1) There is an article by Allysia Finley in the 4/21/25 issue of the WSJ titled “Do Food Stamps Make People Fat?” She states that “studies show people on food stamps eat less healthily than other low-income Americans. Now governors in Indiana, Arkansas and Idaho want to conduct real-world experiments by asking the Dept of Agriculture for waivers to exclude soda, candy & other sweets from the SNAP.” Studies show that “More food-stamp money is spent on soda & sweets than fruits, vegetables, eggs, pasta, beans and rice COMBINED, according to a report by the Foundation for Government Accountability. Sweetened beverages & candy alone account for 11% of food stamp spending.” I commend my home state of Indiana for seeking some common sense in government policy and asking for a waiver to exclude these items from being covered by food stamps.
2) When I came to prison, everyone I talked to said to do all that I could to not get hurt or sick in prison – something I took to heart. Unfortunately, my one friend in prison is not so lucky. About a month ago, he got something called amylodosis, something that about 3,000 people per year get in the US. It causes fluid to build up in the chest wall between his rib cage and lungs. As this area fills up with liquid, it puts pressure on his lungs and he cannot breath. The relief of this symptom is to be taken to a hospital to have the liquid drained at least once per week. There is a special type of chemo that will cure him of he disease. In either case, while he got the liquid drained from his lungs twice in the past month, the BOP has now elected to no longer allow him to get the fluid drained or to get the chemo. He is applying for compassionate relief to be let out of prison so he can seek treatment on his own, but that will take several months & there is no guarantee it will be granted. Meanwhile, slowly suffocating due to lack of oxygen is a horrible way to go and is very hard to watch – especially since he was so healthy about six weeks ago. When someone is sentenced to prison, they are sentenced to do their time — not sentenced to death by slow suffocation because the BOP will not allow him to get the treatment he needs – especially since FMC Lexington is a medical facility and is designed for that exact purpose. The media screams bloody murder everytime someone is arrested overseas and says they don’t get adequate treatment (whether they actually do or don’t); but if a US prisoner is slowly dying due to lack of treatment that is readily available at the University of Kentucky ten miles away — that doesn’t even merit a bullet point in the news. The whole thing is a very sad situation & simultaneously makes me angry. Perhaps it is a window to what the entire population will face as the US spends its way into bankruptcy in the next 50 years.
3) We had a bit of excitement in our unit last Thursday (5/1/25). We had a “General Recall,” which means that everyone has to immediately go back to their unit for a count. This happened about 12:00. About 1:00, there was something going on in our hall. To make a long story short, someone got caught stealing from another inmate (we will call him Carl for the purpose of this article). To top it off, Carl was the head of the “White Car,” which means he is the head white guy in our building that houses approximately 200-220 inmates. The guy getting stolen from went to some other white guys and told them what was going on. They went to his room and told him that he could take a beating and then go to the SHU or could check himself into the SHU immediately. He chose the latter. As soon as he left, his crew packed up his stuff and took it out of his room. That should have been the end of it. About an hour later, he came back to the unit. When this happens, the belief is that he ratted out to the CO’s anyone he knows who has contraband or is doing something illegal. The CO’s let him out of the SHU early in exchange for that information. All the sudden, there were a bunch of White Guys scurrying around – presumably to hide their “stuff.”. so that he could get out of the SHU earlier. Carl then got assigned to a dormitory style bedroom in the unit next door. That lasted about 30 minutes before they ran him off back to the SHU. He will stay there for 30 days and will then be allowed back into a unit that will take him or be sent to another prison. The moral of the story is not to steal. In my experience, people will give you something if you ask for it, sell it to you on credit to be paid for later or lend/rent it to you (hair clippers for example).
4) Spanish 2 is going great – still have four more weeks to go. I am at 300+ words memorized & used and can conjugate most of my verbs in the present & past tense. I have a Mexican-American I am now training at work. I think I will start conversing with him to increase my conversational Spanish. I do 200-300 push-ups & sit-ups each day – depending on time, weather and how many people are in our cell (if not many, I can work out there). I need to start doing squats as well, but have not yet got that into my habitual routine. I finished two books this past weekend and have the book reports hand-written. I just need to get to the library to type them and post. I am currently reading Jane Eyre & hope to finish by this weekend.
Sincerely
Dennis Zeedyk
