A Russian Tzar And A Burmese Monarch – OpEd

Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing. Photo Credit: Mikhail Frolov, Tatarstan President's Office, Wikipedia Common

 March 7, 2022

By Kanbawza Win

The self-appointed, modern Burmese monarch Min Aung Hlaing (MAH) following the advice of a modern Tzar, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who had graciously supplied the Burmese army known Tatmadaw (TMD) meaning (Terrorists Marauding, Dacoits) with the latest modern weapons coupled with a secret advice of not to show any mercy, or sympathy even to the women and children, has now amply demonstrated to the world, with Russia attacking the weaker neighbouring sovereign country of Ukraine. The common denominator between Burmese military regime and the current Russian regime is that they repeatedly lie the very concept of truth, as perhaps they have taken a good example from the Third Reich’s Joseph Goebbels, a master manipulator, and a terrific orator, that knows how to whip up a crowd in a frenzy is the propaganda minister of Adolf Hitler, who said “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” So also, the Burmese cut-throat MAH (ratvdk;) taking a leaf out of its teacher and benefactor, modern Russian Tzar, Vladmir Putin, and knowing very well of how his Tatmadaw backed political party lost miserably in the elections of getting less than 10% of the winning party (the NLD party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) shuttered at the prospect of going back to the barracks, after ruling the country from 1962 in taking the beloved country to the level of the Least Developed Status. Hence, he had no choice, but to implement a military coup d’état with the blessings of his mentor former General Than Shwe (better known as the Burmese Bulldog).

In an interview with VOA (Voice of America) Myanmar’s military government spokesman Zaw Min Htun has said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “justified for the sustainability of their country’s sovereignty and demonstrated Moscow’s position as a world power,” which was also released in Russian. Last year, General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s military chief, met the head of Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoborone in Moscow to discuss “potential military technical cooperation”. He told Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu that Myanmar’s army had “become one of the strongest in the region” thanks to his country’s help, according to Russian news agency TASS. So, it is no wonder when the Myanmar’s military junta expressed its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, placing itself at odds, with most of the world community that has condemned the Russian military action and moved to introduce crushing sanctions on Moscow. (PHOTO)

However, countering Myanmar’s military junta, the opposition Burmese government in exile better known as the National Unity Government of Burma (NUG) issued a statement in support of Ukraine, saying that “The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Burma condemns the unprovoked acts of war directed against Ukraine and its people.” The NUG called the attacks “terrifying in Ukraine is a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law and is not a good example in the 21st century. Moreover, it will be a major obstacle to the maintenance of international peace, security, and human development. Myanmar stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.” It must be remembered that Coup leader MAH had visited Russia in June last year and there are strong ties between the Burmese and Russian militaries. Russia is one of the few countries to have defended the military council that seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials. Since then, U.N. and Burmese experts have repeatedly called for a ban on arms sales to the military council, but Russia has ignored the call. Perhaps, Putin seems to copy the false flag operations and moves to establish puppet states remind us, of what Imperial Japan did in northeastern China, of Manchuria, in the early 1930s and named it as an independent Manchukuo. The world suddenly resembles a century ago when blatant violations of international law prevailed. Have our civilized world any lessons from the two world wars?

Putin’s sabre-rattling recalls some of the stuff that Khrushchev used to do when he banged his shoes at the UN General Assembly. Now that everybody witnessed that Russia and Ukraine’s first round of talks failed to ease Europe’s biggest ground war as Russian missiles pounded Ukraine’s cities and, troops have pressed closer to the capital, Kyiv, resulting in millions of Ukrainians fleeing the country.  International efforts to punish and isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin have intensified and taken aim at his country’s most important finances. Even traditionally neutral Switzerland joined the growing coalition of nations imposing a raft of sanctions on Putin and associates, demanding Russia withdraw its troops immediately. But Putin seems to remain impervious to the pressure and insisted Russia was not targeting civilians in its attacks despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Rather than back down, Putin is driving an increasingly brutal tactics which MAH carbon copied. An embattled Ukraine moved to solidify its bond with the West by applying to join the European Union. It’s a largely symbolic move for now that could take years to become reality and is unlikely to sit well with Putin who has shown that his real concern is not so much security, but bitterness at how in the early 1990s Soviet and Russian leaders handled the secession of states from the then USSR and its’ ultimate collapse. Hitherto, many in the West have viewed Putin as a rational actor who drives a hard bargain. Rational actors can be dealt with by diplomacy and international structures. But recent speeches raise concerns that the Russian president might not be operating rationally. Indeed, he has appeared emotional and unhinged in various claims. Some speculate that there is truly a mental health issue in the mix, like what MAH is going through now as asking the women folks to take care of the security of the army compound and forcing them to carry the guns.  Can Ukraine become a similar war of attrition for Russia, a sort of defeat? At the beginning of the war, perhaps few would have believed, but as time passes, such a scenario seems to become increasingly possible. Contrary to the general atmosphere echoed by the media, numbers, and facts-on-the-ground do not suggest an easy Russian victory; rather, there’s much heavier Ukrainian resistance and Russian losses, and much slower Russian advance than expected. The conflict overall is starting to show signs of evolving into a war of attrition that Russia may not even be able to win, just like in Burma that the Junta could not win the NUG whom it labeled as terrorist somewhat similar a thief crying thief. Burma has been in turmoil since a coup a year ago, with at least 1,500 civilians killed by security forces, according to activists cited by the United Nations, which the junta has also accused of bias. The military has been battling militias allied with a parallel National Unity Government (NUG), which last year called for a nationwide revolt and has been outlawed by the Burmese Junta.                                                                                                                                                                           

 One must recollect that even as Russian President Vladimir Putin wages war against Ukraine, his country’s economy has begun to collapse under the weight of unprecedented penalties of the Western governments. But one would scarcely remember that President Joe Biden spoke 6,500 words about nuclear weapons during his State of the Union speech, but not one of them acknowledged the dangers of nuclear war that have spiked upward during the last decade and even more steeply in recent days. The militarism that Martin Luther King Jr. warned us about has been spiraling toward its ultimate destination in the nuclear era — a global holocaust that would likely extinguish almost all human life on Earth. During this reality, leaders of the world’s two nuclear superpowers continue to fail — and betray — humanity. The world should recollect that in the stark light of March 2022, Albert Einstein’s outlook 75 years ago about the release of atomic energy has never been more prescient or more urgent: “This basic power of the universe cannot be fitted into the outmoded concept of narrow nationalisms. For there is no secret and there is no defense, there is no possibility of control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world.” The phrase “narrow nationalisms” aptly describes the nuclear-weapons policies of the United States and Russia. They have been engaged in a dance of death with foreseeable human consequences on a scale that none of us can truly fathom.                        Mr. Shahid cited the UN Charter, the Organization’s founding document, which outlines a world where countries settle disputes by peaceful means, without the threat or use of force. “The violence must stop. Humanitarian law and international humanitarian law must be respected. And diplomacy and dialogue must prevail.” But Putin has not heeded this warning as everybody knows that the Council members voted in favour of the UN General Assembly convening after Russia vetoed a resolution. The resolution gives the Assembly power to take up matters of international peace and security when the Security Council is unable to act due to unanimity among its five permanent members – China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia – who have the power of veto. But while Russia raises the nuclear threat, loses the war of global public opinion, and suffers from the hammering its currency and financial and energy sectors are taking, its troops on the ground continue to dictate events inside Ukraine. In the meantime, that Burmese Junta forces have torched at least 6,158 civilian homes in the 13 months since the coup, mostly in areas where anti-regime resistance is the strongest. Sagaing Region suffered nearly 60 per cent of the damage, according to independent research group Data for Myanmar. 

At least the current Burmese leader MAH is far more honest than Putin in their private life as MAH adopted son is married to the Burmese chief pf police’s daughter gives raison d’être of why the Burmese security forces are so close to each other in their all out war against the entire populace of the country. Whereas Putin is married to Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya, who was a flight attendant for the Kaliningrad branch of Aeroflot from 1983 to 2014 and now his two daughters Maria and Katerina lives with their mother Lyudmila. But Putin has never publicly acknowledged his children, though media outlets have reported often. Then he had another daughter in 2015 with former Russian rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. At least in their private life MAH is more honest than Putin. 

MAH, has exchanged numerous visits with senior Russian military officers, though there has been no face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though he has reportedly made several requests to meet with Putin. It was Maung Maung Aye who talks to the Russian army officers about acquiring air defense systems and acquired US$2.3 billion worth of weapons during his trip, according to Russian news agencies. Myanmar military personnel also study at several military schools and training facilities in Russia, including the Omsk Armor Engineering Institute, the Air Force Engineering Academy in Moscow, the Nizhniy Novgorod Command Academy and the Kazan Military Command Academy. While the junta has made clear its position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is not without links to the latter; Ukraine also supplies weapons to the Myanmar military. It purchased from Ukraine an estimated 1,000 BTR-3U armored personnel carriers (APCs) to be assembled in Myanmar. And in 2016-17, Ukrainian arms manufacturers reportedly shipped parts for Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-17 helicopters, BTR-3U armored personnel carriers, a ship engine, and ship propulsion and radar systems through a local arms dealer in Myanmar.

But the silver lining for the resistance group is that there are many good Military Council members who do not like the unjust repression of the terrorist military council and have high levels of ideology and want to serve the people and love the truth and want to see the TMD as a professional army that is loved by the people. These people usually defected to the resistances’ side and the resistance has developed support mechanisms for defectors. No doubt there is a growing trend of officers and soldiers leaving the military dictatorship who do not like the unjust repression of the military junta and wish to escape and is estimated that hundreds of deserters fled the Military Council in the first two months of this year including from the Air Force. Hence, let us wait and see how long the marauding Russian Tzar and the Burmese monarch remain on the scene.

 

Robert Reich: Four Things You Can Do For Ukraine – OpEd

 March 7, 2022 

By Robert Reich

The waitperson where I had breakfast this morning broke down in tears over Ukraine. “I just don’t know what to do,” she said.

She’s not alone. I feel the same way. You probably do, too.

That one tyrant can cause this much human suffering defies whatever progress we assumed civilization had made since Hitler’s rise almost a century ago. That Putin can wreak such havoc on innocent people, seemingly unconstrained by others in Russia’s government, makes a mockery of modern ideas about governance in even totalitarian regimes.

That he has control over a nuclear stockpile capable of annihilating much of humanity lays bare — even more starkly than does climate change — how far humanity has fallen behind in the primal race between technology and survival.

But bear in mind several encouraging things. The rich nations of the world that still practice democracy are exercising a unity of resolve not seen in decades. Thankfully as well, we in the United States have as president a person who is sane, thoughtful, experienced, and even-tempered. Can you imagine where we’d be with the former guy?

Beyond this, there is no reason to suppose that the grim calculus behind “mutually-assured destruction,” which has so far prevented a nuclear holocaust, has changed.

Finally, by all accounts Putin is not having an easy time of it. The people of Ukraine are mounting a fierce resistance. He cannot “win” this war. Even if he establishes a puppet government there, the resistance will continue.

So what can you do to help Ukraine? Four things.

1. First, you can contribute to Ukrainian relief efforts. Here are organizations I trust:

— Ukraine Crisis Fund. The international humanitarian group is providing food, water and other items to families fleeing violence in Ukraine. Contribute here.

— Doctors without Borders. Staffers with the medical relief organization remain in Ukraine and are “seeking ways to respond to the medical and humanitarian needs as the conflict evolves.” Offer support here.

— ICRC. The Swiss-based organization is supporting the work of the Ukrainian Red Cross in helping those impacted by the war. Donate to the ICRC.

— Keep Ukraine’s Media Going is a GoFundMe campaign for journalists around Ukraine that also aims to help reporters relocate and continue their work from neighboring countries. Donations can be made here. 

2. Second, you can write your members of Congress expressing your view that the United States should sanction Russian oil and gas, and that you are willing to make the financial sacrifice of higher prices at gas pumps and for home heating oil that will almost certainly result.

3. Third, you can urge your members of Congress to open wide America’s borders to Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s war, and help them transport themselves and their families here.

4. Fourth and finally, whatever your political persuasion, you can put aside your anger and frustration with Americans who disagree with you on other issues and recognize our shared commitment to democracy and human rights and our mutual loathing for the murderous rampage we are witnessing in Ukraine. Bearing witness to this calamity and unambiguously condemning it should, at the very least, be something we can all agree on.

Robert B. Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, and writes at robertreich.substack.com. Reich served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fifteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock", "The Work of Nations," and"Beyond Outrage," and, his most recent, "The Common Good," which is available in bookstores now. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.

 

The China-Australia Laser Incident: More Than Meets The Eye – Analysis

 March 7, 2022

By Mark J. Valencia

Australia accused a Chinese warship of shining a military grade laser at an Australian Air Force Poseidon 8A (P-8A) surveillance plane.  The incident occurred on 17 February in Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and also involved the dropping of sonobuoys by the Australian aircraft.  Australian politicians quickly seized the opportunity to blast China and bolster their standing in the upcoming elections. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the incident was an “act of intimidation.” Defense Minister Peter Dutton said Australia “would always stand up to China’s coercion, bullying and intimidation”. But politics aside, there is much more to this incident than meets the eye.

The Australian Department of Defense condemned China’s “unprofessional and unsafe military conduct.”  This position has been backed by several Australian analysts including former RAAF Group Captain Peter Layton. He authored a piece in the prominent Lowy Institute’s Interpreter alleging that China’s use of a military-grade laser was a purposeful hostile act of aggression “authorized at the highest levels.”   The piece further asserted that “trying to injure people appears on its way to being the new Chinese grey zone norm”.  These dangerous assertions are speculation based on questionable assumptions.   The incident and explanations thereof raise many questions and deserve closer examination.

First, it is not clear what type of laser was fired at the plane. The Layton piece said that it was part of a fire control system. But others said it was a “dazzler designed to temporarily blind adversaries or burn sensors.”   The Layton piece alleges that such use “appears to be in contravention of the 1995 Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons”. Both Australia and China are parties to that Protocol.

Core questions are what type of laser was used, what was the intent of firing the laser, and what was its effect?

The Protocol stipulates that “laser weapons specifically designed_ _to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision are prohibited.” But it also states that “blinding as an incidental or collateral effect of the legitimate military employment of laser systems is not covered by the Protocol. So was the laser aimed directly at– and only at– the cockpit, with the intention to blind the pilots or damage critical electronic equipment? Or was it aimed at the plane as a whole as a range finder? Did it blind or injure the pilots, or were they wearing protective eyeware? To be sure, firing a laser at an aircraft is a n unfriendly act. But if the laser was not designed to injure, and there was no intent to cause harm and there was none, the Protocol may not have been violated.

Second, why did the Chinese warship fire a laser at the plane? Was this a response to a hostile act on the part of the aircraft? The US produced P8As are armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and other weapons. Did the Chinese commander consider its approach ‘unsafe’, harassment, or a hostile ‘provocation’? If so, was the action justified? 

The Australian Defense Force had been tracking the surface vessels for days. If there was thought to be a submarine in the vicinity, was the P-8A subhunter trying to identify it and collect its ‘signature’ to pass on to the Americans. If so, was it reasonable for China to view this act as hostile or at the least ‘unfriendly’?

The Layton piece claims that the use of the laser was unprovoked because the Australian subhunter dropped the sonobuoys in the vicinity of the Chinese warships only after the firing of the laser. If –as the piece says– the laser was fired before the P-8A dropped the sonobuoys, their deployment could have been seen as retaliation and a ‘hostile act’.

Both Australia  and China have agreed to the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). It recommends “avoiding the discharge of objects in the direction of vessels encountered”. Did the aircraft’s dropping of sonobuoys near the vessels go against this recommendation?

The Chinese vessels were exercising their UN Convention on the Law of the Sea supported right of freedom of navigation on the high seas.  Yes they were in the Australian EEZ and this may have added an element of knee-jerk nationalism to the Australian reaction. But as the U.S. never tires of pointing out, EEZs are “international” waters for purposes of navigation by warships.

There are many questions that need to be answered before jumping to conclusions and assigning blame. Indeed, there may be enough to go around.

Mark J. Valencia

Mark J. Valencia, is an internationally known maritime policy analyst, political commentator and consultant focused on Asia. He is the author or editor of some 15 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is currently an Adjunct Senior Scholar, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Haikou, China

COVID-19 is biological warfare against prisoners

March 3, 2022

One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population – 1,700 loved ones have died. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project. Stop experimenting and start releasing!

Part 2 of Herd Immunity

by Cheryl Vaughn, California Institute for Women (CIW)

Editor’s note: We continue with our JPay correspondence from Cheryl Vaughn, W93852, who sounds like an activist, but is a woman sharing her grave concerns about the plight of women prisoners being treated inhumanely at CIW – same as many of us might do sitting around our kitchen tables sharing our thoughts on the state of the world – feeling she has little to no agency over her ability to change her circumstances, other than having hope, saying prayers and risking retaliation for exposing current prison conditions at CIW to the public.

Jan. 5, 2022 (excerpt)

We are in Phase 1 again. Deja Vu. They seem dead set on not letting people go.

Then they got the nerve to speak harshly: “Go to your cells! Close your doors!” Then you hear a woman’s voice loudly over their radio snippy and shouting harshly: “No inmates are to be showering or using phones, they don’t get to be out!!” They love locking us down, yelling, talking down to us like we’re bad dogs or something. 

Those compaction moves were bound to contribute to this current environment of Covid positives. How utterly cruel, murderous even. They would rather watch us die or suffer, than let people go or do any of the right, moral and ethically sound things humans do if they have a responsibility over the lives of others. 

With power comes responsibility. But this treatment is utterly criminal – no better than what many of us are accused of doing or have done. In some ways it’s worse, because it’s genocide.

Here’s the coldest part of it – the warden is a woman of color. A Black woman! How could she?!

Jan. 8, 2022

Dear Nube Brown, 

I hope this letter finds you all doing well, staying safe out there. We here at CIW are trying to maintain our mental and physical health. 

We were issued one N95 mask each about three days ago. However, we are expected to wear them when we come out of our cells per one of the housing lieutenants. But we were wondering, how often should we get a new one? Generally, officers have them, but rarely do we ever get them unless we are on a transport out of the prison. If we are going to be on this statewide 15-day quarantine, shouldn’t we get one a day, at least, of the N95 mask?

snippy and shouting harshly: “No inmates are to be showering or using phones, they don’t get to be out!!”

Aside from the quarantine we are already on because we have positives in our housing unit here in Emmons A and Emmons B, the staff is not telling us who is or isn’t positive; something they never should have been doing in the first place because it was causing people added stress and shame for everyone to know they were specifically on quarantine with the sign on their cell doors, and everyone would blame them because the quarantines would cut short the programming time of everyone in the unit. 

Another thing I question is, should the porters (inmate workers) be the ones controlling the bleach, holding on to it, not allowing other inmates access to it themselves, etc.? We have one very, very bossy inmate worker who wants to tell others what to do so badly, policing other inmates especially since they pick on certain ones and overlook their buddies.

Inmate workers are out of their cells while the rest of the population is locked down. They began to address other inmates in a superior tone and tell the COs how they want to run things. The staff are so short that they are allowing this behavior because they need the help, I guess. 

It’s very bad policy – inmates should never be put in a position to police other inmates. Morally speaking, they should not even want to, but apparently the incarcerated workers don’t recognize the damage of allowing themselves to be used by the system like this. They don’t get all the PPE gear that staff does, so why even be used like that? 

Sincerely, Inmate Cheryl Vaughn  W93852

Jan. 14, 2022

Hi, Nube. It’s me, Cheryl, from CIW.

Food insecurity is becoming a feature of prison now, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. The pandemic has a lot to do with this.

Schools are facing this same problem. But why should CDCR take funding from schools and other vital services just to keep prisons open and prison guards employed? Certainly, if schools are facing food shortages because of supply-chain crises, then the chains that supply prisons should be supplying the public schools instead.

It’s very bad policy – inmates should never be put in a position to police other inmates.

However, if that happens, prisoners will come up short. It then becomes unjust detention when captors cannot supply inmates with the proper amounts of nutritional, at least somewhat palatable, food to sustain each person on a daily basis. We are already beginning to see food insecurities here in CIW.

We really need to start on a true campaign of vigorous prison closures in California. Too much money is being taken from other needy programs for prisons. The detention in California is already reaching a level where it has become unjust detention. 

Covid is continually scourging inmates and staff. We drink unsafe water. Our dilapidated buildings and plumbing are fit for demolition; These old buildings are full of asbestos. We receive substandard medical care, there’s overcrowding of inmates and we’re too close together – then we get another surge of positive Covid cases. 

The huge shortages of staff are due to the pandemic. These unsafe conditions abound in California prisons. Conditions were already bad for prisoners, and sometimes even staff, but mostly since Covid, they are unbearable. 

Critical times, hard to deal with, heading toward tribulations – the cycles of abuse seem never ending with no sign of letup. There is no more possibility of reform – the California prison system is broken beyond any hopes of repair.

Truthfully, the people should close all except the very few highest-level prisons for serial killers and rapists and child molesters – although even a few people in some of those categories may possibly be reformed – but the California prison system itself is way out of control and beyond reform.

The Department of Agriculture pledged in the week of Dec. 17, 2021, to send up to $1.5 billion to states and school districts to help fortify the nation’s school-meal program. The funds, which the USDA says it hopes to make available in January of 2022, are intended to help schools deal with disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bulk of the funds is expected to flow to as many as 100,000 schools in all 50 states.

Last time that I checked, no other state’s prison guards are as well funded as California’s.

Sounds nice, but how many times has the bulk of funding allocated for public programs, even schools, ended up in police coffers and prison personnel pockets instead? Besides, the funding the police organizations hijack isn’t going toward the inmates, but for salaries, raises, medical care and dental coverage, and so many other perks and benefits for prison employees and their families.

The nepotism in hiring for some of these prisons in California is so blatant and rampant that several generations of one family can be employed in one prison alone. A lot of that happens right here at CIW. Perhaps there are rules against this practice, but no one seems to be enforcing those rules.

Funding also goes for more employee vehicles and weapons to use against inmates. Not even New York’s correctional peace officers union have it as well as the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Last time that I checked, no other state’s prison guards are as well funded as California’s.

This comes at the cost of taking money that should be for firefighters, teachers, medical personnel in public hospitals – not just jail or prison infirmaries, where it’s well-known that medical care for incarcerated people is substandard, and medical personnel in carceral institutions usually lack proper credentials and training for treating inmate-patients.

These monies should also be for homeless shelters and senior centers and animal shelters, the improvement of public-school grounds and equipment and more after-school programs, etc. [These monies should be for] the community – really put funds into the hands of the community instead of criminalizing almost everyone in the community besides a select few. 

The inhumane treatment of incarcerated people is not considered criminal, but protesting such treatment is criminalized.

Please stop the school to prison pipeline which is set to churn out more slaves for the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) – brainwashing men, women, children, everyone, into believing we are all chattel once we are incarcerated.

The PIC is also having us believe that speaking out against being treated as such makes us rebels, outlaws and criminals. Oh, People, stop funding this diabolical system.

Now, here’s the cold part, where it gets tricky: The inhumane treatment of incarcerated people is not considered criminal, but protesting such treatment is criminalized. Framing trouble by decree like the 13th Amendment did and still does to this day, hundreds of years later, after the Civil War, there’s a modern-day slave class – prisoners.

Sincerely, Cheryl Vaughn

Jan. 16, 2022

Hi Nube, it’s me Cheryl from CIW. Today is Sunday Jan. 16, 2022.

My e-mails of course are all monitored closely as my regular snail mail is. 

I do worry that as a result, I can expect retaliation, though. But I know that’s going to happen anyway as soon as this state quarantine is over – I have been hearing rumblings of, “Oh yeah, come February” from a CO.

Officials may transfer me to some worse prison or put me in a cell with some bully or known thief. An officer has already “jokingly” threatened me to do something like that. He is the same one that keeps clapping his hands in my presence talking about, “come February.” I guess that’s when we are expected to get out of quarantine. The staff have also said things that let me know they have been reading my mail, so it’s too late for me to clam-up now.

 As I write this, I was just told I am getting a bunky again, one who came from off the bus. Double-celled again. They are filling us up again right now. It’s so bogus how staff on second and third watch shifts make the safety COVID announcements daily about social distancing, then turn around and place us with bunkies like there’s a revolving door to each cell.

Also, I dared to question the reasoning behind CIW – or any prison in California – having the same person as warden, or even acting warden, who was the warden at CIM who allowed the transfer of 122 inmates from CIM (California Institute for Men) to San Quentin on May 30, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

a real surge in positive Covid cases throughout the prison – why would the warden do such a careless thing at this time? 

Right now, some of the same officials responsible are working here at CIW, despite so many deaths caused by their carelessness. What’s worse is, during this Omicron variant, this ex-CIM official who now works here at CIW, has made many compaction moves double bunking almost all of us once again, even though doing so may be a violation of the treatment of prisoners under the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela rules), and the standards defined by the American Correctional Association (ACA). The cells are tinier than the bathrooms in most homes.

The compaction moves here at CIW have caused so much stress and mental anguish. The main thing to happen since these moves has been a real surge in positive Covid cases throughout the prison. Why would the warden do such a careless thing at this time? 

Is this part of some scheme to test out the power of the vaccinations against COVID or what?! We were already secretly used as Guinea pigs by officials during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons throughout the U.S., in an attempt to establish herd immunity during the Trump administration. Crimes against humanity is what it looks like from where I sit.

I don’t know what’s up their sleeves, but I can only imagine. Naturally, being a lifer who has never gone to Board, even after 22 years of incarceration, I am sure I can expect to pay dearly for expressing myself at Board. 

At one point, people of color who were going to the Board were being asked if they were going to have any dealings with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. I cannot recall verbatim how the questions were posed, but the fact that it was even brought up during a Board hearing was intimidating. That was the way one young woman took it. I was not there in the room, so I have not seen the actual transcripts to know exactly what was said.

Fortunately, one of the people who this happened to has paroled. So, thank you Nube, by all means publish. Thank you for listening to my cries of anguish.

Sincerely, Cheryl Vaughn W93852

Jan. 26, 2022 (excerpt)

The governor is looking the other way, but these wardens must be doing this at the request of some higher official. You may find this same weirdness is happening all across the U.S., with wardens intentionally exposing inmates to this deadly virus to establish herd immunity. But in the process, they have sacrificed the lives of inmates and staff.

No one gave INFORMED CONSENT to be used this way. We are not just acceptable casualties. This affects the public, not just prisoners. 

It reminds me of the Tuskegee Experiments: Black male prisoners were exposed to a venereal disease. Sure, some may have contracted it naturally, but prison staff let those men go untreated to record how the disease progressed on each “subject.” Some of the men may have died, but all really suffered needlessly, and were injured in mind and body, some permanently. 

So, Covid is being used as a weapon against prisoners; I think it is like biological warfare.

Whatever those in power claim as the reason why they are allowing or even facilitating these outbreaks doesn’t matter, the results are weapons against a particular group of people – genocidal behavior of authorities against inmates, people who cannot fend for themselves.

Send our sister some love and light: Cheryl Vaughn, W93852, CIW, Emmons 403-L, 16756 Chino-Corona Rd., Corona, CA 92880.

Editor’s note: Cheryl Vaughn, like all those that speak out, are at risk of retaliation and other forms of intimidation to keep them silent or in fear. We can provide some protection and support by taking time to write to our imprisoned writers, and calling the governor with your concerns: 916-445-2841. 

Our community members behind the walls should not feel alone, hopeless or separate from the struggles we face out here. Let’s stand in solidarity with our community members behind the walls in our commitment to assert our humanity and fight for what’s right. 

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