A Washington State Non-profit orginization
Issue # 8
Nov/Dec 2007
$4.95 U.S.
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IMU
Jammin’School
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INSIDE
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Thanksgiving
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Letters to Editor
Dear Editor,
As always, your magazine is a great read.
I missed a few issues, but was thrilled to
receive issue #7. I read it cover to cover,
and again was inspired to write another
poem for “Poet’s Corner”. You published
one of mine last year. I was transferred to
another facility and lost the address. I found
your ad in “Prison Living Magazine” and
was sad to find out that was their last issue.
Thank goodness your ad was in there. I
will spread the word about your wonderful
magazine. I’m sure whatever changes you
make will be to our benefit. I am including
5 stamps for issue #8 Nov/Dec. It would be
wonderful to see “By God’s Design” printed
in your magazine. I really enjoy the humor
and the puzzles. Of course the submission
of this poem gives you permission to print
it. Keep up the good work, thousands of us
really appreciate all you do! Thank you!
Mark Hensley
Dear Mark,
Thanks for the praise and your thought
provoking poem. You will find it in this
issue. I am delighted to hear that you enjoy
the magazine so much. I hope you are
sharing it with your cell mates. We also
send them to prison libraries, so if you get
transferred again and lose the address,
you will be able to find a copy in the
library. Keep spreading the
word about The Insider, and
keep writing those wonderful
poems.
Ed.
Dear Insider,
!-Luv 2 U & Yours. I send
my utmost respects your way. Enclosed
is a xerox photograph of a female friend
& I winning a body building tournament.
Please make a copy & return. I hope it’s
clear enough to print. I sent a story about
my competition & exercise routines to
add with this enclosed photo in a seperate
envelope that I sent to the Trust Office here
so they can cut a $12.00 check to purchase
a year subscription to The Insider. If you
haven’t received it yet, you will soon.
Please hold a copy of this bodybuilding
photo until you receive the check and
letter. For now, please send me your latest
Insider issue. I’ve enclosed a SASE w/3
stamps attached.
Thank you, and God bless.
Michael Wortham
Dear Michael,
Thank you very much for the
xerox copy of the bodybuilding
tournament, and congratulations
on your win. Both you and your
partner look very well developed.
I wish I could get my body in that
shape.
As much as we tried to get a decent copy
of your copy, we just couldn’t get anything
good enough to print. Each time a picture
is copied, it diminishes somewhat, and
making a copy of a copy doesn’t help at
all. If you have the original photograph,
we could digitally scan that and get a
reasonable copy to print, I will keep the
story on file for a little while in case you
are able to send in the original photo.
Keep up the good work and stay fit for life.
I now have “body envy”.
Ed.
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
by O. Henry
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.
And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies
saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the
grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher
until one’s cheeks burned with the silent
imputation of parsimony that such close dealing
implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar
and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would
be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down
on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della
did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that
life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with
sniffles predominating.
While the mistress of the home is gradually
subsiding from the first stage to the second, take
a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per
week. It did not exactly beggar description, but
it certainly had that word on the lookout for the
mendicancy squad.
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into
which no letter would go, and an electric button
from which no mortal finger could coax a ring.
Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing
the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.”
The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze
during a former period of prosperity when its
possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now,
when the income was shrunk to $20, though,
they were thinking seriously of contracting to
a modest and unassuming D. But whenever
Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and
reached his flat above he was called “Jim” and
greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham
Young, already introduced to you as Della.
Which is all very good.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks
with the powder rag. She stood by the window
and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a
gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow
would be Christmas Day, and she had only
$1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had
been saving every penny she could for months,
with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t
go far. Expenses had been greater than she had
calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy
a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour
she had spent planning for something nice for
him. Something fine and rare and sterling-something just a little bit near to being worthy
of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of
the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass
in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person
may, by observing his reflection in a rapid
sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly
accurate conception of his looks. Della, being
slender, had mastered the art.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and
stood before the glass. her eyes were shining
brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within
twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her
hair and let it fall to its full length.
Now, there were two possessions of the James
Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a
mighty pride. One was Jim’s gold watch that had
been his father’s and his grandfather’s. The other
was Della’s hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived
in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have
let her hair hang out the window some day to dry
just to depreciate Her Majesty’s jewels and gifts.
Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his
treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would
have pulled out his watch every time he passed,
just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her
rippling and shining like a cascade of brown
waters. It reached below her knee and made itself
almost a garment for her. And then she did it up
again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered
for a minute and stood still while a tear or two
splashed on the worn red carpet.
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old
brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the
brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out
the door and down the stairs to the street.
Where she stopped the sign read: “Mne.
Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds.” One flight
up Della ran, and collected herself, panting.
Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked
2
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
continued on page 14
Index
Issue 8, Nov/Dec 2007
Letters to the editor
The Gift of The Magi
Puzzles
Humor
AWARE, Not Scared
Interview w/Melvins
Unique Whips (Cars)
Motorcycles
Featured Vendors
Crossword Puzzle
Hopes & Dreams
Lifer
Poet’s Corner
Artist Loft
Insider University
page 2
page 2
page 5
page 6
page 8
page 10
page 12
page 14
page 15
page 16
page 17
page 18
page 20
page 21
page 22
Published 6 times a year
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$18.00 annually.
Subscriptions for inmates:
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The Insider Magazine
PO Box 829
Hillsboro, Oregon 97123
www.insidermag.org
[email protected]
Ronald C. Fryer, Publisher
R. Christian, Editor in Chief
Wai Shubert, Graphics Editor
Chris Fryer, Text Editor
Shirley Shubert, Distribution
Rosemary Fryer, Proofreader
Submissions: All submissions are regarded
as released in full to The Insider Magazine
regardless of whether or not a signed release
accompanied the submission. No submission
will be returned unless accompanied by a selfaddressed stamped envelope with the proper
postage affixed.
Inquiries: All inquiries must be accompanied
by a self-addressed stamped envelope, or we
cannot respond.
© 2007
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LOOK!
Humor
Letters
Poetry
Prison Art
Crossword
Short Stories
Math Puzzles
Word Puzzles
Collector Cars
IMU School of Success
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
3
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4
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
30 page
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The World of Products Catalog (6.95)
has over 3000 gift ideas, and it is our
most comprehensive catalog.
Unlike most gift companies, we have
a flat rate of just $7.95 for shipping to
a single address no matter how many
items are in the order.
You can’t go wrong with Great Gifts.
Get your catalog today. Send your
stamps or money order to the address
listed and we will send you your
catalog right away. Or visit our website
and order online.
www.GreatGifts-SD.com
Puzzles
Puzzle answers on page 19
SUDOKU: Fill in the boxes so that each of the nine rows, each
of the nine columns, and each of the nine 3 X 3 sections contain all
the numbers from 1 to 9. No number may be used twice in any row,
column, or section.
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The Fork
There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a
terminal illness and was given 3 months to live. As
she began getting her things ‘in order,’ she called
her pastor and asked for him to come to her house to
discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told
him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what
scriptures she wanted read, and what dress she wanted
to be buried in. She also requested to be buried with her
favorite Bible in her left hand. Everything was in order
and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the woman
suddenly remembered one final request that was very
important to her. “Please Pastor, just one more thing,”
she said excitedly. “Sure, what is it?” came the pastor’s
reply. “This is very important to me,” the woman
continued, “I want to be buried holding a fork in my
right hand.” The pastor gazed at the woman, at a loss
for words. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the woman
asked. The pastor replied, “Well to be quite honest, I
am puzzled by the request”. The woman explained.
“You see, Pastor, in all my years of attending church
socials and potluck dinners, I remember that when
the dishes were being cleared after the main course,
someone would inevitably lean over to me and say,
‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part of the meal
because I knew that something better was coming,
like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie.
Something wonderful to end the meal!” “So, I just
want people to see me there with a fork in my hand
and I want them to wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’
Then I want you to tell them: “Keep your Fork...the
best is yet to come.”
The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he
hugged the woman good-bye. He knew that this would
be one of the last times that he would see her before
her death. But he also knew that the woman had a
better grasp of Heaven than he did.
She knew and trusted that the best was yet to come.
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
5
Humor
A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and
there is a gorgeous
redhead sitting at the next table. He has
been checking her out since he sat down,
but lacks the nerve to talk with her.
Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye
comes flying out of
its socket toward the man. He reflexively
reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and
hands it back.
“Oh my, I am so sorry, “the woman says as
she pops her eye
back in place. “Let me buy your dinner to
make it up to you,” she says.
They enjoy a wonderful dinner together,
and afterwards they go
to the theater followed by drinks. They talk,
they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams
and he shares his. She listens.
After paying for everything, she asks him if
he would like to
come to her place for a nightcap and stay for
breakfast. They had a wonderful, wonderful
time. The next morning, she cooks a
gourmet meal with all the trimmings.
The guy is amazed. Everything had been
SO incredible! “You know, “he said, “you
are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to
every guy you meet? “
“No, “she replies. . . .
“You just happened to catch my eye.”
~:~
A new jockey starts work at a new stables
and is about to compete in his first race.
The owner of the horse comes to him and
says he has a great ride and should win:
“All you have to do is this. As you’re
coming to a fence say, ‘5 4 3 2 1 JUMP,’”
The race starts and the jockey thinks to
himself, “I’m a professional jockey and
I’m not gonna be told how to ride a horse,”
so he says nothing.
The first fence comes and the horse puts his
head down and crashes straight through it
losing about ten lengths.
The second fence approaches and still, the
jockey says nothing. Sure enough, the horse
puts his head down and crashes through teh
fence again.
At this point , he’s twenty lengths behind
and thinks to himself, “If I don’t get a result
here it it could be the sack!”
As the third fence comes up, his mind
racing, he thinks, “I’ve nothing to lose.
6
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
Here goes...’5 4 3 2 1 JUMP!’
And would you believe it? The horse glides
over the fence.
He does this at every fence each time
making distance up and by the end of the
race wins by four lengths.
Back at the weigh in the owner says to the
jockey, “Well done lad, you won but what
the bloody hell went wrong at the first two
fences?”
The jockey, trying to cover up his mistake,
replies, “Well I did all that 5 4 3 2 1 jump
stuff but he never heard me.
“Well, shucks!” the owner exclaims, “I
knew he was blind, but I
didn’t knew he was deaf
as well!”
~:~
There once was a magician
who finally got his big
break and got a job as a
head-liner in Vegas. So,
he was out doing his first
performance and was just
wowing the crowd! I mean they were eating
this stuff up! Every trick he did
had perfect timing; every trick came off so
believable! He was on a roll.
He got down to his last trick and asked for
an audience member to assist him. Even
with how well he was doing, everyone in
the audience was still hesitant. Finally,
he pointed to a man in the audience and
reluctantly the man came forward.
“Welcome sir! I will ask you to please take
this mallet that I have here and, after I have
laid my head on this block, I want you to
smack me in the head with that mallet as
hard as you can,” the magician said.
Well, of course the man was shocked and
refused to do it.
The magician replied, “Sir, have I not
wowed you tonight with my magic?”
“Well, yes you have but...”
“No buts, sir! Do you not trust that I am a
professional magician that knows
what he is doing?”
“I guess so,” the man replied.
“Well then, when I say I want you to smack
me on the head with this mallet
then I mean it. Trust me sir, I know what
I’m doing.”
“Ok, I trust you.”
So, the magician lays his head down on the
block, the man from the audience raises the
mallet, the crowd gasps, the man brings
down the mallet on the magicians head...
and the magicians head is split clean open.
Blood everywhere.
The magician is rushed to the hospital not
looking too well. After hours in surgery, the
doctors explain that they have sewed up the
magician’s head but he is in a coma. They
won’t know anything until he wakes up.
In the meantime, the man from the audience
feels just horrible. He knows it’s his fault.
He stays by the magician’s side every spare
moment he gets. Reading to him, telling
him stories, all in the hope that one day
soon the magician will wake up and he
can apologize for this horrible thing he
has done.
Four years this goes on. Then one day,
out of the blue, the magician begins to
stir. The man from the audience calls
in the doctors and friends and family.
Everyone is standing around the hospital
bed waiting to see if he is going to be
okay or if he can speak.
The magician opens his eyes and attempts
to sit up in bed. He looks around at all the
loving attention he seems to be getting
from his family and friends. He sits up all
the way in bed and looks around once more
and says, “TA-DAA!”
~:~
Three women and three men are traveling
by train to the Super Bowl. At the station,
the three men each buy a ticket and watch
as the three women buy just one ticket.
“How are the three of you going to travel
on only one ticket?” asks one of the men.
“Watch and learn,” answers one of the
women.
They all board the train. The three men take
their respective seats but all three women
cram into a toilet together and close the
door. Shortly after the train has departed,
the conductor comes around collecting
tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and
says, “Ticket, please.” The door opens just
a crack, and a single arm emerges with a
ticket in hand.. The conductor takes it and
moves on.
The men see this happen and agree it was
quite a clever idea; so, after the game, they
decide to do the same thing on the return
trip and save some money. When they get
to the station they buy a single ticket for the
More Humor
return trip but see, to their astonishment,
that the three women don’t buy any ticket
at all!!
“How are you going to travel without a
ticket?” says one perplexed man.
“Watch and learn,” answer the women.
When they board the train, the three men
cram themselves into a toilet, and the three
women cram into another toilet just down
the way.
Shortly after the train is on its way, one of
the women leaves her toilet and walks over
to the toilet in which the men are hiding.
The woman knocks on their door and says,
“Ticket, please.”
~:~
What do you call two Mexicans playing
basketball?
Juan on Juan
What is a Yankee?
The same as a quickie, but a guy can do it
alone.
What is the difference between a Harley
and a Hoover?
The position of the dirt bag
Why is divorce so expensive?
Because it’s worth it.
What do you see when the Pillsbury Dough
Boy bends over?
Doughnuts?
Why is air a lot like sex?
Because it’s no big deal unless you’re not
getting any
What do you call a smart blonde?
A golden retriever.
What do attorneys use for birth control?
Their personalities.
What’s the difference between a girlfriend
and wife?
45 lbs
What’s the difference between a boyfriend
and husband?
45 minutes
What’s the fastest way to a man’s heart?
Through his chest with a sharp knife.
Why do men want to marry virgins?
They can’t stand criticism.
Why is it so hard for women to find men that
are sensitive, caring, and good-looking?
Because those men already have
boyfriends.
What’s the difference between a new
husband and a new dog?
After a year, the dog is still excited to see
you
What makes men chase women they have
no intention of marrying?
The same urge that makes dogs chase cars
they have no intention of driving.
Why don’t bunnies make noise when they
have sex?
Because they have cotton balls.
What’s the difference between a porcupine
and BMW?
A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.
What did the blonde say when she found
out she was pregnant?
“Are you sure it’s mine?”
Why does Mike Tyson cry during sex?
Mace will do that to you.
Why did OJ Simpson want to move to
Florida?
Everyone has the same DNA.
Why do men find it difficult to make eye
contact?
Breasts don’t have eyes.
Did you hear about the dyslexic Rabbi?
He walks around saying “Yo.”
Why do drivers’ education classes in
Redneck schools use the car only on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?
Because on Tuesday and Thursday, the Sex
Ed class uses it.
Where does an Irish family go on
vacation?
A different bar.
Did you hear about the Chinese couple that
had a retarded baby?
They named him “Sum Ting Wong
What would you call it when an Italian has
one arm shorter than the other?
A speech impediment.
What does it mean when the flag at the Post
Office is flying at half-mast?
They’re hiring.
What’s the difference between a southern
zoo and a northern zoo?
A southern zoo has a description of the
animal on the front of the cage along with..
“a recipe”.
How do you get a sweet little 80-year-old
lady to say the F word?
Get another sweet little 80-year-old lady to
yell *BINGO*!
What’s the difference between a northern
fairytale and a southern fairytale?
A northern fairytale begins “Once upon a
time...”
A southern fairytale begins “Y’all ain’t
gonna believe this... “
~:~
One morning, Ben and Thomas were out
golfing.
Ben slices his ball deep into a wooded
ravine. He maintains his positive attitude
and grabs his 8-iron proceeding down the
embankment into the ravine in search of
his ball. He trudges diligently through the
thick underbrush and suddenly he spots
something shiny. As he gets closer, he
realizes that the shiny object is in fact an
8-iron in the hands of a skeleton which has
obviously been lying near an old golf ball
for a number of years.
Ben excitedly calls out to his golfing
partner: “Hey Thomas, come here, I got big
trouble down here.”
Thomas comes running over to the edge of
the ravine and calls out: “What’s the matter
Ben?”
Ben shouts back in a nervous voice: “Better
throw me my 7-iron! Something tells me
I won’t be getting out of here with an 8iron.”
~:~
Thousands die and go to heaven. God comes
and says, “I want the men to make two
lines. One line for the men that dominated
their women on earth and the other line
for the men that were dominated by their
women. Also, I want all the women to go
with St. Peter.” With that said and done, the
next time God looked, the women are gone
and there are two lines. The line of the men
that were dominated by their women was
100 miles long, and in the line of men that
dominated their women, there was only
one man. God got mad and said, “You men
should be ashamed of yourselves. I created
you in my image and you were all whipped
by your mates. Look at the only one of my
sons that stood up and made me proud.
Learn from him! Tell them my son, how
did you manage to be the only one in this
line?” And the man replied, “I don’t know,
my wife told me to stand here.” ~:~
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
7
AWARE, Not Scared
an inspirational story
Aware, Not Scared
BY JANE DAVIS
I remember walking through the doors of
the Rahway Penitentiary for the first time
back in 1976.
I was 23 years old, had been working
with juveniles under the supervision of
the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, and
was part of a team sent to view and help
evaluate the Juvenile Awareness Program
(widely popularized in the media as
“Scared Straight,” thanks to a powerful
documentary), which “brought at-risk
youngsters into Rahway, exposing and
subjecting
them to prison life for a day in an attempt
to dispel all youthful myths about jail.” Our
goal was to determine whether or not we
could bring this program to the Jefferson
City Missouri Penitentiary and whether or
not the program was successful in what it
was trying to achieve.
I have stayed in touch with the program ever
since that first introduction. If s a powerful
program and it sure had an impact on me.
Not surprisingly, the Juvenile Awareness
Program has been very
controversial. But any program that is as
strong as this one is going to draw criticism
as well as support.
From the very start of my involvement with
this program, my belief has been that if it
prevents
even one juvenile from behavior that would
land him/her in prison, then it is working.
The program is actually many-sided. What
people lose sight of is that the program was
not started with a focus on the kids
One of the ideas that is part of the basis
of The Lifers’ Group, which oversees the
Juvenile Awareness Program, is “our desire
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8 The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
had, had he remained on
the path of violence that
he was on.
Melvins gets incredible
satisfaction from being part
of this program. “We found
that by helping ourselves
we’re able to help kids,”
he explains. “We don’t get
any monetary benefit from
this. I don’t have to be part
of it.”
He never would have
A Lifers’ Group Rap Session. “The first speaker is usually intimidating,”
believed
that he would
Melvins explains. “Then we try to mellow H out a little. We’ll discuss education,
sex, and drugs. But we keep the first one hard. We’re telling them, ‘You’re In make a difference in
house today. This ain’t Disneyland, it’s Rahway.’”
anyone’s
life.
Today
Melvins,
as
well
as
other
members
of
the
to try to improve ourselves as best we can
Lifers’
Group,
gets
calls
from
all
over
the
under the circumstances in order that we
world.
They
recently
sent
information
to
might be able to leave this imprisonment
the
governments
of
Japan
and
Norway.
The
as better persons than when we entered, by
working toward that all important quality— group also gives seminars at the State Police
that of a useful and productive member of Training Academy. Calls come in from
parents and kids alike with various behavior
society.”
The process of becoming part of the problems, looking to the Lifers for support
Lifers’ Group is like applying for a job. and guidance.
An inmate submits a request which goes to Mike wasn’t into any major law breaking
the Executive Staff and then to a Screening activities, but Palombi, now a teacher’s
Committee made up of inmates. In order aid at Chancellors Academy, remembers
to be part of the Juvenile Awareness the impact that going through the Scared
Project an inmate must prove that he has a Straight program had on his life. He went
commitment to wanting to help himself as through seven years after going through
well as the juveniles, is drug-free, and has the Juvenile Awareness Program, he found
not been involved in any child molesting. himself in jail for three years for extortion
Maxwell Melvins, #66064, serving a and terrorist threats; first in Essex and then
life sentence for
homicide, has been
in prison for 13 of
his 32 years. When
he was transferred
to
Rahway
in
1986, he submitted
an
application
to
the
Lifers’
Group.
Melvins’
involvement
in the program
has
significantly
changed his life.
He says he has
“learned how to
run a business.”
Ironically, he has had
opportunities within
the penitentiary that “We’re saying ‘This is how it is in prison, now you make the choice,” says Melvins
he would not have about the Lifers’ Group-sponsored Juvenile Awareness Program.
AWARE, Not Scared
an inspirational story
Southern State.
His trip to the Rahway program haunted
him. “I remember one of the guys yelling
in my face, ‘Look at us, you’re looking at
yourself!’” Palombi recalls. One year after
he got out, he saw a kid steal his brand new
truck. He couldn’t believe that someone
was doing to him the program with his
school in 1976. He was, he recalls, “really
scared.” At that time,
Palombi what he had done to other people.
He quickly found a cop, and they chased
the truck. During the chase, his truck was
destroyed. Rather than press charges,
Palombi decided to do something different:
He asked the kid to give him a couple
hours of his time. Palombi brought him to
the Rahway Penitentiary and the Juvenile
Awareness Program. The kid has had only
one incident with the police since then.
Today, Mike Palombi is going back to
finish his degree and he frequently takes
groups of kids through the program. “When
a kid comes to me and says thanks, it makes
it all worthwhile.”
According to Hunter Hurst, Director of
the National Center for Juvenile Justice,
“The Juvenile Awareness Program makes
common sense for some people and
uncommon sense for other people. It has not
fared in an even manner. In measured value,
it’s been more for the inmates. That has
been an impediment to it’s development.”
This program is far from perfect. What is?
“Unless somebody tells (the youths) about the realities of prison life,” Melvins explains, “they’ll never know.
That’s the advantage we have over everyone else. We live in this every day. We know.”
Yes, we’re going to hear stories about the
kids who have gone through it who are still
out there committing crimes. Yes, we’re
going to hear stories about the members
of the Lifers’ Group who, while out on
parole, slip and commit another crime. But
let’s not forget the stories of Mike Palombi
and | Maxwell Melvins #66064. There are
similar programs in various | prisons. The
inmates are learning skills through this
program and helping troubled youths as
well.
What could be bad?
I remember sitting through the program 16
years ago. I knew I was part of something
very special, something that
could have a positive influence in this
world. That is probably why I stayed in
touch all these years. To have the chance to
write about it is an honor for me. I’d like to
see more prisoners take advantage of their
time while in prison to do something this
constructive.
~:~
(reprinted with permission) Originally printed
in Prison Life.
“We tell them to take their shoes off,” says Melvins.
“Then we throw their shoes into the audience
to show them how it feels to have people take
something away from you. We give them back their
shoes at the end of the session.”
See related article and poem by
Maxwell Melvins on pages 10 & 21.
The Insider Magazine welcomes
articles about success in prison.
Please send them to:
The Insider Magazine
Editor’s Desk
PO Box 829
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Include photos if possible. Photos
and article will be returned.
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
9
Maxwell Melvins
An Interview with
Maxwell Melvins
Maxwell Melvins #66064 is currently
serving out a life sentence for murder in the
maximum security East Jersey State Prison
in Rahway, NJ. Years ago, Melvins—as a
member of the Rahway Lifers’ Group—
first participated in their landmark Juvenile
Awareness Program (widely popularized
in the media as “Scared Straight”), which
brought at-risk youngsters into Rahway,
exposing and subjecting them to prison
life for a day in an attempt to dispel all
youthful myths about jail. In the years
since, Melvins has been instrumental in
taking the program several steps further.
This includes organizing the first rap music
project to be recorded inside a prison and
performed entirely by prisoners. The idea
was to use hip-hop to reach young minds,
while still sticking to the Group’s original
goal, as stated in their credo: “Learn at
the expense of our sorrow. Help keep our
membership low. Help save tomorrow’s
minds from crime today.” In late 1990,
Hollywood Records released the Lifers’
Group EP. Their second release, Living
Proof, is due shortly, featuring the first
single, “Short Life of a Gangsta,” produced
by the rap group Organized Konfusion.
FIRST OF ALL, LET’S MAKE IT CLEAR
THAT THE JUVENILE AWARENESS
PROGRAM IS ONLY ONE FACET OF
10 The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
THE LIFERS’ GROUP.
Exactly. We don’t want anyone to be
misled. Yes, we do it for the kids, but it’s
about us, too. If we’re able to help others
during the course of helping ourselves,
then we’re more than willing to do so. And
we’ve been pretty successful at that.
WHAT WAS BEHIND GETTING THE
LIFERS’ GROUP STARTED?
We found that short-termers have programs
available to them. Long-termers and lifers
really didn’t, though. So that’s where the
concept originally came from. This was like
their own thing right here; something for
long-termers and lifers. They were—and
are—the ones more likely to lose contact
with the outside world. Their ties get cut
off. So in 1976, the Juvenile Awareness
Program developed.
WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC THINGS
THE GROUP DOES WITH STUDENTS?
We do a number of things. We have a high
school awareness forum. Students come in
from high schools, and we talk to them. It’s
an open forum where we put ourselves in
their shoes and explain how they can avoid
peer pressure, letting their friends or anyone
push them into using drugs or making a
bad decision. We make them understand
the realities of prison life. And we let them
know that it only takes a minute to get in
here but it takes forever to get out.
We explain how they can be accomplices
and charged as accessories for just having
knowledge of certain crimes. We explain
how they can be charged for just being there
at the scene of a crime and for not trying to
prevent a person from committing it.
WHAT ARE SOME QUESTIONS YOU
GET ASKED MOST OFTEN?
We get all kinds of questions. What do we
do during the course of a day? How do we
feel? Are we angry with society?
ARE YOU?
I’m not angry with society, as, per se, me
being in prison. But you might be angry in
the sense that, if society wanted to make
a difference and make this any better, they
could. We always stress the point that if one
person wants to make a difference, he can.
A lot of people take the attitude that one
person can’t make a difference. We try to
show them that that’s not true. You can, as
one individual, make a difference. And you
can make it in your life, as well as the next
person’s life.
WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS WHO ARE
IMPRESSED WITH THE FACT THAT
YOU’ RE IN PRISON? SOME KIDS
OBVIOUSLY SIB IT AS A COOL
THING.
Yeah, sometimes you have some that think
that. We try to de-glamorize it Some of the
kids might have had an uncle or family
member in prison. A lot of times, they
don’t always come home and tell them the
realities of a prison. They’ll tell them, “Ah,
I was in there, I was tough, I was running
the joint...”
Then the kids go to school and say, “Yeah,
my uncle was tough, he ran things in
there.” But the uncle doesn’t tell them
how he might”ve cried in his cell at night.
He doesn’t tell them about the pressures
in here. He doesn’t tell them about those
things.
So unless somebody tells them about
the realities of prison life, they’ll never
know. That’s the advantage we have over
everyone else. We live in this every day.
We know.
~:~
Reprinted with permission. Originally printed
in Prison Living.
Custom Greeting Cards
made to order with original
prison artwork.
• Choose from many original designs.
• We print your greeting on the cover
and personalized message inside.
• We sign the card with your own
signature. Find out how.
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message. (Inside cover)
• We mail to any address in USA free.
•Send SASE for free brochure. We
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The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
11
Cars
UNIQUE WHIPS: MUSCLE WITH GUTS
(BY TOM BUSH) 9/2/07
I am writing about my small collection
of cars; which I have had redone to better
than new. In this case, these 3 cars are
representative of the current gearhead
trend; that has been sweeping the United
States for the last ten years. This activity
is highlighted at car shows and events held
throughout the year, but mostly done in the
fair weather months of Spring, Summer and
early fall. Because my cars are stored in the
upper central midwestern states, they are
limited to cuttings from May to October.
Other than those months each is put into
storage for their long winter’s hibernation
(seven months).
My small, yet powerful, collection is
made up of “muscle cars”: A term used to
describe midsized vehicle from the Sixties
and early Seventies; which were built with
larger and higher performing engines than
the usual production vehicles of the era.
Noted for quick acceleration through the
quarter mile and street racing: These cars
now shine at sanctioned drag strips and
events around North America. Mine are
revised to not only go quickly through
the quarter, but around curves; making
turns and braking quickly without loosing
control. In practical sense most muscle cars
handled poorly, when approaching a curve
and needed to steer around an obstacle
rapidly. Their brakes and tires just were
not up to the task of doing many things
very well. While great in a straight line for
acceleration but at speed failed miserably
when coming to a sudden emergency stop.
*
I started out in 1998 with a stock
numbers matching original model: An
Oldsmobile Cutlass with the 4-4-2 high
performance option. Locating a relatively
inexpensive model back then; and quickly
devised a plan to make just a few equally
inexpensive modification to the drive line
and engine. However, it turned into an all out
adventure, nothing like what I had initially
intended. I had it taken to a restoration
shop that pecialized in concours classics:
Duesenberg, Cadillac, Rolls, Bentley,
Bugatti, and other such marques from the
1920’s and 1930’s mostly. Yet, they have
skills to do muscle, hot rods and various
sports cars or customs. My Olds required
metal fabrication: When installing the
Shaker-style hood scoop from a Hemi ‘Cuda.
Another opening was cut for the ubiquitous
motorized ‘sun roof ( an unavailable option
at the time of manufacturing back in 1965.)
Cutting to the chase, its been constantly
upgraded over these 8 years. I believe it
continues to be on the cutting-edge for the
Spies Hecker demon black demon on this
F-85. 1965 was the
second model year
for the Four-FourTwo, so-named for its
4-speed transmission,
4-barrel carb and
2 (dual) exhaust
extending out under
the back bumper. Its
Recaro bucket seats
and rear seating area
were refitted with
German leather in red
and black/Simpson 5 point safety harness,
matching door panels, red carpeting on
floor and trunk. The spare tire there was
replaced with a huge Sony amplifier, two
10” & two 12” subwoofers, 2 batteries, and
10 gallon nitrous (NOS) tank. A 482 cu. in.
Olds big block with aluminum heads is out
of a 1969 Tornado and uses a 50/50 mixture
of 110 octane/lead free premium gas with
the nitrous injection: Which adds another
250 horsepower to its already 570 hp (at
5700 rpm) with 613 (at 4300 rpm) pounds
of torque. Needless to say those numbers
can translated to a 10:50 second 1/4 mile
using 10.5 in. drag slicks. The trany is a GForce unit, 4-speed manual shift. The same
type as used by racers Jeff Gordon, Tony
Stewarts and Ricky Bobby in their Nascar/
Busch machines. You only depress the
clutch for 1st or reverse gears, while 2nd
and 3rd no clutch is needed, what-so-ever!
Very cool stuff! Technically its a Cutlass
Holiday Coupe but to most its just 4-4-2,
for short.
*
My Firebird (rag top) is a first
generation model which has been in
my family since day one. Its an original
“350HO” 4-speed which I had modified: It
left the factory back in 1969 painted dark
1965 Olds Cutlass 442
green. It now features a color changing
blend called ‘Chamelion’: A shade of teal
that turns blue, then into purple; depending
upon reflections of light shining on it from
different angles. The rear seat is replaced
with a visual tapestry (of Chief Pontiac
himself). This convertible has Momo
Alcatran bucket seats, a center molded
dash with VDO guages: It retains the
original hood mounted tachometer. Rolling
on 3-piece color matched spoked HRE 17
inch rims painted in Chamelion too. The
suspension/drive line has been beefed up to
run a Hosier 9 inch rearend with 3.70 gears
and Detroit Locker posi. This old Pontiac
drives like Vette and rides dirty with it
radar/laser Valentine-One detector..
The Mopar in this muscled collection is a
1970 Dodge Challenger done totally as a
resto-mod (G-machine), that is designed and
built with Pro-Touring intensions. Using
the famed HEMI V-8 but with an aluminum
engine block which reduces frontend
weight by 200± pounds: Compared to the
iron block ‘elephant’ 426 Hemi motor.
This dual purpose Dodge is for show and
GO! Meaning it was built to work equally
great on tracks, strips or streets. Though its
1965 Olds Cutlass 442
12 The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
Cars
not quite finished being built. Yet, is now
completly drivable. It sits on ultra wide 13”
by 17” rims and Hoosier race ready rubber!
Drive to the drags, run on a road race
track, or cruise to the local drive-in movie.
But with its DVD player/CD-download
jukebox/high definition fm & Satellite radio,
I-Pod ready, you take your ICE (IN CAR
ENTERTAINMENT) right along with you:
How about watching a Mopar-cult classic,
“Vanishing Point” in air conditioned
comfort, featuring a Challenger RT in a
cross country 140 mph car chase. While
the Vanishing Point Challenger is done in
white, mine is currently in a very mean
looking matte black primer. Its no accident
that its built to resemble the Trans Am style
T/A 340 Six Pak: Keeping its original looks
intact; yet, modified enough to give it a
subtle appearance with a low visual stance
all its own. As they say its got too many
goodies to list but a few are: A mega load of
horsepower with 596 cubic inches utilizing
a Indy Legend block, prepared and built by
Muscle Motors Race Engines. A manual
stick 5-speed transmission that has been
blueprinted and cryogenically treated for
stamina and endurance is used. The rear
end is a Dana 60S has gun drilled 35 spline
axles, a Detroit Locker posi and 4:10 gears
1969 Pontiac Firebird
1969 Pontiac Firebird
by Moser Engineering. It has a four
inch carbon-fiber drive shaft by Mark
Williams Company, huge Wilwood
13” 6 piston drilled and slotted disc
brakes with a unit power assist run
off the power steering pump. Its
very precise power assisted rack
& pinion steering is mounted on a
special engine and chasis tube frame
allowing the Air Ride adjustable
suspension to raise and lower with
a control panel. A reinforced body
with a ten point roll cage adds
strenght to the 4-link rear suspension
with adjustable coil-overs (springs)
for setting rebound and firmness to
suit all kind of road conditions. Most
impressive are those huge four inch
(across) stainless steel exhaust pipes
(fitted with straight-through Nascar
Aero mufflers) which resemble
those Trans Am race cars of the late
1960’s: These are large enough to
swallow-up small kitties; and exits
the Challenger through its rocker
panels in front of the rear tires.
The interior of this T/A Challenger
is done in carbon-fiber-kevlar
composites (for its molded dash, door
panels, quarter panels, and center
console) giving it a totally different
look than stock factory models.
Carbon Fiber is strong and extremely
light. There is LED lighting to
highlight matching electronics and
speaker components.
Not to be overlooked, a back-up
camera monitors the rear views
behind the car, while a remote laser/
radar unit monitors for Smoky, while
cruising. Comfort is affored with
power Recaro buckets that are also heated (or
cooled) for you butt. Like the saying goes, “ITS
MOPAR, OR NOCAR” (like my car)!
The Italian made Countach, was hand made in
1987 by Lamborghini. And is the proverbial
Rambo Lambo. ( A sport car’s sports carl) No
two are really quite the same: Each was made
by a craftsman not a mechanised production
line. So minor differences will exhist. For
example the tube frame is welded on a jig by
a man; not a computer control robut. The style
was originally designed by Gandini who also
did the majority of the great Lambos...Muira,
Jarama, Espanda, and Diablo. However, it was
the Countach that was the poster car every
kid in the neighborhood had hanging on their
bedroom walls: with its unique swing-up
doors, split-slit windows, and rear spoiler. I
thought it all was cutting edge fabulous from
day-one! But never thought I’d end up having
one of my own. It draws a crowd wherever it
goes.. The car is the star. It was seen first on
‘60 Minutes’ and in movies like the ‘Gumball
Rally*. Its fire engine red with white leather
interior. It has been restored mechanically.
Yet no Lamborghini is without its problems.
Having a 20 year old Lambo of this vintage is
considered old and is quite a challenge in and
of its itself to keep running well. They’re like
babies, that required constant attention and care:
IM7
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007 13
Cars
Yearly maintenance, that must be done on
schedule for instance. There is no skimping
on the Countach and certainly true for
this one, model 5000S QV. Its a complex
piece of equipment, with four valve per
cylinder (in the alloy 12 piston engine with
48 valves, there are 4 overhead camshafts,
twin twelve gallon fuel tanks per side, with
a body made up of aluminum, fiberglass
and Kevlar composite.
1987 Lamborghini Countach
Total number of Countachs are around
1,300 made by had over a period of 18
years in production; front 1973 to 1989.
That averages out to around 72 cars per
year: General Motors in contrast turns out
that many cars in less time that it take to
smoke a cigarette! This Lambo has been
designated the QV for it four valve heads,
as opposed to the 2 valve model. With its
315 cubic inch engine it puts out about
450 horsepower with its European exhaust
system and equal lenght headers. As
Supercars cars come and go, the Countach
remain as an icon; regardless of its limited
numbers. It is a radical exotic with the
sound of that high reving V-12 right behind
your head, where the back seat would have
been. This Rambo Lambo is loud...very
loud. Shifting through those five gears,
even at legal speeds, it gets around 7 miles
per gallon. It takes 26 gallon of premium
unleaded to go about 200 miles: Less if you
wantta go really fast.
There’s thousands of great cars in North
America. These four are some of ‘em...
Tom Bush, Gearhead
The Insider Magazine wishes to thank Tom
Bush for sharing his cars with all of us. He
is truly a gearhead extrordinaire. Ed
The Insider Magazine welcomes articles
and photographs from both inmates and
outsiders who would like to share their
cars and motorcycles with us. Please
send them to:
The Insider Magazine
PO Box 829
Hillsboro, OR 97123
14 The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
1987 Lamborghini Countach
1970 Dodge Challenger Hemi
The Gift of The Magi continued
the “Sofronie.”
“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take yer hat off
and let’s have a sight at the looks of it.”
Down rippled the brown cascade.
“Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass
with a practised hand.
“Give it to me quick,” said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy
wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was
ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for
Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in
any of the stores, and she had turned all of them
inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple
and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its
value by substance alone and not by meretricious
ornamentation--as all good things should do. It
was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she
saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s. It was
like him. Quietness and value--the description
applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took
from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87
cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be
properly anxious about the time in any company.
Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at
it on the sly on account of the old leather strap
continued on page 17
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The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007 15
Crossword
ACROSS
1. London sights 10.
Bodily humors
15. Sergei Bubka’s
event
16. Handy
17. Philip ll’sson
18. Mediterranean sailer
19. Light metal
20. Ultimatum ender
21. Ending, of sorts
22. Embarrassed
23. Normally: abbr.
24. Give guns to
26. Fled on foot
27. Put up
16
29. Fabricate
31. TV adjustment
32. More mysterious
34. Room header
35. D.C. ring-toss items
36. ‘60s rocketry
revolution
39. Data-storage item
42. Garfield, e.g.
43. Reminder
47. Enthusiastic about
48. Door part
50. First name in Japanese
film
51. Simile words
52. Pisa direction
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
53. Batterer
55. Final authority
56. Had some changes
made
58. Confidential?
60. Michaels’ show, for
short
61. Sweet spread
62. Truth or
Consequences’ locale
65. Practice piece
66. The Accidental Tourist
author
67. Aegean isle
68. Juice makers
DOWN
1. Cornered
2. L’Avare playwright
3. Wedding gift
4. Curly-coated feline
5. A Gabor
6. Alley sights
7. A Bourne creator?
8. Tavern tipples
9. Runner in the buff
10. Zaftig
11. Liz Smith tidbit
12. Nation formed on July
26, 1847
13. Posh
14. Trig, functions
23. Coll. across the river
from Ciudad Juarez
25. News summary
28. Kid of oaters
30. Ratio words
31. Give — to (approve)
33. Display frames
37. Tex-Mex bars
38. Study hard
39. Nin tomes
40. Class for bugs?
41. Bowl venue
44. Silo contents
45. Spirited walker
46. Deems and Liz
49. Rl campus
52. Gets around
54. Actress Anouk
57. Chinese prefix
59. Old LA radio station
handle
63. Nice season
64. Letter trio
Answers on next page.
The Gift of The Magi continued
that he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxication gave
way a little to prudence and reason. She got out
her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to
work repairing the ravages made by generosity
added to love. Which is always a tremendous
task, dear friends--a mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered
with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look
wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked
at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and
critically.
“If Jim doesn’t kill me,” she said to herself,
“before he takes a second look at me, he’ll say
I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what
could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and
eighty- seven cents?”
At 7 o’clock the coffee was made and the fryingpan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to
cook the chops.
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain
in her hand and sat on the corner of the table
near the door that he always entered. Then she
heard his step on the stair away down on the first
flight, and she turned white for just a moment.
She had a habit for saying little silent prayer
about the simplest everyday things, and now she
whispered: “Please God, make him think I am
still pretty.”
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed
it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow,
he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened
with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he
was without gloves.
Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a
setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed
upon Della, and there was an expression in them
that she could not read, and it terrified her. It
was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor
horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had
been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly
with that peculiar expression on his face.
Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
“Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that
way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I
couldn’t have lived through Christmas without
C
R A
O N
S S
S W
W E
O R
R S
D
giving you a present. It’ll grow out again-you won’t mind, will you? I just had to do
it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry
Christmas!’ Jim, and let’s be happy. You
don’t know what a nice-- what a beautiful,
nice gift I’ve got for you.”
“You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim,
laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that
patent fact yet even after the hardest mental
labor.
“Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don’t
you like me just as well, anyhow? I’m me
without my hair, ain’t I?”
Jim looked about the room curiously.
“You say your hair is gone?” he said, with an
air almost of idiocy.
“You needn’t look for it,” said Della. “It’s
sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It’s
Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it
went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head
were numbered,” she went on with sudden
serious sweetness, “but nobody could ever
count my love for you. Shall I put the chops
on, Jim?”
Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to
wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds
let us regard with discreet scrutiny some
inconsequential object in the other direction.
Eight dollars a week or a million a year-what is the difference? A mathematician or
a wit would give you the wrong answer. The
magi brought valuable gifts, but that was
not among them. This dark assertion will be
illuminated later on.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket
and threw it upon the table.
“Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he said,
“about me. I don’t think there’s anything in
the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo
that could make me like my girl any less. But
if you’ll unwrap that package you may see
why you had me going a while at first.”
White fingers and nimble tore at the string
and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of
joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change
to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the
immediate employment of all the comforting
S
U
D
O
K
U
powers of the lord of the flat.
For there lay The Combs--the set of combs,
side and back, that Della had worshipped long
in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure
tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade
to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were
expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had
simply craved and yearned over them without
the least hope of possession. And now, they were
hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the
coveted adornments were gone.
But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length
she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile
and say: “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”
And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat
and cried, “Oh, oh!”
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She
held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm.
The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a
reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
“Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to
find it. You’ll have to look at the time a hundred
times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to
see how it looks on it.”
Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the
couch and put his hands under the back of his
head and smiled.
“Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents
away and keep ‘em a while. They’re too nice to
use just at present. I sold the watch to get the
money to buy your combs. And now suppose you
put the chops on.”
The magi, as you know, were wise men-wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to
the Babe in the manger. They invented the art
of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their
gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing
the privilege of exchange in case of duplication.
And here I have lamely related to you the
uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a
flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other
the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last
word to the wise of these days let it be said that
of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.
O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are
wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the
magi.
Jumbles: DUMPY BATCH MEASLY SCHEME
Answer:What the old-time brewers called their
annual shindigs: “HOPS”
Jumbles: AFIRE GUILT BALSAM POETRY
Answer: What you might aim for in some
circles: TARGETS
Jumbles: BANDY PARKA VIRILE CHUBBY
Answer: What people who drink to forget should
do: PAY IN ADVANCE
Jumbles: YACHT NOISY DRUDGE FUMBLE
Answer:What a stag guest at the annual surgeons’
dance said: MAY I CUT IN?
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
17
Lifer Page
CALIFORNIA LIFER NEWSLETTER
PAROLE BOARD’S FASCIST-LIKE ABUSE
OF POWER AND SYSTEMATIC VIOLATION
OF THE STATE’S PAROLE LAWS &
REGULATIONS MAY END.
FOLLOWING EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS,
SUPERIOR COURT DIRECTS BPH TO
REVISE AND ADHERE TO SUITABILITY
CRITERIA
THAT
COMPLY
WITH
AUTHORITY AND TO TRAIN ITS
COMMISSIONERS TO ADHERE TO COURT
DIRECTIVES.
EVIDENCE
REVEALS
WIDESPREAD
ABUSE IN BOARD’S PRACTICE OF BASING
EVERY FINDING OF UNSUITABILITY
IN MURDER CASES (THE RESULT AT
99% OF ALL SUCH HEARINGS) ON
AN
ALLEGEDLY
“EXCEPTIONALLY
(ESPECIALLY) HEINOUS, ATROCIOUS OR
CRUEL” COMMITMENT OFFENSE.
In re Arthur Criscione (#) Santa Clara County
Superior Court no. 71614 See CLN #16, p.
15; CLN # 15, p. 6. In the first of hopefully
a series of decisions addressing and correcting
BPH’s (hence, the Governors’) longstanding
disingenuous political abuse of power, on
August 30 the Santa Clara County Superior
Court issued its findings in In re Criscione, one
of five cases adjudicated by the court over the
past several years in which it took extensive
documentary evidence and expert testimony.
The ruling and its effect were summed up in an
article in the San Jose Mercury News by Howard
Mintz. In pertinent part:
Judge slams state parole board, demands
changes
RULING COULD GIVE THOUSANDS OF
MURDERERS CHANCE AT FREEDOM
A Santa Clara County judge has ordered the
state’s parole system to change the way it does
business, setting up a major legal clash over
the parole board’s routine refusal to release
convicted murderers. In an unprecedented 34page ruling, Superior Court Judge Linda Condron
recently called the current parole process
“malfunctioning.” The parole board’s approach
to thousands of cases each year is so flawed, she
ruled, that it violates the constitutional rights of
California’s inmates during parole hearings. Her
harshly worded opinion, which stemmed from
the cases of five local murderers seeking parole,
took the extraordinary step of ordering the state
agency to revise its procedures and undergo
training within 90 days to fix the system.
State lawyers are fighting Condron’s order,
filing court papers this week saying they are
appealing to the 6th District Court of Appeal
in San Jose. If upheld, Condron’s ruling could
18
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
entitle thousands of convicted killers to new
parole hearings and give them more leeway
to argue for release if they have, among other
conditions, shown remorse for their crimes and
demonstrated they have reformed in prison.
“This system is malfunctioning and must
be repaired,” Condron, a longtime former
prosecutor before joining the bench, wrote in an
Aug. 30 order. “The solution must begin with
the source of the problem. The Board must make
efforts to comply with due process.”
Given the broad reach of Condron’s decision,
lawyers following the case expect the issue to
eventually reach the California Supreme Court,
which over the past 10 years has dealt with
several cases challenging the state’s general
reluctance to grant parole to murderers. “I’d say
they are going to have to give a level playing
field now, which they haven’t had,” said Jacob
Burland, a Del Mar lawyer representing the five
inmates. “A lot more will get out because they
haven’t been treated fairly up to now.”
Condron’s ruling arose from a lengthy
evidentiary hearing she conducted earlier this
year in which she reviewed statistical evidence
from nearly 2,700 board decisions denying
parole to murderers. In general, the judge
found that the board used boilerplate language
regarding the heinous nature of the original
crime as justification to deny parole without
providing the specific evidence required by the
law.
Out of about 3,000 decisions each year, the
Board of Parole Hearings grants parole to
only about 5 percent of eligible inmates who
are serving potential life terms. The board is
denying parole with “formulaic decisions” that
“do not contain any explanation or thoughtful
reasoning,” Condron concluded.
In particular, Condron found the board is
ignoring a state Supreme Court ruling two
years ago that established new guidelines for
how the parole board reviews so-called “lifer”
cases. Her ruling, legal experts say, provides the
Supreme Court with an opportunity to revisit
that decision, in which the justices were divided
4-3 over whether a convicted Los Altos Hills
businessman serving time for killing his wife
was entitled to parole.
The five cases before Condron involved
convicted Santa Clara County murderers who
have been in prison anywhere from 19 to 28
years. Under the terms of Condron’s order, those
inmates - Morris Bragg, Viet Ngo, Donnell
Jameison, Arthur Criscione and Donnie Lewis
- would be entitled to new parole hearings under
revised board procedures for reviewing their
bids for release.
The court addressed but did not initially
determine whether the “heinous, atrocious, or
cruel” regulations were unconstitutionally vague
(the court reasoned, based on the criterion’s subfactors, that “every murder cannot by definition
be “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel”), but
found the Board to have engaged “in a pattern of
arbitrary application of the criteria.”
The court carefully reviewed vast evidence
presented in the five associated cases and took
judicial notice of evidence taken in several other
cases:
The result of the initial examination was than
in over 90 percent of cases the Board has found
the commitment offense to be ‘especially
heinous, atrocious or cruel’ as set forth in Title
15 §2402(c)(1). In the remaining 10% of cases
either parole has been granted, or it was unclear
whether §2402(c)(1) was a reason for the parole
denial.
The rest of the story can be found in
California Lifer Newsletter.
Subscribe Today!
CLN is published every 6-8 weeks (a minimum
of 6 issues per year) and distributed to inmates
and free subscribers and attorneys, courts, and
prison law libraries.
CLN focuses on issues of importance,
particularly to “lifers” confined in California,
and reviews state and federal court decisions,
legislation (new bills and proposed laws),
and recent news and articles of interest to
prisoners.
CLN also provides research, photocopying,
and related paralegal assistance for prisoners
in all state and federal institutions, including
finding cases, case law and materials on legal
topics.
CLN also buys stamps from inmates to be
converted to money orders for trust accounts,
subscriptions, payment to family members , or
to purchase and send in approved property and
packages.
CLN SUBSCRIPTION RATES PER YEAR:
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Others:
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California Lifer Newsletter
P.O. BOX 687
WALNUT, CA 91788
Miss Know-it-All
Dear Miss Know-it-All,
I am serving a three-year sentence at a State
Institution for a drug offense I committed 9
months ago. This is my third time on the
wrong side of the law and dread that I will
do it again when I released in a couple of
years. I was an alcoholic since age 9 because
my entire family members are alcoholic. I
grew up in a dysfunctional family and also
married to a man who was abusive when
I was in my 20’s. I did break the cycle
briefly and went to college for a couple
of years but unfortunately I channeled my
alcohol addiction into a drug addiction by
the early 90’s and arrested 3 times for drug
trafficking to support my drug habit. I don’t
have much training to get a decent job and
all the jobs I had in the past were laboring
jobs. I am clean and sober now because I
don’t have a choice since I am incarcerated
but I worry and scare that I will go back to
the same old habit once I get out. - Please
help me break my cycle.
Sherry (MA)
Dear Sherry,
I am so sorry that you have such an
A Good Story for Great Friends.....
Percevere
There once was a little girl who had a bad
temper. Her mother gave her a bag of nails
and told her that every time she lost her
temper, she must hammer a nail into the back
of the fence. The first day the girl had driven
37 nails into the fence. Over the next few
weeks, as she learned to control her anger, the
number of nails hammered daily gradually
dwindled down. She discovered it was easier
to hold her temper than to drive those nails
into the fence.
Finally the day came when the girl didn’t lose
her temper at all. She told her mother about
it and the mother suggested that the girl now
pull out one nail for each day that she was able
to hold her temper. The days passed and the
young girl was finally able to tell her mother
that all the nails were gone! The mother took
her daughter by the hand and led her to the
fence.
She said, “You have done well, my daughter,
but look at the holes in the fence. The fence
will never be the same. When you say things
in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.
You can put a knife in a person and draw it
out. It won’t matter how many times you say
“I’m sorry”, the wound is still there. A verbal
wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends
are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you
smile and encourage you to succeed. They
lend an ear, they share words of praise and
they always want to open their hearts to us.
By Michael Halleen
“At least I am going
to give it a good try.
So try me!”
“By faith (Moses)...persevered because he
saw him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27)
Abraham Lincoln, depressed and disgusted
at the lack of progress Union forces were
making during an especially low point of
the Civil War, was asked why he did not
resign and just leave these fools to their
own devices. He replied sadly, “If I resign,
they will perish.” He had looked down the
years and seen a united country standing
tall, an inspiration to all humankind. Moses
also had faced that question three thousand
years earlier. He too saw the fate of a people
as depending on his ability to endure, and
he went to a mountain top, on retreat, to be
strengthened and refreshed in his vision of
God’s purposes.
Sometimes success — or even survival — is a
matter of endurance, of sticking it out. There
are times when the road seems to wind uphill
all the way. There are passages difficult to
get through—days of illness, hours of worry,
sleepless nights of concern, weeks of ordinary
following hum-drum. Apsley Cherry-Garrard,
in his book “The Worst Journey in the World,”
said, “All we could do was put one foot in
front of the other because we believed that
the journey was worth it.” Many know that
unfortunate life in the past. My suggestion
is to take your brand new life one step
at a time when you get out. First and up
most, use your time wisely while you
are incarcerated by taking some career
training courses to better yourself and
some cognitive classes to correct some of
your thinking errors. By the way, Insider
Magazine is offering a 12-section course,
which could help you both personally and
professionally. This course would cover
some of the barriers we all face to prevent
us reaching our goals and happiness. This
course also will guide you on how to get a
good job when you get out or may be even
start your own business. Remember, it’s
never too late to change just depends on
how much you wanted to. Good luck. Let
me know how you make out.
Miss Know-it-All
journey. The way to make it is one step at a
time.
Along the way, occasionally we catch a
glimpse of what the journey is for. Mist may
cover the mountains most of the time, but once
in awhile, just briefly, the clouds are lifted and
the snow-capped peaks can be seen. A Robert
Browning poem portrays a man seeking a city
so surrounded by swirling fog that he feared
he had lost his way. For just a few seconds the
mists opened and he saw the towering spires
of the city of his desire. Then.....the vapors
closed again, But I had seen the city, and one
such glance. No darkness could obscure; nor
shall the present—
A few dull hours, a passing shame or two—
Destroy the vivid memories of the past.
ABBA, the Swedish pop music group of a
generation ago, had a line in one of its songs
that said, “And my destination makes it
worth the while pushing through the darkness
still another mile.” Moses had been to the
mountain top. Lincoln had seen the city’s
spires. Persevere. Your destination may be
shrouded in uncertainty right now, but it
awaits you nevertheless. Though invisible at
the moment, it is worth putting one foot in
front of the other.
~:~
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
19
Poet’s Corner
BY GOD’S DESIGN
by MARK HENSLEY
The brilliant white of the clouds above
The lowly cooing of a mourning dove
The pretty red of a blooming rose
The smiling wrinkle on a baby’s nose
The faraway twinkle of a star at night
The big yellow sun so hot and bright
All of these things are by God’s design
He makes all things so beautiful and fine Like
snow caps on the mountains so tall
Or the color of the leaves in the Fall
The rains that make the rivers flow
The soil that help make the plants grow
The wind that makes the tree’s leaves stir Or
the soft warmth of a kitten’s fur
All of these things are by God’s design
He makes all things so beautiful and fine
~:~
HEROIN
by Maxwell Melvins
I will sneak into the country like powdered
food spice
I will, come through smuggled in 100-pound
bags of rice
I will, maybe be in a shipment of frozen blocks
of ice
I will, not worry about the customs or the vice
I will, give ‘em what they want and pay their
price
I will, know people in all the right places
I will, know people from all walks of life and
different races
I will, know people with shady backgrounds
and records
I will, know people who’ll allow me to get
through undetected
I will, know people; I’m connected and well
protected
I will, once you put me inside your nose or
veins
I will, have an effect on your mind, body and
brain
I will, because I’m dangerously powerful
little white grains
I will, be like a worst nightmare that drives
you insane
I will, be the one that causes you heartache
and pain
I will, it doesn’t matter your skin color or
name
I will, be waiting for you inside bags of
cellophane
I will, make you addictively addictive to my
disease
I will, make you sick when you haven’t had
any of me
I will, make you cold, shiver and sneeze
I will, make you drop down to your knees
I will, make you cry out for another fix “Oh,
please”
I will, make you not give one life sparing I
will, make you that daring I will, make you
ruthless as well as uncaring I will, make you
senseless without unerring
I will, make you place the blame
I will, make you trick people with games
I will, make you destroy people’s names
I will, make you conscious-less without guilt
or shame
I will, leave you without a house and home
I will, put you in the streets and make you
roam I will, destroy the marrow in your
bones I will, leave you in this world all alone
I will, make you destroy your life in phases
I will, make you because I’m vicious and
contagious I will, make you hurt your loved
ones in spells of rages I will, make you do
Please send us your
original poetry to:
The Insider Magazine
PO Box 829
Hollsboro, OR 97123
20
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
things to them that are outrageous I will, make
you like an animal until you’re placed in cages
I will, make you not think about it twice
I will, make you betray your family, kids and
wife
I will, make you stress and cause you strife
I will, make you take another human being’s
life
I will, send you to prison with a death
sentence or for life
~:~
BECAUSE
Author unknown
Because I have been given much
I, too, must give.
Because of Thy great bounty, Lord,
Each day I live.
I shall divide my gifts from Thee
with every brother that I see
Who has a need of help from me.
Because I have been sheltered, fed by Thy
good care,
I cannot see another’s lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,
my roof’s safe shelter overhead,
That he, too, may be comforted.
Because I have been blessed by Thy great love,
dear Lord,
I’ll share that love again, according to Thy
word.
I shall give love to those in need,
I’ll show that love by word and deed,
Thus shall my thanks be thanks, indeed.
Artist Loft
Original
Artwork
by your
friends and
mine.
Art Contest
Submit your original artwork for judging.
We will pick the winners and publish them
on this page.
Prizes:
First place: One 8” X
10” professional print
of your art, matted,
plus four additional
professional prints.
Frog Lady by Jeanne Kohles
First Place
Cascade of Sunset by Burl Dees
Second Place
Second place: One 8” X 10”
professional print of your art, matted, plus one
additional professional print.
Honorable Mention: One 8” X 10” professional
print of your art, not matted.
All artwork printed will receive one of these
prizes.
Send your original artwork plus a short bio
about yourself to:
The Insider Magazine
Art Contest
PO Box 829
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Fishy by George Johnson
Honorable Mention
Dianewood by Jeanne Kohles
Honorable Mention
Frogs R Us - presents
Include a SASE with sufficient postage if you
want your art returned.
Original Artwork
By Inmates
200 pieces of original artwork you
can purchase copies in a greeting
card or 8x10 and 10x15 prints
in sheet format.
Outsiders
Advertise your art here. This
space is only $50. in B&W
or $75. in full color. Reach
thousands of people for very
little. Contact:
The Insider Magazine
PO Box 829
Hillsboro, OR 97123
For a complete 200 piece 12 pagecolor catalog
Three Men by Wilma Jones
Honorable Mention
The Insider Magazine wishes to thank
all those who entered the art contest, and
encourages all artists to submit their work
to the upcoming contest in January. Entries
must be received by December 23rd to be
included in the competition. If your work
is published, you will win a prize. Keep up
the great work, everyone.
Please send $5.00 (shipping handling included)
institution check or money order to:
Frogs R Us
PO BOX 6681, Pico Rivera, CA 90661
Endorsed and recommended
by Chi-ey INC
Please make sure if it’s allowed by your institution to send in
a 6 page-catalog (printed front & back) held together by
staples before placing order.
We can remove staples if requested.
This offer excludes Pelican Bay State Prison.
www.artbyfrogsinjail.com
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
21
IMU
Insider
University
On the Road to Financial Freedom
Insider Magazine University
Plan for Success
by Wai Shubert
How to escape from prison, for real?
Statistics show us the recidivism rate is so
high that the Insider has come up with a
plan trying to help YOU to a successful and
PRISON-FREE life. This plan is not only
designed to help inmates, but us as well,
because we all have issues and that includes
the Insider staff ourselves – so you are not
alone, my friend. Together we can make this
a successful project although it’s not going
to be an easy road to travel but we believe
that we can accomplish our goal with the help
of each other. So how about that? What do
you say? Along with the fun, joy and glory
of success at the end of this program, we are
going to experience and share a lot of pain
and frustration together as well. The Insider
University is ready for the challenge and
we need you to come with us and help us
through this program because at the end of
this program – we will all be WINNERS!
IS there an easy way out of our “vicious”
cycle? – I am afraid not, my friend. First
of all, let me point out a couple of things
– nothing worth while is going to come easy
and it’s never too late to start over again.
Remember, it’s not how many times you fall
but it’s about how many time you can get up,
my friend, so don’t give up! To have a fresh
start, we must unload our “garbage” from the
past – I wish I could just show you a simple
way to reach success but to be honest there
isn’t any way except do this one step at a
time. The Insider’s goal is really going to help
you the best we can because we do care, but
we need your help by signing up this program
in order for us to carry through this program
successfully.
There will be homework arriving along with
your bi-monthly issue starting issue “8” (this
current issue); however it’s never too late to
get started because you can always catch up.
You will have to mail your homework back
to us right away so we can compile the data
and to post it in the following issue, then
open up the issues for discussion and provide
feedback from other readers. We are going to
share our true feelings, past history regardless
of whether they were sweet or bitter, and
discover some of our “garbage” which has
become a barrier for us to reach our goals.
Once we have identified our “garbage” and
learn how to control our issues – The Insider
is going to guide you to true happiness
22
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
and success by offering pointers on how to
become successful in the REAL WORLD!
It gets better yet, at the end of the 24 month
program – The Insider is going to pick the
best 5 students and reward the first place
student with unlimited access for 6 months to
the Insider Business consultant either through
mail or phone calls when you get out. The
second prize would be 3 months of unlimited
access and the third through fifth prizes would
be free tuition by us sending your tuition of
$20.00 back to you. (See the prize schedule
at the end of this article.)
Regardless of our age or our race, we all have
a past, whether it was sweet or bitter, but it
has made us into who we are today. We want
Toot,
Toot,
Toot,
Show
me the
LOOT!
Enrollment Form for The Insider University
Yes, please enroll me in The Insider University. Enclosed is my payment of $20.00
for Tuition (a $795.00 value) which includes a two year subscription of The Insider
Magazine containing the full course. If you already have a subscription, enrolling will
extend your existing subscription to include the full course.
Name________________________________#__________________
Address_________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________
City_________________________State________Zip____________
Send completed form to The Insider University, PO Box 829, Hillsboro, OR 97123
you to share your past with us in order for us
to understand each other better and be able to
offer help and experiences with one another.
You know and we know that no one like to
be confined against their will and be told
what to do to improve themselves; therefore
The Insider wants you to come and join our
program on your own free will simply for the
reason you want to do that for YOURSELF.
It’s never too late to get started – here’s how
the program structured:
Sections 1, 2 and 3: Life History to unload
our pain and feelings – A workshop for
us to feed back with each other on our life
experiences which includes but not limited to
abuses, addictions and other experiences that
have made us into who we are today. Your
homework for each section would arrive
along with your subscription every other
month- starts with issue 8. You do your home
work and mail it back to us within the month
and we would publish your home work on
the next issue (issue 9) and (issue 10) then it
would be an open discussion with feed back
from the class as well as other readers.
Regardless of our race or our age, we all has
thinking errors from time to time – the key is
to recognize these errors and put those errors
under control before they become the barriers
for us to reach our dreams and goals.
Section 4 and 5 and 6: Thinking errors
– thinking errors are thoughts people
exhibit during irresponsible behaviors and
it often leads to criminal behaviors – the
consequences is - OOH! PRISON and our
FREEDOM and in so many cases our LIFE!
Thinking errors can often be the barriers for
us to reach our dreams and goals and get in
the way of happiness.
Here are some of the subjects we are going to
go over with thinking errors:
1.
Anger
2.
Victim stances
3.
Blaming
4.
Excuses
5.
Entitlement
6.
Justifying
7.
Lack of empathy
8.
Seeking sympathy
9.
Pet me
10.
Impatience
11.
Instant gratification
12.
Addiction
Section 7 and section 8: How to control
our thinking errors once we understand and
accept what they are
1.
Decisional balance exercises
2.
Faith and believe - Have faith in
you and have faith in others
Section 9: Peace and Happiness
1.
Let go of your past
2.
Kindness – Be kind to yourself and
be kind to the others.
3.
Believe happiness can happen.
Some people are actually scared to be happy
because they are scared of the fall; therefore
they remain kind of happy but keep on
complaining.
Section 10 and 11: Motivation, dream and
goals
1.
Develop an “I CAN” attitude
2.
Set dreams and goals for yourself
and believe in yourself
3.
Affirmation
Be Productive – Use your time wisely while
you are incarcerated and carry the habit out to
the real world when you are released.
Skills – develop job skills, reading skills
while you are incarcerated and use your
time productively.
Learning – take different classes to better
yourself while incarcerated, such as
computer classes, trade classes and so on.
Relaxing – keep yourself physically and
mentally healthy by exercising such as
weight training, yoga or simply take time out
to read, relax by listen to music or develop
your art skill.
Focus – without total focus one can never
reach his goal.
Section 12: Road to success – The Insider
University of business.
Only the few (we hope all of you) who would
ride with us through this whole program
will be able to qualify to enter the Insider
University of business – this is your reward!
It’s a workshop that we designed to help you
be SUCCESSFUL and be set for life. Rather
to help you on how to do the right thing and
say the right thing during interview for certain
job or simply help you every steps of the way
by answering your questions on how to set up
a business of your dream. We are here for you
but we have to do this program one step at a
time and cannot be out of sequences of any of
these steps. So again, How about that? And
what do you say? Like they say, “JUST DO
IT” simply by send in the enrollment form on
the previous page..
FIRST PRIZE: We will select the best student
and reward he/she with a scholarship of
unlimited access and personal sections with
the Insider Business consulting
team
for 6 months until he/she reaches his/hers
dream job or may be even own
your
own business.
SECOND PRIZE: Unlimited access and
personal sections with the Insider Business
consulting team for 3 months.
THIRD to FIFTH PRIZES: We will refund
your tuition of $20.00 to show you how much
we really want you to join our school and be
on your way to success and true happiness.
Here you have it...and remember –We truly
care but we need your help by signing up!!!
For those who have already signed up – we
promise you that you have made the best
choice for your new life and this would be the
best $20.00 you have ever spent. Toot, Toot,
Toot, show me the Loot!
~:~
The Business Course
by Ron Fryer
IMU’s
How to Start and Operate a Small Business
course will cover the following subjects:
Opportunity Recognition
Product Development
Financing Strategy
Return on Investment
Selecting Your Business
The Power of Positive Thinking
Marketing, Advertising & Publicity, Cost/
Benefit analysis
Basic Business Plan Review
Running Your Business
Tactics & Strategies
Record Keeping
Production/Distribution
Communications
Quality control
Cash Flow
Protecting Intellectual Property
Break even analysis
Raising Capital
Contracts
Taxation for the entrepreneur
Corporations
Operating costs
Manufacturing
Ethical Business Behavior
Building good credit
The Balance Sheet
Giving back to your community
Building long term financial relationships.
Business plan review.
We will also cover selling techniques and
prospecting for customers. This course will
be included with the Jammin’ School of
Success, but will either be inserted in the
mailing envelope with The Insider Magazine
or mailed directly to those who are enrolled in
The Insider University program. The business
section of this program will only be available
to those who officially enroll in the entire
course.
Note: Mr. Fryer has been a successful business
owner for 38 years and is also a SCORE*
counsellor, helping small businesses get
started and stay successful.
*Service Core Of Retired Executives
The Insider Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
23
We are offering even more exciting services to bring in “2008”
CHI-EY INC - A digital printing Company
• We offer reprints in different
sizes and packages.
• We offer reprints in semi-gloss
copies and high gloss copies.
• Turn around time only “48” hrs.
• All reprints cut before shipped.
Sem-gloss
see below
“ Where Technology Meets Imagination”
Photo Alteration Service - a much needed service for inmates and their love-ones
Photo 4 combied
inmate image
onto photo with
his dad on the
boat, cloned
surrounding
(2 procedures)
High gloss
16 wallets............$5.00......$7.50
4 wallets+3-5x7..$5.00......$7.50
8 wallets+2-5x7..$5.00......$7.50
12 wallets+1-5x7.$5.00......$7.50
8-3.50x5(same picture)$5.00......$7.50
4-4x6(same picture)......$5.00......$7.50
4-4x6(4 different pictures)$6.50.... .$9.00
4-5x7(same pictures).....$5.00......$7.50
4-5x7(4 different pictures)$7.00......$9.50
1-8x10 enlargement.....$4.50......$6.50
2-8x10 enlargement.....$8.00.....$11.50
1-10x15 enlargement...$10.00...$15.00
2-10x15 enlargement...$18.00...$27.00
Photo 1- placed
inmate’s head onto
model’s body.
(2 procedures)
Photo 2 - took person
out and placed onto a
different background.
Always perform
cloning procedures after
background changes.
(2 procedures)
Photo 3- took man
and his family out of 2
different photos then
combined & changed
background.
(3 procedures)
For the artist
• We copy your artwork in semi
- gloss and high gloss copies.
• We copy your artwork into
sheet fromat and single folded
greeting card format.
High Gloss copies (at least 5 copies)
5x7 (sheet) ...................$1.50 ea.
5.50x7.50 (card) ..........$2.00 ea.
8x10 (sheet) .................$4.00 ea.
10x15 (sheet).................$7.00 ea.
Photo 6 - took adult out
photo 7 - took out 2 person from
of 1 photo combined with 2 different photos and placed
3 children from another
onto a different background.
photo and changed back(3 procedures)
ground. (3 procedures)
Semi-gloss copies (at least 5 copies)
5x7 (sheet)....................$1.00 ea.
5.50x7.50 (card)...........$1.50 ea.
8x10 (sheet)..................$2.50 ea.
10x15 (sheet)................$4.00 ea.
To qualify for artist pricing please
add 10% of the total cost of the order
for shipping & handling.
Attention artists: want to have your
artwork organized into a catalog of
your own - Free? Send $5.00 for
our 12-pages color artist catalog
• All reprints available in color, B&W
and antique copies.
• Many different border styles available
for reprints.
• Several different background styles to
choose from.
• We customize calendar orders in single
page (year) and 12 pages (single month)
formats by inserting photo and text.
• We customize different styles of
postcards with photo and text.
• We customize greeting cards for all
special occasions.
Send $3.00 institution check or 8 first class
(41 cent) stamps for our 12-page 2008 color
catalog for more information
- postage included.
Photo 5 - took
inmate out of
a photo and
combines it
with his 2 brothers and cloned
the background.
(2 procedures)
• What’s the simplest way to calculate the cost? - by
counting procedures. (every time you want something done it is a procedure)
• Use photo 3 as example took inmate out (1), took
family out(1), insert both onto a new background
and perform cloning.(1)
• Each procedure costs $5.00. When all procedures
are completed - you will receive a 5x7 semi gloss
proof.
Frequently Asked Questions
• What if I want more reprints on the finished photo made? - Go to the reprint pricing structure and order more
reprints and we also keep a copy of you finished photo(s) on record under your name for 6 months and you can
always make more reprints in the future.
• What if the 2 photos I want to combine various in lighting, color, quality and focus? - We can adjust the sizes of
the photos to make the combined photo looks natural but there’s only so much we can do to make a very poor
photo to look as good as a professional photo but we would definitely do the best we can.
• What color choices can I make to my clothing? - You can choose any color you wanted but the pigment for certain
colors has to be there. Changing a white top to a dark color (or black color to a light color) is the hardest because
there isn’t any color pigment to work with. In that case we would choose the best and the closest color for the
photo.
• What if I didn’t send enough money to cover what I wanted to have done? (wrong calculation) - Due to the over
whelming requests for these services, we have the right to refuse the service until additional funding is provided.
To make it simple - always send more and we will keep the remaining funding on your account for future services.
This is the only and the best way to ensure what you want done will be accomplished in a timely manner.
• How does cloning work? - We have to pick up similiar samples to use to perform the cloning procedures. If your
photo is missing an arm after removing someone out of a photo - we need to have a picture of your other arm for a
skin sample for us to perform the cloning procedure.
• What if my institution only allows 5 reprints (or 10 reprints) per envelope and I have 16 wallets along with the
original? - Please let us know when you place the order and please add a $1.00 for each aditional envelope
required to mail out your reprints. You can also choose not to cut the reprints and have them sent back in a sheet
format without adding any funds for extra shipping & handling. (Each order includes 1 paid postage envelope)
• Do I get my original photo(s) or artwork back after the reprints are made? - Of course, your original will mailed
back to you along with your reprints. Please provide a self-addressed stamped-envelope for the return of your
origiinal artwork.
• Do I need an order form to place an order? - No, we prefer you use a piece of plain white paper and list all proce
dures in detail for us when you place an order. Please print clearly.
• Do you accept stamps as payment? - We accept a time and a half in stamp value ($7.50) for an order value of
$5.00 if you choose to use stamps send first class 41 cents stamps as payment. (No loose stamps please)
Please make sure the procedures are allowed by your institution’s security guidelines before
placing the order(s) for photo alteration services - we’ll not be held responsible for the violation.
Please make sure your institution allows 6 pieces of paper (printed on both sides) held together
by staples before placing an order for our color catalog. We can remove staples if requested.
Please send institution check or money order (no personal checks) along with order(s) to
CHI-EY INC - dept. IM1112, PO BOX 829, Hillsboro, OR 97123
“ 2008” 12-page color catalog is now ready for distribution - much more borders & backgrounds.