A PLACE CALLED HELL

Often times we hear stories of corruption within our correctional system. When attempting to put things in perspective we rationalize by thinking "deadly criminals usually inspire this sort of thing." Often in these cases it's our nature is to turn our backs because somehow two wrongs will create a right.

In the process of turning our backs to many painful realities we also manage to miss out on horrid truths and events, some that will go on for lengthy periods of time if allowed. One such truth is the story of the Dozier School for boys AKA the Florida School for Boys. For those not familiar, this is the reform school where very recently the University of South Florida uncovered the graves of 55 students.

The school was opened for over 100 years and throughout is history, rather than reform the youth in the state of Florida, it often forced it into a struggle for survival. The school was a den of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. Often times this abuse would lead to death. A very real truth about this place is the fact that during the dark period of segregation, the biggest level of discrimination was aimed not at blacks, but at orphans.

There was equality in the school, in relation to punishment. Students would be subjected to lashings with thick leather belts, usually in a building referred to as the "White House." These lashings would leave students bloody, frightened and in deep pain, the kind of pain that never goes away. The students at Dozier were often there for offenses that were not always criminal in nature, calling into question the legality of many of the stays.

What exactly did this school do for the youth of Florida? Beyond the abuse, which is well documented, did it foster greater understanding of societal norms? No, this school created a greater sense of darkness, loss, and desperation in children that often came form abusive homes, when they actually had homes.

The exhumation of bodies by the University of South Florida was a huge revelation of the abuse, remains were found with blunt force trauma to the head, among other horrible revelations. This are not things that can in any way be undone, but they can be prevented from ever happening again. This particular story has been circulating for over eight years now, you may ask why not sooner. The fact is that the survivors of these tragedies that are now coming forward have been carrying their scars for too many years, more than humanly bearable.

As a society we owe it to these brave survivors, to the fallen, and to the irreversibly scarred, to speak about this in terms of helping create change. Let's ban together and stop it from happening again. The upcoming documentary "Boys School" will delve deep into the stories of the survivors, as a way to illustrate the hurt left behind by a school that was supposed to help reform youth, not twist it and destroy it.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW WILL PISS YOU OFF

I have heard this "what you don't know won't hurt you" shit too often. I have to say that's a crap thing to tell a person. Knowledge, for good or bad really is power. When you withhold truth from an individual you will never favor them. People have a serious need to know and understand truth. If you are in a relationship that particular saying is serious bullshit.

I'm not an advocate of secrets nor am I an advocate of convenient truth. Not saying something that another person should no is total crap. I hate that secret crap, I guess I had to ride a soapbox for a few sentences before stating that the truth will set you free!

THE SMALL MINDEDNESS OF ARROGANT PEOPLE

Some people really surprise me, mainly because the narrow scope of their mind doesn't allow them to see their own glaring imperfections. I see that as a manner of arrogance and I just abhor it. People will lift their chin up and act like such assholes some time. It's sad to think that some individuals don't have it in them to be normal, not necessarily humble, just normal.

I know a few people like that, people whose idea of success is plain, stupid arrogance. The funny thing about arrogance is that it's also a blinding agent. When you become arrogant you become tunneled by your own stupidity you tend to lose sigh of what's around you, both good and bad.

My simple advice to people like that is " Keep your eyes open." When something special comes around you may miss it and when your foundation crumbles beneath you, you will not be able to repair it.

I HATE LIARS

As a rule of thumb I hate dealing with incomplete truths because they never really help you get a full view of any situation. The problem is not incomplete truths but rather the people that tell them. To me an incomplete truth is really just a lie and the person telling it is a liar.

I hate liars because usually they are not intelligent enough to keep a cohesive story together. To be an effective liar you have to have a spectacular memory and even then you still slip at some point or another. I have a soft spot for liars because they are entertaining when they get caught. Most people that lie just don't know when to quit. I don't hate people but lying is a dirty and horrible little habit and those that partake in it may not be bad but the act kills everything around them.

Liars fail to understand that they undermine themselves in the process of trying to cover for their own stupidity. A person that lies habitually does not really clearly understand that ultimately ends up in a limbo area with little credibility and microscopic amounts of respect allotted to them out of pity and basic human charity.

The only liars that are effective in any way are politicians and a gross majority of religious figures. It's funny to me because both usually tend to lie for what they deem "the greater good." At any rate my advice is don't lie because it makes you look like a worthless amorphous mass. I also urge that lies be avoided so that hate can be less prominent.