Tag: suicide

We All Bleed Red: Saving My Daughter from Suicide

Allison Hill

Suicide entered my life kind of the way spring enters with the change of seasons, in like a lion out like a lamb. Its grip caught hold of someone I loved and used all its power and might to try and take them from me. I did not let it Read more

Allison Hill

Allison Hill currently writes a blog called AccidentallyAllison. She has written and done speaking engagements on her work for the past year. Her blog is her chronological journey of transformation on her quest for never-ending love, making everyone feel normal; one disastrous relationship at a time. The funny thing about relationships is the fact that they seem to be a big factor in us defining our self-worth. This is where Allison's story begins.

The Murder of Ashley Smith: Was it Negligent Homicide?

Lise LaSalle

As a Canadian, I have always been extremely proud of the fact that we don’t have capital punishment. Our institutions feed their inmates correctly and have a decent reputation. I cringe at the idea of the tent city jail in Arizona, where Sheriff Arpaio prides himself on keeping inmates in Read more

Lise LaSalle

"In the pursuit of justice, due process and fairness ought to be valued." My name is Lise Lasalle and I live in beautiful British Columbia. As an experienced Court and Legislative Interpreter, I know the importance of always questioning facts and especially the news. To analyze a case, you have to remain objective and fight any type of bias or emotions towards the people involved. It is about evidence and a search for the truth. But we all know that facts are often interpreted according to the result aimed at by the prosecution or the defence. The emotional aspect of a case has to be reserved for the human treatment of inmates and their rehabilitation. Restorative Justice should be at the forefront of any judiciary and penal systems. Cases exist of dangerous offenders representing a permanent threat to society and who will never be rehabilitated. But it remains important to preserve the integrity of their incarceration. Punishment often becomes a disguise for revenge. During my activities as a prison volunteer, I realized that criminals are not always on the right side of the bars. When she system and the media combine their efforts to entrap someone, it takes gigantic efforts to repair or remedy a wrongful conviction. I am totally against the death penalty and any type of prolonged solitary confinement except in cases of extremely dangerous offenders. Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal – Elizabeth Fry

Adolescent Gloom

Henrietta Ross

We sat over in the allotments that circled the playing fields; you got to them by climbing through a hole in the mental fence. Frequent visitors, break times, lunch breaks, any time the idea of another geography lesson sent one into a tailspin of adolescent gloom. Today, we had bought Read more

Henrietta Ross

Henrietta Ross is a writer living in rural Scotland. She isn’t good at much but she can spin a good yarn, so she does this on a regular basis. When not writing, she likes to dump her writing in impromptu places for fun, leave local charity shops with a wheelbarrow to transport her books, occasionally try active mediation in a field as she wanders after confused sheep or dances absurdly to cheesy eighties music, because like Rockwell, she thinks somebody IS watching. Henrietta is working on three books, one novel and two non-fiction works. She hopes to finish one of them in this lifetime.

Rounding the Madness: My Depression and ECT

Kristina Farrow

Squinting, I could see the clock on my cell phone. It had been daylight for hours now, and the bright sun shone in the white room making shadows on the cheap blue carpet. Clocks are meaningless when time is irrelevant. Back against the cold concrete wall, I sat up on Read more

Kristina Farrow

Kristina is a lover of art, poetry, philosophy, Dostoevsky (and other classic lit), everything French and Japanese, cats, the West Coast and dreams...

Seven Shades of Sick

Jacqueline Cioffa

Now pay attention. The next sentence will be the most important words I write. I have loved being alive. I’d like you to pause and remember it as we move through the uncomfortable. It’s 4:00 AM. The house has gone quiet. I am tucked in bed safe and sound, baby Read more

Jacqueline Cioffa

A retired, international model, and celebrity makeup artist. Co-Author of Model Citi Zen, the guide. Founder of http://modelcitizenmakeup.blogspot.com/. Author of numerous prose pieces in various literary magazines. Most recently published in Little Episodes Brainstorms the anthology, among esteemed artists Sadie Frost, Melvin Burgess and Todd Swift.