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exohuman , in TIL Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" was a real stalker who sent Jackson multiple letters claiming he was the father of one of her twins, culminating in sending him a handgun and an invitation to a m...
@exohuman@kbin.social avatar

Eventually, Jackson received a parcel containing a photograph of the fan, a gun, and a letter instructing him to die at a particular time. The fan would do the same once she had killed "their" baby, so they could be together in the "next life". The Jacksons later discovered that the fan had been sent to a psychiatric hospital.

Wow. šŸ˜³

Tangent , in TIL Products made by incarcerated New Yorkers, who earn as little as 16 cents an hour, power a $50 million-a-year industry.
@Tangent@lemmy.world avatar

It might be good to get the perspective of actual prisoners about this before you demand an end to prison jobs. Iā€™ve seen several answers to ā€œwhatā€™s life like in prisonā€ that touch on this but this is the first one I found over on reddit. I bolded the relevant section. www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/59tp8q/ā€¦/d9bkz7p/

I am a convicted felon and have spent time in various prisons in California, I donā€™t know how it is in other states maybe itā€™s different I donā€™t know. So as a disclaimer my perspective is ONLY on California prisons. I discharged parole in 2005 and was last released from prison in 2003 so itā€™s also been some time. Itā€™s also important to note that at the time of my convictions when I agreed to a plea deal I had to literally sign away my civil rights and in California (not sure about everywhere) those are replaced with what is called the Title XV which are a set of rules and rights granted to prisoners, I donā€™t know how those came about I just know that it is what governs prisoners rights in California at least. So thatā€™s a different set of rights and regulations you would probably want to be familiar with prior to arguing the merits of prison conditions.

Itā€™s pretty common from my redditing experience to hear people decry the 13th amendment (which I believe is the one saying slavery is illegal with the exception of prisoners?) as though we are running a modern slave trade in prisons. In my experience that is simply not true. In California prisons while there is certainly incentive to work, you do not have to and are not forced to, although I donā€™t know anyone who would choose not to. However, the wages are not why people work for the most part. In California you have what is known as the good time/work time credit. For every 2 days of good behavior (no write ups) you receive an additional days credit of time served. So without working and with good behavior you will do essentially 2/3 of your sentence. Work time credits add an extra day to that so once you go through reception and are able to get a job in prison whatever it may be, you have the opportunity with good behavior and work to only serve half of your remaining sentence. This is the primary motivating factor for working in prison in California, everyone wants to get out. The second would be boredom, prison is incredibly boring, a lot of time spent with nothing to do, so anything to break up that monotony or get you out of your dorm/cell is a benefit. The paltry amount of money they give you for doing the work is tertiary to these first two incentives. In fact, I never received a paying job in prison, I chose (and most in my position did) education instead which counts as work as far as good time/work time credits go. Education is non-paying but youā€™ll be placed quicker and can start your ā€œhalf-timeā€ sooner, which to anyone other than a lifer is a greater benefit. You are fed and housed either way and the state has a minimum of what they have to provide even the most indigent inmates as far as toiletries and the like. In CA slavery doesnā€™t factor into the equation, boredom, time served credit, and maybe a little extra cash for the store once a month are the driving factors.

There is also often a big hubbub made of private prisons. Again from my experience in California I have to assume that the people complaining about these things have never spent time in any prison. I have been in state run and private run prisons in California and Iā€™ll take the private one every time. In California they are called CCFā€™s or Community Correctional Facilities, and the living standards there are FAR superior to the state prisons. Better food, nicer beds, you wouldnā€™t believe the difference in quality of life an extra inch to a prison mattress or a decent pillow makes. In fact, if it were my choice based on my experiences and those of people I knew, I would rather every prison were like California private run prisons. However there is a limit to that, because you donā€™t want prison to be too comfortable for its inhabitants. You can talk about punishment vs rehabilitation and the merits of other societies views vs the US. But frankly, I stopped doing illegal things because I didnā€™t want to go back to prison, for me itā€™s that simple, though I know for other itā€™s not I can only speak for myself.

Trusting prisoners is a tricky thing. When you go to prison you hear a lot of stories, and you quickly learn that the vast majority are just that, stories. There is a lot of down time and sitting around with not a lot to do and people like to talk, it happens. Exaggerating is a very common plot device to inmate stories. Prison makes you feel small having almost no control over your life and anything you can do to make you feel better about yourself is a welcome relief, which includes telling stories which are often largely exaggerated to the benefit of the story teller. Secondly, inmates like to have something to complain about, it galvanizes them while at the same time gives them something to do, like I said boredom is a big deal. As well as, when you can spend your time feeling like a victim, thatā€™s less time you spend feeling like the criminal. Everyone in prison has a hustle, and if they feel like there is something to gain from doing a particular thing, then they probably will. Which is why when you watch prison documentaries, at least the ones Iā€™ve seen from inside California, I have to laugh at some of the most insane stories these people tell for the camera. Take that shit with a grain of salt because these people will ham it up for the camera, itā€™s human nature to want attention and to want people to sympathize with you rather than look down on you as a criminal, and a better more fantastic story gets more camera time, but I canā€™t really blame them, I just donā€™t sympathize with them.

The amount of people in prison primarily for weed is a tiny percentage of the overall population, so if you think legalizing recreational marijuana (which I am for, even though I donā€™t smoke it) is going to empty out the prisons and bankrupt private prisons youā€™d be in for a rude awakening because itā€™s just not going to happen, there will still be plenty of people in prison I assure you. Oh also itā€™s a common belief that felons canā€™t vote, which isnā€™t true, you just canā€™t be in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony. I have discharged parole and will be voting in the coming weeks and my vote will be to legalize, itā€™s just weed so why no, hopefully it passes, but itā€™s not going to have the devastating effects on private prison populations that you may be hoping for. Marijuana based arrests might be more than all violent crimes combined, but based on the numbers I would say that primarily marijuana based imprisonments are certainly not more than other crimes, and I donā€™t specify violent crimes there because even if weed is legal, meth still wonā€™t be and personally I donā€™t think it should be but youā€™re entitled to your own opinion on the matter.

Oh and before anyone asks Iā€™ve never seen or even heard of a rape happening in a prison I was at. Plenty of trans/homosexual people though so sex certainly does happen but itā€™s generally consensual every time that Iā€™ve known of it. Which Iā€™m fine with two adults having consensual sex, just wish they would find somewhere other than the dorm to do it, hard to sleep when some dude is getting a sloppy bj three bunks down. They probably oughta give them condoms too since people with AIDS are in the general population now with no one knowing about it.

Anyway thatā€™s my ten cents, take it or leave it.

Edit: my username is unrelated I never killed anyone. Also thanks but donā€™t give me gold, give some money to someone who could actually use it.

2nd Edit: I want to be very clear that the things Iā€™ve said are ONLY based on my personal experiences and my opinion of those experiences, I donā€™t have a side or an agenda, Iā€™m not trying to preach about whatā€™s morally right or wrong Iā€™m just giving what information I can give based on what Iā€™ve personally been through I cannot say that it is a universal truth.

TheFeatureCreature , in How to Stop a Charging Dog When You're Out Walking (and don't have pepper spray...)
@TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.world avatar

Around where I live, there has been a sharp increase in the amount of irresponsible dog owners who donā€™t follow bylaws and rules. Started around the time the pandemic hit and everyone was stuck indoors. On top of there being dog shit absolutely everywhere, there has also been a lot of off-leash dogs that arenā€™t trained properly and so being lunged at by a dog is not exactly uncommon these days. So this is good information to know.

Candelestine , in TIL the world's oldest terrarium / sealed bottle ecosystem has been thriving since 1960. The 10-gallon bottle is like a mini Earth. It has only been opened once in 53 years to add a bit more water ...

Ooh, an excuse to shill for an offbeat youtuber, how lovelyā€¦

youtu.be/9pAuthWofWc

Itā€™s not Rick Astley, I promise. Jartopia does narration-less terrarium content set to pleasant music.

Son_of_dad , in TIL that Yoko Ono created an experimental film called Self-Portrait. It's a 42 minute shot of John Lennon's semi-erect penis. It was shown once at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1969, and ha...

This lady is nuts. No talent and just seeks attention

Maddison , in TIL some sharks lay eggs and they look like this

Should be noted that even though some sharks do lay eggs, not all of them lay spiral egg cases. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_case_(Chondrichthyes)

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