Guys, the first images of Irma’s level of devastation are coming out of Barbuda and it’s heartbreaking. The President of Barbuda says that 90% of the island is uninhabitable, upwards of 60% of the TOTAL population are now homeless because the hurricane destroyed virtually every building and home on the island, and that the estimated damage is valued at no less than $200 million dollars. That’s money a small island like that doesn’t have. They’re saying it’s going to take years to rebuild and Hurricane Jose is right behind Irma on the same path which means they could be hit twice. This is just one of the islands being affected.
Please, show up for the Caribbean like you did for Houston. There is no safety net for any of these islands including mine. They’ll rely entirely on foreign aid. Find local charities or global trustworthy charities (NOT the Red Cross) and make a donation asking them to aid the Caribbean. There’s whole countries being turned into rubble with no financial means to repair their infrastructures. They’re going to need help.
Always falling into a hole, then saying “ok, this is not your grave, get out of this hole,” getting out of the hole which is not the grave, falling into a hole again, saying “ok, this is also not your grave, get out of this hole,” getting out of that hole, falling into another one; sometimes falling into a hole within a hole, or many holes within holes, getting out of them one after the other, then falling again, saying “this is not your grave, get out of the hole”; sometimes being pushed, saying “you can not push me into this hole, it is not my grave,” and getting out defiantly, then falling into a hole again without any pushing; sometimes falling into a set of holes whose structures are predictable, ideological, and long dug, often falling into this set of structural and impersonal holes; sometimes falling into holes with other people, with other people, saying “this is not our mass grave, get out of this hole,” all together getting out of the hole together, hands and legs and arms and human ladders of each other to get out of the hole that is not the mass grave but that will only be gotten out of together; sometimes the willful-falling into a hole which is not the grave because it is easier than not falling into a hole really, but then once in it, realizing it is not the grave, getting out of the hole eventually; sometimes falling into a hole and languishing there for days, weeks, months, years, because while not the grave very difficult, still, to climb out of and you know after this hole there’s just another and another; sometimes surveying the landscape of holes and wishing for a high quality final hole; sometimes thinking of who has fallen into holes which are not graves but might be better if they were; sometimes too ardently contemplating the final hole while trying to avoid the provisional ones; sometimes dutifully falling and getting out, with perfect fortitude, saying “look at the skill and spirit with which I rise from that which resembles the grave but isn’t!“
His name is Wuilly Arteaga, he is 23 years old, and he’s been missing since July 27th when the National Guard (la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana) detained him. His brother has come forward to say that Wuilly is being tortured and that the guard has burned him and beaten him with his own violin so severely that he has lost hearing in one ear. As of now there is no news on when or whether he will be released.
I know this show isn’t for me and kids don’t typically care about art styles, but can I say I did not expect the magic school bus reboot looks like this
why does it look like a doll divine dress up game and not even one of the good ones
Left Voice: Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you know about the conditions in Beaumont Federal Prison?
Rachel: My name is Rachel Villalobos, I’m married to my husband of 13+ years. We have two kids which are 9 years old and 11 years old. My husband has been locked up since July of 2014. I spoke with him on Saturday and he told me about the conditions in the prison after Hurricane Harvey. There have also been a lot of emails sent around by the wives of inmates- we share news with each other when we get it.
LV: What happened during Hurricane Harvey in the prison?
During Hurricane Harvey, Beaumont Federal Prison was put on lockdown. There are two people to a tank—it’s a small cell. There is flood water in their cells and they didn’t let them out. They were stuck in their cells for five days- cells that were flooded. They were on lockdown for five days. I spoke to my husband the very first time on September 2nd when he informed me of the conditions. August 27th was the last time I spoke to my husband before that.
During that time, I watched the hurricane on TV. I would call the jail and say “Hey, are you moving them? Hurricane Harvey is hitting” and they would tell me they can’t give me that information. I would ask why they couldn’t tell me and then they would hang up on me. They did that about five times.
On Saturday, they let out the inmates for an hour for the first time. After the guards found out that the inmates were contacting their families and loved ones to tell them about the conditions, they locked them all back up. When I spoke to my husband, he was angry and frustrated. There was still water in his cell. I don’t know some of the details because I didn’t want to frustrate him even more. I haven’t heard from him since.
LV: What happened in the prison after the hurricane?
After Hurricane Harvey, I was told they are very low on food and water. They are getting two sandwiches a day. These are grown men. They need more than two sandwiches.
They are using the restroom in bags so they can save the toilet water. They all have been drinking the toilet water since they have been low on water supply. He said that even though the toilet water has bacteria, at this moment he didn’t care and the other prisoners didn’t care either. They are really thirsty. He said he would drink anything. He told me that if this water didn’t kill him, the conditions were going to kill him. That’s how bad it is.
They have no air conditioning and they barely got the power back on three days ago. These prisoners haven’t even taken showers or had a hot meal since Sunday, August 27th.
I have an email saying that two inmates in medium low have passed away because of this treatment. I found out because an inmate’s wife emailed me that. Her husband who is locked up told her. They need help.
I know at least one of the people who died has been drinking the water. That’s what got me. My husband has been drinking that water. I don’t know the health situation of the rest of the prisoners, but if two people already died, they need to make a change now. This was a couple days ago.
LV: What do you think about the lack of media coverage about the plight of inmates after Hurricane Harvey?
These prisoners are losing hope and think that nobody is going to help them. It’s important that these men get the right treatment. It’s unfair. We see animals evacuated before even thinking about the inmates. This is coming from their mouth. The inmates understand the situation.
These men have no voice in there. All they have is their family to depend on to get this story out so the suffering and mistreatment can stop. They feel forgotten about in there. They are giving up hope. I can tell by the way my husband sounded.
LV: What do you think needs to happen now?
I would like them to be evacuated ASAP to a clean, healthy, safe environment. They need to be given a hot meal, a lot of water, and medication (my husband is a diabetic, also has high cholesterol, and high blood pressure). My husband has gotten his medication, but he said they were low. Who knows how much longer they will have it?
I would also like the inmates to get treatment because they have all been drinking that bad, bacteria infested water. I wouldn’t want anybody to ever go through what these inmates are going through. Some of the guards there are covering up their corrupted prison and that is not right. In the high security prison, the guards were on stand-off mode. I got an email from the wife of one of the inmates telling me that. The guards are patrolling with huge guns.
I know that there is more going on in those prisons. Inmates like my husband don’t want to tell us because they don’t want us to worry, but I have the feeling there is more going on in there. They need help now.
An acute housing crisis is starting to grip thousands of other families in south-east Texas as the floodwaters ebb away, with a death toll put at 60 on Monday. More than 180,000 houses in the Houston area have been badly damaged, with only a fraction of occupants owning any flood insurance. And under Texas law, rent must still be paid on damaged dwellings, unless they are deemed completely uninhabitable.
A spokeswoman for the city of Houston’s housing department said city officials “are aware these problems exist” but said that state law deals with the situation. She said the city was still assessing the total number of people in need of housing assistance.
Under the Texas property code, if a rental premises is “totally unusable” due to an external disaster then either the landlord or tenant can terminate the lease through written notice. But if the property is “partially unusable” because of a disaster, a tenant may only get a reduction in rent determined by a county or district court.
“There are a lot of property owners who aren’t conscious of what has gone on; they are being rude and kicking people out,” said Isela Bezada, an unemployed woman who lived with 10 family members in a Houston house until her landlord took her to court to evict her after the hurricane hit.
