Story of JLWOP: Extremes of Cruelty, Hope and Beauty of free life!

 It was heart wrenching to read this article on Washington post. Normally, my attention span is for a minute or two max, just read first few lines or paragraphs and scroll to end to wrap it up and move to next. However, this article, forced me to read it twice.. thrice.. to understand and absorb the extremities of human cruelty, human hope, beauty of life.. free life.. essentially.. this article summarizes all the aspects of HUMANITY itself. 

To summarize, this is the story of Mr. Ligon a.k.a. Mr. Joe. Now 83 year old, spent last 68 years of his life in prison/s (6 different institutions), cancer survivor, in good health and spirits now.. for the crime, if he would have committed today as a teenager, he would be out in max 10 years (58 years before, at the age of 25). 

It could have all together different outcome of what he would have been today, if he was released at the age of 25. He could have gotten his life back and who knows, all together successful person and living happy free life. or maybe not.. 

However / whatever he would have been or done with his life, it would have been his life! His free life!

Some could argue that, his life would have gone back towards violence, just like many of his family members. Many of his male family members were killed while he was in prison. However, why look for all the negatives, why not look at his sister and niece.. they are doing well.. In any case, I am sure that he would have done much better than in last 58 years of incremental prison time he got. Whatever, we say, he spend these extra 58 years, mainly due to color of his skin. But, I guess, we all know that.. Unfortunately, we aren't still making enough progress on this front..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/02/19/joe-ligon-release/?arc404=true

The best part of the story is about Optimism, Hope, Happiness and Exuberance towards the free life for him. Obviously, at this age, his expectations from life are very small and simple. For most of us, it is next to impossible to empathize with him, forget about understanding what is going on with him. 

Nevertheless, a happy beginning of another life chapter for Mr. Ligon. 

Important thing is to continue to reform our justice system so we don't hand out these type of cruel punishments based on our prejudices towards race, color, religion. 

Hope for the best!

I think we need Intervention by Supreme Court on this issue

If India really wants to be Super power, India needs to fix their Infrastructure.. Start caring about value of life more... Currently, I feel India is rich enough that they can rebuild City or Country on their own in case without any aid from outside.. However, No Country is Rich Enough to get life of its Citizen's back.. Nations can invest in preventing loss of life only.. Which is what India needs to next.

Fix building codes to ensure that newer buildings can withstand moderate earthquake and may protect residents in case of severe earthquake. I am sure that newer building codes must be enforcing it.. wherever they can, despite rampant corruption.. However, issue here is older buildings.. which were buit years ago without any thought about earthquake...

I can't blame western media for this news as exaggeration as I have seen these areas myself.. especially in older/northern Delhi.. I am sure things might have changed a lot already.. As people make money they start investing in future.. biggest of it must/should be in protecting life!!!

Here is detailed news from our beloved local Mercury News..

New Delhi officials ignore quake dangers

Despite warnings, leaders fail to work on improving safety

By Muneeza Naqvi

Associated Press

NEW DELHI — The ramshackle neighborhoods of northeast Delhi are home to 2.2 million people packed along narrow alleys. Buildings are made from a single layer of brick. Extra floors are added to dilapidated buildings not meant to handle their weight. Tangles of electrical cables hang precariously everywhere.

If a major earthquake struck India’s seismically vulnerable capital, these neighborhoods — India’s most crowded — would collapse in an apocalyptic nightmare. Waters from the nearby Yamuna River would turn the subsoil to jelly, which would intensify the shaking.

The Indian government knows this and has done almost nothing about it.

An Associated Press examination of government documents spanning five decades reveals a pattern of warnings and recommendations that have been widely disregarded. Successive governments made plans and promises to prepare for a major earthquake in the city of 16.7 million, only to abandon them each time.

The Delhi government’s own estimates say nine out of every 10 buildings in the city are at risk of moderate or significant quake damage, yet the basic disaster response plan it had promised to complete nearly three years ago remains unfinished, there are nearly no earthquake awareness drills in schools and offices and tens of thousands of housing units are built every year without any earthquake safety checks.

Fearing many buildings could lie in ruins after a quake, the Delhi government began work in 2005 with U.S. government assistance to reinforce just five buildings — including a school and a hospital — it would need to begin a rudimentary relief operation to deal with the dead, wounded and homeless. Six years later, only one of those buildings is earthquake-ready.

“At the end of the day, people at the helm of affairs are not doing anything,” said Anup Karanth, an earthquake engineering expert.

In its attitudes to disaster preparedness, India is like many other poor nations — aware of the danger but bogged down by both inertia and more immediate demands on its resources.

But Delhi faces immense earthquake risks. Last September, two minor jolts sent thousands of scared residents into the streets, and experts say a big one looms on the horizon.

As far back as 1960, after a moderate quake cut power and plunged Delhi — then a city of 2.7 million — into darkness, the Geological Survey of India advised that all large buildings in the capital needed to have a quake safety plan.

A series of reports by other agencies have expanded on that conclusion in recent years, but both the city and national governments have ignored almost all of the recommendations.

Some reports were ignored because of apathy, others because of shifting priorities. In a city and country growing at lightning speed with huge problems of poverty and hunger that need more immediate solutions, earthquake preparedness has never been at the top of the list. Some plans begun with good intentions simply fell by the wayside.

That’s what happened to the 2005 plan to prepare five important buildings in the capital for an earthquake.

Government engineers were sent to California to train. But the next year — with only the school made earthquake ready — all the engineers were taken off the project. They were reassigned to build stadiums for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, an athletic competition held in Delhi, said M. Shashidhar Reddy, the vice chairman of India’s National Disaster Management Agency.

MANISH SWARUP/ASSOCIATED PRESS 

If a major temblor struck, the collapse of the dense housing in the crowded northeast district of New Delhi would create an apocalyptic nightmare.

Osama Gone.. What next?

Entire US is celebrating demise of Osama. Whereas lot of people in Middle-East are still wondering if he really is dead or not.. To me, most surprising thing was that he was living lavishly rather than hiding..  where as we were all thinking that he is hiding in mountain region of Pakistan or Afganistan. He sure lived like royal in that mansion. I am sure he must have got help from Pakistani Military and or Intelligence. I think Pakistani government did enjoyed his stay as they got billions of dollars of US aid in the name of fighting the war against terrorism along with US.

Okay.. we are done with Osama chapter. Now what? Does it help or make matter worse. Will we be able to get hold of Al-Qaida or it may result in more animosity towards West and US in particular. One thing is sure.. we can't attack any other country in the name of getting Osama. However, in my view we will see many more foot soldiers for Al-Qaida.. Definition of Terrorist and Freedom fighter is very context sensitive and changes based on who is telling the story.. I don't think other than good education in middle-east (objective science based education, rather than religious) anything else can help this situation..  That too will take long time.. In the mean time US and west has to change their attitude towards rest of the world and think more of parters rather than only looking from financial point of view.

Everyone wants to live happily and want to live.. nothing is more important than life at least own life for an individual.. I can only hope that we have better world tomorrow and more peaceful world!!