Onasagoras
The disorder inside the Central Prisons is a small-scale version of the country itself. Facilities meant to correct behavior have become command centers for organized crime. They are riddled with extortion, sexual violence, physical and verbal abuse, and sometimes suicide. Last week, a young inmate took his own life, apparently unable to withstand the torment inflicted by fellow prisoners, right under the noses of guards and prison authorities. Whether they failed to notice or chose to look the other way is almost beside the point. It is hard to say which is more damning.
Just days later, someone tried to burn another inmate alive. Nearly, before the new minister had even settled into office, the prison system came within a breath of recording two deaths. Hardly an auspicious beginning.
Order must be restored immediately. The central question remains unanswered. When inmates leave prison, do they return to society reformed or better trained in criminal enterprise? Are our prisons reformatories, sexual hellscapes, or incubators of criminal expertise? Perhaps they function more like an Academy of Advanced Delinquency. The public deserves explanations and decisive action to overturn what has become a national embarrassment.
Meanwhile, the country waits for relief. Day and night, for a breeze to pass through a land that is scorched both literally and figuratively, a place that never seems to cool. The storm named Byron finally arrived and it rained. Then it snowed. The dams may yet begin to fill. At last, a white day, and in the mountains, perhaps a white Christmas. I am dreaming of a White Christmas.
Despite the rain and snow, the water crisis is not so easily resolved, despite bold declarations, including the memorable claim that the water problem is solved. The reality is less poetic. Water will remain scarce, and when it reaches our taps, it will taste faintly of salt. The reason is structural. Increasing dependence on desalination plants combined with the persistent failure to fully exploit solar energy will drive water bills higher. A glass of water, Mrs. Vangelio, desalinated water.
Elsewhere, a different kind of dependency has reached breaking point. In Australia, lawmakers responded to mounting parental anxiety by restricting mobile phone and internet use for children under 16. The decision sparked global debate because parents of teenagers everywhere recognize the problem. Many could scarcely recall the color of their children’s eyes because even when they answer, usually in monosyllables, their gaze remains fixed on the screen. The question now is whether other countries will follow Australia’s lead.
