time of year

I’m thankful for all we share

May all the saints protect you from all you fear

I am what God made me

And it’s all good

A gay, old, whiteman, you see

From the suburbs, and not the hood

They call me a sissy, baby, and punk

I’m a writ writer

Cause God don’t make no junk

And for you I’m a fighter

I’m brother to the dragon

Companion of the owl

Sister to the moon and sun

Friend of unicorns and fowl

I’m the friend that’s closer than a brother

With unconditional love like your mother

Let us love one another

You’re part of me, not just some other

I knew you before you hit the womb

I was white before you were black

Choose faith and hope over gloom and doom

Follow this path and you’ll never lack

Though I cannot promise you fame, wealth, and malls

Cause I know you’re proud and not for sale

But my love for you is known in these walls

I love you for you, because you’re all male

We shared time and joy together

That noone can take

Through seasons of extreme weather

You’re alway genuine, never a fake

Don’t be troubled, don’t be afraid

I was sent to help, not to hurt

Peace I give to you, no need to trade

Carpe Diem, Seize the Day, time you assert

From a household of faith, you pray

Surrounded by chainlink fences and razorwire, too

Father, forgive them, I say

For they know not what they do

The grace of God is with you and me

So it is easy to be content today

Two is better than one, you see

For out of prison is our only way

Prison has been a blessing to me

For I met and came to know you

I’ll open prison for you with the key

A key of words and wisdom, too

Liberty is really a state of mind

For you, I have fought the good fight

It’s time to take off the chains that bind

Not for love or money, but just because it’s right

At this holy time of year

I’m thankful for all we share

May all the saints protect you from all you fear

And loving you is how I show I care

ALL MY LOVE,

Chris

As Good As I Once Was

By Toby Keith

She said, “I’ve seen you in here before.”

I said, “I’ve been here a time or two.”

She said, “Hello, my name is Bobby Jo

meet my twin sister Betty Lou

and we’re both feeling kinda wild tonight

and you’re the only cowboy in this place

and if you’re up for a rodeo

we’ll put a big Texas smile on your face.”

I said, “Girls”

(Chorus)

I ain’t as good as I once was

I got a few years on me now

but there was a time back in my prime

when I could really lay it down

and if you need some love tonight

then I might have just enough

I ain’t as good as I once was

but I’m as good once as I ever was

I still hang out with my best friend Dave

I’ve known him since we were kids at school

last night he had a shots

got in a tight spot hustlin’ a game of pool

with a couple of redneck boys

one great big bad biker man

I heard David yell across the room

“Hey buddy, how ’bout a helping hand.”

I said, “Dave,”

(Chorus)

I ain’t as good as I once was

my how the years have flown

but there was a time back in my prime

when I could really hold my own

but if you wanna fight tonight

guess those boys don’t look all that tough

I ain’t as good as I once was

but I’m as good once as I ever was

I use to be hell on wheels

back when I was younger man

now my body says, “you can’t do that boy”

but my pride says, oh, yes you can

I ain’t as good as I once was

that’s just the cold hard truth

I still throw a few back, take a little smack

when I’m feelin bullet proof

so don’t double dog dare me now

’cause I’d have to call your bluff

I ain’t as good as I once was

but I’m as good once as I ever was

maybe not as good as I once was

but I’m as good once as I ever was

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

Anne Frank

diary entry (1944)

(Diary of a Young Girl)

“I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by its own greatest strength-its diversity.”

Melissa Etheridge

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God’s Gunner’s, Booty Bandits, & Bad Boys

October 30th, 2007

By R25288 ( c ) 2006-2007